"Wow, it appeared! It's way better than the effects you see at toy stores!"
"That's not all; even the pro dueling arenas on TV aren't this impressive."
"By the way, that transfer student's monster is so pretty. Does she use a deck full of pretty monsters?"
"How nice, the monster is both cute and powerful."
"But this monster doesn't seem that strong..."
As expected, once Hoshino materialized her monster, the surrounding students burst into heated discussion. Many students with cell phones had already begun secretly taking pictures and uploading them. With this revolutionary duel disk, it was likely to go viral online in just one day.
"Kaiba, you're quite the business genius. Dueling me in front of the entire school—you don't even need to spend on advertising anymore. I'm going to charge you a talent fee, you know?"
"Hmph, a world-leading product like this doesn't need any advertising."
Though he said that, when KaibaCorp launched the Duel Arena years ago, they put in a lot of effort. But the results were undeniably impressive.
"No more small talk. Go, Lily! Attack that face-down monster!"
Even though Hoshino had another chance for a normal summon, she didn't choose to summon Siegfried right away.
First, because Lily's attack power was too low, she wouldn't be able to fully utilize Siegfried's effect to double the attack power of a Dragon-type monster used as a tribute.
Second, who starts a duel by dropping their trump card right away?
"Yes, Master!" Lily gripped her golden sword tightly in her slender arm and charged forward in a probing attack.
[Heroic Spirit - Artoria Pendragon Lily][ATK1200]
At the moment Lily's golden sword made contact with the face-down card, the monster's hidden form was revealed.
A massive purple toxic sphere shattered under the force of Lily's sword.
"I did it, Master! I succeeded!" Lily beamed with joy, turning to Hoshino.
However, Hoshino didn't look as relaxed as Lily.
From the shattered virus ball, purple gas started gradually spreading into the air.
[Hoshino Chiyuki's LP: 4000 → 3500]
[Giant Germ★★][Dark][Fiend/Effect][ATK1000/DEF100]
[When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent, then you can Special Summon any number of [Giant Germs] from your Deck in face-up Attack Position.]
"Due to the effect of my Giant Germ, I will Special Summon two more Giant Germs from my deck in Attack Position!" Kaiba, pleased with his strategy, quickly searched his deck and placed two cards onto his duel disk.
[Giant Germs][ATK1000] x2
"Master, did I mess up?" Seeing Hoshino's reduced Life Points and the two additional viruses on the field, Lily, who had been smiling moments before, now hung her head in shame.
"It's not your fault, Lily. If anyone's to blame, it's my bad hand."
Indeed, Hoshino still had one more normal summon opportunity, but she had no low-level monsters in hand. Okita, Vlad, and Saber—three high-level monsters—clogged up her hand completely.
If she'd had even one low-level monster to summon, with two monsters on the field, even if Kaiba had set a Giant Germ, she could have made a solid attack.
But instead, she was now leaving two germs on Kaiba's field that could easily serve as tributes.
While most people don't drop their strongest monsters at the start of a duel, Kaiba was the exception. Hoshino didn't need to guess what he was planning for the next turn.
"I'll set one card and end my turn." After drawing a card and smoothly placing it into her duel disk's card slot, an image of a set card appeared on the floor in front of Hoshino, signaling the end of her turn.
Hoshino's remaining hand: 5 cards, 1 set card
"It's my turn! Draw!!" With the same energetic motion, Kaiba drew a card, and just from his intense gaze, it was clear what was coming next.
"I'll use my two Giant Germ monsters as tributes to summon my monster from my hand!"
A white light flashed, and the two germs hovering on the field were sent to the graveyard. Kaiba slammed a brand-new card onto his duel disk.
"Let the world witness your new image, [Blue-Eyes White Dragon]!"
The projection equipment roared to life, and even in the broad daylight of the courtyard, the radiant light of the dragon could be felt.
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon ★★★★★★★★ (8-star)][Light][Dragon][ATK3000/DEF2500]
The roar of the pure white dragon echoed through the courtyard. The massive white dragon's wings nearly blocked out the sunlight shining onto the courtyard.
"What is that? It's terrifying!" Because of how lifelike and intimidating the white dragon was, some of the girls watching screamed in fear.
"So this is the legendary monster, Blue-Eyes White Dragon? It looks way too real!" Even the boys who were familiar with Duel Monsters were seeing the Blue-Eyes in person for the first time.
"Did Kaiba redesign the Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" Even though Hoshino had seen the Blue Eyes summoned many times before, this time was different. The lifelike dynamic projection was far from the stiff animations of the past; it was as if the real Blue-Eyes White Dragon stood before her.
"Attack, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba dramatically pointed toward Lily. "Burst Stream of Destruction!"
The energy gathering in the dragon's mouth was unleashed in full force.
"Kaiba really shows no mercy, huh? He's attacking such a cute monster with everything he's got." Some of the students, unaware of the situation, began to whisper complaints about Kaiba's ruthlessness.
"These people don't understand Hoshino's strength at all," Jounouchi sneered after overhearing their comments. "Hoshino is the Duel King! A couple of Blue-Eyes White Dragons are no big deal."
Across from Kaiba, watching the Burst Stream of Destruction heading straight for her monster, Hoshino sighed softly. "As much as I hate to admit it, this effect is pretty useful."
"I activate the special effect of [Heroic Spirit - Edward Teach] from my hand!"
Instead of flipping her set card, Hoshino swiftly threw a monster from her hand onto the field, and the holographic projection system sprang into action once again.
"Blackbeard is here! To protect the cutest little girls, he's rushed all the way over!"
[Heroic Spirit - Edward Teach ★★★★★★ (6 stars)][Water][Warrior/Effect][ATK1000/DEF2400]
[If this card exists in your hand or graveyard, you can activate one of the following effects when a [Lily] monster on your field is targeted by an attack or an opponent's card effect:
- Negate the attack and Special Summon this card. If this card Special Summoned by this effect leaves the field, banish it.]
"Since the Heroic Spirit - Artoria Pendragon Lily on my field was targeted by the attack from Blue-Eyes White Dragon, I Special Summon Heroic Spirit - Edward Teach from my hand in Defense Position!"
Before anyone could see him, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, made his presence known with his usual bombastic declaration.
"Blackbeard is unbeatable when protecting little girls and lolis!" Blackbeard descended from the sky, gripping a silver blade with his fingers and slicing through the incoming burst of white light aimed at Lily.
"The visuals and moves are impressive... if only you'd keep your mouth shut," thought Hoshino, shaking her head at the over-the-top character she summoned.
"When Heroic Spirit - Edward Teach is Special Summoned by his effect, that monster's attack is negated!" Hoshino pointed towards Kaiba. "So your Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack is ineffective this turn!"
"The transfer student blocked it! That terrifying attack!" The crowd, which had been holding their breath, finally exhaled in relief.
"How did she do that? Why did another monster suddenly appear?" The bystanders were confused.
"And that monster... it looks kind of creepy..."
"Oh no, this might affect my reputation..." Hoshino's face darkened as she overheard the whispers around her, glaring at Blackbeard.
"Huh? Are you talking about me being creepy?" Blackbeard asked innocently, pointing at himself.
"Thank you for protecting me, Blackbeard..." Lily said timidly, unsure of how to deal with Blackbeard.
"Cute! So cute!" Blackbeard shouted enthusiastically.
Ignoring Blackbeard's antics, Hoshino turned her focus back to Kaiba. "You managed to summon Blue-Eyes on your second turn... Looks like I'll have to summon Siegfried next turn, even if I lose some attack power, or else I'll be in trouble."
"Hmph, Hoshino, you're already planning to summon Siegfried next turn, aren't you?" Kaiba smirked, having read Hoshino's intentions. He pressed a button on his duel disk to activate his face-down card.
"But I'm not going to let you do as you please. I activate my Trap Card, [Tyrant Wing]!"
As Kaiba activated the card, the projection of the face-down card flipped, revealing its hidden effect.
[Tyrant Wing - Trap Card Effect: Target 1 Dragon monster on the field; equip this card to it. It gains 400 ATK/DEF, also it can make up to 2 attacks on monsters during each Battle Phase. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if the monster equipped with this card by this effect attacked an opponent's monster this turn: Destroy this card.]
"I equip Tyrant Wing to my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon][ATK 3000 → 3400]
With the activation of Tyrant Wing, Blue-Eyes White Dragon's already massive wings began to glow, expanding even further, doubling in size. The mighty white dragon's roar echoed through the courtyard, its immense presence dominating the scene.
"A Blue-Eyes White Dragon equipped with Tyrant Wing can attack twice in one turn!" Kaiba pointed forward with satisfaction.
"Go, Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Attack Lily again!"
"Kaiba's determined to take down Lily this turn to stop Hoshino from summoning Siegfried next!" Jonouchi commented, realizing Kaiba's plan. "If Hoshino doesn't have a Dragon-type monster on her field, she won't be able to unleash Siegfried's full power."
"Those wings look so cool! Is that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" The crowd marveled at the duel, not caring much for the strategic nuances. They could only see which monster looked more powerful and awesome.
"I want one too! How much do you think it costs?"
"Hey, that's one of only four in the world! You couldn't afford it even if you sold everything you own!"
"No way! These toy cards are worth that much?!"
While the spectators were having their minds blown, Hoshino could only force a bitter smile as she prepared to face the incoming attack. "It's frustrating that Kaiba's read all my moves."
The brilliant white light from Blue-Eyes White Dragon once again consumed Hoshino's field.
"As a pirate, I'll never let a single tear fall from a loli's eye!" With a steely gaze, Blackbeard declared as he stood firm against the overwhelming light.
"Lily, don't be afraid! This is the moment to fulfill my pirate's duty!"
"Alright, I'm counting on you, Blackbeard!" Hoshino said, bracing herself against the light as she took Blackbeard's card from her duel disk.
"I activate Blackbeard's special effect! When a Lily monster on my field would be destroyed by battle or effect, I can destroy Edward Teach instead!"
"To die for a little girl is the greatest wish I've ever had!" With those final words, Blackbeard charged headlong into the scorching light.
"Ugh, he never shuts up, that pervert!" With no emotion, Hoshino coldly tossed Blackbeard's card into the graveyard.
"That creepy monster blocked the attack?"
"As gross as he was, he was actually kind of cool at the end."
The crowd, unaware of Blackbeard's more unsavory tendencies, was surprisingly touched by his final sacrifice.
"As expected from Hoshino, her monster effects are always a hassle." Kaiba frowned, clearly annoyed that his attempt to destroy Lily had been thwarted.
"Even though you prevented Lily's destruction, you still have to take 2200 points of damage!"
As Kaiba finished speaking, the wind from Blue-Eyes White Dragon's massive wings swept toward Hoshino.
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 3500 → 1300]
"This feels even more real than the Duel Arena!" Hoshino gritted her teeth, struggling to withstand the windstorm that followed.
"Master, I'm starting to get a little angry now!" Lily, having recovered from Blackbeard's sacrifice, stared fiercely at the opponent with a growing determination.
(*****)
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