"Using this strike that breaks through all limits, I will face off against your infinite attack power!" Without hesitation, Hoshino pressed the activation button for her face-down card, revealing the double-edged sword of her strategy.
"Activate the face-down card, Counter Trap [Limited/Zero Over]!"
"Hmph, Limited/Zero Over, huh." Seeing the card Hoshino had just flipped, Kaiba couldn't help but sneer. "Are you trying to recreate that old battle in front of the castle? It's a pity...
"Trap cards don't work on gods!"
"Kaiba, I'm not the same person I was back then!" Hoshino declared, pointing to the revealed Limited/Zero Over, her eyes filled with unshakable determination, a stark contrast to the confusion she'd shown in the past.
"The effect of [Limited/Zero Over] doesn't target Obelisk—it targets my monster on the field!"
"Huh? The effect is different this time?" Kaiba immediately sensed something was off. "And it's a counter trap card?"
"This is my new power—the breakthrough version of [Limited/Zero Over]!"
[Limited/Zero Over Counter Trap Card Effect: When your opponent declares an attack, you can activate this card by targeting one of your own face-up Level 6 or higher [Heroic Spirit] monsters. ① The attacking monster's ATK becomes 0, and this card is equipped to the targeted monster. For the rest of this turn, your opponent can only attack the equipped monster, and if they can attack, they must attack it. Your opponent cannot activate card effects in response to this card's activation.]
"I'll target Karna on my field and equip him with [Limited/Zero Over]!" As magical circuits flashed across Karna's form, his Saint Graph surged, instantly breaking through its previous limits.
"It's useless! Gods aren't affected by trap cards. Obelisk's attack power won't drop to 0—it's still infinite!" Kaiba sneered, confident that Obelisk's supremacy remained unshaken, even in the face of Hoshino's trap.
"That's why I said I'll use limitless destruction to counter infinite power! Activate [Limited/Zero Over]'s second effect!"
"Hold on, Karna! This is going to be the strongest attack yet!" Hoshino called out.
"Rest assured, Master! As long as my heart burns strong, this lance shall never taste defeat!" Karna responded, unwavering.
[② Once per turn, when the equipped monster battles, its ATK increases by the ATK of the opposing monster. This effect can also be activated during the opponent's turn.]
"Go, Karna! Break through the limits and surpass infinity!"
With a surge of magic that obliterated his final Saint Graph constraints, Karna's body exploded with power. The flames surrounding him multiplied exponentially, standing in stark contrast to the scorching winds that Obelisk was unleashing across the battlefield.
"Raaaah!!" Karna roared, thrusting his lance with all his might.
[Heroic Spirit – Karna ATK 4800 → ∞]
"Infinite attack power again! Now both sides are infinite!"
"Hurry and upload this to YouTube! This is going viral!"
"To think I could wield such tremendous power," Karna murmured, momentarily stunned by the overwhelming magic flowing through him. "Normally, I wouldn't be able to obtain such strength from nowhere, Master. The cost for this must be immense."
"Yes, Karna. This double-edged sword will be the final blow that determines the winner." The reason Hoshino had been hesitant to use this card earlier was because of its immense drawback.
[③ At the end of the turn in which this card's first effect is activated, the targeted monster is destroyed, this card is banished, and you take damage equal to the equipped monster's attack.]
This was a card that spelled doom for either side. Its severe side effect could easily deplete Hoshino's life points—even if they were full—by the next turn.
It was essentially a card that could kill its user instantly.
"But this power... it's the real deal! I feel like I've already surpassed Arjuna!" Karna said, his excitement evident. With just a casual swing of his lance, a massive wave of fire surged forth.
"What a thrilling battle of gods this is!"
"Fight back, Karna!" Hoshino shouted, issuing her final command.
"Understood, Master!" Karna replied, his form streaking like red lightning, colliding head-on with Obelisk's scorching storm of a fist.
"Right now, I am the final flash that will pierce the gods!"
Boom!
The collision of two infinite attack powers caused Hoshino's Duel Disk to finally shut down. Just like Kaiba's, it ceased to function, with the display of Hoshino's life points vanishing along with it.
On the battlefield, the two monsters had broken free from the constraints of the Duel Disks, clashing violently with one another.
The scorching storm that swept the land and the blazing flames that consumed everything in their path erupted wildly in the courtyard.
"I can't even see what's happening! What's the outcome?!" Jounouchi exclaimed, squinting and shielding his face from the heat, unable to see the battlefield.
"Is this just holograms? If this keeps up, the whole school's going to be destroyed!" Yugi shouted, desperate to know the final result but unable to look directly at the raging battlefield engulfed in scorching winds and fire.
"O' Brahma, Curse Me! (Brahmastra Kundala)!!" Karna's powerful roar cut through the whirlwind.
Suddenly, from the center of the vortex, a beam of fire shot straight into the sky. A massive pillar of flame tore through the blazing storm on the battlefield.
Karna, after unleashing his mightiest strike, sent an avalanche of destruction crashing down upon his foe.
"Did we win?!" Hoshino gasped, watching in awe as the flames consumed the heavens and dissipated the scorching storm.
As the whirlwind died down, Obelisk's form was nowhere to be seen, leaving only the unyielding figure of Karna standing tall.
"Infinite attack power versus infinite attack power... How is this possible? How could the invincible Obelisk disappear?" Kaiba stood frozen in disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
"Kaiba, I can explain what happened!" Hoshino pointed arrogantly at him, offering her triumphant explanation.
"Because my attack power was even higher! Karna's final attack power was ∞ + 4800!"
Both Duel Disks were destroyed, and the holographic projections had vanished. The school, which moments ago seemed on the verge of collapse, returned to its usual calm.
Kaiba: "..."
Hoshino: "..."
After Hoshino gave her final explanation, the two stood in silence, staring at each other without speaking.
The once noisy atmosphere around them faded into awkward silence.
"Hmph, a draw, huh!" Kaiba was the first to break the quiet.
"It wasn't a draw. I won." Hoshino's gaze remained firm.
"To fight a god to a draw—you're an interesting opponent, Hoshino." Kaiba insisted it was a draw.
"It wasn't a draw. I won!" Hoshino wasn't backing down.
"I've fully realized the limitations of the Duel Disk," Kaiba said, changing the subject. "Though its current performance level is high, it still can't withstand the clash of two infinite attack powers."
Kaiba looked down at his Duel Disk, which had completely crashed and was emitting smoke. "It needs improvement—or else we'll keep having these so-called 'draws' in the future."
"I already said it wasn't a draw. I won!"
Though Hoshino kept insisting she was the victor, her Duel Disk had shut down before the duel concluded, leaving no way to confirm life point counts.
"Tsk, if Mash had stayed on the field, I definitely would've won!" Hoshino muttered under her breath in frustration.
But with Kaiba's pride, there was no way he would admit defeat after such an epic final strike—especially not in front of a crowd.
Kaiba walked toward Hoshino, his height giving him an advantage as he looked down on her.
"What's going on?" Normally, Kaiba kept his distance from others, so his sudden approach made Hoshino uneasy.
"Hand it over," Kaiba said, extending a hand in front of her.
"Hand over what?"
"Your Duel Disk. It's broken, right?" Kaiba's voice was firm but unreadable. "I'll take it back and fix it. I'll return it to you later."
"Oh, that's it? Makes sense."
Hoshino realized what he meant and also noticed that the Duel Disk on her arm, now emitting smoke, was indeed in need of repair.
"The customer service at Kaiba Corp is top-notch, huh? Having the president himself handle repairs!" Hoshino joked, relieved that Kaiba wasn't there to lash out.
"Ouch!" Hoshino winced as she tried to remove the Duel Disk, finding it too hot to touch after its high-performance use.
"You're helpless, aren't you? Can't handle a little heat as a duelist?" Kaiba, sounding slightly impatient, grabbed Hoshino's arm and skillfully removed the overheated Duel Disk himself.
"Oh~" Hoshino squinted at Kaiba, who was busy removing the Duel Disk from her arm.
"Kaiba, even though you talk tough, you're surprisingly gentle at times~"
"Hmph, boring!" Kaiba retorted with his usual dismissive tone. Despite the Duel Disk still emitting heat, Kaiba removed it barehanded without flinching. He tossed the damaged Duel Disk into his silver briefcase without another word.
"I'll return it to you after I fix it. By then, the Duel Disk's performance will be better than ever. Next time, we'll settle this for real."
With those final words, Kaiba grabbed his briefcase and turned on his heel, leaving the school grounds without looking back, clearly intending to skip the rest of the school day, much to the shock of the students still watching.
"I said, I won!!" Hoshino shouted after him, but her voice was drowned out by the commotion of the students still buzzing from the intense duel they had just witnessed.
(***)
The lunchtime commotion had taken much longer than expected, and by the time Hoshino and the others returned to class, it was almost time for the afternoon lessons to begin.
"Sigh, missed lunch again. Am I cursed when it comes to food?" Hoshino sighed deeply, her stomach growling loudly. It felt like ever since she arrived in this world, getting to eat three meals a day had become a luxury she could rarely afford.
"Nothing we can do about it, Hoshino," Yugi said with a kind smile. "The bread from the cafeteria sells out way too fast. Let's just try to get there earlier tomorrow."
"Want to share my bento?" Anzu said mysteriously, pulling out a lunchbox from her bag decorated with cute bunny stickers.
"Wow, I didn't know Anzu could make bentos! That's awesome!" Yugi's eyes lit up as he looked at the neatly presented lunchbox.
"I want some, I want some!" Hoshino's eyes sparkled like a traveler finding an oasis in the desert.
"Anzu, you're a real lifesaver, making extra food for us to share!" Jounouchi and Honda, who had also missed out on lunch due to the duel, eagerly eyed the bento.
"Hey! You boys can wait until after school!" Anzu snapped, swatting their hands away as she opened the bento box, revealing the contents.
"Wait… why is your bento full of greens?" Hoshino blinked in confusion, her excitement quickly deflating as she stared at the mass of broccoli neatly arranged inside the bento.
"Of course, it's for dieting! My dream is to study dance in America, so I have to maintain my figure!" Anzu said proudly, skewering a piece of broccoli and popping it into her mouth with satisfaction. "Besides, broccoli is delicious and healthy! I could eat it forever!"
"Is that so…" Hoshino forced a smile, though she could hardly share Anzu's enthusiasm. As a dedicated otaku, she lived on soda and snacks, not health food.
Still, with Anzu sharing her lunch so generously, Hoshino didn't want to seem ungrateful. She reluctantly picked up a piece of broccoli with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.
"This must be what they mean by 'food that's too tasteless to throw away, but too wasteful not to eat,'" Hoshino thought to herself, chewing slowly.
(***)
"Hey, check this out! The video I uploaded to YouTube already has over 100,000 views in less than an hour!" One of the students in the classroom excitedly waved their phones, drawing a small crowd around them.
"Whoa! The views on my video are skyrocketing too!"
"This is going viral! I bet my follower count will hit 100 soon!"
The duel between gods, combined with the advanced Duel Disks, had set the entire classroom of Domino High School on fire with excitement. Students crowded around each other, watching their recorded footage on their phones, eager to see the moment when two infinite attack powers clashed.
"Isn't it obvious? Duel Monsters is ridiculously popular in this world." Hoshino had expected this outcome. She admired Kaiba's genius for creating these high-stakes duels and knew they would capture public attention instantly.
"But what I didn't expect was that this world has YouTube…" Hoshino thought, surprised by the familiarity of the platform.
Her eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. "I wonder if I could make money by creating an account and doing livestreams." She began daydreaming about the possibilities—suddenly, even the bland taste of broccoli in her mouth felt a little sweeter.
(*****)
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