Turn.3
"My turn, draw! I activate Machine Angel Absolute Ritual from my hand. "
"I Tribute monsters from my hand or field, or return LIGHT Fairy or Warrior monsters from my Graveyard to the Deck as Tribute, until their total Levels equal the Ritual Monster I'm summoning.
"I Tribute the Cyber Angel Benten in my hand to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Idaten! Benten and Idaten's effects activate—Idaten lets me recover Machine Angel Absolute Ritual from my Graveyard, and Benten lets me add Cyber Angel Dakini from my Deck to my hand."
Alexis revealed the two cards, then immediately activated Machine Angel Absolute Ritual again.
"I activate Machine Angel Absolute Ritual once more! This time, I return Benten from my Graveyard to my Deck and Tribute Cyber Egg Angel on my field to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Dakini!
"Dakini's effect activates—when this card is Ritual Summoned, your opponent must send one monster they control to the Graveyard.
"Go on, choose."
Youmi glanced at his field and, without any shred of uncertainty, sent Fallen of Albaz to the Graveyard.
After checking her hand once more, Alexis nodded and declared, "I enter the Battle Phase. Cyber Angel Dakini, attack Ecclesia!"
"Hold it there. I activate my face-down Dogmatika Encounter! I Special Summon a Dogmatika monster or Fallen of Albaz from my Graveyard.I Special Summon Fallen of Albaz."
As the revived Albaz appeared, Youmi discarded another card to activate his effect. "And I activate Albaz's effect again—Fusion Summon!"
Knowing her hand, Alexis's expression tightened—she knew she was about to lose a major resource. "I can't stop it this time…"
"The Fusion Materials are Fallen of Albaz and the Effect Monster you just Special Summoned this turn. I fuse Cyber Angel Dakini with Fallen of Albaz!
"The combined power of the Heavenly Apostles of White and the mechanical angels forms a new incarnation! Wisdom forged in steel, the Iron-Driven Dragon—"
Youmi clasped his hands together, and his red eyes flashed.
"Fusion Summon—Sprind the Irondash Dragon, Sprind the Irondash Dragon!"
A mechanized vessel crafted by Kitt burst out of the Fusion vortex and landed on Youmi's field.
Alexis looked up at the massive Iron-Driven Dragon. "A Fusion Monster made using my monsters… If I hadn't used Dakini's effect, maybe… But wait—this is just Albaz riding a machine, isn't it!? Where's any part of my Dakini!?"
Feeling a little guilty, Youmi tugged at his white hair. "Probably got taken apart into scrap by Kitt… I'll apologize on her behalf. Anyway, Alexis, do you have anything else?"
"Cyber Angel Idaten attacks Ecclesia!"
[Youmi, LP: 4000 → 3900]
"Then Cyber Angel Benten attacks Sprind!"
Seeing the low-ATK Benten willingly crash into his monster, Youmi immediately sensed the possibility.
"I see… so you do have something in hand… and it's that kind of card…"
"During damage calculation, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Magnificent Machine Angel!"
Just as expected, Alexis activated a Quick-Play Spell. Idaten dissolved into light.
"I Tribute a Cyber Angel Ritual Monster from my hand or field and target one LIGHT Fairy on my field. That monster gains ATK/DEF equal to the Tributed monster's Level × 200 until the end of the turn. Also, during this turn's Battle Phase, if the targeted monster battles a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, that monster's effects are negated. I target Cyber Angel Benten!"
Holy light descended on Benten.
"Idaten is Level 6, so Benten's ATK rises from 1800 to 3000. But that's not all~"
Alexis picked a card from her Graveyard. "Don't forget Idaten's effect. When it's Tributed, all my Ritual Monsters gain 1000 ATK/DEF. So Benten's actual ATK becomes 4000!"
[Cyber Angel Benten, ATK: 1800 → 4000]
Under Benten's overwhelming assault, Sprind the Irondash Dragon crashed into the ground—yet, it did not disappear.
[Youmi, LP: 3900 → 2400]
"Not destroyed by battle? No… it's like Brigrand's end-of-turn revival effect, isn't it? I can't do anything about that. I Set one card and end my turn. Benten's Attack returns to 2800."
"Sprind's monster effect activates. I chain the effect of Screams of the Branded. This effect can only be activated during the turn a Fusion Monster is sent to my Graveyard. I Special Summon a Fusion Monster from my Graveyard or Banished Zone. I Special Summon Sprind from my Graveyard."
During Alexis's End Phase, Youmi flipped his already-Set Screams of the Branded, reviving Sprind, placing it face-to-face with Cyber Egg Angel.
"Since Sprind's effect has resolved, I now add or Special Summon a 'Springans' or Fallen of Albaz monster from my Deck.
"I Special Summon Springans Kitt and activate its effect. I add a Branded Spell/Trap from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand, then return one card from my hand to the bottom of my Deck. I add Branded in White."
Turn.4
"My turn, draw."
Although Youmi had replenished a card, he looked at Alexis instead of checking the new draw. "I have to say, Alexis—your Cyber Angels are strong. Anyhow, in terms of raw strength, my Deck still comes out on top."
After glancing at the drawn card, Youmi shook his head and activated Branded in White.
"I activate Branded in White. I send the Fusion Materials listed for a Dragon Fusion Monster from my hand or field to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon that monster.
"If Fallen of Albaz is one of the materials, I can also banish materials from my Graveyard. My materials are Fallen of Albaz and a LIGHT monster. I banish Fallen of Albaz and Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous from my Graveyard.
"The power of the Heavenly Apostle of White and the unawakened maiden converge into a new form! Symbol of branded power, Albion the Branded Dragon!"
Youmi clasped his hands, and from a blazing vortex of fusion fire emerged the new Dragon Fusion Monster.
"Sprind's effect activates. Once per turn, during my Main Phase, it can move to another Main Monster Zone. Then it destroys all other face-up cards in the same column. I choose this column—" Youmi pointed at Benten and the Set card behind her.
Sprind lunged forward, kicking up a massive burst of sand that engulfed Benten.
"I banish Machine Angel Ritual from my Graveyard to prevent Benten's destruction. That effect isn't once per turn, and I have more than one Machine Angel Ritual in my Graveyard."
Youmi wondered why anyone would Set that card, then continued:
"Next, I equip the Equip Spell Dragon Nails—only DARK monsters can equip it. The equipped monster gains 600 Attack and cannot be destroyed by card effects.
"I equip it to Albion the Branded Dragon. I chain Dogmatika Fleurdelis from my hand. If a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck is on the field, I can Special Summon this card during either player's Main Phase."
"Even if you have two Machine Angel Rituals, it doesn't matter anymore. With all your Set cards gone, this is Final Turn for you, Alexis~
"I enter the Battle Phase! Albion the Branded Dragon, now at 3100 Attack, attack Cyber Angel Benten!"
Seeing the blazing white dragon charge toward her, Alexis immediately flipped her Set card. "At this moment, I activate Sakuretsu Armor. When your opponent declares an attack, target the attacking monster and destroy it. I destroy your Albion the Branded Dragon!"
"It actually resolved? Too bad it's pointless. With Dragon Nails equipped, Albion can't be destroyed by card effects."
[Alexis Rhodes, LP: 4000 → 3700]
"The destruction replacement effect of Machine Angel Ritual works on battle destruction too! I banish my second Machine Angel Ritual!"
To preserve her 2800-Attack Benten and maintain her field and LP, Alexis immediately used her remaining Machine Angel Ritual.
"Then I attack Cyber Angel Benten with Dogmatika Fleurdelis! You've already guessed why a 2500 ATK monster is attacking a 2800 ATK one, so I won't drag it out. Fleurdelis's effect activates—when a Dogmatika monster declares an attack, all my Dogmatika monsters gain 500 ATK. Fleurdelis goes to 3000!"
[Alexis Rhodes, LP: 3700 → 3500]
"Now I still have Sprind at 2500 ATK and Kitt at 1700. Even without showing you Albion's full effect, that's enough to finish it. They both attack directly—this ends the duel, Alexis."
The combined direct attacks brought Alexis's Life Points to zero. Youmi claimed victory and walked over to the bound Syrus.
"Since the winner is me, I'll be taking Syrus now~"
Alexis looked at her Duel Disk in a daze, then nodded, allowing Jaden and Youmi to free Syrus.
The girls already knew Syrus had stumbled into this by accident, mistaken for Jaden. The setup was only meant to lure Jaden and Youmi over for a duel. Now that the goal was accomplished, they had no reason to keep Syrus tied.
While untying him with Jaden, Youmi said, "All right, Syrus—don't fall for such obvious pranks again, okay?"
Jaden nodded. "Yeah! I was worried about you. I don't know what you went through, but Youmi's right."
"Jaden-nii, Youmi-nii… You two care about me so much… I'm honored…"
Tears welled up in Syrus's eyes.
"We can't just leave you hanging, right? If you want to repay us, then hurry up and become a duelist like us~" Youmi gave Syrus a thumbs-up.
Jaden struck his signature pose.
"Hey, Youmi, Jaden. Tomorrow during the day, there's something I want to tell you both. Don't forget."
As the group was leaving, Alexis suddenly called out.
"Sure, we'll be there, Alexis."
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going!
[Patreon.com/RedZTL]