Hara Shichi chuckled and extended his thumb, just about to press it against Ai's, when a familiar voice suddenly pierced his ears.
"Run, junior!!!"
"Hm?" Hara Shichi froze slightly and turned his head, only to see the scarlet figure forcibly tear open the colorful cage with her claws before charging straight at him with lightning speed.
Sera leaped down from the stands. As she ran, she pulled a card from her Extra Deck and slapped it onto her Duel Disk. "Get out here and help! Hope!"
Julie, who had just left the field, immediately shrank her pupils and shouted, "Dragon Doom!"
Nero hurriedly summoned her two aces as well. "Go, Hime Peacock, Hikoh Peacock!"
"Damn it! Don't go doing whatever you want!" Nafili watched a whole group of Duel Spirits appear on the field, worried that things would spiral out of control. He could only shout, "Nafili! Nafili! Nafili!!!"
Boom!!!
Just as the golden Hope, the deathly Dragon Doom, and Hikoh Peacock and Hime Peacock—one holding a longsword and the other a feather fan—appeared before Hara Shichi.
The stadium ceiling suddenly let out a miserable groan, followed by the sound of cracking. As blinding sunlight poured through, Nafili descended from above like a god!
Yet even so, the Crimson Lotus Beast still charged up to Hara Shichi, baring its fangs and claws as it tried to pierce his slender body.
In an instant, time seemed to slow. Everything before Hara Shichi became sluggish. He watched those scarlet, blazing-red, blood-red claws slowly rise, then slowly, slowly descend toward his thin neck, but he could not move.
Was I going to die a second time?
Just as that thought crossed Hara Shichi's mind, a cool voice sounded beside his ear.
"Do you want to die?"
Ai had appeared in front of Hara