[Hoshino LP 8000 → 5500]
"This Kaiba is unexpectedly troublesome… even though all of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons have already been banished."
Gritting her teeth, Hoshino endured the direct attack and lifted her head, gazing up at the two roaring dragons beneath the night sky.
But the sudden abnormality that followed gave her no time to react.
It wasn't an abnormality within the Duel itself—
it was a violent tremor spreading from the academy's direction, rippling across the entirety of Academy Island.
"Earthquake! Earthquake!"
The three Sacred Beasts, unable to keep their footing on the rooftop, clung tightly to one another for support.
If it really was an earthquake, you Duel Spirits could just turn into spirit form and be done with it, couldn't you? Clearly just here to enjoy the chaos.
"Are you alright, Master?"
Tomoe, who remained as steady as a mountain, seemed completely unfazed by the shaking as she firmly supported Hoshino.
"Thanks, Tomoe. I'm fine…"
Hoshino's expression darkened as she looked toward the academy.
A large-scale tremor spreading outward like this was definitely not something trivial.
"Nothing bad's happening over there… right?"
Even if nothing truly disastrous occurred, a quake of this magnitude would undoubtedly cause panic.
A real man never looks back at explosions.
Kaiba Man, who hadn't been affected by the shaking at all, spoke in a solemn tone:
"So they've made their move already? That was fast… the kings upon the World Tree are truly efficient."
"The kings upon the World Tree… you mean the ones mentioned on the stone tablet?"
"You'll probably find out tonight. Let's finish this quickly!"
Ending his Battle Phase, Kaiba Man placed his final card from his hand face-down in the Monster Zone of his Duel Disk.
"For my Normal Summon this turn, I Set one monster in face-down Defense Position. Turn end!"
[Kaiba Man's: 0 Hand Cards | 1 Set Cards]
"My turn! Draw!"
Although she was deeply concerned about what was happening at the academy, this Kaiba Man clearly seemed to know something.
So instead of blindly rushing over, Hoshino decided it would be faster to win the Duel first—and then squeeze the information out of him.
"I know what you're thinking, Hoshino."
Kaiba Man crossed his arms, striking the same arrogant pose as the original Kaiba.
"Trying to defeat me? Even without using three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, someone at your current level has no chance of beating me. Or are you planning to use your one and only draw this turn to awaken a miracle?"
With two White Dragons dominating Kaiba Man's field, and Hoshino standing with an empty field and only a single card in hand, she was undeniably at a disadvantage.
"I don't need to draw a card to awaken the seeds of hope—I planted them last turn! The Spell Card banished by First Premonition last turn will now return to my hand!"
Pulling out the carefully prepared card from the very bottom of the banished zone, Hoshino immediately placed it onto her Duel Disk and activated it.
"—Spell Card Purely Bloom! Special Summon Heroic Spirit – Artoria Pendragon Lily from my Deck! And thanks to Lily's effect, I can also add one 'Heroic Spirit' monster from my Deck to my hand!"
[Heroic Spirit – Artoria Pendragon Lily ★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Dragon/Tuner/Effect][ATK 1200/DEF 800]
"Come forth, the holy sword's radiance that guides victory! I add Heroic Spirit – Valkyrie Ortlinde from my Deck to my hand, then Normal Summon her in Attack Position!"
The light of the Valkyrie, guided by the holy sword's brilliance, intertwined with the twin Heroic Spirits, shining with a radiance no less dazzling than the twin dragons on Kaiba Man's field.
[Heroic Spirit – Valkyrie Ortlinde ★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Fairy/Effect][ATK 800/DEF 1600]
"Combat support—rune activation!"
Raising the luminous energy lance in her hand, Ortlinde's delicate, adorable face was paired with a voice completely devoid of emotion.
As a goddess who guides fallen heroes to the halls of Valhalla, she was a key card in the Heroic Spirit Deck—one that specialized in recovering resources from the banished zone.
"Heroic Spirit – Valkyrie Ortlinde's effect—change this card to Defense Position to activate. I can banish one 'Heroic Spirit' monster from my Deck."
Selecting another Heroic Spirit from the Deck to banish, the interlinked light of the Valkyries spread outward, enveloping Hoshino's entire field.
"The monster I banish is Heroic Spirit – Valkyrie Thrúd! And when Thrúd is banished, her effect activates—"
[If this card is banished: Banish the top 2 cards of your Deck, then Special Summon 1 'Heroic Spirit' monster from among your banished monsters.]
Sending the top two cards of her Deck to the banished zone once again, Hoshino reclaimed the monster that had been banished earlier.
"This is the soul guided by the Valkyries—Special Summon Heroic Spirit – Marie Antoinette from the banished zone!"
[Heroic Spirit – Marie Antoinette ★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 1400]
Kaiba Man sneered.
"So you're starting a combo using the banished zone, huh? But no matter how many of these weaklings you summon, they're no match for the MAX Dragon."
"Marie Antoinette's effect activates! When this card is Summoned or Special Summoned, I can target one face-up monster my opponent controls and change its battle position!"
Gracefully twirling her slender fingers clad in pure white gloves, Marie sang elegantly toward the sky:
"Feel the charm of France—this is the power of love!"
["If I remember right, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon has 4000 ATK… but its DEF is 0, isn't it?!"]
"Mu-da-da! A pointless struggle!"
Kaiba Man declared, his words echoing alongside Chaos MAX Dragon's furious roar, showing not the slightest sign of being affected by Marie's effect.
"The perfect, strongest, invincible MAX Dragon cannot be targeted by an opponent's effects! Trying to overturn the stance of a proud king is nothing but a fool's dream!"
Since Chaos MAX Dragon couldn't be targeted to change its battle position, that left only one face-up monster remaining on Kaiba Man's field—
[Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon DEF 2500]
["If the MAX Dragon can't have its battle position changed… then what about the queen?"]
Accepting France's love, the voluptuous Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon spread her silvery-white wings to envelop her body, slowly descending as she shifted into Defense Position.
"Heh… heh heh heh—HAHAHAHAHA! Is this your final struggle, Hoshino?!"
Looking at the Valkyries on Hoshino's field that had switched to Defense Position, Kaiba Man burst into wild laughter.
"Defense Position trash monsters will be completely annihilated once they take Chaos MAX Dragon's double piercing damage!"
"No—this is my true final struggle!"
With a flick of her fingers, Hoshino linked the three LIGHT-attribute monster cards on her Duel Disk—not to form an Xyz network, but to awaken the long-dormant, ancient sunlight of fusion.
"I use the three LIGHT-attribute Heroic Spirits on my field as Fusion Materials—Fusion Summon! Come forth, the omnipotent Pharaoh who stands upon the earth!"
The three LIGHT Heroic Spirits overlapped and fused, radiating brilliance rivaling the sun itself and illuminating the entire night sky.
"—Heroic Spirit – Ozymandias!"
[Heroic Spirit – Ozymandias ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][LIGHT][Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect][ATK 3000/DEF 3000]
[3 LIGHT 'Heroic Spirit' monsters with different names]
[Must be Special Summoned from the Extra Deck by sending the above cards from your field to the GY (no 'Polymerization' required).]
From the exploding solar radiance emerged the perfect form of Ozymandias. Floating in the air with scepter in hand, he laughed maniacally.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Here and now—be reduced to ashes by the brilliance of the sun itself!"
Honestly… as expected of a grandfather and grandson—even their battle lines were strangely similar.
["(￣▽￣)~ Hey, Ozy, come take a look—your old man suddenly turned into a cross-dressing pervert."]
"Hm?"
Staring straight ahead, Kaiba Man said nothing, yet Ozymandias seemed to immediately grasp the situation.
"So that's how it is… Every time you summon me, Master, it's to deal with old man Seto, isn't it?
But this time, things seem a bit more complicated."
"Focus on the Duel, Ozymandias."
Kaiba Man, having recognized Ozymandias's identity as well, warned sternly,
"You should know this—I'm not an opponent you can defeat so easily!"
"You're absolutely right—!"
Clenching his teeth, Ozymandias's grin split wide as overwhelming fighting spirit erupted in an instant.
"Please, Master! Let old man Seto witness the power of our coordination!"
"Of course!"
Opening the hidden section of her Duel Disk, Hoshino placed the card she had searched from her Deck inside.
In an instant, accompanied by a thunderous roar and a dramatic shift in the surroundings, a magnificent radiant mega-temple rose beneath the night sky.
"Heroic Spirit – Ozymandias's effect—when this card is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can activate Ramesseum's from my hand or Deck!"
"—For a Pharaoh who stands upon the earth, nothing is impossible! All creation lies within my grasp!"
"Next—Ramesseum's effect!"
[Once per turn, if you control no Tokens: Special Summon 1 'Sphinx Token' to your field.]
[Sphinx Token ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][LIGHT][Beast/Token][ATK 2500/DEF 2500]
A colossal Sphinx manifested on the field, its massive body reflecting a boundless starry sky—
also known as the Starry Sky Sphinx.
"And there's more—the second effect of Ramesseum's! Target one monster your opponent controls—destroy it!"
In addition to granting Ramesses absolute resistance and the ability to summon the Sphinx, Ramesseum's also granted him a once-per-turn ability to destroy any monster—a city-destroying Noble Phantasm on the level of Dendera's Great Lightning Sphere.
However, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, which cannot be targeted and cannot be destroyed by effects, was clearly immune to such an attack.
That left Hoshino with only two possible targets:
Kaiba Man's face-down monster, or the Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon in Defense Position.
Hoshino Alter guessed,
["If it's Set face-down, it's probably The White Stone of Ancients, right? Trying to bait you into destroying it, aibo?"]
During a previous Duel between Kaiba and Hoshino Alter, The White Stone of Ancients had been used—
a notoriously dangerous card, since if it's destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Kaiba can Special Summon a Blue-Eyes monster from the Deck during the End Phase.
"Then…"
Raising her arm and pointing at the silver-winged Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon, Hoshino issued her command.
"The monster I choose to destroy is—your Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon!"
Lightning gathered at the pinnacle of the Grand Temple, forming a city-destroying Noble Phantasm that tore through the night sky as it bombarded the elegant white dragon.
"—Dendera's Great Lightning Sphere!"
"—I activate my face-down Trap Card: Dark Sacrifice!"
In response, Kaiba Man flipped his only set card.
A dark spatial void materialized before Blue-Eyes Abyss, absorbing the terrifying energy of the Noble Phantasm in its stead.
[Dark Sacrifice – Trap Card Effect: When your opponent activates a card or effect that would destroy a card(s) on the field: Negate the effect, then send 1 Level 3 or lower DARK monster from your Deck to your GY.]
"Thanks to this Trap's effect, I negate Ramesseum's destruction effect! Then I send the Level 3 or lower DARK monster Peten the Dark Clown from my Deck to the Graveyard!"
After absorbing the lightning sphere's energy, Peten the Dark Clown, clad in clown attire, leapt out of the darkness—mocking Hoshino's futile attack.
"When Peten the Dark Clown is sent to the Graveyard, its effect activates—I banish it from the Graveyard to Special Summon another Peten the Dark Clown from my hand or Deck!"
[Peten the Dark Clown ★★★ (Level 3)][DARK][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 500/DEF 1200]
Kaiba Man placed the Peten monster onto his Duel Disk in Defense Position.
Not only had Hoshino failed to destroy Blue-Eyes Abyss, she had instead allowed Kaiba Man to summon an additional monster.
Kaiba Man smirked confidently.
"It's useless, Hoshino. I know you too well. Every tactic you imagined—I saw through it with ease."
"Don't get cocky. If you really saw through my strategy, then the attack you blocked with your Trap should've been this one!"
Ramesseum's rose from the ground with a thunderous roar, transforming itself into a final, overwhelming Noble Phantasm through sheer mass and impact.
"Heroic Spirit – Ozymandias's final effect—activate!"
[Send 'Ramesseum's' you control to the GY; target 1 face-up card your opponent controls: negate its effects and destroy it. If that card is a monster, inflict damage to your opponent equal to its original ATK.]
"O almighty god—bear witness to my great deed!
Infinite radiance—let the sun descend upon this land!!"
Raising his scepter and chanting the Noble Phantasm, Ozymandias redirected the crushing mass of Ramesseum's itself.
Since Chaos MAX Dragon couldn't be targeted, he would obliterate Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon instead.
"—Ramesseum's Tentyris!!"
[Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon destroyed]
[Kaiba Man LP 8000 → 5500]
"Now our Life Points are even—and my counterattack isn't over yet!"
Sending the Field Spell stored in her Duel Disk's hidden zone to the Graveyard, Hoshino continued activating effects.
"When a face-up Ramesseum's leaves the field, this effect activates!
This turn, Ozymandias's ATK becomes double its original value!"
[Ozymandias's ATK 3000 → 6000]
"Kaiba Man, I'm not leaving you a single dragon this turn! Shatter the chaos, Ozymandias!"
"Burn to ashes in the final glory of my great temple!"
The sun's overwhelming brilliance condensed into a scorching beam of solar destruction.
With a massive 6000 ATK, it completely surpassed Chaos MAX Dragon's power, smashing Kaiba Man's ace monster back into the void of chaos.
[Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon destroyed]
[Kaiba Man LP 5500 → 3500]