"Go—Fusion Summon—Magical Girl Jeanne d'Illya!"
Hoshino flung the Jeanne d'Illya card—dream-summoned through Miyu's effect—onto the Monster Zone of her Duel Disk. Holy light gleamed in the darkness, illuminating the shattered earth at that very moment.
"Gather beneath the banner and roar—! Jeanne's bust is huge!!"
[Magical Girl – Jeanne d'Illya ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][LIGHT][Fairy/Fusion/Effect][ATK 2000/DEF 2500]
Okita waved her hand dismissively and laughed with confidence.
"No, no, no—Illya's bust isn't big at all. If anything, it's not even as big as Okita-san's. At best, it's about fifty-fifty with Master's~"
Hoshino raised her hand and declared, "Go, Illya—launch a direct attack on Okita!"
"(ﾟдﾟ)ﾉ W-wait a second, Master! This really isn't the time to be joking around, is it?!"
And yet, the one making dangerous jokes at a time like this… wasn't that you, Okita-san?
"I'm not the same as Master! I'm still an elementary schooler—I'll grow up!"
Waving the pure-white holy banner in her hands, Illya erected a radiant barrier before the overwhelming impact.
After being silently stabbed a second time by Illya's natural bluntness, Hoshino clutched her chest and announced the effect with difficulty.
"Magical Girl – Jeanne d'Illya's effect—activate!"
[①: While this card is face-up on the field, once per turn, you can activate this effect by halving this card's ATK. Until the end of the turn, all 'Heroic Spirit' monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, are unaffected by your opponent's card effects, take no battle damage, and you recover 1000 LP.]
"The Lord's power descends here! My banner—protect my comrades!"
Holy light collided with the raging fist. As a Ruler standing as humanity's final bastion, even with Illya's small body formed from a Fusion Summon, her shoulders endured an attack powerful enough to nearly flip the earth itself.
"I won't let you destroy this academy—or the world Master is protecting!"
At the cost of half her attack power, Illya shouted like a flower of hope blooming in despair, pointing the way to victory with her sacred banner.
[Jeanne d'Illya ATK 2000 → 1000]
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 3100 → 4100]
"So she blocked it… As expected of Illya. The Headmistress's ace card really is something else."
With the danger resolved, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, sparing no praise for Illya's self-sacrificial defense.
"Ace card (alert)!" Okita straightened her haori and cleared her throat.
"Ahem—did someone just say something extremely rude? Who the real ace card is… don't you people have any sense at all?"
Illya frowned. "Who actually has the higher screen time—Okita-san, don't you have any awareness of me?"
"To negate a Shimmering Scraper even under Anti-Magic Arrow…"
Kagemaru frowned deeply. The combo of Anti-Magic Arrow and Raviel would have already taken two lives from an ordinary duelist.
"Duel King—allow me to praise you with 'the blade has not dulled with age'! Now then, as the strongest human duelist, just how long can you withstand the Sacred Beasts? Let me enjoy watching!"
He set two cards face-down on his Duel Disk and ended his turn.
Glancing at the Raviel, Lord of Phantasms – Shimmering Scraper looming like a blue mountain behind Kagemaru, Hoshino said,
"Kagemaru, don't tell me this confidence of yours comes from that monster with only 4000 ATK?"
"Hmph, pathetic bluster. 4000 ATK is enough to surpass all Duel Monsters—it's a level only a god can reach!"
"A level only a god can reach?"
Hoshino raised an eyebrow, her faint smile making it clear that Kagemaru's ignorance almost amused her.
"Don't make me laugh! An Obelisk with the same 4000 ATK holds the possibility of infinite attack. A Dreadroot with 4000 ATK carries an aura that halves all monsters' attack power on the field. And this thing—Raviel, Lord of Phantasms – Shimmering Scraper—isn't even stronger than a basic unit of combat power, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Though Raviel, Lord of Phantasms – Shimmering Scraper also had 4000 ATK, it wasn't the true Raviel. It lacked the genuine effects of absorbing monster attack power or Special Summoning monsters. Setting aside its hand-trap effect, the card standing on the field was nothing more than a vanilla 4000 ATK/DEF monster.
"The duration of Anti-Magic Arrow has ended. Spell and Trap Cards can now be activated normally. My turn—draw!"
As she drew her card for the turn, the face-down cards at Hoshino's feet—previously pinned by countless arrows—were freed as well.
"Then go ahead and savor the Set card I prepared for you last turn! I change Magical Girl – Illya to Attack Position and activate my face-down Trap—Heroic Spirit Battle – United Assault!"
[Heroic Spirit Battle – United Assault | Trap Effect: Target 1 face-up 'Heroic Spirit' monster you control. Until the end of the Battle Phase, that monster gains ATK equal to the combined ATK of all other Attack Position monsters you control, and all other monsters you control have their ATK become 0.]
"So it's a combined assault—everyone, get ready!"
With her fingers brushing over the Duel Disk, Hoshino unified the power of the three Heroic Spirits.
"I concentrate the ATK of Magical Girl – Illya (ATK) and Magical Girl – Jeanne d'Illya (ATK) entirely onto Heroic Spirit – Okita Soji!"
[Heroic Spirit – Okita Soji ATK 2500 → 4500]
Drawing the sword at her waist, now blazing with brilliant light, Okita's fighting spirit erupted in an instant.
"This attack power—it surpasses Nobu and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, rivaling Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Finally, finally, Okita-san has claimed this power for herself!"
It looked cool and all, but why did Okita's line sound like something a villain would say…? Shouldn't you be on Kagemaru's side instead?
"I'm only supporting you occasionally, Okita! That doesn't mean I've given up the position of ace card!"
Thanks to Heroic Spirit Battle – United Assault, the two Illyas on the field were also poised to strike, ready to coordinate with Okita at any moment.
"The title of ace card lives in people's hearts! Now, as the Manslayer, Okita-san will carve open the radiant path to victory for Master with her blade!"
Perhaps realizing her last line sounded a bit too villainous, Okita leveled her sword forward, trying to cover up her inner desires with another heroic declaration.
"Go—triple-unit combined attack! With the power of a coordinated ace card, break through the wall!"
At Hoshino's attack declaration, stepping upon holy radiance, starlight, and swift wind, the two Illyas moved in sync with Okita, charging together toward Raviel, Lord of Phantasms – Shimmering Scraper.
"Useless! You call 4000 ATK a wall? Then what about this!"
Flipping open the face-down card beneath his feet, Kagemaru threw his head back and burst into triumphant laughter, his scheme having succeeded.
"Activate my Set Quick-Play Spell—Concentrating Current!"
[Concentrating Current Quick-Play Spell Effect:
Target 1 face-up monster you control. That monster gains ATK equal to its DEF until the end of the turn. During the turn this card is activated, monsters you control other than the targeted monster cannot attack.]
The power of thunder surged into Raviel, Lord of Phantasms – Shimmering Scraper's massive arms, its sharp claws now seeming capable of tearing through dimensions themselves.
"As the enhancement from Concentrating Current, Raviel's ATK increases by its 4000 DEF! Don't underestimate me, Hoshino Chiyuki!"
"No!" Hoshino shot back. "In duels, I may trash-talk my opponent to throw them off, but I have never underestimated a single Duel—or a single attack!"
Her fingertip slid across Jeanne d'Illya's card on the Duel Disk as she declared her counter.
"Activation! Magical Girl – Jeanne d'Illya's special effect—!"
[②: While this card is face-up on the field, once per turn, you can target 1 face-up card on the field; as long as this card remains face-up on the field, the targeted card's effects are negated. This effect can also be activated during your opponent's turn.]
"True Name Revealed—Divine Judgment! I chain Jeanne d'Illya's effect and negate Concentrating Current, which you activated this turn!"
Jeanne d'Illya's flexibility—though limited to a single activation—boasted incantation speed even faster than the original Jeanne's Divine Judgment.
The clause "can be activated during your opponent's turn" allowed her to chain directly to a freshly activated Quick-Play Spell and negate it outright.
"I have received it—the Lord's revelation!"
Illya's half-closed eyes snapped wide open as she guided a bolt of judgmental lightning straight onto Kagemaru's Duel Disk, blasting the activated card clean out of its slot.
[Concentrating Current — Negated]
"With that, Raviel can't increase its ATK! Continue the attack, Okita!!"
"I've been ready for this all along—Invincible Okita, reporting in!"
Holding her blade level within her field of vision, Okita vanished in a flicker. Her ultra-high-speed steps instantly surpassed what the naked eye could track.
"One step—supersonic!"
"Two steps—gapless!"
"Three steps—absolute blade!"
"Triple Thrust · Illya Ensemble Version!"
The threefold thrust struck Raviel, Lord of Phantasms – Shimmering Scraper's colossal body simultaneously, tearing open fractures of collapsing reality. Into that rupture, the two Magical Girl Illyas unleashed a follow-up bombardment of starlight magic.
"GRAAAH—!"
With a pained roar, the combined assault of Okita and Illya cleaved Raviel apart on Kagemaru's field.
[Raviel, Lord of Phantasms – Shimmering Scraper destroyed]
[Kagemaru LP 6600 → 6100]
"Puh—cough!"
[Okita Effect: After the Damage Step of a battle involving this card, place 1 'Weakness' counter on this card. This card loses ATK equal to the number of 'Weakness' counters ×100.]
['Weakness' ×1]
[Okita ATK 4500 → 4400]
Akasha remarked dryly,
"An attack power rivaling Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and it only lasted for one battle before dropping again. As expected, Okita is still Okita~"
"Dropped? Not a chance!" Okita snapped back. "Watch closely—this is a fighting style even Ultimate Dragon can't pull off!"
Blood splattered as Okita spat a mouthful onto her silver-glinting blade.
As crimson stained the silvery white light, her cold killing intent only intensified.
[This effect can be activated only when this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle. This card can make 1 additional attack.]
"Can Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon do this? Watch carefully—this is Okita-san's secret sword of consecutive strikes, an additional slash!"
Gripping the bloodstained hilt in reverse, red killing intent blazing in her eyes, Okita leveled her blade straight at Kagemaru's chest.
"That's the spirit, Okita!" Hoshino shouted. "Use the ATK boosted by United Assault and launch a direct attack on Kagemaru!"
"I'll take your life right here!!!"
With a furious roar, Okita drove her blade down with both hands. The blood-red edge pierced straight through Kagemaru's body. Though only a virtual image, the pain and shock etched across his face looked terrifyingly real.
[Kagemaru LP 6100 → 1700]
"Can any other ace card pull that off—guhwaa!!"
['Weakness' ×2]
[Okita Soji ATK 4400 → 4300]
After one additional attack—and then another—Okita sprayed a second mouthful of blood directly into Kagemaru's face at point-blank range.
Yet even in the face of such humiliation, Kagemaru showed no anger. He remained frozen in shock, staring at the blade that had pierced his body.
"Impossible… my life force is draining away! The eternal life I pursued for a hundred years—the life force I had already obtained—is slipping away!"
"Life force draining… I see." Hoshino had noticed it as well.
Kagemaru now looked visibly older than when he first appeared in his fully revitalized state after absorbing the Sacred Beasts' power—his body resembling someone transitioning from youth into middle age.
"Because your Life Points were reduced so drastically all at once, the foreign life force sealed within your body has begun to dissipate."
Returning to the field, Okita exclaimed excitedly,
"So that means Okita-san's ultimate sword strike cut straight into the enemy's lifeline~! Another great success for Okita today!"
"—Unforgivable!"
The delayed rage finally erupted. Realizing his life force had been severed by Hoshino, Kagemaru's muscles bulged and veins throbbed, as though his reverse scale had been touched.
"The power I pursued my entire life—how could I allow it to be obstructed now by a mere human like you?! You will regret this—truly enraging me, and the final Sacred Beast!"
"The final one?" Hoshino narrowed her eyes. "Haven't I already taken down all of them?"
Her gaze sharpened. Though she had no idea where this so-called final Sacred Beast would come from, Kagemaru's reaction clearly wasn't mere impotent rage.