Chapter 155

"She blocked it?!" Keith's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he stared in disbelief at Nobunaga, whose hand was gripping the beam of light on Hoshino's field.

Nobunaga, gritting her teeth with a sharp gaze that seemed to pierce through all mystery, let out a roar capable of shaking the entrenched beliefs of the old era.

"No gods or Buddhas can stand against me, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!!!"

As a hero of historical revolution, Nobunaga possessed the unique skill "Unifying the Nation by Force - Innovation." The stronger the opponent's Divinity and Mystery ranks, the more they were Heroic Spirits tied to guardianship of the establishment, and the greater the advantage Nobunaga gained. This meant she had a decisive edge over spirits or Noble Phantasms tied to Divinity or Mystery.

"Don't be ridiculous! Duel Monsters is all about rules. Legends and stories have no place here!"

"You're right. No matter how strong a Heroic Spirit may be, if it's not written on the card, it doesn't matter." Hoshino, with a proud smile, glanced at Nobunaga, who was fending off the god's attack with all her might. "But the whole point of this duel is to bring that legend to life, to recreate the strongest forms of Heroic Spirits! That's my most important duty as a Duelist, as a Master!"

Hoshino took pride in her title, as well as in her Heroic Spirits, and possessed the qualities most essential to being a true Master.

"Master, enough with the chitchat! Hurry up and give me some support!" Nobunaga, struggling to block the god's attack with no activated face-down cards, urged Hoshino.

"My bad! I made you wait too long!" Realizing she had stalled a bit too much, Hoshino quickly pressed the button on her Duel Disk to activate a set card. "I'm activating my Trap Card!"

"Hahaha! So in the end, you have to rely on a Trap Card. But Traps don't work against a god!" Keith, seeing Hoshino's revealed card, breathed a sigh of relief. "Your last struggle is really nothing special!"

"Who said I was targeting your monster? Take a good look at the field around you, Keith!" Hoshino pointed forward with great force, directing attention to the flames engulfing the area.

"This is the true Noble Phantasm of Oda Nobunaga! A Reality Marble and Continuous Trap Card: [Demon King of the Sixth Heaven]!"

Responding to Hoshino's Continuous Trap Card, the entire field was instantly consumed by raging flames.

The Noble Phantasm of Nobunaga, the Demon King who destroyed Shinto and Buddhism, manifested as a blazing inferno—a representation of the fear and awe held by later generations, drawn from his brutal acts in life, like the burning of Mount Hiei.

[Demon King of the Sixth Heaven - Continuous Trap Card Effect

●Once per turn, you can target 1 Heroic Spirit monster in your Graveyard. Banish that monster.

●At the end of each turn, both players take damage equal to the number of "Heroic Spirit" monsters banished x 300.]

"A Trap that deals continuous damage? What's the point of using such a card at this stage?" Keith sneered, eyeing the seemingly fierce flames on the field with contempt. "Such a pathetic counterattack just lessens my satisfaction in defeating you!"

"According to the effect of the Trap Card, I banish a Heroic Spirit monster from my Graveyard!" Hoshino ignored Keith's shallow ridicule and continued her play.

"You still have Heroic Spirits left in your Graveyard? I thought I banished them all!" Keith laughed.

"Of course I have some left! Since you enjoy banishing my Graveyard monsters so much, I'll help you out!" The blazing flames consumed the Graveyard area of Hoshino's Duel Disk. "I banish the monster discarded by Graceful Charity, [Heroic Spirit - Jeanne d'Arc Alter]!"

"Graceful Charity, huh? I see." Keith, focused on Hoshino's hand, had only noticed her Jeanne d'Arc Alter after she discarded it with Graceful Charity.

Normally, a draw like that would have locked Hoshino's hand, which is why Graceful Charity is considered a banned card.

"Now I have three banished Heroic Spirits!"

"Hoshino Chiyuki, are you seriously worried about a few hundred points of damage right now? My god has over 10,000 ATK, and you still owe me a whole bar of Life Points!"

"Well, don't start crying over those few hundred points of damage later, Keith!"

Indeed, Nobunaga's Noble Phantasm was only a mere flame for opponents with weak divinity. But for those with high levels of Divinity and Mystery, it was an absolute force, making it difficult for beings with high divinity to even maintain their existence in that space.

"It's time to counterattack, Nobunaga!" Hoshino shouted, flipping over another set card as Nobunaga's fiery spirit intensified within the flames.

"I activate the final effect of [Demon King of the Sixth Heaven] and my face-down Trap Card, [Heroic Battle - United Assault]!"

[Heroic Battle - United Assault Trap Card Effect:

Target 1 face-up Heroic Spirit monster you control. Until the end of this battle phase, that monster's ATK increases by the combined ATK of all other face-up monsters you control, whose ATK becomes 0.]

"I entrust my sword to you!" Ushiwakamaru declared.

[Ushiwakamaru ATK: 2300 → 0]

[Oda Nobunaga ATK: 3000 → 5300]

"Not enough! I can burn even brighter!" Nobunaga, having absorbed Ushiwakamaru's ATK, grinned ferociously. "Behold the true form of my Noble Phantasm, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!"

[Demon King of the Sixth Heaven Trap Card Effect:

If [Heroic Spirit - Oda Nobunaga] battles a Divine-Type monster, its ATK increases during damage calculation by the combined ATK of all "Heroic Spirit" monsters in the banished zone.]

"My three banished Heroic Spirits!" Hoshino raised three fingers, counting the situation Keith had unknowingly brought upon himself. "Heroic Spirit - Martha, Heroic Spirit - Jeanne d'Arc Alter, and Heroic Spirit - Okita Souji, with a total ATK of 7100!"

Martha: "No matter how much evil tries to hide, divine punishment will eventually come down upon your head!"

Okita: "This time, I'll let Nobu take the spotlight. Though my contribution may be small, please don't hesitate to use it!"

Jeanne Alter: "Why am I being dragged into this? I was just passing by!"

[Oda Nobunaga ATK: 5300 → 12400]

"12400!" Mokuba, still in a daze but for an entirely different reason, exclaimed, "To think you could use monsters in the banished zone like that..."

"Damn it!" Suddenly realizing something, Mokuba quickly glanced at the terminal in his hand.

"Hoshino, can you tone down the power a bit? This might affect the holographic projection of duel disks in other regions."

"Sorry, but at this point, I can't control the power even if I wanted to!" Engulfed in flames, Hoshino could feel the earth-shattering clash between Nobunaga and the Evil God up close. The energy from the death ray and the heat from the flames seemed almost real as they lashed at her fair cheeks.

"Ohhh! You're finished, Evil God!" Nobunaga, driving the crimson skeletal demon behind her, pushed through the Evil God's death ray step by step.

"Nobunaga, are you a Stand user?" Watching Nobunaga move forward with the demon at her back, Hoshino couldn't help but think of an anime she had once watched.

"Get lost, vile creature! This place will soon become hell on Earth!" Stomping fiercely, Nobunaga finally reached the Evil God, raising her hand high and shouting with incredible momentum.

Then, the crimson skeletal demon swung its bony fists, lifting Nobunaga's cloak, and began pummeling the massive form of the Evil God in front of them.

"The deities of the three realms shall all be nothing but ash! I am the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, Oda Nobunaga!!!"

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!"

With giant skeleton fists and a relentless barrage of attacks like a violent storm, the Evil God's slender form was battered and bent—the scene truly brutal.

"Keith, you've already lost! Due to the effect of United Assault, the Evil God's attack points have dropped by 1000."

[The Wicked Eraser ATK: 11000 → 10000]

"And Nobunaga's ATK is 12400. This 2400-point damage... Just take it already!" Seizing victory, Hoshino smugly pointed at Keith.

"Keith's remaining Life Points are exactly 2400. Hoshino managed to plan this all out in a single move!" Mokuba, now marveling at Hoshino's skill, couldn't help but admire her strategic prowess.

"The only thing that can bring justice to you is my Demon King Nobunaga's fists!"

No matter how tough the Evil God's body was, it was no match for Nobunaga's relentless assault. The Evil God's form was being pulverized by the vicious barrage of crimson skeleton fists.

[The Wicked Eraser] Destroyed.

"Victory is ours, Master!" After smashing the Evil God's body, Nobunaga triumphantly flashed a V-sign at Hoshino.

But after the Evil God was defeated, Keith, with his head hanging low, had a face that was difficult to read.

"Too naive..." Keith muttered, his voice filled with venom.

"Hmm?" Hoshino narrowed her eyes, sensing something was wrong.

"Too naive, Hoshino, and your ignorant monster!" Keith's eyes gleamed dangerously as he slowly raised his head.

"The true terror of The Wicked Eraser... is about to begin!" Keith, whose Life Points should have been zero, showed no signs of defeat in his voice.

"This isn't good. It seems like we haven't really finished it off." Hoshino's eye twitched as she took a closer look at the field, noticing that Keith had somehow managed to summon another monster and activate a trap card in the chaos.

[Call of the Haunted - Continuous Trap Effect

①: Target 1 monster in your Graveyard and activate this card. Special Summon that target in Attack Position. When this card leaves the field, destroy that monster. When that monster is destroyed, destroy this card.]

[Sillva, Warlord of Dark World ATK: 2300]

[Keith LP: 1000]

"I see, so you took advantage of the chaos to use Call of the Haunted and pulled the Warlord from your Graveyard, increasing the number of cards on your field..." Realizing how Keith survived, Hoshino shivered involuntarily.

Even though The Wicked Eraser had been destroyed and Hoshino had gained the upper hand, she couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom.

"The reason The Wicked Eraser can erase everything isn't just due to its high attack points, but also because of its effect!" Keith, raising his head, grabbed the now dark and inactive Evil God card from his Duel Disk.

"Let everything return to nothingness, Evil God!"

[The Wicked Eraser Effect

When this card is sent to the Graveyard, destroy all cards on the field.]

"Damn it!" Nobunaga, also realizing something was wrong, noticed that the Evil God's shattered body hadn't disappeared like other monsters but was instead leaking a disgusting, viscous liquid from inside.

"Hahaha, everything... erased!" Keith sneered as he tossed the Evil God card into his Graveyard.

Then, the black liquid oozing from the Evil God's body exploded, spreading across the entire field like a shockwave. The corrosive substance devoured everything in an instant, turning it all into nothingness.

The cards on Hoshino's Duel Disk all lost their glow, representing that all of Hoshino's cards on the field had been wiped out by the black liquid.

"So this is the power of the Evil God..." Mokuba, watching the field being devoured by the black sludge, was filled with despair. "How could this happen? We were supposed to have won."

"There's no need to despair, Mokuba!" Sensing the trembling in Mokuba's voice, Hoshino shouted reassuringly. "This kind of clash, where everything is at stake, is what makes dueling so exciting. Besides, even though the Evil God wiped out the field, I haven't lost yet. After all, there are no cards on the opponent's field either."

"The real battle... starts now!"

"Hahaha, I really want to crush that optimism of yours, Hoshino!" Keith, having drawn his last card, though the field was empty, still had his turn. "Don't forget, I'm using a Dark World deck, and I haven't even performed a Normal Summon this turn!"

"Therefore, I Normal Summon [Zure, Knight of Dark World] and activate the effect of [Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World] in my Graveyard!" Throwing the card he had just drawn, Keith performed the same familiar move once again. "Revive, Dragon Lord!"

[Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World ATK: 2700]

"How many times is this now!" Hoshino, with a wry smile, rubbed her temples. "This is so frustrating. If I don't deal with this monster somehow, I'm going to get dragged into a loop."

Now, with both players running low on cards, Keith having a 2700 ATK Grapha that could be revived every turn was undoubtedly a huge disadvantage for Hoshino.

"Since the battle phase has already passed, I'll end my turn." Keith's remaining hand: 1 card.

Hoshino, on the other hand, was running on empty. With just one card left in her hand, no set cards or monsters on the field, all she could do was hope for a miracle with her next draw.

"Please, I've been stuck with bad hands this entire duel. Just let me draw something good this one time, please!" Desperate, Hoshino placed her hopes on the whims of fate, though she seemed to have forgotten about Nobunaga easily.

(*****)

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