Chapter 85

"Due to the effect of [Body of the Saint] my [Heroic Spirit- Shirou Emiya] is immune to the effects of your cards for this turn." As Hoshino slammed down the card, the holy aura of Jeanne d'Arc merged with the red figure of Emiya on the field, dispelling the effects of the [Curse of the Hexagram].

Emiya, freed from the seal, quickly advanced towards the Dark Magician Girl.

"Eek!" The startled Dark Magician Girl was caught off guard by Emiya's sudden approach.

"Emiya, isn't it a bit harsh to attack such a cute girl with your swords?" Seeing the panicked Dark Magician Girl, Hoshino seemed to have second thoughts.

"Master, showing mercy to the enemy is being cruel to oneself; I won't make such a basic mistake!" With years of experience working for the Counter Force, Emiya wouldn't miss this chance due to his opponent's appearance. "Besides, Master, you have a point. There's no need to use my swords."

"Since I projected this, I might as well use it!" Suddenly, Emiya's right hand, previously holding a blade, transformed the weapon into a heavy magic book. "Let her feel the power of knowledge!"

Emiya, holding the thick tome, swung it down like a hammer, striking the Dark Magician Girl's head and sending her flying. The magical energy contained within the book and its physical weight made the blow quite impactful.

Hoshino covered her eyes, unable to watch the scene of the Dark Magician Girl being struck down. "Emiya, isn't this even crueler?"

[Dark Magician Girl] was destroyed.

Yugi Muto LP 4000 → 3800

"To think there could be such an attack method, oh ho ho, very interesting!" Pegasus found the scene amusing and chuckled.

"Pegasus, you might not be laughing when I use this trick on you with your Toon World!" Frustrated by the loss of the cute Dark Magician Girl, Hoshino directed her anger towards Pegasus.

"Uh..." Pegasus, caught off guard by Hoshino's comment, decided not to take it seriously, simply smiling politely. "Such a lively personality, Hoshino-girl. I'm looking forward to it."

Meanwhile, Yugi, who was left staring at his defeated Dark Magician Girl, wore a complex expression. "You've outdone yourself, Hoshino, even breaking through my [Curse of the Hexagram]. However, since the equipped magic card [Magic Formula] was sent to the graveyard, I recovered 1000 Life Points."

Yugi Muto LP 3800 → 4800

"I end my battle phase. According to Emiya's effect, after battle, the projected equip card is destroyed, so I also recover 1000 Life Points!" Hoshino, not to be outdone, kept the score close.

Hoshino Chiyuki LP 3100 → 4100

"The Life Points of both players are now higher than at the start!" Jounouchi scratched his head, perplexed by the situation. "It's like nothing happened; are we starting over?"

"Not quite, Jounouchi. Chiyuki has a significant advantage now." Mai Valentine corrected Jounouchi, analyzing the situation. "Don't be fooled by Yugi's slightly higher Life Points; Chiyuki has complete control of the field and hand. To dominate Yugi like this is impressive, Chiyuki!"

"I'll set one card and end my turn." With a lighter expression, Hoshino acknowledged her strong position. "It's your turn, Yugi. You only have one card left in your hand."

"Thanks for the reminder, Hoshino." Yugi, seemingly taking Chiyuki's taunt as a cue, maintained a calm demeanor, "But I've already considered this. My turn, draw!"

"I activate the spell card [Pot of Greed] from my hand!" Yugi instantly replenished his hand to three cards.

"Tsk, top-decking pro!" Hoshino grumbled internally, lamenting the unfairness. "Why does Yugi always draw exactly what he needs, without any setup?"

(Top-Decking is the condition where a player is at a large disadvantage, such as having no cards on the field or in their hand, and draws a card that ends up turning the tables in their favor.)

"Next, I activate the spell card [Dark Magic Curtain]!" Yugi played another card, demonstrating the power of a true Duelist.

Hoshino noticed a slight, almost imperceptible smile on Yugi's face as he activated the card.

An eerie curtain appeared on Yugi's side of the field, with a fearsome skeleton ready to draw it open, sending chills down Hoshino's spine. "Dark Magic? Curtain, could it be...?"

[Dark Magic Curtain Spell Card Effect: Pay half your Life Points; Special Summon 1 'Dark Magician' from your Deck. You cannot Summon or Set other monsters during the turn you activate this card.]

"So, it's the ace monster!" Hoshino's uneasy feeling was confirmed upon reading the card's effect.

Yugi Muto LP 4800 → 2400

"He paid so many Life Points just to summon Dark Magician?" Jounouchi couldn't yet understand the importance of Dark Magician to Yugi.

As expected, the Dark Magician emerged from behind the curtain, his slender figure stepping onto the field.

[Dark Magician ★★★★★★★ (7 Stars) Dark] [Spellcaster][ATK:2500 DEF:2100]

Although no one could say for sure whether summoning Dark Magician was worth the cost, at the moment, his higher attack power compared to Red-Eyes Black Dragon allowed Yugi to regain control of the field, using only one card.

"Impressive, Yugi. Refilling your hand and summoning your ace monster." Hoshino gritted her teeth, but couldn't help praising her opponent.

"It's time to counterattack, Dark Magician!" With the Dark Magician's appearance, Yugi's confident smile returned. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Responding to Yugi's command, the Dark Magician raised his staff, unleashing a torrent of magical energy toward Hoshino's [Heroic Spirit-Shirou Emiya].

"I activate my face-down card." Despite facing the ace monster, Hoshino wouldn't go down easily. "Trap card! [The Seven Rings that Cover the Burning Heavens]!'"

As Hoshino revealed the card, Emiya stretched his right hand forward, and his calm voice echoed throughout the field, "I am the bone of my sword….Rho Aias!"

A seven-layered giant ring resembling cherry blossoms formed in front of Emiya, layer by layer.

[The Seven Rings that Cover the Burning Heavens - Continuous Trap Effect: Can be activated when [Heroic Spirit - Shirou Emiya] is present on your field or in your graveyard. ① As an effect of this card's activation, add 7 [Ring] counters to this card.]

[Ring] x7

"Each layer of Rho Aias has defense power comparable to a wall!" Hoshino, seeing the shield for the first time, was equally excited. "Block the Dark Magic like this!"

[②: Once per turn, when a Heroic Spirit monster on your field is destroyed by battle or card effect, you can remove 1 Ring counter from this card instead and send the top card of your deck to the Graveyard. ③: Once per turn, when you would take damage, you can remove 1 Ring counter from this card and send the top card of your deck to the Graveyard to make that damage 0.]

The surging power of Dark Magic slammed into the rings, penetrating two layers but stopping at the third.

[Ring] x5

"To replace the destruction and damage, I send the top two cards of my deck to the Graveyard." Hoshino, drawing two cards and placing them in the graveyard, successfully nullified Yugi's Dark Magician's attack for this turn.

"Though it cost a bit, you managed to block it," Yugi smirked, knowing well that the cost of sending two cards to the graveyard was minimal compared to paying half of his LP. "But to me, the Dark Magician is more than just a normal monster. Although his attack was blocked this turn, his presence still suppresses the field. I'll set another card and end my turn!"

"Two set cards again? What was that first set card in Yugi's opening turn?" Hoshino frowned, analyzing the King's moves. "Since Yugi summoned the Dark Magician, he wouldn't let me destroy it easily. That means the set card is definitely to protect the Dark Magician."

"My turn, draw!" Hoshino, glancing at her drawn card, suddenly smiled. "Since it's a match for the ace, let's use another ace to counter!"

"Activate the Spell Card [Monster Reborn] from my hand!" Hoshino slapped the card on the table, reviving a monster from the graveyard. "I'll bring back [Heroic Spirit - Okita Souji] from my graveyard!"

"Okita Souji? When did she get into the graveyard..." Yugi raised an eyebrow, then understood. "I see, you've even turned the downside of discarding cards from Seven Rings into an advantage. Impressive, Hoshino!"

Under the holy light of Monster Reborn, Okita Souji's figure appeared on Hoshino's field. "The suddenly grave-bound Okita-san now returns stronger than ever from the edge of hell!"

"Okita-san, although your entrance line sounded like a protagonist's comeback, there's been no change in your power." Hoshino waved dismissively, trying to bring Okita out of her fantasy.

"It's the spirit, the spirit!" Okita patted her chest earnestly. "A revived Okita-san has a stronger will! Naturally, my sword will also be sharper!"

[Heroic Spirit-Okita Souji★★★★★★★ (7-star) Wind][Warrior/Effect][ATK:2500 DEF:2000]

"Look, the stats are the same as before." Hoshino pointed at the unchanged stat above Okita's head, unimpressed. "But now's not the time to worry about Okita-san's weak stats; we need your strength to win!"

"These are not weak stats; they are standard ace stats!" The ever-competitive Okita refused to back down, though she obediently raised her sword towards the front as Hoshino commanded. "Show me which weakling to cut down."

However, in the direction Okita's blade pointed, the Dark Magician stood with arms crossed, mirroring the King's poker face, staring back at her.

"Master, uh..." Okita, sweating, turned her head to Hoshino. "Those two, the poker-faced magician and the starfish-haired guy look familiar."

"That's right, they're none other than Yugi Mutou and his ace monster, the Dark Magician~" Hoshino introduced with a harmless smile.

"Is that so, a battle of the aces, finally a chance to face the Dark Magician." Okita, spurred by her competitive spirit, gripped her sword tighter. "Master, you have a strategy to defeat them, right?"

"Defeating the Dark Magician isn't hard, just need to..." Hoshino said, placing a card on the table. "Activate the Equip Spell Card [Fou of The Sun]!"

[Fou of The Sun - Equip Spell Effect: Can only be equipped to monsters with [Heroic Spirit] in their name. The equipped monster gains 500 ATK. When the equipped monster is destroyed by battle, this card is destroyed instead and sent to the Graveyard.]

[Okita Souji ATK 2500 → 3000]

"Oh, it's Fou!" Okita exclaimed, delighted as she rubbed the creature that suddenly appeared on her shoulder. "Great, with this, our attack power has surpassed theirs. Time to attack!"

"Although Yugi's set cards are concerning, with Fou and Rho Aias, I can't think of a countermeasure Yugi might have!" Hoshino pointed forward, confidently giving Okita the order to attack. "Cut through the confusion, Okita-san!"

"The invincible Okita-san, moving out!" In a flash, Okita's figure appeared behind the Dark Magician, her sword at the ready.

"So this is the speed of the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi, impressive." Emiya, also a swordsman (Archer), couldn't help but praise Okita's movement.

Satisfied with her field, Hoshino observed the combination of Emiya with his five-layer cherry blossom shield and Okita with Fou. This attack and defense combo seemed unbeatable. "Show me your prized cards, Yugi! Whether it's Magic Cylinder or Mirror Force, bring them on!"

"Heh, I admit, you've achieved a great offense and defense set up, Hoshino!" Yugi nodded in approval. "After your duel with Kaiba, you've grown a lot, but..."

"The fun of dueling lies in its ever-changing nature, and no one can account for all possibilities." Yugi, revealing his set card, spoke with a serious expression. "Every duelist gambles on finding that single path to victory amidst countless possibilities!"

"Activate the set Trap Card [Magic Hats]!"

As Yugi activated his Trap Card, the previously standing Dark Magician was covered by four giant magic hats that appeared on the field, shuffling around rapidly to mix their positions.

"Come on, it's a one-in-four chance. Make your choice, Hoshino!" Yugi, spreading his arms with a smirk, invited Hoshino to attack. "But if you choose wrong, the consequences could be severe"

"Interesting setup, Yugi." Unfazed by the sudden appearance of four magic hats, Hoshino continued her attack order. "But against Okita, numbers are meaningless! It's not a matter of luck, but..."

[This card allows an additional attack per monster on the opponent's field in the same battle phase.]

"Destroy them all at once!"

(*****)

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