"My turn."
Hikaru took the first move. After drawing, he held the card in his hand, then slid one from his left side onto the Duel Disk. "I activate the Continuous Spell Card,Flame Swordsrealm."
"Starting with Flame Swordsman?" Burns calculated inwardly.
Though Flame Swordsman was only a 1800 Attack vanilla Fusion Monster, anyone who knew Hikaru understood,when he brought out Flame Swordsman, he was at his most serious.
"I send Flame Swordsman of Illusion to the Graveyard to activate Flame Swordsrealm's effect! From my Extra Deck, I Fusion Summon,Flame Swordsman!"
With a hearty laugh, the flaming warrior swung his greatsword and stood before Hikaru. "My lord, watch me display my might!"
[Flame Swordsman] Level 5 | FIRE | Warrior | DEF 1600
"Turn end."
"Only one card to Fusion Summon, but a monster with just 1600 Defense and no backrow? Is that really fine?" While the Fusion Army soldiers were bound, Frightfur Wolf retreated to the Sanctuary's gate, shielding younger Spirits and voicing his concern.
Normally, Tierra would have boasted to the surrounding Spirits that Hikaru would win without question.
But today, she was playing the aloof master.
The Spirits didn't seem too worried, but across the field, Burns was already frowning.
Even with just Flame Swordsrealm and Flame Swordsman, Hikaru's defenses were solid.
The Flame Swordsman of Illusion used for the Fusion could revive whenever a FIRE monster on Hikaru's field was destroyed,and in battle, it could even force mutual destruction.
Even ignoring that ability, it had 2800 Attack, and if destroyed, could Special Summon another Flame Swordsman from the Extra Deck.
Even if one was destroyed by battle or effect, wiping Hikaru's field clean, his next turn he could simply use Flame Swordsrealm to summon another,resetting the cycle.
Troublesome.
He couldn't let that happen.
"My turn, draw!"
Without checking his draw, Burns immediately played a Spell Card. "Spell Card,Frightfur Patchwork."
"Frightfur?" Tierra's expression darkened.
"Don't tell me he's one of the humans you recognized?" she said, clearly displeased with the Frightfurs' choice of partners.
The plush bear shook his head quickly. "No, Goddess. Our partner was someone in yellow clothes,looked different from them."
Hikaru made the connection,it might be Mizuo Fukasui.
"Goddess, allow me to explain," Frightfur Leo knelt before her. "The humans working with our factory were two,one about this man's age, named Mizuo Fukasui. The other much younger, named Sora Sheyun."
Tierra was satisfied with that.
"That man forcibly controlled my kin," Frightfur Leo said bitterly to Hikaru.
Hikaru only nodded.
"Frightfur Patchwork can only be activated once per turn,add one Polymerization and one Edge Imp card from Deck to hand."
"I add Polymerization and Edge Imp Sabres from my Deck." Burns retrieved the cards, showing them before adding them to his hand.
"Same cards that Mizuo uses," Tierra noted, raising an eyebrow.
If that was all, defeating Hikaru was a dream.
But soon, something different appeared.
"I activate Continuous Spell,Toy Vendor."
Hikaru's brow lifted. Now this was something.
"Once per turn, discard a card to draw one. Reveal it,if it's a Fluffal monster, Special Summon one from hand. If not, discard it."
"I discard Edge Imp Chain to draw." Burns drew, glanced at the card, and smirked, showing it to all. "Fluffal Rabbit."
"I Special Summon Fluffal Rabbit."
A blank-eyed plush rabbit bound in chains appeared, standing mechanically.
[Fluffal Rabbit] Level 1 | EARTH | Fairy | ATK 300
"At this moment, Edge Imp Chain's effect activates,when sent from hand or field to GY, add a Frightfur card from Deck to hand. I choose Frightfur Patchwork."
Gasps came from the surrounding plush Spirits.
Even Tierra raised an eyebrow.
No loss,he even gained another Patchwork for next turn. No shortage of cards or Fusion material.
"Polymerization."
He wasn't done.
"I fuse Fluffal Rabbit with Edge Imp Sabres!"
A massive scissor flew from his hand, embedding in the rabbit. With a violent tear,snip!,the plush split open, transforming into a blue-furred wolf.
[Frightfur Wolf] Level 6 | DARK | Fiend | ATK 2000
The Frightfur Wolf beside Hikaru lowered itself, growling,perhaps it knew Burns's Wolf.
"Fluffal Rabbit's effect,when sent to GY as Fusion Material, target a Fluffal (other than Rabbit) or Edge Imp Sabres in GY; add it to hand." Burns reclaimed the card.
"Battle,Frightfur Wolf attacks Flame Swordsman!"
The chained wolf roared and lunged, smashing the swordsman to pieces.
"Flame Swordsman of Illusion's effect! When a FIRE Fusion monster is destroyed, Special Summon it!"
Blue flames ignited a longblade beside Hikaru; a black-armored knight grasped it, his armor burning gold.
[Flame Swordsman of Illusion] Level 8 | FIRE | Warrior | ATK 2800
"Battle over," Burns said, though Wolf could still attack. His goal was set.
"I play Fusion Recovery,return a Fusion Material and Polymerization from GY to hand. Then Polymerization again!"
"Fusing the same materials,what's the point?" Tierra asked.
"Even with the same materials, the fusion result can differ," the bear tried to explain,before the lion silenced him.
"Fusion materials,Edge Imp Sabres and a Fluffal. Fusion Summon,Frightfur Tiger!"
Another plush was snipped apart, revealing a green-furred tiger.
[Frightfur Tiger] Level 6 | DARK | Fiend | ATK 2000
"On Fusion Summon, Tiger destroys cards equal to its materials. I destroy your Flame Swordsrealm and Flame Swordsman of Illusion!"
The tiger ripped itself apart, launching twin spinning scissor-blades that pierced Hikaru's field.
Boom,Boom!
The field was cleared.
"Flame Swordsman of Illusion's effect,when destroyed by another card's effect, Special Summon a Level 7 or lower Flame Swordsman or monster that lists it. I choose the Fusion Monster,Salamandra, the Flying Flame Dragon!"
The sword spun skyward, a red dragon erupting from the earth to seize it.
[Salamandra, the Flying Flame Dragon] Level 5 | FIRE | Dragon | DEF 1600
"You've lost your Swordsrealm's attack boost and sustainability."
The Frightfur Spirits began realizing the Swordsrealm-Swordsman loop.
"Not bad," Tierra admitted.
"But this alone won't beat your strategy," Burns said. "Next turn you could still attack Wolf, take little damage, revive Illusion, and use its effect to force a tie."
"I won't give you that chance, Hikaru…"
His eyes glowed red, twin crimson dots appearing on his neck, like vampire bites, bleeding faintly.
From them, strange red glyphs began to form.
"We of the Fusion Army seek to unite all human dimensions,to remove fear and barriers between them! You and your master's faction are our greatest enemies!"
The number on his neck became clear,24.
His pupils turned blood-red, teeth sharpening like a true vampire.
"I overlay my two Level 6 Fusion Monsters to build the Overlay Network!"
The toys dissolved into blood-red orbs, sucked into a massive black vortex. A red-and-black cube, flecked with silver, rose from within. Heartbeats thundered in everyone's ears.
"Ancient progenitor vampire, drink my blood and open the path of majesty!"
His blood flowed into the cube.
"Xyz Summon! Number 24: Dragulas the Vampiric Dragon!"
Under the blood moon, a dragon-man emerged from the cube, bathed in intoxicating crimson light.
[Number 24: Dragulas the Vampiric Dragon] | Rank 6 | DARK | Wyrm | DEF 2800 | Materials: 2
Burns swayed, nearly collapsing from the blood loss, gasping for breath. But he had to go all out against Hikaru.
Frightfur Leo, seeing it, howled in despair.
"Damn it… he summoned that invincible monster!"
'...Invincible?'
Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
"Heh… heh…" Burns panted, grinning. "That's right, Hikaru,you've lost. My Vampiric Dragon is unbeatable! No one can defeat it!"