Chapter 181: The Final Deck of Bonded Fates [2-in-1]
Across every screen in Eden, the broadcast carried the same image: two heroes down, and one last figure standing.
It looked like a single girl standing alone. In reality it was two people in one body. And now it was more than two. The deck in that Duel Disk held Latir's card and Karl's card alongside the rest, four people's worth of will loaded into a single slot.
If you were wondering whether a deck patched together like that would draw terribly: a true duelist does not get stopped by the cards that carry the bonds of the people who matter to them.
At Kaiba Corporation, Kaiba Chiaki stared at the office screen with her brow drawn tight.
"If all they have is HERO monsters, there is no path to beating the strongest Wicked God."
Beside her, Rin Seiya was watching the red-haired girl on the feed with a different kind of attention.
"Is that actually Finesse?"
Rin was one of the few people who knew about the Back Seat Soul ability. Which meant she also knew that if Amano Rei was operating that skill in a situation like this, the person actually making the decisions in that duel was probably not Finesse Wein.
In the school nurse's office, Sakuya watched the broadcast through her Eva Terminal with one hand wrapped around Amano's unconscious hand.
"You have to win this, Amano."
The people who knew it was Amano in there were few. The people who knew it was Finesse were many. Three different orphanages she had sponsored were watching the same screen right now, children who had grown up with her support shouting at the broadcast.
"Come on, Finesse-nee!"
That was the power of a hero's name. Even at the point of deepest crisis, that name alone could give people something to hold onto.
"The despair just has not gone deep enough yet."
Shiyue dropped back into the real world from the data space, her Duel Disk snapping open as her bare feet found the rooftop surface. She stood in the shadow of the Wicked Avatar.
Finesse had broken free from the simulation entirely under her own power. That had not been anywhere in the prediction. And the most significant consequence of that particular variable was that it had released Amano Rei from the spectator position and put him back into the fight.
This man was genuinely a curse on everything she tried to plan.
"But this last hero duel, I will finish it myself."
The first two Dark Games had run on the Wicked Avatar's instinct alone. This one, Shiyue was taking the controls personally.
"Just like that night in District 11! This time I will end both of you."
The night where fate had crossed their threads for the first time. Amano Rei and Finesse Wein's first combined fight, defeating the Puppeteer who had taken over Lutz. That thread had run forward unbroken ever since, through every complication and every turn of events, until it arrived at this rooftop, this black sun, this final confrontation.
"I have been waiting for this fight too. Waiting for the day I put you down for good."
"Then let us begin. Amano Rei. Finesse."
Dark Game: forced open.
Shiyue LP: 4000.
Amano Rei (Finesse): LP: 4000.
The moment the duel opened, black liquid poured from the Wicked Avatar above them, the dark barrier that had already enveloped the hospital pushing outward further, claiming more of the district around them.
Shiyue curled her bare toes in the black fluid spreading across the rooftop and let the smile reach her eyes.
"Just having it in the deck is enough to feel the unreasonable weight of that power. The other two Wicked Gods are not in the same category at all. And this time not even Eva can save you."
The last time two Wicked God cards had been on the field, Eva's system had intervened mid-duel and authorized the Majestic Dragon release, which had turned the tide. That was not happening today. The Wicked Avatar had descended from the deepest layer of the Eva network into physical reality. Eva's reach did not extend here.
"We do not need her to." The Duel Disk on Amano's wrist lit up with the light of first-mover advantage. He had drawn the first turn. "Humanity finds its own way to save itself."
"My turn. Draw."
Finesse's fingertips pulled the opening card from the deck. Amano assessed the hand and felt the weight of the cards that had been added to the Extra Deck.
"I Normal Summon Destiny HERO - Drill Guy in Attack Position!"
Destiny HERO - Drill Guy. Level 4, DARK, Warrior/Effect. ATK: 1600. DEF: 1200.
"When Drill Guy is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Destiny HERO from my hand with ATK equal to or less than this card's."
Two cards hit the field in near-simultaneous succession.
"I Special Summon Destiny HERO - Dasher!"
Destiny HERO - Dasher. Level 4, DARK, Warrior/Effect. ATK: 1600. DEF: 800.
Same ATK. Squarely within the "equal to or less than" condition.
The two Destiny HEROes materialized back-to-back on the field, the gunslinger and the drill warrior standing together.
"Dasher's effect activates when Special Summoned by a HERO effect: both players draw one card."
Two new cards flew into their respective hands simultaneously, Dasher's effect splitting the draw advantage.
"I Set one card face-down. Turn end."
"Setting cards already? Did you not draw a Fusion? Rough opening for a hero."
The jab came before her own turn had started. Shiyue could not help herself.
"I do not need Fusion for this one."
Finesse's fingertips swept across both monster cards on the field.
"I have two Level 4 monsters."
Something shifted in Shiyue's expression. A flicker of recalibration.
Amano placed the two cards on top of each other in a single Monster Zone.
"I overlay Destiny HERO - Dasher and Destiny HERO - Drill Guy to build the Xyz network!"
The Xyz stars ignited, black overlay energy replacing the monsters' levels in a burst of Rank-up light.
"Wind gathered at the summit of ten thousand battles. Take the form of an arrow."
"Xyz Summon. Rank 4."
"Descend! Heroic Champion - Gandiva!"
Heroic Champion - Gandiva. Rank 4, EARTH, Warrior/Xyz/Effect. ATK: 2100. DEF: 1800. Overlay Materials: 2 Level 4 Warrior monsters.
The Xyz warrior burst from the overlay light on horseback, bow drawn and aimed, the posture of someone who had decided on the target long before arriving.
"That is Karl's card," Finesse said from within the mental space.
Karl's deck ran Heroic monsters. A Heroic Champion Xyz had no natural place in a HERO Fusion deck, which left one explanation: it was one of the cards Karl had thrown to Amano in the moments before losing consciousness.
The Level and material requirement synergized cleanly: both Destiny HEROes were Level 4, and both were Warriors.
"But why this specific card? Karl has Heroic Champion - Steelbane, which has higher ATK."
"It is interference. Karl's way of disrupting the Avatar's Summon."
The Wicked Avatar needed three Tributes. Once it was on the field it was close to unbeatable in direct combat. The window to stop it was the Tribute step itself, and the way to extend that window was to deny Shiyue the fodder she needed before she could Tribute.
"My turn ends."
"Heroics mixed with HERO cards? If that is the strategy you are counting on to beat the Wicked God, I can only say: completely useless."
"My turn. Draw!"
Shiyue stood barefoot in the black fluid and pulled her card. She selected from her hand.
Her tongue ran lightly across the edge of the card before she played it.
Amano stopped.
That gesture. The particular way she licked the card's edge before laying it down. He had seen that exact motion before, in a different body.
"That was you too. The Soulswindler. When you were using Rin Seiya."
It had been unsettling enough coming from Rin Seiya's body. From a middle school student's face it was a different category of wrong entirely. More importantly it was wasting a card.
"A little too late to figure that out. I Normal Summon Eye Sorceress - Mognasiu in Defense Position!"
Eye Sorceress - Mognasiu. Level 4, DARK, Spellcaster/Effect. ATK: 1500. DEF: 2100.
A figure in flowing black robes with a dark eye-mask materialized in the black fluid, elegant and calculated.
Eve would have had feelings about this card, Amano thought. Mognasiu and the Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice happened to share the same 2100 DEF value. The similarity ended exactly there. Everything from the shoulder line outward was a completely different situation, and Eve would not have taken the comparison well at all.
"Eye Sorceress - Mognasiu's effect activates upon Summon: add 1 'Mystic Eye' Spell Card from my Deck to my hand. Then I immediately activate it."
"Time-Splitting Mystic Eye!"
The moment the card resolved, the entire fabric of the Dark Game space twisted. The rules of the duel had been rewritten.
Time-Splitting Mystic Eye. Continuous Spell: For the remainder of this duel, the following effects apply. The controller cannot activate monster effects from the hand. The controller draws 2 cards during their Draw Phase instead of 1. The controller may Normal Summon up to twice per turn.
No monster effects from hand. That was the cost. Two draws per turn and two Normal Summons per turn. That was the payoff. In a meta environment where hand traps were not the dominant feature, this card was close to unconditional advantage.
"Because of Time-Splitting Mystic Eye, I may make a second Normal Summon." Shiyue raised two fingers. "I Normal Summon Phantom Musketeer in Defense Position!"
Phantom Musketeer. Level 4, DARK, Fiend/Effect. ATK: 1100. DEF: 800.
A horned creature with blue wings and a long-barreled pistol strapped across its back materialized beside the Eye Sorceress.
"When Normal or Flip Summoned, Phantom Musketeer's effect activates: Special Summon Musketeer Tokens to my field, up to the number of monsters I currently control."
Two monsters on field. Two tokens.
From the black fluid at Shiyue's feet, two small winged Fiend tokens condensed upward, rising to join the field. Four monsters total. One more than needed for the Wicked Avatar's three-Tribute requirement.
"Amano, that effect," Finesse started.
"I know."
This was exactly what Gandiva was here for.
"But I was waiting for this moment!" The Duel Disk snapped up. "When you Special Summon Level 4 or lower monsters, Heroic Champion - Gandiva's effect activates!"
When the opponent Special Summons a Level 4 or lower monster: detach 1 Xyz Material; destroy all monsters that were Special Summoned by that activation.
Karl's legacy, put to use. Gandiva's purpose in this deck was to stand between Shiyue and the three Tributes she needed to put the Wicked Avatar into play.
"Karl. I am carrying this forward."
Amano detached the Xyz Material.
"Heroic Champion - Gandiva destroys both Musketeer Tokens!"
The mounted warrior on horseback drew the bow fully and aimed upward, directly at the black sun overhead, and released. The arrows scattered on the way down in a falling rain of projectiles, catching both tokens simultaneously.
Musketeer Token: destroyed.
Musketeer Token: destroyed.
"Karl's card is incredible," Finesse said, genuine feeling in her voice.
Karl Wein was not a HERO duelist. But every decision he had made, every action he had taken, had placed him squarely in a category that the English name of his archetype had been pointing toward all along.
Heroic. That word fit him without any qualification required.
Shiyue set two cards face-down and ended her turn, the immediate Tribute Summon plan disrupted.
"My turn. Draw! And during the Standby Phase, the effect of Destiny HERO - Dasher activates from the Graveyard!"
When this card is sent to the Graveyard: at the next Standby Phase, Special Summon this card.
"Since Dasher was detached as an Xyz Material last turn and sent to the Graveyard, it returns to the field now! And when Dasher is Special Summoned by a HERO effect, both players draw one card!"
The gunslinger reappeared in the field light, and a card fired into each player's hand like a bullet from his weapon.
Shiyue's hand shot upward.
"When you trigger that draw, I activate my Set card! Trap Card, Divine Grace!"
Divine Grace. Continuous Trap: Each time the controller draws a card, that player gains 500 LP.
"Since I drew a card from Dasher's effect, I gain 500 Life Points!"
Shiyue LP: 4000 to 4500.
The LP recovery was not the only thing that moved. Outside the hospital, the black fluid pouring from the Wicked Avatar expanded its perimeter. More streets. More buildings. More of the mid-level district pulled under the shadow of the barrier.
Shiyue's smile had developed a knowing quality.
"It is a race now, Amano-nii. The clock is running."
Every point of LP she gained stretched the barrier further. And with Divine Grace and two draws per turn from the Mystic Eye, her LP was only going to climb.
"The higher my LP, the wider the evil god's barrier spreads. You should try to finish this duel before the entire mid-level district falls apart beneath you. Can you actually carry that weight, hero? The whole district is watching."
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