With Underworld milling five cards once per turn and Chaos Dream banishing five more at the end of the turn to skip the opponent's turn, she had effectively lost the right to Duel unless she had a hand trap to stop it. Now, Jiang You didn't even need to play another card. These two alone were enough to force White Lancer Artoria to watch helplessly as her entire deck was banished.
Facing Jiang You now, failing to secure the first turn was tantamount to suicide. This was also why Jiang You was reluctant to Duel himself—frankly, it was a bit boring.
"This will be over soon," he said. "But before that, let me introduce you to a new friend."
Jiang You had been looking for an opportunity to meet the other member of his Royal Orchestra anyway, so he decided to summon her now.
"I Special Summon Suc'naath (Elizabeth Bathory)! This card can be Tribute Summoned by paying Life Points instead of Tributing monsters. Each 1000 LP paid counts as one Tribute. And I will pay 3000 Life Points to summon her!"
"3000 points!"
White Lancer Artoria gave a bitter smile. It wouldn't have mattered if Jiang You had paid 4000 LP; she had no way to counter him anymore.
"Hmph, are you mocking my incompetence?" she retorted. "Don't get too arrogant. This world won't yield to you so easily. Someone will surely rise to stop you!"
"You're really stubborn, aren't you? Stop acting like I'm plotting some evil scheme."
The worst I'd do is make Kiritsugu wear a little skirt or something, Jiang You thought. How could that possibly harm the world?
"Then how do you explain this?"
White Lancer Artoria pointed at the pitch-black window. Such a sight was impossible in the modern era; city lights should have blotted out the stars, turning every corner into a never-sleeping city.
"You intend to destroy Fuyuki, don't you?"
"That was an accident. I'll have a serious talk with Nero about it."
Jiang You scratched his cheek. It was an unavoidable side effect of his Cthulhu-esque Spirit Origin. As long as Nero didn't unleash her Noble Phantasm, she was as harmless as Abby (probably). If she hadn't gotten the "God of Music" title and felt the need to show off, this wouldn't have happened. But Jiang You's own Spirit Origin, stuffed with such absurd things, was starting to passively affect his surroundings.
"Speaking of which," he asked, "what does Nero's singing sound like to you?"
"It's so bad it reaches a whole new level."
White Lancer Artoria gave her brutally honest assessment. "It's hard to imagine a human could produce such a sound. And now, it's not even something a living creature could make."
"Damn it. Looks like this Spirit Origin really has warped my musical sensibilities," Jiang You muttered under his breath.
He'd never had much of an ear for music to begin with, but now his taste had devolved to the level of pica. I hope it's just a case of the player and the character hearing different sound sources, he thought. Otherwise, my hearing is seriously messed up.
"Anyway, let's focus on the problem at hand. Don't worry, this will be over soon. The Duel continues!"
Jiang You chained another card's effect. "I activate the effect of Chaos Dream! When my Life Points change due to non-battle damage, I can choose the target to receive it. I'm sending these 3000 points of damage to you!"
"What?!"
White Lancer Artoria didn't fully grasp the concept of the "environment," but paying 3000 of someone else's Life Points to summon a powerful Servant seemed utterly absurd. Not even Tiamat was this shameless.
"Who... who are you?!"
"I'm still Jiang You."
Jiang You slammed the card in his hand onto the Battle Zone. "Of course, I now have another identity—Azathoth."
White Lancer Artoria's LP: 4000 → 1000.
[Suc'naath (Elizabeth Bathory)]
10-Star Foreigner, 3200 Attack Power.
"Yahho~!"
A highly distinctive voice rang out as the Little Dragon Girl, Elizabeth, appeared before them, microphone in hand.
"Little..."
The Dragon Girl abruptly cut herself off before she could finish her sentence.
"Were you going to say 'Little Squirrel' or 'Little Piglet'?"
Jiang You was quite familiar with the Dragon Girl's personality. As one of the Four-Star Servants he'd chosen from the initial selection ticket, she was his very first Gold Card. Back then, Jiang You would meticulously read every detail of a Servant's profile and lore (mostly because he had nothing else to do). Now, he'd degenerated to the point where, aside from meta-defining Servants, he only cared about their looks.
"My Lord, you truly understand me."
The Dragon Girl forced a strained smile. She wouldn't dare lie to Jiang You.
"Please, My Lord, be merciful and forgive me."
It seems the Suc'naath part of her Spirit Origin is still affecting her judgment, Jiang You thought. Normally, this girl would be the type to bask in any attention she gets. Apologizing so quickly and decisively... that's not like her at all.
"It's fine, I don't mind. But let's skip the nicknames. You can just call me by my name."
Being called 'little piglet' or anything like that is just too weird, Jiang You thought. I'd rather avoid it.
"Understood, Lord Jiang You!"
The Dragon Girl instantly regained her energy, but she still couldn't help but use a formal address.
"As the lead singer of Your Royal Orchestra and the number one idol in the universe, I will now present you with the most magnificent performance!"
"We can talk about that later."
Jiang You was curious to hear what kind of music this version of the Dragon Girl would sing, but Nero was already holding a concert. Adding a Suc'naath-infused Dragon Girl to the mix would probably trigger the apocalypse. Besides, her statement was full of holes.
"Wait," Jiang You replied, picking apart her words. "Isn't Tru'nembra the lead singer? And isn't Ghroth the number one idol in the universe? What kind of lore are you guys even working with?"
Unexpectedly, the Dragon Girl looked as if she had suffered a terrible injustice. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she seemed on the verge of bursting into sobs.
"My Lord, no matter what, I'm still a member of your orchestra! I can let Tru'nembra slide, but how could you side with an outsider?! Ghroth gets to go on tour, but if I had the chance, I'd definitely be more popular than her! Besides, you even praised me back then, calling me your favorite 'Invisible Piper'!"
The Dragon Girl didn't dare say that she'd missed the chance to tour precisely because she'd been performing for Jiang You. But how could Jiang You not pick up on the implication? The problem was, he had no corresponding memories of it. This was the downside of borrowing someone else's Spirit Origin—you had to inherit their past actions. All he could say was that his collection of nonexistent memories had just grown.
Jiang You suddenly felt like all the Cthulhu-esque Outer Gods had turned into comedians.
White Lancer Artoria felt the pressure radiating from the Dragon Girl's Spirit Origin and instantly confirmed her earlier suspicions. When Jiang You had revealed his "other" name, her gaze, which had begun to soften, sharpened once more. "Just as I thought. You're not Jiang You anymore!"
"You're right."
Jiang You couldn't be bothered to argue.
"Anyway, I'll skip your turn. Then, I'll start my turn, and finally, the Battle Phase! Elizabeth, direct attack on White Lancer Artoria!"
White Lancer Artoria's LP: 1000 → 0.