Chapter 222
Chiaki's field had been cleared for the second time by Amano. The difference this time was that it was her own card that had acted as the traitor.
She continued her turn without pause, slapping a Spell Card onto the Duel Disk.
"Spell Card, Pot of Avarice."
Unlike Pot of Greed's brute-force two-card draw, Pot of Avarice required a prerequisite.
Pot of Avarice read: Target 5 monsters in your Graveyard. Shuffle them into the deck. Then draw 2 cards.
"I shuffle Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, Assault Wing Dragon, Crystal Dragon, and Chronicle Magician back into the deck and draw two cards."
The card selection looked like a miscellaneous pile, but what Chiaki actually wanted back was clear enough: both copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon. After the shuffle, only one Blue-Eyes White Dragon remained sleeping in her Graveyard. With just that one in the Graveyard, a three-body Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon Fusion was out of reach for now.
Chiaki drew and immediately threw the Spell Card down.
"I will prove that the Fusion forms of Blue-Eyes White Dragon are the strongest. Spell Card, Polymerization!"
The spiral of Fusion effects detonated in the sky above the arena. Chiaki raised two Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards overhead.
The Kaiba family's connection to the white dragon ran deep. The Blue-Eyes she had only just shuffled back into the deck mere seconds ago came straight back into her hand on the very next draw.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, double Fusion!"
Two Blue-Eyes roared free from her fingertips and crossed in the sky at their highest point.
"Fusion of Blue-Eyes White Dragon knows no limits!"
"Transcending destruction, the dragon that pierces eternity with twin explosive bursts!"
"Fusion Summon! Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!"
Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon materialized from the white spiraling light of Fusion, two proud dragon heads roaring toward Amano's field.
Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon: Level 10. LIGHT. Dragon-type Fusion. Attack: 3000. Defense: 2500.
"Battle Phase! Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon, attack both of Amano's Synchro Dragons!"
Chiaki charged with her 3000-attack Fusion Blue-Eyes toward Amano's two remaining monsters.
In the stands, Sakuya frowned. "Can that work? Stardrive Dragon is 3200 attack and Radiant Storm Dragon's defense is 3000. Neither can simply be broken through with 3000 attack."
"This is what it means to tear through dimensional limits!"
"Twin Explosive Burst Impact!"
Both of Twin Burst Dragon's heads erupted simultaneously toward the enormous cosmic presence of Stardrive Dragon, twin white beams colliding with a burning star. The impact looked for a moment as if it had genuinely cracked the dimensional backdrop of the arena itself.
Chiaki LP: 4000 to 3800.
Amano's superior attack stat absorbed the exchange without losing the dragon. But that was exactly what Twin Burst Dragon had been counting on.
"Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon's effect." Chiaki raised her hand toward the crack split into the air above. "This card cannot be destroyed by battle. It can attack monsters twice per turn. And when this card's attack does not result in the opponent's monster being destroyed, at the end of the Damage Step, that monster is banished."
"Stardrive Dragon was not destroyed by battle. Into the other dimension with you."
The dimensional crack swallowed Stardrive Dragon whole.
Stardrive Dragon: banished.
"Second attack, Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!"
The second Twin Explosive Burst Blast hammered into Radiant Storm Dragon in Defense Position, its 3000 defense holding without breaking. The result was the same.
"You as well. Banished."
Radiant Storm Dragon: banished.
This woman would not concede a single point. Amano had just used Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon and Radiant Storm Dragon to wipe Chiaki's entire field, and Chiaki had immediately countered using Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon to wipe both of Amano's Synchro Dragons in return. Two monsters for two monsters, and the exchange came out in her favor because Twin Burst Dragon was still standing.
After the dragon-versus-dragon clash reached its limit, Chiaki set two face-down cards.
"I set two cards. Turn end."
"My turn. Draw."
At the turn change, Amano triggered The Will of the Commoners again. If True Light was Chiaki's self-replenishing engine, this Continuous Spell was the same for him.
"I reveal Heart Key Fairy and Left Leg of the Forbidden One, both Normal Monsters drawn this turn, and draw additional cards."
The Normal Monsters piling up in his hand all had a purpose. Amano reached for the next card.
"I Normal Summon Heart Key Fairy in Defense Position. Then I activate Spell Card Horse Bone's Price, sending the Normal Monster on my field to the Graveyard to draw two cards."
New cards in hand. Amano looked at one of them, the Spell he had carried back from the Chronicle, and made his decision.
"Time to gamble. Spell Card, Celestial Submission."
Celestial Submission read: Pay 1000 Life Points. Declare the name of one Level 8 or higher monster. Your opponent reveals their deck. If the declared monster is present, the player who activated this card takes it.
Amano LP: 3200 to 2200.
This card had arrived too late in every previous duel, or the conditions had never aligned. Chiaki had been guarding her Blue-Eyes White Dragons carefully from the very first turn, not leaving a single copy in the deck for a single extra second. From turn one, all three of her deck's Blue-Eyes White Dragons had gone to the Graveyard as Fusion materials. Even the copy recovered by Pot of Avarice had been pulled back into her hand almost instantly.
The only Level 8 or higher monster Amano could reasonably name now was a guess. A gamble.
But this was not the moment for guessing randomly. This was the moment to ask what he needed and reason backward from there.
He was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon duelist. So was Chiaki. Any duelist who devoted themselves to Blue-Eyes would think the same way about a card that unlocked the moment a Blue-Eyes archetype was identified, that sat right at the top of the ATK column in the ranked exchange shop, obviously. With Chiaki's character and her standards, there was no version of this where she had not already exchanged for it.
Amano scanned his remaining hand. That was the one.
"I declare Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!"
Chiaki's expression went rigid.
From that small involuntary tell, Amano had all the confirmation he needed.
Chiaki had been guarding against exactly this, ever since she learned Amano had brought Celestial Submission back from the Chronicle. She had made sure every Blue-Eyes White Dragon spent as little time in her deck as possible, specifically to deny him the target. But she had still allowed one card to be taken.
In silence, Chiaki pulled the card from her deck and threw it across the field to Amano.
"Excellent." His own copy had never come up. But he had just acquired Chiaki's instead.
Amano flipped the face-down card he had set on his previous turn.
"Trap Card, Darkness Trap."
Darkness Trap read: When your Life Points are 3000 or below, pay 1000 Life Points. Target one Normal Trap in your Graveyard other than this card. This card's effect becomes identical to that target's activation effect. Then, banish the targeted card.
Amano LP: 2200 to 1200.
"I copy Commoner's Charity from my Graveyard. I draw two cards, then banish Left Leg of the Forbidden One from my hand."
Amano had spent half his remaining Life Points across this turn, one thousand at a time, all to reach this exact hand.
"Bringing this to a complete defeat! Ritual Spell Card, Advanced Ritual Art!"
Advanced Ritual Art read: Send Normal Monsters from your deck to the Graveyard with total Levels equal to the Level of the Ritual Monster you wish to Ritual Summon. Then, Ritual Summon that monster from your hand.
"I send Level 7 Elemental HERO Neos and Level 1 Right Arm of the Forbidden One from my deck to the Graveyard, totaling 8 stars!"
Eight stars blazed free from the deck and embedded themselves in the Ritual Spell's frame, unlocking the gate of ultimate chaos.
"In the name of Complete Defeat! With the dragon soul of intertwined light and darkness, open the gate of chaos!"
"Let this proud and ultimate soul roar upon the earth!"
"Ritual Summon! The dragon that pierces all defenses! Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!"
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon: Level 8. DARK. Dragon-type Ritual Effect. Attack: 4000. Defense: 0.
The angular wings spread wide as the darkened white dragon descended, its sheer presence enough to shake the arena even at the moment of arrival.
From the audience, Finesse called out: "Can that actually beat Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon?"
She had a point. Chaos MAX Dragon's 4000 attack was 1000 higher than Twin Burst Dragon's 3000, but Twin Burst Dragon could not be destroyed by battle. If this turn ended without breaking it, next turn Twin Burst Dragon would go on offense again, and its banish effect would dispatch Chaos MAX Dragon the same way it had dispatched Stardrive Dragon.
"Then I push until she has no way to answer back."
Chaos MAX Dragon entered the Battle Phase with a full-throated roar.
Before declaring the attack, Amano threw the Chronicle Quick-Play Spell from his back row.
"Quick-Play Spell Card, Enemy Controller."
Enemy Controller offered two options: change one opponent's monster's battle position, or Tribute one of your own monsters to take control of an opponent's monster for the turn. The oversized controller materialized in the space between both players, awaiting its input.
"Arrow settings locked. I select the effect to change the battle position of Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon."
The 3000-attack Twin Burst Dragon, still standing from its previous assault, was forcibly switched into Defense Position.
Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon: Defense 2500.
"Kaiba. You know this better than anyone." Amano's voice dropped. "When Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon attacks a Defense Position monster, it deals double the excess of its attack over that monster's defense as battle damage."
The detonation light gathered at Chaos MAX Dragon's raised head, aimed downward at the kneeling Twin Burst Dragon.
"CHAOS MAXIMUM BURST!"
Defense 2500. Chaos MAX Dragon's 4000 attack minus 2500 equals 1500. Doubled to 3000.
Even a monster immune to battle destruction could not make the player immune to the impact.
The physical feedback shockwave from the concussive blast cracked the arena floor beneath Twin Burst Dragon and sent Chiaki skidding backward through the air behind it. The Kaiba Corporation president was accustomed to hanging from helicopters and landing gracefully from considerable heights, which was the only reason she recovered her footing at all. Anyone else would still have been sprawled on the ground.
Chiaki LP: 3800 to 800.
Chiaki bit her lip. She had not expected to find herself at lower Life Points than Amano in a duel between the two Blue-Eyes White Dragon holders. Amano had spent 2000 Life Points this turn to land 3000 damage on her, and in the process had physically sealed Twin Burst Dragon from striking back. The only way Twin Burst Dragon could activate its banish effect now was to attack Chaos MAX Dragon directly, and with only 800 Life Points remaining, that was not a move she could afford to make against 4000 attack.
"I set two cards. Turn end."
"During your End Phase," Chiaki said, "I activate my set card."
The stone slab rose again. The one Amano had destroyed with Radiant Storm Dragon's storm just turns before had been replaced by a second copy, placed from her hand at exactly this moment.
"I activate the second True Light and use its alternate effect for this turn."
True Light's second selectable effect read: Place one Spell or Trap Card from your deck that mentions Blue-Eyes White Dragon in its name, face-down to your field, provided no copy of it currently exists on your field or in your Graveyard.
"I place Ultimate Fusion from my deck face-down."
A Quick-Play Spell set this turn could not be activated until the following turn. Chiaki had put it in position early.
"My turn. Draw."
The moment Chiaki drew, True Light's once-per-turn effect activated.
"True Light revives one Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my Graveyard." She looked at the revived dragon on her field and moved on immediately. "Spell Card, Advanced Draw. I Tribute a Level 8 or higher monster and draw two cards."
Blue-Eyes White Dragon was released, and two more cards entered Chiaki's hand.
Sakuya said it quietly: "These two have very similar styles."
Yukki, sitting beside her: "Is this what it means to fight with everything you have?"
The Will of the Commoners was Amano's resource engine. True Light was Chiaki's. Both players had been pushing until their decks were practically unspooling onto the field.
"Quick-Play Spell, Ultimate Fusion."
Chiaki flipped open the face-down she had set during Amano's End Phase.
Ultimate Fusion read: Can be activated during either player's Main Phase. Use monsters from your hand, field, or Graveyard as Fusion Materials by returning them to the deck. Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster that requires Blue-Eyes White Dragon or Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon as Fusion Material.
"From my Graveyard, three Blue-Eyes White Dragons return to the deck. Three-body ultimate Fusion!"
All three Blue-Eyes White Dragons sleeping in Chiaki's Graveyard spread their wings and soared toward the ancient Fusion spiral, converging at its heart.
"Indestructible! Invincible! Strongest!"
"Pulverizing! Shattering! Grand applause!"
It had to be said: these were old Kaiba lines, but hearing them delivered in a young woman's voice carried its own distinct feeling.
"Uniting soul and brilliance into one, surpassing legend in the form of legend itself!"
"Fusion Summon! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon: Level 12. LIGHT. Dragon-type Fusion. Attack: 4500. Defense: 3800.
Three dragon heads bearing the seal of the ultimate crashed free from the Fusion spiral, the enormous body settling onto Chiaki's field with unmistakable weight.
This was not the evolved form. This was the original Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the one that had first appeared in the early days of the animated series, completely without effects. The reason Chiaki had fused this vanilla Fusion now was its compatibility with what still remained in her Graveyard.
"The effect of Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in my Graveyard. While Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon exists in the Graveyard, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on the field is unaffected by the opponent's card effects."
The bond between two generations of Ultimate Dragon granted the original form a complete shield against Amano's every card.
"And this." Chiaki slammed the Spell Card down, the monster zone and the Spell zone resonating together.
"Spell Card, Ultimate Burst."
Ultimate Burst read: Target one Fusion Summoned Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon you control. This turn, that monster can attack three times during the same Battle Phase. When it attacks, the opponent cannot activate Spell, Trap, or monster effects until the end of the Damage Step.
A three-attack Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with effect immunity, and every attack locked behind a window Amano could not enter. Chiaki switched Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon back to Attack Position, and with five combined dragon heads roaring in unison, entered the Battle Phase.
Once Ultimate Burst fired and the attacks began, there was no way in.
The only window was the instant before the Battle Phase started.
"I activate a Quick-Play Spell Card." Amano flipped his set card. "Spell Card, Spell Card Monster Reborn."
The card's name was literally Spell Card Monster Reborn.
The first time Amano saw it in the ranked exchange shop, he had stared at it for a full second. Apparently, to recreate the iconic moment from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! DM manga where duelists constantly interrupted with dramatic declarations of Spell Card Monster Reborn, the Eva system had printed a genuine Quick-Play Spell version of it. The card itself was exactly as absurd as it sounded.
Spell Card Monster Reborn read: This card's name is treated as Monster Reborn. Once per turn, target one monster in either player's Graveyard. Special Summon it to your field. That turn, the Special Summoned monster cannot attack, and its effects cannot be activated.
The effect negation and attack restriction were real drawbacks. For this particular moment, neither of them mattered at all.
What Amano needed right now was the most powerful wall he could place between himself and the incoming assault.
"I use Spell Card Monster Reborn to revive Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon from Chiaki's Graveyard to my field."
The sacred cross blazed into existence on Amano's side of the arena, its light drawing the attention of every person watching, and Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon descended onto his field in a revelation of white.
The duel's visual narrative shifted in an instant. What had been Amano with one Blue-Eyes White Dragon facing Chiaki with three had transformed, through the path of Synchro and Ritual evolution and borrowed Fusion, into a confrontation between two Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragons.
Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on Amano's field: Attack 4500.
And with Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon no longer in Chiaki's Graveyard, the passive immunity it had been granting to her Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon no longer applied.
"That's your last struggle? It won't be enough, Amano!"
Chiaki raised her arm, and for just a moment the movement carried an unmistakable echo of someone else.
"Even if an Ultimate Dragon stands before me, for victory I will break through even the strongest ultimate! Continue the attack, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
Three dragon heads erupted simultaneously, and the triple Burst Stream of Destruction tore into Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon at full force.
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon was destroyed.
Amano LP: 1200 to 700.
Without breaking momentum, Chiaki directed the second attack at the Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on Amano's field.
"Second attack. Even if this ends in mutual destruction, so be it."
The Ultimate Burst Stream.
Three dragon heads met three dragon heads head-on. The collision of physical feedback launched a shockwave between both players that briefly left the arena unable to look directly at the light.
Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was destroyed. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was destroyed.
When the light cleared, only Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon remained on the field.
"This ends here, Amano! Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon, direct attack! Twin Explosive Burst Impact!"
Both dragon heads opened wide toward Amano's empty field, charging the finishing blow.
"This is the moment I have been waiting for, Chiaki."
Amano, who had spent this entire duel patiently seeding the conditions for what he was about to do, reached for the second set card still waiting in his back row.
"Quick-Play Spell Card, Scrap Fusion."
Scrap Fusion read: Select 2 required Fusion Materials from the opponent's Graveyard and banish them. Special Summon one Fusion Monster using those materials from either player's Extra Deck.
Across every twist and setback of this duel, Amano had finally gathered in Chiaki's Graveyard exactly what he needed. He had known from the moment he used Celestial Submission that even if Chiaki destroyed the Chaos MAX Dragon, it would end up in her Graveyard. He had known that if Chiaki pursued her inevitable three-dragon Fusion gambit, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon would also end up there. He had arranged both outcomes, one card play at a time.
The most unusual Fusion in his hand had been waiting for this exact configuration.
Now, in Chiaki's Graveyard, the ultimate dragon and the ultimate chaos had finally converged.
"I use Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon from Chiaki's Graveyard as Fusion Materials!"
The Graveyard zone on Chiaki's Duel Disk blazed with a Fusion light that had never been seen before.
"Where legend and legend meet, where chaos and the power of the ultimate are sealed into an eternal pact!"
"When legend overlaps with legend, the fusion between chaos and the ultimate shall tear open the most powerful dimensional gate!"
"Fusion Summon! The supreme existence ruling over chaos and the ultimate!"
"Ultimate Dragon Wizard!!"
Ultimate Dragon Wizard: Level 12. LIGHT. Dragon-type Fusion Effect. Attack: 5000. Defense: 4000.
Fusion conditions: Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, or three Blue-Eyes monsters, plus one Chaos Ritual Monster.