"Could... could you sing another song?" Jiang You asked uncertainly, staring at the "Nero" whose card name read [Tru'nembra].
"Of course! As your Piper, it is my duty to offer you my songs."
"Nero" seemed overjoyed, as if this were the first time anyone had survived her song and given a positive response.
Next, "Nero" performed another song for Jiang You. It was a simple, wordless melody, yet for some reason, Jiang You found it incredibly soothing, so relaxing he felt himself drifting off to sleep.
Only after "Nero" finished did Jiang You realize he'd forgotten to specify that just one line would have been enough. He had been expecting something like "Padoru Padoru." Now he was at a loss. After all, Nero's singing had just wiped out Chaldea yesterday. And considering Azathoth's Royal Orchestra had a 120% chance of producing music incomprehensible to humans, Jiang You began to seriously doubt this was Nero at all. Perhaps it was something else entirely, merely wearing Artoria's face.
"...Are you Nero?" Jiang You asked again, uncertain.
"Umu! Of course, I am."
Nero's affirmative reply confirmed it. In truth, her verbal tic and chest size were already dead giveaways.
"Then are you Tru'nembra?"
Jiang You checked the card face again. It was definitely Tru'nembra, no mistake. How could it be Nero? Another fusion, huh?
"I... am that as well!"
Nero declared she was both Nero and Tru'nembra, though the Nero aspect seemed more dominant.
"You don't need to get hung up on this," Bubble said. "Yang Guifei is fused with Cthugha, after all."
Bubble didn't find such things strange in this world. Besides, this was a result of Jiang You's subconscious. Both entities possessed voices that ordinary humans couldn't comprehend, so in a way, they were connected. Incidentally, at that very moment, a certain Dragon-type Servant was also granted the same identity.
"Not Descender 275?" Jiang You quipped, making an inside joke that only someone in the know would appreciate.
"Are you sure you want to discuss this in front of her?" Bubble tilted her head, gesturing toward the utterly bewildered "Nero."
"Alright, so after fusing with Tru'nembra's Spirit Origin, was Nero's voice fixed?"
Jiang You patted his ears, making sure his hearing wasn't failing, before asking again.
"Hard to say." Bubble shrugged. "Perhaps you genuinely find her voice heavenly. After all, she's your Piper. To be precise, this is the Nero who fell into a coma earlier, now fused with Tru'nembra's Spirit Origin. However, she hasn't acquired Tru'nembra's full Authority, similar to Yang Guifei's situation. She's not a complete Outer God, but rather a Foreigner-class Servant adapted to the Heroic Spirit System."
"So they just switched the audio source, huh?"
Come to think of it, Jiang You mused, you could achieve this effect simply by making the player and the character hear different things. "So, the Nero that Gudako summoned turned into Tru'nembra? ...I thought they'd just create a separate Nero."
"Just think of it as an evolution path, like Goddess of Beauty Nero," Bubble explained patiently, as always. "According to game lore, swimsuit characters are also created by altering the Spirit Origin, not as separate entities."
"By the way, her Noble Phantasm is now called Golden Theater Beyond Time. She's become a top-tier cosmic diva. And she actually quite likes this new identity."
"Then she should have fused with Ghroth," Jiang You quipped. The Type-Moon World is just like that—fusions all over the place.
But then he remembered he'd fused with Azathoth himself, so Jiang You had no right to talk.
"Thanks for the explanation. I get the gist of it now. Let's continue the Duel."
[Tru'nembra (Nero)]12-Star Foreigner, Attack Power 3800
"The name's too long. Anyway, Nero's effect: When this card is Special Summoned, negate the effects of all face-up cards your opponent controls. But since you're unaffected by other card effects, this one doesn't work. Now for her second effect: Pay 1000 Life Points to draw one card. This effect can be activated up to three times per turn."
In truth, Nero had more effects than just these—like being able to summon a Dragon Girl—but this was enough to showcase for the current turn.
"Alright, Bubble, are you ready? Nero, activate your Noble Phantasm—Golden Theater Beyond Time!"
Amidst Nero's singing—a chaotic, disorderly babble—time itself warped, and the limit on drawing cards was lifted. A distorted rift in space appeared above Jiang You's deck. To draw a card now meant risking damage from the chaotic flow of time.
However, Jiang You wasn't the one who would have to pay that price.
"Once per turn, pay 3000 Life Points to draw three cards. Even in a normal duel, this effect is quite powerful. After all, for a Duelist, as long as your Life Points aren't 0, you're at full health. Not to mention, when combined with the effect of [Chaos Dream], any Life Point changes can be inflicted on the opponent instead. It's ridiculously strong."
"I'll draw two cards! Thanks to [Chaos Dream]'s effect, you'll take a total of 2000 damage! This duel is mine!"
Yog-Sothoth LP 1500 → LP 0!
Bubble's body shuddered, but she quickly recovered. The excitement on her face intensified. Jiang You tactfully chose to ignore her current expression—it was getting a little too... unhinged.
[Tutorial Complete. Player's Spirit Origin has been updated. [Blank Card] x35 have been sent to your mailbox. Please check promptly.]
"Huh? 35 cards?"
The number of cards Bubble had sent was exactly the minimum for a deck. Jiang You had currently printed three cards: [Chaos Dream], [Tru'nembra (Nero)], and [The Unending Concert Beyond Time's End]. He had indeed printed three copies of each, but each copy only consumed one [Blank Card]. Why was he short two cards?
Since Bubble was quite generous, Jiang You didn't suspect her of skimming off the top. He immediately started searching his Card Pool.
Soon, he discovered a Foreigner card he hadn't seen before: [Sukunas (Elizabeth Bathory)].
Great, another member of Azathoth's Royal Orchestra. This Outer God was described as a constantly twisting, hurricane-like entity, wreathed in purple and gold runes, and perpetually emitting nauseating screams and flapping sounds. The description was oddly reminiscent of the Dragon Girl's singing—there was definitely a connection.
The other card was a Quick-Play Spell Card related to these two:
[Royal Orchestra Concert]
Its effect was simple: Can only be activated when there are two or more "Invisible Pipers" on the field. Banish all face-up Servants on your opponent's field and all Servants in their deck face-down. Inflict 500 effect damage to your opponent for each card banished this way.
"A concert featuring Nero and the Dragon Girl, huh?"
For some reason, Jiang You found himself looking forward to it.