Chapter 187: Tearlaments: Eternal Prison
The cute girl standing in front of her was enough to make Shiyue break into a cold sweat.
The Dark Game broadcast had been visible to everyone in Eden Tower. Whatever role Shiyue had been playing was surely obvious to Shio by now.
But then Shio asked that question, and Shiyue felt a completely different kind of relief.
"Shiyue. Have you been freed from the dark duelist's control?"
She was not exposed after all?
Amano Shio, this naive fool, actually thought she had been controlled by the Puppeteer. She had no idea she was standing in front of the Puppeteer herself.
That was just Shio's nature. It was why she had jumped in to defend a complete stranger when Shiyue staged the bullying with Akiyama. Pathetically kind, Shio.
In that instant, Shiyue formed a plan.
This shell of a body was running out of power to sustain itself. It needed data from somewhere else to avoid collapsing entirely. The completely unguarded Amano Shio standing right in front of her was the most suitable target available. The Cyber Dragon deck Shio was carrying had an enormous data volume by any calculation.
There was no need to act weak. Shiyue was already this weak, so the performance would be entirely honest.
Shiyue went limp and fell into Shio's arms.
"Yes, Shio, I finally broke free from the control. But I feel terrible right now. Can you take me to the hospital?"
"Shiyue-chan?"
Looking at the soft and helpless Shiyue in her arms, the anger that had been showing on Shio's face began to melt.
"It really is you, Shiyue. I thought... never mind. I'll take you to the hospital right now."
The moment Shio reached for her, Shiyue stopped moving.
Then she shoved Shio away.
"Same as always. Absolutely no guard on you whatsoever, Amano Shio. If you had even half your brother's level of caution, this might actually have gotten complicated."
In those few seconds of close contact, Shiyue had completed the extraction. When they separated, a card deck had materialized in her hand. The dark force coiling around it was identical to the dark cards the Puppeteer pulled from controlled duelists every time.
"Just what I thought, Amano Shio. Your Cyber Dragon data is very compatible with what I need. With this deck, I might actually find a way out of my situation."
Having copied the enormous data from the Cyber Dragon deck, Shiyue's body would at least not collapse immediately. As for the infinite Overkill debt, she still had no solution, but one week remained to figure something out. Surviving was what mattered first.
"Shiyue. You tricked me, didn't you."
Shio's kind nature did not make her stupid.
"The possession story. The bullying before that. Those were all methods you used to deceive everyone, weren't they."
With Shiyue acting like this, no matter how much Shio wanted to refuse to believe it, the truth was undeniable. The dark power visibly coiling around Shiyue's form left no room for doubt.
Dark Game. Shio reached for the card case at her side. Her Cyber Dragon deck was unaffected by the theft. Shiyue's extraction had worked more like copying and pasting a computer file than taking the original.
If it was going to be Cyber Dragon against Cyber Dragon, Shio had no intention of losing.
This was probably the last measure of dignity she could offer to the girl who had been her former friend.
"Shiyue. I had been going to call you my very first friend at school. My best one."
"That is entirely your fault for being so easy to fool, Shio." Shiyue cut her off with a mocking smile. "Even after all this time, you do not even know the real reason I kept up such a close act with you. With that level of awareness, do you seriously have the nerve to call yourself a best friend?"
"What reason?"
"To get close to your annoying brother, obviously. You, an idiot little sister with no guard up whatsoever, were the perfect inside informant for everything I needed to know about Amano Rei."
The entire Cyber Dragon deck scattered across the ground.
Not dropped. Thrown deliberately.
The cards sank like objects falling into a clear deep-blue sea, vanishing into water that spread with quiet ripples outward.
"You said." Shio's tone changed completely. "That your goal was my brother."
No one had ever seen Shio look like this. Not even during the expulsion duel against Akiyama.
A coldness so absolute it did not sound like Amano Shio at all.
Which nerve had that sentence hit?
Just as Shiyue was trying to make sense of it, the Dark Game barrier she had been about to open was swallowed and replaced entirely by a cage of vivid blue water.
"What is this?"
When Shiyue tore her gaze from the changing environment and looked back at Amano Shio, she found herself questioning everything, or rather, questioning it on Amano Rei's behalf.
Shio's appearance had completely transformed. Elegant fin-shaped decorations emerged slowly from her hair, and the flowing magical energy around her dyed it a vivid ocean blue.
"Are you... Amano Shio?"
Shiyue had asked that exact same question not long ago. She had asked it to Kikawayu. Amano Rei's so-called male childhood friend. And now, facing Amano Rei's sister, the same baffled question came out again.
She was even starting to question things on Amano Rei's behalf.
Amano Rei. Is there a single normal person anywhere around you?!
The scattered cards rose back through the water, drifting and gathering until they flowed back into Shio's Duel Disk.
"Since your goal was my brother." Shio's voice stayed ice-cold. "I absolutely cannot let you leave."
Cyber Dragon against Cyber Dragon. The naive thought Shio had been holding onto, of extending one last gesture of dignity to a former friend, evaporated entirely the moment Shiyue mentioned Amano Rei.
[DARK GAME]
[FORCED ACTIVATION]
[ADDITIONAL RULE: SOUL CAGE]
"What the hell. There really is not a single normal person around Amano Rei!"
Shiyue had been about to open a Dark Game herself. Instead she found herself dragged into someone else's.
The first-turn indicator lit up on Shiyue's Duel Disk. With the Dark Game started, escape was no longer possible. She had no choice but to fight everything she had with the dark copy deck extracted from the depths of the Eva Network.
"I activate the effect of Cyber Dark Cannon from my hand!"
Cyber Dark Cannon
[Discard this card from your hand to activate. Add 1 "Cyber Dark" Machine monster from your Deck to your hand.]
Shiyue revealed the card, discarded it, and slammed the card ejected from her deck onto the Duel Disk.
"I add Cyber Dark Keel from my Deck to my hand and Normal Summon it in Attack Position!"
Cyber Dark Keel [Level 3, DARK]
[Machine / Effect]
[ATK: 800 / DEF: 800]
Even with only 800 ATK, the moment this jet-black steel mechanical creature appeared, the Cyber Dark Cannon just sent to the Graveyard rose up and latched onto Shiyue's field as an Equip Card.
"When Cyber Dark Keel is successfully summoned, I activate its effect!"
[When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, target 1 Dragon monster in your Graveyard with 3 or fewer Levels. Treat that Dragon as an Equip Card and equip it to this card. This card gains ATK equal to the original ATK of the monster equipped by this effect.]
"I equip Cyber Dark Cannon from my Graveyard to Cyber Dark Keel, gaining 1600 ATK!"
Cyber Dark Keel [ATK: 800 to 2400]
A single-card 2400 ATK summon on the first turn was enough to dominate any middle school duel. These kids had been treating a 1700 ATK Ax Raider like a treasure. But Shiyue knew perfectly well that 2400 ATK was not going to be enough against Amano Shio.
She moved to continue playing from her hand. The Duel Disk rejected the input. An unresolved effect was still processing.
She had only been focused on her own field. When she finally looked up, she discovered a monster on Shio's side that had not been there before.
"Wait. This is my first turn."
Why was there already a monster on Shio's field during Shiyue's own opening turn?
Shio held up a card to display its effect. "Tearlaments Merrli activates!"
[When the opponent activates the effect of a monster on the field, this card can be activated. Special Summon this card from your hand. Then send the top 3 cards of your Deck to the Graveyard.]
The moment Shiyue activated Cyber Dark Keel's effect on the field, this cute little mermaid clutching twin blades had activated in response and Special Summoned herself from Shio's hand.
Tearlaments Merrli [Level 3, DARK]
[Aqua / Effect]
[ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1000]
"And following Merrli's effect, I send the top 3 cards of my Deck to the Graveyard."
Ocean-blue wave energy surged through Shio's deck. Three cards washed into the Graveyard.
"Next, I activate the effect of Tearlaments Reinoheart, which was just sent to the Graveyard!"
[When this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, it can be activated. Special Summon this card, then send 1 "Tearlaments" card from your hand to the Graveyard.]
"I Special Summon Tearlaments Reinoheart from the Graveyard, and send Tearlaments Scheiren from my hand to the Graveyard!"
Tearlaments Reinoheart [Level 4, WATER]
[Warrior / Effect]
[ATK: 1500 / DEF: 2100]
[When this card is Normal or Special Summoned successfully, send 1 "Tearlaments" monster other than "Tearlaments Reinoheart" from your Deck to the Graveyard.]
Following the twin-blade mermaid's arrival, Reinoheart, whose trailing blade-whip crackled with energy, Special Summoned himself onto Shio's field.
"Wait, this is still my turn, isn't it?" Shiyue demanded again at the two monsters now standing on Shio's side.
There was no answer. Shio was treating Shiyue's turn as her own to play on freely.
"When Tearlaments Reinoheart is successfully Special Summoned, I send Tearlaments Havnis from my Deck to the Graveyard."
After sending both Scheiren and Havnis into the Graveyard, Shio activated their chain effects one after another.
"Both Scheiren and Havnis sent to the Graveyard can activate the same effect!"
[When this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, the Fusion Materials required by a Tearlaments Fusion Monster, including this card in the Graveyard, are shuffled back into the owner's Deck from the hand, field, and/or Graveyard in any order, then that 1 Fusion Monster is Fusion Summoned from the Extra Deck.]
Two simultaneous Graveyard fusion effects triggered, releasing a double surge of fusion energy across Shio's field.
"I Fusion Summon using Havnis in the Graveyard together with Havnis in my hand!"
"Sing the Tearlaments of ten thousand tragic loves! Grant eternal slumber with devotion drowning from the heart's depths!"
"Fusion Summon! Tearlaments Kitkallos!"
Tearlaments Kitkallos [Level 5, DARK]
[Aqua / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 2300 / DEF: 1200]
[Tearlaments monster + Aqua monster]
"And I Fusion Summon using Scheiren in the Graveyard together with Merrli and Reinoheart on the field!"
"Great sinner of the deep-sea temple, take up the forbidden lance that cleaves the raging waves and strike down your enemies!"
"Fusion Summon! Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart!"
Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart [Level 9, DARK]
[Fiend / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 3000 / DEF: 3000]
[Tearlaments Reinoheart + Aqua monster x2]
Two Fusion Monsters exploded onto Shio's field from within a double spiral of surging ocean energy.
This was still, without any question at all, Shiyue's first turn.
All she had managed was one Normal Summon and one monster effect. Since that moment, it was as though she had woken something sleeping in the abyss. She had been completely unable to move.
"You Fusion Summoned two monsters during my turn. Both with 3000 ATK."
Her own 2400 ATK Cyber Dark looked like a toy next to these mermaids.
And she still could not act.
The more mermaids Shio summoned, the colder the killing intent in her voice became. If Shiyue had not touched that particular nerve, this duel might have been something closer to an even farewell match, surface Cyber Dragons against their dark copies. But the moment Shiyue mentioned Amano Rei, it had become something Shiyue could never escape.
A one-sided execution.
"Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart's effect activates!"
[When this card is Special Summoned, or while this card is on the field and an Aqua monster is sent to your Graveyard by a card effect, target 1 card on the opponent's field. Return that card to the owner's Deck.]
"I return your Cyber Dark Keel to your Deck!"
"Abyss Forbidden Lance!!"
Being returned to the Deck was worse than being destroyed or banished. There was no recovering it and no last-will effect to trigger.
Cyber Dark Keel: returned to Deck.
Countless blade-whips pierced through the ocean surge and ran the Cyber Dark clean through, erasing Shiyue's only monster from the field entirely.
"Next, Tearlaments Kitkallos's effect activates. I send Tearlaments Merrli from my Deck to the Graveyard, and Merrli activates her Graveyard fusion effect!"
Sent to the Graveyard by Kitkallos's ability, Merrli activated the same fusion response that Scheiren and Havnis had used.
The fusion materials were Merrli herself in the Graveyard and Kitkallos on the field.
In that moment, a pillar of fusion water erupted in the mid-level district, breaking free of the Dark Game's Soul Cage barriers and surging skyward without restraint.
"Guardian of the deep sea who wields a sacred blade, cleave the waves with your sword and call your proud name into the abyss!"
"Fusion Summon! Tearlaments Rulkallos!"
Tearlaments Rulkallos [Level 8, WATER]
[Aqua / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2500]
[Tearlaments Kitkallos + Tearlaments monster]
A Level 8 Fusion Monster with the same ATK and DEF as Blue-Eyes White Dragon descended elegantly as Rulkallos swept her blade through the column of fusion water and emerged above it.
Shiyue had run out of patience. "You Fusion Summoned two 3000 ATK monsters during MY first turn. What do you think my turn is?!"
Not only had Shio summoned two 3000 ATK Fusion Monsters. She had wiped Shiyue's field clean in the process.
At least now that Rulkallos had appeared, Shiyue could finally act again.
"Unforgivable, Amano Shio! I activate the Spell Card Power Bond, fusing Cyber Dark Keel, Cyber Dark Edge, and Cyber Dark Horn from my hand! Double ATK Fusion!"
"No." Shio's voice was flat as ice. She pointed to Rulkallos.
Rulkallos raised her blue blade and split Power Bond's doubling fusion spiral straight down the middle before it could fully resolve.
[When the opponent activates an effect that includes Special Summoning a monster, this card can be activated. Negate that activation and destroy it. Then send 1 Tearlaments card from your hand or face-up field to the Graveyard.]
"Rulkallos negates and destroys your Power Bond. I send Tearlaments Scheiren from my hand to the Graveyard."
Power Bond: Negated and destroyed.
Shiyue felt like she was going to cry.
Her own first turn, and Shio had been playing all over it from the beginning. The one moment Shiyue finally got to act, the only fusion Spell she had was negated.
"I set one card. Turn end."
There was nothing else left. Shiyue set her final card face-down and watched helplessly as her first turn closed with an empty field on her side, and two 3000 ATK Fusion Monsters already standing on Shio's.
"My turn. Draw."
Shio glanced at the drawn card with cold, steady eyes and immediately called the Battle Phase.
"Direct attack. Rulkallos. Kaleido-Heart."
Both 3000 ATK Fusion Monsters surged forward in raging ocean waves toward Shiyue's empty field.
"Do not get too comfortable, Amano Shio! I activate the face-down Trap Card Mirror Force!"
Mirror Force
[When the opponent declares an attack, destroy all Attack Position monsters the opponent controls.]
"The moment you declare your attacks, your monsters are all destroyed!"
Mirror Force reflected the deep-sea surge. Both of Shio's Fusion Monsters were destroyed and sent to the Graveyard.
Tearlaments Rulkallos: destroyed.
Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart: destroyed.
"It ends here, Shiyue." Shio's voice did not change. "Your battle. Your path. It concludes right now."
"What are you... what are you saying?"
Both Fusion Monsters had been wiped. Shio's field was empty too.
But the prison of the deep abyss enclosing the Dark Game had not disappeared.
Cold sweat spread across Shiyue's shattered back.
"This is the final effect of Rulkallos and Kaleido-Heart."
[Rulkallos: When this Fusion Summoned card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, it can be activated. Special Summon this card.]
[Kaleido-Heart: When this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, it can be activated. Special Summon this card, then send 1 Tearlaments card from your Deck to the Graveyard.]
Both monsters carried revival effects that triggered when sent to the Graveyard by a card effect.
Even after eating a direct hit from Mirror Force, both 3000 ATK Fusion Mermaids revived during the Battle Phase and continued their assault.
The despair flooding out of the deep abyss was no weaker than what the Wicked God had brought.
"This is the final direct attack."
"Shiyue, you will not die. But your soul will be imprisoned in this deep-sea cage forever. Repent for every crime you have committed."
"Double direct attack!"
"World-Severing Strings: Lament's Eternal Cage!!"
Shiyue LP: 4000 to 0.
Wrapped in layer after layer of the water-cage Dark Game, feeling the end of her road arriving, Shiyue found she could not bring herself to scream.
She just felt like laughing.
Fine then. A cage.
She would stay in this deep abyss prison and wait, ready at any moment to mock the hollow lie that Amano Rei called a life, surrounded on every side by deception.
"Hahahahahahaha. Amano Rei. You think just surviving makes you happy?"
"Sooner or later, every fake face around you will devour you from the inside out!!"
"I will be waiting. I will wait forever for that day to come."
[DARK GAME]
[VICTOR]
[AMANO SHIO]
[SHIYUE YI: ETERNAL SEAL]