# Chapter 44: HA☆NA☆SEI
"My turn! Draw!"
"I summon Zubababa Dwarf - Dododo Glove in Attack Position!"
"I activate the effect of Zubababa Dwarf - Dododo Glove! I can Special Summon one 'Gogogo' or 'Gagaga' monster from my hand."
"Appear! Gagaga Magician!"
"I overlay my two Level 4 monsters!" Yūga Hōzumi reached out, summoning the Stardust Vortex as the red number '39' glowed on the back of his hand.
"Xyz Summon! Descend, Warrior of Hope! Number 39: Utopia Double!"
Golden light illuminated the night sky, and within this dazzling radiance, Utopia descended!
Number 39: Utopia Double DEF: 2500
"I activate the effect of Utopia Double!"
"By detaching one of its Xyz Materials, I add one 'Double or Nothing!' from my Deck to my hand. Then, I can Xyz Summon a 'Utopia' Xyz monster from my Extra Deck, using this card as the material! The monster summoned this way has its ATK doubled, but it cannot attack directly."
"Xyz Change! Descend! Number 39: Utopia!"
A flash of golden light later, the Utopia before Yūga Hōzumi transformed, revealing its attack stance, its Moon-Fang Blade flickering with lightning.
Number 39: Utopia ATK: 2500 → 5000
"An ATK of 5000, huh? But my Lunalight Cat Dancer's ATK is still higher!" Serena declared.
"Battle! Utopia, attack!" Yūga Hōzumi commanded with a wave of his hand, and Utopia swung its sword.
"Are you making your monster commit suicide? Attack back, Lunalight Cat Dancer!" Serena retorted, not to be outdone. The panther-like dancer extended her sharp claws, charging toward Utopia.
"At this moment, I activate Utopia's effect!"
"When a monster declares an attack, I can detach one of this card's Xyz Materials to negate that attack!"
The twin wings behind Utopia burst forth with dazzling light, and a barrier of light materialized between the two monsters.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell, 'Double or Nothing'!" Just as the two monsters halted before the light barrier, Yūga Hōzumi slammed a card onto his Duel Disk.
"When a monster's attack is negated, I can target that monster! During this Battle Phase, it can attack one more time. And when it attacks using this effect, its ATK is doubled during the Damage Step! Go, Utopia Double Slash!"
"Nani?!" Serena gasped in alarm. Before her eyes, the golden barrier of light that stood between the two monsters instantly surged into Utopia's longsword, which then cleaved down upon her.
Number 39: Utopia ATK: 5000 → 10000
Serena LP: 3400 → 0
Her life points reduced to zero, Serena was knocked to the ground by the impact of Utopia's sword strike, the cards from her Duel Disk scattering around her.
Yūga Hōzumi put away his Duel Disk and, together with Shun Kurosaki and Yuto, approached the fallen Serena, looking down on her from above.
"What do you want? To turn me into a card?" Serena gritted her teeth, speaking defiantly.
"Why would I do that? I still need to trade you to Akaba Leo for our captured comrades," Yūga Hōzumi said casually, then glanced at the two beside him. "What are you waiting for? Tie her up!"
But after a moment's hesitation, both of them just looked at Yūga Hōzumi.
Yūga Hōzumi: ...
Right. One was a lovesick fool and the other had a sister complex. There was no way they could bring themselves to lay hands on someone with Serena's face.
Yūga Hōzumi sighed, pulled a red rope he'd won from the system's prize draw out of his pocket, and moved forward to pin Serena down.
"HA☆NA☆SEI! You bastard!" Serena struggled and cursed.
"Don't move! Can't a captive act like a captive for once?" Yūga Hōzumi snarled.
"Oh, and I can't leave this with you." Yūga Hōzumi looked at Serena's Duel Disk, pulled out the rest of her deck, and motioned for Yuto and Shun to pick up the cards scattered on the ground.
"Don't touch my deck!" Seeing their actions, the tightly bound Serena panicked, twisting her body and lunging to bite Yūga Hōzumi.
Yūga Hōzumi dodged nimbly, ignoring Serena's murderous glare. He flipped through her cards one by one, sighing as he did. "Such a good Xyz Deck... why did you have to play with Fusions?"
"Are you kidding me?!" Serena roared, feeling as if she had suffered a tremendous insult.
Just then, from the entrance of the alley, an angry, middle-aged man's voice boomed, "What are you three doing to Miss Serena! Release her at once!"
"Looks like your bodyguard has arrived," Yūga Hōzumi said, glancing at Serena, who was tied up like a caterpillar. "That's more like it. I knew Akaba Leo wouldn't just let you run around alone."
With that, Yūga Hōzumi activated his Duel Disk, ready for a fight.
But just then, the system's voice echoed in his mind.
[Side Quest Activated: Say It 10,000 Times - Lunalight is an Xyz Deck!]
[The Lunalight archetype is clearly an Xyz strategy, yet the Lunalight duelists of this world stray ever further down the misguided path of Fusion Summoning. As the one destined to restore the glory of the Xyz Dimension, how can you allow this to happen?]
[Mission Requirement: Defeat the enemy before you using a Lunalight Deck. During the duel, you may only summon Xyz Monsters from your Extra Deck.]
[Mission Cards: Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite, Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind, Fire Formation - Tenki x3, Foolish Burial Goods x3, and Foolish Burial x1 have been temporarily added to the host's card pool.]
[Mission Cards: Lavalval Chain x2, Tornado Dragon x2, and Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Tiger King x1 have been temporarily added to the host's Extra Deck.]
[Quest Reward: Permanent unlock of all Mission Cards, 1x UR Dream Ticket, 2x SR Dream Ticket, 1x Random 'Number' Monster Card Pack, 5x Generic Spell/Trap Dream Ticket.]
Yūga Hōzumi: ...
Yūga Hōzumi glanced at Serena, still wriggling on the ground, and cursed inwardly, "Shitty system, is this girl your mother or something? You just gave me Lavalval Chain that easily? And while the Lunalights are famous for the 'Tiger and Chick create all things' combo, and she has three 'Chick' cards in her deck, where the hell am I supposed to get a 'Tiger' Pendulum Monster?!"
Wait a minute... Pendulum Monster?
Only then did Yūga Hōzumi remember the three Pendulum Dream Tickets gathering dust in his system warehouse. Good grief, this shitty system had this planned from the start, didn't it?!
After quickly exchanging his Dream Tickets for three copies of Lunalight Tiger from the system, Yūga Hōzumi—before the newcomer could get any closer—swiftly purged all the Fusion, Lunalight Fusion, and other fusion support cards from the deck, casually tossing them aside. He then looked at Shun Kurosaki. "Let me borrow a couple of cards."
"What are you doing! Stop messing with my deck!" Serena said, her voice filled with uncontrollable fury as she watched her Fusion cards fall around her like snowflakes.
Yūga Hōzumi and Shun Kurosaki both ignored her. Shun Kurosaki took out his deck. "What do you need?"
"Two Raidraptor - Force Strix and one Raidraptor - Vanishing Lanius," Yūga Hōzumi stated his request.
Shun Kurosaki readily found the three cards in his deck and handed them to Yūga Hōzumi, asking curiously, "What do you need these for?"
"To show this girl the true potential of her deck, of course," Yūga Hōzumi said with a smile.
...
(end of chapter)