"Teach her a proper lesson, Clayman—Clay Smash Fist!!!"
Clayman, in Defense Position, flared as his crimson core lit up. He raised a fist nearly two meters thick and brought it crashing down on the Frightfur Leo right before him.
Boom!!
A thunderous crash rang out. Frightfur Leo screamed as that punch sent it flying. The violent impact forced Elina to stagger back several steps; the agony amplified by the Shadow Duel wracked her body, drawing a pained wail from her.
"AHHH!!"
[Elina, LP: 4000 → 2400]
After the cry, darkness swallowed part of Elina's body. She fell silent for a moment, then broke into a sickly grin, her laughter so deranged it sent chills down the spine.
"Hehehe… hahahaha! That's it, that's it! The pain of a Shadow Duel… marvelous! Hehe… hahahaha!"
Elina tilted her head at Alicia, face twisted. "Not bad, Alicia-kouhai. I didn't expect that. How exciting! I wonder… can you give me any other delights?
"Battle Phase ends. I Set one card and end my turn!"
At that broken smile, even Alicia—whose soul was mired in darkness—couldn't help frowning.
Albeit her emotions were under darkness's sway, that didn't make her a pervert.
"My turn! I draw!!"
Alicia looked at the card she drew, her brows knitting. As she hesitated, Yuui's voice came to her ear.
"Use it. The best defense is a good offense! If we only turtle up, we'll lose sooner or later!"
Hearing him, a glimmer of light flashed in Alicia's pitch-black eyes. She blurted, "Yuui-san, your injuries!?"
"I'm fine." Yuui's silhouette reappeared at her side—however, he was far more translucent now, and there was fatigue in his eyes.
"Stay calm. Don't let your own power devour your mind, Alicia."
Seeing him like this, the darkness that had just receded swelled again within Alicia. To the point, she could no longer hear him.
She turned, fixing both eyes on Elina across the field. Only one thought remained in her heart… if not for this woman, Yuui-san wouldn't be like this.
Driven by fury and bloodlust, she swept her arm. "I Normal Summon Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!!"
Amid crimson flames tinged with shadow, the flame-clad heroine appeared, the markings on her body now a dark red.
[Elemental HERO Burstinatrix, ATK: 1200]
"Then I activate the Spell Card White Elephant's Gift! I send 1 face-up non-Effect Monster I control to the Graveyard to draw 2 cards. I send Burstinatrix to the Graveyard and draw two!"
Burstinatrix dissolved into motes of light, and Alicia drew two new cards.
"This card—!" She froze, then gritted her teeth. "Perfect timing. I activate the Spell Card HERO's Legacy! If there are at least two Level 4 or higher HERO monsters in my Graveyard, I draw three cards! My Graveyard has Prisma and Flame Wingman, both Level 4 or higher—so I draw three!"
Elina narrowed her eyes and muttered, "So that's one of her boons… HERO's Legacy is certainly a rare card."
After drawing five cards in a row, Alicia finally found a way to turn the tide.
"I activate the Spell Card Fusion Recovery! I target 1 Polymerization and 1 Fusion Material Monster that was used for a Fusion Summon in my Graveyard; add them to my hand. I add Polymerization and Elemental HERO Avian!"
Having retrieved two cards from the Graveyard, Alicia pressed on. "Now I activate Polymerization! I fuse Elemental HERO Sparkman from my hand with Elemental HERO Clayman on the field! The Fusion Materials are Elemental HERO Sparkman and Elemental HERO Clayman!!"
"Wait, Alicia—don't Summon Thunder Giant!" Yuui blurted.
Nevertheless, Alicia, consumed by darkness, couldn't hear him. A vast fusion vortex formed in the sky as Clayman and Sparkman flew into it. Dark-gold lightning rained down upon the field like a storm.
"Giant of thunder, reduce the weak to cinders! Fusion Summon—Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!!"
Boom!!
Dark-gold thunder crashed down, and a towering figure appeared on Alicia's field, wreathed in crackling lightning.
Elemental HERO Thunder Giant—Summon!
[Elemental HERO Thunder Giant, ATK: 2400]
"Thunder Giant, is it?" Elina eyed the blackened Thunder Giant with interest and sneered. "Its effect can only destroy monsters with an original Attack lower than its own. My Frightfur Leo has 2400 Attack—same as it."
"Then how about this!" Alicia shot back coldly. "I activate the Spell Card H - Heated Heart! I target 1 face-up monster I control; it gains 500 Attack until the end of this turn, and if it attacks a Defense Position monster this turn, inflict piercing battle damage! I target Thunder Giant—its Attack rises by 500! Now it surpasses your Frightfur Leo!!"
Scarlet flames wrapped Thunder Giant; in an instant, its aura surged. Dark-gold thunder and crimson fire danced over its body—transforming it into a titan of flame and storm.
[Elemental HERO Thunder Giant, ATK: 2400 → 2900]
"Alicia, don't use Thunder Giant's effect—just attack!"
Yuui warned her again, yet Alicia still wouldn't listen. She slid a card to the Graveyard. "I activate Thunder Giant's effect! Once per turn, I can discard 1 card; target 1 face-up monster on the field with original Attack lower than this card's—destroy it! I discard a card and target your Frightfur Leo—Judgment of Flame and Thunder!!"
At her command, the thunder-flame giant charged Leo, a spear of lightning and fire forming in its hand.
Elina showed no fear… only scorn. "All those draws, and this is all you can manage? How disappointing." She snapped hCounter Trap er fingers. "I activate my Set card—the Frightfur March!
"When a monster effect, Spell, or Trap Card activated by your opponent targets a 'Frightfur' monster I control: negate the activation, and destroy that card!"
"What!?"
With Alicia's gasp, the spear hurled by the giant was swatted aside by Leo's claw. The saw-beast then pounced, and with a chorus of screams, it tore the thunder-flame giant to shreds.
Alicia's face went deathly pale. She hadn't expected her painstaking offensive to collapse in an instant.
Seeing her like this, Elina knew victory was all but hers.
After all, the will to win had left the girl's eyes.
"Alicia!"
"Yuui-san!" Alicia lifted her hollow gaze to Yuui's wavering form, tears spilling as she choked out, "Yuui-san, I… I think I made the wrong choice!"
"Don't give up, Alicia. It was just a moment's misjudgment—we still have a chance." Yuui patted her head, his voice entirely free of blame.
"But… our Life Points are only 100… there are no monsters on our field, and we've already used our Normal Summon!" Alicia stared blankly at her hands. "How is there any chance left?"
Indeed, with only 100 Life Points, an empty field, and no Normal Summon left, it looked like there was no chance at all.
Even so, to Yuui, a card shark in his previous life, this was nothing.
More importantly, there was still a way.
He sighed at the girl, crestfallen by such a small setback. "I've really been overprotecting you. The chance is on the card you just sent to the Graveyard. Did you forget?"
"The card I sent—!" Alicia zoned out, thinking back, then remembered: Fusion Substitute!
"Yuui-san, you mean—!"
"Yeah. Whether we can rewrite this comes down to the bond between you and your Deck." Yuui took her hand. "Don't worry—I'll always be with you. With our power, let's defeat this madwoman together!"
Seeing Yuui's gentle gaze, Alicia regained her confidence and looked up at Elina.
Elina faltered. The darkness in the girl's eyes vanished—in its place, a brilliant light shone, resonating with the mark on her forehead.
Only now did Elina truly notice that mark, and she cried out, "Stigmata… how is that possible!? How do you have the power of Stigmata!!"
Stigmata—power granted by "Albaz"—belonged only to the few "Saints" of their Order. How could this girl possess it?
Could she be a 'Saint' secretly raised by the Order?
But how? If she were, why would the Order send Elina, one of their own, to assassinate her?
It made no sense.
Unless… unless Elina herself had been offered up as 'nourishment' for a Saint's growth!
At that thought, Elina's heart—unshaken even under attack—finally trembled.
Regardless, Alicia and Yuui paid no heed to her shock.
Both shouted in unison, "I activate the effect of the Spell Card Fusion Substitute in the Graveyard! I banish it to target 1 Fusion Monster in my Graveyard; return it to the Extra Deck, then draw 1 card! I return Elemental HERO Thunder Giant to the Extra Deck and draw!"
Elina narrowed her eyes, her lips curling in scorn. "Hehe… you've used your Normal Summon, your field is empty, and you've got no Set cards. Even if you draw one more, what difference will it make?"
"I don't know," Alicia said, eyes unwavering. "But I believe in my Deck—the Deck Yuui-san and I built together. I believe the monsters who share my days and nights will answer me."
Yuui nodded.
Yes, Alicia. A Duelist must calculate, must strategize—despite that, above all, what matters most is the bond.
Only with that can you turn the impossible into possible.
The light of Dogmatika Stigmata shone brighter in Alicia's eyes. She slashed her hand through the air, and a pale golden radiance tore open the darkness.
"Draw!!"
She saw the card—and her heart stopped. Then immeasurable joy flooded her gaze.
She slid the cards into her Duel Disk in one smooth motion. "I Set three cards. End of turn!"
...
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