Chapter 174: The Next Family Head, Nanki'in Rei [2-in-1]
Amano Rei took a quiet moment to assess the board.
So she was running Mayakashi. Interesting.
Both Mayakashi and Shiranui were Zombie Synchro strategies, but where Shiranui relied on Graveyard-activated Synchro effects, the Mayakashi deck had a very different engine at its heart: Dakki, the Graceful Mayakashi. A single copy of Dakki could climb the entire Synchro chain on her own, reviving herself from the Graveyard every time a new Mayakashi monster was Synchro Summoned. One card, five summons.
In the real-world TCG, Amano might have complained about how much Extra Deck space the archetype consumed. But this was Eden, where the Extra Deck had no hard cap and new cards could be printed on the spot. That particular weakness simply did not exist here.
One handcard. An entire field of high-level Synchros. And with Jinguuji Masayo being the daughter of a prominent family, her Spell and Trap lineup was almost certainly stacked with expensive tech on top of all that.
Getting into the Academy City top ten required genuine strength. He could see why she was ranked there.
The one thing he had hoped for was drawing Nibiru. Five summons in a single turn was exactly what the Primal Being was built to punish. But the card had not come.
Not that punishing her for five summons would have put him in a great position anyway. She had accomplished the whole chain at the cost of a single handcard, which meant any advantage he would have gained from a Nibiru drop would have been slim.
Masayo was not done.
"When a Mayakashi monster is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck," she announced, "Dakki's effect triggers. I Special Summon Dakki, the Graceful Mayakashi from the Graveyard in Attack Position."
Dakki reappeared beside the towering black skeleton of Gashadokuro. The nine-tailed fox spirit materialized, her presence elegant and unsettling in equal measure, standing ready as the cornerstone of the Mayakashi engine.
ATK: 1000.
If Masayo ever unlocked Link Summoning, Amano noted, the chain would not have stopped there. But she was setting Dakki to Attack Position. The Battle Phase was coming.
Masayo slid a second card into her Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card Zombie Reborn."
The card text materialized above the field.
Zombie Reborn. Spell Card: Target 1 Zombie monster in either Graveyard. Banish 1 monster with the same name from your Deck or Extra Deck, then Special Summon the targeted monster.
A Zombie-exclusive resurrection spell. Like Monster Reborn in function, but with the extra cost of banishing a copy of the same monster from the Deck. In return it carried a secondary recovery effect that Monster Reborn did not.
"I target Yoko, the Graceful Mayakashi in my Graveyard, banish a copy of Yoko from my Extra Deck, and Special Summon her from the Graveyard."
"Phantom flames return. Let the foxfire illuminate every wandering spirit. Special Summon. Yoko, the Graceful Mayakashi!"
Yoko rose from the Graveyard trailing spectral blue-green flame. The nine-tailed fox spirit wore elaborate ceremonial robes, her hands cradling a hovering yin-yang mirror, ghostly fire rippling across her entire form.
Yoko, the Graceful Mayakashi. ATK: 2900.
Masayo pointed across the field. "Every Mayakashi Synchro monster activates its effect when revived from the Graveyard. Yoko's effect is as follows."
When this card is Special Summoned from the Graveyard: Target 1 monster your opponent controls and destroy it.
Destroy one of the opponent's monsters. Clean, no targeting restriction. Powerful removal. But when Masayo surveyed Amano's field, the card she chose to destroy was not Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
It was the face-down Defense Position card.
The hidden card was forcibly flipped open as ghostly foxfire surged over it, revealing the very put-out expression of the Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice.
"Hey!" Eve shouted, and only Amano could hear her. "You leave a three-thousand-Attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon right there and you come after ME? Is something wrong with you? Ow, ow, ow, it is HOT!"
Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice: destroyed.
Analytically speaking, Masayo had made the correct call.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon was in Attack Position. If Gashadokuro attacked into it, the ATK difference would deal battle damage to Amano. Destroying Blue-Eyes first instead would leave only Eve in Defense Position on his field, and since Eve had negligible ATK, attacking her would deal no damage at all. That would have been the wrong trade.
The field read was accurate.
Which meant that before the Battle Phase had even started, Amano was already within kill range.
Facing one of the top-ten-ranked duelists in Academy City was a completely different experience. In his earlier climb up the rankings, opening with Blue-Eyes White Dragon backed by a Defense Position Eve would have been a reasonable enough setup against most opponents. Against Masayo, that same opening had put him in lethal territory before his second turn.
"Not finished yet." Masayo closed her fingers around a third card. "Before my Battle Phase, I activate the Continuous Spell Mayakashi Mayhem."
Mayakashi Mayhem. Continuous Spell: All monsters the opponent controls lose ATK and DEF equal to the number of different Mayakashi monster types in the controller's Graveyard multiplied by 100.
The already dim atmosphere of the Night Parade of Demons grew heavier, a cold pressure descending over the field as the Graveyard count resolved.
"I currently have four different types of Mayakashi monsters in my Graveyard. All of your monsters lose four hundred ATK and DEF."
Blue-Eyes White Dragon. ATK: 3000 to 2600.
From the sideline, Yukki leaned in with wide eyes. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon has lower ATK than Blue-Eyes White Dragon. That sentence makes no logical sense, and yet here we are."
The dragon on the field responded to this observation with a low, displeased rumble.
"Masayo is incredible, though," Yukki continued, apparently to no one in particular. "So this is what an Academy top-ten duelist looks like. Sakuya-nee, are you really, truly not going to reconsider?"
Beside her, Sakuya's jaw was clenched. She expressed her feelings on this comment through the sound of grinding teeth.
Masayo swept her arm forward. "We move to the Battle Phase. Let the light of the white dragon be swallowed whole by the Night Parade of Demons."
Gashadokuro moved at her command. The enormous black skeleton surged across the darkened field, a skeletal claw crashing down on the debuffed Blue-Eyes White Dragon with the force of the earth splitting open.
"Eight Burning Hells. Yellow Spring Abyss!"
The impact was like the ground cracking apart underneath them. Blue-Eyes White Dragon fell.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: destroyed.
Amano LP: 4000 to 3300.
The shockwave hit hard enough that Amano had to fight to keep his eyes open against the gust.
Yoko's direct attack followed immediately. Nine tails igniting with ghostly blue fire, the fox spirit drove every trace of that flame directly into Amano's undefended field.
"Ethereal Underworld Flame. Yin-Yang Soul Grudge!"
Amano LP: 3300 to 400.
"You were right, Eve," he murmured. "Very hot."
"Obviously!" Eve's voice, indignant and singed, came back to him at once.
"This duel is mine, Amano Rei!" Masayo called across the field, her voice carrying a bright, sharp edge. "I am going to beat you here and I am going to do it right in front of Sakuya!"
Only Dakki remained, poised and ready with her one thousand ATK. One direct attack and the duel was over.
At that exact moment, a light activated on Amano's field. A blade of radiance drove itself into the earth. For a brief instant it seemed to push back the darkness of the spirit parade around them.
The Set card at Amano's feet had flipped open without warning.
"I activate the Trap Card Damage Condenser!"
Damage Condenser. Trap Card: When you take battle damage, discard 1 card from your hand. Special Summon 1 monster from your Deck with ATK equal to or less than the battle damage you took.
"I activate Damage Condenser in response to Yoko's direct attack. I discard Yuyu from my hand and Special Summon one monster from my Deck with ATK of 2900 or lower."
The obvious choices from his Deck were Dark Magician or Elemental HERO Neos, both at 2500 ATK. But Amano reached past both of them.
He pulled out a monster he had never used before.
A silver-armored knight stepped onto the field, drawing a longsword from where it had been driven point-first into the earth, the same blade whose light had pushed back the spirit parade, if only for a moment.
"I Special Summon Level 5 Guard Knight from my Deck!"
Guard Knight. Level 5, LIGHT, Warrior/Normal.
ATK: 1900. DEF: 1000.
A warrior with mastery of every sword technique, who fights with absolute conviction to protect the weak.
One of the cards he had picked up from Master Vail back at the station entrance in District 11. The odd Level 5 had been awkward to put into play under normal circumstances. But he had been holding onto it for exactly this kind of situation.
The catch was that Mayakashi Mayhem was still active.
Guard Knight. ATK: 1900 to 1500.
Even at 1500, Guard Knight stood as the final wall between Amano's remaining 400 LP and Dakki's 1000 ATK. Dakki could not get through.
Masayo exhaled sharply. "Another Normal Monster with no effects. Do you honestly believe something like that can beat my full Mayakashi field? That is wishful thinking."
Forced to end her Battle Phase, Masayo set two cards into her back row and passed the turn.
Just as he had expected. Her utility lineup was extensive, though not quite at the level of Yugi Mutou's infamous three-Set opening. Even so, the combination of the active Mayakashi Mayhem, two unknown Set cards, and every Mayakashi monster in her Graveyard waiting for a chance to revive made Masayo's board genuinely difficult to crack.
For most of the other duelists at the academies, it would have been impassable.
But Amano had not chosen a Level 5 Guard Knight by accident. That specific Level was exactly what he needed to break through the setup in front of him.
"My turn. Draw!" He looked across the field at her. "You keep calling them useless vanilla monsters. Fine. I'll summon an Effect Monster this turn. But do not be too disappointed when you see it."
He placed the card into his Duel Disk with a deliberate snap.
"I Normal Summon Shiranui Solitaire in Attack Position!"
Shiranui Solitaire. Level 2, FIRE, Zombie/Tuner/Effect.
ATK: 800. DEF: 0.
The moment the spirit blade manifested on the field, every person watching went absolutely still.
Ryuuma let out an audible breath. "That is Shiranui Solitaire."
The weight behind those words was considerable. Shiranui Solitaire was the cornerstone card of the Shiranui deck, a lineage passed down through generations of the Nanki'in family. Its significance was understood by everyone present, including every member of the Jinguuji household.
Because Shiranui Solitaire was, without exaggeration, proof of the Nanki'in family headship.
Yukki turned to look at Sakuya, barely managing to suppress the gleam in her eyes. "Sakuya-nee, you actually gave Shiranui Solitaire to Amano-sensei? You are really committing here, are you not!"
Ryuuma's shock deepened further. "Young mistress. Did you actually give Shiranui Solitaire to Amano-aniki?"
He had always known the young mistress and Amano were close. The way Master Muramasa had been carrying himself lately left little question that the household considered something serious to be developing between the two of them. But even as head of the escort detail, Ryuuma had not expected things to have progressed this far.
If Sakuya had given Amano the Shiranui Solitaire, it could only mean one thing: she had decided to hand the position of next Nanki'in family head directly to him. She was stepping aside to stand behind him.
Everyone watching had arrived at the same conclusion simultaneously. The assembled household was mentally rewriting the family succession line in real time.
Amano Rei as the next Nanki'in family head. Or perhaps the correct name to use now was: Nanki'in Rei.
"This cannot be real." Masayo's voice had gone tight. "How can this be happening, Sakuya. Tell me you are joking. You cannot simply hand the Solitaire to this man on a whim like this."
Sakuya had been about to explain. The Shiranui Solitaire in Amano's deck was not hers. She did not even know where he had gotten it.
But the moment stretched on, everyone filling in their own conclusions before she could speak a single word. And when Masayo turned to her directly with that demanding tone, something shifted in Sakuya's chest.
She found that she did not particularly want to clarify anymore.
Nanki'in Sakuya said, slowly and clearly, "So what? I can give whatever I want to whoever I want."
Nobody had expected that. Amano included. His class representative had apparently committed fully to a scene she did not even fully understand, playing it as though the subtext were entirely intentional. Nobody had told him Sakuya was capable of that level of performance.
"Why, Sakuya." Masayo's voice trembled. "Is there really no place for me at all in your heart?"
Amano offered no commentary on the emotional situation unfolding to his left. He had a duel to finish.
And unfortunately for Masayo, she was facing Nanki'in Sakuya, who was constitutionally, completely, and entirely oblivious to romantic signals under any circumstances whatsoever. Even without Amano ever entering the picture, her chances had probably never been what she thought they were.
"But at least in this duel, I will not lose!" Masayo's voice found its edge again. "Even if you inherited the Solitaire, Amano Rei. Can you actually bear the weight of that card with a deck like yours?"
She had read him correctly. He was not running a Shiranui deck. He had simply placed one copy of Shiranui Solitaire into a pile of Normal Monsters and expected it to do something.
"Let me show you," Amano said, "what Shiranui Solitaire looks like in my hands."
His fingertips moved across the two monster cards on his field, and the light of a Synchro Summon cut through the atmospheric darkness of the Night Parade.
"I tune Level 2 Tuner Shiranui Solitaire with Level 5 Guard Knight!"
The spirit blade transformed, its form dissolving into fire and becoming the rings of a tuning channel, pouring directly into the shield carried by Guard Knight. Blade and shield. Synchronizing.
Level 2 plus Level 5. The Synchro rings climbed to Level 7.
A single crimson rose petal drifted down into the Nanki'in estate garden. Then another. Then thousands of them, vivid scarlet against the glow of the spectral foxfire above, more beautiful and more eerie together than either element would have been alone.
Yukki stared at the spiral of fire and flowers, caught off guard. "That is a gorgeous image. Is this actually a duel?"
"It absolutely is a duel!" Amano's voice cut through the moment.
The rose petals erupted outward in a cyclone. The brief, beautiful instant was gone, replaced by a spiraling storm of crimson that swept across the entire field.
"Frozen flame will consume the world entire. Let the black flower bloom!"
"Synchro Summon. Level 7."
"Black Rose Dragon!"
Black Rose Dragon. Level 7, FIRE, Dragon/Synchro/Effect.
ATK: 2400. DEF: 1800.
The Synchro Dragon emerged in a coil of burning rose-red light, her serpentine body winding through the cascading petals, every scale glowing like the embers of a dragon-shaped pyre.
Mayakashi Mayhem was still active on the field.
Black Rose Dragon. ATK: 2400 to 2000.
"You used a precious card like Shiranui Solitaire," Masayo said, "and the best you could Synchro Summon is a 2400 ATK monster. With the ATK reduction it is only 2000. You think you can break through my entire field with that? You cannot even reach Gashadokuro."
"ATK does not matter here," Amano said.
"What?"
"I want to use Black Rose's flames to drive this whole parade out."
"Black Rose Dragon's effect activates."
When this card is Synchro Summoned: Destroy all cards on the field.
"Black Rose Storm!"
What followed was not simply fire. It was a force of erasure. The rose petals that had been drifting and spiraling through the air suddenly reversed direction and accelerated, no longer beautiful, no longer a storm but a total annihilation sweeping across every corner of the field.
Yoko, the Graceful Mayakashi: destroyed.
Dakki, the Graceful Mayakashi: destroyed.
Gashadokuro, the Skeletal Mayakashi: destroyed.
Mayakashi Mayhem: destroyed.
Royal Decree: destroyed.
Karma Barrier - Flame Force: destroyed.
Black Rose Dragon: destroyed.
The field went completely clear.
****
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