"Let the curtain rise! Welcome to Golden Theater! Laus St. Claudius!!" x2
The magnificent Golden Theater rose, enveloping all the monsters on the field.
"So beautiful! Hoshino-nee's field spell is amazing!" Akasha's eyes sparkled as she spun around in awe, admiring the Golden Theater from every angle.
"Akasha, if you keep spinning like that, you'll get dizzy," Mokuba said, stopping her from spinning. "Still, it's thanks to the satellite computer's powerful processing abilities that we can see such a stunning effect."
"Mokuba, do you think we need to launch another satellite computer as a backup?" Kaiba, the program developer, immediately recognized the complexity of the visuals being displayed.
Mokuba scratched his head, thinking. "Based on the current data, one super satellite computer should barely be enough, but just in case later..."
"We'll begin preparations to launch a second satellite this afternoon!" Kaiba decisively made the final call in just a few seconds. "We can't afford to risk such a large potential hazard just to save some minor resources... Besides, Hoshino, I bet your full power hasn't even been revealed yet!"
In the Golden Theater—
Hoshino raised her Duel Disk high, and the field spell card within the slot gleamed with an unusual light. "Take this, Tenma Yako! This is the full extent of my current strength!"
[Golden Theater Laus St. Claudius Field Spell Card Effect: ①: Upon activation, [Heroic Spirit - Nero Claudius] on your field can attack each of the opponent's monsters once.]
"Go, Nero! Attack the Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür!"
Drawing her flame-clad sword, the Aestus Estus, Nero unleashed a deep crimson blaze.
"Going straight for Tenma Yako's strongest monster first?!" Mokuba was stunned, not expecting Hoshino to open her attack in this order. "Even with the boost from the field spell, Nero's attack power isn't enough. She should've started by attacking the Enraged Battle Ox..."
"Finally losing your ability to think clearly from the pain in your soul? This duel is already over," Yako scoffed, shaking his head dismissively. "Seems I overestimated you, Hoshino. Keith was right—you'll never defeat Lord Pegasus."
"My mind has never been clearer!" Hoshino's eyes burned with determination as she locked onto the Aestus Estus, which Nero was swinging. "Right now, I can see the path to victory as clearly as the flames Nero is wielding!"
"—Go, Nero!"
"Umu~, Master!!" Nero's powerful voice echoed across the stage as if the greatest play in history was being performed in the most extravagant theater.
"Behold my talent and listen to the thunderous applause! Then praise me! Praise my Golden Theater!!"
Laus St. Claudius—!
The mighty flames of Nero's Aestus Estus traced a path of destruction, as if a nuclear bomb had struck Yako's field. The inferno was so intense that Yako could feel the overwhelming heat of the Shadow Game scorching his face.
"How futile! No matter how you attack, it won't scratch my Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür!" Yako remained confident in his victory.
"Oh? Is that really true? Take a good look at your monsters, Yako!" Hoshino countered confidently.
"In the raging flames, all three of Yako's monsters writhed in agony, including his strongest, Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür.
"Raaaaargh!!" The high-temperature flames nearly melted the mechanized armor of Barbaros Ür, forcing out a cry of anguish that shook the arena.
Finally losing his composure, Yako's face turned panicked. "Impossible! How could this be happening?!"
"Why is it impossible?" Nero smirked proudly as she swung down her flaming sword. "In this world, there is no such thing as 'impossible' for me!"
[Heroic Spirit - Nero Claudius ATK 3800]
"Nero's attack power is matching Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür!" Kaiba exclaimed, equally surprised but quickly catching on to Hoshino's strategy. "Haha, now I see! Hoshino, you really took a gamble, didn't you?"
"Heh, looks like you figured it out, Kaiba," Hoshino said, confidently holding up the glowing spell card in her Duel Disk. "But it's not a gamble if you win, right? I've got Luck EX on my side!"
"Quick-Play Spell [Golden Sumo: Rocky Terrain]!"
[Golden Sumo: Rocky Terrain Quick-Play Spell Effect: Select one [Heroic Spirit] monster on your side of the field. When that monster battles an opponent's monster with higher attack power, increase your selected monster's attack by the difference in attack points.]
"I needed to raise Nero's attack power to the max! That's why I targeted the strongest monster on your field first, Yako!"
"Even with matching attack power, shouldn't they destroy each other?" Yako waved his hand forward, refusing to believe Hoshino's words.
"It'll take you a million years before you can drag me down!" Nero smiled softly, returning Aestus Estus to its place in the center of the theater. "Thanks to the field spell, Yako, your Continuous Trap Skill Drain has been neutralized!"
[③: [Heroic Spirit - Nero] on your field gains 300 ATK/DEF and is unaffected by the opponent's spell/trap effects.]
"That's why Nero, immune to Skill Drain, naturally triggered her own effect!"
[This effect can only be used once per Duel. ③: When this card is destroyed, flip three coins. If at least one is heads, negate that destruction.]
Coin flip results: Heads, heads, heads.
"Invictus Spiritus: Thrice, Though I Welcome the Setting Sun!"
"This is the final result—I won the bet, Yako!"
Yako, now retreating a step, cast a disbelieving gaze toward the girl standing opposite the flames. "Did you really come up with such a strategy in that brief moment?"
"Is now really the time to be panicking, Yako?!" Hoshino sidestepped, drawing a card and pointing toward the monsters on Yako's side, still howling in the flames. She spoke resolutely.
"According to Golden Theater, every monster on your field is going to take an attack from Nero's 3800 attack points. That means..."
"Your proud monsters, enhanced by Skill Drain, have all been wiped out by the flames of the Roman Emperor!"
"All of Tenma Yako's monsters were wiped out in one hit?!" Mokuba's jaw dropped, his face filled with disbelief.
"Hoshino-nee is so strong!" Akasha exclaimed in admiration.
"Hmph, Hoshino's counterattack isn't just about wiping out the monsters," Kaiba said, seeing through the move as he let out a cold chuckle.
[Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür] destroyed.
In the flames, the Beast Machine King, the first to take the attack, was shattered into a pile of image data.
"The real punishment is just beginning, Yako!" Hoshino, still holding a card and pointing toward the flames, declared confidently.
[Beast King Barbaros] destroyed.
"Because Barbaros was destroyed by a 3800 ATK strike, you'll take 800 damage to your Life Points!"
"!!!"
[Tenma Yako's LP 2500 → 1700]
"Wait, what's Tenma Yako's remaining Life Points?!" Mokuba suddenly realized something.
"That's right, Hoshino's move isn't just a reversal; it's the final blow!" Kaiba laughed.
"This is it! The final strike, Yako!"
[Enraged Battle Ox] destroyed.
"Since Enraged Battle Ox was destroyed by Nero, you'll take 2100 damage to your Life Points! You're finished!"
"Damn it!!!"
From behind the wall of flames, Yako, now enraged, furiously activated the button for a set card. "I activate my trap card, [Nutrient Z]!"
[Nutrient Z Trap Card Effect: During damage calculation, when you are about to take 2000 or more battle damage: Gain 4000 LP first]
[Tenma Yako's LP 1700 → 5700 → 3600]
"To think that even I would be driven to such a desperate state by a little girl like you. Well done!" Yako, after flipping his last life-saving set card, had lost all his usual composure.
"Do you think it's over just because of that? ORA! Caligula!" Knowing that Yako wouldn't go down so easily, Hoshino took a stance like a Stand user.
"Neerrrrooo, ORA ORA ORA!" Following the command, Caligula rushed forward, his fists pounding Yako's distorted face like a storm.
[Tenma Yako's LP 3600 → 2100]
The white aura swirling around Nero's blade struck Night Walker. According to the rules of the Shadow Game, it naturally tore away a third of his soul.
"He finally got what he deserved," Hoshino thought, as she looked at him being beaten up and having his soul ripped apart, feeling as if a great vengeance had been fulfilled.
"Hoshino-chan, that container seems to be filling up quickly," Da Vinci worriedly said, looking up at the transparent container that was now filled with Tenma Yako's soul.
"Can just the concentration of human souls bring the dead back to life? This feels like it's touching the realm of the forbidden Gate of Truth."
"The Gate of Truth? Does that really exist?" Hoshino tilted her head, feeling like she had stumbled into a certain anime plot.
"I'm just speculating. I've been watching anime recently..."
"Wait, are you serious? Is this Fullmetal Alchemist? Looks like you've had some free time lately," Hoshino couldn't help but snark.
"Anyway, given the current situation, it looks like you've turned things around, Hoshino-chan!" Although Da Vinci was worried about the soul container, the top priority in a Shadow Game was defeating the opponent.
"Yeah, you're right, Da Vinci. Let's finish this in one go!"
After ending her battle phase, Hoshino selected a card from her hand and inserted it into the Duel Disk.
"I'll set one card and end my turn."
Hoshino's remaining hand: 2 cards, 1 set card.
"Alright! Now even Tenma Yako can't turn the tables, right?" Though Mokuba felt it was a pity that they couldn't finish off Yako in one blow, the overwhelming advantage on Hoshino's field made him too excited to care.
"Mokuba... are you on the other side?" Finally unable to take it anymore, Hoshino scolded Mokuba, who kept jinxing her by raising flags.
"Hoshino, what are you talking about? There's no way I'd be on the other side..." Mokuba, confused by Hoshino's sudden scolding, had no idea what was going on.
"Am I wrong, though? Hoshino, you have Nero with 3800 ATK on the field, unaffected by spells and traps! There's no way he, with an empty field, can beat you, right?"
"Mokuba, you should stop talking now. Hoshino-nee's back is practically full of your jinxes already," Akasha added.
"It's my turn. Draw!" Yako's low, cold voice interrupted their conversation.
"Hoshino, I thought I wouldn't need to use the power of the Evil God against you. That would have made things easier for both you and me..." As he drew his card, having lost his earlier composure, Yako's entire aura seemed to change.
"Wait, no!" Hearing this, Hoshino immediately sensed something was wrong.
"Of course, this is all your fault. Next, you will experience the terror of the ultimate Evil God. You will regret not letting me defeat you earlier!"
Yako dramatically revealed the card he had just drawn. His expression, now twisted and sinister beneath his disheveled white bangs, was full of malice. "Spell Card, [Card of Sanctity]!"
"I knew it! He drew exactly what he needed!" Hoshino's worst fear came true. With only one card left in his hand, summoning the Evil God seemed nearly impossible. The thing she feared most was that Yako would draw a card that replenished his hand.
[Card of Sanctity Spell Card Effect: Each player draws until they have 6 cards in their hand.]
"At least it's not Card of Demise," Hoshino sighed with some relief. Although Card of Sanctity replenished Yako's hand and solved his immediate problem, it also allowed Hoshino to draw cards, making it a somewhat mutually beneficial situation.
"Draw!" x2
As a rain of coins scattered down, both players replenished their hands to six cards each.
"Then, I summon the monster [Sangan] and activate my last set card, the Continuous Trap Card [Ultimate Offering]!"
[Sangan ★★★(3-star)][DARK][Fiend/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 600]
[Ultimate Offering Continuous Trap Card Effect: During your Main Phase or your opponent's Battle Phase: You can pay 500 LP; immediately after this effect resolves, Normal Summon 1 monster.]
"I'll use my own blood as the price to summon the strongest Evil God!"
(*****)
If you'd like to read 25 chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/ANeet. Your support means a lot. Thank you!