Chapter 195: An Ace Card Is One That Never Lets You Down
Ivaliss, now boosted to 5,000 ATK, slowly raised her hand and gathered an energy output she had never possessed before, her teasing smile growing more defiant than ever.
"Amano Rei. Sticking with you might not be so bad after all."
Please do not say things like "sticking with you." You have been camped on my field uninvited.
Then again, before this duel started, the data chains had marked Ivaliss's own card as the most important in her deck. If the duel ended in defeat, would that card be forfeited as well?
Forfeited to where, exactly? This empty data space?
In that case, she might as well come with him.
Amano pointed forward. "Due to Staunch Defender's effect, every monster you have left must attack Ivaliss!"
The two monsters on Ivaliss's field that had not yet attacked were Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Invoked Augoeides.
Destiny forces you into battle.
Ivaliss paused briefly, then continued. "I attack Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture with Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
The dragon opened its jaws. The classic 3,000 ATK Burst Stream of Destruction detonated toward Ivaliss's position.
Ivaliss snorted. "My ATK versus your ATK? This hit is rivaling Dragon Master Knight. Galaxy Shatter Slash!!"
Amano vaguely remembered that Dragon Master Knight's signature attack actually was called something close to that in the anime.
This Ivaliss, composed and scheming on the surface, turned out to share more personality traits with Eve than expected.
The slash condensed from dark energy cleaved straight through the Burst Stream, then took off the head of the data-copy fake Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the same motion.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: destroyed.
Ivaliss LP: 6,000 to 4,000.
After the self-destructing Blue-Eyes attack, the Battle Phase still had not ended.
"I attack Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture with Invoked Augoeides."
Knowing the outcome in advance and attacking anyway, the second suicidal attack launched from the light chariot's lance, bearing down on Ivaliss.
"I've wanted to hit this man for a long time."
Ivaliss returned fire with a burst of energy and sent a black pillar of light upward from the ground, overwhelming the lance driving down from the sky and engulfing the chariot along with its rider.
Invoked Augoeides: destroyed.
Watching this from outside the space, the shop owner shuddered visibly.
Ivaliss discarded a card. "During the battle, I activated Aleister the Invoker's effect from my hand."
[Send this card from your hand to the Graveyard, then target 1 Fusion Monster you control. Until the End Phase, that target gains 1000 ATK and DEF. This effect can also be activated during the opponent's turn.]
"I discarded Aleister the Invoker to boost Invoked Augoeides's ATK by 1000."
Even with the 1,000 boost, Invoked Augoeides still could not overcome Ivaliss at 5,000 ATK. But it reduced the battle damage taken.
Ivaliss LP: 4,000 to 2,500.
And putting Aleister into the Graveyard deliberately had a purpose beyond taking less damage.
After the Battle Phase ended and Main Phase 2 began, Ivaliss slotted another Spell Card.
"Spell Card: Invocation activates."
Of course there was a second copy. That was why she had specifically put Aleister into the Graveyard just now, setting up a Graveyard Fusion.
"I banish Aleister the Invoker and Invoked Mechaba from my Graveyard as Fusion Materials for the ultimate Fusion of the light dimension."
"Born in the age of the great mages, manifest in the form that refines all truth."
"Fusion Summon: Invoked Augoeides!"
Invoked Augoeides [Level 8, LIGHT]
[Fairy / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 2,000 / DEF: 2,800]
[Aleister the Invoker + Fusion Monster]
Invoked Augoeides
[Fairy / Fusion / Effect]
Aleister the Invoker + Fusion Monster
This card's first effect can only be used once per turn. (1): When this card is Special Summoned, or when a monster is Special Summoned on the opponent's field, target 1 opponent's monster; destroy it. (2): Once per turn, banish 1 Fusion Monster from your Graveyard. Until the end of the opponent's turn, this card's ATK increases by the ATK of the banished monster.
The Fusion Materials required Aleister plus a Fusion Monster, a stricter condition than pure Attribute restriction. The effect it produced matched the higher bar.
The enormous, uncanny creature with spread arms and a bizarre angel-type face turned toward Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture standing on Amano and Chiha's field.
"When successfully Special Summoned, Augoeides's effect activates."
[When this card is Special Summoned, or when a monster is Special Summoned on the opponent's field, target 1 opponent's monster. Destroy that target.]
The silver-white statue-like head opened its mouth and fired a laser beam directly at Ivaliss.
Just as expected. Even though Ivaliss had been the one to put Ivaliss on their field, facing a 5,000 ATK swing with nowhere to go, she could no longer afford to maintain the Special Summon lock.
If she left Ivaliss unchecked, even with the lock active, those small fists carrying 5,000 ATK would deal very real physical damage the moment they connected.
Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture: destroyed.
"Finally free!" Chiha exhaled.
This was the real payoff for the Staunch Defender redirect: forcing Ivaliss to absorb Utopia's ATK rather than Blue-Eyes White Dragon's, putting the opponent in an impossible choice. Either keep the 5,000 ATK Ivaliss on the field and accept the lock, or destroy Ivaliss and remove the lock. There was no third option.
From outside the space, Yui could not help but comment: "I never expected these two to coordinate so well. I was genuinely worried that Rei and Chiha might just refuse to work together because of how badly they get along."
The shop owner chuckled behind his mask. "Ha. I never worried about that for a moment. No matter how poor their relationship might be, both of these two are the purest kind of duelists at their core. And their relationship is actually not as bad as it looks from the outside."
Ivaliss threw her last card from hand.
"Spell Card: Last Will activates."
Last Will
[Spell Card: When a monster you control is sent to your Graveyard this turn, you may Special Summon 1 monster with 1500 ATK or less from your Deck.]
Her final hand card and it was another longtime banned card. Every single card this bug version of Eva produced landed somewhere beyond Amano's predictions.
Last Will was famously banned because of the Witch of the Black Forest. Unless there were Witch of the Black Forest components in her deck, this card shouldn't...
But when the Last Will activation showed which card Ivaliss had called from her Deck, both Amano and Chiha were left staring blankly.
"I Special Summon a second copy of Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture from my Deck to my field."
Because it was the tactical core of her Special Summon lock strategy, running multiple copies for consistency made complete sense.
But why would Ivaliss Special Summon Ivaliss onto her own field when she was the only one left? Wasn't that just locking herself out of her own Special Summons?
The next instant, with an empty hand, a strange glow lit up in Ivaliss's Graveyard zone. At the same moment, a massive "Greed" formation appeared beneath Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture on the field.
"Is this... Dark Spirit of the Silent?" Chiha recognized it immediately. "But she has no Set cards left. How?"
"I see it now." Amano traced back through the sequence. Earlier, when Invoked Mechaba had negated his Trap Card, Ivaliss had sent a Trap from hand to the Graveyard to pay the cost.
"I activate the Graveyard effect of Transaction Rollback."
[Banish this card from your Graveyard. Pay half your LP. Target 1 Normal Trap in your Graveyard other than Transaction Rollback. The effect becomes the same as that Trap when it was activated.]
Ivaliss LP: 2,500 to 1,250.
"I use Transaction Rollback to copy the effect of Dark Spirit of the Silent: Greed from my Graveyard."
[Tribute 1 DARK monster you control. The opponent may reveal 1 Spell Card from their hand to negate this effect. If they do not, draw 2 cards.]
"I Tribute the DARK-attribute Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture on my field. Amano Rei: do you have a Spell Card in your hand?"
Ivaliss had specifically directed the question at Amano rather than Chiha, clearly having read that Amano's hand was completely empty.
Zero hand cards. Obviously no Spell Card to show. Nothing to block the draw.
"Chiha, don't hesitate!" Amano immediately redirected Chiha's attention to the more pressing problem.
The second Ivaliss, just Tributed and sent to the Graveyard, was about to activate its own effect and Special Summon itself onto their field again.
The window to respond before that effect resolved and locked them out was closing right now.
Chiha grasped Amano's meaning instantly and flipped her Set card.
"Quick-Play Spell: Super Galaxy activates!"
This was practically Chiha's obvious Set card. Last turn's activation was this same Quick-Play Spell shown face-up to block Dark Spirit "Greed."
Super Galaxy
[Quick-Play Spell: Tribute 1 monster you control other than "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" with 2000 or more ATK, then target 1 monster the opponent controls with 2000 or more ATK. Destroy that target, then Special Summon 1 "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard.]
"I Tribute Blue-Eyes White Dragon on my field and destroy Invoked Augoeides on your field. Then I Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from my Deck!"
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: Tributed.
Invoked Augoeides: Destroyed.
"Galaxy shining in the darkness, become a light of hope and dwell within me!"
"Avatar of light, descend now!!"
"Appear, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!!"
The same chant. Delivered by Chiha with full force, it carried an energy that Ivaliss's emotionally flat version had lacked entirely.
There was no point to dueling if you could not throw yourself into it.
Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon [ATK: 3,000]
Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon both had 3,000 ATK. But Super Galaxy's effect had not simply swapped one for the other.
More importantly, it had taken Invoked Augoeides, the most problematic monster on the field, down with it.
After Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon arrived, Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture landed right behind it, materializing on Amano's side once more.
Ivaliss smiled with her usual composure. "I'm back. Don't get tired of me, Amano Rei."
The only player who could genuinely not get tired of her would be someone who happened to be running a Link deck in a duel with an Extra Monster Zone. The count of people in that category in this room was zero.
After refilling her hand by two cards via Dark Spirit "Greed," Ivaliss loaded an Equip Spell into her back row.
"Equip Spell: Snatch Steal activates."
Snatch Steal
[Equip Spell: Take control of 1 opponent's monster. During each of the opponent's Standby Phases, the opponent gains 1000 LP.]
Another banned card. Another one.
What kind of deck was this? It was a graveyard of ancient forbidden cards mixed with Aleister, Invocation, and a Link-era monster as its core mechanic. Somehow both ancient and modern at the same time.
"I equip Snatch Steal to Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and take control of it."
Spreading its radiant galaxy wings, Galaxy-Eyes seemed to make some internal decision, turned without looking back, and walked off of Chiha's field.
Chiha looked like she might actually cry. "My Galaxy-Eyes..."
If there was a single most unfortunate person in this duel, it was Kaiba Chiha. She had been on the receiving end of every nasty trick from start to finish, fully experiencing what it felt like to be completely betrayed and abandoned.
On the positive side: all the cards that kept targeting her might be the Eva mainframe trying to tell her something.
"I set one more card face-down. Turn end."
The turns cycled, and it was Chiha's again.
"My turn, draw!"
Amano and Chiha LP: 4,000 to 5,000.
Snatch Steal's Standby Phase LP recovery ticked up thanks to the card now equipped to Chiha's stolen Galaxy-Eyes.
But the card Chiha drew made her face complicated.
She had only two cards in hand. With Galaxy-Eyes stolen and Ivaliss blocking Special Summons again, she had nothing she could do this turn.
And the card she had just drawn was one of those that Amano had left for Yui, which Yui had passed on to her.
She had included it as a deck filler because she was short on cards.
Noticing Chiha's hesitation, Amano said quietly: "Even if it's hard, you keep fighting, Kaiba Chiha. Better to throw every playable card out there than to give up."
"F-fine! I'm going!"
Chiha slammed the drawn card into her Duel Disk.
"Spell Card: Dark Factory of Mass Production activates!"
Dark Factory of Mass Production
[Spell Card: Target 2 Normal Monsters in your Graveyard. Add those targets to your hand.]
Amano had not actually expected Chiha to play this specific card at the most critical turn of the duel.
Where were her own cards? All those Pots of Greed, Graceful Charities, Painful Choices she used to carry everywhere, every one worth a fortune?
Not a single one had appeared in this entire duel, and Amano had already guessed why.
Kaiba Chiha had been possessed by a dark duelist for an entire night. Those rare cards had almost certainly been stripped from her during that period.
She had been filling her deck with hand-me-down cards ever since.
And Dark Factory of Mass Production would not even have been activatable if this had been a solo duel. There were exactly two Normal Monsters in the Graveyard, both Amano's.
"I retrieve Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice and Blue-Eyes White Dragon from the Graveyard!"
Taking both cards back into her hand, Chiha's expression went through something difficult to name.
At the very beginning of everything, she had come to District 32 specifically to obtain this Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Then in the entrance duel that sent her into freefall, she had lost to this same Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice, a garbage monster she had always dismissed.
Both cards had changed the course of her life.
But when she held them in her hand during an actual duel, she found she did not hate them as much as she had expected to.
This fall to the lower districts had made her reconsider who she was.
She did not want to go back to being the useless Kaiba second daughter, the one every person smiled at to her face and privately considered worthless.
"Chiha!" Amano called out with a suggestion. "Summon Eve! She is the ace after all."
"Summon... Eve?"
"She's marked as the most important card, isn't she?"
Chiha looked again at Eve's card, the black data chains still wound around it.
The ace of Amano Rei's deck as chosen by the Displaced Singularity.
Not the highest ATK Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Not the ultra-rare Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl.
Amano Rei's ace, his soul card, was genuinely this flat-figured priestess.
Amano grinned with complete confidence. "An ace card, a soul card. It is the card that never lets you down, no matter when you need it. Go, Chiha."
"I honestly cannot believe I'm listening to you, Amano Rei."
She said it, but her hand moved in direct contradiction as she placed Eve onto her Duel Disk.
"I Normal Summon Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice in Attack Position!"
Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice [ATK: 0]
Two Eves, black and white, were on the field together again.
One turn ago, Chiha had lectured Amano for being an idiot who wasted his Normal Summon on a 0 ATK monster while Special Summons were locked.
Now the karma of that moment had circled back and hit Chiha squarely in the head, because she had just Normal Summoned that exact same 0 ATK monster herself.
Maybe she was also an idiot.
"Battle, Chiha! Attack Number 39: Utopia with Eve!"
"Are you serious, Amano Rei?"
Sending 0 ATK to attack 5,000 ATK Utopia.
"Trust my ace card. It'll be fine."
"If we lose, I am not taking any responsibility."
Already committed to what she privately considered a foolish action, Chiha decided to see it through completely.
"I attack Number 39: Utopia with Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice!"
Eve: "No, no, no no no no, what are you doing to me?!"
Even Eve herself had no confidence in this. That was a monster with ATK exceeding Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on the other end.
Sending her at 0 ATK as a battering ram was not a strategy. At the very least give her an equip card.
Unfortunately, Underdog Jewels had no effect against Xyz Monsters.
And this battle did not need any equip cards.
Looking across the whole field, only Amano maintained his confidence from the start. "An ace card is the card that carries everyone's hope. The card that swings for a way out even from the bottom of despair!"
Eve closed her eyes, threw out her powerless little fist, and desperately tried not to imagine what was about to happen when Utopia hit her back.
Number 39: Utopia shattered before her fist made contact.
Eve peeked with one eye. The Utopia that should have demolished her was already crumbling to pieces in front of her, and she could not process what she was seeing.
That had been a 5,000 ATK monster.
"Exactly what I was looking at."
That particular Number 39: Utopia was the starlight rare version. And the starlight rare version carried an additional effect that Amano remembered better than any other printing.
[If this card is targeted for an attack while it has no Xyz Materials, destroy it.]
This effect was mandatory and could not be prevented even by the controller.
When Utopia had negated its own attack last turn and activated Double or Nothing, it had detached its final Xyz Material.
Which meant the Utopia standing on the field had zero Xyz Materials remaining.
When targeted for an attack, a Utopia with no Materials did not need to reach the damage calculation step. It destroyed itself automatically.
Number 39: Utopia: destroyed.
Eve versus Utopia.
Eve wins.
Eve stared at her intact hands and could barely believe what she was touching. "I... I actually won? I beat Utopia?!"
Ivaliss, Phantom Rupture, watching from the sideline, registered visible annoyance. "Attacking with me would have achieved the exact same result. Is this about me being an outsider, Amano Rei?"
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