Chapter 221
After the dust settled from Gabrion's field wipe, Kaiba Chiaki surveyed her bare arena with a slight frown. She recovered quickly.
"Based on Gabrion, the Timelord's effect, I draw cards equal to the number that returned to my deck."
Timelords were a genuine double-edged proposition. Clearing the board was a decisive advantage, but handing the opponent four fresh draws was a real price. In Eden Tower's dueling environment, where explosive multi-card extensions were rarer than in the world Amano remembered, the field advantage tended to outweigh the hand refill. Against Blue-Eyes White Dragon in particular, loading the opponent's hand with high-Level Dragon cards was a risk that could snap back immediately.
Chiaki drew four cards, looked at the result, and recognized the problem at once. The hand was bloated with Dragons too large to deploy directly.
"Spell Card, Discount Sale. I send Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon, which I just searched off Crystal Dragon's effect, to the Graveyard and draw two cards."
Filter, discard the excess, move forward.
"I set three cards face-down. Turn end."
"During your End Phase, I activate Trap Card Graverobber. I copy the effect of Graceful Charity from your Graveyard."
Amano could not afford a card worth 350,000 ranked exchange points. But he could steal it from the people who could.
The grave-robbing figure made off with Chiaki's discard Spell, handing Amano three draws and asking for two cards back in exchange. He made his choices carefully, and The White Stone of Ancients went to the Graveyard as one of the two discards.
"Also during your End Phase, I activate the effect of The White Stone of Ancients, which I just sent to the Graveyard."
"That card again." Chiaki had already encountered it during the match against Ryoushuu. She understood what was coming.
The White Stone of Ancients read: At the End Phase of the turn this card is sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon one Blue-Eyes monster from your deck.
From across three thousand years, the concentrated light of the original white dragon answered the summons.
"Descend under the guidance of ancient brilliance, proud and mightiest white dragon."
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The dragon's roar split the air. Attack: 3000.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The audience erupted.
When Amano brought out his own copy, every witness in the arena understood what this duel truly was. Two of only a handful of people in the entire world who possessed a genuine Blue-Eyes White Dragon, facing each other across the field. The strongest against the strongest. Only a duelist worthy of the name could command a Blue-Eyes. It felt less like a rule and more like a law of the universe.
The momentum had shifted completely. After Gabrion swept Chiaki's field clean, the white dragon now stood on Amano's side.
"My turn. Draw." The Continuous Spell activated in the same motion. "The Will of the Commoners triggers. I drew Volcanic Rat, a Normal Monster, and draw one additional card."
His second pull was not a Normal Monster. But before moving to the Standby Phase, Amano flipped the last card remaining in his back row. He had a narrow window before the Standby Phase arrived and closed it.
The reason was Gabrion, the Timelord's fourth passive effect: During your Standby Phase, return this card to the owner's deck.
Timelords were formidable walls, but they could only hold their ground for a single turn before the deck called them back. Allowing a Level 10 monster to simply shuffle itself away was a waste Amano had no intention of accepting.
"Trap Card, Synchro Call."
Synchro Call read: Target one monster in your Graveyard. Special Summon it with its effects negated. Then, using only monsters on your field that include the Special Summoned target, Synchro Summon one Synchro Monster.
"I target The White Stone of Ancients in my Graveyard and tune it together with Gabrion, the Timelord on my field."
Synchro rings blazed from the Graveyard and rose through the towering blue-white pillar of Gabrion's form, one star of light intersecting ten.
Level 1 plus Level 10 equals Level 11.
"Scale that pierces the sea of stars, resonate with the guidance of the cosmos!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 11! Stardrive Dragon!"
A presence that seemed to belong to the cosmos itself materialized on Amano's field. Stardrive Dragon was colossal, its radiant form matching Gabrion in sheer scale, a living star condensed into dragon shape.
Stardrive Dragon: Level 11. LIGHT. Dragon-type Synchro. Attack: 3200. Defense: 2800.
Stardrive Dragon's second effect read: When this card's Synchro Summon resolves, neither player may activate Spell, Trap, or monster card effects.
The moment the chant concluded, a brief absolute silence fell across both fields. Every card effect held still.
Amano now had both Stardrive Dragon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon on his side of the arena. Chiaki had nothing.
"Battle Phase!"
Both dragons surged forward with a roar as Amano entered combat.
"Direct attack, Stardrive Dragon. Force of Falling Stars!"
Stardrive Dragon's attack passive read: When this card attacks, until the end of the Damage Step, it is unaffected by other card effects.
Chiaki had not set three cards for display.
"Permanent Trap Card, True Light."
A stone slab carved with the likeness of an ancient Blue-Eyes White Dragon rose from the floor of Chiaki's side, blazing white.
True Light was a Continuous Trap with three distinct effects.
First: Once per turn, Special Summon one Blue-Eyes White Dragon from the hand or Graveyard.
Second: The opponent cannot target your Blue-Eyes White Dragon monsters on the field with card effects.
Third: When this card is sent face-up from the Spell and Trap Zone to the Graveyard, destroy all monsters you control.
"True Light's first effect. I revive one Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my Graveyard in Defense Position."
The engraved figure on the slab brightened until a true dragon burst free from within, spreading its wings in Defense.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon in Defense threw itself into the path of Stardrive Dragon's stellar impact, absorbing the blow meant for Chiaki directly.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon was destroyed.
"I still have my own Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field with an attack remaining!" Amano pressed forward. "Direct attack. Burst Stream of Destruction!"
"Quick-Play Spell, Silver's Cry."
Silver's Cry read: Target one Normal Dragon-type monster in your Graveyard. Special Summon it.
"Rise again, proudest soul of my dragons. Blue-Eyes!"
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: Attack 3000.
Two Blue-Eyes White Dragons now stood on opposite sides of the field. Both at 3000 attack. If they collided, the arithmetic was already settled.
"Since the state of your field has changed, I withdraw Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack."
There was no gain in a mutual trade that left True Light standing while both dragons cancelled each other out. Amano called off the attack, and the Battle Phase closed.
"Normal Summon this turn. Sage with Eyes of Blue, in Defense Position."
Sage with Eyes of Blue: Level 1 LIGHT Spellcaster Tuner. Attack: 0. Defense: 1500.
The white-haired sage materialized beneath Blue-Eyes White Dragon, staff glowing with the same azure quality as the dragon towering above him.
"When Sage with Eyes of Blue is Normal Summoned successfully, I add one Level 1 LIGHT Tuner from my deck to my hand."
The search completed. Amano's fingers crossed two cards on the Duel Disk.
"I tune Level 1 Tuner Sage with Eyes of Blue together with Level 8 Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
The sage raised his staff. Synchro rings expanded from him and rose through the proud white body of the dragon above, borrowing the dragon's power, transforming it into something it had never been before.
"Singing a prayer for Blue-Eyes's ascension, silver wings bearing a noble soul!"
"Manifest now, spirit dragon that illuminates the heavens!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 9! Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon!"
The Synchro light broke open and a dragon of entirely different bearing descended onto the field.
Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon: Level 9. LIGHT. Dragon-type Synchro. Attack: 2500. Defense: 3000.
Synchro conditions: one Tuner plus one or more non-Tuner Blue-Eyes monsters.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon had not fallen. It had evolved into something new.
Kaiba Chiaki's eyes went wide.
"A Blue-Eyes White Dragon Synchro."
The revelation settled across the arena. Every person present understood what it meant. This was not a Fusion. This was not a Ritual. The evolutionary path everyone had assumed was the only one for Blue-Eyes had just forked in a direction no one had considered.
Chiaki steadied herself quickly. Looking back, perhaps the possibility had been visible from the moment she saw a Level 1 Eyes of Blue Tuner in Amano's hand. The signs had been there.
"Even with a Synchro evolution path," she said, "the Fusion forms of Blue-Eyes White Dragon remain superior, Amano."
"Everyone watching this duel will have the answer before it ends, Kaiba."
Amano set one card to his back row, settled Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon in Defense with its 3000 defense points anchoring his position, and passed.
"My turn. Draw."
Chiaki moved without hesitation.
"I Normal Summon Assault Wing Dragon in Attack Position."
Assault Wing Dragon was a Level 4 LIGHT Dragon at 1800 attack. In any normal duel it would have been a capable lower-level attacker, able to extend board presence on a battle destruction. Here, standing in an arena where the minimum currency of combat had been trading 3000-attack monsters for several turns, it looked like a placeholder.
What it actually was, was a Tribute fodder piece and a field presence for the next play.
"Permanent Trap True Light's effect. Once per turn, I revive one Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my Graveyard."
The slab pulsed with white energy. But the dragon that answered this time looked noticeably different from a standard Blue-Eyes.
Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon: Attack 3000.
Its name counted as Blue-Eyes White Dragon while it existed in the Graveyard, making it a legal target for True Light's recovery.
Chiaki's expression was composed.
"The Synchro evolution of Blue-Eyes will dissolve in Alternative White Dragon's light. Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, activate your effect."
Alternative White Dragon's effect read: Once per turn, target one monster the opponent controls and destroy it. This card cannot attack the turn this effect is used.
"Destroy Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon."
The concentrated white light built in Alternative's jaws and drove toward the Synchro Dragon across the field.
"Useless." Amano lifted Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon's card free from the Duel Disk.
"Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon's third effect."
Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon's third effect read: During either player's turn, Tribute this Synchro Summoned card. Special Summon one Dragon LIGHT Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck in Defense Position, except Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon. That monster is destroyed at the End Phase of this turn.
"Let the spirit's soul become the bridge of Synchro light."
"Special Summon. Radiant Storm Dragon."
A champion born of pure white bridges materialized in Defense Position. Radiant Storm Dragon: Level 9 LIGHT Dragon Synchro. Attack: 2700. Defense: 3000.
"When Radiant Storm Dragon is Special Summoned, its effect activates."
Radiant Storm Dragon's effect read: When this card is Special Summoned, target and destroy up to a number of Spell and Trap Cards on the field equal to the number of Normal Monsters in your Graveyard plus one.
The Normal Monsters filling Amano's Graveyard after this duel's long accumulation exceeded any number of cards Chiaki had left in her back row by a comfortable margin.
"I destroy both of your remaining cards. Radiant Gale Cyclone!"
The first target was Chiaki's face-down set card, which the storm revealed as Justi-Break before sweeping it away. The second target was True Light itself, the ancient slab standing open and active in Chiaki's Spell and Trap Zone.
"Accept the combined storm of the Blue-Eyes and the Radiant."
True Light was face-up when Radiant Storm Dragon's effect destroyed it.
Its third mandatory effect triggered at once.
True Light read: When this card is sent face-up from the Spell and Trap Zone to the Graveyard, destroy all monsters you control.
The slab collapsed in the gale. The resulting shockwave tore across Chiaki's entire field without exception.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon was destroyed.
Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon was destroyed.
Assault Wing Dragon was destroyed.
Chiaki stood before a bare field for the second time.
The Radiant Gale Cyclone faded, and the arena fell into the kind of silence that comes when something no one expected has just happened, and no one is sure yet what to say about it.
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