Chapter 305: Synchro vs. the Sky God, a Riding Duel of Thunder Bolt Bombardment
[New Speed World 2] activated!
As the Field Spell blanketed the entire arena, the countdown lights signaling the start of the ride flickered on above both Amano Rei and Rin Seiya's heads.
"This is so exciting, underclassman!"
"Same here, Seiya senpai."
"Honestly, dueling you is my favorite Riding Duel there is, underclassman! Is this what they call a sense of destiny?"
"I know, right."
Knowing his senpai as well as he did, Amano Rei figured she was already off imagining her own dramatic backstory for this, something like Jack versus Yusei, a destined rematch of vengeance.
Still, thinking it over, it was precisely because of Seiya senpai's personality that his duels against her always felt so pure and simple. Naturally, that made them all the easier to enjoy.
What card-slinger wouldn't want a gorgeous senpai who showed up every day shouting chuunibyou lines to duel with him?
No need to worry about clearing some Chronicle objective, no need to fret over a forced marriage contract riding on the outcome of the duel.
Just a pure duel, releasing the will to fight along the track at D-Wheel speed.
"Riding duel, acceleration!"
The instant Eva's start signal sounded, both D-Wheels shot off the line like arrows loosed from a bow.
The crowd's cheers rose right on cue, and somewhere in the front row, Amano Rei could just make out Shio's excited shout.
"Go, big brother!"
"First move's mine, senpai!"
The ancient relic Moonlight Butterfly was difficult to handle, but its speed still outclassed most D-Wheels of this era.
"Tch, once I finish paying off my D-Wheel loan, I'm having Fiona install a jet booster on my Yusei No. 2!"
Having secured the first move, Amano Rei's opening this time didn't come anywhere close to the ridiculous run of luck he'd had against Celestia.
Even under the new Riding Duel rules, if the first turn's draw didn't turn up Speed Spell - Overboost, Spell Cards still couldn't be activated.
"I Summon 1 monster in face-down Defense Position, then set 1 more card. Turn end!"
Showing off exactly the kind of speed a high-speed duel demanded, Amano Rei wrapped up his first turn in three seconds flat.
"My turn, draw!" Rin Seiya drew her card for the turn.
Speed Counters: 0 to 1
Rin Seiya scanned her opening hand in her D-Wheel's card slot.
"All right, my turn too, then! I set 1 monster in face-down Defense Position, then set 1 more card. Turn end!"
Both players had opened up identically, and between the two of them, it had taken less than ten seconds combined to finish both turns.
"My turn, draw!"
Speed Counters: 1 to 2
Starting his turn again, Amano Rei looked at the card he'd drawn.
"That's the end of the slow opening, senpai. I'm attacking!"
"Bring it on!"
"I Flip Summon Yuyu, which I set face-down last turn!"
A Flip Summon meant turning a face-down Defense Position monster face-up into Attack Position.
[Yuyu] [ATK: 300]
Rin Seiya's face fell with regret. "You set Yuyu? I figured it'd be Eve. If I'd known, I should have attacked first!"
The more familiar someone got with Amano Rei's playstyle, the easier it became to fall for exactly this kind of trap, and his senpai was a prime example.
"Too late for regrets now!" Having flipped Yuyu face-up, Amano Rei immediately followed up by flipping the card he'd set alongside his D-Wheel the turn before.
"Trap Card, Alliance of Kindred Names, activate!"
[Alliance of Kindred Names] [Trap Card: Activate by selecting 1 face-up Level 2 or lower Normal Monster you control. Special Summon as many monsters with the same name as the selected card from your Deck as possible, in face-up Attack Position, on your side of the field.]
"By this Trap Card's effect, I Special Summon the other two copies of Yuyu from my Deck onto my field!"
All three Yuyu gathered on the field in an instant, flapping the tiny angel wings behind their tofu-block bodies, struggling to keep pace with the D-Wheels' high speed.
Celestia called out in praise. "You've already got three monsters lined up? How convenient! Not bad, my fiance, even using scrubs, you still look this cool!"
Small-fry Normal Monsters weren't much in combat, but when it came to piling up bodies for a Tribute, they still did the job just fine.
"Wait, that's three monsters lined up already, and Amano Rei hasn't even used his Normal Summon for the turn!" Nanami Misaki said. "Don't tell me, this is only the second turn of the Riding Duel, and he's already going to..."
Even though Amano Rei's opening this time hadn't been the ridiculous run of luck he'd had against Celestia, the sheer strength of this second turn had already far surpassed anything from that duel.
Amano Rei raised his crimson-marked hand high, releasing a bolt of lightning that shot up toward the churning storm clouds overhead.
"I offer up all three copies of Yuyu as Tributes!"
"When chaos thunders across the sky, gather the ancient grimoire bound in chains, and let its power reach the infinite! When good and evil converge, begin the ritual to Summon the judge of hell!"
"Camino Summon!"
"Descend! Slifer the Sky Dragon!"
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [Level 10 / Divine]
[Phantom Divine-Beast / Effect]
[ATK: X000] [DEF: X000]
Only the second turn of the opening, and already that massive, sinuous crimson dragon body surged out of the storm clouds overhead, coiling above the Speed World track.
"My hand right now has 4 cards, so the Sky Dragon's ATK is 4000!"
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: 4000]
Amano Rei swept a hand out toward the face-down Defense Position monster Rin Seiya had set.
"Battle! Slifer the Sky Dragon!"
"Superconducting Wave Thunder Cannon!"
This scene was the complete opposite of that god-versus-god standoff from before, the one so intense it had torn the sky apart.
Standing at the very pinnacle of every duel monster in existence, when one of the three Egyptian Gods went up against an ordinary monster, its attack effects showed off a crushing, one-sided gap in power.
Rin Seiya's face-down Defense Position monster on the track got forcibly flipped open by the blinding lightning.
[Tricycler] [Level 3 / EARTH]
[Machine / Effect]
[ATK: 300] [DEF: 300]
Weren't you the one who said, if only you'd known, you should have attacked Yuyu first? This scrub monster of yours has the exact same ATK as Yuyu does, senpai.
The gap between 300 and 4000 might as well have been an unbridgeable chasm. The mechanical Tricycler was smashed to pieces in the god's thunder.
[Tricycler, destroyed]
"I activate Tricycler's effect!"
Rin Seiya sent the destroyed monster card to the Graveyard, then drew a new card from her Deck.
[When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 "Bicular" from your hand or Deck, in Defense Position.]
"Here it comes, Special Summoned in Defense Position: Bicular!"
[Bicular] [Level 2 / EARTH]
[Machine / Effect]
[ATK: 200] [DEF: 200]
So this was what the older and middle brothers of that Unicycular in his own Deck looked like. Amano Rei was seeing them for the first time today.
"When you Special Summon a monster, Slifer the Sky Dragon's effect activates! Targeting its Summoned form, cut 2000 points off its ATK or DEF, and if that drops it to 0, destroy it outright!"
This was the source of the Sky Dragon's dominance over Synchro Decks. Most of the small monsters a Synchro Deck used to pad out its Levels didn't have high enough stats to survive even a single Thunder Bolt.
Its massive body coiling and hovering above the track, the Sky Dragon opened its second mouth, gathering the thunder of its punishing effect.
"Thunder Bolt, fired!"
[Bicular] [DEF: 200 to 0 (-1800)] Destroyed
One after another, the middle brother too was blown apart into scattered mechanical debris by the god's lightning.
In the VIP seats, the Emperor's brow furrowed slightly. "Summoning the Sky Dragon down to lock the field on turn two already. Looks like this duel's going to be rough going for Rin Seiya."
The Emperor found himself considering the question: if he were the one riding against Amano Rei, and his opponent dropped Slifer the Sky Dragon on the very first move, could he, running a Synchro Deck of his own, actually break through it?
Even he would have to get a god of his own out before Amano Rei did, just to have any chance of contending with it.
At least being able to freely call on one of the three Synchro Gods from his Extra Deck whenever he needed was considerably easier and more convenient than having to draw one of the three Egyptian Gods by pure luck.
"I set 1 last card. Turn end."
Having Summoned the Sky Dragon to lock down the field, Amano Rei slotted one more card into his D-Wheel's Duel Disk and declared his turn over.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: 4000 to 3000]
As the turn passed over, Rin Seiya, still riding at full speed, looked up at the absurdly massive Sky Dragon above her.
"So this is one of the legendary three Egyptian Gods. Facing it head on really is intimidating!"
Rin Seiya rested her pale fingertips on the Deck slot of her D-Wheel's Duel Disk.
"But if I can't beat a god, can I really say I've truly beaten you, underclassman? My turn, draw!"
Speed Counters: 2 to 3
"Here it comes! With 2 or more Speed Counters, Speed Spell - Angel's Scepter, activate! Draw 2 cards from my Deck, then discard Screwturn Hedgehog from my hand!"
Although Rin Seiya had milled a monster into her Graveyard that could leap right back onto the field with a Special Summon, Screwturn Hedgehog itself couldn't survive a Thunder Bolt; it would be destroyed the instant it was Special Summoned.
"Then I'll use this card to lead the charge. I activate the effect of Junk King from my hand!"
[Activate by showing your opponent 1 "Warrior" or "Stardust" Synchro Monster in your Extra Deck. Special Summon this card from your hand. During this turn, you cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck, except Synchro Monsters.]
"I'm showing you Stardust Dragon from my Extra Deck! There, satisfied, underclassman?"
"Yeah, yeah, I saw it."
"Then I'll Special Summon Junk King in Defense Position!"
[Junk King] [Level 4 / EARTH]
[Warrior / Effect]
[ATK: 100] [DEF: 2300]
Looking every bit like some kind of Machine-Type Warrior scrap monster, it spread a pair of steel wings and materialized floating beside Rin Seiya's D-Wheel.
"So when you Special Summon a monster, Thunder Bolt, fired!"
[Junk King] [DEF: 2300 to 300]
"Not bad, that's one shot absorbed. Hang in there, Junk King!"
Rin Seiya sped forward on her D-Wheel, leading her Junk monster right through the thunder.
"When Junk King is Normal or Special Summoned, its effect activates!"
[Activate only when this card is Normal or Special Summoned. Add 1 "Junk" card, other than "Junk King," from your Deck to your hand.]
"I add Junk Synchron from my Deck to my hand, then Normal Summon Junk Synchron in Defense Position!"
Rin Seiya flicked another card sideways down onto her D-Wheel's Monster Zone.
[Junk Synchron] [Level 3 / DARK]
[Warrior / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK: 1300] [DEF: 500]
A small, round orange scrap-bot with short stubby limbs materialized, hovering low beside Rin Seiya's D-Wheel.
Amano Rei said, "Junk King's 2300 DEF was enough to tank a Thunder Bolt, but Junk Synchron won't survive one!"
The third Thunder Bolt of this duel came bombarding down onto Rin Seiya's stretch of track once again.
[Junk Synchron] [DEF: 500 to 0]
But even after the god's thunder swept through and cut its DEF down to a flat 0, Junk Synchron somehow wasn't destroyed.
"Surviving that first shot is all I needed, that's the wish of every small, weak monster gathered here together!"
Rin Seiya chained onto the Sky Dragon's Thunder Bolt effect, flipping up the set card beside her D-Wheel.
"Continuous Trap Card, Strength in Numbers, activate!"
[Strength in Numbers] [Continuous Trap Card: As long as you control 2 or more face-up Defense Position monsters, your Defense Position monsters cannot be targeted by your opponent's effects, and cannot be destroyed by your opponent's effects.]
Since Junk King had already tanked the first Thunder Bolt, by the time Rin Seiya Special Summoned Junk Synchron in Defense Position, there were already 2 Defense Position monsters on her field, satisfying Strength in Numbers's protection. That was why the little scrap-bot hadn't been destroyed.
"How's that for the Sun Squad's tactics? It's finally my turn to open things up, underclassman! Junk Synchron's effect, activate: Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard. I Special Summon Level 2 Bicular in Defense Position!"
Level 2 Bicular, the instant it was Special Summoned, ate a fourth Thunder Bolt, its DEF dropping to 0, but thanks to Strength in Numbers, it still wasn't destroyed.
"Now, the effect of Screwturn Hedgehog in my Graveyard!"
[Activate only during your Main Phase. Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. This effect can only be activated and resolved while you control a Tuner. Except for this effect, if the monster Special Summoned by this effect would leave the field, this card is destroyed instead.]
"Since I have a Tuner monster on my field, I Special Summon Screwturn Hedgehog in Defense Position!"
[Screwturn Hedgehog] [Level 2 / EARTH] [DEF: 800 to 0]
The fifth Thunder Bolt came bombarding down onto Rin Seiya's field, and once again, all it could do was drop the monster's DEF to 0 without actually destroying it.
Now Rin Seiya had 4 monsters gathered on her field, drifting and gathering above the Riding Duel track just like a wish coming together. Most of their stats sat at 0, leaving them with essentially no combat power whatsoever.
"But Synchro Summoning is exactly the fighting style built around gathering up small, weak monsters, and it can carry you all the way to a god's own level!"
"A god's own level, huh." Amano Rei looked over Rin Seiya's board.
The combined Levels of the monsters his senpai had gathered on her field this turn had already clearly passed 10. If she used all of them as material for a Synchro Summon, the resulting Synchro Monster's effect would actually be able to reach a god.
Rin Seiya glanced at her hand, then made up her mind.
"Since they've all gathered here, then let's Synchro all of them together! I activate Junk King's effect, lowering its own Level to 3, then Synchro Summon using all 4 monsters on my field!"
On Rin Seiya's field, Junk Synchron burst apart into a triple ring of Synchro light, passing through the bodies of the remaining three monsters.
"I'm tuning Level 2 Screwturn Hedgehog, Level 2 Bicular, Level 3 Junk King, and Level 3 Tuner Junk Synchron!"
2 plus 2 plus 3 plus 3 equals 10!
A Level 10 Synchro Summon, the exact same Level as a god. In that instant, the Speed World track along Rin Seiya's path erupted with Synchro starlight.
"Gathered stars shall awaken a newborn power. Become a road shining with light!"
"The hour of revolution is here! Victory is already in my hands!"
"Synchro Summon! Bloom! Baroness de Fleur!"
[Baroness de Fleur] [Level 10 / WIND]
[Warrior / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 3000] [DEF: 2400]
[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters]
Riding a noble white horse out of a burst of blooming Synchro effects, the Level 10 Baroness de Fleur galloped alongside Rin Seiya's D-Wheel.
Having landed her Synchro Summon, Rin Seiya crowed with excitement. "What do you think of this card? This is Sherry's evolved trump card!"
"Can't believe you actually got your hands on that one, senpai."
Within the Synchro system, this Baroness de Fleur was nothing to sneeze at, its Level had even reached 10, high enough to actually reach a god.
"So now it's your turn, underclassman! Slifer the Sky Dragon's Thunder Bolt effect has to activate, doesn't it!"
So Rin Seiya had seen through it too, that the Thunder Bolt effect was a mandatory trigger, forced to activate.
The sixth Thunder Bolt burst out from the Sky Dragon's second mouth, bombarding down toward the galloping Baroness de Fleur.
"I've been waiting for exactly this effect! When a god's effect is forced to activate, Baroness de Fleur's own effect activates too!"
[Once while this card is face-up on the field, you can only activate this once. Activate when a Spell, Trap, or monster effect is about to activate. Negate that activation and destroy it.]
"I'm not letting you cut into my Blue-Eyes White Dragon-tier ATK!"
Galloping along on her white horse, Baroness de Fleur raised the ornate noble shield in her hand toward the incoming Thunder Bolt.
"Since Baroness de Fleur's Level matches a god's own, both sitting at 10, negate and destroy the Sky Dragon's effect!"
"Flower Nocturne!"
The instant the shield collided with the Thunder Bolt, a whirlwind of flower petals surged out from behind it, riding the very path of the thunder back up, reflecting and swallowing the Sky Dragon looming above.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, destroyed]
"Taking down a god with a Synchro Monster?" Celestia said, shocked. "That white-haired girl, turns out she's more than just some ordinary student after all."
Synchro Summoning was easily suppressed by the Sky Dragon's Thunder Bolt effect, sure, but if you could weather the lockdown, stacking up Levels through Synchro was also the easiest way to reach that same Level 10 a god sat at.
Just like Rin Seiya's stretch of the Riding Duel track right now: having weathered the storm of thunder, nothing but flowers lay ahead.
"I activate Baroness de Fleur's effect again!"
[Once per turn, activate by targeting 1 card on the field. Destroy that card.]
"I'm destroying your set card!"
Galloping her D-Wheel forward toward Amano Rei, Baroness de Fleur swung the silver longsword in her hand down at the card set beside his D-Wheel.
But an instant before the blade could reach the card, Amano Rei flipped it up first, and a surge of thunder rising up from his Graveyard forced Baroness de Fleur back.
"Trap Card, Return to the Front, activate!"
[Return to the Front] [Trap Card: Activate by targeting 1 monster in your Graveyard. Special Summon that monster in Defense Position.]
"I Special Summon Slifer the Sky Dragon back onto my field in Defense Position!"
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [DEF: 3000]
The 3 cards currently in Amano Rei's hand happened to give him exactly 3000 points of defense, matching Baroness de Fleur's own 3000 ATK almost perfectly, leaving Rin Seiya unable to punch straight through.
"Ugh, what a stubborn god!"
Rin Seiya pulled two cards from her D-Wheel's card slot and flung them down into her back row.
"I set 2 more cards. Turn end!"
"My turn, draw!" The turn passed over, and Amano Rei drew his card.
Speed Counters: 3 to 4
"Since my hand's back up to 4 cards, Slifer the Sky Dragon's ATK rises back up to 4000!"
Just from drawing a single card, his ATK had effortlessly overtaken Baroness de Fleur's own. That was the real strength of Slifer the Sky Dragon.
The drawback, though, was that he couldn't freely use other cards, or his hand size would shrink, and then his ATK would end up falling behind hers instead.
But there was one card he could activate without a second thought, and as it happened, it was exactly the card Amano Rei had drawn this turn.
"I remove 2 Speed Counters to activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 4 to 2
Baroness de Fleur's negation effect could only be used once while face-up, so there was no way for her to negate Amano Rei's Pot of Greed a second time.
Smashing a Professor Chronos down onto the New Speed World track, Amano Rei's hand successfully swelled to 5 cards.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: 3000 to 5000]
"Managing to Synchro out a Baroness de Fleur in the face of the Sky Dragon, you really are something else, senpai. But how are you going to handle this now?"
Amano Rei switched the Sky Dragon from Defense Position into Attack Position, and as the massive god's earsplitting roar thundered overhead, he accelerated straight into this turn's Battle Phase.
"Attacking with the 5000-ATK Sky Dragon, targeting Baroness de Fleur!"
"Go! Superconducting Wave Thunder Cannon!"
This time it wasn't the Thunder Bolt effect, but a genuine, solid ATK attack, bearing straight down on Rin Seiya's Synchro Monster.
"Good thing I planned ahead for this. There's no letting my guard down in a duel against you, underclassman!"
Rin Seiya raised her arm, and just before the superconducting wave detonated against Baroness de Fleur, she flipped up the set card beside her galloping white horse.
"Trap Card, Synchro Onslaught, activate!"
[Synchro Onslaught] [Trap Card: 1 Synchro Summoned monster's ATK increases, until the End Phase, by 500 points for each monster used as Synchro Material for it.]
In that instant, the ghostly forms of the Synchro Materials appeared behind Baroness de Fleur, the same 4 monsters that had gone into her Synchro Summon.
"This is the fighting style of Synchro, gathering up hope itself! Because I used 4 Synchro Materials for this Synchro Summon, Baroness de Fleur's ATK rises by 2000!"
[Baroness de Fleur] [ATK: 3000 to 5000]
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: 5000]
Only now did Amano Rei understand why Rin Seiya had specifically insisted on Synchro Summoning with all 4 monsters, why she'd kept talking about gathering hope the whole time.
Gathered from the will of ordinary monsters, forged into a blade sharp enough to slay a god!
Baroness de Fleur, now at 5000 ATK, charged forward on her galloping steed, sword raised, and clashed head-on with the Sky Dragon looming above the track, the collision erupting into a storm of flower petals and thunder that swept across the entire Riding Duel arena, leaving the whole crowd unable to look away.
[Baroness de Fleur, destroyed]
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, destroyed]
If you're enjoying the story, toss a Power Stone or drop a review — it helps more than you'd think.
Advance chapters → patreon.com/Eatinpieces