Akiza shook her head, fighting against the tide of sadness threatening to swallow her whole.
She couldn't afford to let her emotions get the better of her—not if she wanted to avenge Sayer.
"From my hand, I activate the field spell: 'Black Garden'!"
This was a signature field for Akiza Izinski in her early days. As she slid the card into the duel disk, deep purple vines burst forth from the edge of the dueling arena. Thorny rose branches quickly wove themselves into a dense mesh, encasing every inch of the dueling space inside the building. Duelists and monsters alike found themselves confined within a ring of brambles, as if trapped in a living prison.
Black Garden—a card Kira was also familiar with. It's a field spell normally for Plant monsters, but looking at its legacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, it's known more as an "acrobatics" card than purely as a Plant support. After all, most people remember it for various combo shenanigans rather than mainstream Plant decks.
With the field spell active, Akiza snapped her wrist and set another card in her back row. "I set one card facedown. My turn ends."
Kira looked up, his gaze drifting around the prison-like lattice formed by the vines, before finally speaking.
"'Black Garden,' huh? This field is the perfect reflection of your heart."
"A self-imposed prison—a lonely garden. But deep inside, you crave companionship, don't you? A place where you're accepted—not as the Black Rose Witch, but simply as yourself."
The more he spoke, the angrier Akiza became.
Yes. She was afraid of loneliness, hated being ostracized. She had finally found someone who would accept her, somewhere she could call home.
But that person had just been mercilessly torn away by the very man standing before her.
"You know, in a way, this might not be a bad thing for you," Kira said lazily. "You thought Sayer gave you shelter, but at the same time, he also took away your possibilities for the future. No independent thinking, no genuine emotions, just following the path he dictated, carrying out his every command."
"Shut up!" Akiza snapped.
"Haha, guess there's nothing I can say that you'll listen to now. Well, that's fair—I am the villain at the moment," Kira laughed.
But he glanced at the Dragon Mark on Akiza's hand. The red glow shone even more intensely, now almost looking like it was burning.
A good omen.
"Well then, it's my turn. Draw." Kira declared, "First I activate my set card, the trap 'Sixth Sense.'"
Upon activation, you announce two numbers from one to six, then roll a die. If the result matches either of the numbers declared, you draw that many cards from your deck. If not, you discard a number of cards from the top of your deck equal to the die roll.
A spinning die appeared above the arena.
Akiza said coldly, "Declare your numbers."
"Well then, I'll naturally declare five and six," replied Kira.
The die spun rapidly and, with a crisp clatter, bounced on the floor, rolling twice before stopping.
It showed a 3.
"Hmm, just three? Well, that's fine."
Sixth Sense's activation is always a win-win. Three will do. Kira drew three cards from the top of his deck.
"And per Sixth Sense's effect, I now send three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard."
One by one, the three cards went to the grave, but immediately one projected itself as a hologram above him—a girl with elf-like pointed ears, round glasses, and a thick ancient book in her hand appeared.
"Effect of Learning Elf," announced Kira. "If this card is sent from the deck to the graveyard, I draw one card from my deck."
He drew an extra card.
"Next, I normal summon the card I searched last turn—'Lonefire Blossom'!"
A ball of flame ignited on the field, quickly morphing into a bud about to bloom.
[ LonefireBlossom—ATK 500]
"The moment you summon, I activate my set card!" Akiza declared fiercely. "'Rose Flame,' a continuous trap! As long as Rose Flame is on the field, every time a Plant monster is summoned or special summoned to your field, you take 500 damage!" (Anime Card)
"Oh, a trap for Plants," Kira smiled. "So by playing Plants, I'm running headlong into the gunfire?"
It was the same trap Akiza used in the anime, typically combined with the continuous trap "Ivy Shackles," which turned all opposing monsters into Plant-type monsters.
"Lonefire Blossom is a Plant monster, so when summoned, you take 500 damage!"
As if Akiza's anger turned tangible, a crimson beam shot from the trap card straight at Kira.
[Kira, LP 4000 → LP 3500]
Akiza added, "And when a monster is summoned, 'Black Garden' activates as well. Whenever a monster is summoned or special summoned, its attack is halved."
Black vines instantly shot forward, binding Lonefire Blossom like chains.
[Lonefire Blossom, ATK 500 → ATK 250]
"When a monster is summoned, 'Black Garden' also special summons a 'Rose Token' to the opponent's field in attack position."
Vines converged to Akiza's side of the field, forming a petite rose monster.
[Rose Token—ATK 800]
Rose Flame would only damage if the opponent summoned Plants; Akiza herself was unaffected by her own Plant summons.
Kira continued, "The effect of Lonefire Blossom: Once per turn, I can tribute one face-up Plant monster I control to special summon a Plant monster from my deck."
He gestured lightly.
"Lonefire Blossom is itself a Plant. So I tribute Lonefire Blossom to special summon another Plant from my deck!"
Lonefire burned brighter, disintegrating into the flames. From that blazing inferno, scarlet rose petals poured like a torrential storm. A sweet floral fragrance filled the air.
A woman formed from layers of rose petals, wearing a floral crown, emerald hair tumbling around her, and green eyes glowing like gemstones.
Tytannial, Princess of Camellias! Summon!
[Tytannial, Princess of Camellias—ATK 2800]
Akiza recognized the monster immediately—notoriously troublesome among Plant-type high-level monsters. She frowned. "But 'Black Garden' activates again. Tytannial's attack is halved."
Again, black vines lashed out, shackling Tytannial and halving her strength.
[Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, ATK 2800 → ATK 1400]
Akiza: "And since you summoned another monster, Black Garden special summons another 'Rose Token' to my field!"
A new rose bud bloomed on her field.
[Rose Token—ATK 800]
Tytannial was a Plant, so Rose Flame dealt another 500 damage on summon.
Another fireball blasted Kira.
[Kira, LP 3500 → LP 3000]
Despite sequential Rose Flames pummeling him, Kira seemed utterly unfazed. Akiza poured all her anger and hatred into the attacks...
And yet, it seemed to have no effect.
Akiza's heart tightened in alarm.
Could it be that this man doesn't feel pain?
…