"Ah, so that's all you managed to find out? Understood."
After finishing her conversation with Fleurdelis, Youmi also received a call from Arias.
"So? Did they get any results over there?"
Because her breastplate had been far too rigid, Fleurdelis had already removed her armor and changed back into her everyday clothes.
"Yeah. It seems there's still some internal information control within the Seven Stars. What Nightshroud knew didn't really go beyond my expectations," Youmi nodded. "But at least one thing is clear. The Seven Stars replaced one of their members not long ago. Someone who seemed to be a rather ordinary Shadow Duelist was kicked out. Most likely either Yuki or Midai joined—or they planted one of their Card Spirits over there."
As for who exactly had been removed, Youmi had a pretty good idea.
And the reason why…
"Hey. This is Duel Academy grounds. Sir, if you're here to visit, please go through the proper procedures and channels."
Standing in front of Youmi and Fleurdelis was a tightly wrapped masked man.
"Oh? An intruder? You've got dark power on you as well."
Fleurdelis looked at the masked man before her. Though she didn't know why he looked so disheveled, she could tell at a glance that he was no good.
"That damn red-haired brat, saying I wasn't strong enough… I just argued with him a bit, that's all…"
The masked man's coat was in tatters, slashed all over, with some spots even soaked in blood. He muttered curses under his breath before finally noticing Youmi and Fleurdelis. "Students of Duel Academy, huh… and—the key to the Seven Stars Gate?!"
Though his expression was hidden behind the mask, the shock in his voice was unmistakable.
"So you actually recognize this as a Seven Stars Gate key. I see. So you're one of the Seven Stars, then?" Having roughly grasped his identity from his words, Fleurdelis looked toward Youmi. "Well, brat? Want me to handle this?"
Youmi tossed her key to Fleurdelis—after all, the key still needed to accumulate energy through duels. "You can take it. He's a Shadow Duelist named Titan. From the way he's talking, he's probably a washed-up reject who got kicked out of the Seven Stars. As for his Deck…"
Fleurdelis smiled confidently, a Duel Disk appearing on her arm. "I have my own Deck. I won't lose to someone at this level."
Even though she trusted Fleurdelis's skill, Youmi still handed her two cards. "Just in case, take these. You can think of them as good-luck cards if you want~"
"Don't ignore me! And I was only kicked out of the Seven Stars because that red-haired brat was too arrogant! I'll take your key back and prove my strength!"
Titan roared in fury at being just ignored by the two of them. "My Deck was built using cards granted by sh—by that great one! It's the strongest Deck there is, not something students from a school like yours could ever break!"
"DUEL!"
"DUEL."
TURN.1
"The first move is mine. My turn—draw."
"First, I activate the Field Spell Breaking of the World."
"Then I activate Advanced Ritual Art. I send Normal Monsters from my Deck to the Graveyard until their total Levels equal the Ritual Monster's Level, and Ritual Summon a Ritual Monster from my hand. I send the Level 8 Tri-Horned Dragon from my Deck to the Graveyard and Ritual Summon the Demise, King of Armageddon!"
Titan opened by activating his archetype Field Spell, followed by Advanced Ritual Art, Ritual Summoning Demise from his hand. He then activated another Normal Spell.
"Due to the effect of Breaking of the World, once per turn, if Ruin, Queen of Oblivion or Demise, King of Armageddon is Ritual Summoned to my field, I can choose one of the following effects. ● Draw 1 card. ● Destroy 1 card on the field. I choose to draw 1 card."
After drawing a card from his Deck, Titan grinned.
"Pulled a pretty good card. I activate the one I just drew—Pre-Preparation of Rites! I add 1 Ritual Spell from my Deck, and then add 1 Ritual Monster from my Deck or Graveyard whose name is listed on that Ritual Spell. Both cards are added to my hand. I choose End of the World, then add Ruin, Queen of Oblivion!"
After adding Ruin to his hand, Titan activated the other effect of his Field Spell.
"The other effect of the Breaking of the World activates! Once per turn, I target 1 Ritual Monster I control. I reveal 1 Ritual Monster in my hand until the end of the turn. The revealed Ritual Monster's Level becomes the same as the targeted monster's Level until the end of the turn. I target my on-field Demise, and reveal Ruin in my hand, making it Level 8 as well."
Watching the Ritual Monster in Titan's hand gain four additional stars, Fleurdelis roughly grasped how his Deck worked.
"I see. A Ritual-centric Deck where the monsters even serve as materials for one another… Though I don't yet know what that monster's effect is."
Fleurdelis's Duel Disk wasn't the new model Kaiba had given Youmi, so she couldn't check the opponent's card effects in real time.
"Next, I activate End of the World. I Tribute Ruin, Angel of Oblivion from my hand and Ritual Summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion from my hand. Now my strongest monsters are all assembled! Ruin, Angel of Oblivion's effect activates. When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can target 1 Ritual Monster I control. As long as that monster remains face-up on my field, my opponent cannot activate card effects when my Ritual Monsters declare an attack! How about that—my perfect field!"
Looking at Titan's smug expression, Fleurdelis suddenly didn't know what to say.
"…It kind of feels like there's not much threat here."
In the end, Fleurdelis could only mutter that brief remark.
"You can talk big for now. I Set 1 card and end my turn."
"Oh, and by the way, this duel is a Shadow Game. If you lose… hehehe."
TURN.2
"My turn. Draw."
"Hmph. Although you've already turned your back on me, you were still once my comrades. I activate Dogmatikalamity. I Tribute monsters from my hand or field whose total Levels equal the Ritual Monster I intend to Ritual Summon, or I send 1 monster from my Fusion Deck with the same Level as the Ritual Monster to the Graveyard."
"I send the Level 8 Titaniklad the Ash Dragon to the Graveyard, and Ritual Summon White Knight of Dogmatika from my hand. What are you staring at? This is still a Dogmatika Deck, after all…"
The moment Fleurdelis had just played Dogmatikalamity, she saw the look on Youmi's face that clearly said, "I know. But that's not the issue here."
Correcting her wording, Fleurdelis continued, "Ah, right. Not the Extra Deck—the Fusion Deck."
"So you're a Ritual Summon user as well?"
Fleurdelis shook her head. "Even among Ritual users, there are differences. Normally, I should only be carrying non-Ritual Dogmatika cards, but after clashing with Proskenion, some powers awakened. Next, I Normal Summon Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous, and search my Deck… Dogmatikamatrix. I activate it."
As the ominous crimson-violet gate opened, Fleurdelis's Duel Disk ejected two cards.
"As part of this card's resolution, I can add 1 Dogmatika Ritual Monster or 1 Dogmatika Ritual Spell from my Deck to my hand. If my opponent controls a monster, I can also add 1 Dogmatika card from my Deck to my hand. I add the Ritual Spell Dogmatikamacabre and the Ritual Monster Dogmatika Alba Zoa."
"Then I activate Nadir Servant, sending the Level 12 Five-Headed Dragon from my Fusion Deck to the Graveyard to search Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted. That should conclude my setup…"
Fleurdelis raised Dogmatikamacabre high in her hand. Ominous light spilled forth, condensing into tangible dread.
"Ritual Spell Dogmatikamacabre. I Tribute monsters from my hand or field whose total Levels are equal to or exceed the Level of the Ritual Monster I Ritual Summon, or instead of Tributing, I can banish Fusion Monsters from my Graveyard. I banish the Level 12 Five-Headed Dragon and Ritual Summon Dogmatika Alba Zoa!"
A colossal monster manifested behind Fleurdelis, its long crimson claws seeming ready to crush Titan.
"Such an enormous monster… how is that possible?! And 4000 Attack?!"
Fleurdelis glanced over Titan's Set card.
Since there had been no response window the entire time, she judged it was likely something like an attack declaration trap and didn't deal with it immediately. "By the way, you still have a Set card."
"If that's something like Mirror Force, it'd be a bit annoying—so let's take care of it. Dogmatikamatrix's second effect: once per turn, if I control a Dogmatika Ritual Monster, I can look at either player's Fusion Deck and send 1 monster from it to the Graveyard."
Light flared from Fleurdelis's Extra Deck as a card popped out. Showing Titan the monster she was sending, she asked, "I choose my own Fusion Deck and send Fossil Machine Skull Wagon to the Graveyard. Oh, before resolving this effect, I'll just confirm something. How many cards are in your Fusion Deck?"
Still marveling at why Fleurdelis would blow up her own Extra Deck, Titan was suddenly questioned and answered honestly. "You're destroying your own Fusion Deck… what is that supposed to mean…? My Fusion Deck? Fifteen cards. The Seven Stars' card sleeves came bundled with Extra Deck sleeves too, so even though I don't use Fusion Monsters, I still—wait, why am I telling you this?"
Fleurdelis nodded in satisfaction. "Fifteen, huh? Perfect. I banish Fossil Machine Skull Wagon from my Graveyard, target your back row card, and destroy it."
"A card that activates from the Graveyard?! Damn it—I had set Mirror Force. It just gets destroyed and sent to the Graveyard like that."
Watching his Mirror Force get blown up, Titan ground his teeth in frustration.
"Now then, Dogmatika Alba Zoa's effect activates. During my Main Phase, my opponent must choose one of the following effects. ● For every 2 cards in your Fusion Deck, send 1 card from your hand or Fusion Deck to the Graveyard. ● Return all Fusion Monsters you control to their owner's Extra Deck. You only control Ritual Monsters and have no cards in hand, so send 7 cards from your Fusion Deck to the Graveyard."
Titan had already said he didn't use Fusion Monsters, so he couldn't understand why Fleurdelis had been targeting his Fusion Deck this whole time.
"I activate the effect of Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted from my hand. I target the four Fusion Monsters in your Graveyard, Special Summon this card, and banish those targets. Then we enter the Battle Phase. Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted attacks Demise, King of Armageddon!"
After quickly tallying the field—despite White Knight of Dogmatika being in Defense Position, there was still Dogmatika Alba Zoa at 4000, Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted at 3200, and Ecclesia at 1500—Titan realized it was a perfect lethal setup and cried out in alarm. "Damn it… at this rate, I'll—!"
"It's not that simple. Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted's effect: at the start of the Damage Step, if this card battles a Special Summoned monster, destroy all Attack Position monsters your opponent controls. Which means what you'll be taking is a direct attack from Dogmatika Alba Zoa with 4000 Attack.
"Sorry. This duel is my win."
Demise and Ruin were both blown to pieces. Under Fleurdelis's command, Alba Zoa brought its terrifying claws down upon Titan.
"Don't come closer—AAAAAAH!!"
[Titan, LP: 4000 → 0]
Although ending him outright through a Shadow Game would have been possible, some Pharaoh had done plenty of that back in his own dark-history days, Youmi still decided to hand this man over to the school.
After making another call to campus security and watching them take custody of the unconscious Titan, Youmi returned to her dorm.
There, the first thing she saw was Professor Crowler's anxious face.
...
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