The field cleared, Gaia Soul exploded, and then the match was over. Alastair couldn't help but stare in a bit of astonishment...he'd won, yes, but he was expecting to have to fight tooth and nail for it. Winning was everything when your soul was at stake, but it had been two years - his deadlier instincts were gettign dull. After all, he thought he would be facing down a god. He cleared his duel disk of its cards and let the scythe-arm retract, ignoring the scattered applause from onlookers.

"Good fight, Kyosuke," he said sincerely, raising his head proudly. "No one except Kaiba himself has ever given me that good a match."