"Amano Zero? Amano Zero, what's wrong with you?!"
Seeing Amano Zero instantly lose consciousness in the passenger seat, Karl assumed it was due to the impact of jumping between vehicles.
"Pull yourself together, Amano Zero! Don't you dare die in my car!"
However, no matter how much Karl called out, it was impossible for Amano Zero to respond.
At this moment, Amano Zero's soul had already returned to the Turbo Duel within the Shadow Game.
What kind of hellish 24-hour special training is this? The intensity of these Shadow Games is way too high.
Complaining aside, the moment he took over Finis's body, Amano Zero immediately deployed the young lady's deck.
The Field Spell Card [Speed World] was already active. There wasn't enough time for Amano Zero to carefully adjust the deck card by card. He could only resort to a crude, straightforward method: stripping all the Normal Spell Cards out of Finis's deck.
In the environment of Speed World, the cost of using ordinary Spells was simply too steep. In their place, dedicated Speed Spells were required.
Amano Zero worked with dual focus, using one hand to discard the Normal Spells from Finis's deck while using his consciousness to activate a system skill.
Finis didn't currently have any Speed Spells on her person, but Amano Zero possessed a skill related to them—a skill acquired from Senior Lin Xingyao.
[Romance Skill: State of Clear Mind]
Grants Top-tier Duel Runner driving techniques. Unlocks "Formula Synchron" in the Extra Deck. Unlocks the ability to exchange for any "Speed Spell" during a Turbo Duel.
This skill allowed him to exchange for any Speed Spell during a Turbo Duel.
Because Lin Xingyao had lent him her own Speed Spells during his previous Turbo Duel, Amano Zero had been reluctant to use this skill. After all, the Speed Spells 'sold' by the system carried a flat price of 5,000 Eva Points each, which was far too expensive for Amano Zero's budget.
But right now, he was occupying Finis's body. Naturally, he would be spending Finis's money.
Amano Zero asked internally: "Finis, how much do you have in savings?"
Finis replied: "S—Savings? ...Not that much."
Shoot, I forgot to account for the young lady's less-than-affluent financial situation.
He had just removed ten Normal Spell Cards from the deck. If she didn't have enough money to exchange for ten Speed Spells, he would have to put the Normal Spells back in.
Finis added: "Probably around 800,000 or so."
Amano Zero: "..."
Damn rich people!!
A casual "not that much" had completely crushed Amano Zero's cumulative lifetime savings into the dirt.
Of course, 800,000 wasn't considered a massive amount for a noble lady of a great family; converted into cards, it was roughly a bit more than the price of a single [Monster Reborn]. But for purchasing Speed Spells, it was more than enough.
Amano Zero swiftly selected nine Speed Spells on the system interface, consuming 45,000 Eva Points. Combined with the card he had pulled from his Side Deck, the total came to exactly ten cards, perfectly replacing the ten Normal Spells removed from Finis's deck.
"This will have to do. Time's up!"
As for how a HERO deck would duel in a Turbo environment devoid of Normal Spells, he could only figure that out once the match actually got underway.
Up ahead, the first turn of the street was fast approaching, signaling the official start of this dark Turbo Duel.
"I'll be taking the first turn!"
The man riding the lead Duel Runner drifted around the corner one step ahead of Amano Zero.
Although the Moonlight Butterfly boasted top-tier performance, the opponent's Duel Runner was clearly no ordinary machine either. Furthermore, because Amano Zero had slowed the bike down before jumping cars, a gap had opened between them, causing him to lose the initiative in this Turbo Duel.
Soul Binder: LP 4000 / Speed Counters: 0
vs
Finis: LP 4000 / Speed Counters: 0
Looking at the dueling interface displayed on the Duel Runner's screen, the opponent's name caused Amano Zero's brow to twitch slightly.
Following the Puppeteer and the Trickster, now it was the Soul Binder?
Just how many professions did this organization of Dark Duelists have? It felt like there was an endless supply of them.
Finis said: "I guess there are probably six of them!"
Amano Zero: "Six?"
Finis explained: "Mhm. That's the result of the Wayne family's recent investigation. The targets were based on the clue you provided, Amano—people who had burn marks around their left eye within the last two weeks."
Originally, when Finis was investigating in secret, her limited resources meant her progress was agonizingly slow and frequently obstructed. However, once the Wayne family officially took over the investigation and mobilized their entire network of influence, the progress skyrocketed like a rocket.
Initially, when Finis investigated alone, even checking every student was an overwhelming task. Now, with the backing of her entire family, the investigation results for the entire Middle Layer had come out tonight.
Students with burn marks around their eyes within a two-week timeframe.
By normal logic, such a low-probability event should yield maybe one person out of several million. But the probability in this matter was anything but normal.
Looking solely at the population of the Middle Layer, they had uncovered six individuals who fit the description perfectly. Furthermore, though all six were students, most of them were the young masters and ladies of massive conglomerates or commercial enterprises.
This also explained why the Wayne family had faced interference from multiple factions while looking into the matter.
Finis asserted confidently: "Although we haven't obtained definitive proof, the incidents involving Dark Duelists are absolutely tied to these six individuals!"
Amano Zero replied: "Whether they are connected or not, we might find out for sure after tonight."
According to what the Trickster had said previously, the Puppeteer's profession card seemed to have been destroyed. Moreover, Amano Zero and Lin Xingyao had defeated the Trickster tonight, and Amano Zero had even claimed the Trickster's profession identity.
If Amano Zero defeated the Soul Binder right now, three out of the six would have fallen in the Shadow Games.
If those six individuals targeted by the Wayne family truly were related to the Dark Duelists, it would be impossible for all of them to emerge completely unscathed after tonight.
Although fighting consecutive Shadow Games was exhausting, the thought that their long, grueling struggle in the dark was finally about to bear fruit filled Amano Zero with a renewed fighting spirit.
"Alright! Let's use this battle to pry open the hidden darkness!"
"My turn, draw!" The Soul Binder drew the opening card of the duel and slammed a card onto his Duel Runner's duel disk. "I set one card and end my turn."
It was a characteristically 'high-speed' transition of turns. On the first turn, when Speed Counters stood at 0, there was very little one could do.
"My turn, draw!"
Speed Counters: 0 → 1
As Amano Zero's second turn commenced, the Speed Counters ticked up by 1.
However, with only 1 counter, he couldn't use any Speed Spells yet. Even so, the rising count caused the Duel Runner's velocity to steadily climb.
Soaring at high speed on a dedicated Turbo Duel track was an exhilarating experience, but doing so on a street packed with active traffic was an absolute nightmare.
Finis cried out: "Ah, ah! Amano, watch out, watch out! Incoming car ahead!"
Amano Zero had to split his focus between calculating his dueling moves and monitoring the passing traffic to avoid a catastrophic head-on collision. What's worse, why were all the cars on this street driving against traffic? It was incredibly dangerous!
Using Finis's agile body to execute an emergency side-swerve, he narrowly avoided an oncoming car. Finally, Amano Zero had a free moment to scan the six cards displayed on the Duel Runner's duel disk interface.
He hadn't expected that after not seeing her for a week, the young lady would have added quite a few new Destiny HERO monsters to her deck. He wasn't sure if Finis had brute-forced her way through card packs with money or obtained them through the Fusion Academy's weekly testing system. Regardless, having stronger HEROs available was undoubtedly excellent news for him.
Amano Zero selected a brand-new HERO monster and slapped it onto the monster zone of the duel disk.
"I Normal Summon [Destiny HERO - Drawhand] in Attack Position!"
[Destiny HERO - Drawhand] [Level 4 / DARK]
[Warrior / Effect] [ATK: 1600] [DEF: 800]
An ATK of 1600 was considered an exceptionally strong stat line for a lower-level HERO monster.
Dressed in a white suit with a black scarf fluttering in the wind, Drawhand dashed onto the street, leaping across the roofs of numerous oncoming cars as he advanced.
"Entering the Battle Phase of this turn! The opponent has no monsters on their field, so I attack directly with Destiny HERO - Drawhand!"
Receiving Amano Zero's attack command, the Destiny HERO raised his hand, using his finger as a gun to aim at the black Duel Runner speeding ahead. He fired a D-shaped destiny bullet.
Just as the bullet was about to strike the vehicle, the Soul Binder up ahead flipped up the set card resting beside his duel disk.
"Trap Card: [Honor's Sacrifice]!"
[Honor's Sacrifice] [Trap Card: When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: Negate the attack, and if you do, Special Summon 2 "Sacrificial Token" (Rock/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) to your field, then add 1 card with "Earthbound Immortal" in its name from your Deck to your hand.]
A massive, unsettling black heart appeared, pulsing heavily above the dark racetrack.
After blocking the bullet of the direct attack, the black heart dissolved, leaving two bizarrely shaped stone monument tokens on the Soul Binder's field.
"Next, I add [Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu] from my Deck to my hand!"
"It's actually an Earthbound Immortal!" Finis's beautiful brow furrowed slightly in tandem with Amano Zero's thoughts.
Tonight was not only a succession of high-intensity Shadow Games, but it was turning out to be a clash of gods. Following the Wicked God, now came an Earthbound Immortal.
Although Earthbound Immortals weren't strictly classified as official Divine-Attribute God Cards, their oppressive power in a Turbo Duel environment—where a Field Spell was permanently active—was completely on par with any deity.
True to their name, Earthbound Immortals relied entirely on a 'field' to exist; only with a Field Spell active could they unlock their near-broken effects. And in a Turbo Duel, the Field Spell [Speed World] would never vanish.
"This is going to be tricky."
The opponent was an Earthbound Immortal user who excelled in Turbo Duels, while their side consisted of a HERO player restricted from using their core Spell Cards.
Amano Zero could now understand why the opponent had gone to such lengths to drag Finis into this Shadow Game. It wasn't just because Finis's investigation threatened their existence; it was also because Finis's HEROs would find it incredibly difficult to unleash their full potential in a Turbo Duel.
"I set two cards and end my turn!"
After deliberate thought, Amano Zero slammed his cards into the duel disk.
"My turn, draw!"
As the Soul Binder's turn began, the thumping sound of the black heart floating over his field grew even more violent. Even the cacophony of blaring horns from the surrounding traffic could not drown out the pounding of that dark heartbeat.
"Now, let us ignite this city into a battlefield. O girl who styles herself a HERO, let me see just how many people you can save!"With those words, the Soul Binder tributed the two "Sacrificial Tokens" left over from the previous turn beside his Duel Runner.
"I offer two monsters as a tribute to the Earthbound Immortal!"
"A god paints the earth and heavens anew in darkness, using mountains and rivers as a chopping block, and cities as a measuring scale!"
"Listen well to the thumping pulse of the earth's veins!"
"Tribute Summon! Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu!!"
The Earthbound Immortal monster, which had been searched out at the start of the turn via the trap card's effect, was tributed and summoned onto the field at the very first opportunity.
[Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu] [Level 10 / DARK]
[Fiend / Effect] [ATK: 3000] [DEF: 2500]
The black heart pulsed as it rose to the highest point in the sky. Massive darkness from the earth's veins condensed above the Soul Binder's Duel Runner, manifesting into a colossal, physical blue-black giant.
Finis gasped: "An ATK of 3000 and a DEF of 2500? Isn't that just like...!"
The Soul Binder raised his arm high, pointing at the titan in the sky. "As long as a Field Spell Card exists, the effect of Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu will be triggered!"
In the Quechua language, Ccapac Apu meant "Great (Colossal) Authority (Mountain Peak)."
As long as a Field Spell Card existed, an Earthbound Immortal would gain its corresponding effects:
● This card can attack your opponent directly.
● Your opponent cannot select this card as an attack target.
● This card is unaffected by your opponent's Spell and Trap Card effects.
Possessing 3000 ATK—on par with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon—complete immunity to Spell and Trap Card effects, the ability to attack the opponent directly, and preventing the opponent from targeting it for attacks.
If an Earthbound Immortal was the only monster on their field, the opposing player could not even declare an attack.
"Let the flames of this Nazca Lines geoglyph ignite Eden completely!"
At that exact moment, blue flames surged from the colossal giant's body, spreading to both sides of the street and forming a dedicated 'fire track' unique to this Shadow Turbo Duel.
If one were to look down at the ground of the Middle Layer from the sky right now, they would see this continuously extending track of fire 'painting' a massive, burning geoglyph across the landscape.
Vehicles driving against traffic on the street were forced to stop as sudden walls of fire cut right through the center of the road, compelling them to clear the way for this Shadow Game Turbo Duel.
Although Eden did not provide dedicated tracks for Turbo Duelists within the city, the Earthbound Immortal was kind enough to burn a track out for them anyway.
"Accept the judgment of a god, O HERO girl!"
Receiving the Soul Binder's command upon entering the Battle Phase, the giant Earthbound Immortal launched a decisive attack.
A massive, dark palm capable of shattering a city slammed down heavily toward the Duel Runner carrying Amano Zero and Finis.
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