The Duel began. Both sides drew cards. Construct, with mechanical precision, drew a total of five cards.
On the opposite side, Tierra snapped her fingers again.
Blue, intangible flames rose from her Deck. Five cards emerged, trailing like a fiery serpent, flew into the air, and lined up neatly before her.
Which meant Hikaru could see her hand without needing to get too close.
'Hmm.'
Not bad, this opening hand was pretty strong.
Hikaru nodded approvingly after a glance.
"My turn, draw." Construct drew one more card. "Normal Summon: Shaddoll Falco."
The purple mechanical falcon appeared under its control.
[Shaddoll Falco] Level 2│DARK│Spellcaster│600 ATK
"Equip Spell: Nephe Shaddoll Fusion." It placed a Spell Card onto the Duel Disk, its strings weaving the card in place.
The card artwork depicted Winda being absorbed into a singularity.
"This card equips to a Shaddoll monster. Equipping to Falco.
"Now, activating both its effects."
It raised two fingers: "First, declare an Attribute and change the equipped monster's Attribute. Declaring LIGHT.
Second, using the equipped monster and other monsters from hand or field as Fusion Material, perform a Fusion Summon of a Shaddoll monster."
"Sending Shaddoll Squamata from hand and Shaddoll Falco from field to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon, myself."
A classic self-summoning.
Construct's form was pulled forward by its puppet strings, taking position on the battlefield.
[El Shaddoll Construct] Level 8│LIGHT│Fairy│2800 ATK
"Construct..."
Tierra lifted her head, silently staring at the newly appeared Construct.
"My effect, Falco's effect, Squamata's effect, all activate."
"All three of us have effects that trigger when sent to the Graveyard." This time it held up three fingers. "Squamata sends another Shaddoll card from Deck to Graveyard. Choosing: Shaddoll Core.
Falco Special Summons itself in face-down Defense Position.
And my own ability, upon being Special Summoned, I send one Shaddoll card from Deck to Graveyard. Choosing: El Shaddoll Fusion."
It moved the cards expertly.
A purple gem rose from the Graveyard on puppet strings, landing beside it as a face-down card, while two more cards slid into the Graveyard.
"Not done yet." Construct's left hand swept forward. "Activating Shaddoll Core's effect from the Graveyard: when sent there, I retrieve one Shaddoll Spell or Trap from the Graveyard.
Adding back El Shaddoll Fusion."
Hikaru stroked his chin.
A textbook classic opening.
And after that back-and-forth, hardly any resource loss, Shaddoll's specialty.
"Setting one card, end turn."
So, the set card was obvious too, Quick-Play Spell: El Shaddoll Fusion.
Tierra gazed at Construct for a while.
"El Shaddoll Fusion..." she softly recited the card's name.
"Do you know what that card represents?"
"It's the pride of our Shaddoll tribe, a Spell earned through warrior training." Construct answered freely. "Only high-level warriors can attain such a powerful card through cultivation.
"Unknown Spirit, regardless of where you came from, stealing our leader's form is a crime I and our God will not forgive."
Tierra didn't flare up at the accusation. Instead, she shook her head and continued asking: "Haven't you ever wondered who that 'God' is?"
"Why is it called 'El Shaddoll Fusion'? Haven't you considered that?"
A good question.
And it completely stumped Construct.
'The card name…'
'Did that mean something?'
Tierra lowered her head, gently rubbing her forehead.
"Foolish mortals, useless scrap machines," she muttered.
As a Source of Destruction Goddess, once a true god who created an entire world's ecosystem, Tierra felt little attachment to mortal creatures. Frankly, she'd always wanted to destroy all life and restart the cycle.
But, Shaddolls were her own creation.
This virus that infected other dead spirits and brought them back as new life had been crafted with great care. When the world changed, when she realized that even those she hated and despised had vanished without leaving even a story behind.
Only "cards" managed to retain fragments.
Naturally, she'd felt "loneliness" once.
Even so, she was a god.
She didn't have to acknowledge such feelings, nor care about them.
Yet when countless beings wearing familiar but different faces acted out of character, she couldn't help but find it ridiculous and uncomfortable.
Well…
After what happened with Captain Crystal, she'd learned to accept it.
Still, she felt a little dazed.
She glanced at her hand.
Originally, her goal in helping Hikaru find the DT Spirit World had been to make him craft more body components for her, while now... she suddenly had a new idea.
No, more accurately, her godly "sense of responsibility" was stirring again.
Just like when Sophia awakened and found the earth filled with lifeforms and ecosystems she hadn't foreseen, deciding to reset it all.
Upon realizing the DT Spirit World might be something far removed from her imagination, Tierra's instincts told her she couldn't sit idly by.
Since the world had changed.
Since "blades" were no longer "mainstream"
Then she, as the Source of Destruction Goddess, had to change too.
What wouldn't change was her existence, her doctrine.
Yes, these Spirits were undeniably different from the beings she remembered.
Despite that, they were still not unrelated to her!
No matter what, they were born from legend, creatures from her story, how could they have nothing to do with her?
"I've decided, Hikaru! From now on, you're coming with me into the DT Spirit World! We're going to inspect the quality of these tribal leaders ourselves!" she declared.
Hikaru had no idea what Tierra was thinking, but since she said it, he didn't mind, not like he'd be going alone anyway.
Plus, it meant collecting more cards with less effort and improving Tierra's dueling, triple win.
"Draw." Tierra lightly raised her right hand. A card floated from her Deck, hovering in midair.
Her opponent was a warrior from a Spirit tribe, at least a "guardian."
By Tierra's estimation, Spirit Level-wise, this Construct was on par with Captain Crystal, maybe even stronger.
An Eight-Star Spirit, stronger than most Spirits.
Facing such an opponent in her first Duel, honestly, she felt some pressure.
After all, she still didn't fully understand Dueling.
She glanced at Hikaru.
'Mmm…'
Then shook her head.
Now wasn't the time to ask him for help.
...
Bonus @200