MTLNOVEL Chapter 267: Chapter 267
"—The evil dragon must be destroyed. Balmung!"
"Alright! If this direct attack lands, we win!"
Jonouchi shouted with excitement, his facial muscles twisting into an almost comical expression. Despite the ten years that had passed, his exaggerated reactions still felt familiar to Hoshino.
"No way! Why are you even here, and why do you look so much younger than the data...?" Byakuya stammered as the attack bore down on him.
Yet, even amidst his panic, his hands didn't remain idle. He quickly flipped over a card set on his field to counter Siegfried's strike.
"—Activate Quick-Play Spell, [Malefic Divide]!"
[Malefic Divide Quick-Play Spell Effect: Target 1 "Malefic" monster in your GY; Special Summon it, ignoring its Summoning conditions, but its effects are negated. Banish it during the End Phase.]
A black cross exploded onto the field, its center housing the unblinking, terrifying eye of a dragon, glaring as if judging the sins of the world.
"I Special Summon Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my Graveyard in Attack Position!"
Byakuya retrieved the card from his Graveyard, slamming it onto his Duel Disk. The shadow of a white dragon emerged from the black cross, its presence domineering.
[Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][LIGHT][Dragon/Effect][ATK 3000/DEF 2500]
"No use! Even with Malefic Blue-Eyes, it can't stand up against Siegfried!" Jonouchi exclaimed, raising his arms in triumph, as if patting Hoshino on the back in celebration.
"Ha! Let's see about that," Byakuya countered, regaining his composure. His hand flipped over another card:
"Trap Card, [Fiery Fervor], activate!"
The final card on Byakuya's field ignited, bathing Malefic Blue-Eyes in roaring flames. The dragon now appeared even more menacing, its aura searing the battlefield.
[Fiery Fervor Trap Card Effect: Target 1 face-up monster you control; equip this card to that target. If your opponent controls a monster with ATK higher than that monster's original ATK, the equipped monster's ATK becomes double its original ATK during the Damage Step only.]
"Equipping Fiery Fervor to Malefic Blue-Eyes! Since Siegfried's 4800 ATK exceeds Malefic Blue-Eyes' original ATK, its power doubles during the Damage Step!"
[Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon ATK 3000 → 6000]
The dragon's blazing white aura collided violently with the energy radiating from Siegfried's sword.
"Increase output, Siegfried!" Hoshino commanded, unwavering. "Activate your effect!"
[Siegfried Effect: Gain 1000 ATK for each face-up Dragon monster on your opponent's field.]
"Ohhh! The power to slay dragons has returned to me! Now is the time to bring the evil dragon to its knees!"
[Siegfried ATK 4800 → 5800]
Byakuya smirked, refusing to back down. "Even with that boost, my Malefic Blue-Eyes still has higher ATK! Your resistance is futile! Malefic Blue-Eyes, annihilate them!"
"Is that so?" Hoshino retorted. "Check this out!"
With determination, she flipped over her final card.
The card was a remnant of Jonouchi's turn, as Hoshino hadn't had the time to set anything herself.
Jonouchi, brimming with enthusiasm, chimed in: "Behold the power of our teamwork! Quick-Play Spell, [Graceful Dice], activate!"
[Graceful Dice Quick-Play Spell Effect: Roll a six-sided die. All monsters you currently control gain ATK/DEF equal to the result x 100, until the end of this turn.]
"Now, Hoshino! Roll the die and deliver the final blow!"
"Leave it to me, Jonouchi!" A shimmering six-sided die materialized on Hoshino's field, rolling rapidly as tension filled the air.
"The difference between Siegfried and Malefic Blue-Eyes is only 200 ATK. A roll of 3 is all we need!"
Hoshino thought back to Jonouchi's legendary luck, recalling how he'd consistently rolled 5s or higher in her memories.
The result: 2.
Hoshino: "...=_=?"
The reality of Hoshino's bad luck struck hard. Her hubris had underestimated her own streak of misfortune.
[Siegfried ATK 5800 → 6000]
The white beam of light from Malefic Blue-Eyes met Siegfried's sword, their clash resulting in a massive explosion that engulfed the battlefield. Both monsters were obliterated in the chaos.
[Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon – Destroyed]
[Siegfried – Destroyed]
"To face an evil dragon head-on and still fall... Forgive me, Master..." Siegfried murmured, his form dissipating from the battlefield.
"No, I should be the one apologizing, Siegfried," Hoshino replied, her heart heavy as her Heroic Spirit vanished into the light.
With the clash over, the field was left barren. Unable to summon any additional monsters, Hoshino ended her turn.
"I set 3 cards and end my turn."
[Hoshino: 2 Hand Cards | 3 Set Cards]
"My turn, draw!"
Byakuya's face was a mix of unease and determination.
The previous turn's fierce exchange had brought him dangerously close to defeat. If Hoshino's luck had been slightly better, the duel would already have been over.
"Hoshino Chiyuki... Could she really be the duelist Lord Paradox spoke of? But why does she look so much younger than the data? Could it just be someone with the same name? And yet..."
Byakuya recalled Paradox's words when entrusting him with this deck.
(With your abilities, defeating the world's top five duelists should be no problem. But as for Hoshino Chiyuki... I handle her personally.)
A duelist significant enough for Paradox to intervene himself—yet here she was, standing before him.
"But I won't lose. If I defeat Hoshino Chiyuki, it will be a massive victory for Lord Paradox's plans!"
Despite his earlier panic, Byakuya took Hoshino's final roll of 2 as proof of fate favoring him.
What he didn't realize, however, was that Hoshino's poor roll wasn't fate at work—it was her notoriously bad luck.
And the one truly blessed by fortune stood across the field: none other than Katsuya Jonouchi.
"For Lord Paradox, I must win! Activate Spell Card: [Pot of Greed]!"
Byakuya adhered to the sacred rule of "empty hand, must draw Pot of Greed," sending the card to the Graveyard and drawing two cards from his deck.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card [Malefic Selector]!"
[Malefic Selector Effect: Banish 2 "Malefic" cards from your GY; add 2 "Malefic" cards from your Deck to your hand, except "Malefic Selector," with different names from each other and from the banished cards. You can only activate 1 "Malefic Selector" per turn.]
"By banishing two Malefic cards from my Graveyard, I retrieve two more from my deck."
With a sleek motion, Byakuya's Duel Disk retrieved the cards automatically, ejecting them into his hand with style.
Hoshino muttered enviously, "Man, what a convenient Duel Disk. It even fetches the cards for you—how cool is that? Even after ten years, the Duel Disks in my time still don't have that feature."
"Next, I activate the Spell Card [Trade-In]. By discarding a Level 8 monster from my hand, I draw two cards. I'll discard the Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my hand!"
Unlike the previously banished card, this must have been the second Malefic Blue-Eyes in Byakuya's deck. Sacrificing it for a draw made Hoshino uneasy.
This only suggested one thing: Byakuya had a card in hand even stronger than the Malefic Blue-Eyes.
With three cards now in his hand, Byakuya confidently played the card retrieved with Malefic Selector and placed it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Zone.
"Allow me to introduce my trump card! I activate the effect of [Malefic Cyber End Dragon] from my hand! By banishing [Cyber End Dragon] from my Extra Deck, I Special Summon it to the field!"
A massive surge of electronic energy flooded Byakuya's field. Even before the new Malefic monster fully materialized, Hoshino knew from its familiar aura that it was a cybernetic version of Blue-Eyes.
[Malefic Cyber End Dragon★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][DARK][Machine/Effect][ATK 4000/DEF 2800]
[Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack.]
The white, triple-headed cybernetic dragon emerged, a terrifying fusion of machine and dragon. Its towering presence sent a chill down Hoshino's spine.
Her lips twitched. "Cyber End Dragon... Though it has 500 less ATK than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, summoning it with a single card is so broken."
Comparing it to Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, which required perfect conditions and multiple cards to summon, this Malefic Cyber End Dragon was an order of magnitude more practical. Once a monster reached over 4000 ATK, the extra 500 points didn't matter much anyway.
"Even though your Life Points are still intact, you won't survive even a single attack from my Malefic Cyber End Dragon!" Byakuya said confidently.
He revealed another card from his hand. "Finally, I activate the Spell Card [Dimension Fusion]! By paying 2000 Life Points, I can summon as many monsters as possible from the Banished Zone!"
[Byakuya's LP: 2300 → 300]
"Since I can only control one Malefic monster, I will summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon in Defense position, and Cyber End Dragon in Attack Position!"
The field was now populated with colossal monsters, including a Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Dragon in Defense Position, along with Cyber End Dragon and Malefic Cyber End Dragon in Attack Position.
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon DEF 2000]
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon DEF 2500]
[Cyber End Dragon ATK 4000]
Hoshino and Jonouchi had no banished monsters to summon.
"Now, let's finish this! Malefic Cyber End Dragon, attack directly with Malefic Cyber Flash!"
The triple-headed dragon unleashed a blast of destructive electronic energy, aimed directly at Hoshino and Jonouchi's empty field.
Jonouchi yelled in disbelief, "No way! Summoning a 4000 ATK monster with just one card? This deck is completely busted!"
He stared at the oncoming attack in despair. All of his Set cards were used up, and there was no hope left unless Hoshino could defend them.
But Hoshino awkwardly scratched her head. "Sorry, Jonouchi. I didn't expect such an OP move, so I didn't set any defensive cards last turn."
Jonouchi screamed, "What?! No defense, no monsters?! We're done for!"
Hoshino wiped the sweat from her forehead and forced a grin. "Relax, I'm not panicking, so why are you, Mr. Top 5 Duelist? Even without Set cards, I still have this!"
She dramatically tossed down a card from her hand. The upgraded Duel Disk began to process the card's effect.
"I have the invincible Saint George! Activating the effect of my monster card [Heroic Spirit - Saint George] from my hand!"
[Heroic Spirit - Saint George★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Fairy/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 1600 → 2100]
[When your opponent declares an attack: You can Special Summon this card from your hand in Defense Position. If this card is Special Summoned this way, its DEF increases by 500 until the end of your opponent's next turn.]
Saint George appeared with a serene yet determined expression, sword in hand, ready to defend with honor.
"Bring it on! Whatever dragons you are, I've seen them all!" Saint George said stoically, preparing to sacrifice himself if necessary.
The massive wave of electronic energy collided with Saint George's resolute stance.
[Heroic Spirit - Saint George - Destroyed]
"GEORGE! NOOO!" Jonouchi cried out, overwhelmed by the noble sacrifice of their hero.
Hoshino solemnly placed the card into the Graveyard, her expression one of righteous grief.
"Your will, George, I will carry it forward! Activating Saint George's effect!"
[When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: Target 1 monster your opponent controls; change that target's monster Type to "Dragon" until the end of your opponent's next turn.]
"The effect of Saint George changes Malefic Cyber End Dragon to a Dragon-Type!"
[Malefic Cyber End Dragon - Machine → Dragon]
Byakuya sneered. "A meaningless effect from a weak monster."
Hoshino smirked back. "Meaningless?"
With a flourish, Hoshino revealed her final Set card. "Behold the Trap Card [Hero Returns]!"
[Hero Returns Trap Effect: If a 'Heroic Spirit' monster you control is destroyed by battle or card effect, Special Summon one 'Heroic Spirit' monster from your Graveyard.]
"Return Dragon Slayer—Siegfried!"
(*****)
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