"And now, I activate my final Spell Card [Raigeki]!" Akasha declared, a small yet triumphant smile curling on her lips.
The collapsing scenery and the suddenly cloud-filled sky startled the Lilies on Hoshino's field.
"What's happening, what's happening..." Still somewhat excited amidst the chaos, Nursery Rhyme started running around on her little legs.
On the other hand, Saber Lily appeared much more dejected. "This is divine retribution cast upon me for continuously failing and putting Master in a dire situation!"
"Don't be so pessimistic! Master will find a way to win." Although she looked much younger than Saber Lily, Jeanne d'Arc Lily, pretending to be mature, comforted the downcast girl.
"That's right! No matter what crisis she faces, Mommy never gives up! Compared to this lightning, Mom is the light of hope for Jack~" Jack moved her little face closer to the downcast Artoria and comforted her in her way.
"Don't be down, Saber Lily! You're still a trainee knight! There's still much to learn and grow from~" Thanks to her well-read nature, Nursery Rhyme's comforting words carried more weight.
"Don't worry, everyone. Leave the rest to me..."
[Raigeki Effect: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls.]
"But this card's effect is even more brutal than the last one!" Hoshino clicked her tongue in frustration, looking up at the clouds filled with lightning.
As the dense clouds collided and condensed, a bolt of lightning as thick as a pillar was hurled down in an instant.
"I swear I'll never say 'slim as a lightning bolt' again..." Hoshino's eye twitched as the enormous bolt, thicker than a door frame, struck down. Its sheer visual power was overwhelming. (What she means is that she no longer wants to use exaggerations or unrealistic statements.)
Boom—!
The lightning that blasted Hoshino's field had a force far exceeding a typical explosion, showing how powerless humans were against natural disasters.
With the blast of the lightning, the four Lily monster cards on Hoshino's duel disk began to dim one by one.
"Hoshino-nee, all the monsters you worked so hard to summon were wiped out by just one of Akasha's cards." Akasha flashed an innocent smile, clearly pleased with the effect of her Raigeki.
"Is this girl secretly evil on the inside?" Mokuba, shocked by Akasha, muttered. Though he had seen decks like this before, Akasha was the first he had seen play it with such mastery, finishing the duel with an innocent smile on her face.
"Akasha-chan, do you enjoy dueling like this?" Hoshino asked seriously, despite Akasha's bright smile.
"Enjoy? Isn't dueling all about winning? Akasha duels only to claim victory in the end."
"If that's how you see it, you'll never beat me, Akasha-chan!" Even though Hoshino now had no monsters on her field, she spoke with full confidence.
"Hoshino-nee, you're about to lose. All of your cards rely on monsters working together, right? Without any monsters for synergy, your cards are worse than fake ones; they have no soul."
Raising her small arm, Akasha declared an attack with her Dark Magician Girl. "I bet you're thinking, 'I wish I had a Magic Cylinder,' right now, aren't you?"
"But it's too late! Dark Magician Girl, unleash the final blow!"
The lively figure of Dark Magician Girl, which looked nothing like a mere card, waved her staff, launching a purple-black magic spell straight at the defenseless Hoshino.
"Draw!" Despite Akasha's attack, Hoshino inexplicably drew a card from her deck.
"Huh? Why are you drawing now?" Akasha and Mokuba were both dumbfounded...
"Akasha-chan, dueling is so much fun! Every time I draw a card, I can feel the connection between me and my deck. So every draw excites me, just like a child receiving a new toy."
"So... why exactly are you drawing?" Akasha still looked completely puzzled.
"Because when Jeanne d'Arc Lily was destroyed, her effect was triggered!" Hoshino raised her duel disk, and the graveyard area began to glow with a holy light.
[③: When this card is destroyed by battle or effect, you can activate its effect. Add one [Heroic Spirit] monster from your deck to your hand.]
"This light will guide the young girl in the graveyard, who refuses to accept defeat, into the blooming voyage, uniting her soul as she grows and leading to the final victory!"
With a swirl of her slender fingers, Hoshino revealed the card she had just drawn to Akasha.
"This is the monster I just added to my hand!"
"But you didn't search for it..." To Akasha, it looked like Hoshino had just drawn a card normally.
"No, this is a true search by the soul! As long as you trust in your deck, the card that will respond to your victory will always be in your next draw!"
With her spirits high, Hoshino placed the drawn monster onto her raised duel disk, then flipped over her set card from the previous turn.
"And now, I activate the Quick-Play Spell I searched last turn with Nursery Rhyme's effect, [Voyage of the Flowers]!"
A warm breeze filled with the scent of spring wafted through, creating a path lined with blooming flowers.
The girl's determination, her frustration, and her desire to grow were all rewarded at that very moment.
[Voyage of the Flowers Quick-Play Spell Effect: ①: If there are 3 or more [Lily] monsters in your graveyard, banish them from the game to activate this effect. Special Summon 1 [Heroic Spirit] monster of level 8 or below from your hand or deck.] (Looks like she upgraded this card, which is why the effect is different.)
"By banishing all the Lily monsters in my graveyard, according to the card's effect..."
A pillar of golden light soared into the sky, dispelling the dark clouds that had gathered due to Raigeki.
"Unveil the [Voyage of the Flowers]! Special Summon [Heroic Spirit – Artoria Pendragon]!"
With an aura of royalty, Artoria emerged from the golden light, her presence overwhelming.
"I am the king of knights; there is no possibility of defeat!" Wielding her sword that gleamed with golden light, Artoria spoke with the confidence of a true ruler.
"She... evolved?" Mokuba, who was stunned, realized that this monster was the same Saber Lily who had lost twice in a row just moments ago.
"Artoria... Artoria?" Repeating the familiar name a few times, Mokuba suddenly smacked his palm as if he had an epiphany. "King Arthur is a girl!"
[Heroic Spirit – Artoria Pendragon ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)] [LIGHT] [Warrior/Effect] [ATK 2400/DEF 2000]
"Akasha-chan, because attacks can't be reversed, you've already lost!" The sword in Artoria's hand effortlessly cut through the purple-black magic fired by Dark Magician Girl.
"Counterattack, Artoria!"
"Yes, Master!" After cutting through the enemy's attack, Artoria dashed forward, the Holy Sword in her hand tracing a brilliant path along the way.
On the other side, Akasha, who was staring in fear at the blue figure rushing towards her and her Dark Magician Girl, kept shaking her head. "Impossible, Akasha still has 3200 Life Points. I won't lose just like this... I won't lose..."
Though the truth was evident, Akasha's instincts kept telling her that this attack was bad news, very bad news. Despite having so many Life Points, it felt like she was a ship caught in a storm, teetering on the brink of disaster.
"It's over, Akasha-chan..." Hoshino's final declaration confirmed Akasha's gut feeling, and like a tidal wave, it overturned the small boat in her heart that had been desperately trying to stay afloat.
"Quick-Play Spell, [Hero Creation]!"
[Hero Creation Quick-Play Spell Effect: Target one [Heroic Spirit] monster on your field. Until the end of the turn, that monster gains 1000 ATK/DEF. If it battles a monster, the battle damage it inflicts on your opponent is doubled.]
[Heroic Spirit - Artoria ATK 2400 → 3400]
"Hmph, it's Merlin again, huh." Sensing the rapidly increasing magical energy surging into her sword, Artoria smirked as she sprinted, gripping her sword even tighter. "As a king, I cannot lose to some mere mage!"
"Mana Burst!" Along with the King's shout, the magical energy gathered in the Holy Sword exploded again, amplifying even further.
[①: Once per turn, during damage calculation when this card battles a monster, you can reveal any number of [Heroic Spirit] monsters from your hand. This card gains ATK/DEF equal to the number of revealed monsters x 500 until the end of the turn.]
Hoshino flipped over the two remaining cards in her hand, her face bearing a half-smiling, half-smirking expression.
"These are the two monsters I held in my hand, [Heroic Spirit - Okita Sōji] and [Heroic Spirit - Oda Nobunaga]... According to the effect, Artoria's attack power increases by 1000 points!"
[Heroic Spirit - Artoria ATK 3400 → 4400]
"OOOOOOH!" With a mighty roar, Artoria, now standing before Dark Magician Girl, raised her sword of promised victory high.
"Take this! This is the strike of revenge for all the humiliation I've endured before!"
The Holy Sword came crashing down with full force, and though her true name was not yet unleashed, the golden wave of the blade surged forth, sweeping over Dark Magician Girl and Akasha's tiny form behind her.
"Due to the effect of [Hero Creation], the battle damage is doubled!" Hoshino, turning slightly sideways, stretched out her hand powerfully, pointing towards the light of victory ahead.
"Final damage: 4800 points! Sorry, Akasha-chan!"
[Akasha LP 3200 → 0]
[Duel Over! The winner: Hoshino Chiyuki!]
(***)
"Odion, Akasha lost..." Inside the room, Marik, nervously gnawing on his nails, looked rather anxious.
Standing beside Marik was a tall, dark-skinned man named Odion, who also wore a troubled expression. "Both Slifer and Akasha have failed... This turn of events is extremely disadvantageous for us."
"I underestimated them..." Marik no longer showed his usual manic demeanor.
"Yugi defeated Slifer, and the Duel King defeated Akasha..." Clearly, in Marik's eyes, Akasha's strength had already reached or rivaled that of a God Card.
"Marik, should we change our plans?"
"No need to worry!" Although his attitude was somewhat anxious, Marik's gaze remained full of determination. "As long as Ra is in my hands, I will not fail."
"What about our collaboration with Pegasus and Bakura?"
"Proceed as planned. Because of Akasha's appearance, it's hard for others to recognize her as a member of the Rare Hunters. We can't let Pegasus find out about my desire for the Evil God Cards that the Duel King possesses."
"Does that mean you're giving up on the Evil God Cards?"
"Giving up? I'm simply letting them destroy each other. I'll defeat the last one standing and take the Evil God Cards for myself."
Marik chuckled, feeling particularly wise at that moment.
(***)
"Huh? Akasha lost?" Tilting her little golden head, Akasha looked utterly bewildered. "This must be a dream, right? Tell me it's a dream!"
Walking up to her, Hoshino bent down and pinched Akasha's soft, bouncy cheeks.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch QxQ." Akasha's face was pinched so hard that it became a bit distorted.
"Still think you're dreaming, Akasha-chan?" Even though Hoshino's expression returned to her usual sunny smile, she couldn't stop playing with Akasha's soft, springy cheeks due to how good they felt.
"Mmmmf! Hosh-ne, stop, my face can't take it!" Akasha struggled to form a coherent sentence through the squished mass of her cheeks, though her pleading tone was still clear to Hoshino.
Akasha's once pale face now bore a reddish swelling, and her eyes were starting to well up with little teardrops.
"So, what will you do next, Akasha? Are you planning to return to the Rare Hunters?" Hoshino asked, releasing Akasha's cheeks.
"How can we just let a Rare Hunter member go like that? We should capture her and interrogate her about their organization and headquarters!" Mokuba suddenly interjected, his strong hatred for the fake card-producing organization quite evident.
Hoshino shot a disdainful glance at Mokuba, who was getting overly excited. "Arresting a cute little girl like her for interrogation would make us the bad guys instead."
Hoshino certainly wasn't going to do something like that, and of course, she wouldn't let Mokuba do it either.
"Akasha can't go back..." Wiping away the tears Hoshino had squeezed out of her eyes, Akasha lowered her head.
"What do you mean, you can't go back?"
"Marik-nii only gave Akasha the order to defeat the Duel King. He didn't order Akasha to return."
"Do you need orders just to go home?"
"Marik told us that no member of the Rare Hunters is allowed to return to the base until Battle City is over."
"I see..." Hoshino stroked her chin, quickly understanding Marik's intentions.
After revealing their identities as Rare Hunters, returning to the base would likely lead to them being tracked. So, even if they lost, the Rare Hunters scattered across Domino City would continue to roam.
"Like zombies, huh..." The comparison sent a shiver down Hoshino's slender frame.
If that was truly the case, then a troublesome problem now lay before Hoshino.
She couldn't just leave a little girl like Akasha wandering the city for two days, could she? According to the official schedule, the Battle City tournament lasted for 48 hours, two days, and two nights.
Unlike those big, burly Rare Hunters, even if Akasha was fine during the day, was she going to let this little girl spend two nights wandering the streets of Domino City?
"Akasha-chan, would you like to come home with me?"
"Hello, police? There's a child abductor here." Mokuba picked up his phone, pretending to call the police.
"Hmm!" Akasha nodded vigorously, immediately agreeing to Hoshino's suggestion.
Huh? That worked so easily? Akasha agreed so quickly that it left Hoshino a bit dazed.
[Hoshino has acquired one child.]
"Akasha wants to know why Hoshino-nee is so strong. Akasha wants to become stronger too." Akasha extended her tiny, clenched fist and handed a puzzle card to Hoshino.
Holding the soft little hand Akasha placed in hers, Hoshino smiled gently. "Sure, but I hope Akasha-chan will come to truly enjoy dueling, not just seek strength for the sake of winning."
"Enjoy dueling?" Akasha tilted her head in confusion as she felt Hoshino stroking her small hand. She didn't resist the touch but still looked puzzled.
"Don't rush. Take it step by step. When we get to my place, I will help you build a deck that's truly your own."
"Hello, police? It's the same person again. Now she's confirmed to be taking the child home." Mokuba continued to pretend to report her.
With a deadly glare, Hoshino stared fiercely at Mokuba, who had been causing trouble from the start.
"My room is inside Kame Toy Store. There are plenty of cards there, and we'll put together a deck Akasha-chan will truly love."
"A deck I truly love..." Akasha pulled out the deck she'd been using, a complex expression appearing on her face.
"All right! I'll go, and Akasha will create a deck for my Silent Magician that I love!"
"Hehe, Akasha-chan, don't forget about Battle City's rules. That Silent Magician already belongs to me~" Hoshino said with a mischievous grin.
"Eh!?" Akasha's mouth dropped open in shock, not expecting to lose the only monster that truly belonged to her right after making her resolve.
"How about this? I'll lend you that Silent Magician for now. Once you complete a deck worthy of it, I'll return the card to you."
"I really can't figure out whether you're kind or mean, Hoshino..." Mokuba shrugged helplessly.
Beep, beep, beep~
"Why is my brother calling all of a sudden?" Mokuba pulled out his phone as the ringtone sounded, looking at the picture of Seto Kaiba on the screen.
So, that thing of yours really is a smartphone!
"Mokuba! KaibaCorp headquarters has been breached! Get back here, now..."
(*****)
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