Houki just needs to win one more great duel to make it to the finals, and her last opponent is their old friend: Wave. However, Wave's concealing strategy is proving to be as tough as ever. He has three monsters on his field with all 4000LP, and he has an active field spell called Deep Blue Sea. Houki has nothing on her field and has only 2300LP.

"You might be a tough opponent, Houki, but my deck is fueled by the power of the sea." Wave said. "You can't triumph it's power so easily."

"We'll see about that. If Ichika could do it, I can as well. It's my turn! I draw!" Houki said as she drew her next card. 'Of course, it's not going to be easy. His field spell allows him to rearrange his monsters. I have no way of knowing which one I'm attacking. There's also another problem that's coming. Wave added a ritual spell to his hand, and I have a feeling that Electro Eel of his will allow him to move a monster to his hand, even a ritual monster. I've got to take his eel out before he can do that.'

"What are you waiting for Houki? The crowd wants a show. Do not disappoint them." Wave said as he taunted her to make a move.

"Keep your shirt on. I'm going to start by playing my Pot of Greed!" Houki said. "That allows me to draw two more cards." She drew two more cards and they ended up being two good ones. "Next, I'm going to summon Shirayuki of the Freezing Snow!" She summoned out a new female samurai as she came rose with her having pure white hair, some of it held up by a clip, and wore a white kimono with snowflakes on it. She also had 1700atk points. 'His eel had 1400def points, but his field spell should have powered it up to 1900. Luckily, I have Shirayuki's ability. I just hope I make the right pick.' She thought as all she could do was go for it. "Shirayuki, attack one of his facedown monsters!"

"Attacking blindly?" Wave questioned.

"Sort of, but Shirayuki's ability increases her attack points by 400 when she attacks! I just need to pick the right monster!" Houki said as Shirayuki's attack points increased to 2100. "Attack with Blizzard Katana!" Her samurai unleashed a blizzard from her katana and just hoped the Houki made the right attack. However, the monster she was attacking turned out to be Octo Stealth and it withstood the attack.

"Too bad, Houki. That's my Octo Stealth, and since they have the same number of attack and defense points, he survives." Wave said.

"That's what I get for relying on luck." Houki complained.

"How is Houki suppose to fight back when she doesn't know what she's attacking?" Charlotte questioned.

"One shouldn't rely on their own senses. They can rely on their other senses." Laura said.

"Laura, that doesn't really help in this situation." Charlotte pointed out.

"I'll place one card facedown and that ends my turn." Houki said and her Shirayuki's attack points dropped to normal.

"My turn!" Wave said as he drew his next card. "I believe this is the monster you were looking for." Wave flipped over his Electro Eel and it rose out into the open. "Next, I activate my eel's ability. By destroying one card on my field, I can add a card of the same type to my hand. I don't need Octo Stealth anymore, so I'll destroy it!" His eel unleashed some electricity and destroyed Wave's own monster. "That allows me to add a monster from my deck to my hand, and the one I choose I'll summon right away." He said as he showed the monster he added: a ritual monster.

"Here it comes." Houki said as she readied herself.

"I activate Sea Beast Ritual!" Wave said as he played his ritual spell. "I have to tribute monsters who's levels are greater or equal to the ritual monster I wish to summon, and I have just the one." He played his spell and a magic circle appeared over the water. "I tribute Electro Eel and my Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!" The circle shined and both of his monsters were absorbed inside. When that happened, a ray of light shot into the sky. "I ritual summon Sea Beast Levia!" Wave unleashed a new and powerful monster. It was a leviathan-like creature that was as blue as the ocean with razor-sharp teeth and was as long as two football fields. It also had a total of 2600atk points.

"What is that thing?!" Houki said as she didn't like the looks of this.

"Your doom, I'm afraid. Sea Beast Levia, attack her Shirayuki with Tsunami Force!" Wave ordered. His beast unleashed a powerful blast of water. "I also know that when you're Shirayuki is being attacked, she loses 500atk points!" Shirayuki's power dropped to 1200 with her getting blasted and washed away. Shirayuki was gone with Houki's life points dropping to a mere 900.

"She has only 900LP left!" Charlotte said.

"And Wave hasn't taken any damage. If Houki hopes to win, she needs to make quite the comeback." Laura said as Houki just kept sinking deeper and deeper.

"You've dueled well, Houki, but it's clear that your tactics can't beat mine." Wave claimed.

"Don't be so sure! I play my face-down!" Houki said as she activated it. "It's called Warrior's Discipline, and it activates when a warrior is destroyed. It allows me to add another warrior to my hand, and I'm going to go with Bladed Samurai." She said as she took another one.

"Clever, but not clever enough." Wave said. "I activate Levia's ability! After he attacks, I can take two water attribute monsters from my graveyard and summon both of them facedown!" He reclaimed his Sea Serpent Warrior and Octo Stealth with them being summoned facedown. "Next, my field spell will switch Levia facedown as well, and I can rearrange my monsters!" His beast dived down into the water and completely vanished. Now he has three monsters and Houki can't tell who is who. "I would like to keep my monsters hidden, but I think I'll change things up."

"Huh?" Houki questioned as she didn't get what he meant.

"I play Reveal! This flips one monster to face-up attack position, so Levia is coming back!" Wave said as he revealed Levia and brought it back.

"Why would you flip that monster back over?" Houki said. "It's so I can play my equip spell: Hidden Coating! I can activate this spell after a monster is flipped over. It's extra insurance to ensure you can't destroy it with effects." He played his spell and his monster looked more transparent. "That ends my turn."

'He's pulling out all the stops and making sure I can't do anything. I better figure out how I'm going to fry those fish soon or I'm done for.' Houki thought as she wasn't going to last much longer at this rate. "It's my turn!" She drew her next card, but it wasn't something that could help her. It would at least buy her some time. "First, I'm going to summon Bladed Samurai in attack mode!" She summoned out her samurai with him coming out with 1600atk points. "Next, I'm activating my samurai's ability! By not battling this turn, I select one monster on your field and you take damage equal to half of that monster's attack points. That means half of Levia's attack points are coming out of your life points!" Her samurai unleashed a series of attacks with Wave finally taking some damage as his life points dropped to 2700.

"A good try, but not good enough. Come my next turn, I'll just finish this." Wave said.

"Not going to happen once I play this! I play Moment of Peace! Now we both can't attack until my next turn, but we both to get to draw one card." Houki said.

"Hoping to bust out a game changer? You better make a good draw." Wave said. They both drew a card, but it still seemed like there was nothing Houki could really do. "I end my turn there."

"It would seem you came up short, but at least you have one more turn. It will also be your last chance." Wave said as he seemed confident in his victory. "My turn!" He drew his card and set the stage to finish it. "First, I flip over my Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!" He revealed his warrior as it came back up with 1800atk points. "And to add to his power, I play Steel Shell and give him another 400atk points!" His warrior's armored changed with steel shells being added and his power increased to 2200.

"Nothing Houki has tried so far has worked." Charlotte said as she didn't like this.

"And Wave's power continues to grow. I hate to say it, but I do not see how Houki can win this." Laura said.

"You've fought a good duel, my friend, but it's time this came to an end. You only have one chance left." Wave said.

"That might be, but one chance is all I need." Houki claimed. 'It all comes down to this. It's all or nothing now.' Houki is down to her last chance. As she put all her faith in this, she drew her card. It ended up being her best card: Coronix the Sun Phoenix. Upon seeing that, Houki sees the path. 'Coronix! Perfect! With this, I might be able to see how I can win.' She thought as she took a look at the spell cards she has that can help her.

"Well, Houki?" Wave said.

"Sorry, but this duel isn't going to end the way you think, Wave." Houki claimed. "First, I play Tagging Out! I can now switch one monster on my field with another in my deck, just as long as it's the same type as my monster! I switch out my Bladed Samurai with Hito of the Blazing Fire!" She switched out her monster and brought out a different one as Hito came out with 1700atk points. "With him out on the field, I can now play Spiritual Transition! By tributing one of my monsters, I can now summon a different one that's the same attribute, but a different type!"

"You're trading your monsters?" Wave questioned.

"That's right! It's water vs. fire as I bring out Coronix the Sun Phoenix!" Houki claimed as she brought out her mighty phoenix with it flying out in a blaze of fire and it's 2400atk points. "This duel is over, Wave. I play Superior Skills! This spell card gives Coronix an extra 300atk points for each monster you have on the field!" Cornix's power increased to 3300. "Superior Skills has one other effect! If Coronix destroys a monster, you take damage equal to it's attack points!" Wave was shocked to see that she actually found a way to win this. Seeing that he can't stop it, he accepted his fate.

"Go ahead, Houki. Finish it." Wave said.

"Coronix, attack Levia and end this duel!" Houki ordered. Coronix was encased in a mighty blaze of fire. It flew straight at Levia and took it out in one powerful blast. Wave's life points dropped down to 2000, but then the flames came at him some more and his life points dropped all the way to zero.

"Houki won!" Charlotte cheered as everyone loved the duel with all of them cheering in delight. Now that the duel was over, the two walked over to each other and shook hands.

"That was an excellent duel, Houki." Wave said.

"It was. Thanks for it, Wave." Houki said. Then, she took a look at her points and saw they climbed all the way to 4000 in total. "I have 4000 points!"

"That means you can enter the finals, and I know you're going to do great!" Wave said. Houki now has all 4000 points. That means she can advance in the tournament, but that's assuming she makes it with Meldrick's servants following her.

...

Meldrick

Meanwhile, Meldrick was dealing with another matter. He was ready to leave and set his trap for Ichika, but that was when the evil spirit that possesses Ryu showed himself. He claimed what he wanted and it seems to be a stalemate at the moment.

"So, you want my gauntlet, do you?" Meldrick said. 'There's certainly a great and dark power standing before me. I've never felt anything like it. Who could this possibly be?' "What could you possibly want it for?"

"To add to my collection, of course. I'm aiming to have all eight artifacts." Evil Ryu claimed. "Once I'm done with you, I plan to find the others and take them as well."

"So you want all the artifacts... In that case, maybe we can help each other." Meldrick said as he saw this as an opportunity.

"Help each other?" Evil Ryu questioned.

"That's right. I happen to know where another artifact is. Does the name Ichika Orimura mean anything to you?" Meldrick said.

"Ichika? It does. He holds the Mystic Charm." Evil Ryu said. "I attempted to take his artifact, but he was stronger than I thought. However, he thinks I'm gone. He isn't aware that I've returned."

"All the more reason for us to work together." Meldrick said. "I desire the power he holds as well. Help me, and I'll help you. Once I get what I'm after, I will give you my gauntlet. You'll the charm, I get the power I seek, and it seems like we both get our way."

"Sounds like you know what you want, and it does sound interesting." Evil Ryu said. 'Of course, when I double-cross to take the charm myself, you won't see it coming.'

'I can use someone like him, and if he attempts to stand in my way, he'll be sorry.' Meldrick thought. It would seem that Meldrick is getting more and more powerful. With these two working together, nothing good could be coming for Ichika or his friends.