Chapter 193: VS Ivaliss: The Change of Heart Gambit!
Eve: "I am officially reporting that he has Blue-Eyes White Dragon in his deck! That card has 3000 ATK and is supposed to be the ace!"
Of all the moments to suddenly decide she no longer wanted to be called anyone's ace, Eve had picked this one. Some survival instinct in there.
Not that Amano could blame her entirely. A special rule that let the winner take your most important card was something the shop owner had neglected to mention before they walked in.
"Ah. Did I forget to mention that?" The shop owner's voice reached them from outside the space.
"Ha ha ha, full disclosure: my ace was also taken. So could I ask you to retrieve it as well? Ow ow ow, Yui, please stop hitting me!"
Served him right for getting hit. Something this important and he just quietly left it out.
Amano had good reason to suspect the omission was entirely deliberate. The shop owner had baited the two of them into this duel specifically so they could recover the card his failed repair attempt had cost him.
The black data chains had marked Eve and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon on his and Chiha's respective sides. But looking at the opponent's field, there was also a marked card over there.
[Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture]
The most important card in the opponent's own deck was this one?
It made sense, actually. The card shared an exact visual match with the data entity currently standing opposite them. Its importance to her went without saying.
[DUEL ACTIVATED]
[MODE: DISPLACED SINGULARITY]
[SPECIAL RULE: 1 VS 2]
Ivaliss LP: 8,000
VS
Amano Rei and Kaiba Chiha LP: 8,000
"Duel!" All three declared in unison.
As the asymmetric multi-player format, the solo side went first. Ivaliss opened her turn.
"My turn, draw!"
In the solo position, Ivaliss drew two cards per turn.
Looking at the flat-figured girl who shared so much with Eve, down to the voice and the exact same measurements, Amano had a deeply strange feeling.
It was like dueling against Eve herself.
Why did the Eva mainframe always appear using Eve's image?
"I Normal Summon Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture in Defense Position."
Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture [Level 2, DARK]
[Cyberse / Effect]
[ATK: 0 / DEF: 0]
Although the figure shared Eve's famously absolute flatness, Ivaliss had not inherited the proud 2100 DEF that the original used as her greatest asset.
Both ATK and DEF were 0.
"And I set two cards face-down. Turn end."
Ivaliss had opened her turn by summoning a single 0/0 monster and setting two cards.
Kaiba Chiha's Duel Disk lit up immediately.
In the two-vs-one format, Chiha took her turn one cycle ahead of Amano.
"Then I won't hold back! My turn, draw!"
Chiha drew with visible energy. She was probably fired up by having Yui watching.
"I Normal Summon Photon Crusher in Attack Position!"
Photon Crusher [Level 4, LIGHT]
[Warrior / Effect]
[ATK: 2000 / DEF: 0]
An armored warrior wielding a twin-headed hammer materialized on Chiha's field. Four stars and already 2000 ATK.
"Next, Photon Advancer in hand activates its effect! When a Photon monster is on the field, Special Summon this card from hand. And while another Photon monster is present, this card gains 1000 ATK!"
Photon Advancer [Level 4, LIGHT]
[Warrior / Effect]
[ATK: 1000 to 2000 / DEF: 1000]
Chiha's Photon combo assembled two 2000 ATK monsters on her field in one motion.
Her deck seemed noticeably different from what Amano remembered.
Before, she had been all about opening with banned cards and dumping the Graveyard to call out Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon as fast as possible.
Now she was building to it through a lower-level engine instead.
"Two Level 4 monsters on the field!"
Chiha swept her fingertip across her monster zone, stacking the two Photon cards.
"I Overlay Photon Crusher and Photon Advancer for a Rank 4 Xyz Network construction!"
"Glorious emperor, guided by the blade of light shining in the galaxy, herald the descent of the holy dragon!"
"Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Starliege Lord Galaxion!"
Starliege Lord Galaxion [Rank 4, LIGHT]
[Warrior / Xyz / Effect]
[ATK: 2000 / DEF: 2000]
[Level 4 "Photon" monsters x2]
Starliege Lord Galaxion
[Warrior / Xyz / Effect]
Level 4 "Photon" monsters x2
Once per turn, detach up to 2 Xyz Materials to activate. Apply the following effects based on the number detached. (1): Special Summon 1 "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" from hand. (2): Special Summon 1 "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" from Deck.
The Starliege emperor, wielding twin blades of light, descended before Kaiba Chiha in a flash of brilliance.
"At this moment, I activate a Set card."
Unexpectedly, the instant Chiha completed the Xyz Summon, Ivaliss flipped one of her Set cards.
"Trap Card: Dark Spirit of the Silent, Greed."
Dark Spirit of the Silent: "Greed"
[Trap Card: Tribute 1 DARK monster you control. Your opponent may reveal 1 Spell Card from their hand to negate this effect. If they do not, draw 2 cards.]
Amano noticed it instantly. That card had been banned for a very long time in his previous life.
A giant character for "Greed" rose beneath Ivaliss the DARK monster on the field.
"I Tribute the DARK-attribute Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture to activate Dark Spirit of the Silent, Greed's effect!"
If Chiha didn't reveal a Spell Card from her hand, Ivaliss would draw two cards.
On the other hand, if she revealed one, the trap resolved as a wasted activation.
"What a pointless card." Chiha immediately threw Super Galaxy from her hand face-up. "Now your Trap is negated."
From Chiha's perspective, activating this particular Trap at this moment in the duel served no purpose. The game had just started and both sides had full hand resources. Who couldn't show a Spell Card?
The Trap had failed to produce any draws, and to make things worse, Ivaliss had Tributed her own monster to activate it.
But just as Chiha was about to continue with her monster's effect, she noticed something unexpected on her field.
There was now a monster standing on her side that had not been there before.
Ivaliss continued without expression: "I activate the effect of Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture."
[When this card is sent from your field to the Graveyard, Special Summon it to the opponent's field in Defense Position.]
Ivaliss, just Tributed from the field to the Graveyard, had Special Summoned itself directly onto Kaiba Chiha's field through its own effect.
The small monster figure reappeared with a faint, composed smile at the corner of her mouth.
At the same moment, the second of Ivaliss's Set cards flipped.
"Continuous Trap Card: Summon Limit, Rampage, activates."
Summon Limit: Rampage
[Continuous Trap Card: When a monster is Special Summoned while this card is on the field, that monster is placed in face-up Attack Position. If a monster can attack this turn, it must attack.]
"Due to the Continuous Trap's effect, the Special Summoned Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture must switch to Attack Position."
Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture [ATK: 0]
"Ah, so that's the plan." Chiha thought she had read it. "You put a 0 ATK target on my field. But that doesn't change the fact that your own field is empty! I activate Starliege Lord Galaxion's effect!"
[Once per turn, detach up to 2 Xyz Materials from this card. Apply effects based on the number detached. (1): Special Summon 1 "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" from hand. (2): Special Summon 1 "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" from Deck.]
"I detach 2 Xyz Materials to Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from my..."
Chiha stopped mid-activation.
Something was wrong.
Her monster's effect was completely unresponsive. No matter how she tried to select the activation on her Duel Disk, nothing registered.
"Why? Is there a bug?"
"It's not a bug, Chiha." Amano reminded her. "Check the monster's effect."
"Monster effect, what monster..."
It hit Chiha a moment later. She looked toward the one variable now present on the field: the Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture that had been forcibly Special Summoned onto her side.
[While this card exists in the Monster Zone, the controller of this card cannot Special Summon monsters unless they are Link Monsters.]
"What kind of effect is this?!" Chiha stared at it in disbelief.
No Special Summons unless they were Link Monsters.
Chiha had no Link Monsters. Beyond that, this duel had no Extra Monster Zone at all. Link Summoning was completely impossible here.
It felt like a product of a rule-era mismatch: a card that demanded Link Summoning in a duel system where Link Summoning could not be performed.
Amano shook his head. "Only from the Eva mainframe's bug mode would you get card effects this packed with bug energy."
Because only Link Monster Special Summons were permitted, Starliege Lord Galaxion's effect to call out Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was unusable.
"Unbelievable!" With her Special Summons locked, Chiha went straight to the Battle Phase, jaw clenched.
"Even without Special Summons, I can still declare a direct attack with Starliege Lord Galaxion!"
Responding to Chiha's attack declaration, Galaxion drew its twin blades of light, carving shining arcs through the data space before delivering a brilliant two-sword strike across the flat expanse in front of Ivaliss.
"Galaxy Starblast Slash!!"
Ivaliss LP: 8000 to 6000.
Special Summons were locked, but Chiha had still created a field and life point advantage through direct attacks.
For a former top-ten academy duelist, she was a reliable partner even under pressure.
"I set two cards face-down. Turn end!"
"My turn, draw."
The turn passed. On an empty field, Ivaliss drew two more cards and immediately began playing a Spell.
"Spell Card: Change of Heart activates!"
Change of Heart
[Spell Card: Target 1 monster the opponent controls. Until the End Phase, take control of that target.]
Amano's eyes went wide. Another longtime banned card.
Per the shop owner's earlier explanation, the Displaced Singularity copied decks from every opponent it had fought and kept that data permanently. Someone had used a banned card against it, and now it was part of the pool.
"I take control of Starliege Lord Galaxion!"
Receiving its new command from the Change of Heart effect, Galaxion turned without hesitation and walked directly to Ivaliss's field as if acting on its own resolve.
"My Galaxion..."
Because Ivaliss's Special Summon lock had been active last turn, Starliege Lord Galaxion still carried both of its Xyz Materials fully intact.
"Next, I activate the effect of Starliege Lord Galaxion."
"What?!" Chiha's eyes went sharp in an instant. Amano felt the alarm hit him at the same moment.
Both of Galaxion's selectable effects were specifically designed to Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.
"I detach 2 Xyz Materials to activate the Special Summon from Deck effect."
Ivaliss's slender fingers drew a card shining with galaxy light from her Duel Disk.
"Galaxy shining in the darkness, become a light of hope and dwell within me."
"Avatar of light, descend now."
"Appear, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon."
It was actually a very cool and dramatic summon chant. Delivered by Ivaliss with absolutely no emotional inflection, it produced its own unique kind of icy beauty.
But there was no question: the dragon of galaxy light arrived on Ivaliss's field.
Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon [Level 8, LIGHT]
[Dragon / Effect]
[ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2500]
This is impressive on multiple levels.
After taking Chiha's Galaxion with Change of Heart, Ivaliss had used it to call out Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Beyond Galaxion which had merely had its control shifted, this Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon had come directly from Ivaliss's own deck.
That meant the Displaced Singularity was not just copying data from previous opponents. It was also recording the decks of duelists currently in the fight.
No wonder the shop owner had warned them before entry: there was no way to predict which strategy this entity would deploy.
Change of Heart into Galaxion into the opponent's own ace card. You genuinely could not see that coming.
Ivaliss continued, throwing another card from her hand into her Duel Disk. "Next, I activate Spell Card: Arms Hole."
Arms Hole
[Spell Card: You cannot Normal Summon the turn this card is activated. Send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard to activate. Add 1 Equip Spell Card from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.]
"I add Megamorph from my Deck to my hand, and equip it to Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon."
The moment the Equip Spell activated, the already radiant dragon blazed brighter and doubled in size, its light spreading outward at an intensity that was genuinely difficult to look at directly.
Megamorph
[Equip Spell: If your LP are lower than your opponent's, the equipped monster's ATK is doubled. If your LP are higher, the equipped monster's ATK is halved.]
Because Chiha's direct attack last turn had left Ivaliss at 6,000 LP while the two-player team held 8,000, Megamorph applied its doubling effect.
Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon [ATK: 3000 to 6000]
6,000 ATK on Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Plus Starliege Lord Galaxion at 2,000 ATK.
Chiha's field currently held only Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture at 0 ATK.
Even with the doubled starting life points from the two-player format, one attack would land both of them in lethal range.
"Don't you dare go down before I get my turn, Kaiba Chiha!"
If he had not even gotten to play a single card before the duel ended, and Eve ended up taken in the process, that would be genuinely unbearable.
"Don't lecture me, Amano Rei. I haven't fallen yet!"
"Attack Ivaliss, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon."
In the Battle Phase, the doubled galaxy light converged into a blazing storm of annihilation.
"Photon Stream of Destruction!!"
"I activate Photon Kuriboh from hand!"
[Send this card from your hand to the Graveyard. Pay half your LP to activate. All damage you take this turn becomes 0. This effect can also be activated during the opponent's turn.]
In that moment, light collided with light. The three of them were briefly surrounded by what felt like the center of the galaxy itself.
Amano Rei and Kaiba Chiha LP: 8,000 to 4,000.
Under Photon Kuriboh's protection, they negated all battle damage for the turn.
Of course, the cost was 4,000 LP, which was not cheap.
Chiha immediately pressed her advantage. "Paying the life points was deliberate! Now our LP is lower than Ivaliss's!"
With their LP now below Ivaliss's total, the Megamorph effect reversed direction.
The already enormous Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon shrank instantly back to half its previous size, and its ATK fell accordingly.
Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon [ATK: 6,000 to 1,500]
"Not bad at all, little Chiha!"
Yui's praise carried clearly from outside the space, and Chiha looked immediately very pleased with herself.
They had survived the lethal attack and cut Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon's ATK in half in the same move. At the End Phase, Starliege Lord Galaxion taken by Change of Heart would return to Chiha's field.
Most importantly, Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture, the card blocking all non-Link Special Summons, had been destroyed by the attack just now.
But as the dazzling galaxy light finally faded from the battlefield, Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture stepped out of the dissipating smoke on Chiha's field completely intact.
"She wasn't destroyed?!" Chiha stared.
"Quick-Play Spell: Half Shut!" Ivaliss displayed the card she had activated during the battle.
Half Shut
[Quick-Play Spell: Target 1 face-up monster on the field. Until the End Phase, that monster's ATK is halved and it cannot be destroyed by battle.]
"I target Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture with Half Shut's effect, making it unable to be destroyed by battle."
Ivaliss was forcibly kept on Chiha's field. The Special Summon lock against anything that wasn't a Link Monster remained active.
"And next, Spell Card: Xyz Shift!"
Xyz Shift
[Spell Card: Tribute 1 Xyz Monster you control. Special Summon from the Extra Deck 1 monster that shares the same Type, Attribute, and Rank but has a different card name. This card becomes an Xyz Material on the newly Summoned monster. The Special Summoned monster is sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase.]
Anyone who played Change of Heart and then expected to politely wait until the End Phase to hand back control was simply being naive.
Starliege Lord Galaxion: Tributed.
With Galaxion Tributed, Ivaliss could Special Summon any monster from the Extra Deck that shared its LIGHT Attribute, Warrior-Type, and Rank 4.
"Come now, Number 39! My journey elevates itself here, entrusting white wings with doubled hope!"
Amano flinched. "Wait, you said Number what?"
He might have forgotten other Numbers after eighteen years. But the identity of Number 39 was something no card player would ever fail to recognize.
"Special Summon Number 39: Utopia Double!"
Number 39: Utopia Double [Rank 4, LIGHT]
[Warrior / Xyz / Effect]
[ATK: 0 / DEF: 2500]
Number 39: Utopia Double
[Warrior / Xyz / Effect]
Level 4 monsters x2
This card's effect can only be used once per turn. (1): During your Main Phase or your opponent's turn, detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; add 1 "Double or Nothing!" from your Deck to your hand. Then, if another "Utopia" Xyz Monster exists on your field, Xyz Summon 1 "Number 39: Utopia" from your Extra Deck on top of this card as an Xyz Summon. The ATK of the Xyz Summoned monster becomes doubled, and it cannot attack directly.
Shining with doubled radiance, Utopia replaced the Tributed Galaxion and appeared on Ivaliss's field.
Xyz Shift's downside was that the Special Summoned monster would be sent to the Graveyard at End Phase.
But with Utopia, that downside was basically irrelevant. Most Utopia variants could stack directly into a follow-up Xyz Summon before the End Phase arrived.
Ivaliss swept her hand forward. "Number 39: Utopia Double's effect activates. Detach Xyz Material, add Double or Nothing from Deck to hand. Then, Xyz Summon another Utopia Monster from the Extra Deck on top of this card."
The stacked Xyz light blazed again on Utopia Double.
This time, a summon chant that every card player knew by heart.
"My battle begins here, white wings bearing the hopes of all."
"Appear, Number 39: Utopia!"
Number 39: Utopia [Rank 4, LIGHT]
[Warrior / Xyz / Effect]
[ATK: 2500 x2 = 5000 / DEF: 2000]
Because it had been Special Summoned by the Double effect, this Number 39: Utopia carried doubled ATK exceeding even Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.
Even after mentally bracing himself when Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon appeared, reminding himself to stay composed regardless of what else Ivaliss pulled out, Amano could not completely contain his reaction when Utopia appeared.
Who else had she fought? This entity had recorded Hope Kaiser data too.
A Utopia deck user. The top-ranked duelist at the Xyz Academy was Yuma Tsukumo. Could this be his?
"I set one more card face-down. Turn end."
By chaining Utopia summons, Ivaliss had neatly avoided both Change of Heart's natural End Phase return and Xyz Shift's Graveyard clause. She ended her turn with a Set card.
At last, Amano's turn arrived.
But Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture was still standing on the field locking out non-Link Special Summons.
"My turn, draw!"
Since one was already there, another one wasn't going to make it worse.
"I Normal Summon Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice in Defense Position!"
As the summoning light cleared, Eve materialized on Amano's field with a distinctly apprehensive expression.
Now on Amano's field stood one white Eve, and on Chiha's field stood one dark Eve, two figures of near-identical appearance and identical measurements facing each other.
Eve: "Are... are you actually me?"
Ivaliss: "Heh heh~"
The only response to Eve's question was Ivaliss's signature composed, knowing smile.