Chapter 120

"Bathed in the blood of the strongest dragon, the dragon slayer emerges! Surpassing even the Five-Headed Dragon!"

[When this card is successfully Tribute Summoned using a Dragon-type monster, it can be treated as a Dragon-type. This card's ATK increases by twice the ATK of the Dragon-type monster used as the Tribute.]

"Since the [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] was used as a Tribute, its ATK increases by twice the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's ATK!" As Siegfried emerged from the light, Hoshino once again felt the sensation of summoning a monster.

"Not having to fight personally and just commanding others feels much better, as expected~"

[Heroic Spirit – Siegfried ★★★★★★ (6-star)][Earth] [Warrior/Effect][ATK 0 → 6000/DEF 3000]

"ATK! 6000!!" Watching Siegfried clad in Blue-Eyes' radiance, Mokuba screamed in excitement, "Hoshino, you're really strong!"

"Thank you very much for this overflowing power, Master!" Swinging his sword, Siegfried's eyes flashed with a rare confidence.

"Now, I stand above all evil dragons!"

"It's rare to see you this confident, Siegfried. It's a good thing~" Compared to the usually apologetic Siegfried, Hoshino preferred this more reliable version.

"When Siegfried is Tribute Summoned using a Dragon-type, he can also be treated as a Dragon-type!" This meant that even in the Dragon God's Domain, Siegfried, as a warrior, wouldn't be trapped.

"Go, Siegfried, attack the Five-Headed Dragon!"

"Yes, Master!"

Raising his Balmung with both hands, Siegfried concentrated his magic on it.

[This card's ATK increases by the number of Dragon-type monsters on the opponent's field x1000.]

[Siegfried ATK 6000 → 7000]

"The evil dragons will fall, cut down by the light and shadow. The world, now, has reached dusk!"

"The Five-Headed Dragon is no match for Hoshino at all!" Jounouchi, leaping up in excitement, swung his arm holding the Duel Disk. "This is the punishment for all your evil deeds!"

"Forgive me, evil dragon before me!" Siegfried suddenly opened his eyes wide and swung his greatsword down hard.

"Balmung Phantasmal Greatsword – [Felling of the Sky Demon]!!"

A massive burst of magical energy in the form of sword energy tore through the Five-Headed Dragon's enormous body in the data space.

"Ooohhh!" The wails of the five heads echoed as the sword energy pierced through the dragon's body.

"The King of Duels, possessing such power, can bring us such pain!!"

"Unforgivable, unforgivable!"

"Hoshino, something's wrong." Kaiba, who was very familiar with the Five-Headed Dragon, immediately noticed the problem. Their tone was not that of defeat.

Before everyone's eyes, the body of the Five-Headed Dragon, which had been pierced, was visibly repairing itself.

"What kind of freakish dragon is this?" Watching the severed dragon body being stitched together by intertwining crimson dragon flesh, a terrified Mokuba couldn't help but gag.

"This is the evil that has plagued the Grand Empire for a thousand years…" Mana, also feeling uneasy, had a look of despair in her eyes.

"What a pity, Duel King. Although your monster is strong, it still cannot inflict even a scratch on the Five-Headed Dragon!"

[Five-Headed Dragon Effect: Cannot be destroyed by battle with a DARK, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, or WIND monster.]

"It can be immune to battle destruction by five attributes!" Yugi, wide-eyed, seemed deep in thought.

"Even so, since it's a duel, if it cannot be destroyed by battle, damage is still calculated!" Hoshino wasn't about to accept her all-out attack achieving nothing.

"Indeed, you can have this tiny bit of Life Points," the Five Heads said dismissively.

[Five-Headed Dragon LP 10000 → 8000]

"They have 10,000 Life Points…" Even Kaiba was a bit unsettled now. "Modifying the game data like this, do you have any sense of shame?"

"Kaiba, don't speak so harshly. This isn't data modification!" The Five Heads retorted confidently.

"This is the power of our five souls!"

"This is the recognition the Five-Headed Dragon has given us for offering up our souls."

"Hahahaha." A crisp laugh interrupted their proud self-description.

"Did you take that as recognition?" Hoshino, clutching her stomach, laughed with a mocking tone.

"This is clear evidence that even the Five-Headed Dragon looks down on your souls. The value of each of your souls is only 2000 points when flattened."

"Hahaha, so that's how it is." Kaiba, seemingly finding Hoshino's explanation amusing, also grinned.

"What an interesting interpretation, Hoshino! Big Five, even your trusted Five-Headed Dragon has denied your existence's worth."

"Slick talk, Seto Kaiba, Duel King! Next, we'll make you understand despair!" Now slightly flustered, the Five Heads launched a counterattack.

"Five-Headed Dragon, a direct attack on Mokuba!"

"!!"

The twisting five heads locked their gaze on Mokuba, unarmed and standing behind Hoshino.

"That's too cowardly! How can you attack someone not participating in the duel? This violates the rules!" Hoshino shouted as she quickly shielded Mokuba.

"Rules? In this space, we are the rules!" The Five-Headed Dragon showed no signs of stopping, and the chaotic energy of five attributes was already condensing.

"After entering this space, no one should expect to escape!"

"In this space, those who fail will have their souls eternally trapped here."

"Five-Headed Dragon, Chaos Blast!"

"Mokuba!!" As the attack headed straight for Mokuba, Kaiba, usually calm and composed, finally shouted out in panic.

"Brother, Hoshino!" Mokuba, tears welling up in his eyes, didn't want to hold everyone back but even more didn't want to spend his life wandering in the void.

---

"BB~Channel!"

A familiar, cheerful voice echoed in the data space.

"That's…!" Hoshino, on alert, suddenly noticed the golden slot machine that had appeared in front of her.

"BB Slot Machine is spinning, kucchi kucchi~!"

Time in the entire space seemed to freeze, and everyone watched in astonishment as the slot machine in front of them spun its reels.

Swastika, Swastika, Swastika.

Finally, the slot machine stopped, displaying three mysterious symbols.

"How lucky! You've drawn Soul Protection!" A girl dressed in a black coat, playfully winking with one eye, slowly descended from the sky.

"As a reward, no soul in this space will be destroyed~ Yay!"

Waving the baton-like object in her hand, BB instantly deployed a green soul barrier in front of Mokuba and Hoshino, effortlessly blocking the Five-Headed Dragon's Chaos Blast.

"BB, what are you doing here?" Although Hoshino had doubts about BB's sudden appearance, her eyes were still filled with gratitude.

"Master, take a look at your surroundings~" BB pointed at the scenery filled with various data, her face bearing a mysterious smile.

"Hoshino…" Mokuba, who had not yet fully shaken off the fear of death, hesitated to speak, tears welling up as he tightly clutched Hoshino's clothes.

"It's okay, Mokuba. You're safe now." Hoshino gently stroked Mokuba's head, comforting him with a warm tone.

"Hoshino, is that your monster too?" Kaiba, who had finally relaxed, quietly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Though he didn't say it aloud, there was a hint of gratitude in his eyes.

"Well, sort of." Hoshino felt a bit guilty since even she hadn't anticipated BB's appearance.

"Master, now isn't the time for idle chatter, you know. Go all out." BB cheered everyone up, hopping slightly in place, causing the two large adornments on her chest to jiggle slightly. "BB will be in charge of protecting everyone's souls, so don't hesitate, give it your all~"

"Oh!!" Jounouchi, his eyes practically glued to the sight, was instantly motivated.

"Damn it, you keep accusing us of cheating, but aren't you cheating too?!" The voice of the Big Five suddenly rang out.

"Five-Headed Dragon, we offer our souls to fill this space!"

With the Big Five's resolute shout, the once-static data symbols in the space began to flow once more.

"Those old geezers have no shame!" Hoshino, berating the Big Five's despicable actions, furrowed her brow as she watched the flowing data.

"Even though I don't know what they're planning, can you stop it, BB?"

"BB would love to confidently say yes, but sorry, Master~" BB, looking a bit troubled, whispered in Hoshino's ear.

"If we were in the original world, BB would be able to do it. But interfering with another world's data from Chaldea like this, BB's already trying her best to protect everyone's souls from being destroyed."

"And honestly, the data in this game world is not simple. It's not something that could be developed solely by human intelligence."

"I see…" Hoshino, roughly understanding the situation, even felt that BB's words made a lot of sense.

Ever since arriving in this virtual world, Hoshino had felt it—this world was far too realistic, nothing like a game developed solely through programming.

Instead, it felt more like a real world, different from the one they came from.

"Big Five, you've truly angered me this time!" Kaiba's fury finally reached its peak in response to the Big Five's repeated outrageous actions.

"Today, I'll make sure you're utterly destroyed!" Kaiba's eyes filled with killing intent as he drew four cards in quick succession.

"Fusion Summon, my ultimate emperor!"

"[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]!"

The three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards and the Fusion card raised high by Kaiba exuded an aura as though they were alive.

In the space distorted by Fusion, the ultimate emperor, with its three imprinted dragon heads, roared as it flew out.

[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon ★★★★★★★★★★★★ (12 stars)][Light][Dragon/Fusion][ATK 4500/DEF 3800]

"Hahaha, Kaiba, is this your ultimate trump card?" As the data flow in the surroundings gradually came to a stop, the Big Five's voices echoed once again.

But unlike before, this time their voices came from five different directions.

[Pseudo-Five-Headed Dragon ★★★★★★★★★★★★ (12 stars)][Dark] X4

[Dragon/Token][ATK 5000/DEF 5000]

"Five Five-Headed Dragons?!" The group, unable to believe their eyes, stood stunned, staring at the massive dragon bodies that filled the entire data space.

"Hey, isn't this kind of a bit too much!" Jounouchi, barely holding back the urge to curse, gritted his teeth.

"This is the manifestation of our souls, our obsession filling this space!" The irritating laughter emanating simultaneously from the five dragon bodies echoed throughout the space.

"Kaiba, your Ultimate Dragon is nothing compared to our absolute power!"

"The next turn will be your true demise!"

...

"This is a bit troublesome, Master." BB's voice carried a hint of tension as she glanced at the data around them that had been altered.

"This must be their trump card. The entire space has lost the ability to be further altered, but at the same time, it has allowed the Big Five to break free from the constraints of the original rules."

"Oh? So this is just their last desperate struggle?" Kaiba, feeling no fear whatsoever, casually remarked, "Completely insignificant!"

"You might not have fully grasped what BB just said, Mr. Arrogant." BB shot Kaiba a glare before continuing.

"In the current situation, to eliminate the Big Five, you have to not only deplete their Life Points but also defeat all the Five-Headed Dragons in the space at the same time!"

"If either of these conditions isn't met, it'll be a total failure, and you'll lose everything!"

"What kind of impossible condition is that?!" Mokuba, hearing the ridiculously harsh victory conditions, jumped in frustration, "Is there no other way?!"

BB shook her head, shattering Mokuba's last bit of hope.

"..."

"Heh heh, is that really all it takes?" To BB's surprise, Hoshino showed a relieved smile at this moment.

"Doesn't seem that difficult to me," Yugi also smiled confidently.

"As a final challenge, it's not nearly enough!" Even Jounouchi's tone grew arrogant.

"And you talk about our demise next turn, that's a joke!" Kaiba, closing his eyes and crossing his arms, smirked coldly.

"The ones who will truly perish are you, Big Five!!" X4

In unison, Hoshino, Jounouchi, Yugi, and Kaiba all instantly figured out how to overcome this seemingly hopeless situation.

"Wow, they're so cool and full of spirit!" Elizabeth, quietly watching from the side, had stars in her eyes. "As expected of our little manager."

"Eek?! What's with these four?!" BB, startled by the overwhelming aura of the duelists, took a step back, her face filled with disbelief.

"I'll say it one more time, you need to deplete their Life Points and defeat all the Five-Headed Dragons in the same turn. Are you sure you heard that right?"

"Don't worry, BB." Hoshino, raising her Duel Disk slowly, gave BB a firm look.

"Uniting the souls of the four of us, the path to victory is already clear!"

(*****)

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