Gloria took the first turn.
Bored out of her mind, she now not only had a Duel to fight but even got to tag with Amaki Hikaru. She didn't hesitate in the slightest—snatching her card in a snap and flashing a villainous smirk as she lowered her gaze to her hand.
'Oh!'
'Is that what I drew?'
She looked at the card in her hand, the corners of her mouth rising even further, and cast a glance at Hikaru.
Hikaru, unsure what to make of her look, remained composed.
"Amaki Hikaru," Gloria called out before the Duel had even started, "we lost to you last time, but don't think we'll keep falling behind!"
"Hm?" The Empress noticed the odd tension in the air and grew more curious.
Gloria paid her no mind. Clenching her fist with fervor, she beamed with intensity. "Ever since that loss, we've been training and refining our deck! We're stronger than ever now!"
She pulled a card from her hand and slammed it into her Duel Disk. "Let's see who can deal more damage today, shall we?!"
"Gloria-san, this is a tag duel. Shouldn't we be cooperating?" Hikaru replied calmly.
"Grace and I are the perfect tag team." Gloria's excitement dimmed slightly. Even while paired with Hikaru, she remained steadfast in her belief that only she and her sister made the ultimate duo. "And we're always evolving!
"Take a look at this card—you should recognize it!"
A green Spell Card materialized on the field, its artwork showing a dark knight falling from the sky.
Normal Spell Card, Fusion Deployment!
Hikaru raised a brow.
Where'd she get that card?
Still, he wasn't particularly surprised.
No one in this world was stupid. After witnessing some of Hikaru's effective Fusion support cards and realizing their value, anyone would try to hunt them down for their own deck.
Considering the Tyler sisters were high-ranking officers in the Fusion Army, it only made sense they'd acquire these cards through that channel.
After all, Fusion Deployment was likely Fusion Army tech. It made perfect sense.
Gloria didn't mind that Hikaru wasn't shocked.
"Fusion Deployment can only be activated once per turn. The turn you activate it, you can't Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck unless they're Fusion Monsters.
"I reveal 1 Fusion Monster in my Extra Deck and Special Summon 1 of its listed materials from my hand or Deck!
"I reveal—Amazoness Empress!"
"Oh?" The Empress perked up, clearly amused to see her card in an opponent's hand. "My Fusion Materials are Amazoness Queen and an Amazoness monster. So, your only choice is Amazoness Queen."
"Exactly—I Special Summon Amazoness Queen from my Deck!"
The blue-haired queen appeared on the field, brandishing her longsword.
Back then, the Empress was still young.
[Amazoness Queen] Level 6│EARTH│Warrior│2400 ATK
"A Tribute Monster summoned just like that."
"Haha, that's the Tyler sisters for you!"
Grace, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help clapping softly against her cheek.
She was always happy to watch the chaos unfold.
"Next, I activate the effect of Amazoness Spiritualist in my hand! If this card is in my hand or Graveyard, I can target 1 Amazoness card I control, except Amazoness Spiritualist, return it to my hand, and Special Summon this card!
"For the rest of this turn, I can't Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck, except Amazoness monsters."
A rare dainty Amazoness girl gently twirled her staff as she appeared on the field.
[Amazoness Spiritualist] Level 2│EARTH│Warrior│800 ATK
"The effects already restrict her to Fusions, and now she's locked into Amazoness as well," Bastion Misawa narrated. "But if her goal is to Fusion Summon an Amazoness Fusion Monster, then all those limitations don't matter.
"Still, returning a 2400 ATK Tribute Monster just to bring out this small one... what's the plan?"
He looked genuinely puzzled.
"Hah! Just shut up and watch!" Gloria lifted her sword-shaped Duel Disk on her left arm and pointed with her right at the Monster Zone. "When Amazoness Spiritualist is Special Summoned, I can add 1 Polymerization from my Deck to my hand!"
Fwoosh—
A card ejected from her Duel Disk, falling down into her hand. With a flick, Gloria caught it between her index and middle fingers, then slashed both arms apart.
"Spell Card—Polymerization!"
"I fuse Amazoness Queen in my hand with Amazoness Spiritualist on the field!
"Come forth! My ace!
"Fusion Summon!
"Level 8!
"Amazoness Empress!"
With Gloria's cry, a slightly smaller Amazoness Empress emerged onto the field, her expression blank as she swung her blade.
"Oh ho... now this is quite the sight," the Empress said with a chuckle.
Humans often gasped at spirits summoning themselves.
That said, for spirits? Witnessing someone else summon them? That was unheard of.
[Amazoness Empress] Level 8│EARTH│Warrior│2800 ATK
"Ah! I see. That guarantees she'll always draw into Fusion and saves a card too," Bastion continued explaining. "A smart optimization."
Compared to the last time she dueled Hikaru, Gloria had undeniably grown stronger. That much was clear.
"I set two cards and end my turn!" Gloria lifted her chin proudly.
"Impressive," Hikaru offered a general compliment.
In this world, pulling off Fusion through search and recovery was already a high-level technique.
Hearing that, Gloria looked down in surprise, stunned that Hikaru had actually acknowledged her.
She hadn't been boasting—she really had improved since then.
But...
Hikaru looked ahead.
Their opponent was the real Amazoness Empress.
"Nice Fusion. As an Amazoness warrior, your form isn't bad. I can sense the passion and spirit in your heart. However—
"It's not enough. Not nearly enough!
"Not enough!!"
"As an Amazoness warrior, you must be even more fired up! More intense!"
Her eyes blazed red.
A feral aura exploded from her body like nothing anyone there had seen.
Pure, primal savagery!
Bloodlust!