Teknisk Wereld v4

by Celtic Guardian 7

Two god cards have been found now only one is left. Their foes are just as deadly as before though. They know who their main enemy is, but whose side is Sarius on? COMPLETE

9. Black Magic Blowout

I actually enjoyed writing this chapter. Usually I prefer story events to duels but both in this chapter were enjoyable. So that was cool. On a side note, this is two days early. You'll understand why I say this if you look at the calendar once you're done reading.

John: How about neither? That'd make me a happy camper.

Captain Obvious: …Right. I'll pretend I understood that. Otherwise, yes, not insulting Aya is a good idea.

Demon Fan: Some of the Mavericks have unusual decks, but I think Dark Scythe's actually fits him.

Chapter 9: Black Magic Blowout

Draken was very much enjoying himself as they flew towards the mountains. He never got tired of flying, and loved the fierce winds just as much as Kisara did, if not more. His Blue Eyes White Dragon was excited too, and showed this by playfully diving, and doing a few rolls midair.

Draken and Darche were used to this, and didn't mind it. However, Rue was a completely different story. It was only because Ruecian kept a tight grip on him that he managed to remain on his Blue Eyes.

Holding onto his hat, Rue called over to Draken. "Hey! Can't you tell this thing to stop acting like a roller coaster car?"

"I could, but where would the fun be in that?" Draken shouted back.

"It would be a lot more fun for me if I didn't feel like I was going to fall off any second!" Rue complained.

"Come on, lighten up! It isn't like the Blue Eyes would let you hit the ground."

"No way am I trusting this thing!" Rue declared.

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Sure you are!"

Darche decided to enter the debate. "But he is! Ruecian, give him a chance to see that Draken's being honest!"

Ruecian shrugged, and let go of Rue just as the Blue Eyes did a roll.

"Curse you Draken!" Rue yelled as he fell.

Luckily for Rue, Draken had indeed been sincere. The Blue Eyes flew right beneath him, and Ruecian caught him as he landed.

"See? He may be playful but he'd never let harm actually come to you!" Draken told him before his Blue Eyes put on a sudden burst of speed, to get him away from Rue.

After getting over his shock, Rue leapt to the front of the dragon. "You jerk! I'm so going to get you for that! Blue Eyes, full speed ahead!"

Draken grinned as he heard the command. "I knew that'd get Rue to accept the idea of rough flying. Let's go at full speed too!"

…..

One wild ride later and they had bypassed the mountains altogether, instead diving down towards the foot of the mountains nearby the plains.
Draken's landed first, and then Rue's. After they all dismounted, Ruecian kept a rather firm grasp on Rue's upper arm so that he would not try to kill Draken.

"Enjoy the trip?" Draken asked innocently.

"You are dead," Rue spat. "Just you wait. If you miraculously survive my attack, then you are going to be begging for me to finish you off. The second Ruecian lets go of me, I am going to tear you apart!"

"I love you too," Draken grinned. "So, shall we begin looking?"

"You don't believe me, huh? Then bring it on! Let's fight it out now!"

…..

Attracted by the yelling, the figure slipped over silently. He looked over at the two teens, two Soul Monsters, and two dragons that were there from his hiding spot amongst the rocks.

His two targets were right in front of a rather large rock formation. Only a few feet away from that rock was the silver-haired one. All of them seemed preoccupied.

"Too easy," he muttered, quietly sneaking over to the rock formation.

…..

"That'd be nice, but we have a Maverick to look for," Draken said. "Amy and Kisara have the mountains covered, so we shouldn't need to go there unless we can't find someone on the plains." He turned to the Blue Eyes. "Thanks you two. You can leave now."

They hissed softly before taking off, flying back to the mountains.

"Fine, I'll kill you later," Rue grumbled. "Ruecian, could you let go of me now?"

Ruecian shook his head.

"Dang it, you know me too well," Rue sighed. Then he looked over at the plains, and froze. "Guys, look out!"

They all turned to see what Rue was looking at. And as they did so, Ruecian instinctively reached for his staff, letting go of Rue.

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" Rue yelled, tackling Draken.

But just as he did that, and as the two collapsed, the assassin lunged, his katars aimed at Draken's neck. But he totally missed his target, since Rue had knocked Draken down. Taken by complete surprise, the assassin tripped over the duo, flipping over midair before landing a few feet away from them on his back.

Rue instantly got off of Draken, knowing that their argument would have to wait. Ruecian stepped in front of Rue and Draken, to prevent the assassin from trying to attack again. Darche took the offensive, lunging for him.

The assassin blocked the sword strike with one of his katars, and then leapt back, eyeing them angrily.

The man before them wore a light green shirt, with dark green chest and shoulder armor. His arm and hand guards were also a dark green, but his finger-less gloves were light green. His pants were emerald green, and his boots were armor-like as well, and shared the same dark green his other armor-like pieces had. Across his mouth he wore a light green bandana, causing it to be covered completely. His wild, snow-white hair was kept back with a lime green headband. His eyes, a deep green, were flashing dangerously.

"Someone's a bit too obsessed with the color green," Rue muttered.

"Did St. Patrick's Day get moved to August this year?" Draken joked.

The man looked as though he would have been delighted to be able to slaughter both of them, but he reluctantly let his arms drop, his silver katars going to his sides. "I cannot believe you dodged my attack out of pure luck."

"I'm more than happy to believe it," Draken replied. He looked over at Rue. "Thanks a lot. Even if you were trying to kill me, you ended up saving my life."

"Any time," Rue said, apparently having gotten over what Draken had done to him. He turned back to the assassin. "So you're one of the Mavericks?"

"Yes. I am called Gale Katar." He eyed his Duel Disk in disgust. "I did not want to have to resort to cards, of all things, but now it looks like I have no choice."

"A duel? On what conditions?" Rue asked.

"The winner chooses the loser's fate," Gale stated.

"Deal. So, which of us should duel you?" Draken inquired.

"Preferably neither," Gale growled. "But since there is no other option, I could care less."

Rue looked over him. "You up for it Draken?"

"Heck no. I was hoping you would want to."

"Yeah, and be killed?" Rue shot back. "I'm just as intimated by this guy as you are!"

"That doesn't mean I should have to duel him!"

"I already saved you; it's your turn to save us!"

"Hey, I got us here without dying, so we're square."

"Just choose already!" Gale snapped.

"Yikes! Ok, ok, we will!" Rue assured. "Draken, since we can't decide, how about flipping a coin?"

"I don't have one with me. Any ideas on how to settle this Darche?"

"Rock-paper-scissors?" Darche suggested.

"I really hate you sometimes," Draken told him. "You know I always lose at that!"

"Then each of you should draw a card from your decks and compare their attacks. The one with the lowest attack has to duel him," Darche said.

"Fine by me!" Rue stated, drawing.

"Alright," Draken shrugged, doing the same.

"Now to compare…" Rue looked at his, and then showed it to Draken. "Black Magician."

"Knight of White Dragon," Draken said, revealing it.

"Hah! Looks like you have to face him," Rue said.

"Nope. I use his effect to sacrifice him, special summoning a Blue Eyes White Dragon, which in turn has more attack than your Black Magician, making it so that you have to duel Gale. Tough luck," Draken smirked.

"Drat, you're right… hey, wait a minute!" Rue protested.

"Good! I was hoping to have my chance to kill you, after you made a fool out of me," Gale stated. "Now face me!"

"I was thinking about letting you live, but not any longer!" Rue shouted at Draken as he went to stand in his position, Ruecian by his side.

"Hm… I wonder who I should support," Draken said. "Both of them want to kill me."

"I can sympathize with you when it comes to Gale, but having Rue after your blood is your own fault," Darche pointed out.

"True, but it was worth it," Draken grinned.

Gale eyed Ruecian. "A Black Paladin? Then our two Soul Monsters ought to get along well." He brought out his Soul Card, and the monster emerged. He appeared to be a very old man, with gray hair and a long, matching beard. His eyes were concealed in the shadows of his dark purple curved helmet. His shoulder armor was the same shade of purple, but his chest armor was jade. He wore a long, flowing, dark blue robe that covered the rest of his body entirely, except for his hands, which held a long, black staff embedded with jade gems near the head of it. He sat in a meditative position, floating in midair by Gale's left side.

"He's a Black-Robed Sage, but known as Senin," Gale said.

"Short for senile?" Rue joked.

Senin casually moved his staff to point it at Rue. A wave of black magic, similar to Ruecian's attack, slammed into Rue, causing him to go flying backwards.

Rue painfully got up. "Ouch… guess I deserved that…"

"It means 'one thousand years' in Japanese," Gale stated.

Senin then turned his attention to Ruecian. Ruecian seemed more curious than worried. He stared at Senin, and although they could not see his eyes, the spectators got the feeling he was returning the gaze.

"Figures," Draken commented. "Both of them just happen to be mutes. I wonder if everyone in the Black Magician family is a mute besides Black Magician Girl?"

"Possibly," Darche replied dryly.

Gale gave an impatient sigh. "I don't know what you're doing Senin, but we don't have time to waste with your telepathic communication talks. Hurry up and finish your conversation with his Soul Monster."

"His name is Ruecian," Rue told him. "And what did you say? They're talking telepathically?"

"Senin can talk out loud, but he prefers to talk mind-to-mind," Gale explained.

Senin shifted slightly, and then returned his staff to its former position. Ruecian gave a brief nod and lifted his own staff to its battle position.

"Guess they're finally done," Rue said. "So let's get this over with!"

Rue: 8000

Gale: 8000

"Since you decided to try and assassinate us, I think I have full right to go first," Rue stated.

Gale glared at him but did not say anything.

"Glad you agree with me. I summon Skilled Black Magician (1900/1700) and lay one card down. It's your turn."

"It looks like you're using a Black Magician deck after all," Gale commented. "I lay one monster in defense and end my turn."

"How do you know so much about Black Magician?" Rue asked as he drew. "I thought you had just begun playing. Did Senin tell you or something?"

"Perhaps."

"Looks like you're not going to give me many details," Rue muttered. "I summon Doublecoston. (1700/1650) Then Skilled Black Magician attacks!"

"It is my Holy Elf," (800/2000) Gale smirked.

Rue: 7900

Gale: 8000

"I didn't expect such a high defense monster," Rue sighed. "Oh well. I end my turn."

"I will first play Jar of Greed. Ah, good… it's time to be on the offense," Gale stated. "I summon Skilled Black Magician." (1900/1700)

"What? Don't tell me that…" Rue trailed off as he saw Gale place another card on his Duel Disk.

"Your suspicions will be confirmed now. I play a magic card, Sacrificial Doll. I choose a monster on the field to sacrifice; since Holy Elf is my only choice, I will sacrifice her. In exchange, I get to special summon a level seven monster from my hand. So I special summon Black Magician!" (2500/2100)

"No way!" Rue exclaimed as the Black Magician appeared. Unlike his purple-armored Black Magicians, this one wore dark blue armor. "You play a Black Magician deck too?"

"That's right," Gale said. "Luckily for you, the monster special summoned by Sacrificial Doll can't attack on the same turn he was summoned."

"Yeah, lucky break for me," Rue agreed. "It also gives my Skilled Black Magician a magic counter."

"And mine as well. Then I lay one card down, and my Skilled Black Magician attacks your Doublecoston!"

"In response to your attack, I activate my trap card, Claymore Mine!" Rue said. "It can only be activated when one of your monsters attacks, and destroys one of your monsters. Unfortunately, I don't get to choose which one; the monster with the highest attack on your field is the one that dies. A pity, since I wouldn't have been attacked by him either way, but at least he's out of the way now."

"He will be, but another will take his place," Gale smirked. "Because I will chain onto your Claymore Mine with an instant magic card called Dimension Magic!"

"Dimension Magic?"

"You play a Black Magician deck, yet you've never heard of it? You're even more idiotic than I thought," Gale said.

"You'll never be able to guess how stupid Rue is," Draken grinned. "He's always proving me wrong too, because he just keeps getting worse and worse."

"Some friend you are," Rue muttered.

"Anyway, since you don't know, I will explain it to you. I sacrifice a monster that is a Magic-User Subtype and special summon one from my hand in its place. So I choose to sacrifice my Black Magician, and special summon another Black Magician from my hand!"

"You've got to be kidding!" Rue exclaimed. "Sorry, but I can't let you do that. I'll activate Ruecian's Deck Master ability! By discarding one card from my hand, your magic card is negated and destroyed!"

Ruecian rushed forward towards the Black Magician, who was beginning to be pulled into a black vortex. But then Senin waved his staff, pointing it at Ruecian. Ruecian brought his sword down towards the vortex, when a purple barrier appeared around it. Ruecian went flying back, barely managing to land on his feet next to Rue.

"What was that?" Rue said in bewilderment.

"I had Senin use his own Deck Master ability," Gale explained. "Your cards and abilities that negate magic cards do not work as long as Senin is my Deck Master."

Rue swore under his breath. "Not good at all…"

The Black Magician vanished into the vortex, and out of it came another Black Magician, identical to the first one.

"But I've done more besides merely escaping your Claymore Mine," Gale told him. "Dimension Magic also lets me destroy one monster on your field."

"What? No fair!" Rue protested.

"On the contrary, it's perfectly fair. So your Skilled Black Magician is destroyed by this effect."

Another vortex appeared behind the Skilled Black Magician. Before it could react, it was pulled inside.

"And there's one more good thing about this. Since this Black Magician was not special summoned via the Sacrificial Doll, it can attack this turn! So after your Doublecoston is dead due to my Skilled Black Magician, my Black Magician attacks you directly!"

Rue: 5200

Gale: 8000

Rue fell back as the wave of black magic struck him. When it was over, he rose slowly. "Ow… now I know how all my opponent's felt when I attacked them directly."

"I lay one more card down before ending my turn," Gale said.

"I'd better hope for a winner," Rue said as he drew. "Score! I play Early Burial. This equip card lets me special summon a monster from my Cemetery in attack mode by paying 800 Life Points. I choose to bring back my Skilled Black Magician."

Rue: 4400

Gale: 8000

"You just gave my own Skilled Black Magician his third magic counter," Gale pointed out. "Not really what I'd call an intelligent move. Oh, wait, I forgot for a second who I was dueling. Forgive me."

"You're forgiven," Rue grinned. "Because now I'm going to have the pleasure of obliterating your monsters. I sacrifice Skilled Black Magician to summon Black Magician Girl! (2000/1700) Already her effect activates. She gains 300 more attack for each Black Magician or Magician of Black Chaos in our Cemeteries. Since you have a Black Magician in yours, her attack is raised by 300!" (2300/1700)

Gale shrugged. "Ok, so she can destroy my Skilled Black Magician. Big deal."

"Yeah, she isn't much by herself," Rue admitted. "But that's why I have this magic card, Jewel of the Wise!"

"You little lucky…" Gale growled.

"It seems you know what it does," Rue stated. "For Draken's benefit though, I'll explain. I can only activate this card if I have a Black Magician Girl on the field. It allows me to special summon a Black Magician from my hand or deck."

Draken looked from the purple Black Magician to the blue one and back again. "Too many Black Magicians," he groaned, shaking his head.

"Now I will have Black Magician Girl attack your Skilled Black Magician!"

Rue: 4400

Gale: 7600

"Then Black Magician attacks your Black Magician, killing both!"

"Afraid not," Gale said. "I activate my face down card, Dimension Magic!"

"Not another!" Rue exclaimed.

The Black Magician went into the vortex, and another appeared. Rue's Black Magician was pulled into another one at the same time, and vanished.

"A heavy loss, you could say," Gale sneered.

"Not as heavy as you might think," Rue told him. "Because now that there are two more Black Magicians in the Cemetery, my Black Magician Girl's attack is raised by 600 more points! (2900/1700) I end my turn."

"I would be threatened, but this card really doesn't make your Black Magician Girl much of a threat," Gale said. "I play a magic card, Thousand Knives!"

"Damn it!" Rue snarled. "That is not what I need right now!"

"Since I have a Black Magician on the field, I can activate it. It destroys one of the monsters on your field. A pity for you, isn't it?" Gale said.

The Black Magician raised his hand, indicating to the Black Magician Girl. Knives rained down from the sky, swiftly impaling her several times before she vanished.

"Now Black Magician attacks directly!"

Rue: 1900

Gale: 7600

"It's your turn," Gale stated.

Draken looked over at Rue's Life Point counter, then at Gale's field. Seeing what the situation was, he began to whistle a funeral march.

"Oh shut up," Rue snapped, drawing. "That overgrown leprechaun hasn't won yet!"

"I assure you that when I win, you will be dying a very, very painful death," Gale snarled, fingering his katars.

"You can really back that one up, can't you?" Draken joked to Rue.

"Actually, yes, I can!" Rue said. "Not like I have much to lose at this point anyway. I lay one monster in defense mode and one card face down, ending my turn."

"I lay one card down and attack with Black Magician," Gale announced.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist," Rue grinned. "You've just attacked my Tenacious Old Magician!" (450/600)

"Should I be threatened?" Gale asked.

"Yes, you should be, since his reverse effect destroys one monster on the field," Rue said. "So you can say goodbye to your last Black Magician!"

"That does it," Gale growled. "Now I'm getting serious. It's your turn."

"Alright," Rue shrugged as he drew. "Drat… this isn't going to help much. I lay one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"I play Sealing Swords of Light. This reveals your face down monsters, and makes it so that you cannot attack for three turns."

"Darn," Rue growled. "I was so close to being able to directly attack… oh well. It's my Saint Magician. (300/400) Her reverse effect allows me to get one magic card from my Cemetery and add it to my hand. Is that it?"

"Yes."

"I lay one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"I also set a monster. Go. It is your second turn for Swords."

"I place a third monster in defense, that's it."

"I pass. Last turn for Swords."

"I pass too. Now those damn Swords are finally gone."

"Even so, you won't want to be attacking," Gale smirked. "I sacrifice my face down monster for Black Magician Girl." (3200/1700)

"Oh boy," Rue said unenthusiastically as the Black Magician Girl appeared.

"Then I activate my trap card, Cry of the Living Dead. I can special summon a monster from my Cemetery in attack mode, so I choose Black Magician. (2500/2100) (2900/1700) Then I sacrifice both to special summon Magic Hierophant of Black!" (3200/2800)

Rue, Draken, and Darche watched in awe as the Hierophant appeared. He looked much like a normal Black Magician, except that his armor was black, and his staff was larger, with a much more deadly-looking head. Ruecian seemed much calmer than the others though. He looked over at Senin for a few moments before turning his attention back to the battlefield.

"That's odd. He looks familiar…" Rue commented.

"Gee, I wonder why. Could it be because he looks like Black Magician? No! That couldn't be the reason!" Draken said sarcastically.

"I didn't ask your opinion," Rue told him.

"But I felt like giving it," Draken replied.

"Do either of you even know what the word 'silent' means?" Gale growled.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just not good at being silent," Draken said.

"Start being good at it or my katars will show you how," Gale threatened.

"Ok, I get it," Draken said, stepping back a few paces.

"How did you special summon him?" Rue asked.

"He can only be special summoned by sacrificing two level six or higher Magic-User Subtypes," Gale explained. "Now I will have my Magic Hierophant of Black attack your face down monster to your left."

"I activate Magic Cylinder! This negates your attack and deals damage to your Life Points equal to your monster's attack!" Rue said.

"Good one!" Draken complemented.

"Sorry, but I won't let you do that," Gale stated as the cylinders appeared. The Hierophant raised his staff and blasted away both of them.

"What the hell?" Rue said in disbelief. "How?"

"My Hierophant's effect allows me to negate and destroy trap cards when they are activated," Gale told him.

"Sorry, I meant bad one," Draken said as the Hierophant also destroyed Rue's facedown Skilled Black Magician.

"Thanks for the support," Rue muttered as he drew. He looked at the monster, and then began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Gale snapped, quickly becoming irritated.

"Oh, this is just priceless!" Rue managed to say as he got a hold on himself. "First, I sacrifice my Saint Magician and my last, facedown Skilled Black Magician to summon Black Magician! Then I play Early Burial, to bring back the Black Magician in my Cemetery!"

Rue: 1100

Gale: 7600

"I thought you could only have one Early Burial in your deck?" Gale asked.

"You're right. However, Saint Magician got me back a magic card, remember? I chose to take Early Burial. Anyway, I sacrifice both of my Black Magicians to special summon my own Magic Hierophant of Black!"

"You have got to be kidding," Gale said, eye twitching as the Hierophant appeared.

Draken face faulted. "You had one all along and you didn't even know its effect?"

"Yep," Rue admitted sheepishly. "It's a new addition to my deck, and I've never drawn it before, so I forgot I had it until now. That's why he looked familiar to me though. Anyway, my Hierophant attacks yours, killing both! Then I lay one card down and end my turn."

Gale looked at his next card. "If you can't stop this, it's over. I summon Gemini Elf! (1900/800) They attack!"

"And I activate Holy Barrier-Mirror Force," Rue said. "You're going to have to try harder than that to beat me!"

"I… end my turn…" Gale muttered.

"Fine by me." Rue looked at his next card and smiled. "Very nice draw. I activate Black Magic Curtain!"

"I thought it was impossible for me to hate you any more. Once again, I was proven wrong," Gale growled as the black curtain appeared.

"Care to give me a heads up on what that does?" Draken asked. "I've seen you play it before but I can't recall what it does. You special summon a Black Magician or something, right?"

"For half my Life Points, I special summon a Black Magician from my deck," Rue explained.

Rue: 550

Gale: 7600

"Now I'll equip my Black Magician with an equip card, Power of Magicians! It raises his stats by 500 for each magic or trap card I have on the field, including itself. So since that's the only magic or trap card I have, his stats go up by 500. But I'll lay down one other card to raise it by 500 more. (3500/3100) Black Magician attacks directly! That's it."

Rue: 550

Gale: 3100

"We'll see how long you remain confident," Gale snarled. "I lay one card down and end my turn."

"Just what I was waiting for," Rue said. "I activate my face down card, Black Magic!" (3000/2600)

"Damn you!" Gale growled. "You have the devil's luck!"

"And one of his familiars," Rue joked.

"Very funny."

Rue blinked. What are you doing here? Did you actually hear what I said?

No response came.

…I am getting sick of him. He comes and goes without warning. But lately, he's been showing up more often. If this continues, who knows what will happen?

"Um, hello? Earth to Rue? You alive?" Draken waved his hand in front of his eyes.

"I'm listening," Rue said, impatiently shoving away his hand. "What is it?"

"You seemed to zone out there for a second," Draken told him.

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are," Draken said, not sounding as though he believed him. "But anyway, I wanted to know what Black Magic does."

"It can only be activated when I have a Black Magician, but it destroys all my opponent's magic and trap cards," Rue explained.

"Not half bad," Draken commented.

"My Magic Cylinder is gone…" Gale said.

"Good. Now Black Magician attacks!"

Rue: 550

Gale: 100

"So close," Rue sighed. "But it's over for you next turn. I'm done."

Gale looked at his next card, and then glared at it. "Of all the things to draw at a time like this…"

He stopped talking, and looked over at Senin. "Yeah, I did forget about that… well, that's the only option we have now." He turned back to Rue. "I'm going to have Senin come to the field!" (2800/3200)

Rue stared at the Black-Robed Sage as he went to the field, still in his midair meditative pose. "Um, ok?"

"Then I activate Cyclone on your Power of Magicians!" (2500/2100)

"…I think I'm screwed," Rue said.

"Indeed," Gale smirked. "Senin attacks your Black Magician!"

Senin pointed his staff at the Black Magician, and a powerful wave of black magic slammed into the Black Magician, obliterating it.

Rue: 250

Gale: 100

"That is why you respect your elders," Darche joked.

"If you get beaten by this old man, I'm going to laugh at you for all eternity," Draken informed Rue. "You'll die to Gale, I'll die laughing, and I'll follow you through heaven while still laughing."

"Good thing I'm not going to let myself lose to him then," Rue said, drawing. He looked at his card, and then swore violently.

"Not the card you were hoping for?" Draken asked.

"Not even close," Rue sighed. "But there has to be a way…"

Draken smacked Rue over the head.

"OW! What the heck did you do that for?" he complained.

"You idiot! You could win right now!"

"I could?" Rue looked at his hand again. "Not by using these cards, that's for sure…"

Ruecian hit Rue lightly over the head as well.

"Not you too!" Rue groaned. "I don't need that much abuse…" Rue trailed off, staring at Ruecian. Then he looked at Senin. Then he turned back to Ruecian. "Please hit me again. Hard."

"No, let me!" Draken said before he slapped Rue across the face.

"Thanks, I needed that," Rue muttered, wincing as he turned back to Gale. "I will have Ruecian step onto the battlefield as well!" (2900/2400)

Ruecian gazed at Senin once more. Senin seemed to lock gazes, and then lifted his staff. Ruecian followed suit.

Then both mages fired their waves of black magic at each other. The spectators were momentarily blinded as the waves collided.

When they finally managed to look again, they saw Ruecian leaning on his staff to keep himself upright, looking very weary. But Senin was slumped over, and was obviously in worse shape.

Rue: 250

Gale: 0

"…I cannot believe this. At all." Gale glared at Rue. "I cannot believe the luck you had in that final part…"

"I'm known for having come-from-behind wins like that," Rue joked. "But that'll teach you who the real master of the Black Magicians is!"

Gale looked at his katars longingly. "Normally I would not care about losing in a card game of all things, but to an idiot like you, this is just insulting."

"I won fairly," Rue pointed out. "And due to me winning, I pretty much get to decide what I want you to do. My conditions are that you leave and do not bother me or any of my friends ever again. Simple enough, right?"

"Fine," Gale said. "I may be disgusted by this, but I'm not dishonorable." He looked over at his Soul Monster. "Senin! We're leaving!"

Senin looked over at Ruecian for a last time. Ruecian straightened up as best as he could and, with a small smile, bowed. Senin nodded with a smile of his own, and then vanished into his Soul Card.

"Looks like you two hit it off well," Darche commented, coming over to Ruecian.

Ruecian shrugged.

"Typical," Darche muttered.

"If that's all, I am leaving," Gale stated.

"Nice meeting you," Draken grinned. "Oh, by the way, I suggest dying your hair green to match your outfit."

"I may have agreed to follow the conditions, but I can always ask my fellow comrades to have you die a long, painful death," Gale snarled before running over to the mountains and beginning to climb over the rocks. Soon, he was out of sight.

Draken sighed in relief. "I tell you, despite how I acted there, I was nervous as heck the whole time. I'm glad you pulled that off."

"So you actually cared about what would have happened to me? That's a first!" Rue said.

"Don't get used to it," Draken retorted.

Ruecian and Darche went back over to them, which caused Rue to change the subject. "How do you feel Ruecian? Are your wounds serious?"

He shook his head.

"Can you go on, or do you want to rest?"

Ruecian began walking away from the mountains.

"There's no mistaking what that means," Darche commented as he followed.

Rue and Draken went too, the latter sighing again. "No rest for the weary, eh?"

To be continued…