"Fusion Summon! All the Evils of the World—Angra Mainyu!"
Two beams of black light gradually converged on a single point on the Hoshino, forming a humanoid shape. However, it didn't give off any of the overwhelming presence one would expect from a fusion monster.
"I never thought I'd actually need to summon Angra..." Hoshino muttered with a hint of self-mockery as she placed the weak-looking monster on the field.
"This is my counterattack! Come forth, [Anti-Heroic Spirit—Angra Mainyu]!"
[Anti-Heroic Spirit—Angra Mainyu ★][DARK][Zombie/Fusion/ Effect][ATK 300/DEF 300]
"So weak! =_=!" After glancing at Angra's stats, Akasha couldn't help but exclaim, "It's a fusion monster, and it's weak?"
"Hey, hey, what's that girl there saying?" Angra raised an arm covered in runes, pointing at Akasha who was snickering on the side, "The one thing I can always count on? Just how utterly weak I am!"
Proud of being weak—now that's... something. Still, being self-aware is at least a virtue, I suppose. After all, within the concept of Heroic Spirits, Angra Mainyu truly is undeniably the weakest.
Rowick blinked in disbelief. "To think... she went to all that effort just to summon something so feeble." His trap cards, at their lowest threshold, could only target monsters with at least 1000 ATK, not to mention the special traps that only affected monsters with 5 stars or higher. All of them were designed to deal with monsters that had at least some fighting capability.
But a 1-star monster with 300 ATK, as Hoshino had planned, wouldn't even trigger his traps.
No, to put it accurately, it was so weak that there was no need to target it. At least, that's what it seemed like to Rowick.
"Mr. Rowick, it seems your trap-heavy strategy has a…" Hoshino pinched her thumb and forefinger together, grinning slyly, "tiny, overlooked flaw~"
"Hahaha!" Rowick laughed, amused by Hoshino's words. "A Heroic Spirit that's weak… that's a first. You've surprised me. But really, what could such a pitiful monster accomplish?"
"Attack, Angra Mainyu!" Before Rowick could finish speaking, Hoshino had already declared her attack.
"Alright, let's do this!" Despite his pitiful stats, Angra eagerly rubbed his hands together, visibly thrilled to be ordered into action.
He dashed forward like a shadow in the night, so fast that it seemed too quick for the eye to follow, elegantly slashing the enemy's throat in an instant.
↑The above was just Angra's fantasy version of events.
In reality, Angra merely jogged toward Traptrix at a mediocre pace, looking far less intimidating than he imagined.
"Counterattack, Traptrix Atrax!" Rowick ordered, his confidence unfazed despite his curiosity about Hoshino's plan. In normal circumstances, a 300 ATK monster attempting to attack the 1800 ATK Traptrix wouldn't end well.
The tendrils of Traptrix spread out in an instant, and this time, Hoshino could finally see the Traptrix's attack. The sharp, spider-like tendrils slashed forward, lethal and precise. When considering how she wrapped prey in silk to finish them off, it made sense...
"So that's why it's an Insect-type—it's actually a spider?" Hoshino thought with amusement. "A cute spider-girl? That surprisingly ticks a few of my moe boxes."
However, Hoshino had already witnessed the terrifying power hidden beneath the cute exterior of Traptrix. The counterattack from those sharp tendrils easily pierced through Angra Mainyu's body.
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 1500 → 700]
"Wait, Hoshino-nee, this isn't going according to your usual script!" Akasha exclaimed in shock, seeing Hoshino's life points reduced. Normally, with her strategy, even a weak-looking monster would work in tandem with an effect or a spell card to turn the tables. "Could it be?! Is it just a weak monster?"
"Heh, Akasha, I should've told you before—weak monsters have their abilities too!" Hoshino wiped the sweat from her forehead. The holographic imagery was so lifelike that Hoshino could almost physically feel the sensation of being pierced by the tendrils.
"Abilities?" Akasha's attention snapped to Angra Mainyu, curious about what he could possibly do.
"Gotcha now!" Angra Mainyu, skewered by the tendrils, clutched onto them with a wicked grin. "You're not getting away from me!"
Angra's smile grew increasingly sinister, as the markings on his body gradually turned pitch black.
"Here I go. You did this to yourself!" Angra Mainyu, now transformed into his black state, roared with the spirit of vengeance.
"Falsely Transcribed Creation(Verg Avesta)!"
The overwhelming power of revenge manifested into countless black spikes, which shot toward the enemy.
"!!" The sudden counterattack caught Rowick completely off guard.
"This is the ability of the weakest Heroic Spirit. I activate [Anti-Heroic Spirit – Angra Mainyu]'s special effect!"
[This card cannot be destroyed by battle. If this card is involved in battle and you take battle damage, inflict twice that amount as effect damage to your opponent.]
Dark spikes pierced Rowick's body without mercy.
"I took 1500 damage, but you're getting 3000 in return! Call it payback!"
[Rowick Hawkins LP 4000 → 1000]
Angra Mainyu, returning to his normal state, wiped the sweat off his brow and cheerfully said, "Successful counterattack! I gave it my all!"
For the first time, Rowick felt the full impact of the Duel Disk's holograms, and it took him a moment to steady himself. "Using a weak monster to sidestep my traps, followed by a damage-doubling effect to shift the duel. Such a bold, all-or-nothing move... I never thought I'd see it from a young duelist."
"Heh, I'll take that as a compliment," Hoshino replied, drawing a card from her remaining two and placing one face down in defense position. "I'll summon a monster in face-down defense position and end my turn."
Hoshino's hand: 1 card remaining.
"My turn, draw!" Rowick began his turn.
"Hmm, another monster, huh? I'll summon [Traptrix Nepenthes] in defense position!"
Rowick placed his newly drawn card on the duel disk, and a new Traptrix monster materialized in front of him.
[Traptrix Nepenthes ★★★★ (4-star)][EARTH][Plant/ Effect][ATK 800/DEF 2000]
As expected, the second Traptrix monster also had the appearance of a cute little girl. This time, she was a blonde loli, bearing a striking resemblance to Akasha.
"Tch, ugh, this guy's definitely got a loli obsession..." Akasha clicked her tongue in disgust and stuck her little red tongue out at Rowick.
"_(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ Akasha, I'm not a Loli-obsessed, okay! It's just that the monsters I like happen to be Lolis!"
Rovik once again tried to defend himself, but to be honest... his argument was not very convincing.
Perhaps the pain of losing his daughter is what made Rowick so fond of the cute "Traptrix" monsters.
Thinking this, Hoshino couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy.
"He channels the love he had for his daughter into his cards. So even though he's just an archaeologist, that's how he became so strong. Mr. Rowick, I respect you are a man of culture!" Lost in her imagination, Hoshino almost moved herself to tears.
"I'll set two more cards," Rowick's voice interrupted her emotional train of thought.
"Oh great, not more traps…," Hoshino sighed as she snapped out of her reverie.
"Wait, traps?" Suddenly alert, Hoshino's intuition told her something was off.
Rowick had the Traptrix Atrax on the field, meaning he could activate his trap cards directly from his hand due to its effect. But setting them now would only delay their activation by a turn.
In duels, nothing is done without purpose. Especially a duelist like Rowick—every step he took had a deeper meaning.
"Hoshino, even though your Angra Mainyu caught me off guard, this will be my counterattack to secure victory!" Rowick declared.
He wasn't about to attack Angra, as that would only result in mutual destruction. What he wanted was a complete victory, a win that would give him the courage to pursue his revenge on Marik.
Rowick slammed his final card onto the duel disk, and the hologram in front of him began to distort. "Thanks to Traptrix Atrax, I can activate trap cards from my hand. And now, I activate the trap card—[Zero Hole]!"
"Zero Hole?!" Hoshino's brows furrowed as she watched the scene in front of her twist and collapse into a single point.
[Zero Hole Trap Effect: Activate only when you have no cards in your hand. Destroy all cards on the field.]
Its effect was even more terrifying than Dark Hole. Zero Hole—an immense force capable of tearing apart even dimensions. Once this card is played, everything returns to nothingness.
"You set all your cards just to activate Zero Hole, didn't you? But this will wipe out everything you have on the field too!"
"Not everything! Zero Hole will tear open a path to my victory!" Amid the swirling chaos, only the two cute, unscathed lolis remained, untouched as if nothing had happened.
"This is the shared special effect of all Traptrix monsters!"
[Unaffected by the effects of [Hole] Normal Traps.]
"So, only your monsters will be destroyed, Hoshino."
Though Angra Mainyu was immune to battle destruction, he couldn't withstand the effects that destroyed cards. This meant that once Zero Hole was activated, Hoshino would be left defenseless, without any monsters.
"This is bad. That loli-obsessed person has some skill," Akasha commented. She had seen Hoshino in tight spots before, but the real problem this time was that Hoshino had no cards left on the field.
"This is the end for you, Hoshino. With no means of counterattack, your remaining 700 life points are nothing against my Traptrix Atrax and her 1800 attack points!"
The special effect of Zero Hole continued to expand, tearing through space and slowly closing in on Hoshino's side of the field.
"Is this really how it ends?!" Despite the impending catastrophe, Hoshino remained unnervingly calm. "Activate your special effect, Angra Mainyu!"
Angra turned his head, seemingly in disbelief. "Huh? You're betting on me, the weakest Heroic Spirit, in a critical moment? I'll just let you down, you know!"
"Even if you let me down, it's fine! He's already played his final move; all we can do now is fight till the end!"
[Once per turn, you can banish 1 card from your hand to activate this effect. Return 3 banished cards (from either player's side) to the deck, then draw 1 card. This effect can also be used during your opponent's turn.]
"Using Angra Mainyu's effect, I'll banish [Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga] from my hand, and return the banished Okita, Sasaki Kojirou, and Oda Nobunaga to my deck."
Okita: "QAQ Nobu! Are you here to get me? Were you worried I was lonely in the banished zone, so you came for me?"
Nobunaga: "Stop crying, Okita. Let's go home."
"Drawing another card at this point won't change anything," Rowick said confidently. Even if she drew a spell or trap card, she wouldn't be able to activate it in time. He believed this was just Hoshino's futile struggle.
"You never know what kind of miracle the next card might bring—that's the charm of dueling!" Hoshino, with renewed determination, placed her fingers on the top card of her deck.
"Fate or doom, one card to decide it all! Draw!"
A flash of light, like a falling star, trailed behind Hoshino's card as she drew.
"Arash!" Holding the newly drawn card high, Hoshino called out the name of the hero known for ending wars. "Your NP is fully charged!"
"Wha—?!" Rowick and the spectators were stunned.
"This is the card I drew—[Heroic Spirit – Arash]! And I activate Arash's special effect from my hand."
[Heroic Spirit – Arash Effect: When an effect that destroys cards on the field is activated, you can banish this card from your hand to negate that activation.]
"Heh, looks like it's my turn again!" Facing the terrifying power of Zero Hole, the manifested form of Arash smiled calmly.
"Compared to using my Noble Phantasm to destroy enemies, I much prefer using it to protect others!"
"I'm counting on you, Arash!" Hoshino entrusted him with full confidence.
"Master, what's with that expression? Don't be nervous. Whether it's a Dark Hole or a Zero Hole…"
With a smile and eyes sharp as an eagle, Arash fully drew his longbow.
"One arrow is all I need!"
"This is my arrow, to protect what's important!"
"This arrow is for paving the way to Master's victory!"
"—Stella!"
The arrow shot through the air like a meteor, piercing straight into the center of the Zero Hole. A strike powerful enough to shatter stars, an arrow that could end wars, now halted the catastrophe threatening to tear space apart.
[Zero Hole]'s activation is negated.
[Heroic Spirit – Arash] is banished.
"Your turn, Mr Rowick," Hoshino said calmly as the battlefield returned to normal, the Zero Hole incident seeming like nothing more than an illusion.
"I wouldn't want to waste the opportunity a great hero bought for me."
"This is the resolve of a true duelist, Duel King?" Rowick couldn't help but admire her. With that incredible comeback, Hoshino had shattered the hopeless situation, along with his supposedly unbeatable Zero Hole.
"It's not about being a Duel King. It's because I have a reason to stop you after this duel."
"???"
"You won't be able to defeat Marik."
(*****)
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