Chapter 9

"Here," Pandora huffed as she handed me a silver drill hair curler. "One magically enhanced Psychic Suppression Device… Way better than anything that Arcadia Movement could create… Not sure how much it will suppress her since she is a signer, thus having a Deity's power flowing through her, but it should still suppress her powers a good amount."

I smiled and gladly took the device off her hands. "Thank you very much, Pandora," I told her, observing the item in my hands… Yep, it looked exactly like Akiza's Hair Curler from the show, down to the smallest detail. Perfect.

"I expect payment for this," she informed me.

"One hour of cuddling for the next month."

"Two hours for the next three months."

"One hour, one and a half months, and we go on a date in the Spirit World so you can rub it in Mana's face."

"Deal!" She grinned.

"These negotiations are so wholesome that it makes me annoyed," Tez said in a dry voice.

"Just think about Wayta corrupting Akiza, that will make you feel better," I told him.

"… You're right, it does," he grinned.

I chuckled and leaned back in my seat, playing with the PSD.

A few weeks had passed since my lunch date with Akiza, and we were about to enter our first break for the school year.

I had noticed that, for the last week, Akiza had been duelling much more frequently… Far more frequently than she probably should have been, almost as though she were seeking out pain and destruction.

It reminded me of a scene from the anime… When Yusei and Akiza were duelling, Yusei was able to sense Akiza's feelings through their duel. He realised that she enjoyed destruction… Her tendencies to destruction had become impulses towards destruction.

In other words, she had started to destroy things simply out of impulse. Her powers at that point had grown so strong, she destroyed things purely by habit rather than anything else.

Normally that would be the case here… However, there was another factor at play- Black Rose Moonlight Dragon and Blood Rose Dragon that I had given to Akiza.

Tez had stewed Moonlight Dragon in his negative energies… He hadn't been able to do too much for Blood Rose Dragon, however he had been able to imbue it with negative energy as well. As a result, those two cards were slowly imbuing Akiza with more negative energy the more she used them.

That was why, after several weeks of using the cards, Akiza had finally been 'infected' with their negative energy. Not only had it increased her Psychic Powers even further, but she was definitely starting to enjoy the pain she caused others.

A few more duels, or one more really intense duel, and she would be so filled with negative energy that she wouldn't even have to die for an Earthbound God to join together with her. At that point, she would become a Dark Signer and would (hopefully) be mine.

I hummed and decided to slip the device on the inside pocket of my jacket for now… While I didn't mind Akiza having it yet, I wanted to see just how corrupted she would become… Or perhaps how she already was.

I opened up the Chatroom in the meantime. It was rather late at night, so I wasn't expecting anyone except perhaps Byleth to be on at the moment, or maybe Erina.

Black Sun: Who all is here?

God's Tongue: Me.

Ashen Demon: Me.

Deviluke Princess: Me!

Black Sun: Oh? Lala? I thought you'd be asleep by now.

Deviluke Princess: Oh, I was going to, but I got a bit caught up in fine tuning the duel disks. Yours and Alexis's area almost done, just a bit more work and I can send them to you!

Black Sun: I'll look forward to it. I'll be right back; I want to sign-in before I forget.

I opened up the Sign-In tab and pressed a button.

Black Sun has signed in! You receive 300 Points!

Suddenly, the chat screen opened on its own, making me blink in surprise.

Congratulations! As everyone has been signing in regularly, a new feature has been unlocked in the chatroom!

Live Streaming features have been unlocked! From now on, users may start a 'Live Stream' to other channel members! The more other users participate and the more successful the Live Stream is, the more points the Streamer will receive!

Trust Level for everyone has risen to Level 2!

I blinked in surprise at the announcement of the new feature… I thought we had plenty of features, but I wasn't expecting a Live Stream feature… Interesting.

Deviluke Princess: Oh! That's so fun! That means I can show you all my work, and we can talk and chat while I work rather than needing to stop!

God's Tongue: Interesting… This means that we'll be able to more easily share our daily lives with each other, even showing off Shokugeki and duels in some cases, or combat in Byleth's.

Ashen Demon: … Hm.

I tapped my chin… Live Streaming… I remembered I'd tried doing some Live Streaming in my past life, but I just hadn't been able to keep up with it. Plus, it was always stressful to do so… Luckily, this would just be among friends so I should be fine.

I was about to respond in the chat before there was a knock at my door. I blinked and made my way over, slowly pulling it open and found myself staring into Akiza's eyes.

She seemed breathless, her hands clenching and unclenching… But I could see a dark glint in her eyes. The energies of the underworld were flowing through her, but they didn't have an Earthbound God to control them. It was driving her out of control.

"Duel me," she told me. "I've finished modifying my deck… It's time I gave you the 'answer' you wanted so badly."

"… Alright," I nodded in agreement. I grabbed my Duel Disk and put it on before I stepped outside of my dorm room and closed the door behind me. "Follow me."

She said nothing as she followed behind me as I led her out into the woods away from the Slifer Red Dormitory… I glanced back to see her fingers twitching, as if wanting to grab a card and use it on me right now.

'Well then…' I felt amusement ripple through me. 'We'll see in this Duel, Akiza… If you can channel that power properly.'

As we arrived at a clearing, I walked to one side as she waited at the other. We were a good distance from both the dorm and the school, meaning nobody would disturb us. Of course, there was also satellite imagery… So…

I turned to face Akiza and, for the first time since I arrived at school, tapped into my Dark Signer powers. The Jaguar Birthmark on my arm lit up, purple flames enveloped the clearing in a circle and a dark fog rolled in, obscuring us from view.

Akiza looked around slowly. "What is this…?"

"Just a little insurance to make sure we won't be disturbed," I told Akiza as I slid my deck into place and my Duel Disk activated. "Are you ready to Duel?"

"Yes…" She slipped her Deck into place as the Dragon Birthmark lit up on her arm. "What is that mark on your arm…?" She asked. "It feels… Different to mine."

I just smirked. "You'll learn soon enough," I told her, drawing five cards. "Now then… Let's duel!"

Her eyes narrowed as she drew her own cards. "Duel!"

Akiza LP: 4000

Yuno LP: 4000

"I'll take the first move!" She drew a card. "I'll start my turn by summoning Botanical Lion in Attack Mode!" She declared; a lion made of roots with a flower mane appearing on the field.

Botanical Lion

4 Star – EARTH – Plant/Effect

1600/2000

"Botanical Lion gains 300 ATK for every Plant-type monster I control, including itself!"

Botanical Lion ATK: 1600 – 1900

"Then I activate the continuous spell, The World Tree!" She placed the card on the field, and a massive green tree bloomed to life behind her, I even had to crane my neck to look up at it. "This card gains one Flower Counter every time a Plant-Type Monster is destroyed. I set two cards face down and end my turn."

Akiza Hand: 2

"My turn," I declared, drawing a card and looking at my hand. "I'll start by activating the Spell Card- One For One! I send a monster in my hand to the Graveyard, and then I can Special Summon a Level 1 monster from my hand or Deck! I discard Superbia, in order to Special Summon Luxuria!"

The ghostly image of a Peacock appeared briefly before shattering like glass, a black goat jumping out of the glass and halting on the field with a sweet smile.

[Luxuria the Desired Sin – 1 Star – DARK – Fiend/Effect – 0/0]

"Superbia's effect! When it is sent to the Graveyard due to a Card Effect, I can Special Summon it!" A hole in the ground opened, Superbia arising and flaring his feathers proudly.

[Superbia the Glorious Sin – 4 Star – DARK – Fiend/Effect – 1800/900]

"And now…" I smirked at a card in my hand. "If I control a monster, I can Special Summon this card in Defence Position!" I chuckled as I placed the card onto the field. "Appear before us! Dark Tuner – Shadow Spirit!"

Blue flames lit up right in front of me, enveloped by black fog, before it was revealed those blue flames were eyes, a small black, wispy figure appearing on the field.

Dark Tuner – Shadow Spirit

2 Star – DARK – Fiend/Dark Tuner

0/0

"Dark Tuner?" Akiza asked, frowning as she stared at the little creature on my field.

"Shadow Spirit's effect," I smirked. "When Shadow Spirit is used as Synchro Material, all other monsters I use as Material are treated as having Minus Levels equal to their current Levels! Therefore, both Superbia and Luxuria are treated as being Minus Level 4 and Minus Level 1!"

Luxuria Level: 1 > -1

Superbia Level: 4 > -4

Akiza's eyes widened. "Minus Levels…?"

"Now…! It's time I showed you what I can do, Akiza!" I laughed. "I Dark Tune my Level 2, Shadow Spirit, to my Minus Level 1 Luxuria, and my Minus Level 4 Superbia!"

Shadow Spirit giggled twistedly before it spun around, bursting into two black stars, one soaring to each of my monsters and forcing its way into their bodies. Their bodies become see-through, revealing black stars within that soon burst forth and began to spiral around in a circle.

-4 – 1 – 2 = -7

"Twisted Sin full of pride!" I chanted with a grin as my Extra Deck opened, revealing a grey card. "Devour the Darkness and feel elation within your black heart!"

Darkness spread from within the circle, enveloping the black stars as I grinned widely.

"Dark Synchro Summon! Arise! Level Minus 7! Sin of Pride – Superbia!"

The monster that emerged from the darkness was nothing like the cute little creature that had existed before… It was a monster, with the wings and tail feathers of a Peacock, but with the torso of a human and the head of the bird. It had black feathers on its body, and its wings and tail feathers shone with rainbow light, revealing their splendour. Its lower body floated off the ground, being a golden belt with black fur from the waist down.

Sin of Pride – Superbia

-7 Star – DARK – Fiend/Dark Synchro

2600/2000

Akiza stared in dumb shock. "D… Dark Synchro Summon?" She gasped in shock. "What… What is this?" Despite her words, I could see a deep intrigue, a desire, within her eyes as she stared at my Dark Synchro Monster.

I smirked at her. "Unlike normal Synchro Monsters, Dark Synchro monsters are summoned by subtracting numbers from one another, delving into the Minus and unleashing the power of Darkness. Synchro Monsters are born in light, Dark Synchro Monsters breed in the darkness! And this is one of my Dark Synchro Monsters- the Sin of Pride!"

Akiza gulped as she stared at the beast glaring at her with a smug expression on its face.

"So then, Akiza…" I chuckled. "You wanted this Duel… So, you'd better show me that you have what it takes to win!"

***********

Dark Tuner - Shadow Spirit

2 Star - DARK - Fiend/Dark Tuner

If you control another monster, you may Special Summon this card from your hand in Defence Position. If this card is used as Synchro Material, you may treat all other material monsters as having Minus Levels equal to their Levels. If a Synchro Monster is used as Material, you may treat that monster as a Dark Synchro Monster. When this card is used for a Dark Synchro Summon, you may draw 1 card.

0/0

Sin of Pride - Superbia

-7 Star - DARK - Fiend/Dark Synchro

If this card is Dark Synchro Summoned using a monster with 'Superbia' in its name as Material then, during the turn it was summoned; this card is unaffected by your opponent's card effects. When your opponent declares an attack or targets a "Sin" or "Pandora" monster on your field; redirect that attack or card effect to this card. You may only use the following effects of "Sin of Pride – Superbia" once per turn:

• If this card is destroyed on your field and sent to the Graveyard, you may banish 1 'Superbia' monster from your Graveyard: Special Summon this card from your Graveyard but banish it when it leaves your field.

• If this card is banished, Special Summon 1 "Earthbound God" monster from your Deck but destroy it during the End Phase.

2600/2000