Dragon of Water - Firera
Proxy's POV
I gulped. My stomach must have shrunk into a ball out of fear. How wouldn't it? I was standing in front of a Knight of Hanoi, a captain on top of that. I was never able to win a solo duel against a Knight of Hanoi, but I couldn't show how scared I was because of the Ignis that I was holding. It shouldn't worry about me, it was a friend of Ai and that meant it was my duty to protect it from the Knights of Hanoi. Well, at least until I got give it to Playmaker or someone who would have an easier time protecting it than me.
"I detect that your heartbeat has increased." The Ignis floated up to my level. "I'm not an expert about human anatomy, but you appear to be under stress and that's not good for the health. If I might, I would like to suggest several ways to relax."
That got me to chuckle. Of course I wouldn't be able to hide how scared I was from the Ignis. Unlike humans, it could actually look into how my body is functioning and make up its conclusions. There was no way to silence the fear in my chest, I would just have to face my opponent and try to ignore it.
"I'm going to start the duel." The Captain raised his palm and five cards appeared inside of it. "That's a good starting hand. I activate the Field Spell, The Gates of Dark World. While this card is face-up on the field, all Fiend-type monster I control gain three hundred extra attack and defense points."
Three hundred? That wasn't a very significant boost, but I could see that the card had more effects to it. The Knight must have choose deliberately to remain silent about them so he could catch me in a trap, but I already learned to read the text of the cards that are being played, so, ha! I'm not going to fall for such a cheap dirty tactic again.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Card Destruction! This spell forces us to discard all cards in your hand and drew the same number from our deck!" The remaining three cards appeared in his hand and he shattered them before drawing three new ones. So he was using a deck that focus on discarding as well?
"At this moment the effects of Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World and Ceruli, Guru of Dark World activate in my Graveyard." It really was a discarding focused deck! "When Beiige is discarded, I can Special Summon it on my side of the field and when Ceruli is discarded, I can Special Summon it on your side of the field."
A black vortex appeared in the middle of the field and two gross monsters jumped out of it. The first one was a spear man with purple skin and white armor made from bones while the second one was a small creature in dark armor with a blue cloak. They landed on the Captain and my fields respectively with 1900 attack and 300 defense, respectively.
"I hope the cards you had in your hand weren't good because this would have sucked for you then." The Captain laughed, but unknown to him, he was far too wrong about it.
"Heh, this is great!" I smiled and pressed the buttons on my Duel Disk to apply all cards' effects. "I was worried what deck you might be using, but my BrioGear are a discard focused archetype as well, so now the effects of my cards are going to activate as well! BrioGear Geratorned's effect lets me add a Level Four or lower WATER monster from my Graveyard to the hand, BrioGear Octobat lets me Special Summon one BrioGear Bat Token (Lv.1, DEF: 100) and my Field Spell BrioGear Ark of Silence can be activated if it gets discarded."
BrioGear Ark of Silence (Spell) Field
If this card is discarded from your hand or sent from your Deck to the GY: Activate this card in your Field Spell Zone. Each time a card(s) is discarded from your hand, place 1 Life Counter on this card. All WATER monsters you control gain 200 ATK and DEF for each Life Counter on this card. This card gains the following effects depending on the number of Life Counters on this card. ● 2+: This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. ● 4+: Once per turn: You can discard 1 card from your hand to target 1 card on the field; destroy that target. ● 7+: Draw 1 more card during your Draw Phase. ● 10+: You can target 1 monster in your GY; send this card to the GY, and if you do, Special Summon that target.
A token card materialized in my hand and I put it on the Duel Disk before taking the cards that popped from my Duel Disk. I put the Field Spell in the Field slot and added the other to my hand.
"And just so you know, the monster I added to my hand by the effect of BrioGear Geratorned is the Level Three, BrioGear Freakiver." I showed the card to the Knight of Hanoi.
"It seems that you are in your element here." The Ignis commented and looked back at me. "Your heartbeat is normal, it appears that you calmed down. That's good, you shouldn't push yourself."
"Aw, thanks." I smiled at the little creature, it was actually caring about me and my well-being. It was so sweat! "Don't worry! Now that I know what I'm up against, there is no way to lose!"
"So we are both using the same playstyle, huh?" The Captain clicked his tongue. "But that doesn't mean our decks are equal in strength! The second effect of Ceruli, Guru of Dark World activates on your field! Since it was Special Summon by the effect of a Dark World card, in this case itself, you must discard a card from my hand."
"Discard a card from your hand?" Why would he have a monster with an effect to not only summon itself on my side of the field, but also let me discard a card from his hand? That didn't make much sense to me.
"Hmm, I see." The Ignis rubbed its chin and turned toward me. "Since his deck focuses on discarding, he must find different ways to discard his hand. The effect of this monster is to ensure that you would help him even if you don't have a cards that would force him to discard."
"I see!" Yes, the Ignis was right. Or I was too stupid not to notice that obvious connection between his monster's effect and the rest of his deck.
"Choice already!" The Captain shouted at me. Jeez, fine! No need to show at me for this!
But, if I choose the wrong card I would be giving him even more advantage. "I choose the one at the left. Maybe?"
"The card you choose to discard is Snoww, Unlight of Dark World so now its effect activates!" Damn it, I made a bad choice! "When Snoww is discarded by an opponent's effect, I can Special Summon a monster in your Graveyard to my side of the field in Defense Position. The one I choose is BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, DEF: 2100)!"
Ah dang it! Leviathan Dragon had a powerful effect in the Graveyard that at the cost of banishing two other WATER monsters from my Graveyard I could have been able to revive it. But now that it's no longer in my graveyard, I can't reclaim it.
"Then I activate the effect of Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World from my Graveyard." The Captain , Vanguard of Dark World jumped back and disappeared in a cloud of black mist after which a black dragon appeared to take its place. "By returning Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World to my hand, I'm able to Special Summon Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (Lv.8, ATK: 2700) from my Graveyard!"
"It seems that your opponent got the lead." I was about to say 'No shit' but I didn't want the Ignis to pick up on any bad words so I keep myself from swearing.
"Furthermore, the effect of The Gates of Dark World increases Grapha's attack and defense power by three hundred." The Captain pointed out.
Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, ATK: 2800 + 300 → 3100, DEF: 1800 + 300 → 2100
"I shall end my turn here!" the Captain said and put a hand on his hips. "It's your move now."
"Right!" I nodded and looked down at my Duel Disk. It's my turn, I must show the Ignis that I'm skilled enough to protect her. "My turn. Draw!"
『Turn 2 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 7』
"I will go ahead and start with a Link Summoning! Come forth, circuit of life!" A wave of water formed inside my hand and I threw toward the sky. However, instead of the regular square, a white circular mirror frame. Its inside was filed with a blue circuit pattern while eight open flowers were put in place of the arrowheads.
"Cool, I got a new summon sequence!" I couldn't help but grin at this fact before continuing. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements is a WATER monster with a level! I set BrioGear Bat Token in the Link Marker!" the token turned into a vortex and shot into the air, slamming into the bottom flower, which closed the moment it made contact with the monster. "Link Summon! Link One, BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600, Link-1)!"
A large wave of data fell onto the right Extra Monster Zone and my Link Monster jumped out if it, landing before me. "Lotaxol's effect activates!" I continued and gestured toward my monster. "When its Link Summoned, I can revive a level two or lower WATER monster from my grave. I choose BrioGear Octobat (Lv.1, DEF: 200)!"
"So you keep calling out weaklings?" I bit my lip, that captain had no right to call any of my monsters weak. Even if they lacked in attack numbers, they made up for that with their effects! "They're not going to do anything to my monsters!"
"You are wrong! When Octobat is summoned, all your monsters lose two hundred attack for each WATER monster on the field! Currently, there are my Octobat, Lotaxol and the Leviathan Dragon that you stole from me, so that's six hundred points cut straight from your monsters!" All three of my monsters joined forces despite being on different teams and summoned a huge wave that fell on top ofGrapha and my Leviathan Dragon, reducing their attack points.
Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, ATK: 3100 - 600 → 2500
Leviathan Dragon, ATK: 2600 – 600 → 2000
"Could I ask something" The Ignis raised a hand to speak with me and I nodded. "Sorry for interfering, but wouldn't you have caused more damage if you summoned a few monster more WATER monsters before using this effect?"
Right… I haven't Normal Summoned this turn yet. Ah, I messed up again despite how well I was doing! Ah, I just couldn't focus!
"Sorry, I messed up." I muttered so that only the Ignis could hear me. "But I'm not done yet. I'm going to Normal Summon BrioGear Freakiver (Lv.3, ATK: 1100) and activate its effect!" The zombie appeared before me with a pained moan and summon a dice in its hands. "I throw a dice and according to its result, I can look at that many cards from the top of my deck!"
The zombie threw its dice onto the field and I crossed my fingers for at least a three! The dice landed on the ground, bounced several times and then the final result was… only two!?
I winched and turned the top two cards of my deck. They were BrioGear Effect Slime and White Howling, a very bad pair to get with this effect. "According to Freakiver's effect, I must send Effect Slime to my Graveyard and shuffle the other cards into my deck."
"Ha, in the end you did nothing!" the captain laughed at me. He wasn't wrong though, not only did I fail to get any advantage, I even lost some by getting my Effect Slime throw in the Graveyard instead of adding it to my hand.
"It's not over yet. Come forth, circuit of life!" I threw my hands forward and opened the circuit again. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two BrioGear monsters! I set BrioGear Lotaxol and BrioGear Freakiver in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two, BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2)!"
My little mermaid monster dived into the flowery circuit and fell onto my Extra Monster Zone. One was here, one more to go!
"And for the third time, open, circuit of life!" The beautiful white mirror with flowers appeared in the sky above me. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level Three or lower Effect monsters! I set Octobat andCeruli, Guru of Dark World in the Link Markers!" The two monsters turned into vortexes, one blue and one black which then flew into the top and bottom flowers on the mirror. "Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)!"
There it was! My ace flew through the circuit and landed behind Enhance Mermail, several lightnings falling around her as she raised her left hand and activated the bow.
"I now activate the spell card, Treasure of the Six Gears!" I played a card that showed six gears of different colors, purple, yellow, orange, red, blue and green flying off into a light while two cards came out of the same light. "With this spell, I discard BrioGear Madoor from my hand to draw two new cards!"
Treasure of the Six Gears (Spell) Normal
Discard 1 "oGear" monster: Draw 2 cards. During your Draw Phase: If this card is in your GY, you can banish this card; draw more 1 card.
"Now that I discarded a card, the effect of BrioGear Ark of Silence activates and it gains one Life Counter." I said. "And for every Life Counter on that card, my WATER monsters gain two hundred attack points!" My two links raised their arms and clenched their fists with newfound power.
BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1700 + 200 → 1900
Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2100 + 200 → 2300
"Now let's battle!" This was it, I was going to destroy all of his monsters this turn! "I attack Leviathan Dragon with Grand Ranger Serene! Last Serenity!"
My monster jumped in the air and stretched out her left arm, creating an energy string that connected the two ends. A single blue arrow formed in her other hand and she put it on the bow, aiming for the dragon. Leviathan Dragon looked at me and then lowered its head, both of us knew that there was nothing else that could be done. Serene let go of the string and the arrow pierced my other monster's chest, destroying it.
"Next, I attack Grapha with Enhance Mermail and activate her effect! I halve Serene's attack points and give the lost half to Enhance Mermail until the end of this turn!" Serene pulled her bow again and fired an arrow which Enhance Mermail further enhanced by surrounding it with water, creating a sharp spear that flew straight for Grapha!
Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2300/2 → 1150
BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1900 + 1150 → 3150
The attack connected andGrapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World threw its head back before it exploded and the Captain yelled as the attack launched him backward into the sand behind.
『KOH Captain LP: 4000 - 650 → 3350』
"I set a card and end my turn!" I finished, placing a trap to protect me next turn. "During the End Phase, the effect of Enhance Mermail ends and my monsters attack powers return back to normal!"
Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 1150 → 2300
BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 3150 → 1900
"Good one!" the Ignis cheered for me. "You were able to deal some serious damage on your first turn! You are great!"
"I'm not sure if you are saying this because you really believe it, or you just want to make me feel more confident, but I know that what I just did isn't anything special." I laughed awkwardly. This Ignis was very kind and polite, almost the opposite of Ai, but I still liked that one as well!
"Heh, that was nothing." The captain chuckled and reached out for his Duel Disk. "Let me show you the noble power of Hanoi. It's my turn, I draw!"
『Turn 3 [KOH Captain] LP: 3350 Hand: 4』
"First, I activate the effect ofThe Gates of Dark World to banish Ceruli, Guru of Dark World and discard Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World to draw a card." The captain showed me the card and it faded before it was replaced by a new one. "Then, the effect of Beiige activates and it Special Summon itself from the Graveyard after which I return it to the hand and revive Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!" The purple monster appeared on the field for a moment and after that Grapha raised in its place again, roaring toward my monster.
"He was able to bring back his dragon!" The Ignis exclaimed. "And it's stronger than both of your monsters!" I wanted to tell it not to worry because of my set card, but I couldn't do that without revealing my plan to the Knight.
"Due to my Field Spell, Grapha's attack will be thirty one hundred." The Captain pointed out. "Also, I will also Normal Summon Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World (Lv.4, ATK: 1600 + 300 → 1900)." His weaker monster appeared again, this time standing beside the dragon. Still, it wasn't anything I couldn't take care of.
"It seems like you are sure that my attack won't go through." The Captain shook his head. How did he knew?! "But that's why I got this card! I activate Dark World Lightning to destroy your set card and then discard a card from my hand."
A lighting fell from the ceiling and hit my set card, shattering it. I winched as that happened and took a step back. Just saying the card that got destroyed was Titans of Disaster which could have halved the attack points of the Dark World monsters when they attacked. But now that it was destroyed I no longer had any protection. It was all up to my monsters.
"The effect of Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World activates! When it's discarded, I get to destroy one of your monsters." A frightening purple and black monster whose giant head was merged with its body appeared behindGrand Ranger Serene and stabbed her.
"Serene!" I reached out to grab her, but my ace shattered before I could reach her.
"Now that your mermaid no longer has a way to power itself, I'm going to destroy it with Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!" The dragon opened its mouth and charged a dark sphere of energy before it fired the attack, blowing up my mermaid.
『Proxy LP: 4000 - 1200 → 2800』
"Argh!" I gritted my teeth, the attack was actually able to push me back a few steps as well as create a cut on my right shoulder.
"Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World attack her directly!" I raised my head just in time to see the second monster jumped toward me with its spear.
"I activate the effect of BrioGear Bubble Sea from my hand!" A large bubble formed before me and blocked the incoming spear. "I discard Bubble Sea along with BrioGear Wave Crusade to reduce the damage I would take by their combined defense."
1200 plus 100 was 1300, which meant that I would only take 600 points of damage. Despite the best efforts of the bubble, Beiige's spear was able to pierce through it and cut me across the waist. I bit my lips and stepped back, again.
『Proxy LP: 2800 - 600 → 2200』
"BrioGear Ark of Silence gains one more Life Counter since I just discarded a card." Unfortunately, the effect counter every time that I discarded a card instead of every card that I discarded, so I had only two counters and not three.
"Tch, so you still had something up your sleeves, huh?" The Captain sounded annoyed. "I'm going to set a card and end my turn!"
"Good work, you were able to keep the damage to a minimum." The Ignis applauded me and then flew onto my head. "Sorry, but you won't mind if I stay where, will you? It's too dangerous to me anywhere else with all of the monsters' attacking and stuff."
"I don't mind!" I smiled at her. The Ignis was helping me focus and keep my cold with just being beside me. I felt that if it wasn't there I would have already lost it and the duel was probably going to be much worse for me that it was currently.
"Proxy!" I heard a familiar voice call out for me and raised my head. PhantomFire, Silver Star and Blaze Rose were all on the floor above us, standing behind the Knight of Hanoi.
"More showed up?" The Captain fumed and turned back to look at them. "How were you able to get past my squad?"
"We beat them, obviously." Silver Star shrugged.
"You what!?" The Captain yelled, clearly amazed. I had already seen them in action, so hearing that they beat a bunch of Hanoi Duelists wasn't much of a surprise for me.
"More importantly, look at what's beside Proxy!" Blaze Rose pointed toward me, or probably toward the Ignis on my head.
"The Water Ignis?" PhantomFire knew about it?
"You know about me as well?" The Ignis asked. "Are you three by a chance related to this human?"
"They are my friend!" I answered instead of them. "PhantomFire, Silver Star and Blaze Rose are all amazing people that helped me out and are fighting against the Knights of Hanoi! They are definitely going to help you out as well if you ask them!"
"Really? Humans would do that?" I raised an eyebrow at that question. What, she thought that humans wouldn't be willing to help someone in need?
"Of course! We humans are kind and would help someone in need!" Perhaps she was seeing humans as enemies because of the Knights of Hanoi, if so, I had to show her the kind side of us. "That's why I'm dueling right now. To help you out!"
The Ignis didn't say anything back to me. I wasn't going to press it, there were more important stuff to deal with at the moment, chatting could wait for later. I took a deep breath and raised my Duel Disk once again to continue the duel.
"During the End Phase of the turn in which I activated Bubble Sea's effect, I can revive one of the monsters that I discarded, so come back, BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, DEF: 100 + 400 → 500)." My most trusted knight raised on the field before me and put its sword in front of itself. "Then, I get to Special Summon a monster from my deck with the same level, so I choose Metabo-Shark (Lv.4, DEF: 500 + 400 → 900)."
I didn't have many Level Four monsters in the deck so using Metabo-Shark was a good way to save my better ones for more, important roles, and not what I was going to use this one for.
"She got two Level Fours." I heard Silver Star comment out loud for everyone to hear. "Do you think she is going to do, you know what?"
Xyz Summoning. That was the last step in the evolution of my deck. I obtained the cards that allowed me to do that from Evan and Avice, so they represented more than just my new strength. They represented my bond with the people that helped me get here in the first place!
"Now it's my turn. Draw!"
『Turn 4 [Proxy] LP: 2200 Hand: 4』
"This is my advancement. Open circuit of life!" I shouted and stretched out my hands, summoning the white mirror. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two WATER monsters! I set BrioGear Wave Crusadeand Metabo-Sharkin the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Two, BrioGear Shark Wise (ATK: 800 + 400 → 1200, Link-2)!" The humanoid shark landed in front of me and held its trident in readiness. "When Shark Wise is Link Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level Three or Four monster from my Graveyard, so raise again, Metabo-Shark (Lv.4, ATK: 1800 + 400 → 2200)!"
"You need one more." The Ignis pointed out.
"I know!" I smiled and pointed toward the ground, creating a black vortex right in front of me. "I activate BrioGear Leviathan Dragon's effect in my grave! I banish BrioGear Lotaxol and BrioGear Octobat to revive BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600 + 400 → 3000)!"
A stream of fire burst out of the vortex and my water dragon flew through it, landing behind me. It raised its head and roared.
"So you revived it after all." The captain commented. "And while I must admit that its attack power is enough to deal some serious damage, my Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World is just going to destroy it on my next turn!"
"You are wrong!" There wasn't going to be another turn. "I activate Leviathan Dragon's effect to revive BrioGear Wave Crusade (Lv.4, ATK: 1700 + 400 → 2100)." The Knight jumped onto my field beside Metabo-Shark. "And now I overlay the Level Four Wave Crusader and Metabo-Shark!"
A black glowing blank card appeared in the sky above me as the two monsters turned into blue energy and flew up, spiraling around it. The card began to spiral around itself as well, its gravitational power pulling the data that surrounded the field around itself, building up its body.
"Howl, unknown roar! Rise from the darkness of the abyss! Xyz Summon, Bahamut Shark (Rank.4, ATK: 2600 + 400 → 3000)!"
The huge body of data exploded with light, creating a spiraling aurora in the air around us and in place of the blank card came my bipedal shark monster with two blue orbs orbiting around its body.
"I now activate Bahamut Shark's ability to use one of its Xyz Materials and Special Summon a Rank Three or lower Xyz Monster from my Extra Deck at the cost of Bahamut Shark's inability to attack this turn! Show up, BrioGear Razor Shark (Rank: 3, ATK: 2000 + 400 → 2400)."
My shard grabbed one of the units that rotated around it and threw it forward. The orb blew up and my second Xyz Monster flew through it, landing under Shark Wise's second arrow.
"You summoned a second Xyz monster?!" The Knight gasped.
"Next, Razor Shark's effect lets me put one monster in my hand or on my side of the field to it as overlay unit and I choose to give BrioGear Pale Crawfish from my hand." The white humanoid monster flew out of my hand and transformed into a blue sphere that rotated around my shark. "Next, I detach a Xyz Material to allow Razor Shark to attack you directly this turn!"
"Direct attack!?" The Captain clenched his fist.
"If you destroy Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World with Leviathan Dragon and then attack directly with Razor Shark that would be a total of three thousand and five hundred points of damage." The Ignis leaned to look down at me. "You are going to win!"
"Let's do this!" I exclaimed and threw my fist forward forward. "Leviathan Dragon attack Beiige!"
The monster roared and opened its mouth, firing a blast of fire toward the demonic spearman on Hanoi's field.
"Fool!" The Captain laughed. "I activate Quaking Mirror Force to change the battle position of all your monsters to face-down!"
"W-what?!" I feel for a trap!
The sand all around us moved in front of Hanoi and created a huge wall that blocked my Leviathan Dragon's attack before smashing into my monsters like a tsunami, burying all but my weakest monster, Shark Wise.
"That's bad. Link Monsters don't have any defense so they can't be set." The Ignis rubbed its chin. Usually that would be good news for me, but this time it meant that I was leaving a 1200 attack monster for my opponent to destroy next turn and deal 1900 damage at least!
I took another look at the cards in my hand. I had Emergency Provisions, BrioGear Slumber and BrioGear Platosteus, none of which was of any use for me in this situation.
BrioGear Slumber (Trap) Continuous
You can discard 1 "oGear" monster; draw 1 card and if it's an "oGear" monster you can Special Summon it. If you control a WATER Link Monster, you can target that monster: Send this face-up card from the field to the GY, then Special Summon a number of "oGear" monsters with different names from your GY up the targeted monster's Link Rating in face-up Defense Position.
"I set two cards and end my turn." If anything, I could try my luck and hope to draw a good card with Slumber and heal after that with Emergency Provisions. Otherwise, I will be toast.
"She is at a tight spot right now." Blaze Rose commented.
"If she learned something since her last duel, she is going to be fine." PhantomFire replied. Funny, I'm not sure what I was supposed to learn.
"Pathetic." The captain laughed at me. "I'm going to crush you this turn! Draw!"
『Turn 5 [KOH Captain] LP: 3350 Hand: 2』
"I activate Raigeki to destroy all of your monsters!" No way! Several lightnings fell from the sky and connected with the sand burying my monsters, blowing them up.
"You are wide open for an attack!" the Ignis shouted at me.
"Let's end this!" The Captain laughed again. "Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World attack her directly and end this duel!"
"I activate my trap, BrioGear Slumber to discard BrioGear Platosteus from my hand and draw a new card!" I countered, discarding a card while my set card turned face-up. "Then I'm going to chain Emergency Provisions to destroy BrioGear Slumber and regain a thousand Life Points!"
『Proxy LP: 2200 + 1000 → 3200』
"You messed it up!" Blaze Rose shouted at me.
"Huh?" I looked up, all three of them were shaking their heads in disappointment.
"If a continuous spell or trap leaves the field before its effect resolves, that effect will be negated." Silver Star explained. "If you used Emergency Provisions as chain link one, you would have been able to draw a card, but since you used it as chain link two,BrioGear Slumber was destroyed before its effect got the chance to resolve."
"Oh." I really did mess up again!
"Even if you were able to regain life points that means nothing to my Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!" the Captain threatened and his monster fired another sphere of energy toward me.
With nothing else, I just grabbed the Ignis in my left hand and turned my back toward the attack before closing my eyes. Although this was going to hurt like hell, I would at least protect it from harm. The attack connected with my back and I screamed at the top of my lungs, the sheer force of that attack raising me in the air. Before I knew it, my entire body was throw and I flew through a wall, dropping inside another section of the ruins.
『Proxy LP: 3200 - 3000 → 200』
"Proxy!" Ngh, I could hear everyone screaming my name. The Ignis was standing next to my body and was watching me in the eyes, despite its robotic appearance, I could sense its curiosity.
"Why did you protect me with your body?" The Ignis asked.
"Because I made a promise to protect you, right?" I replied and reached out with my left hand to pet it.
"You would go through such heights just for that?" The Ignis tilted its head to the side. "I can't understand it."
"You don't need to." I whispered. The Ignis didn't to try and understand me, neither did anyone else. I had made a choice to protect those I care about, so even if it hurts me, I'm going to follow the path that I choose until the end.
"Pain the only thing that traitors who side with the Ignis deserve." The captain stepped toward me with his monsters following from behind. "Finish her off Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World!"
The demonic spearman swung its weapon and then jumped toward me. No! Since I had zero cards in my hand I was able to-!
"Argh!" I screamed the moment I tried to move my right hand toward the Duel Disk. I looked at it and for my horror, Grapha's attack has torn it to bits with just several strings of data holding it connected to my body.
"I won't let you!" The Ignis flew in front of me and stretched out its hand. "I activate BrioGear Madoor's effect in the Graveyard to Special Summon it and End the Battle Phase!"
"You what!?" The Captain wasn't the only one surprised by that.
A wall of ice raised in front of the Ignis and Beiige's spear bounced off it after which the ice transformed into the humanoid form that was depicted in Madoor's artwork.
"You…" The Captain clenched his fists. His entire body was shaking from the anger that he was radiating! "You Ignis actually dare to step into the duel!"
"W-why?" I asked.
"To protect you." The Ignis turned back and its eyes turned to show it smiling. "I'm returning the favor. Although Hanoi came and attacked our world without any provocation from our side, you showed me that not every human holds a hatred for our species. Thank you."
"You…" I had no idea what I was supposed to call the Ignis, but tears began to run down my cheeks. "Thank you!"
"So you are still going to be on their side?" the Captain yelled at me. "Very well, I activate the effect of The Gates of Dark World to banish Snoww, Unlight of Dark World from my Graveyard and discard my second Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World in order to draw a card. Then, Grapha's effect activates! When it's discarded, I can destroy a card that you control! Since the field spell is protected by its own effect, I will get rid of your monster."
Madoor's body cracked and it exploded into pieces, completely disappearing from my field.
"Next, Grapha's second effect lets me return Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World to my hand in order to Special Summon it from my Graveyard!" the spearman disappeared again and a second copy of the black dragon appeared at the left side of the first. "I will then set a card and end my turn!"
"This means that it's my turn next." I muttered and tried to stand up, but my legs collapsed the moment I tried to move them.
"Ha, your body is too damaged to move!" the Knight of Hanoi mocked me. "There's nothing you can do."
I hated to admit it, but the Knight of Hanoi was right. My avatar was far too damaged to move any more, let alone duel.
"Then maybe there is something I could do." The Ignis landed on my Duel Disk.
"What are you going to do?" the Knight's voice turned back to being serious.
"Give my partner a hand!" The Ignis stated and the screen on my Duel Disk began to glow. I flinched, the light was shining right into my eyes, but despite that I was able to see the Ignis' body disappearing inside my Duel Disk and a warm surrounded me.
"No way!" Hanoi was yelling, which meant that the Ignis was doing something good. The data that made my right hand regenerated, connecting it back to my body and I gained back strength in my body. It was enough to stand up and continue the duel.
"Thanks!" I looked down on my Duel Disk. The Ignis was now a single eye that took the space of the entire screen.
"I will lead you my strength in this battle." The Ignis told me. "So, let's win together."
"Yes." Together. As long as I wasn't fighting alone, there would be hope guiding me forward. I put my hand on top of my Deck, but it suddenly began to glow a radiant blue. "What the?"
"You unlocked your complete capabilities as a duelist!" I heard Silver Star.
"Once a duelist's will becomes one with their cards and a mutual trust is built between them, your will alone will be able to create a miracle!" PhantomFire folded his hands and looked down at me. "This draw is going to determinate your and the Ignis' future. This is your Destiny Draw!"
"My Destiny Draw?" I wasn't completely sure what that meant, but it sounded important. "Very well. This is the draw that's going to lead us toward the future! My turn!"
『Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 200 Hand: 1』
"This card…" World Legacy Succession was a powerful spell that could revive any monster from my Graveyard as long as I had a Link Monster that points at a free zone. I had no Link Monsters on my field though, so it was useless.
"Our circuit of victory has been completed!" The Ignis told me.
"Huh?" But I had a useless card in my hand.
"Just look at your Extra Deck." I followed the Ignis' instructions and opened a screen that showed my Extra Deck.
I gasped at what I saw. "Did you put it there?"
"Of course." The Ignis nodded. "She was protecting me and always moved alongside me. Since now you are the one who protected me, I'm giving you control over her for this match."
"Then let's win!" I exclaimed and reached out with forward with an open wrist. "I activate the effect of Leviathan Dragon; I banish Bahamut Shark and BrioGear Razor Shark to revive BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600)!"
"This monster again?!" the Captain exclaimed.
"Now I activate Leviathan Dragon's effect to revive BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2)." The little mermaid monster appeared under the Left Extra Monster Zone. "Then I activate World Legacy Succession to Special Summon Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2) next to Enhance Mermail's link marker." The Graveyard portal appeared again and my ace flew through it, landing right between my other two monsters.
"And since we discarded a card when we tried to activate BrioGear Slumber,BrioGear Ark of Silence gained a third Life Counter." I sweat dropped hearing the Ignis refer to my moves as collective effort. "All our WATER monsters gain two hundred points of attack and defense for every Life Counter on the field!"
BrioGear Enhance Mermail, ATK: 1700 + 600 → 2300
Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2100 + 600 → 2700
BrioGear Leviathan Dragon, ATK: 2600 + 600 → 3200, DEF: 2100 + 600 → 2700
"Boost them as much as you want, these monsters are no danger for me" The Captain mocked me again.
"Maybe, but the pulse of Cyberse will lead me to a victory!" I stated and raised my hands in the air. "Appear, circuit of life!"
"Pulse of Cyberse? You don't mean,"
"I do!" I cut the Knight of Hanoi. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two or more Effect Monsters! I setThe Link Two, Grand Ranger Serene and the Link Two, BrioGear Enhance Mermail in the Link Markers!" Both of my monsters split into two copies and the four monster flew toward the mirror, colliding with the flower on the top, bottom, right and bottom right. "Link Summon! Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon!"
A blue core formed inside the circuit and the outline of a monster formed around it after which it materialized. First was its chest which was made of white metal and had five large blue crystal triangles sticking out of it, pointing toward the shoulders, the sides, and the tail. Next formed its lowered body with five long black tails and four spherical plates of armor that surrounded its waist from all four sides. Them there came its arms, which were sharp moon blades attached to the main body wing black joins and had slam wrists with seven fingers located at the inside of the blade's edge.
Instead of wings the monster had four horns attached to its upper back. The first two were bend upward and had a bulky shape that was a big bigger than the dragon's main body while the second pair were slim and long, bending downward. Last was its head, which had four green eyes and was covered by sharp crystal blades that stuck out of all the sides of its head similarly to a mane. Instead of mouth, the monster had a metal mouthpiece that also acted as a chin spike.
The dragon landed in front of me, the huge spikes on its shoulders smashing parts of the ceiling, which then collapsed. I winched and moved back to avoid getting hit, but there was no need for that since the dragon's tails swung around and crushed all of the debris, turning it into harmless bits of data that faded away.
Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon
Attribute: WATER/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect
L-Markers: Top, Bottom, Bottom Right, Right
ATK: 2800/Link-4
2+ Effect monsters
Effect: When this card is Link Summoned: Draw a number of cards equal to the number of monsters this card points to, then discard cards from your hand equal to the amount you drew -1. Once per turn, when this card declares an attack against an opponent monster: You can discard 1 monster from your hand; negate that monsters effects and its ATK becomes 0, also, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to this effect until the end of the Damage Step. Once while this card is face-up on the field (Quick Effect): You can discard a number of cards from your hand up to the number of monster this monster is co-linked to; banish cards from your opponents field and/or GY equal to the total number of cards discarded by this effect.
"A Cyberse monster!?" the Captain cried out in disbelief. Couldn't blame him, I was left without words as well.
"You summoned me?" I looked down and heard another voice from my Duel Disk. The Ignis pulled its upper body out of the screen and made place for a miniature version of the dragon that I just summoned.
"Yes, Firera, this girl here protected me from the Knights of Hanoi." The Ignis gestured toward me.
"I see." The miniature dragon raised its head. "Then we must repay her for this debt. Please, use my true form and all of my strength to win this duel!"
I nodded and stepped forward. "I activate Firera's effect! When it's Link Summoned I draw a card for each monster that it points to." My Leviathan Dragon was right under the bottom arrow, so that was one monster in total. "Then, I must discard one less card than I drew. Since I drew only one card, I must discard zero."
"Due to the effect of the field spell, Firera gains an attack bonus." The Ignis commented.
Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 2800 + 600 → 3400
"Let's battle!" I said. "Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon attacks Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World! At this time I also activate Firera's effect to discard BrioGear Sea Snake and reduce Grapha's attack power to zero! Frost Obey!"
"At this moment, since a card was discarded from our hand,BrioGear Ark of Silence gains its fourth Life Counter." The Ignis stated.
Both my and the Knight of Hanoi's dragon roared at the same time but for different reasons. Mine raised its head triumphantly while Grapha lowered its own due to the sudden loss of power.
Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon, ATK: 3400 + 200 → 3600
Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, ATK: 3000 → 0
"Then I will just activate Dimension Prison to banish your dragon!" the Hanoi laughed, but his card didn't flip. "Huh? What happened?"
"Useless." Firera's AI commented. "When Frost Obey is activated no other effect can be chained to it."
"Let's end this!" I threw my hand upward and then brought my fist down to point toward the Knight of Hanoi. "Subzero Flare!"
Firera roared and slammed her blade-like arms together while her tails began to charge with electricity and flew over to the lower pair of wings, which absorbed it. Small holes opened in the dragon's upper wings and they began to emit a white gas that froze everything around the monster, including its arms. The electricity surged through the dragon's body and connected to the arms. Firera roared and threw her blades to the side, creating a 'X' of electricity and the strange freezing gas that flew through Grapha and cut the monster in four pieces.
"Impossible! There is no way you could defeat the power given to me by Hanoi-" Before the Knight could continue, his dragon blew up and the flames engulfed him.
『KOH Captain LP: 3350 - 3600 → 0』
『Winner: Proxy』
I feel on my knees and took a deep breath. I actually won against a Knight of Hanoi! And not just any knight, I won against a captain and that probably meant a lot! The field began to fade and I looked up at Firera. The dragon turned its head to look back at me and nodded before it faded as well, leaving only me, the Ignis and my friends.
Speaking of which…
"How did I do?" I asked, seeing them approaching.
Silver smiled down at me and put a hand on my head. "You did great. Now, you should log out and rest, ok?"
That was an order that I would be more than happy to follow. But there was one thing that I had to do before I got to rest. "Could one of you please assist me and my new friend on a task?"
The siblings seemed surprised by my request but they nodded. Great!
"Ai so happy to see you!" Ai exclaimed.
"Stop acting so carefree, Dark Ignis!" The blue Ignis put her arms on her hips angrily. "What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?"
"So, how did you found this Ignis?" Kusanagi asked me.
I'm going to explain it so it makes more sense for all of you guys, right after I finished my duel with the Knight of Hanoi, I asked Evan to come with me to talk with Playmaker. I was actually surprised to find that Kusanagi and Yusaku haven't closed the hotdog stand with the invasion of Hanoi that was going on, but it was convenient enough for me. So, there we're, both Ignis were inside our Duel Disks on the table talking with one another while me and Yusaku were watching over them from the side, all while Kusanagi and Evan stood behind us.
"It just appeared into Link VRAINS out of nowhere." Evan answered in my place. "I haven't asked it yet how it came to the server."
"Did you came all the way to here just to find me?" Ai asked. "Awww, that's so sweet, you care about me!"
"Actually, I fell to Link VRAINS by accident." The Blue Ignis turned to the rest of us. "I was trying to run away from the Cyberse when I suddenly came near some strange vortex. At first I thought that it might be a new domain built by one of the other Ignis, it clearly wasn't made from a human, but then it attacked me. Although Firera was able to defend me for the most part, but she took a lot of damage so I used a special escape program that would turn off most of my systems and made it impossible to detect my Ignis algorithm. Unfortunately it appears that the vortex was able to damage the program while I was unconscious and I floated around the network until I fell into LINK VRAINS."
"A vortex attacked you?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow and I noticed him glance toward Evan.
"More important than that," Ai interfered. "Why did you run away from Cyberse? I hide it away so no one should be able to find it."
"But someone or something did." The Blue Ignis lowered her head. "They found us and launched a devastating attack that left Cyberse in ruins."
"What!?" Ai's eyes widened.
"Someone destroyed the Cyberse…" I repeated that line unconsciously, unsure what to make out of that information.
"Yes, unfortunately the rest of us choose to separate when that happened, and I haven't heard a word from the remaining Ignis since then." The Blue Ignis put a hand on her chest.
"Oh no!" Ai exclaimed again. "What happened to Linkuriboh?"
"That's bad." Kusanagi muttered. "The Knights of Hanoi are after the Ignis, so if they heard that they have spread out throughout the network, the knights would do the same and if they attack other virtual realities as well…"
"We won't be able to fighting all of them." Evan sighed. "But the positive side is that now they probably know about the second Ignis and will focus even more on attacking us."
"How exactly is that a positive side!?" Ai and the Blue Ignis shouted at the same time.
"The Knights have been trying to use the Another virus in order to infect me." Yusaku stated. "If they are to double their efforts, only more civilians are going to get hurt."
"That's not true." Everyone, including me, looked at Evan in confusion. "Unlike with you, they know where to find me and Proxy, so it's only a matter of time before they come knocking on the front door."
"If that's so, it would be best of the Ignis to run away while we draw their attention toward us." I said and looked back to the little creature.
"I don't think that's a viable strategy." The Blue Ignis shook her head. "The Knights' only goal is to destroy us. If they don't find me with you, they are just going to keep searching the network until they find me. Its selfish, but I would rather face them alongside you than run a race against time."
"So you are going to join the crew?" Ai asked.
"Temporally until we neutralize the threat of the Knights of Hanoi." The Blue Ignis replied. "After that, I will go search for the other Ignis."
"Fair enough." Kusanagi gave his nod of approval while Yusaku just shrugged.
"Then after this all is over I will go back to the Cyberse and see if there is anything I could salvage of it." Ai stated. He never seemed to be as serious about a task as he was now, but I shouldn't expect anything less from him. We were talking about his home after all.
"I suggest that from now on Yusaku and Roxy move closer together when they are in Link VRAINS to ensure their safety." Evan suggested.
"No need to worry, I could take care of myself." Yusaku reassured, but I sweat dropped. Evan was suggesting that for my sake, wasn't he?
"I don't think he said it because of you, Yusaku." Even Kusanagi knew what Evan meant to suggest.
"With Blaze Rose and the Charisma Duelists backing us, it would be only a matter of time until you defeat all of the Knights." Evan leaned against a nearby wall. "There won't be much that I can do to help you out from here on."
"Eh?" I turned back to Evan. "What do you mean? Won't you fight with us?"
"No." Evan, much for my dismay, shook his head. "Saving VRAINS from destruction isn't my current objective, and I can't interfere anymore unless I find it absolutely necessary."
"So there will be less of us? Just great." Ai dropped its head. Don't worry buddy, I share your pain!
"If I may." The Blue Ignis raised her hand. "Since the Dark Ignis was named Ai, shouldn't you name me as well?"
"What?" The Ignis wanted me to name it? "No, I can't do that!"
"Huh?" The Ignis tilted its head. "Why not?"
"Because you aren't a pet to me!" I exclaimed. "I think of you as a friend, so I don't have any rights over you. If anything, you should choose a name that you like and I will call you that."
"Hey, hey!" Ai raised its hand. "I got an awesome name for you! How about,"
"Then I will call myself Aqua for the time being." The Blue Ignis/Aqua stated before Ai had a chance to give its suggestion. "Since I'm water based and you use a water deck, I think it's a fitting name for a partner."
"If you say so." I sighed and smiled down at my new friend, Aqua.
3rd Pov
Inside the base of Hanoi, Specter and the remaining two lieutenants were standing at the side with their heads bowed while Revolver watched a message on a screen. With how tightly he was clenching his fist and that aura of hatred that was radiating from his avatar, the knights knew that their leader was beyond enraged.
"A second Ignis showed up?" Revolver turned around to face his underlings. "Where were you to destroy it?"
"My apologies, Revolver-sama. This is all my fault." Specter stepped forward. "Dr. Kogami told me that it was something strange and I sent a group to investigate it without even suspecting that it could have been an Ignis. It was my short-sightedness why it managed to escape."
"Enough!" Revolver dismissed his second-in-command and stepped back. "If you are sorry for this, use everything you have to find the one who obtained it and take the Ignis from them."
"We were already able to identify the current holder of the Ignis as the girl that saved Playmaker from his duel with Picaro." Faust said.
"I have seen her dueling." Baira commented. "It wouldn't be hard to take the Ignis from someone like her."
"So the hard part will be to locate her?" Specter turned back to the lieutenants and they nodded to his question. "Then this will be a piece of cake."
"I have to disagree with you there."
Everyone turned around, Leaning against a wall next to the exit of the room was Picaro. The dark knight stepped forward with his hand and claw folded.
"I know that there is a secret server in Link VRAINS where she meets with her comrades, but they changed the entrance code after I left them, so you will have to figure that out by yourselves." Picaro said.
"And what would be heard in doing that?" Specter asked.
"The hard part comes after you enter." Picaro answered. "Entering that server would be like entering the lair of a dragon. Only difference would be that you got a better chance to survive a meeting with a dragon than the monster lurking in there."
"There he goes with his fairytales again." Specter rolled his eyes.
"If you don't believe then how about we make a bet?" Picaro looked at Revolver.
"Hmm? I don't have time for such pointless games." Revolver dismissed the idea.
"It's going to be a single bet." Picaro chuckled. "I want you to send your best Knights of Hanoi there. If they are able to survive one turn against the demon lurking in that server, I will admit that I'm wrong. They don't even need to win, just be able to survive until the Draw Phase of their first turn."
"What?" Specter laughed. "We are going to sweep the floor with that demon!"
"Then you two can play with that bet." Revolver commented. "I will prepare my best Knights of Hanoi to accompany you."
A/N: And Finish! Now Aqua is officially Proxy's partner! Bet you guys didn't see that one coming, unless you heard the last chapter. Funny think about Firera is that the name was first meant to be given to Tardix, you know, the Cyberse monster that got owned by Evan two chapters ago, but I gave up because Firera sounded a lot like "Firewall". In the end, I gave up trying to come up with a different name so now we have Yusaku with Firewall and Proxy with Firera.
On a much, much more serious note: University starts next Monday for me, so there might be a few months gap between updates after this one. I'm not sure what's going to happen. So I was thinking that in case it really takes a long time to write chapters from here on, I could publishig a special "Update" sort of instead of a chapter where I could get you guys more familiar with the "behind the scene stuff" because there are several things I have trouble with at the moment. A small list of these would be a new archetype for Revolver to use in the final duel of season 1, coming up with cards for Proxy and etc.
Of course it would be annoying for you guys to see an update on this story and to then find out that it's not actually a chapter, so I most likely won't do it, but if you guys got any ideas that you would like to see in this, my ears are all open for you suggestions!
This A/N is already as long as it is so let's got to the reviews at long last.
ScalchopWarrior: Actually, I'm happy that you think the throne idea was dumb, 'cause I wanted to show how pointless, even stupid, things these two would do just to make themselves look like the big baddies. Also, I hope I gave Proxy justice in this chapter. She finally got herself another win!
Diabolic Tracer out!