Annabeth had taken a heavy hit last turn, but she wasn't out yet. She drew her next card, her storm-gray eyes narrowing before a confident smile spread across her face.
"Your dragon's strong," she said, her voice calm but edged with determination. "No doubt about that… but I have what I need to beat you now."
Kaiba snorted, folding his arms with that trademark smirk. "Oh really? I'd love to see this."
Annabeth's grin widened. "Keep laughing. That'll just make this more fun."
She slapped a card onto her Duel Disk. "First, I summon Levy in Attack Mode!"
Levy – ATK: 1500 / DEF: 1900
A petite girl with long blue hair tied in a headband appeared, her eyes sharp and focused.
"Then I activate her special effect. You see, if Levy is the only monster on the field, I get to Special Summon Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel from my hand, Deck, or Grave—in Attack Mode."
Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Another Dragon Slayer?" he said, his tone dripping with irritation.
Annabeth played the card, and with a metallic clank, a tall man stepped forward. His very long, wild black hair swayed in the wind, his black eyes cold and dangerous. Metal piercings gleamed on his face. He wore a long black vest over khaki pants and brown leather boots, with black fingerless gloves on both hands.
Gajeel – ATK: 2300 / DEF: 2100
"And don't forget about my field spell," Annabeth reminded him as both her monsters glowed with energy.
Levy – ATK: 1900 / DEF: 2300
Gajeel – ATK: 2700 / DEF: 2500
Kaiba scoffed. "That's cute. But only one of my monsters is a Dragon-Type. You may be able to take out Blue-Eyes, but X-Head Cannon is safe."
Annabeth's smirk deepened. "Think again. I play my Spell Card—Triple Dragon Slayer."
Kaiba's brow furrowed. "Triple… what?"
Annabeth held the card up, explaining clearly. "If I have one Dragon Slayer on my field, I can Special Summon two more Dragon Slayers from my hand or Grave. I didn't use it earlier because I only had two—until now."
She placed her next card. "I summon Wendy back from the Grave!"
With a swirl of wind, Wendy reappeared, her twin tails flowing behind her as she landed gracefully.
Wendy – ATK: 2400 / DEF: 2400
"And now," Annabeth continued, her voice rising with energy, "I summon Natsu the Fire Dragon Slayer!"
Flames erupted on the field, revealing a young man with spiky pink hair and sharp black eyes, wearing a black vest trimmed in gold with a white scarf patterned like scales around his neck. White pants, black sandals, and wristbands completed his look.
Natsu – ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2200
"Then my field spell kicks in," Annabeth added.
Natsu – ATK: 2900 / DEF: 2600
She pointed dramatically toward Kaiba. "Alright—time to finish this! Natsu, attack his Blue-Eyes!"
Natsu's attack rose again.
Natsu – ATK: 3400 / DEF: 2600
The Fire Dragon Slayer roared forward, flames spiraling around his fist as he punched Blue-Eyes White Dragon across the face. With a shattering cry, the great beast disintegrated into motes of light.
"Gajeel—destroy X-Head Cannon!" Annabeth commanded.
Gajeel smirked, his arm morphing into a long metal lance. He lunged forward and skewered X-Head Cannon, sparks flying as the machine exploded.
"Now, Levy—attack Lord of D.!"
Levy quickly wrote the word Sword in the air, sending the glowing letters flying at Kaiba's cloaked monster. They struck true, slicing Lord of D. clean in half.
"And finally—Wendy, attack his Life Points directly!"
Wendy summoned a roaring cyclone, blasting Kaiba backward as his Life Points plummeted by 3900, dropping him to 1300. He winced in pain, clutching at his Duel Disk as the wind whipped his coat around him.
Annabeth's voice was steady, almost mocking. "I lay two cards face-down… and end my turn."
Through gritted teeth, Kaiba growled, "My turn." He drew his next card, and a slow, dangerous smirk spread across his face. A low laugh escaped him as he said, "I was worried there for a second, but now everything's going to be fine."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Seriously? How many times can one person pull themselves from the brink of defeat?"
Kaiba's eyes narrowed, confidence radiating from him. "Now prepare yourself to be crushed by the ultimate monster!"
Annabeth crossed her arms and tilted her head, smirking. "Are you seriously trying to intimidate a thirteen-year-old?"
Kaiba ignored her jab, his voice rising with pride. "I play Monster Reborn! This allows me to bring one monster back from the grave—and of course, I choose my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The great white dragon appeared once more in a blinding flash of light, its piercing roar shaking the air.
"But," Kaiba continued, his smirk widening, "he won't be sticking around for long. Because next, I play Polymerization! I fuse my Blue-Eyes White Dragon with the two in my hand to summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
A massive, even more fearsome dragon appeared on the field—three heads, triple the menace, its wings blotting out the imaginary sky.
ATK 4500 / DEF 3400
"Now, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, destroy Natsu!"
The three-headed dragon unleashed a devastating triple beam of white lightning. Natsu was overwhelmed, engulfed in the energy and obliterated.
Annabeth shielded her eyes from the blast as her Life Points dropped by 1,100. 3300 Life Points remaining.
Kaiba's voice dripped with smug satisfaction. "I end my turn."
Annabeth's lips curled into a sly smile. "I play my trap—The Guild Master's Rage!"
The trap card's image glowed: an old man with glowing eyes, seething in pure fury. From the card emerged a giant version of the same man—balding white hair, a great white mustache, eyes blazing with power. He wore a fur-lined white coat with gold pauldrons over a white and blue shirt, black pants, and black boots—Guildmaster Makarov.
Kaiba's smirk faltered. "What does that do?"
Annabeth chuckled under her breath. "If any of my Fairy Tail wizards were destroyed in the past turn, I can activate this card to destroy the attacking monster." Her gray eyes glinted mischievously. "And as a fun bonus—you take damage equal to half its attack points."
Kaiba's eyes went wide. "Oh no…"
Annabeth's smirk widened. "Oh yes."
Makarov raised his colossal fist, bringing it down with earth-shaking force onto the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, flattening it like paper. The monster shattered into fragments of light, and the recoil of the attack ripped through Kaiba's Life Points.
His LP plummeted to 0.
Kaiba staggered back, dropping to one knee. "I… lost… to an amateur…"
Annabeth deactivated her Duel Disk with a calm, victorious motion. "It was fun. I could get used to this game."
Kaiba approached her, his expression one of reluctant respect. "I have no choice but to acknowledge you as a duelist. Take these."
He handed her a Duel Monsters card. On its front was an image of a young woman with pink hair in twin tails, wearing a big smile—the name on the card read Sherria. On the back, a blue Pegasus symbol gleamed.
"You don't yet possess all the cards for any of the guilds," Kaiba explained. "Lord Tet says… work hard to collect them all. And—since you won—I was instructed to give you this as a bonus."
He produced a transparent card with a single arrow etched into it.
Annabeth took it, inspecting it. "What's this?"
"It's a locator card," Kaiba said. "It will serve as proof that you're eligible to enter the real KaibaCorp Battle City Tournament. Whether you participate is up to you."
Annabeth smirked. "Oh, I'm definitely going. More of my cards will be there, right?"
Kaiba nodded. "Yes, they will—but not all of them. You'll have to search in other places for the rest. Lord Tet can tell you more."
He snapped his fingers, and two doors materialized before them—one silver, one plain wood. The silver door shimmered invitingly.
"Like in your previous challenge," Kaiba said, "you can choose to go forth… or quit. The choice is yours."
Annabeth's gaze was resolute. "I've come this far." She reached for the silver door handle.
But before she could open it, Kaiba added, "Oh, by the way—I've also been told to tell you that Duel Disk is yours, as well as all the cards currently in your possession. And… if you complete all the challenges, Lord Tet will give you a magical variant of the Duel Disk—one that can summon your monsters for real battle."
Annabeth's eyes lit up, a pleased grin forming on her face. "That's good to know."
Without hesitation, she pushed open the silver door and stepped through.