"I'm not jealous… okay, maybe just a little."
At the moment, the three Sin Marks on Hoshino that corresponded to Jaden were "Envy," "Sloth," and "Lust." Looking at them now, they actually suited her pretty well.
But thinking about it another way, something like the "Seven Deadly Sins" could probably be slapped onto almost anyone with an eighty-percent compatibility rate.
"When Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga · Three Thousand Worlds with Xyz Materials is destroyed, I can activate its effect—"
Since Xyz Nobunaga had been Xyz Summoned by stacking her over Xyz Okita, she naturally inherited the Xyz Materials as well. Even after detaching Okita Souji to activate an effect, Chloe still remained beneath the card as material.
[If this card with Xyz Material is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can target 1 "Okita Souji" Xyz Monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it, then attach this card to it as Xyz Material.]
"I Special Summon the Xyz Monster Heroic Spirit – Okita Souji, Sincerity's Conviction from my Graveyard in Attack Position, then stack Oda Nobunaga beneath it as Xyz Material!"
Pulling Okita's Xyz card from the Graveyard Zone and slamming it onto the field, Hoshino directly flipped the two cards over each other, forcing Nobunaga underneath Okita.
Of course, a tactic like this was only possible after the summon limit restriction on Xyz Summoning had been lifted.
[Heroic Spirit – Okita Souji, Sincerity's Conviction ATK 2500]
Akasha exclaimed, "ヾ(ﾟдﾟ)ﾉ After Nobunaga stacked onto Okita, Okita can stack onto Nobunaga again. These two are actually sticking together and rolling all over each other in public!"
"That's seriously shameless!" Blair chimed in.
Okita smirked proudly. "A mere Nobu actually dared to talk so arrogantly earlier. Now just stay obediently underneath me!"
"I'm not done yet! — I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Contact Out!"
Inserting the Quick-Play Spell into his Duel Disk, Jaden split the Sky Neos that had already attacked into two separate monsters.
[Quick-Play Spell Effect: Return 1 "Neos" Fusion Monster you control to the Extra Deck. If all the Fusion Material Monsters listed on that Fusion Monster are in your Deck, you can Special Summon them.]
"After using Contact Out on Sky Neos, I Special Summon Elemental HERO Neos and Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird—the Fusion Materials returned to the Deck—onto the field!"
[Neos ATK 2500]
[Air Hummingbird ATK: 800]
Appearing separately to the left and right, Neos and Air Hummingbird struck identical hero poses with their arms crossed.
"So you're using Contact Out, similar to De-Fusion, to gain additional attacks during the Battle Phase? Unfortunately for you, Bride Illya's attack boost effect lasts until the end of your turn."
Originally, Bride Illya's 2300 ATK was lower than Neos's, but her effect granted her an additional 1000 ATK boost. Meanwhile, the newly restacked Xyz Okita on Hoshino's field had the same classic ace-monster stat line as Neos at 2500 ATK.
"Sensei, did you forget? I've still got a card in my hand that can break through this situation!"
Flipping over the card in his hand, Jaden confidently declared:
"The card I activate is the Quick-Play Spell searched by Elemental HERO Shadow Mist—Mask Change!"
Placing Mask Change into the Duel Disk, Jaden activated its effect, sending Elemental HERO Neos from his Monster Zone to the Graveyard as material.
"Get ready to Mask Change, Neos—!"
"He's clearly an Ultraman, yet he's transforming with a Kamen Rider card?" Hoshino's eye twitched twice as she commented, "This is one insane tokusatsu crossover."
"With the effect of Mask Change, after sending Elemental HERO Neos to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a LIGHT-attribute Masked HERO monster from my Extra Deck!"
On Jaden's field, Neos spun the belt at his waist as brilliant golden armor enveloped his muscular body.
"—Shine forth, Masked HERO of Radiance! Masked HERO Koga!!"
[Masked HERO Koga ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][LIGHT][Warrior/Fusion/Effect][ATK 2500/DEF 1800]
[Must be Special Summoned with "Mask Change."]
Drawing a golden trail of light through the air, the brand-new Masked HERO Koga appeared, transformed from Elemental HERO Neos.
Hoshino said, "It may look flashy, but its ATK is still only 2500."
"The Masked HERO of hopeful light, Koga, grows stronger the more desperate the situation becomes! Koga's effect—"
[①: This card gains 500 ATK for each monster your opponent controls.]
"Since you control two monsters, Illya and Okita, Koga gains 1000 ATK!"
Along with the successful Special Summon of the seventh Extra Deck monster, Koga, the final mark representing the Seven Deadly Sins activated beneath both Hoshino and Jaden.
"This is the final sin! And its name is—'Greed'!"
Striking the ground-bound barrier with his staff, Harr grinned openly, his aged face unable to conceal the satisfaction of his scheme succeeding.
Hoshino Chiyuki — "Greed"
To everyone's surprise, the bearer of the final sin was not any of the people outside the duel, but Hoshino herself, who was currently in the middle of it.
A glaring crimson mark engraved with the final sin emerged upon Hoshino's pale neck.
"You're not even following your own rules here! Why am I getting convicted when I'm already participating in the duel?!"
Of course, Hoshino wasn't particularly resistant to the sin of "Greed." In fact, considering her usual behavior and her borderline obsession with drawing cards, the label fit her perfectly well.
But the final sin appearing on her instead of one of the others outside the duel completely overturned Hoshino's earlier assumptions.
"Now that all the marks have appeared, the next step should just be the transfer of damage caused by the duel between everyone involved… Still, it feels like I'm missing some crucial clue."
Her mind raced at full speed, but even after all seven Sin Marks had appeared, Hoshino still could not see through the World King's true intentions.
"Sensei!" Jaden suddenly shouted, interrupting her thoughts.
"Stop overthinking all that complicated stuff! If you keep dueling while distracted like this, there's no way you can beat me!"
["Aibo, Jaden does have a point. Since we can't figure it out anyway, we might as well focus seriously on the duel."]
"No, I think you're misunderstanding something." Shaking her head, Hoshino turned her gaze back toward the battlefield. "A distracted duel? That's not my style at all. I've been taking this duel seriously from the very beginning!"
[Koga ATK 2500 → 3500]
After absorbing the power of the two monsters on Hoshino's field, Koga's ATK increased by 1000 points, surpassing Bride Nero Illya's 3300 ATK.
"The strongest hero who shatters adversity, Koga now surpasses your monster in attack power! Let's continue the battle, Sensei!"
Koga, whose ATK had soared to 3500, swung the light fangs attached to his arms like weapons and charged toward Bride Nero Illya on Hoshino's field.
"Flashkick—!"
["Even though it's attacking with its arms, it's called a flying kick?! As expected of a Kamen Rider!"]
"Is whether it's a Rider Kick really that important?!"
While complaining, Hoshino flipped over the Set card beneath her feet and selected the Rank 4 Xyz Monster Okita Souji on her field to activate a countermeasure.
"—I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Rank-Up-Magic – Glory of the Round Table!"
[Quick-Play Spell Effect: Target 1 "Heroic Spirit" Xyz Monster you control; Special Summon from your Extra Deck, by using that target as material, 1 "Heroic Spirit" Xyz Monster that is 1 Rank higher than that monster, and if you do, attach this card to it as Xyz Material.]
Drawing a virtual card from the radiant light of the Rank-Up Magic, Hoshino overlaid a Rank 5 Xyz Monster atop the Rank 4 Xyz Monster formed from stacked Nobunaga and Okita.
"The glory of the Round Table shall never fade! Beneath this light of Xyz, construct the distant ideal city!! Xyz Summon—Heroic Spirit – Mash Kyrielight GrandOrder!"
[Heroic Spirit – Mash Kyrielight GrandOrder ☆☆☆☆☆ (Rank 5)][EARTH][Machine/Xyz/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 2000]
Appearing for the first time in Xyz form, Mash looked completely different from before. Enhanced by a new spiritual foundation exoskeleton, the massive mechanical shield in her hands transformed into a black mechanized armor form.
"Senpai! Grand Order-class spiritual foundation exoskeleton calibration complete. Combat synchronization rate at 80%. Mash Kyrielight is ready for deployment at any time!"
["Wait, this is supposed to be an upgraded Grand Order-class exoskeleton, so why does it somehow expose even more skin than before? Can something like that really provide defensive power?"]
"Don't ask. Anime armor logic."
After Xyz Summoning Mash through the Rank-Up Magic, Hoshino raised her arm and unfolded the greatly enhanced Shield of Human Order in synchronization.
"As long as Heroic Spirit – Mash Kyrielight GrandOrder is on the field, your opponent can only select this card as an attack or effect target!"
"So even with a completely different suit of armor, Mash still becomes the shield protecting her allies," Jaden understood.
Originally, Jaden had ordered Koga to attack Bride Nero Illya, but the attack halted due to Xyz Mash's Special Summon and her forced taunt effect.
"Even so, its DEF is still lower than Koga's ATK! HERO Koga, the hero who overcomes adversity—even break through Mash's shield for me!"
Actively changing targets, the afterimage-blurring Masked HERO Koga instantly altered his attack trajectory and appeared before Mash in the blink of an eye.
"I knew it. With your personality, Jaden, you'd definitely attack head-on!"
If there was anyone in the world who understood Jaden's dueling style best, it was undoubtedly Hoshino.
Her fingertips brushed across the virtual card image of Heroic Spirit – Mash Kyrielight GrandOrder before her as she detached Okita Souji, which had been stacked beneath it as Xyz Material, to activate Mash's effect.
"GrandOrder, Noble Phantasm deployed!! At this moment—transcend the seat of calamity and become the shield of Grand Order—!"
Mash's roar as she released her True Name echoed alongside the deafening metallic clash of her gigantic mechanical shield. A colossal mechanized Camelot city gate erupted from the earth, standing between Mash and Koga.
"Heroic Spirit – Mash Kyrielight · GrandOrder's effect—by detaching 1 Xyz Material, this card's ATK and DEF are doubled! I detach Okita Souji to activate it!"
[Mash Kyrielight DEF 2000 → 4000]
"4000 DEF… that's already higher than Koga's ATK!" Eve said nervously.
"It's not over yet! Earlier, beneath Okita's card, Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga was still stacked as material. I chain the effect and detach her too, sending her to the Graveyard!"
After simultaneously sending both Okita and Nobunaga's Xyz cards to the Graveyard as the cost for activating GrandOrder's enhancement effect, the doubled value doubled once again, causing Mash's DEF to quadruple in an instant.
[Mash Kyrielight DEF 4000 → 8000]
"Her DEF skyrocketed all the way to 8000?!" Minazuki exclaimed in disbelief. "Now that they've entered damage calculation, Jaden can't stop the attack anymore!"
Bastion calculated aloud, "Koga's ATK is 3500. If he crashes directly into that iron wall, Jaden's 5500 LP will drop all the way down to just 1000!"
"No, it's still not over!" Akasha stared closely at Hoshino's hand movements and noticed that beneath Mash GrandOrder, another card was still stacked.
"When the Quick-Play Spell Rank-Up-Magic – Glory of the Round Table Xyz Summons a monster, the card itself also becomes Xyz Material beneath Heroic Spirit – Mash Kyrielight GrandOrder!"
Detaching the final Xyz Material, Glory of the Round Table, Hoshino activated Mash's effect for the third chained time, doubling the already doubled value once again.
The ultimate shield erupted with power. The gates of Camelot, which seemed capable of shattering even the Seven Sins barrier itself, transformed in that instant into the strongest defense capable of reversing any force.
[Mash Kyrielight DEF 8000 → 16000]
"This is the homeland that heals all wounds and all hatred! — Manifest now, 'The Distant Utopia Still Unreached'!!"