Chapter 300: Eve Solo-Kills the Winged Dragon
"A marriage contract?"
In the audience, Nanki'in Sakuya, who'd been invited along to watch the match, was stunned by this sudden bombshell of news.
"So, so Amano actually has a marriage contract?"
"Sakuya, don't worry about that!" Shio immediately jumped in to defend her brother. "That's something our unreliable dad set up behind big brother's back, he had no idea about it at all!"
"Even if Amano didn't know... but, that's a contract, isn't it."
Everyone in Eden knew just how much weight a contract carried.
If a contract explicitly stated that Amano Rei had to marry into the tomb-keeper clan, then it carried Eva's own backing, with 100 percent binding force. The worst-case outcome for forcibly defying a marriage contract was having Eva restrict your personal freedom, turning you into an "x-slave-x."
Nanki'in Sakuya couldn't help but worry. "Amano could get crushed by something like that."
"A marriage contract?"
Inside a KaibaCorp office, watching the match alone, Kaiba Chiaki was equally stunned by Celestia's outrageous declaration.
Wasn't Amano Rei supposed to be a duelist from the bottom districts? A bottom-district duelist having a marriage contract with the Upper District's tomb-keeper clan. Did that even make sense?
"Kurosaki, go look into something for me. Besides winning a duel, what other ways are there to tear up a finalized Duel Contract."
"President, th-this might be..."
Being asked, as an ordinary company employee, to look into something that touched on circumventing one of Eden's fundamental rules, Kurosaki's expression looked like he'd just eaten something foul.
"I'm giving you exactly one duel's worth of time. If you can't find anything, you can kiss your bonus for the quarter goodbye!"
"Yes, President. I'll do my best."
So they say, the ones with the hardest lot in life are always the working stiffs.
Having vented her frustration on Kurosaki, Chiaki bit down on her thumbnail, eyes locked on the dark-skinned Celestia up on the broadcast screen.
"Why would the tomb-keeper clan have anything to do with Amano? A marriage contract from 13 years ago, could it be tied to Amano Rei's own parents? Kurosaki, get back in here, there's more I need you to look into!"
"Coming, coming, President."
"Riding duel! Acceleration!!"
As the announcement of the Riding Duel's start rang out, both D-Wheels accelerated at once, charging onto the track of New Speed World 2.
Under the brand-new rules, this New Speed World that also allowed regular Spell Cards, its Field Spell's high-speed scenery rendered even more crisp and dazzling, much like the upgraded Duel Disk projections from Dark Side of Dimensions.
But under these new rules, spending 2 Speed Counters let a player activate a regular Spell Card, which made securing the first move in a Riding Duel even more important than before.
Amano's Moonlight Butterfly, already built around blistering speed as its selling point, quickly pulled ahead of Celestia's D-Wheel, which looked like it was wreathed in flame.
But Amano got the distinct feeling that Celestia hadn't actually been fighting him for the first move at all.
Celestia sat comfortably upright on her D-Wheel, showing no sign whatsoever of gearing up for a sprint.
"If you want the first move that badly, I'll let you have it! As your fiancee, I've got at least that much generosity in me, Amano boy!"
Amano's D-Wheel took the corner first.
Rin Seiya griped in annoyance. "What do you mean, letting him have the first move? I bet those two things of yours are just too big to accelerate at all!"
"Even at a time like this, you're still defending the scumbag." Nanami Misaki leaned against Rin Seiya's D-Wheel in the staging area, her smile playful. "For all we know, he might just throw the duel on purpose and fall right into Big Thunder's tender embrace."
"No way, my kouhai's not that kind of guy! When it comes to a duel, he'll always take it completely seriously!" Rin Seiya insisted through gritted teeth. "Besides, my kouhai doesn't even like big ones!"
On this particular point, Rin Seiya and Finesse had somehow arrived at a strangely perfect understanding.
Once the corner was cleared and the duel officially began, Amano noticed that beyond the different Speed World rules, this Riding Duel had one more special feature.
It had an Extra Monster Zone.
And this wasn't an Extra Monster Zone Amano had opened up himself using a skill.
Probably because most of the invitees were professional duelists from the Upper District, the Extra Monster Zone rule had simply been carried over.
With an Extra Monster Zone available in this Riding Duel, Amano could use Link Summoning.
"My turn, draw!"
Amano drew his card for the turn. Under Riding Duel rules, neither player gained Speed Counters during the first turn for whoever went first.
Normally, on the first turn, neither Speed Spells nor regular Spell Cards could be activated.
But Amano had studied the tournament rules ahead of time and rebuilt his Riding Deck to mix Speed Spells with regular ones, so that even going first, he'd still have room to develop his board.
"I activate the Speed Spell Overboost!"
[Speed Spell - Overboost] [Increase your Speed Counters by 4. At the End Phase, reduce your Speed Counters to 1.]
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 0 to 4
Activating Overboost while going first with 0 Speed Counters meant gaining 4 counters outright, and still coming out with an extra counter left over at the End Phase. A pure, guaranteed profit.
And under the New Speed World's rules, 4 Speed Counters meant he could activate a regular Spell Card twice over.
"I spend 2 Speed Counters to activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed, drawing 2 more cards from my Deck!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 4 to 2
"Then I Normal Summon Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in Defense Position!"
[Elemental HERO Burstinatrix] [Level 4 / FIRE]
[Warrior / Effect]
[ATK: 1200] [DEF: 1800]
A blazing figure sprinting at full speed took physical shape, racing alongside Amano's own charging D-Wheel.
"When Burstinatrix is successfully Summoned, I can add the Spell Card Polymerization from my Deck to my hand!"
Since the whole point of the new Riding Duel rules was to broaden the sport's audience, then as an invited guest, Amano figured he might as well show off the noble art of Fusion to a Riding Duel scene that had been dominated by Synchro for years.
With 2 Speed Counters still remaining, even if he didn't spend them, they'd drop to 1 at the End Phase anyway thanks to Overboost's effect.
"I spend my remaining 2 Speed Counters to activate the Spell Card Fusion Genesis!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 2 to 0
[Fusion Genesis] [Spell Card: Send the top 5 cards of your Deck to the Graveyard. If the monsters that serve as Fusion Materials are among them, you can perform that Fusion Summon.]
Even at full speed, the top five cards of Amano's Deck were ejected out and scattered, then automatically routed into the Graveyard zone of his D-Wheel's Duel Disk.
[Yuyu]
[Unicycler]
[Dark Magician Girl]
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon]
[Volcanic Rat]
All five cards flipped up were monsters. The sheer weight of this reveal rivaled even Shooting Star Dragon's deadly Five-Star Chain.
And per Fusion Genesis's nature, any time the Fusion Materials happened to be complete among them, a Fusion Summon could be performed. If these 5 cards even contained two complete sets of materials, he could Fusion Summon twice over.
"I Fusion Summon using Yuyu, Unicycler, and Volcanic Rat!"
A Fusion Summon completed using three Normal Monsters sent shockwaves through the Riding Duel track, as overwhelming as a mountain range collapsing and shaking the earth.
Amano thrust an arm toward the two spirals of Fusion light being born at once in the high-speed sky above, their effects colliding and shattering like falling stars.
"Draw breath from the dawn of the sky, forge a body of stars! Bear witness to the birth of a world, and hear the final toll of a civilization's end!"
"Fusion Summon! Oldest of all dragon kings! Ancestral Dragon King!!"
[Ancestral Dragon King] [Level 11 / DARK]
[Dragon / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 3700] [DEF: 3000]
[3 Normal Monsters]
The massive, primordial dragon born from fusing three Normal Monsters materialized with a furious roar over the Speed World track. The genuine wind pressure kicked up by the ancient dragon's high-speed flight could be felt clearly even by spectators on both sides of the track.
Even summoning a monster this powerful on the very first turn of a Riding Duel was impressive, but Amano's Fusion wasn't finished yet.
A second spiral of Fusion light was born!
"By Fusion Genesis's effect, I Fusion Summon again, using Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician Girl!"
Dark Magician Girl, appearing in flight through the Speed World, her lithe, adorable figure bouncing along, charged together with Blue-Eyes White Dragon into the second spiral of Fusion light overhead.
"Legend of the legendary dragon! Guide the maiden who rides the white dragon, and draw the hero's blade that cuts down all!"
"Fusion Summon! Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!"
[Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight] [Level 7 / DARK]
[Dragon / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 2600] [DEF: 1700]
["Dark Magician Girl" + Dragon-Type monster]
Dark Magician Girl, descending astride her legendary dragon, swung her blade through the Fusion spiral and swooped onto the track, flying alongside Amano.
Audiences used to Riding Duels dominated by Synchro Summons rarely got to see a Fusion Summon out on the track.
Let alone on the very first turn of the Riding Duel, pulling off two Fusion Summons of monsters this strong back to back.
"What an incredible opening!"
"No wonder he's the man who won that free-for-all!"
"No wonder every pro club is scrambling to recruit him."
Amano, commanding two Fusion dragons and a HERO, brought his opening turn to a close.
"I set 1 card. Turn end. And at the End Phase, thanks to Overboost's effect, my Speed Counters become 1!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 0 to 1
The trick to using Overboost was to spend down the Speed Counters as much as possible. That way, even if he ended up at 0, it would be forced back up to 1.
In the VIP seats, the Emperor couldn't help nodding in approval. "That's a seriously strong opening lockdown."
Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight had a Speed 2 effect that could blow up cards during the opponent's turn, while Ancestral Dragon King was immune to opposing monster effects and could chain into destroying back-row cards.
A combination like that was especially oppressive on a Riding Duel's opening turn, where Spell Card use was restricted.
The Emperor recalled the first Riding Duel he'd ever watched between Amano and Rin Seiya.
"It's only been a month, and you've grown at a monstrous pace, Amano Rei."
But if it came to talking about a real monster.
"Too bad his opponent is that Celestia."
"That's exactly what makes this interesting, Amano boy!"
Looking at Amano's board, Celestia only seemed to grow more excited.
"Strength like that is exactly what earns you a place in our tomb-keeper clan. You're plenty good enough to be my man!"
"My turn, draw!"
Celestia - Speed Counters: 0 to 1
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 1 to 2
"A Fusion Summon like that would probably shut down most duelists. But it won't shut down me!"
Celestia's mouth split into a wild, savage grin, her deep-brown arm raised high overhead, and beside her radiant golden D-Wheel, it looked as if scorching flames were spreading out across the track.
"Kneel before the true Sun God!"
"I Tribute the 3 monsters on your field, and Summon Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode on your side of the field!"
Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight never even got the chance to trigger her Speed 2 effect, and Ancestral Dragon King's immunity couldn't stop a Tribute.
Divine flame from the sun surged across the track like a raging crimson tide, swallowing Amano's entire board whole in an instant.
[Elemental HERO Burstinatrix, Tributed]
[Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight, Tributed]
[Ancestral Dragon King, Tributed]
"Camino Summon!" Celestia flung the card blazing at her fingertips, hurling it to detonate right over Amano's head.
[Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode] [Level 10 / Divine]
[Phantom Divine-Beast / Effect]
[ATK: ?] [DEF: ?]
[This card cannot be Special Summoned. When Normal Summoning this card, you must either Tribute 3 monsters you control to Summon it on your side of the field, or Tribute 3 monsters your opponent controls to Summon it on their side of the field. Control of this Summoned card returns to its original owner at the End Phase of the following turn.]
The Sun God's fire burned away Amano's entire board, leaving nothing behind but a single golden sphere hovering above his head.
Amano was caught off guard. Wasn't the Winged Dragon of Ra in Celestia's hand supposed to be the anime-effect version? Why did she also have the real-card-exclusive Sphere Mode?
Only after his board had been swallowed up by the Winged Dragon's sphere did Amano suddenly realize he'd overlooked something important.
He'd unconsciously assumed a God Card was always a single, standalone card, but that was purely a DM-era way of thinking.
Here in Eden, three thousand years later, maybe Winged Dragon of Ra itself carried the original anime effect, while still being able to combine with all the exclusive support cards from the real-card TCG environment.
That would make Celestia's Sun God genuinely stronger than Marik's ever was, and worthy of the title of a true sun.
"I set one card. Turn end."
Celestia ended her turn having done nothing more than Summon a single sphere onto Amano's field.
But even though the sphere sat on Amano's field, it couldn't provide him with any combat power whatsoever.
[This card cannot attack, and cannot be targeted by an opponent's attacks or effects.]
On top of that, at the end of Amano's turn, it would revert right back to Celestia's field.
"My turn, draw!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 2 to 3
Celestia - Speed Counters: 1 to 2
What Amano needed to do this turn was find some way, any way, to deal with this Winged Dragon sphere.
Otherwise, once this Sphere Mode, useless on Amano's side, returned to Celestia's field, it would be able to activate its effect.
[Activate by Tributing this card. Special Summon 1 "Winged Dragon of Ra" from your hand or Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions, with its ATK and DEF becoming 4000.]
The 4000-ATK, anime-effect Winged Dragon of Ra would descend directly onto the field.
The normal ways to deal with Sphere Mode were an Advance Summon or a Synchro Summon. But right now, Amano had neither a suitable Tuner nor any high-Level monster in hand.
Celestia only got wilder the longer the duel went. "Can you really defy the will of the sun, Amano boy?!"
"So it's a god, so what!" Amano, racing at full speed under the sun's blazing fire, slammed a monster card from his hand down onto his D-Wheel's Duel Disk. "I'm counting on you, Eve!"
"I Normal Summon Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice!"
[Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice] [Level 2 / WATER]
[Spellcaster / Normal]
[ATK: 0] [DEF: 2100]
"Hm, this monster?" Celestia raised an eyebrow.
This monster wasn't a Tuner, and it wasn't a high-Level monster either. There was no way it could deal with Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode.
"Time to show off the power we've been hiding all this time, Eve!"
"So this is what you'd call a trump card, Amano!"
Amano and Eve exchanged a glance, then both turned their eyes toward the Extra Monster Zone at the same time.
Along the Speed World's Riding Duel track, the space marking the Extra Monster Zone was flickering with a light representing the future: the glow of a Link.
"Appear! The Link circuit that leads to the future!"
[Current available Link Summons: 3 to 2]
"I set Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice and Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode on my field as Link Material!"
Since he couldn't Synchro or Tribute away Sphere Mode, he'd just send it to the Graveyard as Link Material instead.
"No way, is that actually a Link Summon?" Celestia's golden eyes went wide.
Sure, professional duels in the Upper District used the Extra Monster Zone, but there'd never actually been a professional duelist capable of Link Summoning.
Everyone had just been treating the Extra Monster Zone as extra real estate, nothing more.
An actual Link Marker being etched into the Extra Monster Zone like this was something even Celestia was seeing for the very first time.
[<-] [->]
"Unfold, Link circuit bound for a path among the stars!"
"Let the twin data streams of sun and priestess converge here, and let the Link illuminate the guardian starlight of the divine realm!"
"Link circuit established. Confirmed: Star Chalice!"
"Link Summon! Link-2, Star Chalice Sacred Dance - Eve!"
[Star Chalice Sacred Dance - Eve] [Link Arrows: Left/Right] [WATER]
[Spellcaster / Link / Effect]
[ATK: 1800] [LINK-2]
[2 monsters with different Types and Attributes]
Born out of the sun's own fire, Eve's brand-new Link form, a slight, flat-chested girl clutching a star-tipped staff, drifted down onto the high-speed track bathed in a ring of starlight.
Eve: "Solo-kill on Winged Dragon of Ra. Make sure you write that one down in the record books!"
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