52 Umbral Horror Retaliation

With classes for their school being closed due to the World Duel Carnival, Myu, Allen, and Sayaka could meet her quite early in the day, just some time over breakfast. She knew that the deadline for her Numbers Hunting Quest would end sometime around the time that said tournament would finish, which would mean that she would have more or less a week, including during said tournament.

"And as useful as Utopia is as a toolbox deck, its utility is very limited." She muttered aloud, taking another bite at the bento that she had bought from the convenience store just a few blocks away, a translucent screen which she could only see hung in the air away from her, said screen scrolling through its contents according to her will.

There were still a lot of Number cards out there, running wild manipulating people to their heart's desires. There was a reason why she had given Kaito Number 90: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord out of all the plethora of Galaxy-Eyes related XYZ Monsters that she could have given him.

Because of course, out of all the other possible XYZ Monsters, it was relatively the strongest that he could have, in the case that he would go first that is. Because without it, with the current state of his Galaxy-Eyes deck, he virtually has no going first capabilities at all, he doesn't even have Starliege Photon Blast Dragon, which would have at least gotten him some level of board presence and protection.

But then again her pulls were incredibly bad and she didn't even pull a single copy of the card. And she wasn't going to spend more DP to buy a single tin copy of the card.

Or maybe she should have, she could probably have squeezed a bit more DP from Kaito to buy it. Maybe when she meets him again she'll do that.

And that meeting was probably going to be soon, knowing her own luck.

"But first, I need to actually think of getting something else huh." She muttered, once again glancing towards the floating translucent blue screen next to her, one that showed quite a bit of things on them.

Those things being of course, lists of names and images of packs that she had unlocked on her System's Shop, though she had already narrowed them down to only show her XYZ focused strategies.

There were a bit of them for her to choose, of course, but were going into them far better than just doubling down on her current Utopia deck?

After all, it was capable of doing quite a bit, even with her current unfinished build. Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray was essentially two on field monster negates, 

And as it was a Rank 4 toolbox deck, she could easily pivot to any of the Rank 4 XYZ Monster that she had in her repertoire, Tornado Dragon of course being one of them, what with being a backrow removal on instant speed, and Abyss Dweller could instantly lock graveyard effects.

But without Utopic Dragonar, along with some of its other payoffs that the XYZ Monster can summon, the deck's ceiling is relatively low.

Even if two on field monster negates were already quite overkill in the current state of the world, what with the usual duelists here still plays like it was early XYZ era, which, while fitting, did not bode well for them.

She wasn't going to go into another depressive spiral regarding that topic right now however, she was instead focusing on a different depressive spiraling hole to dive into.

There are certainly obvious pros for keeping with her Utopia deck, the toolbox for Rank 4 was extremely large, far larger than other Ranks of XYZ Monsters, with possibly Rank 3s and Rank 8s being their competition, what with how generic they are. 

And the deck itself is incredibly consistent in its combos, with multiple ways to search their combo pieces like Onomatopickup and Onomatopaira, and that's not even mentioning the draw potential of XYZ Change Tactics.

Added of course, the fact that though they were 'fake' Numbers, they still counted as Numbers nonetheless. Which would then essentially play around all the 'real' Numbers' Numbers Clause that made them indestructible by battle other than by Numbers monsters.

And yet, toolbox though it might be, there were clear weaknesses that the deck had, even with the current state of the 'meta' that this world has.

Though most people of course uses battle as a way of monster removal, with the amount of 'staples' that she's been injecting into the card market in the form of generic removal, both in forms of Spells and Traps, along with other interactive ones as well, ones that she could easily give away that is. The Forbidden series of Quick-Play Spells were something that she would gladly part away, barring Forbidden Droplet of course.

There were, of course, ways for the deck to play around those of course, it was why Numbers Protection was something that she ran in the deck, as it is technically searchable in a way, though she's only done that very rarely.

And of course, thanks to Utopia Double, the deck could easily do lethal pushes out of literally nowhere. Provided you don't immediately draw Double or Nothing! in the opening hand of course.

The deck, though quite one line with the usual line of going to Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray in its current version, was already quite good. Great even. And most of its weaknesses would be squared should she focus more on the deck and actually get the cards that would support the strategy.

So was there even a reason for her to consider changing her deck? The answer to that was easy of course.

"Now lets see here." She muttered as she glanced away from the floating screen next to her, putting down her chopsticks for a brief moment as she took a look at her duel disk's screen. "The World Duel Carnival is just in another 3 days, and itself lasts a whole week. 4 days of preliminaries, and the rest is done for the top 16. With the rest of the days being the quarter finals, semi finals, then the finals and grand finals respectively."

It was a good amount of time for an event. A week is not too long, and not too short. Though the preparation for it sure did take a bit of time, but then again, considering that this was a world wide event, it makes sense.

Eliminating everyone down to a mere 16 in the span of four days that was the preliminaries would be quite a pain however, and with this world being what it is, she doesn't doubt that the bulk of the Numbers Hunting would most likely be done during those four days too.

"I could certainly show up with that deck too, of course. But the fact that the actual top 16 has to submit their deck list means that I can't change decks in the middle of the tournament just like I did that one time back then." Which was completely fine with her, she more or less abused that rule by changing into a completely different strategy, and it was essentially the same ruleset that was back in her old world too so she was fine with that.

She leaned back and stared dazed into her ceiling and muttered. "But submitting the decks only starts during the top 16 anyway, so I could technically change decks during the preliminaries…"

Which was most likely what she would do. Because as much as doubling down and focusing more on the deck that she already had has its many merits, giving her more experience, know-how, and the ins and outs of the deck.

There was a nagging feeling on the back of her head that was telling her to change things up, preferably sooner rather than later. And from her experience with having been playing the game for years, added with the other years of doing the same thing in this world, it was essentially a telltale sign of burnout.

After all, she hadn't only been playing the deck, the one legal pure XYZ Deck that she had in this dimension, but also in the Duel World as well. What with her needing to constantly farm there almost every night to get DP, and hopefully some card drops that she could either use, or sell.

Though she could of course, use decks that didn't focus on the Extra Deck, as even her Fusion based decks were locked in her Duel World, something that peeved her very much, she would then be limiting herself to slow grindy decks. Which aren't useful when you're specifically trying to end a duel quickly.

So she essentially had to just keep OTK-ing the resident Red Hats of her Duel World with Utopia Double, or attempt to chew out their board first before hitting them with an over 5000 attack Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray.

It was… quite annoying, if she was being honest. No, more correctly it was tiring. Incredibly so as it gets repetitive very fast, no matter how much she loved the game. No matter how important this mattered in the long run.

And in the end, she valued her mental health quite highly. Especially right after the slope that she had already gone through in the past… month, is it?

"Has it already been that long?" She spoke aloud in her empty apartment, craning her head and looking out towards the window, seeing the ever present blimp flying in the sky, advertising the soon coming World Duel Carnival.

"It feels like it's been longer." She said as she wistfully looked out towards the now familiar streets of Heartland, to the familiar houses and the people that she would see when she went out, to the nice old lady down the street that likes to give treats to anyone passing by, the children that would run around to go to card shops and the like, to adults going home late at night tired after a day of work.

And of course the bustling crowd of people that all came to watch first hand or to participate in the World Duel Carnival, some even renting apartments in the very same place as herself.

It wasn't home like it was the orphanage, but this small apartment that she had rented too, was home. A place where she could come back to and relax.

She would be damned if she was forced to lose another one. Not without a fight.

-

It wasn't long after breakfast that she made her way to the card shop that they had all but claimed as their go to spot, the first shop where she had met with Allen, Sayaka, Myu and Anna.

The place was as packed as ever, the perks of having the retro-style dueling boards was pulling quite the amount of customers, especially with many coming into Heartland to watch the upcoming World Duel Carnival.

Some sent gazes her way, and she recognized some of them as duelists whom she had sold cards to or were part of the auctions that she usually does here, and gave them a wave as she continued to walk to the shop proper.

A bell's jingle could be heard as she pushed the door open, and she sent a glance at the egg-shaped robot that was busy cleaning a corner of the store as she went to the counter.

"Hm? Oh, if it isn't miss Red Hat! What can I do for you? Are you going to start one of your auctions again?" The elderly gentleman said as he offered her a smile, one that she returned in kind with one of her own. 

"Hello, Owner. As much as I would like to do so, I don't think I would be doing that today." She said with a shake of her head.

"Is that so? A shame. Those auctions of your reels me quite the customers you know!" He said with a hearty laugh, slapping his thighs as he did so. 

"Well, I am quite glad that I'm bringing you some customers then." She said with a genuine smile as she reached the counter, glancing at the wares that lay beneath the glass as she continued. "Some of the other card shops don't take it that kindly…"

"Bah, hacks the lot of 'em. I bet that they're just jealous that you're pulling in more of a profit than they are." Owner said with a wave of his hands. "If anything, I'm glad that you came here! It's been rowdier and rowdier ever since you did!"

She chuckled at that remark. "I'm quite sure that that's because of the World Duel Carnival."

"Well it might be so, but don't discount your hard work young lady! I know some of those outside came here just so they could meet with the ever elusive Red Hat! Some of them were even shocked to hear that you weren't just a local legend but an actual person!"

"Shocked? You say?" She said slowly, placing a finger under her lips as she glanced away from the man, not daring herself to look at him. "That's an interesting reaction. Can't say I've heard someone being shocked just hearing that I was real. Can you tell me about them?"

"Sure, sure!" The man said with a smile, raising a finger as he began to regale his tale. "It was just yesterday you see, and this eccentric young man came here asking if I'd seen any strange cards lately."

She hummed, walking around and checking the other merchandise that was in the store, letting the man continue. "And well, when I thought of strange cards, then I immediately thought about the cards that you usually sell or auction! But when I mentioned you the young man's face went white! Then he excused himself and ran off! Didn't even go and buy anything too!"

"This 'young man'." She said as she stopped perusing the shop's wares, turning back to the elderly man as she raised her hand. "Could he be around this tall? Curly red-orange hair, wears a shirt with a missing sleeve on the right side?"

"Oh! Yes! That's him!" The man exclaimed with wide eyes and a bright smile. "Yes! That's what he looks like. Do you know him, miss? It seems that you're at least acquainted with him by the looks of it."

And to his question she could only chuckle. "Oh yes, he was quite the rude customer for myself as well." She said with a small smile and narrowed eyes. "I think that he ran away as soon as you heard me because he still owes me something you see? I'm sure that he simply ran off at the prospect of me getting back what's due."

"Why! So he was someone like that I see!" The man said in shock with wide eyes. "Well I hope that you meet him soon then, miss Red Hat. I'm sure you'd like for him to properly pay for whatever it is that he didn't fully pay for."

"Yes." She said with a smile. "I do hope that it will happen soon. But enough of that owner, I have a proposition for you."

-

When she went out of the shop's festive door, being waved out by a far happier owner as he carried a bundle of cards in hand. And she had gone out right on time, as she saw Myu wave from afar, accompanied by of course Sayaka and Allen. 

A smile crept on her face as she saw the trio, "Yuuna! Over here!" Myu said as she called out towards her from the table that they were all sitting on.

And as she walked closer towards them, she saw the strained look that the twin tailed girl had, something that made her frown as she got closer to the Heartland Academy trio. "What's wrong?" She asked as she made it towards them, watching everyone's sour faces.

"Well, it's… this." The silver haired girl said as she and all the others glanced down to the center of the table, or more specifically the thing that was sitting right in the middle of it.

A card with a black border just like all the Extra Deck monsters in this dimension, what else could it be but a Numbers XYZ Monster?

"I'm guessing that this is the one that you all found yesterday huh." She said with a hum, looking out towards all of them as they all nodded. 

"We were a bit… well, honestly scared. We didn't really know what to do after we even got it." Sayaka added on, still looking at the card nervously. And then sending her bespectacled glare down Allen's way. "And then Allen decided that it's best if anyone out of us were to be… possessed, it'd be him."

"Hey! It was a genuine question that needed to be answered okay!" The brown haired boy said as he slammed his hand on the table. "It's better than having to have any of you be possessed by all this spirit mumbo jumbo!"

"Well it's not like we want to duel a possessed you either!" Myu shouted back as she angrily pointed towards the poncho wearing boy. "But you took it anyway!"

"Well yeah! And it was fine!" He said, gesturing towards the card that was in the middle of the metal table, only to blink as he found it gone, as she had taken it herself.

"Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja… huh. So the Number possessed duelist that you found was playing Ninjas?" She asked as she looked up from the card that she held in her hand, and saw all three of them looking at her strangely. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh, well, yes. He was playing a Ninja deck. You're right." Myu, apparently having been the one to have dueled against the Number possessed duelist said, shifting under her gaze as she glanced at the card that was in her hand.

"Yuuna-san, you can… read it?" Sayaka asked.

"Hm? Why wouldn't I?" She asked back with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, this card isn't that confusing for an XYZ Monster right? It just gives a blanket protection for-"

"We're not talking about what the card says! You can actually just read it!?" The brown haired boy said as he pointed towards her, visibly confused by what she was doing. "That thing's just gibberish! How're you even reading it!?"

Now it was her turn to show visible confusion. "What do you mean how am I reading it, it's written normally isn't it?" 

Before Allen could say anything, Myu interjected. "No no, it's not like that Yuuna-san! What Allen means is that none of us could read what the card says." The silver haired girl said, shaking her head as she does so. 

"Indeed, even after getting it on our hands, none of the translations that I could find online was even close to deciphering what the card says." The glasses wearing lilac haired girl added on.

"Yea! That!" Allen shouted, backing the two who were backing him. "That thing's written in gibberish I tell you! It's written in some sort of heiroglyphysics or something!"

"Again, Allen, it isn't hieroglyphics, we've talked about this yesterday." 

"Oh shut up! It's basically the same!"

"It is literally not."

As Myu and Allen bickered, she glanced down at the card in her hand as her head whirled in thought. These Number cards, the real ones as Kaito would put it, weren't written in any of the language that normal people can understand.

The duelists that were possessed by the Numbers could of course understand them, how else were they supposed to play them? And she'll guess that Kaito has something in his sleeve to do the same, though more likely less spirit shenanigans and more scientific ones, maybe.

Her on the other hand? She would bet that she could read the card in her hand, and some other in her possession, due to her System's influence. It certainly does add onto the feel that these cards were truly out of this world.

Though considering Allen's comment on hieroglyphics, she wondered if her System would actually let her read the anime version of the original god cards. The ones with actual incantations and all.

Ah, but she should probably stop Allen and Myu's argument before they go for each other's necks, again. 

As she opened her mouth however, she stopped as she heard something. "Are any of you hearing that?" She asked as she turned her head around, right in time for something to crash into her.

"UWA-!"

"KYA-!"

She fell and tumbled down as the something that she had vaguely heard off in the distance slammed right onto her, with both her and the one that crashed onto her yelping and screaming. Accompanied with the sound of something metal clanging onto the ground.

Yet even as she fell to the hard ground below, she felt something soft land on top of her.

"Ugh… what hit me…" She groaned.

"Ow…" Said the thing, or rather person, that hit her.

Both she and the person that crashed into her groaned, and though she already had an inkling on who it was, she opened her eyes and had her suspicions confirmed as she met Anna's golden eyes.

Their eyes locked for a brief second before her entire face turned as red as her hair, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to form words, yet failing to do so. Then she leapt off of her, her face hidden under her hands as steam seemed to come out from the top of her head, stammering all the while.

"... Is she alright?" She asked the others as she glanced away from Anna, and saw the amused look of Myu, the groaning Allen, and an equally embarrassed Sayaka whose face was flushed with red.

"I will take that as a no then." She said with a sigh as she slowly stood up and dusted herself off, all the time that Anna needed to apparently recollect herself.

"SORRY!" And the first coherent thing that she did was a full blown apology, doing a full 90 degrees bow as she apologized for what was essentially her reckless driving.

"Ah, no, it's fine. I guess. Just a scratch is all." She said, waving of the pink haired girl's concern as she does her best to hide the ache of getting crashed into by a large flying bike. If it weren't for her constitution that was abnormal, both from spiritual shenanigans and the 'PE' classes that the Academia mandated, she was sure that she could walk it off in just a few hours.

"Are you sure?" Anna said as she inched closer, looking over her with worry clear on her face. Along with a hint of suspicion, already knowing her habits of hiding things and trying to take care of matters by herself.

"I'm sure! I'm sure! I'll even try to take it easy after this." She said with a strained smile as she held both her hands ahead of her to make some space between her and the Earth Machine duelist.

"Hmm…" She grumbled, locking her with a glare before letting out a sigh. "Alright, fine… if you're completely sure." She said reluctantly, backing off and then turning as she walked towards the source of a gathering commotion, that of course being where her ride had crash landed a bit away from where she had.

She simply just strode in, barged through everyone, and folded the piece of machinery with technology that still boggled her to this day into a more carriable size. Then she just walked back towards them and took one of the empty seats. "So. What've you all been doing?" She asked.

"Well, before you had dropped in on us." That brought a snicker from the brown haired boy, who promptly was elbowed by his sister right in his stomach. "We were talking about this." She said, taking out the Number card that the trio had brought to her.

"Huh? Thats, one of those Number cards that you mentioned? You got another one already!?" Anna said with wide eyes as she looked back and forth between her and the card that she presented.

To which she shook her head to answer. "Not quite. Myu was actually the one to beat the Number possessed duelist, then the three of them brought it to me just now. It should be safe to read considering that nothing happened so far. Here." She said, gesturing to the trio, and offering Anna the card for her to see.

An offer which she takes, as she took the card from her. "Well darn. That's pretty neat I guess." She said with a hum as she looked at the card in question, raising an eyebrow as she saw it. And Allen looked over her shoulder.

"Yeah It's basically unreadable or whatever. It's all written in hiero-"

"Ah darn it's too specific so it basically can't be used by anyone here huh." The pink haired girl said with a grumble as she tossed the card back onto the table. "Don't think Ninjas would work with my Trains."

A beat of silence passed through them all as they took in the words that had left the girl's mouth. And soon enough they were all looking at Anna. something that she took notice of, as she seemed to react to it. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"That's-that's cuz none of us could even read that!" Allen shouted as he pointed to the card in question. "It's all written in like, heirogplhy or whatever!"

"Again, it's not hieroglyphics. At least say it correctly."

"Whatever! The point is that it doesn't make sense, and none of us could read it other than Yuuna! So how come you're able to read it then!?"

"What do you mean none of you can read it, it's literally written just like normal!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Alright you two, settle down. We're in a public place, remember? Please mind your manners." She said with a smile as she regarded the siblings. Both who turned towards her and felt a jolt of ice go through their backs as they then sat down quietly and peacefully.

Perfect.

"Now then, as Allen said, this Number card is supposed to be written in an alien language that most people are not meant to understand." She said as she took the card again, waving it to gain the table's attention.

"I suppose that I myself am capable of reading it because of spiritual shenanigans, while even Myu, the one who had supposedly won it, isn't able to." Which was quite strange to be honest, as it had some implications.

"But since you're able to read it then…" She said, letting her words hang in the air as all the attention turned towards the pink haired girl on the table. Who let out a sigh as she scratched the back of her head.

"Ah geez, and here I wanted to hide it for a surprise. But I guess something like this is important isn't it?" Anna grumbled as she took out her duel disk, rummaging through one of its slots before taking out a card.

"I guess it's because of this yeah?" She said, showing something that she hadn't had in their last meeting.

That being an XYZ Monster, a Number XYZ Monster to be specific. One that was a perfect fit for her deck as well.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point." She said as she shook her head with a mirthful smile while all the others gaped at the card in Anna's hand. What could it be but if not fate?

"Of course you of all people would run into a Numbers. And it's Dora of all things too. A perfect card to slot in for your Extra Deck."

"I know right! This card just does a lot of things too! If I played my card correctly, then I could even go first and actually do things on the opponent's turn!" The pink haired girl said with an excited grin, enthusiasm clear as she gushed over the new card in her possession.

"B-bwuh?! Since when did you get that!" And the first of the trio to recover from their shock was none other than Allen. Who shouted and pointed towards his sister and the card that was in her hand.

"Honestly? I was just getting here on my bike and heard some commotion downtown." She said, starting to regale the story. "Then I saw that there was this one guy that looked weird, then he started to get angry at me for some reason and shouted at me for a duel. Then he summoned this. I guessed he was possessed or something, so I just beat him and took it."

Another beat of silence took over the table. All of them once again stared at the pink haired girl with mixed emotions. "That's… a very concise story." She said with a strained smile, one that Anna returned with one beaming with positivity.

"Well he wasn't that strong. Sure the card was annoying since I couldn't destroy it by card effect when it uses its effect or whatever, so I just rammed Liebe into it several times until the game was over."

"Ah… that would work wouldn't it." She said with a sigh as she looked up towards the clear blue sky. "You still take the damage indeed."

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing. But I'm guessing that this is probably the reason that you could read Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja then." She said, bringing them all back to the original topic of the conversation.

"I mean, probably? I don't know as much about this spiritual stuff as you do." The pink haired girl replied with furrowed brows.

"But if that was the case, then how come I can't read it then?" Myu joined in as she asked a question. "I was the one who defeated Yamikawa-san and uh, freed him from the Number's possession. So how come I'm not able to read it?" 

The silver haired girl's question brough another silence. "If I were to guess, it may be a case of compatibility?" She suggested. "Though we only have Anna as an example for now, she found Number 81: Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Super Dora, a card that goes incredibly well with her strategy."

So she said as she brought attention to the card on the table again, and continued. "And this is just a speculation mind you, but it could be that since she could bring the card's full potential, that it somehow connected to her?"

"Well… I guess that's the best explanation we have." Myu said with a disappointed sigh, glancing down at the two cards that were left on the center of the table. "Not that I would've used it at all, Ninjas sucks anyway. But it would have been nice to have the option…"

"Yea… I get it…" Allen said solemnly as he nodded along, and Syaka laughed nervously at the two's reactions. Anna too, nodded understandingly, and the corner of her mouth twitched at seeing all their reactions.

"Well, there might be a Number out there that's good for your decks?" She said aloud, hanging a thread of hope for Myu to grasp as she thought of what Number cards were even good to pair with Evols.

There's the two Dinosaur Numbers in Volcasaurus and Freezadon, though both are Rank 5 monsters, Lios can Level modulate so that's actually accessible. Whether they're better than using the Evol XYZ Monsters however, isn't really worth asking.

"Well when you put it like that…"

"But again, I wouldn't advise using a random card off of the ground that might be possessed." She drew out with a grin. "Just a reminder, of course." She said, as she saw both Allen and Myu immediately remembering the dangers of possessing a Numbers card.

"B-bu-but Anna-san is just fine isn't she?!" The silver haired girl said, pointing towards the girl in question who was lounging at her seat. "And she basically did that!?"

"I feel like you're insulting me somehow."

"She means it good naturedly I assure you." She said with a chuckle, watching the girl fluster under their gaze as she shook her head. "Well, Anna might or might not be a special case, either way the sample size of people with Numbers that aren't crazed are too few to draw a conclusion with."

"You're saying that nee-san ain't crazy?" The only boy in their group muttered under his breath, and received an elbow to his stomach from the twin tailed girl beside him. "Ow!"

"Hush you."

"In any case." She said, interjecting Myu and Allen's squabble before it could fully begin. "If possible I want you all to stick with Anna for a bit. Just to see if anything happens." She asked as she looked towards the trio.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm as fit as a fiddle!" The cherry haired girl complained aloud, to which she offered her a smile.

"And we can all see that Anna. It's just that this is the first time that something like this has happened, and I'd like for someone to be there with you in case something happens."

"Mhmmm…" the girl growled out as she crossed her arms and glared at her, and she responded back with a genuine frown to convey her worry.

"Please Anna. If anything just to make me not worry over you for the day."

"Ugh." She reeled back, her golden eyes locking with her own, before she finally relented. "Ugh fine. But it's because you asked nicely okay! I guess I'll stick around with you guys for a while." Anna huffed and grumbled out, and she beamed a smile towards her.

"Thank you Anna. I'm sure that you'd be fine, but that would ease my worries." She said as she let out a sigh of relief. The chances of anything happening would be low, but with this there shouldn't be anything that she should worry about Anna having a Number card out of nowhere.

"Y-yeah, w-well, you're welcome!" The cherry haired girl stuttered as she shouted, turning her head away from her as soon as she finished.

"Man she really does have her on a leash…"

"Allen please." Myu groaned.

"Well, with that out of the way, I guess I should be off." She said as she stood up from her seat, and did a light stretch after she did so.

"Wait, you're going somewhere?" The cherry haired girl asked, to which she nodded.

"Yeah. There's somewhere that I want to go to. Though it might be a bit far, and I don't really know where it exactly is. So I have to actually search for it for a bit." She answered back. "It would probably take the rest of the day really."

"Oh! Maybe we can come with you then! And help of course!" The silver haired girl suggested as she raised a hand. "That way you can find the place that you're looking for faster, and we don't have to split off so far and we can all keep an eye on Anna-san."

"That's… an idea." She said slowly, nodding her head as she thought about the proposal. Chances are the lead that the storekeeper gave her on the Academia's whereabouts might have already gone cold, or they weren't even about the person that she was thinking of. It might all just be a big coincidence in that case.

But in the case that it isn't, and one of the others were to find the Academia, what then? She hadn't told them at all about the Fusion Dimension, nor the invasion that they were planning, and not to mention if they were to lose then…

No. She already promised that she wouldn't try and solve all of these cases on her own, the least she could do is accept their help. If they do meet with them, then she'll explain then and only then to the best of her abilities. 

That is, if everyone was willing to do so, "Well then. Anyone else wants to spend the rest of the day looking around buildings then?" She asked as her gaze swept through the table, and saw everyone nodding.

Well with all this help, it would at least make covering grounds faster. "Then if that's the case, it can't be helped. Though there are a few stops that I want to go through first-"

-

Whether it be left or right, wherever she looked she would only find an identical looking warehouse as far as the eye could see. It still was a bit wondrous to see how many of these kinds of things that Heartland has, especially with how sparse they were in Academy Island, but she supposes that's what a bustling economy does to a city.

So here she was, wandering the many warehouse sections of Heartland City, and though there had been bustling crowds of workers at some of the earlier parts, all moving and transferring products in preparation for the World Duel Carnival, she had somehow found herself in a part barren of any other human life.

"..." She stayed silent as a gust of wind passed, ruffling her crimson jacket the slightest bit as she stared far away.

There was no use hiding it, she was lost,

She went here with everyone, and somehow, after an extenuating set of circumstances, somehow found herself separated from everyone else.

It was baffling to an extent, though annoying more than anything else if she were to be honest.

Yet somehow, being separated from the others had proven fruitful.

It was only after being los-wandering around for a good while did she even find a lead, a sight of someone going out of one of the warehouses while looking incredibly suspicious. And by suspicious, she meant a familiar teen wearing familiar clothes.

Her mind immediately went on alert as she leapt to the nearest building, using the walls as a hiding place as she peeked to watch the Academia spy from afar. She saw Dennis look both ways before he left to who knows where, not ever looking back to the hideout that he had left from.

Her heart was torn between following the spy or busting right into the hideout, but the thought of finding out their plans or sabotaging their supplies were too much for her to pass up, and so she decided to forgo catching the clown-like spy, for now.

Somewhere not that far away, a certain orange haired teen felt a shiver run down his spine, and felt as if he had just barely escaped danger.

So with her mind set, she went and informed the others that she had found the place that she was looking for, along with notifying them that no, she hadn't been lost for the past hour or so, and went to approach the Academia hideout.

"I've found you! You bastard!"

Only to be stopped in her tracks as she heard someone's shouting. She turned around to see a black haired teen, wearing equally dark coloured clothes and jacket, with belts looping all over his ensemble.

"You're…" She trailed off as she saw the teen before her, her words failing her.

"That's right! It's me!" The teen declared aloud as he glared at her with malevolence. "So you recognized me, didn't you Red Hat! This is the face of a guy whose life you've ruined!" He roared loud, waving his arms crazily as he did so.

She had absolutely no idea who this was.

"Who would have thought that I would find you here of all places, well it must be my lucky day! Kuha KUHAHAHAHA!" The teen laughed madly towards the heavens as he arched his back, acting completely unhinged.

"Yes! It just has to be my lucky day! Because today, I get to exact my revenge on you!" The dark haired teen roared aloud as he snapped his left hand outwards, his duel disks blade projection manifesting at his command.

She stepped back slightly at his sudden declaration, having no intention of dueling a complete stranger who came out of nowhere. "Listen you, I-"

"And this time, this time I don't even need to cheat to win!" The maddened teen shouted out, looking at her with crazed eyes. "With my Numbers, there's no way I could lose to you! RED HAT!"

That sole line changed how she viewed things, as she narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth. A Numbers possessed!? Here of all places and now of all times!? The universe must be having a blast throwing her into these kinds of situations. She was just glad that she had her new deck made just in time.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance, flicking her left arm as she activated her own duel disk. "I don't have time for this!" She growled, even as she had no choice but to duel against the boy in front of her.

And with that, the duel began, with their Numbers at stake.

""DUEL!!""

Yusha: 4000LP

Red Hat: 4000LP

"I'll be going first!" The crazed Number possessed boy shouted at the top of his lungs, taking the first turn with his declaration. "I will activate the effect of Umbral Horror Ghost in my hand!"

"Umbral Horror…?" She muttered, her eyes narrowing under the cap of her hat as she watched her opponent reveal the card. Vaguely remembering the cards being used by… one of the main antagonists for ZEXAL, wasn't it? But she didn't think that this teen in front of her was that person. Though he had the… edgy 'anime' look that fits the role, he certainly was not him.

Not knowing the inner panic that she was having, the black haired boy then revealed the monster he had just named, and continued to explain its effects. "During my Main Phase, I can special summon this card and another 'Umbral Horror' monster in my hand!" He declared with glee, and revealed another card that was in his hand.

"I will special summon both it and Umbral Horror Will o'the Wisp!" He shouted, and placed the two cards on his purple duel blade, the ghostly wraith and the burning vengeful spirit both appearing onto the field simultaneously.

Umbral Horror Ghost - Dark/Fiend/Level 2/Effect: 200/200

Umbral Horror Will o' the Wisp - Dark/Fiend/Level 1/Effect: 0/0

A quick dive into her memory of actually trying to make anime decks playable, along with a dark history of trying to roleplay as the characters that will never be spoken ever again, told her that that wasn't quite what she remembered the effect being. Another card whose effect was mixed between its anime and actual release counterparts then?

"And then Will o' the Wisp will activate its effect!" He declared as he spread both of his arms wide, the crazed smile never leaving his face for a single moment. "When this card is normal or special summoned, I can target one 'Umbral Horror' monster that I control or in my graveyard except this card, and change its Level to match that one!"

Then he swiftly pointed towards the one and only target for the monster's effect. "I will target Umbral Horror Ghost! And change Will o' the Wisp's Level to match that monster's!" The blue burning vengeful spirit then burned brighter, the shadow that it casted moving as if it had a mind of its own until it reached the ghostly wraith, their shadows interconnecting as its Level changed to match one another.

Umbral Horror Will o' the Wisp - Dark/Fiend/Level 2/Effect: 0/0

"Now behold!" He shouted aloud with a crazed smile, raising his right hand up high towards the sky. "I will take the Level 2 Umbral Horror Ghost and the Level 2 Umbral Horror Will o' the Wisp, and overlay them!"

The two ghastly figures then let out their respective screeches before their forms distorted, morphing into dark purple blobs of energy which then crossed one another, entering into the galactical vortex that appeared between them. "With these two monsters, I will construct an overlay network! XYZ Summon!"

An explosion of light soon engulfed the field, and from it came the monster that her opponent had summoned. "Appear! Number 65!" Which took the form of a blade-like thing, which soon unfolded itself into a more humanoid form, with two large blades for hands, with dark purple and black colors coloring its body, while the blades that it had for hands shone blood red. 

"The cursed executioner of judgment, the Shredding Devil, Djinn Buster!" The monster then took post, swung both of its bladed arms as its singular wings made of dark silver blades unfurled behind its left shoulder, standing firm in front of its deranged summoner, standing in attack position regardless of its arguably pitiful attack points. The archaic number 65 shone on the rightmost part of its chest. Two purple orbs orbited the newly summoned XYZ Monster.

Number 65: Djinn Buster - Dark/Fiend/XYZ/Rank 2/Effect: 1300/0 OV: 2

"Djinn Buster…" The first genuine negate that she's seen in this world on an Extra Deck Monster. Well, generic monster negation for XYZ Monsters that is. It was a neat option for Rank 2 centric decks, seeing that its requirement was simply 2 Dark monsters, 

Normally it would be easy for the monster to be removed by simply just punching over with what with its abysmal stats, both attack and defence, but with it being a 'real' Numbers with the Numbers clause, her normal summon most likely wouldn't be able to do so.

"Kukuku, but it's not just that!" The dark dressed duelist grinned as he cackled ominously, taking out another card from his hand. "I will normal summon Umbral Horror Ghoul!" He declared, slamming the monster card on his duel disk, and the ghastly green cloaked monster then appeared as it let out its screech.

Umbral Horror Ghoul - Dark/Fiend/Level 4/Effect: 1800/0

"And then Umbral Horror Ghoul's effect! Once per turn, I can make this card's attack 0, and special summon one 'Umbral Horror' monster with 0 attack from my hand!" He declared with glee.

A dark aura engulfed the fiendish monster, its energy being drained as a pool of darkness formed under it.

Umbral Horror Ghoul - Dark/Fiend/Level 4/Effect: 0/0

Then he took out another card from his hand, "I will special summon Umbral Horror Unform from my hand!" And slammed it right onto his duel blade, with the pool of darkness under his previously summoned monster congealing and taking a solid form, with tendrils of darkness coming out of its body, a singular dark purple eye shining surrounded by reddish adornments. 

Umbral Horror Unform - Dark/Fiend/Level 4/Effect: 0/0

"But it isn't over yet!" Yusha shouted with glee, waving both hands outwards. "I will overlay the Level 4 Umbral Horror Ghoul and Umbral Horror Unform!" And the two monsters then screeched as they too, turned into pillars of dark light, criss crossing one another.

"With these two monsters, I will construct an overlay network! XYZ Summon!" And the pillars of light entered the galactical vortex, and caused an explosion of light. "Appear! Number 98!"

"A second Numbers-!?" She hissed under her breath as soon as she named the numbers. No wonder he was this unhinged, he was under the influence of multiple of them.

And what appeared ominously from the dark vortex was a triangular shape that was eerily similar, one that soon unfolded according to its master's wishes. "Herald of darkness! Antitopian!" And what took form was, in the lightest term, a palette swapped Utopia, with its dark blade, gold and white linings accented the monster's black armour.

The Dark Warrior stabbed its blade on the ground, standing defensively of its summoner, and the blood red marking of 98 shone ominously from its giant pauldrons. Two purple orbs orbited the newly summoned XYZ Monster representing its overlay materials.

Number 98: Antitopian - Dark/Warrior/XYZ/Rank 4/Effect: 2000/2500 OV: 2

"And I will set a card face-down. Then end my turn!" He shouted with glee, the manic grin never leaving his face as he cackled. Ending his turn with two Dark XYZ Monsters, a singular backrow, and no other cards left in his hand. "Kuhahahaha! You're finished! Finished I tell you! With this, I'll have my revenge!"

"I see." She said simply, ignoring the boy's manic rambling as she placed a hand over her duel disk's deck case. "Then it's my turn, I draw." She said as she drew for turn, starting out with six cards to start off her turn.

The board that her opponent made wasn't bad of course, in fact if he wasn't deranged then she might have praised him for being able to make something like this with the limited pool of cards-

"But that's not all!" Her opponent's shout interrupted her musing, as she once more turned to see the boy's deranged grin. "I will flip my set card, The Continuous Trap, Light-Imprisoning Mirror!"

With that declaration, the boy waved his hand wildly, the face-down set card in front of him being flipped face-up and revealing the Continuous Trap just as he had declared, the card in question shining brightly as it was activated.

"With this card face-up on the field, all Light monsters have their effects negated on the field and graveyard!" He shouted aloud with pure glee, cackling all while he did so. "With this, you can do nothing! It's my win! KUHAHAHAHAHA!"

With that declaration the Continuous Trap card took the form of an eye shaped ornate mirror which appeared behind his line of monsters, one that seemed to absorb light itself with the vortex that was the center of the mirror.

She only stared at the cackling boy who was so assured of his victory, glancing down towards the generic floodgate that he had brought purely for the sake of countering her strategy, and somehow having opened what she assumed was an unsearchable three of.

A pure counter strategy, focused on what were seemingly Dark monsters with Umbral Horror as the main engine of the deck. And specific Light hate cards like Light-Imprisoning Mirror, and maybe even Ally of Justice Quarantine too.

No, even Antitopian itself is an incredibly specific counter to her Utopia deck. More specifically its graveyard effect which would revive itself and essentially absorb a Utopia monster in doing so.

But still, even then, even if she was still using her Utopia Rank 4 toolbox deck, there were many ways that she could easily play through this board. Even with the singular monster negate that he had on his field.

After all Djinn Buster's negation was one that didn't destroy, as it only negates the activation and burns for a measly 500 points, and needing to detach two materials to activate it. Which means that it could only be activated once.

With how easily she could spam Level 4 monsters in that deck, she could have just made Tornado Dragon to try and remove Light-Imprisoning Mirror, even if he uses Djinn Buster to negate its effect, Tornado Dragon would stay on the field. And with its effect being a Quick Effect, she could just do it again as soon as she was able.

If anything, the set card being Light-Imprisoning Mirror of all things makes all of this easier. She was honestly worried that he had actually set up another form of interruption, and if anything, she was dreading if the last card that he had in hand was a Rank-Up Magic.

Because Number C65: King Overfiend was essentially Skill Drain. One that was more annoying as its usual downside of having low attack and defence was countered by the Numbers Clause. Though of course, any other form of removal would easily clear that, not that she had drawn any.

Well, attacking wouldn't really even remove the monster, even if one were to ignore the Numbers Clause that the XYZ Monster had, with the existence of Number 98: Antitopian, which was simply a Utopia that switches an attacking monster to defence instead of negating an attack. 

Something that she could easily play around, much easier than Djinn Buster even. She simply just has to remove it before she even enters the Battle Phase.

Not having to actually deal with King Overfiend, however, makes this situation that she was in far easier for her to deal with.

"Then I will start with the effect of Vala, Seidhr of the Generaider Bosses in my hand." She calmly declared, revealing the monster card in her hand and showing it to her opponent. 

"What?" He sounded out with confusion at hearing the monster's name, no doubt expecting to have seen something else.

"If this card is in my hand or graveyard, I can send one other 'Generaider' card from my hand to the graveyard, and special summon this card. Though it is banished when it leaves the field." She spoke, explaining the monster's effect as she then chose the card to discard for its cost.

"I will discard Mardel, Generaider Boss of Light from my hand." She declared, sending the declared card to the graveyard, and waited for her opponent to respond to her monster's effect.

"That's-! This isn't how-no! It doesn't matter!" The composure that he had was shaken as soon as his well planned strategy was shown to not have worked, and yet he acted to try and keep control over the situation.

"Then I'll use Djinn Buster's effect!" He shouted, waving his hands outwards as he did so. "When you activate a monster effect, I can detach two materials from this card, to negate the activation, and if I do, inflict 500 damage to you!"

The two glowing purple orbs that orbited the XYZ Monster then were taken as the blade handed monster swung both of its hands, letting out a screech as it used both of its xyz materials to activate its effect.

Number 65: Djinn Buster - Dark/Fiend/XYZ/Rank 2/Effect: 1300/0 OV: 0

With no response to that, the two card chain resolved, the effect of Vala soon being negated. The fiendish XYZ Monster then spread its one wing wide, and swung it, sending its bladed feathers hurling towards her.

She braced herself and raised both hands in front of her. "Kuh!" She hissed as the rain of blades grazed her, causing small tears to slightly appear on her clothes, and the one that came to close for her comfort nicked her cheeks.

Drawing an incredibly small amount of blood. But drawing it nonetheless.

Red Hat: 3500LP

"... So that's how it is." She muttered lowly, swiping the small nick on her cheek with her thumb, an attempt to clean the blood that came from the graze. "So it was this kind of 'Shadow Game', huh."

The level of realism that the solid vision that that Number monster has is certainly over the safety levels. And it wasn't an override or anything of the sort that That Man might have with his pawns.

This was clearly something that was specific to the Numbers, an actual example of spirit shenanigans being afoot. This one was different from the handful of 'real' Numbers that she had faced so far however, and she could take a guess as to why.

The other Numbers that she had faced against, and taken to her custody, had never made anything of an effect like this. And she guessed that it was all due to the intentions that were behind their use.

The ones that she had faced were clearly just people who had essentially been drawn mad, or madder in some cases, with power, but for this one boy however?

This was clear, cut, malice. A strong sense of negative emotions that he no doubt had been festering towards her for who knew how long, most likely ever since she had revealed how he had cheated in what felt like a lifetime ago.

"So something like this could happen too, huh." She mused with closed eyes, and opened her eyes again, with clear focus and determination. She'll just have to try and finish this as soon as she could then.

With essentially his one form of interruption now gone, she shuffled her five card hand, the Vala she had used just before stayed in her hand due to Djinn Buster's negation effect not destroying it, simply negating it.

"I will summon Loptr, Shadow of the Generaider Bosses." She said as she used her normal summon for the turn, and a white robed young man appeared in front of her, offering a gentle yet condescending smile to her opponent as he mock bowed as he was summoned.

Loptr, Shadow of the Generaider Bosses - Fire/Fairy/Level 4/Effect: 1500/1500

"I can only control one Loptr, Shadow of the Generaider Bosses, and I will activate Loptr's effect." She declared with a wave of her hand. "During the Main Phase, as a Quick Effect, I can tribute one 'Generaider' monster, to special summon one Level 9 'Generaider' monster with a different name from my deck."

"A Level 9 monster!? Just like that!?" The dark haired boy said with a hint of shock, noting the high Level that Loptr would easily summon, his slack posture going rigid as he saw that he could do nothing to stop this play.

She briefly wondered what was so shocking, considering that he had fought against Anna who had easily spammed Level 10 monsters onto the board. "I will tribute Loptr, and special summon a second Vala, Seidhr of the Generaider Bosses."

The blond fairy sent her opponent a menacing smile as he raised his hands high, before disappearing into motes of light as he was tributed, and in his place appeared a beautiful Fairy with long black hair, garbed in a beautiful crimson dress and covered by the same coloured hood, and from beneath her was what seemed to be a giant tangling mass with grey scales, with the fairy monster sitting atop of it with grace as she carried her staff. 

Vala, Seidhr of the Generaider Bosses - Fire/Fairy/Level 9/Effect: 2500/2500

"I can only control one Vala, Seidhr of the Generaider Bosses, and I will activate her effect. If this card is special summoned, I can special summon one 'Generaider' monster from my hand or graveyard except another copy of herself." She said, explaining the monster's activated effect as she hit the field.

She took out a card that she had sent earlier to her graveyard and revealed it. "I will special summon Mardel, Generaider Boss of Light onto the field from my graveyard." So she said as she placed the card on her duel blade.

The Fairy raised the staff in her hand as it emitted light, and from the earth beside her something took form. A giant that dwarfed her in size, with beautiful butterfly wings and a gorgeous green dress, and flowing green hair, an embodiment of nature itself took place on her side of the field.

Mardel, Generaider Boss of Light - Light/Plant/Level 9/Effect: 2400/2400

With Light-Imprisoning Mirror still on the field however, she of course chose not to activate the monster's effect. Though she certainly could have gone further if she could have done so.

But she intended to end this as fast as she could, so she was going to do just that. "I will activate the Quick-Play Spell, World Legacy Monstrosity." She declared, playing the card straight from her hand as soon as Mardel's summon resolved.

"World Legacy Monstrosity allows me to either special summon a Level 9 monster from my hand, or to target a Level 9 monster that I control, and special summon two Level 9 monsters each with a different original Type and Attribute from that face-up targeted monster, and with different names from each other, but they cannot attack and are destroyed during the End Phase."

She waved her right hand towards her first special summoned monster. "I will target Vala, Seidhr of the Generaider Bosses." And with no response from her opponent, the effect continues to resolve. "And I will special summon Harr, Generaider Boss of Storms and Utgarda, Generaider Boss of Delusion."

With a quick swipe of her hand, she placed the two cards whose names she declared, and placed them both on her duel blade. And with that, the two equally large monsters then appeared onto the field.

One was a gigantic monster whose size rivaled Mardel, with a cloak made of darkness, and garbed in dark grey armor adorned with golden accents. He carried with him a giant staff, and a pair of large horns protruding from his unseen face, his singular right eye shining ominously as the only part of its face which could be seen.

Harr, Generaider Boss of Storms - Dark/Spellcaster/Level 9/Effect: 3000/3000

And the other monster that appeared was a literal floating castle, one that floated behind all of her other monsters, its own large form dwarfing all of her other monsters with its sheer size.

Utgarda, Generaider Boss of Delusions - Light/Rock/Level 9/Effect: 2200/2700

"T-two at once!? No! Even with that many monsters, if they can't attack then-!"

She gestured her hand forward towards the two monsters that she had summoned earlier during the turn and spoke. "I will take the Level 9 Vala, and the Level 9 Mardel, and overlay them." She declared as the two monsters let out their respective cries as they turned into glowing pillars of light.

"I will construct an overlay network with these two monsters, XYZ Summon." And the two pillars of light entered the appearing vortex of black and gold, turning into a bright explosion of light.

"Appear, blazing sword that heralds the end. Laevatein, Generaider Boss of Shadows." And said pillar of light changed to one of fire, that was dispersed as it was cut in half, and a demonic and monstrous form of Loptr appeared onto the field, on its right hand floated a glowing burning magical sigil, a sign of the Generaiders, while it wielded a large burning blade in the other.

The demonic fairy let out a maddening cackle as it rose ahead of her, the mass of tentacles supporting its now large form, with two glowing red overlay materials orbiting around the summoned XYZ Monster.

Laevatein, Generaider Boss of Shadows - Fire/Fairy/XYZ/Rank 9/Effect: 2500/2500 OV: 2

"A Rank 9 XYZ Monster-but it's no matter!" The black haired boy shouted through gritted teeth, harshly swinging his hand outwards. "No matter what you do, that thing isn't a Number! And there's no way that it could defeat both Djinn Buster and Antitopian!" He declared with confidence as the two monsters in front of him let out their respective cries.

She chose not to deign a response to the boast that she was going to prove wrong in but a moment. She needed to finish this quickly, this turn to be exact.

"Like other Generaider monsters, I can only control one Laevatein, Generaider Boss of Shadows. While Laevatein is on the field all monsters that you control lose 1000 attack and defence." 

She said, not forgetting to mention the XYZ Monster's continuous effect that it has on the field, as was represented by the flames that still lingered on her opponent's side of the field from its summon, reducing the attack and defence of both monsters on her opponent's side of the field.

Number 65: Djinn Buster - Dark/Fiend/XYZ/Rank 2/Effect: 300/0 OV: 0

Number 98: Antitopian - Dark/Warrior/XYZ/Rank 4/Effect: 1000/1500 OV: 2

"Tch-! But-but that won't even matter!" The dark haired boy shouted, the frown that he had once more replaced by a confident grin. "You still won't be able to destroy them! Just try attacking if you dare!" He said, clearly goading her to fall for Antitopian's effect.

She doubted that he could even out a defence position Laevatein, not that he was going to be having a board left after this turn.

"Laevatein's effect." She declared with a wave of her hand. "As a Quick Effect, I can tribute this XYZ Summoned card, to special summon one non-Fairy 'Generaider' XYZ Monster from my Extra Deck, then attach cards from any field and or graveyard to that special summoned monster as material, up to the number of materials this card had."

She raised her right hand and continued on. "I will tribute Laevatein." Her declaration was followed by the cackle of maddened fairy that heralded the end of the world, one that goes and disappears in a blaze of flames just like he appeared, but this time, dragging something with him.

"And special summon Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity." Without fanfare she summoned the deck's other Extra Deck option, and an enormously large and absurdly long serpent then took Laevatein's place, cutting through the blazing flames that it left as it let out an earth shattering roar.

Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity - Earth/Reptile/XYZ/Rank 9/Effect: ?/? OV: 0

"And I will attach Djinn Buster and Antitopian to Jormungandr." And then with Laevatein's non-targeting effect, she declared the name of both XYZ Monsters that her opponent had. The gigantic reptile opened its large maw as it swung its large body and swung its head to devour the two XYZ Monsters, gladly turning them into xyz materials of its own.

Though of course, as this wasn't anything like a rank up or the sort, the respective targets overlay materials weren't also devoured, as such Jormungandr only stood with two glowing brown orbs of light orbiting its absurdly large body.

Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity - Earth/Reptile/XYZ/Rank 9/Effect: ?/? OV: 2

"N-no! How could-"

"Jormungandr's original attack and defence become 1000 for each of its materials." She mentioned aloud as a brown aura radiated from the large bodied monster that governs infinity itself.

Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity - Earth/Reptile/XYZ/Rank 9/Effect: 2000/2000 OV: 2

She again, ignored the mad rambling that her opponent was currently having about impossibilities and whatnot, and continued on. "And I will overlay the Level 9 Harr and the Level 9 Utgarda." 

The two monsters turned into pillars of light that criss crossed one another, and entered the galactical vortex that appeared before her. "With these two monsters, I will once more construct an overlay network. XYZ Summon." And another explosion of light occured.

"Appear, Sacred Tree Beast, Hyperyton." And from it came another XYZ Monster. One that wasn't dissimilar to Mardel before it, the guardian of nature took the form of a peryton, a mythical beast that combined the form of a bird and a stag, features which appears on the monster's back and horns specifically, with its maid body being something resembling an elk.

 Sacred Tree Beast, Hyperyton - Earth/Plant/XYZ/Rank 9/Effect: 2600/1900 OV: 2

And though there were ways she could extend further with the cards in her hand, she saw no need to do so. She was already wasting time as is. She should end this as soon as she can. "Battle." She declared. 

"I will attack you directly with both Hyperyton and Jormungandr. Go." And the command given, the giant serpent and the sacred beast of trees attacked the defenseless dark haired boy, and ending the game right then and there.

"GYAAAAAAAAAA!" He shouted as the force of the physical holograms' attack threw him back, making him fall loudly onto the hard concrete ground below as the typical ring of his Life Points dropping and reaching zero filled the air.

Yusha: 0LP

Yet she cared not for the downed duelist, any sort of sympathy that she had had for him was removed the moment that he bared his aggression, no matter how justified it was, towards her and her's.

She had already wasted more time than she had wanted, and thus she hastily moved over the downed teen, not even taking the time to grab the Number cards that he possessed, and went on towards the hideout where the Academia had holed themselves in.

And she opened the warehouse doors, facing the music.