Chapter 209: Free Will (Part 1)
Junk Warrior made a dazzling entrance with a mid-air split.
Junk Warrior ATK: 2300
"When Junk Converter is sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material, its effect activates! I Special Summon one Tuner monster from my Graveyard with its effects negated!"
"Appear! Junk Synchron!"
"I tune the Level 5 Junk Warrior with the Level 3 Junk Synchron!"
[3 + 5 = 8]
"Gathering wishes shall awaken a newborn shining star, becoming the path where light shines! Synchro Summon! Level 8! Stardust Dragon!"
At the end of the shining Path of Stars, a graceful giant dragon, enveloped in a gentle breeze, spread its wings and emerged, descending below Cosmic Blazar Dragon.
Stardust Dragon ATK: 2500
"Jet Synchron's effect activates from the Graveyard! I send one card from my hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon this card!"
"I send Dandelion from my hand to the Graveyard! Revive, Jet Synchron!"
"When Dandelion is sent to the Graveyard, I Special Summon two Level 1 Fluff Tokens to the field!"
"I tune the Level 1 Fluff Token with the Level 1 Jet Synchron!"
[1 + 1 = 2]
"Gathering wishes shall guide a new speed horizon, becoming the shining path! Synchro Summon! Level 2! The power of hope, the Synchro Tuner monster, Formula Synchron!"
"When Formula Synchron is Synchro Summoned, its effect activates! I draw one card!"
"I tune the Level 8 Stardust Dragon with the Level 2 Formula Synchron!"
[2 + 8 = 10]
On the field, Stardust Dragon flapped its wings, let out a joyful roar, and soared into the two starry rings formed by Formula Synchron.
"Clear Mind! Gathered crystals of dreams shall open a brand new gate of evolution, becoming the shining path! Accel Synchro, Level 10! Be born, Shooting Star Dragon!"
Brilliant light flashed, and a giant dragon with jet-engine-like wings on its back emerged.
Shooting Star Dragon ATK: 3300
"Your monsters just keep appearing, don't they?" Jack said, a hint of helplessness in his voice as he watched yet another monster appear.
"I had no choice. You still have ways to protect your monsters in your hand. While Cosmic Blazar Dragon can negate an effect once, it banishes itself after activation. In that case, I wouldn't be able to destroy your monster and defeat you," Bruno said.
"But your monster only has 3300 Attack Points. Even if you destroy Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend, you can't defeat me this turn, can you?"
"That's not necessarily true," Bruno chuckled. "Shooting Star Dragon's effect activates! Once per turn, I reveal the top five cards of my Deck. This monster can make a number of attacks this turn equal to the number of Tuner monsters among the revealed cards."
"What?!"
"You have 3000 Life Points left. That means, as long as I can reveal more than two Tuner monsters, I can defeat you this turn."
As Bruno spoke, he swept his hand across his Deck, revealing the top five cards. "Among the five cards, there are two Tuner monsters! Therefore, this turn, Shooting Star Dragon can attack twice! Battle!"
"Shooting Star Dragon, attack Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!"
As Bruno finished speaking, the mid-air Shooting Star Dragon roared and charged straight towards Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend.
"At this moment, the effect of Sphere Kuriboh activates from my hand! When an opponent's monster declares an attack, I change that monster to Defense Position!"
"It's no use! Cosmic Blazar Dragon's effect activates! When an opponent activates a monster effect, I banish this card until the End Phase to negate that effect and destroy the card!"
"Then, I activate the Trap Card, Red Crystal! Until the end of the turn, 'Red' monsters on my field cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects!"
Jack LP: 3000 → 2700
Although Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend weathered the blow under the protection of the Trap Card, Jack's D-Wheel recoiled from the impact of the battle.
"Shooting Star Dragon, attack again!" Seeing that he couldn't defeat Jack this turn, Bruno decided to at least chip away at Jack's Life Points.
Jack LP: 2700 → 2400
"I Set one card and end my turn," Bruno stated.
"At this moment, the Trap Card, Revival Gift, activates!" The instant Bruno declared the end of his turn, Jack twisted his throttle, pulled alongside him, and activated his Set Card.
"I Special Summon one Tuner monster from my Graveyard, and its effects are negated. Then, I Special Summon two 'Gift Demon Tokens' (Fiend/DARK/Level 3/ATK 1500/DEF 1500) to your field!"
"Revive! Crimson Resonator!"
As Crimson Resonator revived, two small Demon Tokens appeared on Bruno's field.
"Next, I activate the Trap Card, Wrong Revival! I choose one monster from your Graveyard and Special Summon it to your field in Defense Position!"
"I Special Summon Junk Converter from your Graveyard!"
"Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard?" Bruno was taken aback. "No, could it be...?"
Only then did Bruno realize that counting Shooting Star Dragon and the Fluff Token already on his field, the three monsters Jack gave him had precisely filled up his Monster Zones!
This meant that Cosmic Blazar Dragon, which should have returned during the End Phase, would now be lost in a different dimension, unable to return because there were no available Monster Zones!
"That's truly fearsome. You found one of Cosmic Blazar Dragon's few weaknesses so quickly?" Bruno said, gritting his teeth.
"My turn! Draw!" After dealing with the troublesome Cosmic Blazar Dragon, Jack drew a card with full confidence.
"Crimson Resonator's effect activates! If the only other monster I control is a single DARK Dragon Synchro Monster, I can Special Summon up to two other 'Resonator' monsters from my hand or Deck."
"Appear! Red Resonator! Forced Resonator!"
"Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend's effect activates! Once per turn, destroy all other Special Summoned Effect Monsters on the field with ATK less than or equal to this card's. Then, inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each monster destroyed by this effect! Absolute Powerflame!"
"Currently, there are a total of seven Special Summoned monsters on the field with Attack Points lower than Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend's! If all are destroyed, that's 3500 points of effect damage! And Bruno's Life Points are 3000! Is this the end of the match?" the Female Commentator said.
"Shooting Star Dragon's effect activates! Once per turn, when an effect that would destroy a card on the field is activated, I can negate that effect and destroy it." Bruno hastily activated Shooting Star Dragon's effect. The engines on its jet-like wings whipped up a gale, blasting towards Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend.
"Since I control a 'Red Dragon Archfiend' monster, when you activate a Spell, Trap, or Monster effect, I can send Red Gardna from my hand to the Graveyard! This turn, monsters I control cannot be destroyed by your effects." Seeing this, Jack had no choice but to reveal the card he had just drawn, blocking the hurricane conjured by Shooting Star Dragon.
(end of chapter)