Chapter 307: Limit Over Accel! Souls Colliding
Duel Chronicle: 5D's, Limit Over Accel Synchro, the Hope Gathered Here
Difficulty Rating: SS+
Possible cards obtainable: Stardust Dragon, Shooting Quasar Dragon, Timelord, Gathered Prayers
This particular Duel Chronicle followed the storyline of the final episodes of the 5D's anime that had always been missing from Rin Seiya's own collection.
Strangely enough, even though this Chronicle's standard difficulty rating was SS-plus, when Rin Seiya met Z-one inside it, the two of them didn't actually duel each other.
Instead, it felt more like Z-one was simply keeping her company while she watched the show, filling in the ending of 5D's for her through a third-person holographic projection.
When she watched Yusei Fudo break through the limit with Accel Synchro and bring out Shooting Quasar Dragon, Rin Seiya's whole body trembled with excitement.
But the story that followed left her feeling something far more complicated, or maybe, more precisely, it left her heart aching.
Watching the scene where Z-one was finally defeated, Rin Seiya didn't feel the excitement she'd expected to finally see the ending play out, and she didn't immediately cheer for Yusei Fudo's victory either.
"So, Mr. Z-one, did you lose back then?"
Z-one only smiled and shook his head. "There were no losers in that duel. Yusei Fudo won the duel itself. And I won the chance to see humanity's future clearly again."
"My underclassman told me before that you're a good person, Mr. Z-one. Someone who carried the burden of humanity's survival and walked forward alone."
"Oh, so that's how that Amano Rei kid described me." In this moment, Z-one's smile lost the warm, grandfatherly gentleness he'd shown Rin Seiya this whole time, replaced instead with something carrying a touch more of a knowing, sharper edge.
Then Z-one's smile settled back into place, and he turned to look at Rin Seiya again.
"Limit Over Accel Synchro is a technique Yusei Fudo spent his whole life refining, and it's the key to Synchro saving the future, so it isn't something easily reached. But even without reaching the true state of breaking that limit, Shooting Quasar Dragon can still be Summoned. Take this power with you, Seiya."
"Take it? You mean let me have Shooting Quasar Dragon?"
"Mm. That was always the power Yusei Fudo left behind for the future of Synchro Summoning. Grow through your future duels, and sooner or later, you'll reach that same state yourself, Seiya."
"Then I won't hold back, Mr. Z-one! I have to, right away..."
* * *
"Limit Over Accel Synchro! Light of Evolution! Shooting Quasar Dragon!"
[Shooting Quasar Dragon] [Level 12 / LIGHT]
[Dragon / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 4000] [DEF: 4000]
[1 Synchro Tuner monster + 2 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters]
A Synchro Summon completed using three Synchro Monsters together, and also the very first time Rin Seiya had successfully Summoned Shooting Quasar Dragon since obtaining it.
Synchro light bursting through the sky itself, like a dazzling quasar falling from the heavens, and Shooting Quasar Dragon, its body unimaginably massive, truly descended onto the Speed World track in this moment.
"Another Level 12 Synchro Monster!"
"Higher Level than the god card itself!"
"4000 ATK, same as True Crimson Nova Dragon!"
"So cool, Limit Over Accel Synchro!"
The surrounding crowd cheered as one.
The clash between the demon dragon's flame and the evolutionary light of Stardust once again split the Speed World sky in two, the dazzling special effects losing nothing to the earlier clash between the Egyptian Gods.
"I did it!" A triumphant grin spread across Rin Seiya's face, the exact same expression Yusei Fudo had worn when he'd pulled off his own narration-worthy victory at the story's climax.
Of course, even though she was shouting "Limit Over Accel Synchro," Rin Seiya knew in her heart that the Shooting Quasar Dragon she'd just Synchro Summoned still fell well short of Yusei Fudo's own.
Her Shooting Quasar Dragon, built using only three Synchro Materials, was qualitatively different from Yusei Fudo's version, built using five.
But even so, this was the absolute peak Rin Seiya herself could currently reach.
Rin Seiya said, "Let's settle this with the strongest dragon I've got right now!"
Amano Rei said, "But Shooting Quasar Dragon's ATK is exactly the same as True Crimson Nova Dragon's!"
Both sitting at that colossal 4000-point level.
"Then I'll gamble everything on the speed I've built up too. I activate the effect of New Speed World 2, removing 7 Speed Counters to draw 1 card from my Deck!"
Rin Seiya: 9 to 2
Channeling the wind of limit-breaking speed into her D-Wheel's Deck, Rin Seiya's fingertips swept across it, tracing a trail of starlight.
"Here it comes. Speed Spell - Swift Strike Wings, activate. Permanently raise the ATK of 1 monster on my field, the amount equal to 200 points for every Speed Counter I have!"
Such a familiar sequence of events. All the way back at the very start of this Riding Duel, Rin Seiya had used those exact few hundred points of ATK boost to let Shooting Star Dragon tear through Amano Rei's defenses.
And now, the monster tearing through the crimson lotus flame was no longer Shooting Star Dragon, but Shooting Quasar Dragon.
[Shooting Quasar Dragon] [ATK: 4000 to 4400]
"With this, my ATK is higher now!"
Rin Seiya raised her arm, pointing toward the dazzling Shooting Quasar Dragon overhead, accelerating her D-Wheel straight into this turn's Battle Phase.
"Go, Shooting Quasar Dragon!"
"Use Creation Strike of Heaven and Earth on True Crimson Nova Dragon!"
Amano Rei raised his own arm, activating the wall of crimson lotus flame. "True Crimson Nova Dragon can banish itself during my opponent's turn to negate 1 attack from an opposing monster!"
Rin Seiya chained by flipping up her set card. "I'm not letting you escape! Counter Trap Card, Divine Wrath, activate!"
[Divine Wrath] [Counter Trap Card: Activate by discarding 1 card from your hand. Negate the activation of an Effect Monster's effect, and destroy it.]
Like a high-speed celestial body streaking across the cosmos, Shooting Quasar Dragon, wings beating as it flew, forcibly dragged True Crimson Nova Dragon back into place in the lightning of Divine Wrath just as it tried to banish itself and escape.
Amano Rei called out, "True Crimson Nova Dragon can't be destroyed by effects!"
Divine Wrath's effect was to negate the activation and destroy the target; against True Crimson Nova Dragon, which couldn't be destroyed by effects, all it could accomplish was negating the activation.
Rin Seiya kept the battle going. "Since you're being forced to stay on the field, then you're taking Shooting Quasar Dragon's attack!"
Gathering together the most brilliant light of hope there was, a barrage of stars burst from Shooting Quasar Dragon's mouth, bright enough to dim an entire galaxy, and detonated against True Crimson Nova Dragon.
"Creation Strike of Heaven and Earth, Burst of Creation!"
[True Crimson Nova Dragon, destroyed]
Amano Rei LP: 3500 to 3100
"The battle isn't over yet. Shooting Quasar Dragon's effect!"
[This card can attack a number of times during the same Battle Phase, up to the number of non-Tuner monsters used as its Synchro Material.]
"Since I used two Synchro Materials besides the Tuner, Shooting Quasar Dragon can attack twice this same turn!"
"Take this, underclassman! Second strike, Creation Strike of Heaven and Earth, Burst of Creation!"
A second consecutive attack at that colossal, god-tier ATK level, locking onto Amano Rei, who had no monster left on his field.
"Trap Card, Gate of Counterattack, activate!"
"No use! Shooting Quasar Dragon's effect, activate!"
[Once per turn, activate when a Spell, Trap, or monster effect is about to activate. Negate that activation and destroy it.]
Its innate once-per-turn negation effect kicked in, negating the Trap Card Amano Rei had tried to use to stop the direct attack.
[Gate of Counterattack, negated and destroyed]
Even so, Amano Rei still had two set cards left beside his D-Wheel; at the very least, he still had some way to save himself.
"Trap Card, King's Soul Harmony, activate!"
[King's Soul Harmony] [Trap Card: Activate when your opponent declares a direct attack. Negate that attack. After that, you can apply the following effect. Banish any number of monsters from your Graveyard, choosing 1 Tuner and any number of non-Tuners, with combined Levels up to 8 or less, then Special Summon 1 Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck with a Level equal to the combined Levels of the banished monsters, treating it as a Synchro Summon.]
"I negate your second attack, then perform a KING Synchro Summon!"
Blocking out the light of the Creation Strike, Amano Rei immediately banished the Synchro Material monsters in his Graveyard.
"I banish Level 3 Tuner Nova Junk Synchron, Level 1 Yuyu, and Level 4 One Drawn In by the Star Chalice, King's Soul Harmony!"
3 plus 1 plus 4 equals 8!
"Tear through the pitch black darkness, and burn heaven and earth to ash, o solitary, absolute sovereign! Tremble beneath the might that looks down on all creation!"
"Synchro Summon! Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon!"
[Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon] [Level 8 / DARK]
[Dragon / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 3000] [DEF: 2500]
[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters]
The manga's Tamashii monster, matching "Red Dragon Archfiend" in status for Jack Atlas, Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon burst out of King's Soul Harmony's flames, spreading its crimson demon wings and taking flight above Amano Rei's D-Wheel.
Rin Seiya looked over at the crimson lotus flame reignited on Amano Rei's field with obvious regret in her eyes.
Her own Shooting Quasar Dragon couldn't attack again this turn.
If her own Limit Over Accel Synchro had actually reached the level of Yusei Fudo's five-material Shooting Quasar Dragon, two more attacks might have already sealed her victory in this duel.
But this was fine too. Amano Rei had Summoned a new crimson dragon, and the soul-colliding duel wasn't over yet.
Rin Seiya looked at the last card left in her hand, the grin she couldn't suppress curling even further at the corners of her mouth. "I set my last card. Turn end!"
At this point, Rin Seiya still had 3 set cards, while Amano Rei had 1 unused set card remaining.
"My turn, draw!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 3 to 4
Rin Seiya - Speed Counters: 2 to 3
With Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon on Amano Rei's field, Rin Seiya couldn't freely give up Shooting Quasar Dragon's negation effect either; she had to hold onto it as a safeguard against Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon.
[Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon] [Once per turn, activate only during your own Main Phase 1. Destroy every Attack Position monster on the field other than this card. During the turn this effect is activated, no monster other than this card can attack.]
Unlike Right Crimson Mark, which could only destroy monsters with lower ATK than itself, Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon could destroy any Attack Position monster regardless of ATK. The drawback was that it couldn't deal damage that turn, and it restricted its own attacks as well.
"I remove 2 Speed Counters, activating the Spell Card Magic Fitting Room!"
[Magic Fitting Room] [Spell Card: Pay 800 Life Points. Flip the top 4 cards of your Deck face-up. Among them, Special Summon any Level 3 or lower Normal Monsters. Return the rest to the Deck and shuffle.]
Amano Rei LP: 3100 to 2300
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 4 to 2
Paying the double cost of Speed Counters and Life Points, Amano Rei flipped the top 4 cards of his D-Wheel's Deck face-up.
[Cosmic Compelled Rabbit]
[Slifer the Sky Dragon]
[Flamvell Guard]
[Wicked God - Avatar of the God]
Both gods flashed by in that instant, almost as if they were stopping by specifically to tell Amano Rei: the two of us are just here to watch the show this time, keep the fight going with Synchro Summons.
Since aside from the two gods, the other two flipped cards were both Level 1 Normal Tuner monsters.
"By Magic Fitting Room's effect, I Special Summon Cosmic Compelled Rabbit and Flamvell Guard onto my field!"
[Cosmic Compelled Rabbit] [Level 1 / LIGHT] [Spellcaster / Tuner]
[Flamvell Guard] [Level 1 / FIRE] [Dragon / Tuner]
Having Summoned 2 Tuner monsters onto his field, Amano Rei then flung a monster from his hand down onto his D-Wheel Duel Disk.
"I also Normal Summon Shiranui Spectralsword in Defense Position!"
[Shiranui Spectralsword] [Level 2 / FIRE] [Zombie / Tuner]
"3 Tuner monsters?" Rin Seiya raised an eyebrow.
Under normal circumstances, a Synchro Summon should only need, or rather, should only allow the use of, a single Tuner monster.
But there were exceptions to that rule, and Jack Atlas's multi-Synchro was one of them.
Rin Seiya had already seen Amano Rei pull off both double and quadruple Synchros before this.
And now, on top of Flare Dragon, Amano Rei had gathered 3 Tuner monsters on his field.
Amano Rei raised a single finger, pointing skyward. "This is the final piece of KING's multi-Synchro puzzle!"
Don't forget, in the story of 5D's, Amano Rei also carried the title of KING himself!
"I tune Level 1 Tuner Cosmic Compelled Rabbit, Level 1 Tuner Flamvell Guard, Level 2 Tuner Shiranui Spectralsword, and Level 8 Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon, all together!"
The three Tuner monsters racing along Amano Rei's stretch of track burst instantly into rings of Synchro fire in different colors, passing through Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon's body.
The birth of this new crimson dragon made the Dragon Mark on Amano Rei's left wrist burn even brighter.
"Welcome the three sages of the king, let the dragon's star endure forever, and annihilate the foolish!"
"With this raging, burning soul, carve the moment heaven and earth were created!"
"Triple-tuned Synchro! Descend once more upon this earth, Level 12, True Crimson Supernova Dragon!"
[True Crimson Supernova Dragon] [Level 12 / DARK]
[Dragon / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 4000] [DEF: 3000]
[3 Tuners + 1 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters]
Descending in a violent burst from the triple Synchro, sharing the same Level 12 as True Crimson Nova Dragon but with even higher ATK, its demon-dragon wings nearly bursting past the borders of the card itself, wreathed in blazing crimson fire as it soared through the sky.
"True Crimson Supernova Dragon's ATK also rises by 500 for every Tuner monster in my Graveyard!"
Even though Nova Junk Synchron had just been banished by King's Soul Harmony, thanks to the triple-tuning, Amano Rei's Graveyard now held 3 more Tuner monsters.
[True Crimson Supernova Dragon] [ATK: 4000 to 5500]
"Amazing, Amano!" Watching her own Tuner sword being put to use, Nanki'in Sakuya, her cool expression unchanged, betrayed her excitement only through a bouncing knee. "Managing to overtake the ATK in a situation like that!"
Rin Seiya said, surprised, "5500 ATK? That's higher than Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon Synchro!"
Shooting Quasar Dragon currently sat at 4400 ATK, 100 points below Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon Synchro, or Rin Seiya would already be bringing that ultimate dragon up for comparison.
"Battle, True Crimson Supernova Dragon!"
"Super Burning Soul!"
Its massive crimson dragon body wrapped in the raging fire of a burning soul, True Crimson Supernova Dragon charged furiously at Shooting Quasar Dragon, glowing with the light of gathered stars in the sky above Rin Seiya's field.
Once the Damage Step began, True Crimson Supernova Dragon's own banishing effect could no longer be activated; it would have to force its way through on raw ATK alone.
And Rin Seiya, it seemed, had already been waiting for exactly this moment, the Damage Step, or rather, she'd been waiting for this exact moment for a very long time before this.
"I've waited so long for this moment, underclassman! Ever since the very first time I met you, I've been looking forward to this without a single break!"
Rin Seiya's fingers trembled with excitement as she flipped up the set card beside her D-Wheel.
"I remove 2 Speed Counters to activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Souls Colliding!"
Rin Seiya - Speed Counters: 3 to 1
"This card is..."
There was no way Amano Rei could ever forget this card.
The morning after he'd first met the girl named Rin Seiya, after she'd inexplicably added him on VSN, she'd sent him a photo of this exact card's artwork over a VSN message.
Back then, Amano Rei had been completely baffled by the whole thing.
Now, Amano Rei fully understood the meaning behind that card.
"Then let's collide. Let our souls burn to the very limit!"
[Souls Colliding] [Quick-Play Spell Card: Activate during the damage calculation of a battle between your Attack Position monster and an opponent's Attack Position monster that has higher ATK than it. The controller of the monster with lower ATK among the battling monsters can pay 500 Life Points to raise that monster's ATK by 500, but only during damage calculation. After that, repeat this effect until both players decline to pay Life Points. Battle damage from that battle becomes 0 for both players. After damage calculation, if a monster is destroyed by that battle, all cards on that player's field are sent to the Graveyard.]
"I pay 500 Life Points 3 times, raising Shooting Quasar Dragon's ATK by 1500!"
Rin Seiya LP: 4000 to 3500 to 3000 to 2500
[Shooting Quasar Dragon] [ATK: 4400 to 5900]
"My turn!" Amano Rei pointed up at True Crimson Supernova Dragon, still locked in battle overhead.
"Since my ATK is lower right now, I'll pay 500 Life Points too, raising True Crimson Supernova Dragon's ATK by 500!"
Amano Rei LP: 2300 to 1800
[True Crimson Supernova Dragon] [ATK: 5500 to 6000]
Rin Seiya: "Pay 500! Raise Shooting Quasar Dragon's ATK again!"
Amano Rei: "Pay 500! Raise True Crimson Supernova Dragon's ATK again!"
In the intense battle unfolding above the Speed World track, the surrounding crowd watched the two Synchro dragons above growing more and more ferocious with every exchange, and the two riders below carrying out this absurd form of combat.
"Wh... what kind of duel is this?"
"This is way too much soul!"
"I think I'm getting fired up too!"
"This is what a real, honest-to-goodness fight looks like, wagering your Life Points and colliding your souls together!"
Amano Rei LP: 1800 to 1300 to 800 to 300
Rin Seiya LP: 2500 to 2000 to 1500 to 1000 to 500
Both sides paid their Life Points down to the absolute limit, wringing out every last drop of soul they had left to give.
[True Crimson Supernova Dragon] [ATK: 6000 to 6500 to 7000 to 7500]
[Shooting Quasar Dragon] [ATK: 5900 to 6400 to 6900 to 7400 to 7900]
In the end, thanks to her own advantage in Life Points, Rin Seiya managed to keep Shooting Quasar Dragon's ATK ahead in the exchange.
"I win this, Amano underclassman!"
"Not so fast!" Even knowing full well he was outmatched, Amano Rei, who had willingly locked himself down to a sliver of Life Points, flipped up the last card in his back row.
"Trap Card, Burning Fighting Spirit, activate!"
[Burning Fighting Spirit] [Trap Card: After activation, this card becomes an Equip Card, equipped to 1 face-up monster you control. As long as a monster with higher ATK than the equipped monster's original ATK exists on your opponent's field, the equipped monster's ATK becomes double its original ATK during the Damage Step.]
Amano Rei had used this exact card once before, back when he'd been dueling the Pharaoh, to block a lethal blow from Mahad. Back then, the monster whose ATK had been doubled, Elemental HERO Neos Kluger, had only gone from 1000 to 2000.
"By Burning Fighting Spirit's effect, True Crimson Supernova Dragon's ATK becomes double its original ATK!"
This card's effect doubled the monster's original ATK, so it wouldn't factor in any of the later ATK-boosting effects stacked on top; it overwrote them entirely.
Even without factoring in any of those effect bonuses, True Crimson Supernova Dragon's original ATK was already a full 4000 points, an entirely different league from Neos Kluger.
"Doubling True Crimson Supernova Dragon's ATK to 8000!"
Shooting Quasar Dragon, its soul burned to the absolute limit, sat at 7900 ATK, exactly 100 points short.
"You're not getting past everything I've wagered, all my soul, with a trick like that!" Rin Seiya raised a hand toward the sky. "Shooting Quasar Dragon's effect, activate!"
[Once per turn, activate when a Spell, Trap, or monster effect is about to activate. Negate that activation and destroy it.]
Unlike True Crimson Supernova Dragon, which couldn't activate its banishing effect during the Damage Step, Shooting Quasar Dragon's innate negation effect could be activated during the Damage Step.
[Burning Fighting Spirit, negated and destroyed]
The doubled, burning flame of fighting spirit was swallowed up by the light of gathered stars. The final ATK values of both monsters in this fierce exchange still stood exactly as Souls Colliding had calculated them.
"Creation Strike of Heaven and Earth, Burst of Creation!"
The light of gathered stars from Shooting Quasar Dragon struck down the super-burning soul, and Rin Seiya, who had waited her whole life for this moment, finally claimed victory in this soul-colliding battle.
[True Crimson Supernova Dragon, destroyed]
After Souls Colliding resolved, neither side would take battle damage, but whichever side had a monster destroyed had to send every card on their field to the Graveyard.
Of course, with True Crimson Supernova Dragon destroyed, Amano Rei had no other cards left on his field to send to the Graveyard anyway.
"I win this, Jack!"
Had she gotten so worked up that she'd even swapped which name she was using?
"But the battle isn't over yet, Yusei!"
Amano Rei raised the card in his hand high. The Battle Phase might have ended, but this fight was far from truly over.
Crimson flame spread once more across the Speed World track, but unlike the demon-dragon fire that had just been extinguished, this one came from the dignified roar of an eastern crimson dragon.
"You already activated your effect this turn, Shooting Quasar Dragon!" Amano Rei flung a card down onto his Duel Disk. "Cut it down, Kurikara Divincarnate!"
A massive black iron sword fell from beyond the sky, and a bare-footed, pink-haired girl wreathed in flame, under the shocked, wide-eyed gazes of everyone watching, cleaved Shooting Quasar Dragon clean in half at the waist, mere seconds after it had claimed its soul-colliding victory.
[Shooting Quasar Dragon, released]
The change came so suddenly that the crowd around them, even Rin Seiya herself, hadn't even had time to process it.
A Level 12, limit-breaking ace Synchro Monster, gone just like that.
[Kurikara Divincarnate] [Level 1 / FIRE]
[Fairy / Effect]
[ATK: 1500] [DEF: 1500]
[This card cannot be Normal Summoned. It can only be Special Summoned by Tributing every face-up Attack Position monster on the field, yours or your opponent's, that activated an effect this turn in your opponent's Monster Zone.]
Tendou gripped the massive black iron sword, several times larger than her own petite frame, with one slender hand, descending to hover floating beside Amano Rei's D-Wheel.
"Kurikara Divincarnate's ATK rises by 1500 for each Tributed monster!"
[Kurikara Divincarnate] [ATK: 1500 to 3000]
"3000 ATK... no, that's not the point right now!" Rin Seiya shook her head hard, resetting her stance. "When it leaves the field, Shooting Quasar Dragon's final effect activates!"
[Activate when this face-up card leaves the field. Special Summon 1 "Shooting Star Dragon" from your Extra Deck.]
"Gathered crystals of dreams shall open a brand-new gate of evolution! Become a road shining with light!"
"Descend, Shooting Star Dragon!"
[Shooting Star Dragon] [Level 10 / WIND]
[Dragon / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 3300] [DEF: 2500]
As Yusei Fudo's strongest Synchro ace, even losing the field, Shooting Quasar Dragon could still directly Special Summon its own second ace card, Shooting Star Dragon.
Amano Rei set his final card. "I set my last card. Turn end! And during the End Phase, I activate Kurikara Divincarnate's effect!"
[During your End Phase, activate by targeting 1 monster in your opponent's Graveyard. Special Summon that monster to your field.]
If he could, Amano Rei obviously would have preferred to revive Shooting Quasar Dragon, but that wasn't possible; Shooting Quasar Dragon could only be Special Summoned through a Synchro Summon.
But right now, there was another perfectly good target for revival sitting in Rin Seiya's Graveyard.
"I Special Summon Baroness de Fleur from your Graveyard onto my field, in Defense Position!"
[Baroness de Fleur] [DEF: 2400]
The Synchro Monster that had traded blows with the Sky Dragon at the very start of the duel, Baroness de Fleur, revived, galloped along beside Amano Rei's D-Wheel.
With this, Amano Rei now had one more use of Baroness de Fleur's own once-per-turn negation available to him.
"My turn, draw!"
Rin Seiya - Speed Counters: 1 to 2
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 2 to 3
Starting her turn, Rin Seiya, without a shred of hesitation, activated Shooting Star Dragon's effect immediately.
[Once per turn, you can activate this effect. Excavate the top 5 cards of your Deck, then return them to the Deck. This card can attack a number of times this turn equal to the number of Tuner monsters excavated this way.]
With only 300 Life Points remaining, there was no way Amano Rei could Special Summon any monster in Attack Position before the End Phase; both Tendou and Baroness de Fleur were sitting in Defense Position.
So for Shooting Star Dragon to actually deal damage to Amano Rei, it would need to excavate at least 3 Tuner monsters.
For someone with the kind of luck that let Rin Seiya casually pull off five consecutive hits without breaking a sweat, this hardly even registered as a real gamble, and Amano Rei naturally wasn't willing to bet on it either.
"When you activate that effect, Baroness de Fleur's effect activates too! Negating and destroying the activation of Shooting Star Dragon's effect!"
Amano Rei handed over his one and only negation for the turn, and Baroness de Fleur, leaping forward on her galloping steed, swung her sword and struck the shooting star down, cutting it out of the sky.
[Shooting Star Dragon, negated and destroyed]
Rin Seiya looked up, watching the trail of shooting star light dissipate above her, her star-shaped pupils seeming, for just an instant, to reflect back every single star gathered from this entire battle.
"Finally, they're all gathered."
"Gathered?"
"All the hope from this entire fight, right up to now!"
Rin Seiya flipped up the card that had been sitting set beside her D-Wheel for so long now, the one she'd searched from her Deck earlier using Stardust Synchron's effect, a card that specifically listed "Stardust Dragon" by name.
"Trap Card, Gathered Prayers, activate!"
[Gathered Prayers] [Trap Card: (1) Activate only if you control 5 or more different types of Dragon-Type Synchro Monsters in your Graveyard. Special Summon 1 "Stardust Dragon" from your Extra Deck as if it had been Synchro Summoned, and equip this card to it. The monster Special Summoned by this effect is banished during the End Phase.]
"This is the true final blow, and the strongest one too, underclassman!"
Right now, Rin Seiya's Graveyard held five different types of Dragon-Type Synchro Monsters: Stardust Dragon, Shooting Star Dragon, Shooting Star Dragon (the original from her opening hand), Shooting Star Dragon Tech Genus Overdrive, and Shooting Quasar Dragon, satisfying Gathered Prayers's activation condition.
"Gathered prayers shall become a newborn shining star! Become a road shining with light!"
"Synchro Summon! Descend, carrying every hope with you! Stardust Dragon!"
[Stardust Dragon] [Level 8 / WIND]
[Dragon / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 2500] [DEF: 2000]
A second Stardust Dragon, descending along a trail of starlight woven from gathered prayers, took flight into the sky above the Speed World track.
Rin Seiya had obtained her second Stardust Dragon from a Duel Chronicle.
One was Z-one's Stardust Dragon; the other was Yusei Fudo's. Two threads of hope, following different paths across different timelines, converging here in Eden, three thousand years later.
The Stardust Dragon born from this gathering of prayers, drawing together the most brilliant, radiant stars the universe had to offer, shone with the most dazzling starlight it had ever produced.
Bathed in the most radiant starlight of the whole duel, Rin Seiya pointed a single hand up at the dragon of gathered stars overhead.
"This is Gathered Prayers's effect!"
[(2) The equipped monster's ATK increases by the total ATK of all Dragon-Type Synchro Monsters in your Graveyard.]
Stardust Dragon 2500 plus Shooting Star Dragon 2500 plus Shooting Star Dragon 3300 plus Shooting Star Dragon Tech Genus Overdrive 3300 plus Shooting Quasar Dragon 4000 equals 15600!
"Gathering the light of every star from this entire battle, I raise Stardust Dragon's ATK by 15600!"
[Stardust Dragon] [ATK: 2500 to 18100]
Having drawn together the light of every star, Stardust Dragon's silver-gleaming body had grown large enough to blot out the sky, transforming the clear blue daylight above them into a breathtaking canvas of starry night.
"Battle, strongest Stardust Dragon!"
The strongest Stardust Dragon unleashed a blow radiant enough to light up even the depths of the cosmos, detonating against Kurikara Divincarnate in Defense Position, finally paying back the debt from that sword strike that had cut down Shooting Quasar Dragon.
[Kurikara Divincarnate, destroyed]
"It's still not over. Gathered Prayers's effect, activate!"
[Each time the equipped monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can activate this effect by banishing 1 Dragon-Type Synchro Monster from your Graveyard. The equipped monster can continue to attack.]
"I banish Shooting Star Dragon from my Graveyard, and keep attacking!"
[Shooting Star Dragon, banished]
[Stardust Dragon] [ATK: 18100 to 15600]
Banishing a Dragon-Type Synchro Monster from the Graveyard lowered the ATK, but in exchange, it bought another attack.
Right now, Amano Rei only had Baroness de Fleur left on his field, and Rin Seiya's Graveyard still had 4 Dragon-Type Synchro Monsters left to keep the attacks coming.
Amano Rei flipped up his last remaining set card. "Trap Card, Synchro Barrier, activate! I release the Synchro Monster on my field to become immune to all damage for 2 turns!"
[Baroness de Fleur, released]
Amano Rei had willingly released Baroness de Fleur, gaining two turns of complete immunity to damage.
By this point, Amano Rei was, frankly, completely out of ammunition. No cards in hand, no set cards, no monsters, a genuine, total blank slate.
But as long as he could survive this one turn, Stardust Dragon would end up banished during the End Phase because of Gathered Prayers's own effect, and that would be his chance to turn the tables.
"You really are amazing, underclassman! Way more impressive than you were in our very first Riding Duel! At this terrifying rate of growth, someday you'll leave everyone else in the dust. But not today!"
Rin Seiya flung her last remaining hand card down.
"I'll hold onto this hope! Speed Spell - Iron Wall Track, remove 2 Speed Counters, and until the end of my next turn, neither player can banish monsters on the field!"
Lasting until the end of Rin Seiya's next turn, neither side would be able to banish cards on the field. Which meant, when this turn ended, Stardust Dragon naturally wouldn't be banished by Gathered Prayers's side effect either.
"My turn end!"
"Wait, wait, wait, is that white-haired girl actually about to win?!" Celestia said, unable to believe it.
Before this, as a professional duelist herself, she never would have imagined that a mere academy student could get this strong, strong enough to trade a mutual kill with a god card and still drag Amano Rei into a grueling, desperate battle afterward.
The turn passed over. Amano Rei had only one last draw left, while Rin Seiya's field still held the strongest Stardust Dragon, immune to banishment, sitting at 15600 ATK.
"My turn, draw!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 3 to 4
The two D-Wheels raced side by side beneath the glow of the starlight.
Without a single opening, Rin Seiya flipped up her set card. "Continuous Trap Card, Dimensional Guardian, activate! Targeting Stardust Dragon, as long as this card remains on the field, Stardust Dragon cannot be destroyed by battle or by card effects!"
On top of being immune to banishment, Stardust Dragon was now immune to destruction by battle and by effects too.
Rin Seiya, through her gathered prayers, had forged the ultimate stardust, pushing Amano Rei further and further into a corner.
And this turn's final draw for Amano Rei...
"I Normal Summon Junk Synchron!"
Not the ultra-rare, border-breaking Nova Junk Synchron, but the ordinary, standard version of Junk Synchron.
[Junk Synchron] [Level 3 / DARK]
[Warrior / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK: 1300] [DEF: 500]
"By Junk Synchron's effect, I Special Summon 1 Yuyu from my Graveyard."
...
Amano Rei's final draw on his final turn looked, on the surface, like nothing but a scrub combo utterly incapable of affecting this hopeless situation.
"It's over." The Emperor narrowed his eyes and nodded.
Not just the Emperor. Watching Amano Rei's final draw, most of the crowd had already decided this duel was finished.
Only Amano Rei himself disagreed.
"This battle isn't over yet!" The complete, unbroken Dragon Mark on Amano Rei's left arm was already glowing and burning hot enough for everyone present to notice.
"As long as the will to fight still burns, the flame of a burning soul will never go out! Here it comes, KING's Transcendent Synchro!"
"Synchro?" Rin Seiya asked, startled. "With only 1 Tuner monster, and nothing else in hand, you can still Synchro Summon?"
"Watch closely, senpai. This is the burning soul of reversal, hidden inside a situation of certain defeat!"
In Amano Rei's Graveyard, the material cards for a double Synchro Summon burst out wreathed in flame, with no other trigger card needed to set it off at all.
"I banish Tuner monster Cosmic Compelled Rabbit and Tuner monster Flamvell Guard from my Graveyard, along with Right Crimson Mark, to Special Summon this card!"
"King and demon, converging beyond the boundaries of their own era!"
"Burning soul, unleash a roar that creates heaven and earth anew, out of absolute nothing!"
"Special Summon! Boil over, ultra-rare Tamashii! Level 12! True Crimson Nova Dragon, Burning Soul!"
[True Crimson Nova Dragon, Burning Soul] [Level 12 / DARK]
[Dragon / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 3500] [DEF: 3000]
[2 Tuners + 1 non-Tuner monster]
[This card can be Special Summoned by Synchro Summon, or by the following method. You can Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck by banishing 2 Tuner monsters and 1 "Red Dragon Archfiend" monster from your Graveyard.]
Even though the Speed Spell's effect meant no monster on the field could be banished, monsters in the Graveyard could still be banished freely.
At the very limit of their souls colliding and burning against each other, guided by the Dragon Mark on his own arm, Amano Rei brought forth a card that transcended its own era: True Crimson Nova Dragon, Burning Soul.
The roaring, burning demon dragon burst straight out from the card's own face, igniting the burning flame of a reversal.
"True Crimson Nova Dragon, Burning Soul's effect, activate!"
[Activate only when this card is Special Summoned. Add 1 card from your Graveyard to your hand. This card's ATK increases by 2000.]
"I add Pot of Greed from my Graveyard to my hand! Then Burning Soul's ATK rises by 2000!"
[True Crimson Nova Dragon, Burning Soul] [ATK: 3500 to 5500]
"Now, hope is back in my hands again!" Amano Rei had successfully recovered Pot of Greed.
"I remove 2 Speed Counters, activating Pot of Greed to draw 2 more cards!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 4 to 2
"Draw!"
His final draw, drawn from a soul burning to its very last ember, gave Amano Rei two cards: Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice, and Different Dimension Revival.
"I remove all my remaining Speed Counters, activating the effect of Equip Spell Card, Different Dimension Revival!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 2 to 0
[Different Dimension Revival] [Equip Spell Card: Discard 1 card from your hand. Activate by targeting 1 banished monster you control. Special Summon that monster in Attack Position, and equip this card to it. When this card leaves the field, destroy that monster.]
"I discard Eve from my hand!"
Amano Rei had wagered everything, all his speed, all his resources, every last flame of his soul, all condensed into this final turn's ultimate, burning surge.
"I Special Summon the banished Right Crimson Mark!"
"Roar!"
Amano Rei's very first, original soul of Synchro, back on his field once more, the demon dragon roaring in defiant flame.
"That's so cool, even a destined rival like me has to admit, this is way too cool!" Rin Seiya trembled with excitement.
Right at the edge of total defeat, Amano Rei could still forge new hope, awakening a burning soul that transcended even Jack Atlas himself.
"But neither of those monsters can beat my Stardust Dragon, Amano Rei!"
"If two of them aren't enough, then let's send them all in together!" Amano Rei raised his arm, pointing skyward in the classic King's pose. "This is KING's final, strongest, ultimate Synchro!"
"I tune Level 3 Tuner Junk Synchron on my field, with Level 1 Yuyu, and Level 8 Right Crimson Mark, all together!"
A triple ring of Synchro light passed through the bodies of Yuyu and the fiercely burning demon dragon body of Right Crimson Mark, reaching all the way up to the absolute peak, Level 12.
3 plus 1 plus 8 equals 12!
In this moment, the entire, unbroken ring of the Dragon Mark on Amano Rei's wrist blazed to life, raging flames threatening to swallow his silver-white D-Wheel whole.
"Sovereign king who governs all dragons, crown of crimson stars illuminating creation itself! Burn through embers spanning a thousand years!"
"Bear witness! To this dragon's roar that splits heaven from earth!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 12!"
"Crimson Dragon Quetzacoatl!"
[Crimson Dragon Quetzacoatl] [Level 12 / DARK]
[Dragon / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 0] [DEF: 0]
[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters]
The primordial crimson dragon, born from the very end of a burning soul, its body seeming to blanket the entire sky above the track, radiated an epic, weighty presence rivaling even a god card's.
Rin Seiya's star-shaped pupils contracted and trembled. "You actually Synchro Summoned the Crimson Dragon at a moment like this?!"
Amano Rei's fingertips slammed the burning Synchro card down onto an especially unusual spot on his D-Wheel's Duel Disk.
"I Synchro Summon Crimson Dragon Quetzacoatl into my Extra Monster Zone!"
That's right, in this professional Riding Duel, even without using Link Summoning, the Extra Monster Zone had been available the whole time. It was just that neither of them had needed to Summon more than five monsters at once, so it had never actually come into play.
And now, Amano Rei needed it. Having Synchro Summoned Crimson Dragon Quetzacoatl into the Extra Monster Zone, Amano Rei's Monster Zone, aside from the slot occupied by True Crimson Nova Dragon, Burning Soul, still had 4 open Monster Zones available.
"Crimson Dragon Quetzacoatl's effect, activate!"
[Activate only when this card is Synchro Summoned. Special Summon as many Dragon-Type Synchro Monsters from your Graveyard as possible. During this turn, you cannot Special Summon any other monsters.]
"Feel this thunderous roar, blazing to its absolute limit, the fire of the strongest demon dragons, enough to set heaven and earth themselves ablaze and turn them upside down!"
"I Special Summon Right Crimson Mark, Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon, True Crimson Nova Dragon, and True Crimson Supernova Dragon from my Graveyard!"
Last turn, Rin Seiya had gathered every star of stardust that had appeared throughout this entire duel, using Gathered Prayers's effect to Summon the strongest Stardust Dragon there was.
This turn, Amano Rei gathered every crimson lotus demon dragon that had appeared throughout this entire duel, a sea of fire burning to its absolute limit, flipping the sky and earth of the entire Speed World track upside down.
Five crimson lotus demon dragon Synchro Monsters now surrounded the massive crimson dragon in the sky, each one releasing its own soul flame, burned to its absolute limit.
"Crimson Dragon Quetzacoatl's ATK equals the total original ATK of every other Synchro Monster on my field!"
Right Crimson Mark 3000 plus Flare Dragon, Scarlet Demon 3000 plus True Crimson Nova Dragon 3500 plus True Crimson Nova Dragon, Burning Soul 3500 plus True Crimson Supernova Dragon 4000 equals 17000!
[Crimson Dragon Quetzacoatl] [ATK: 0 to 17000]
[Stardust Dragon] [ATK: 15600]
Gathering the flame that would burn the very heavens, Amano Rei's field ignited every demon dragon in Eden, its special effects blowing straight past the boundaries of the Riding Duel arena itself, transforming the sky that Stardust Dragon had painted into a starry night into a rolling, roiling sea of crimson flame instead.
"I've gathered the combined attack power of every Tamashii I have, and it's surpassed all the stardust of hope you've gathered, Rin Seiya! And you too, Yusei Fudo!"
KING's fighting spirit, a flame piercing straight through the sky like this. Amano Rei gathered the full burning-soul attack of every crimson lotus demon dragon onto the massive crimson dragon.
Even though Stardust Dragon couldn't be destroyed by battle or effects, and couldn't be banished either, it still had to take battle damage.
That was exactly why, even knowing full well he was going to lose, Amano Rei had insisted on activating Souls Colliding's effect and kept paying Life Points, driving Rin Seiya all the way down from a full 4000 Life Points to a locked 500.
Only by burning the soul to its absolute limit could a path to victory ever open up ahead!
"Crimson Dragon Quetzacoatl, and the combined attack of every crimson lotus demon dragon!"
"Ultimate Burning Soul, Crimson Lotus Hellfire Combined Strike!"
What looked like a single strike from the crimson dragon was, in truth, the combined attack of every demon dragon on the field, its final ATK reaching 17000, exploding into a sea of victorious flame that surpassed every limit, engulfing Stardust Dragon, forged from gathered prayers, and Rin Seiya on her D-Wheel along with it.
Rin Seiya: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
The battle damage was only 1400 points, but the sheer, ferocious force of that berserk soul was enough to send Rin Seiya's D-Wheel flipping over.
Rin Seiya LP: 500 to 0
KING wasn't wiping out today. The crimson lotus demon dragon, gathering the burning soul of the entire field, had finally overcome the stardust of gathered prayers in a head-on clash.
Which meant, Jack and Amano Rei had won.
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