Chapter 275: For Victory, By Any Means Necessary!
"Favorite Contact, Special Summon!"
"Elemental HERO Chaos Neos!"
[Elemental HERO Chaos Neos] [Level 9 / DARK]
[Warrior / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2500]
"Fa... Favorite Contact?"
Kikawayu had believed the Reversal of Day and Night had locked in her win. The card Jaden had left behind had disrupted the whole rhythm of it.
"Of all the people to interfere: Jaden!"
On the other side of the divided barrier, Jaden, who had given Amano the Neo-Spacian lineup and kept only the original Elemental HEROs for himself, was generating his own miracle on his half of the field.
"Spell Card, Miracle Fusion! I banish from my Graveyard: Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman, Elemental HERO Wildedge, Elemental HERO Bubbleman, Hero Kid, Elemental HERO Dark Neos, and Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!"
Jaden: "Fusion Summon! Awaken, Your Slumbering Elemental HERO!"
Two separate duels, with no team mechanics between them: and yet something in the two sides had synced up perfectly, each calling the other's signature card from across the divide.
Every time this happened, it made Kikawayu's frustration sharper.
Why did it feel like there were more rivals than just the woman?
And every time she caught sight of Jaden, a specific, irrational irritation surged up: like watching someone who owed her money and had never paid.
"Then at the End Phase: The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts' effect activates again! Until End Phase, I negate Elemental HERO Chaos Neos's effects, and gain LP equal to half of its ATK!"
Kikawayu LP: 12650 -> 14150
The negate fired during the End Phase when Chaos Neos's effects could not realistically be used anyway. The real point was the Life Point absorption.
Each time Kikawayu's total climbed, Amano could feel the push-back against his own will getting heavier. The Life Point swing was operating like a tide grinding down a wall.
Turn change. Amano drew successfully.
Without Favorite Contact returning the three Neo-Spacian Fusion Materials to his Deck, Kikawayu's Pot of Despair plus Reversal of Day and Night combination would have been the most powerful closing play he had ever faced. He had scraped out of it with nothing to spare.
His current main Deck held exactly three cards: Elemental HERO Neos, Neo-Spacian Dark Panther, and Neo-Spacian Glow Moss.
This turn's draw was Neo-Spacian Dark Panther.
Any hope of drawing something useful from outside the Neo-Spacian trio was gone. Beyond the two remaining cards in hand plus one set card, the monsters on the field were the last resources Amano had.
Amano pointed forward. "Kikawayu, I activate Elemental HERO Chaos Neos's effect!"
[During your Main Phase 1: Flip 3 coins. For each coin result NOT obtained, apply one of the following effects. This effect can only be used once per turn:
- 3 heads not obtained: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls.
- 2 heads not obtained: Negate the effects of all face-up Effect Monsters your opponent controls until the End Phase.
- 1 head not obtained: Return all monsters you control to the Extra Deck.]
The coin flip's optimal result for Amano was two heads: negate all opponent effect monsters. Three heads producing destruction would be blocked by The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts' two-per-turn destruction immunity. One head was a total collapse.
A one-in-four chance at the effect that could actually work.
"Want to take that bet, Kikawayu?"
"I absolutely do not."
The taunt failed completely. Kikawayu raised her hand and activated The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts' effect immediately, negating Chaos Neos before the coin flip could begin.
[Elemental HERO Chaos Neos: Effects Negated]
Kikawayu LP: 14150 -> 15650
"In that case, I Normal Summon Neo-Spacian Dark Panther in Defense Position!"
[Neo-Spacian Dark Panther] [Level 3 / DARK]
[Beast / Effect]
[ATK: 1000 / DEF: 500]
The sleek black panther with its trailing cape crouched low and took up position on Amano's field.
"Dark Panther's effect!"
[Once per turn: Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; until the End Phase, this card gains that monster's original name and effects.]
"I use Dark Panther's effect to copy The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts!"
"Not happening."
The third use of The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts' three-per-turn negate dropped onto Dark Panther's copy attempt before it could resolve.
[Neo-Spacian Dark Panther: Effects Negated]
Kikawayu LP: 15650 -> 16150
Armityle the Chaos Phantasm, now back on Amano's field following the Capture Device swap, shifted to 10000 ATK in Amano's turn.
Kikawayu's smile had a sharp edge to it. "You wouldn't dare swing with that, would you, Rei?"
She was right. The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts with Brittle Blade sat at 7000 ATK. If Armityle attacked, both players would take the difference as damage: 3000 each. Kikawayu, at 16000-plus LP, would barely notice. Amano, at 1600 LP, would take himself out of the duel.
Completely locked. No path forward.
Kaiser Ryo's voice came through the barrier, flat with disbelief: "Amano is being completely suppressed. He can't breathe."
Aster: "Is that what a yandere looks like? That The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts card is absurdly powerful."
The more alarming thing, the onlookers had not fully registered yet: at 1600 LP, with the Dark Game's mental erosion working steadily, Amano could feel something that did not belong to him pressing at the edges of his thoughts. An impulse to stop fighting. To let it happen.
He recognized what it was and pushed it away.
"I switch all my monsters to Defense Position. Turn end."
"Still dragging it out? Stubborn Rei is cute in its own way. My turn. Draw!"
Kikawayu drew, and Fallen Paradise of the Sacred Beasts answered immediately.
"With a Level 10 Phantom Beast on my field, Fallen Paradise of the Sacred Beasts allows me to draw 2 more cards!"
"Next, Spell Card, Pot of Avarice! I return three banished cards to my Deck: Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, and Raviel, Lord of Phantasms! I draw 1 card!"
The three original Sacred Beasts that had been banished as Fusion Material for the first Armityle were shuffled back into her Deck.
"This turn, I Normal Summon Chaos Summoning Beast in Attack Position!"
[Chaos Summoning Beast] [Level 1 / DARK]
[Fiend / Effect]
[ATK: 0 / DEF: 0]
[Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 "Sacred Beast" monster from your hand, ignoring its Summoning conditions.]
Dark energy flared on Kikawayu's field and immediately consumed itself, the Chaos Summoning Beast vanishing at the same moment it arrived, pulling something larger through in its wake.
"I Tribute Chaos Summoning Beast! From my hand, ignoring Summoning conditions, I Special Summon Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder in Attack Position!"
[Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder] [Level 10 / LIGHT]
[Thunder / Special Summon / Effect]
[ATK: 4000 / DEF: 4000]
The Hamon retrieved through Pot of Avarice and drawn into her hand arrived on the field, called into existence through the Chaos Summoning Beast's sacrifice.
"And finally, Equip Spell, Snatch Steal!"
[Snatch Steal]
[Equip Spell Card: Equip to a monster on your opponent's field; take control of that monster. During each of your opponent's Standby Phases: Your opponent gains 1000 LP.]
"I believe it's time to return what I lent you, Rei. I use Snatch Steal's effect to take back Armityle the Chaos Phantasm!"
The Armityle that had crossed to Amano's field through Capture Device drifted back across to Kikawayu's side.
Amano let out a short, humorless laugh. "You said you'd give me everything, and two turns later you took it back. I guess you really can't trust what a girl says, Kikawayu."
"That's because you were being stubborn, refusing both my love and defeat." Kikawayu's tongue touched her lip briefly. "This calls for a small punishment, don't you think, Rei?"
Kikawayu's field: Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder at 4000 ATK, Armityle the Chaos Phantasm now at 10000 ATK in her own turn, and The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts at 7000 ATK with Brittle Blade equipped.
Amano's field: Gem Dragon - Imperial Topaz Dragon in Defense Position (DEF 0, but Level 6 ATK 2600), Neo-Spacian Dark Panther in Defense Position (DEF 500), Elemental HERO Chaos Neos in Defense Position (DEF 2500).
"Now let's wipe out what's left. The Chaotic Phantasmal Sacred Beasts' effect, three more activations: negate all three of Rei's monsters' effects, and recover Life Points!"
Three Phantom Beast energy pulses swept over Amano's field in sequence.
Gem Dragon: half of 2600 = 1300 LP.
Dark Panther: half of 1000 = 500 LP.
Chaos Neos: half of 3000 = 1500 LP.
Kikawayu LP: 16150 -> 19450
Nearly back to 20000. More recovery than even the Wicked God incident had produced.
Amano was also understanding now, with uncomfortable clarity, why Kikawayu was so committed to the Life Point climbing. Every time her total went up, his ability to hold his own thoughts against the Dark Game's erosion deteriorated a little more.
"Now, fight! All my Phantom Beasts!"
All three monsters unleashed their attacks simultaneously.
"'Paradise-Shattering Thunderclap'!"
"'All-Destroying Rebirth Wave'!"
"'Sacred Beasts' Combined Annihilation'!"
What looked like three monsters on the field was the combined energy of seven Sacred Beasts, three per the upgraded trio and Armityle comprising all three originals. Dark pillars of chaos and flame tore across the field with enough force to shake the alternate world's sky.
[Elemental HERO Chaos Neos: Destroyed]
[Neo-Spacian Dark Panther: Destroyed]
[Gem Dragon - Imperial Topaz Dragon: Destroyed]
Amano's field was cleared.
Kikawayu added: "When Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder destroys a monster by battle, the opponent takes 1000 damage!"
Sacred Beast thunder cracked directly above Amano's head, the paralyzing current raking through him from scalp to feet.
Amano LP: 1600 -> 600
Kikawayu's expression tightened with something that looked like actual regret despite having just done it.
"Sorry, Rei. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'll give you back 1000 LP next turn."
She meant the 1000 LP that Snatch Steal's effect would return to Amano during his Standby Phase.
Wearing down Amano's Life Points, his mental resistance, and his will inside this Dark Game, while remaining entirely convinced that this was simply her love in action. The depth of what Kikawayu had been sitting on for eighteen years made even Yubel look comparatively restrained.
Amano did not want to think about what his life would look like if he actually accepted those feelings.
"Finally, Quick-Play Spell, Form Change: change one monster that battled this turn to Defense Position! I change Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder to Defense Position."
[Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder DEF Effect: While this card is in Defense Position, your opponent cannot target other monsters for attacks.]
"I end my turn. Don't forget, Rei: your Deck has only two cards left."
The field had not just failed to improve. It had collapsed. Amano had no monsters, barely any Deck left, and the hand he was holding, while usable, was limited.
"What are you hesitating for, Rei!"
Jaden's voice cut through the barrier wall from the other side, a clarity to it that punched through even the noise of his own desperate duel.
"That cautious, second-guessing style is completely unlike you!"
He was fighting for his own survival across the divide and still watching Amano's side.
"The Amano Rei I know: his style is cheap and scrappy, but the confidence behind it is something else entirely. Fighting for victory by any means necessary. That's a style that does not get stopped by a bunch of Sacred Beasts!"
For victory, by any means necessary.
Was that really how Amano had always fought? Through every era, across three thousand years of memories he could barely hold onto?
Then Jaden said something that landed wrong.
"Rei, have you forgotten what I told you?"
"...Something you told me, Jaden?"
Before the duel started, Jaden had said: some battles cannot be avoided.
But Jaden shook his head, and his expression shifted into something Amano almost didn't recognize: and then realized he did recognize, from somewhere very specific.
"Not what I said to you in the past. What I said to you... in the future."
"The... future?"
A sentence that made no logical sense in the context of the Chronicle dropped into Amano's head like a thunderclap.
This was not the first time this had happened inside a Duel Chronicle. Every time a Chronicle was reaching its close, the characters inside it said things that had no business existing in that era.
Was this one finally approaching its end?
The problem was the Dark Game. Even if the Chronicle was ending, the Dark Game's barrier meant he could not simply be pulled out.
Amano reached back for it: the words future-Jaden had actually said.
He had seen Jaden only once across time: 20 years forward, in the 5D's WRGP Chronicle, fighting as teammates in the riding tournament. Adult Jaden had said this to him between riding shifts.
"Remember this, Rei. Every journey you've taken through every era you've traveled has its meaning.
The power you gained in those journeys was never given to you from the outside. It was always your own power to begin with.
So use it. All of it. Best friend!"
Power that was never given from the outside. Power that had always been his own, from every era, every Chronicle.
Then use it without hesitation.
Across the barrier: "Spell Card, Super Polymerization! I'm fusing twelve dimensions!"
Yubel's voice, and with it the Duel between Jaden and Yubel rushing toward its climax. The dimensional boundary itself was becoming unstable. Time was running out.
"This has to end this turn!"
Amano pressed his fingertips to his Duel Disk's Deck zone: two cards remaining.
"My turn. Draw!"
Amano LP: 600 -> 1600 (Snatch Steal: +1000 during Standby Phase)
His final turn's draw: Elemental HERO Neos.
Neos alone was not enough to win. Nothing in his current hand was enough to win on its own.
But that had never been what the style was about.
Amano pulled up the skill interface.
"Give me every available skill!"
"Limited Link Zone: open!"
"Dragon Full Extra Deck: release!"
"And the most critical one."
Responding to Amano's intent, the Duel Disk transformed. The GX-era device extended additional EX Zones from its monster area: zones that had no business existing in the GX period.
A Link Summon in the GX era was technically impossible. But an Extra Monster Zone sitting open on the field had uses that had nothing to do with Link Summoning.
"Spell Card, Monster Reincarnation!"
[Monster Reincarnation]
[Spell Card: Discard 1 card; add 1 monster from your GY to your hand.]
"I discard Elemental HERO Neos from my hand, and I retrieve 1 monster from my Graveyard!"
Because Reversal of Day and Night had sent every card in Amano's Deck to his Graveyard, his Graveyard currently held his entire original Deck. Monster Reincarnation, at this moment, gave him a free pick from everything he had ever built into this run.
"And then, this card! Dragon's Mirror!"
[Dragon's Mirror]
[Spell Card: Fusion Summon 1 Dragon Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing Fusion Materials from your field or GY.]
Ten cards erupted from Amano's Graveyard as Dragon's Mirror activated, called forward as Fusion Materials. Nine of the ten were Normal Monsters.
"The ultimate fusion of Normal Monster souls, resonating into the roar of the dragon vein! Even the light hidden within uncut stone is the radiance of a king!"
"Carve out the victory! Dragon's Mirror Fusion Summon!"
"Gem Dragon - Underground Spessartine Dragon!"
Amano placed the new card in Attack Position in the Extra Monster Zone.
[Gem Dragon - Underground Spessartine Dragon] [Level 8 / EARTH]
[Dragon / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 1600 / DEF: 0]
[1 "Gem Dragon" monster + 1 or more Normal Monsters]
[Effect 1: This card gains 1000 ATK for each Normal Monster used as Fusion Material for its Summon.
Effect 2: While this card is in the Monster Zone, the effects of opponent's monsters with Level, Rank, or Link rating equal to or less than the number of Normal Monsters on the field and in the GY are negated.
Effect 3: When this card is sent from the field to the GY: Special Summon 1 Normal Monster from your Deck in Defense Position.]
With nine Normal Monster materials, Effect 1 activated immediately.
[Gem Dragon - Underground Spessartine Dragon] [ATK: 1600 -> 10600]
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