A Legacy of Souls: Terminate the Dream

by Medigo

The virtual world of dueling has survived many threats, but the worst has yet to come. New entities born from the minds of millions seek power to shape the destiny of living. Heroes will be turned against each other as it becomes impossible to trust anyone. And in the middle of it all, one duelist struggles to return to his friends to save them from the one who has stolen his life.

113. World 105: It's All In the Name

World 105: It's All in the Name

The heroes hit a run of good news, with Vigionair making it back safely to Dharma's place and news coming in from other brave duelists who were willing to help... The champions, with the help of V-duelists Lil-la and Ki-sikil managed to spread the word around every dueling circuit like the dueltainers and the speed duelists. Even old faces like Skylander and Imperius dropped by. Of course not everyone could fit in here, but they were being kept up to date on current and future plans.

"You need what?" It was at the height of this fortune influx that Scarlet Rose came with a dangerous request. "I need to visit the research center, the one run by mister Renner." She said as if it would be the easiest thing in the world to do. "Even though that area has its own closed system? You know what that means, Scarlet." Continuum could ambush them there just as easily as it did back at Exeter HQ. "It is a risk I am willing to take. Only their data can help us track down every remaining closed system. We are on our own remember." They could get every duelist they wanted, but men and women of science were in much smaller supply. "And you think you're gonna go off there alone? No, I am coming with you." Charles insisted. "Oh? Is that because you do not trust me. Or because you care about my wellbeing?" Scarlet smiled faintly.

"Don't get cocky. We need you. We cannot let you out of our sight." Hydra chimed in, backing Charles up with his disembodied voice. "I will accompany you as well, Charles. I would have gone with her anyway." The invisible duelist admitted. "I appreciate that." Charles would have asked Cherry or Tycho himself, but the former would likely have said no and the latter was still nowhere to be found. "Let's go then. The sooner the better."

He would be a bit delayed however. "Charles? Is this a good time?" Because that's when his parents came back into the picture. Understandably they had many questions, though in this case only his father approached him. "Da.. Arthur. You were awake? Why didn't you tell me?" Charles exclaimed. "We've been awake for a while now actually. But you seemed so busy, we didn't know when to interrupt. Someone called Therese Hansen informed us of the situation.. though I have to say me and Gwen still do not really get it. I couldn't even tell if you were talking to someone just now."

"Ah. I was talking to Hydra. Hydra, this is Arthur Adami. My father. Dad, this is Hydra. He can turn invisible." Charles gestured at the air around him, lacking any clue as to where the invisible duelist would really be. "That is an oversimplification of my abilities, but yes. A good day to you to sir." Hydra made himself temporarily visible, though still faceless, to give him a chance to shake his hand. "I see. You've got a lot of interesting friends, Charles." A fascinated Arthur chuckled and accept the handshake. "I do understand that we're at one of your friends places, and that you are doing something important. Right? Should we be worried? Is there anything we can do?" There was still much to come to terms with. "I don't know. Right now there is something I have to do myself, to go to a place I visited in the past. We wont be long. But I think you should just stay here with Gwen, it will be safer." He wanted to say more, to tell them he was sorry about abandoning them before. But it seemed like Echo had indeed taken that nightmare away from their memories.

"Well, I wouldn't know where to go anyway. But It looks like you do. So I will trust you, son." The old man nodded. "...Thanks, dad." It felt strange to have to protect them, but Charles did not dislike the feeling.. Nothing could be wrong about wanting to defend your friends and family.

...

Ragnarok's LP: 1800 Wagner's LP: 5500

-TURN 07-

"Bring it, Ragnarok! Summon your monsters, use your spells! I cannot lose anymore!" Aurora was here now, and Wagner wanted nothing more than to make her happy, a feeling he regretted not experiencing a lot earlier. But he would have to wait before he could make a move, as Wagner's opponent reactivated the Generaider Boss Stage right at the start of his turn. Ragnarok's field spell special summoned the horned underworld goddess: Hel the Generaider Boss of Doom(9/800/2800) [Zone 5] in face-up defense mode and also created four Generaider tokens(4/1500/1500) [Zones 1,2,3 & 4]. "Hmph. Now it's my time to shine! I set one card, and then I activate Valhalla, the Hall of the Fallen! Each turn I can..." What better way would there be to honor her, than to use the continuous spell that they both shared?

"There wont be any glory for you, Wagner! Not in this life or the next! You're going where I am going!" That honor could be easily shattered. "Did you forget that I have Trias Hierarchia as well? The Generaider tokens are all fairy monsters, which means I can tribute them all to revive her!" Ragnarok sacrificed the three leftmost tokens to activate the revival effect of his own hierarchy angel(9/1900/2900) [Zone 3]. And since he tributed three monsters she would use both of her powers: destroying one card on the field and also drawing two cards from Ragnarok's deck. "Gah, I am sorry Aurora." Wagner winced when the white angel broke the halls of Valhalla. "Ha! This is the one you would defend, Aurora? Look at him! He cannot even protect your cards, let alone your loved ones! Continuum is coming! You will need ME to survive!"

"It's just a card. He has many more." Aurora replied calmly. The only thing that could bothered her was Ragnarok trying to get in between her and Wagner. "Yes! And she can choose her own friends!" Wagner backed her up. He would just have to adjust his plans. By activating the Celestial Observatory spell card in his hand, he could send the level 6 Valkyrie Erste back to the deck to draw two new cards. "That is not how you felt about her before, Wagner! You know in your heart that she could make no better choice than us! Look at us, look at our home, our family! We were already superior to everyone else around us. The only difference between us is that I have more power than you! You're just as bad as you say I am!" Ragnarok shouted again. "Geez, you still think you're me? Get over yourself! How about you focus on a choice like this instead?" Wagner revealed one of his newly drawn card. "I activate the spell, Final Light! I can special summon Valkyries from my graveyard by paying a thousand lifepoints!" Wagner paid the cost twice, to resurrect Valkyrie Dritte(3/1600/1600) [Zone 2] and Valkyrie Sechste(1/0/1600) [Zone 1].

Wagner's LP: 3500

"You're a fool. Final Light also lets me summon monsters from my graveyard!" Ragnarok laughed. The spell of the final curtain could revive any of his monsters with 2000 ATK or less. Currently he only controlled one such monster: Generaider Loptr(4/1500/1500) [Zone 2]. "Heh. I could have summoned more if I wanted. But two is enough! Dritte and Sechste activate their effects!" The redhaired Valkyrie added the Valkyrie Brunhilde card to his hand, the youngest Valkyrie special summoned one Valkyrie from the deck: Valkyrie Sigrun(9/2200/2400) [Zone 5] with her long night-black hair and glistening purple armor. "Sigrun summons a Valkyrie from my graveyard! I choose Valkyrie Zweite!" The final piece of land on his field got claimed by the pinkhaired slayer maiden Zweite(5/1600/1600). The plan would have been for her to kill the Divine Arsenal AA Zeus(R12/3000/3000) with her own effect. "Too late!" Except Ragnarok did his own special summons in between the influx of Valkyrie. "Hel can sacrifice my Generaiders to revive my Generaiders!" The queen of the underworld sacrificed the last Generaider token and brought back the Flame Boss Naglfar(9/3100/200).

"Oh pff.. Of course that would happen." Wagner muttered. Naglfar's effect involved redirecting a card's destruction to another Generaider monster on the field. It grabbed Zweite's sword, took it from her and tossed it into the towards Hel. "Nothing you do will catch me! I am invincible, Wagner! Now, when my card is destroyed, I can attach one other card from the deck to AA Zeus!" Hel perished due to the valkyrie's blade, while the Generaider Frodi in the deck turned into the Divine Sky Thunder's latest attachment. Loptr also tributed itself to special summon a new Generaider from the deck: the the last blonde elf Mardel(9/2400/2400), whose effect was used to add a third Generaider Boss Quest to the hand. "Her again?" Wagner winced. The fact that Ragnarok specifically chose to give himself his field spell again could only be bad news. "Yes! Her again! Now I activate Generaider Boss Bite and tribute my Generaiders to attach two Generaiders to my XYZ-monster!" The message got spelled out even more as soon as the third Mardel and Naglfar cleared the field, so the first Hel and Mardel could be attached to Divine Arsenal AA-Zeus. "Zeus! Send everything he has to the graveyard!"

The XYZ-monster of thunder used up 2 of its 5 XYZ-materials and unleashed a second storm upon the field. Trias Hierarchia, Sechste, Zweite, Sigrun and Wagner's set card all vanished underneath the flashing rain of thunder. "He saw her coming.." Crescent realized what Wagner intended to do: tribute summon the Valkyrie Brunhilde so he could send Trias Hierarchia to the graveyard as a sacrifice and revive that angel in the same turn with two of three more tributes. Though that was only one part of his plan. "Well I saw what he saw! But he did not see this!" Wagner pointed at his graveyard, revealing the trap that AA Zeus took away. "Apple of Enlightenment! Since you sent it to the grave, Ragnarok, I can draw one card!" The second part came into play now and let Wagner add the monster on top of his deck to his hand.

"Aha! Time for a new shade! This is the Condemned Witch!" So far all his angels belonged to the LIGHT, but this new one had fallen into the darkness. A pale witch(100/2000) [Zone 4] wore a black hood and cloak with a long left sleeve to hide her demonic scales and devilish horns. "When I summon her normally, I may add any forbidden spell to my hand!" That would involve one of the five Forbidden quickplay spells: Chalice, Lance, Robe, Scripture or Droplets. Wagner chose to add the Forbidden Chalice from his deck to the hand and placed the spell card face down. "That was my turn!"

-TURN 08-

"The forbidden spells? How many secret weapons do you need to fall back on, before you realize it will not make any difference!" Ragnarok restarted the storm of Sky Thunder as soon as the game allowed him, detaching two more XYZ-materials from Zeus. "Are we talking about you again? I mean what else would you talk about eh?" Wagner's already got his response ready, he flipped the Forbidden Chalice face-up and targeted AA Zeus. "Forbidden Chalice negates your monster's effect and adds 400 attackpoints to it!" A few drops of holy water from the cup were enough to short circuit the divine thunder machine, and made the skies become just a little bit more clear. "And then, if you are ready to start your actual main phase, Condemned Witch will tribute herself to summon one lowlevel angel from my deck!"

"I choose Valkyrie Sechste!" She might have been condemned, but the witch card could still experience some form of redemption by sacrificing herself for the life of the youngest Valkyrie(1/0/1600) [Zone 1]. "Again? How many times are you going to summon her?" Ragnarok cursed, this would be his third time dealing with Valkyrie Sechste. "You are one to talk, running three Mardels and what else have you! It's just one more aspect that we share!" The now summoned Sechste could special summon another Valkyrie Sigrun(9/2200/2400) [Zone 2] from his deck, who would also revive Valkyrie Zweite[Zone 3]. "Now it's time for your god to fall!" Zweite's blade finally found its true target. She rushed towards AA Zeus on her white horse and slashed her sword vertically to divide the sky and the Sky Thunder. "Your cards are not invincible, and you are not invincible! Otherwise you would not be here to begin with! You'd be going after Schwarzwald to get your shield back if you really were that confident in yourself!"

"Be quiet! My confidence is absolute! You will always be less than me!" Even without Zeus, Ragnarok would keep his tempest going. Now that he no longer controlled any cards, he could activate his Ligthning Storm spell to destroy all monsters on Wagner's field. "Damn!" Wagner couldn't save his monsters. He could mitigate his losses however. "Trias Hierarchia!" The white angel returned from the grave after the Valkyrian duelist sacrificed his three Valkyrie monsters. There were no cards for Hierarchia[Zone 2]to destroy, but at least now Wagner could draw two new cards before the Lightning Storm blasted her away. "Ahaha! Finally you've run out of words to say, Wagner!" Ragnarok immediately performed his own resurrection with the Monster Reborn spell, using it to resurrect Naglfar(9/3100/200) [Zone 3]. "In the end that is all you are! Talk!" The Generaider of Flames launched his fist straight towards Wagner, melting the snow around him and sending the duelist rolling backwards. "Ghffh!"

Wagner's LP: 400

"Wagner!" Aurora gasped. She tried to get closer to him, only for Naglfar to slam its claws down to keep her away... "Don't lament his loss! He does not deserve your pity, Aurora! He is only half the man that you became friends with! He is not the man you adore and love! That is me!" Ragnarok howled. "Love?" The fact that he used that word made Crescent feel more than a little strange. "You love me, Aurora. You just do not want to admit it. Deep down you know you need a strong man to fight for you, to help you get the truth and peace you want! He cannot be that man anymore! But we can. Together we will be perfect again!" Ragnarok moved on to the second main phase, and activated both Generaider Boss Stage and One Day of Peace. The latter normal spell made both players draw one card, but neither would take damage for two turns. "So I am going to give him one more chance to agree with my terms." The effect of Generaider Boss Quest also activated, summoning another Generaider Harr(9/3000/3000) [Zone 4] of the Storm from his deck. "He has no other choice, you.."

"It wasn't love..." Crescent interrupted. "What? What did you say?" Ragnarok flinched.

"It was not love that I felt for you." Crescent repeated herself with a clearer tone. "Huh? How would you know? You cannot even tell what love is! Why else would you put up with him? With me?" Ragnarok asked, growling after every sentence. "Because I did not know any better, because I could not make any friends on my own. Wagner was the only one who wanted to be close to me, even if it was only to use me at first.. to let me help him do things he couldn't like studying. It was only when I met the others, Blanche, Scura and Void.. that I realized I could do better, that I learned what a real friend would do for me. Even then I could not let go, because I felt like I owed him. But then Wagner learned to be a real friend.. he is different now from what he was before. The only one who has not changed is you. That is why I can never love you, Ragnarok."

"Feh! It's only a matter of time! I took an interest in you for one reason only, Aurora! I always get what I want! I XYZ-summon the Sacred Tree Beast Hyperyton!" Ragnarok tossed both Harr and Naglfar into the XYZ-portal, attaching them to green forest beast(R9/2600/1900) [Extra Zone 1] with a tail of orange leaves, horns of spiraling wood and wings of blue feathers. "When I activate a card during my turn, I can attach one card of the same type to Hyperyton!" Ragnarok activated the continuous Generaider Boss Loot spell card, which would prevent any player from attacking tokens while their opponent controlled a Generaider effect monster. Hyperyton then used its own power to attach another Generaider Boss Quest spell card from the deck. "Ha! Now it's your turn, Wagner. But I would not bother getting up for it! You cannot even hurt me!" Ragnarok's own turn ended after he placed his trap card face down. One Day of Peace however would continue to nullify all damage until the next turn ended.

-TURN 09-

"This does not look very good." Wagner groaned. He managed to dig his way out of the snow, only to be met with the latest Generaider invasion. His draw reactivated Generaider Boss Stage and special summoned the Boss from the upper right realm: Utgarda the giant gold-spired white castle(9/2200/2700). [Zone 1]. Once it appeared in defense mode, four more Generaider Tokens(4/1500/1500) [Zones 2,3,4 & 5] followed. "But I am not worried. If I do not win this, I do not know what's going to happen to me. But I know you will get me back, Aurora. I still need you, I guess." He smiled at her. now he at least recognized just how much he depended on her. "Of course.. because you would do the same for me, Wagner. Though, I would like it more if you do win." She replied bluntly. She did believe in him in the end. "Ha. That's a good one, Aurora. I will certainly try! I activate Lightning Storm!" With there being no more cards on his side of the field, he could use his own thunderstorm spell to clean up the opponent's field just a little.

"Your thunder is nowhere near as strong as mine, Wagner! Behold Hyperyton's power! Once during your turn it can detach one card to negate an effect of a card with the same type!" Ragnarok took Hyperyton's Generaider spell away, and sent a whirlwind of green leaves into the sky to disrupt the storm clouds before they could build up lightning. "I still hear that one word I like, Ragnarok! Once! That means you cannot stop this!" Wagner activated his next spell: Ride of the Valkyries. "Gah. You managed to draw it?" The sky stayed clear to open up another path of holy light from the heavens. "It was bound to happen sooner or later!" Wagner could special summon all the Valkyrie monsters in his hand: a second Valkyrie Dritte(4/1600/1600) [Zone 2], a Valkyrie Chariot(3/500/1000) [Zone 3], Valkyrie Erda(9/2000/2200) [Zone 4] and Valkyrie Brunhilde(8/1800/2000) [Zone 5]. Dritte's effect added another Valkyrie to his hand: Valkyrie Funfte. The lighthaired Erda drained 1000 attackpoints from all the opposing monsters(Hyperyton: 1700 atk, Generaider Tokens: 500 atk, Utgarda: 1200 atk), while Brunhilde(4800/2000) gained 500 attackpoints for each monster Ragnarok controlled.

"You never learn! I activate Utgarda's power! I can sacrifice two Generaider monsters to banish one card you control!" The giant realm castle absorbed the two tokens right next to it and sent a wave of energy forward to carve up the field. The created crevice swallowed Valkyrie Brunhilde completely, sending her even deeper then the graveyard. "Well, maybe I do not need her!" Wagner suggested before he activated the effect of Valkyrie Chariot. He could equip the union monster to one his Valkyrie warriors, letting Valkyrie Dritte's white horse pull her along inside a golden chariot. "I cannot inflict any damage this turn. But... what If I skip the next turn?!" Wagner smirked as he banished his Ride of Valkyries spell and added a second Mischief of the Time Goddess to his hand. A turn without an endphase still ended, which also meant the effect of One Day of Peace would also end.

"!" Ragnarok had not counted on that. "Yes, you know what this means!" Wagnerok placed one card face-down on his field and normal summoned Valkyrie Funfte(2/800/1200) [Zone 4] the short purple-haired Valkyrie who added 200 attackpoints to herself(1600/1200) and Dritte(2600/1600) for each of Ragnarok's banished monsters. "When a monster equipped with Valkyrie Chariot attacks, they gain 500 attackpoints! Dritte, Funfte! Attack!" The Loot spell forced Wagner to attack the tokens before any of the main Generaider effect monsters first, and their destruction would not cost Ragnarok any lifepoints yet. Nevertheless Wagner declared his attacks, sending the younger Valkyrie to break one of the tokens while a powered up Dritte(3100/1600) charged towards Hyperyton.

"I get it, Utgarda cannot banish your monsters if I do not have any Generaiders to sacrifice. So it will have to sacrifice itself as well and leave myself defenseless! But if I do nothing, then you will just destroy the token and win the duel that way, right?" Wagner's intentions could not have been more straightforward. Valkyrie Dritte(3600 atk) took another powerboost from Valkyrie Chariot and charged the last Generaider token with enough power to end the duel. "But neither of those futures are going to become a reality! The legacy is still on my side!" Ragnarok flipped a quickplay spell: World Legacy Clash. "I banish my Generaider token and drain its attackpower from your monster!" Dritte would gain no attackpoints since tokens did not count as banished monsters. "Tch. But I can destroy Valkyrie Chariot to negate the destruction of my Valkyrie!" The weakened Dritte(1600) abandoned her attack, jumping out of the chariot which smashed into pieces against the Sacred Tree beast. At least thanks to One Day of Peace, Wagner took no battle damage. "But I will still activate Mischief of the Time Goddess at the end of my battle phase!" The quickplay spell jumped time forward again..

-TURN 11-

"So you can inflict battle damage now? What is the point?" The effects of World Legacy Clash would persist nonetheless, neither Dritte nor Funfte could overpower Hyperyton or Utgarda. A card like Honest would not save Wagner now either, as Hyperyton could activate its negation effect again. "There is something else I can do now actually, Ragnarok. Because it's no longer the turn in which this card was set!" Hyperyton however, did not have any trap cards attached to herself. "I activate Banquet of Millions! I can banish cards from my extra deck face-down! And for each card I banish, one of your monsters in the extra deck is banished face-up as well!" Nothing could not stop this trap from banishing twelve cards in Wagner's extra deck. "What? Since when did you use that many extra deck monsters?" Outside of the odd couple of support cards, Valkyries had never depended much on power outside of the main deck. "Since I came up with this new combo! I wasn't using them for anything else anyway!" The trap banished the 12 remaining monsters in Ragnarok's extra deck.

"A.. mazing." This trick took Crescent by surprise too. Valkyrie Funfte(4000/1200) now added another 2400 attackpoints to all Valkyrie monsters on the field, while Valkyrie Dritte(6400/1600) could use her own ability to pour another 2400 attackpoints on top of that first boost. "I did not think I could pull it off to be honest. Guess you learn something new every day." Winning the duel now would be easy, mechanically at least. Wagner would just have to destroy Hyperyton with Dritte to remove Ragnarok's remaining lifepoints. "But.. what is going to happen to him, if I do this? I would hate to waste such a handsome face." He smirked on the outside, but felt conflicted on the inside. "If you do this... He will be disappear and his memories will become part of you again." Crescent tried to say it nicely, though there were few ways to sugarcoat. "Geez. Are you sure there is no other way? What if we give him his own body or something?" Wagner now suddenly hesitated at the last second. "Then he would still be what Static made him. But maybe.. we could let Echo help him." Crescent always did find it unfair that people like Wagnerok never had a choice but to be rotten...

But all their thoughts were for naught. "Feh! Don't bother!" Because Ragnarok declared his own defeat, by placing his hand on his deck. "What are you.." Wagner won the duel before he could even act. "Ha. I get to have the last word after all! Hahaha!" Ragnarok laughed out loud. "But you are going to.." Wagner saw the aura of light surround his opponent, and begin to break down his virtual body. "I would rather lose then let anyone change me into a weaker version of myself! I am Ragnarok or nothing at all! I hope you enjoy what I learned, Wagner! Maybe you can do better. But I doubt it! Hahaha!" The Generaider duelist became brighter and more luminous, before he burst into light and disappeared within the flash...

Ragnarok's LP: 0

"That fool." Crescent shook her head. "He wanted to end it his way. It's what I would have.. wanted too." Wagner let out a sigh. He gave Ragnarok that feeling of pride. "Don't blame yourself, Wagner. Static started this. And he is not really gone, is he?" She wondered if any of this caused a change within Wagner. "I ..don't know. I don't remember anything new. What does any of this mean?"

(To Be Continued in World 106: Devil's Proof)

New Cards used by Miss Echo
Condemned Witch
Valkyrie Chariot

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Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen
Forbidden Chalice

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Banquet of Millions

New Cards used by Continuum
Utgarda, Generaider Boss of Delusion

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Sacred Tree Beast, Hyperyton

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Generaider Boss Loot
World Legacy Clash