"This feeling, I won't forget it even after a hundred years." Ever since the aurora passed, the old woman had been gazing at the sky, deep in thought. "Unknowingly, a hundred years have already passed, and the Five-Headed Dragons have resurrected again."
"Could it be that all my efforts over the past century have been in vain? Or perhaps this world was nothing more than a pitiful plaything of the Five Emperor Dragons from the very beginning?"
———
[True Five-Headed Dragons (Ascension) ★★★★★★★★★★★★ (12 Stars)][Dark] [Dragon/Effect][ATK 5000/DEF 5000]
[This card cannot be Normal Summoned. It can only be Special Summoned from the hand or Deck when the [Five-Headed Dragons] on your field is destroyed.]
"This is the true Five-Headed Dragons from the legend a thousand years ago..." The series of shocking developments gradually numbed everyone's nerves.
The Five-Headed Dragons before them radiated a presence distinctly different from the earlier Five-Headed Dragons. There was a more authentic sense of existence in this world, with the multicolored dragon heads, each with scales writhing vividly.
But what was even more important was that, compared to the oppressive presence brought by the Big Five's souls, the oppressive force brought by this world's evil wasn't even on the same level.
"This oppressive feeling is really unbearable." Hoshino, feeling a bit intimidated, finally experienced the fear of facing the entire world's terror firsthand.
"But the term 'World's Evil' sounds familiar... like Angra Mainyu."
"No, no, no, Master. This thing in front of us is quite different from the counterfeit World's Evil, Angra Mainyu." BB shook her head, the usual calm smile on her face now gone without a trace. "In concept, it's somewhat close to a Beast, but it hasn't reached that level yet."
"Beast? Human Evil? It's something close to that level?" Hoshino's composure instantly vanished upon hearing this term.
The terrifying impact of the Human Evil Beast was something Hoshino could never forget.
Back then, Hoshino had hidden under the covers, staying up all night and crying as she finished the Seventh Singularity, Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia. The shock brought by the Human Evil Tiamat was deeply imprinted in her memory, impossible to erase. Those epic, tragic scenes, the King of Uruk standing alone on the wall, facing Tiamat with regal pride even knowing his people no longer existed...
"Clap! Clap!" BB clapped her hands twice, snapping Hoshino out of her memories. "Master now is not the time to be reminiscing about your experience."
"BB just explained it clearly; this thing hasn't reached the level of a Beast. Probably because the scale of this parallel world is too small. If our original world is like a city, then this parallel world is like a village, so naturally, the World's Evil here isn't as grand."
"I see, so there's nothing much to be afraid of." Since BB said it was fine, Hoshino felt a lot more at ease. And since this world was based on the Duel Monsters system, she could see the stats at a glance. This True Five-Headed Dragons only had 5000 attack points. It couldn't possibly match the likes of Dragon Master Knight or Crimson Demon Dragon – Siegfried Alter.
"I never said there's nothing to fear..."
"It's attacking! Prepare to defend!" Kaiba, who had been vigilantly locking eyes with the Five-Headed Dragons, was the first to notice its abnormal movements.
From its massive body, the red dragon head symbolizing fire unleashed a scorching blaze, charging directly at Crimson Demon Dragon – Siegfried Alter.
"What a fool, thinking it can defeat my Siegfried!" Jounouchi, shameless as always, had somehow started considering Siegfried his monster, probably because Siegfried was summoned using Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
[Crimson Demon Dragon – Siegfried Alter][ATK 5500]
"Something's not right, Jounouchi, be careful!" After hearing BB's words, Hoshino felt that this creature wouldn't be as simple as its stats suggested. The way it was attacking didn't seem like a mere 5000 ATK move.
[Jounouchi Katsuya][LP 3900 → 0]
"How... is this possible?!" Jounouchi's pupils dilated, overtaking his eyes as he looked in disbelief at his Duel Disk, where his life points had dropped to zero.
[When this card is successfully Special Summoned, its ATK becomes twice its original value until the end of the next turn.]
[Five-Headed Dragons (Ascension)][ATK 5000 → 10000]
"Its attack power is actually 10,000." Without any additional boosts, it had reached 10,000 ATK just on its own. Even Kaiba couldn't help but exclaim at the sight.
[Dragon Master Knight][ATK 6500 → 6000]
With Siegfried defeated, the attack power of the Dragon Master Knight dropped as one of the Dragon monsters on Kaiba's field was destroyed.
"Watch out, the attack isn't over yet!" Yugi, who had thought the opponent's turn was over, keenly observed the yellow dragon head representing lightning moving next to the red one.
Accompanied by terrifying thunder, it struck down the Dragon Master Knight with lightning-fast speed.
[Muto Yugi][LP 4000 → 0]
"Even Yugi..." Since the Dragon Master Knight was summoned by Yugi, its 10,000 ATK perfectly wiped out Yugi's 4000 life points in one blow.
[This card can attack up to 5 times per turn.]
"Aaaah!" A torrent of water mixed with residual lightning surged forward, directly assaulting Kaiba.
[Kaiba Seto][LP 2000 → 0]
"Being able to attack five times with 10,000 ATK..." The terrifying power that instantly wiped out Yugi, Kaiba, and Jounouchi left Hoshino stunned.
"If this isn't even on par with a Beast, then how terrifying must a true Beast be?"
"Hey, little manager, don't just stand there! Another attack is coming!" After defeating the three, the Five-Headed Dragons naturally turned their attention to the last remaining duelist on the field.
The gray dragon head representing earth and the purple dragon head symbolizing darkness both launched their attacks, heading straight for Hoshino.
"Damn it! As long as we're here, you won't harm the little manager!" Halloween Elizabeth, furious, stood in front of Hoshino, driving her ornate trident into the ground.
"And I'm here too, I'll protect the little manager as well." Elizabeth, maintaining her original pride, was not to be outdone.
But knowing that their attack power couldn't possibly withstand the Five-Headed Dragons' might, the Elizabeths abandoned offense and used their bodies to shield Hoshino from the attack.
[Heroic Spirit - Elizabeth Bathory] destroyed
[Heroic Spirit - Elizabeth Bathory (Caster)] destroyed
"Everyone, why..." Seeing her comrades being defeated one by one, Hoshino began to panic. The feeling of fighting alone overwhelmed her, evoking the same emptiness she imagined Gilgamesh felt when he faced Tiamat alone on the wall.
However, Hoshino did not possess Gilgamesh's pride.
"Don't worry, Master." BB, who had been silent, finally spoke again, but her tone now carried a hint of weariness. "BB's Slot Machine effect is still active, so I managed to preserve everyone's souls~"
The green barrier BB had raised firmly protected everyone's bodies. Though their life points were depleted, they hadn't vanished from this space.
"I'm sorry, Hoshino, we were careless." Yugi, his face showing a hint of regret, apologized.
"Damn it, how is this monster so broken? How are we supposed to defeat it?" Jounouchi complained bitterly, frustrated at being the first to be eliminated.
After five attacks, the true nature of the real Five-Headed Dragon was finally revealed, and the group could truly feel the terrifying presence of this so-called Evil of the World.
[①: This card cannot be destroyed by battle with Dark, Earth, Water, Fire, or Wind attribute monsters. ②: As long as this card is on the field, your opponent cannot summon or special summon Dark, Earth, Water, Fire, or Wind attribute monsters, nor can they activate their effects.]
"It's even worse than the regular Five-Headed Dragon, with absolute immunity to all five attributes," Kaiba growled, his voice filled with frustration. "Damn monster! If I'm the last one standing, I'll show you the true terror of my Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
"Hoshino, do you have any Light-attribute Dragon monsters left in your deck?" Yugi asked worriedly, as the effect of Dragon Domain was still active, restricting them to summoning only Dragon-type monsters.
"Damn it! If only Artoria was still here…" Hoshino muttered, frustrated that the Big Five had manipulated the data, forcing her to end Artoria's Phantasm summon state. Artoria's card had been forcibly ejected from the virtual space. Although the real card should still exist within the VR system, in this world, Hoshino had lost the card in her hand.
"I'm out of options," Hoshino thought, feeling defeated.
"I've already used everything I could. If we lose now, I have no right to complain."
"I'm sorry, Grandma. It looks like I'm going to fail as a hero."
"A hero?!" Hoshino suddenly realized something.
("There are two ways to stop this disaster. One is for the legendary hero, wielding the Hero Sword, to venture to the Dragon God's Domain and slay the evil dragon!")
"That's right! I'm not just a duelist; I'm a hero, too!" Excitedly, Hoshino unsheathed the Hero's Sword from her waist, as if she had found the last glimmer of hope.
"This might be our final chance. Let's hope the legend is true—Hero's Sword!"
(*****)
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