Chapter 153 - 153

"Whoa! Such a strong monster was taken down by Hoshino!" Mokuba, who had been suffocating under the oppressive aura of the dragon, finally breathed a sigh of relief. In contrast, Keith, who had been thirsting for revenge only to suffer another setback, looked as if he'd swallowed something disgusting. "A mere ant of a monster actually managed to counter my Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World..." Keith squeezed these words out through clenched teeth, his eyes brimming with even more fury. "But do you think your trap card can protect you twice? Don't forget, I still have two other monsters on the field!" "Sillva, Warlord of Dark World! Attack Ushiwakamaru!" Blinded by rage, Keith declared another attack. "Hm?" Hoshino raised an eyebrow and replied, "Who said I can't protect her twice?" Sillva, Warlord of Dark World, gripping its bone blade, roared as it lunged at Ushiwakamaru, only to find a thin, pale green haori hanging off its weapon. Just a simple, flimsy haori, and Ushiwakamaru was nowhere to be seen. [②: Afterward, this card can be used as an Equip Spell, increasing the equipped monster's ATK and DEF by 300. Once per turn, the equipped monster cannot be destroyed in battle.] [Ushiwakamaru ATK 1200 → 1500] Hoshino proudly displayed her card to Keith. "Thanks to the second effect of Haori of Vows, Ushiwakamaru is immune to this battle's destruction!" "But damage still counts!" Keith roared in frustration, unwilling to let Hoshino keep playing him for a fool. [Sillva, Warlord of Dark World ATK 2300] "No, no, no~" Hoshino shook her head with a smile. "You clearly don't know how this will play out, so keep watching~" As Hoshino teased him, Ushiwakamaru vanished again, reappearing behind Sillva, Warlord of Dark World in the blink of an eye. "The Wandering Tales of Shana-oh, Act Two…!" This was the physical embodiment of the legends Ushiwakamaru, later known as Minamoto no Yoshitsune, had created throughout her life, from her growth to her death. "Usumidori: Heavenly Blade Steps!" Usumidori, Ushiwakamaru's beloved sword, had cut down a giant spider, slain many monsters, and taken countless lives. With a brilliant slash, she used the Heavenly Blade Steps technique—a strike so fast it was almost impossible to dodge. "!!!" In an instant, the massive form of the Dark World Warlord was cleaved apart by the green gleam of the blade. [Sillva, Warlord of Dark World] Destroyed "Impossible!!" Keith was in shock. His two most powerful monsters had both been felled by the seemingly fragile Ushiwakamaru. His worldview was now in shambles. "How can this be? My monsters were defeated by a bug like that!!" "Why would you call me a bug? If you're going to compare me to something, I'd prefer to be called a loyal dog~," Ushiwakamaru responded calmly, her blade appearing even sharper than before. [Heroic Spirit – Ushiwakamaru ATK 2300] "Her attack power is the same as Sillva, Warlord of Dark World?!" "Surprised? Because of the Quick-Play Spell [Golden Sumo - Rocky Terrain], Ushiwakamaru's attack power rose to match her opponent's!" [Golden Sumo - Rocky Terrain Quick-Play Spell effect: Choose one [Heroic Spirit] monster on your field. When that monster battles an opponent's monster with higher ATK, it gains ATK equal to the difference in their ATK.] "Even though monsters with equal attack power would normally destroy each other, you already know, thanks to the effect of Haori of Vows, Ushiwakamaru is immune to this destruction!" Hoshino revealed her final set card, showcasing how she'd managed to make a counterattack through clever combinations of her monster, spell, and trap cards, even with a poor starting hand. "Do I really need to repeat myself? Your monsters are no match for my Ushiwakamaru!" Keith, who had seemed to hold the upper hand, now had nothing left but a lone Zure, Knight of Dark World on his field. "Your taunts from the start of this duel were all to bait me into attacking with my strongest monsters, weren't they?" Keith finally realized that he'd fallen into Hoshino's trap from the very beginning. Hoshino's eyebrows twitched slightly, and her bright eyes curved into a crescent moon. "Oh? So you finally saw through it—my trash-talking plan~" Indeed, this was Hoshino's signature tactic: using trash talk to bait her opponents. From the moment Ushiwakamaru had landed that first blow, Hoshino's provocations had never ceased. Her goal was to make Keith so mad that he'd attack Ushiwakamaru with his strongest monster. Had Keith chosen to attack with Zure, Knight of Dark World instead of Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, Ushiwakamaru's attack wouldn't have increased, and the outcome of the battle could've been completely different. But that was just a hypothetical. There's no such thing as a "What-if" in duels. Now, with the game all but decided, Keith's lone 1800 ATK Zure, Knight of Dark World could only helplessly face Ushiwakamaru's mighty 2300 ATK. "Not bad, not bad at all, Chiyuki Hoshino! Only a Duel King like you is worth defeating..." This battle, as perilous as walking a tightrope, had earned Keith's respect for Hoshino's daring and strategic prowess. At the same time, Keith's words were also a reminder to himself—to fight this duel with all his strength from here on out. The sudden tension in the air made Mokuba nervously swallow. "Since my Zure, Knight of Dark World can't defeat your Ushiwakamaru, I'll end my battle phase here." Having given up on attacking, Keith once again brought out Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World from his graveyard. "Then, I'll activate [Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World]'s graveyard effect, returning Zure, Knight of Dark World to my hand and Special Summoning him again from the grave!" [Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][DARK] [Fiend/Effect][ATK 2700/DEF 1800] The Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, which Ushiwakamaru had just defeated, once again appeared on the field with its ominous aura. At the same time, the Zure, Knight of Dark World returned to Keith's hand. "I didn't expect Zure, Knight of Dark World to play such an important role," Hoshino said. "But judging by the current situation, this Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World seems like it can resurrect endlessly." After venting her inner urge to make sarcastic remarks, Hoshino still slightly furrowed her brows. As long as Keith had a Dark World monster in his hand, no matter how many times Hoshino destroyed Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, Keith could summon it back from the graveyard, and all it cost him was returning a monster to his hand—a very small price to pay. On the other hand, for Hoshino to destroy Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World with an ATK of 2700, she would have to expend significant resources. If this kept going, Hoshino would eventually run out of cards and options. "So, are you starting to feel the terror of the Dark World?" Seeing Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World return to his field once again, Keith, who had repeatedly been humiliated, regained some of his momentum. "Though your counterattack seems perfect, it hasn't dealt any substantial damage to me." "Finally, I'll activate the face-down card from last turn!" Keith, with a mysterious smile, activated the face-down card, clearly up to something devious. "Trap Card, [Mind Crush]!" [Mind Crush Trap Card Effect: Declare 1 card name; if that card is in your opponent's hand, they must discard all copies of it. Otherwise, you discard 1 random card.] "This card?!" Hoshino became alert, recognizing the effect from familiarity with Mata Hari. "But I shouldn't have revealed any of my hand cards..." Hoshino felt uneasy as she looked at the mysterious smile on Keith's face. If there was any chance she had revealed a card, it would have been the Spell Card Graceful Charity, which was banished due to First Premonition. However, that card was still in the banished zone and had not returned yet. "Go ahead, guess!" Confidently holding up her remaining two cards, Hoshino dared Keith to try his luck. "If you manage to guess correctly, I'll eat this Duel Disk right here!" "Oh, then I'll guess..." Keith, stroking his chin, grinned mischievously as he stared at Hoshino's hand. "I'll guess [Heroic Spirit- Martha]!" Perhaps traumatized by a past encounter with her, Keith thought for a while but ended up naming Martha. "Heh, sorry, wrong~" Hoshino casually revealed her hand, showing Okita Sōji. "So that's why you needed Graceful Charity." Keith, now aware of Hoshino's earlier disadvantage, deduced why she needed to use that card. "And now, since I guessed wrong, according to the secondary effect of Mind Crush, I have to discard a card from my hand!" Keith's tone suddenly raised, clearly unbothered by the secondary effect. "You never intended to guess my card correctly, did you?" Hoshino caught on to Keith's true intentions from his tone. "You just wanted to trigger the secondary effect to discard a Dark World card from your hand." Dark World monsters have powerful effects that trigger when discarded, but such effects can't be triggered just at will; there are rules to follow. Thus, Dark World decks often include cards that can force hand discards, like Card Destruction. "You've guessed half of it..." Keith gave a creepy smile again as he discarded a card from his hand into the Duel Disk's graveyard slot. Then, nothing happened. Although Hoshino expected a Dark World monster's effect to activate upon being discarded, nothing actually occurred, which left her puzzled. "I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn!" Keith said decisively, wrapping up his turn without much fanfare. Keith Howard LP 3500, Remaining Hand Cards: 2 "My turn, draw! And because of the effect of First Premonition, the previously banished Graceful Charity returns to my hand!" Hoshino exclaimed. With this and her draw for the turn, Hoshino now had a total of four cards in her hand. "Next, I'll activate the Spell Card [Graceful Charity], drawing three cards from my deck!" Hoshino quickly drew three cards from her deck, unable to suppress a comment, "It feels so good to play a banned card!" "Then, I'll send two cards from my hand to the graveyard." After a big hand-refresh, Hoshino finally got rid of Okita and said goodbye to her bad hand. "You've been on the offensive long enough; now it's my turn to counterattack, Keith!" Having dealt with her earlier issue, Hoshino's aura grew more imposing by the second. Selecting a card from her hand, Hoshino dramatically slapped it onto her Duel Disk. "I activate the Spell Card [The Place I Will Arrive] from my hand!" [The Place I Will Arrive Spell Card Effect: ① Send 1 monster with [Heroic Spirit] in its name from your deck to the graveyard, then choose 1 of the following effects. ● Choose 1 monster with [Heroic Spirit] in its name in your graveyard, except the one sent to the graveyard by this effect, and Special Summon it. ● Choose 1 of your banished monsters with [Heroic Spirit] in its name, and return it to the graveyard.] "I'll send [Heroic Spirit – Martha] from my deck to the graveyard!" After retrieving the Boss card from her deck and sending it to the graveyard, Hoshino chose one of the card's effects. "I'll revive a Heroic Spirit monster from my graveyard, other than Martha!" "Not so fast! I activate my face-down card!" Just as Hoshino was getting into her rhythm, Keith suddenly hit the activation button for his Trap Card. "You thought you could revive Okita, huh? I saw through your tactics long ago! Continuous Trap Card [Dark Smog]!" seaʀᴄh thё ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Dark Smog Continuous Trap Card Effect: Once per turn, target 1 monster in your opponent's graveyard. Discard 1 Fiend-Type monster from your hand, and banish the targeted monster.] "I choose your monster card [Heroic Spirit – Okita Sōji] in your graveyard and discard my Fiend-Type monster [Broww, Huntsman of Dark World]." An eerie dark smog seeped out from Keith's activated Trap Card, slowly creeping toward Hoshino's Duel Disk's graveyard slot. "Because of Dark Smog's effect, Okita is banished, so your plan to revive her is ruined!" Poor Okita, always the underdog—discarded, banished, and even having her haori stolen by Ushiwakamaru. Even Hoshino herself felt a bit bad about how things had turned out for her. "And because Broww, Huntsman of Dark World was discarded, I can draw one card from my deck!" Having disrupted Hoshino's plans, Keith couldn't hide his glee. However, the brilliant light of The Place I Will Arrive still resonated on Hoshino's battlefield, accompanied by the sound of thousands of horses galloping. "You think Okita is the only powerful monster in my graveyard?" Responding to the glorious light, Hoshino dramatically pulled out the card hidden at the bottom of her graveyard. "Hahahahaha! You thought I was going to summon that sickly swordswoman, but I'm actually reviving the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!!" (*****) If you'd like to read 25 chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/ANeet. Your support means a lot. Thank you!