Here we go again. Back to me, Time Mage, and Keiji. Not much else to say other than that you may want to grab some popcorn and your favorite beverage, because you won't want to get interrupted during this chapter!
Chapter Eleven-Rise to Empyrean Pt. 2
"Keiji, you've managed to effectively protect your Life Points and fight through my monster," he chuckled, taking a card from his hand and holding it separate from the others. "And so now you've proven yourself worth my going all out. So, to begin my rampage, I'll play my field magic card, The Hive!"
As Dolgrune spoke, Keiji could only bite back his anxiety. If Dolgrune was speaking the truth and had been holding back, then he was in trouble. He had been playing mostly
defensively, and although he had the Life Point advantage, Dolgrune controlled the field, and this new field card may have the power to hand him the game as well.
All around them formed a dome of silken threads layered upon each other, various such threads hanging all around them and dripping with fluids. The ground beneath their feet had also been coated with a generous layer of the sickening material. Piles of eggs littered the ground, and various normal bugs crawled all around them, disappearing and reappearing in the holes that lined the walls, and Keiji was certain he felt something on his feet.
"Now it's time I began my infinite rampage. I will discover now for myself if you are indeed a human, or if you are actually Amarai trying to shake my master from your trail. If you are, then you will die. This will become your tomb, dragon. Your carcass will feed these hatchlings." he declared, motioning to the piles of eggs.
"I am an innocent man, and I refuse to die in the place of another!" Keiji shouted, but in his mind he knew the truth. His strength was wavering; the Darkness Game was beginning to take its tole on him. Combined with his fatigue, he wouldn't be able to keep up if this dragged on much longer. And if Dolgrune was indeed going to be stepping his game up, then his chances of surviving and proving his innocence were slipping away.
"If you are innocent, then blame the dragon demon; blame Amarai Reiki for bringing this curse upon you!"
Looking up from his cards, Dolgrune took a second to motion to the sickening structure all around them, the crackling sound of bugs crawling through the white puss echoing through both his and Keiji's ears. While the sound was like a lullaby to the mutant insect master, he knew Keiji head was ringing with the sound, and that the sensation of being surrounded by a structure that most humans would deem "sickening" was beginning to tug on his nerves.
"Allow me to explain the incredible power of my field card." he said, holding one of his two cards in each hand. "First of all, it increases the attack and defense points of each of my insects by two hundred points." Four fairs of eyes shifted to the Insect Princess, who was glowing with a light pink aura as her power rose (3300/1600). "Next, it allows me to discard an insect monster from my hand to place any insect from my deck or graveyard into my hand, as well as to discard an insect to special summon any insect from my hand to my field. So, I'll discard the monster I drew just this turn. A monster which, when combined with The Hive, makes me unstoppable. I discard Immortal Cockroach (1000/1000)."
Placing the named card into his graveyard, Dolgrune reached over to his deck as a small vine extended out and placed a card into said hand. "Now, let me explain the reason why I said that my Immortal Cockroach makes me invincible." he continued before Keiji could get a thought in. "Whenever Immortal Cockroach goes to the graveyard, he returns to my hand." Placing a hand against his graveyard slot, Dolgrune waited patiently as a small vine slithered out of the slot and placed a card into his hand. Next he shoved it back into his cemetery and then set the card from his deck onto his duel plate.
Seconds after Dolgrune had placed the card onto the tangle of roots, he grinned beneath his surgeons mask as a sick monstrosity stepped onto the field. It was massive, at least as big as an elephant. It stood on eight spider legs and had a body not so dissimilar in shape to that of a spiders. However, the exoskeleton was red and black, while the back segment of its bodies armor opened to reveal a pair of wings beneath a protective cover. Finally, the feature separating it from any normal insect was the face. Rather than the multiple eyes of an arachnid or the massive, compound eyes of most other bugs, this ones face was relatively human in design, complete with a nose, mouth and human-esk eyes, their shape revealing it to be female, but her mouth was will filled with fangs, the skin yellow, and a pair of antennae sprouted from her scalp.
"This is my Insect Queen (2200+200/2400), who is powered up by The Hive and whose effect increases her power by two hundred per insect on the field. Then she gains another two hundred per insect because of my continuous Might of the Swarm, which will also increase the power of Insect Princess." he explained as both of his monsters power began to rise.
Eyes wide, Keiji began to realize exactly what all this meant. With The Hive in play and Immortal Cockroach in his hand, Dolgrune could summon any monster from his deck that he wanted, and could do so infinitely. Clenching his teeth and narrowing his eyes, he began to try and think up a plausible counter strategy, but was soon distracted yet again as he caught sight of Dolgrune's eyes, which still seemed empty. It was as if he had intellect and personality, but lacked any sense of humanity or soul.
"Now then, to show you how much of difference there is between you and I." Dolgrune chortled, holding up the card he had just retrieved from his cemetery. "I discard Immortal Cockroach six more times to place three insects into my hand and then to summon Deathscythe Mantis (2300+200/1600), Butterfly Reaper (2400+200/1400), and Horned Charger Beatle (2600+200/900) in attack mode."
All at once, three of the eggs on the ground by Dolgrune's feet began to expand until they were each larger than either player, at which point a tearing sound could be heard as claws, wings and horns began to pierce through the protective shells of their incubation. As one, they emerged from the confines of silk, now fully matured. First was another mantis with metallic scythes as its claws and with a jet black carapace. Second was an insect standing on its hind legs while using its forward legs as hands to hold up the vicious, double bladed scythe that would serve as its weapon of choice, and with a set of monarch butterfly wings. The final one was a large red beetle with a massive horn curved up from the front of its face, while two other horns lanced straight forward from what would be considered the forehead, each one appearing to be made of steel rather than bone.
"Now each of my monsters will gain one thousand attack points from my Might of the Swarm, and Insect Queens own effect will raise her attack points by another two thousand." Dolgrune continued, even though Keiji had already figured it out. Although he wasn't aware of the effects of the three new insect monsters, he was sure it wouldn't matter if they attacked him. Each one had an attack power well over three thousand, and he had only one monster in defense mode and one face down card. It would take a great deal of luck on his part to survive the coming assault.
Raising an elongated arm and pointing at Ranger of the North Star (300/2200), Dolgrune shifted his eyes to his Deathscythe Mantis (3500/1800). Without even speaking its name, he gave the only command that needed to be issued: "Attack his Ranger!" Releasing a shrill cry, much like the one that most of its brethren had when attacking throughout the duel, the black predator stalked across the field, arms raised.
"I activate my face down card, Weakening of the Attack! This card negates your attack and ends your battle phase" Keiji shouted as his quick-play magic card activated and a nearly invisible barrier formed between his monster and the attacking mantis. Ignoring this development, the insect slayer slashed down, his blade connecting with the shield, but failing to penetrate it, and so the mantis marched back to the rest of the force.
Sighing with relief that none of Dolgrune's monster had been able to negate his card, Keiji draw, giving him a hand of five. Although it was normally very rare to have so many cards in hand at the start of ones turn at such a stage in the game, Keiji's current hand consisted primarily of magic cards that would be wasted on his weak monster or unable to harm Dolgrune's monsters.
Glancing up, he checked the current strength of each of the five monsters facing him down, each one very much at home in the room of eggs, wax, and silk. As it stood, Deathscythe Mantis (3500) was the weakest of them, followed by Butterfly Reaper (3400), then Horn Charger Beetle (3800), Insect Princess (4100) fourth, and finally, Insect Queen (4400) as the strongest.
'Dolgrune wasn't kidding when he said he'd be going all-out. Even my strongest monster's built-in potential taps out at four thousand, and my chances of being able to summon it are rather low.' Reaching up with his free right hand he pressed on the bridge of his nose between his eyes while blinking a few times, trying to clear his vision. 'Everything's starting to grow faint. I'm growing weak and can't last much longer.'
"You may currently dominate the field, Dolgrune, but your attack power isn't everything. I set one card face down and summon Ranger of the Starlit Sky (1300/1900) in defense mode." he declared as another Ranger appeared, this one dressed in a silver tunic and wielding a curved blade running up each arm. "When this monster is summoned, I place one random card from my graveyard into my hand." Reaching down, Keiji accepted the card offered to him and added it to his hand. "Now I'll equip my Ranger of the Starlit Sky with Morning Star Rod, boosting his attack by three hundred. End turn."
Drawing a third card, Dolgrune wasted no time in playing it, an enlarged image of the magic card appearing, showing Keiji that it was a continuous card. The image on the card showed a set of scales, each of the dishes holding a single card standing straight up. The one on the left, however, was facing towards Keiji, while the card in the right-hand dish was turned away.
"This is Compensation Draw, and it allows me to discard cards from my hand to draw new cards from my deck." Dolgrune explained, and Keiji instantly realized the deadliness of this card in Dolgrune's hands.
"And because of your Immortal Cockroach, you can increase your hand size to any amount you wish." he concluded, and Dolgrune simply nodded, although Keiji was positive he was smirking underneath his mask. Holding up the named card, he inserted it into his graveyard, which then spat it right back out, and so he discard it again, repeating the process four times total before he returned the discarded card to his hand and then drew four cards, meaning he had six cards in his hand, plus Immortal Cockroach.
"I play a second Might of the Swarm, meaning each of my monsters will each gain an extra one thousand attack points!" Eyes wide, Keiji watched as each of the opposing monsters rose by incredible amounts, the weakest one now equal in power to the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. However, Dolgrune wasn't done there. Taking two more cards from his hand, he slipped them into his last two magic zones, filling his field completely.
"Now, Deathsycthe Mantis (4500), attack his Ranger of the Starlit Sky (1600/1900)!" Lifting his bladed arms above his head, the mantis struck, bringing the blades down, colliding with the defending man, who lifted the wooden staff in his hands, hooking it against the inner arm of the mantis, avoiding the flesh-renting blades, but it was obvious which monster had the advantage.
"I activate the effect of my Morning Star Rod, sacrificing it to negate the battle damage for the turn." Keiji called as the razor blades slashed the staff into three pieces, but provided the chance the Ranger needed to leap back unharmed.
"Interesting move." Dolgrune complimenting. "I was wondering why you equipped your defending monster. Very well, if you are protected this turn, then I shall end."
Drawing, Keiji noticed that he was shaking. Not only were his hands trembling, but his entire body. His eyes were desperate to close, blurring his vision. Blinking a few times, he tried to clear his sight, but to no avail. Breathing more deeply, he tried to calm his mind in an attempt to ease his shivering, barely stopping it. Blinking once more, he looked back at his cards, which were becoming just barely clear enough to tell which ones were which, thanks in part to the fact that he knew his cards so well. Focusing with all his might, he forced his hand to place the single card in his magic zone and passed his turn, unable to make any kind of retaliation.
"Growing weak?" Dolgrune asked, drawing a card. "Why don't you use your demon energy? Are you so desperate to convince me that you're human?"
"I..." Keiji seethed, breathing deeply, his head hanging. "I am not..." Taking another deep breath, he started to lift his head. "I am not a demon." he managed to gasp out.
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Just outside of Keiji's apartment, standing in the poorly lit street, was a man in his mid-twenties, with hair so black that it threatened to consume the night sky. He was dressed simply enough: black pants, leather boots, and a leather jacket. The only part of his attire that seemed unusual was the fact that he was wearing sunglasses at 11:30 pm, in a street that had a single, weak lamp post at either end, some twenty feet to either side of the man.
"How strange," he muttered under his breath. "It would seem that he is human. Yet, at the same time, how can he be human? He's lasted longer in a Darkness Game than an average person, yet I sense no demon energy from him."
Rubbing his chin in thought, he continued to ponder the situation. He preferred not to kill humans, because his goal was solely the elimination of demons for the purification of the human race. Taking the life of a human generally defeated his purpose.
Reaching a decision, he delved into the back of his mind, connecting him to his servants conscience. 'Dolgrune, give him one more turn, and then finish him. It's possible that he's just above the limits of normal humans, but even if he is, he wont last much longer.'
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"The time has come," the man behind the surgeons mask declared, glancing at his new card. "To summon my greatest monster."
Whether or not Keiji heard this declaration was unsure. He was currently leaning forward, his eyes closed and his breathing ragged. The only indication that he was still alive being the way his entire upper body would rise and fall periodically with his breathing.
"I sacrifice Horn Charger Beetle (4800) to my Deathscythe Mantis in order to add the sacrificed monsters attack points to my Deathscythe." As Dolgrune gave the command, the scarab was slashed open by the mantis that stood directly next to him, and was then promptly devoured by its killer, whose attack began to soar.
"Of course, the goal of that maneuver was simply to open up a monster zone." Dolgrune continued, laying his drawn card onto his plant Duel Disk. "I remove Killer Needle (1200/1000), Flying Kamakiri (1400/900), and Preying Mantis (1500/1200) from my graveyard, plus I sacrifice The Hive to summon Queen of the Hive (0+2200/0+2000) in attack mode!"
Lifting his head in surprise by the sacrifice of the field card, Keiji forced his head to lift, and was disappointed by what he saw. Not only was the field card seemingly still in effect, but he saw the forming of the new monster. Nearly every single egg had amassed to one point on the floor and were now pulsing as one. Deafening as the chirping and crawling of the insects within the catacombs of the walls were, the sound made by thousands of eggs splitting open simultaneously overshadowed the other noises completely.
Seconds later the eggs all erupted at once and Keiji could see that they had become a single egg somehow. What emerged was another female insect, this one appearing to be most like a bee in appearance. Like the Insect Queen, this new monster had a fairly human face, except the skin was black with short, black fuzz covering it, except for the two massive, smooth eyes at the end, set at an angle to allow it to see in front, above, and to the sides all at once without having to change its position in the slightest.
Like a bee, she had a yellow and black striped pattern on her bulbous abdomen, as well as a stinger sticking out of her backside. Unlike a bee, she had a pair of butterfly wings, and her six limbs were not short appendages sticking out of her chest, but were more like small trees that extended out of her sides, pointed straight up and then bending down.
"This is my ultimate monster." Dongrune continued to laugh as Keiji's face fell into a grimace. This monster required a hefty cost, yet it had zero attack points. That meant it had a few devastating effects. "As you no doubt have guessed, my Queen of the Hive has some powerful abilities, since I sacrificed my field card to summon her. Well, her fist ability is that while she is in play The Hive is considered to be active, meaning I retain all of its abilities."
Realizing that this made sense, since the field was still active all around them, Keiji continued to wait for further explanation.
"Now I will reveal the true powers of my Queen of the Hive!" Dolgrune called, his excitement growing. "For every insect monster I sacrifice to her, she will gain one thousand attack points. So, farewell Insect Queen and Butterfly Reaper." At the same moment the two named monsters exploded into dust that was absorbed into the massive bee, who had begun to suck violently on the air, pulling in the dust that remained of the two monsters, boosting her attack points to nearly double what they had been moments before. "There can be only one queen!"
"You may have powered up your Deathscythe and Queen, but in doing so you've decreased the number insects on your field, deducting eight hundred attack points from each of them." Keiji pointed out, having trouble forming the words, yet doing so just the same.
"Perhaps, but I still have three monsters with immense power at my disposal, and you have only two monsters left. Now, Deathscythe Mantis (9300) will attack your Ranger of the Starlit Sky!" Dolgrune commanded. Raising its claws above its head, the insect began to charge Keiji's field, intent on destroying the monster that had eluded it earlier. Slashing down, he
prepared to cut Keiji's monster to pieces just as his set card flipped up, a trap card.
"You..." he began, swallowing hard. "You've been taking me lightly, Dolgrune. Although it's true that your moves have been precise and overpowering, I have thus far managed to hold off your attacks, and this will be no different."
His head still hung, Keiji's words were weak, yet they still startled Dolgrune, who couldn't understand what the boy was talking about. 'How does he have the strength to do this anymore? He should have passed out at the very least just from the stress of The Hive on him combined with the draining effects of the Darkness Game!'
"I activate..." Keiji struggled to say, but was cut off by a sharp pain in his arm. Tilting his head to the side slightly, he saw than the skin on his arm was actually beginning to rip from the pressure of the duel, drawing a thin string of crimson.
'I WILL NOT DIE INNOCENT!' Keiji repeated his earlier declaration within his head upon seeing his blood. Filled with new resolve, he lifted his head to stare at Dolgrune, who stared back, pure shock covering whatever parts of his face the mask he wore didn't. Again, Keiji noticed the absence of light within Dolgrune's soul, but was drawn from that thought as a light filled a portion of his vision.
Looking down at his arm, Keiji saw that the blue-white light was beaming from the rupture in his skin, or, more appropriately, from the blood that had flowed from that wound. He then noticed light burning underneath his clothes at various points, realizing that other parts of his skin had opened all over his body. Staring in awe, Keiji felt as though time froze for him as he was consumed by the light.
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'What's this?' the man on the street asked, alarmed by the development. 'What is this power? It's not demon energy, but it's also not like anything I've ever felt from a human either. No matter what powers a human uses, the energy that flows from them is still the same. But this...this is...'
So surprised was the man that he was having a great deal of trouble finding a way of describing what he felt.
"It feels...pure." he finally decided, speaking aloud unintentionally. "But that still doesn't tell me what it is. However, if this truly is coming from Keiji, then it proves two things: he isn't a demon, for no demon could have such a clean power; and also, Dolgrune doesn't stand a chance. Very well, he's disposable for a reason."
Turning on his heel, Juushin left his puppet to his fate. He had to look into a few things.
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Stepping back, Dolgrune watched the flaring light with a mix of terror, confusion, and amazement. He had no idea what he was up against anymore. He was told his opponent would be a demon or a human, but this was beyond either of those. To make matters worse, he could feel his masters conscience breaking ties with him. That meant that his master no longer had faith in him and had discarded him. But...what did that mean for him?
"I see." Keiji's voice boomed from within the ethereal flames. "You aren't human," As the voice continued, the flames began to dim until Keiji's body could be made out, and then further until everything was as it had been less than a minute before, except for the fact that Keiji was once again standing tall and the wounds on his arms were gone, although the blood that had dripped along his skin remained, but was now dry and dark.
Meanwhile, a faint, thin aura could be made out around Keiji's body. "Nor are you a demon." he continued. "You're a puppet made my someone, but whoever they are, they're very good at covering their tracks."
Turning back to the duel, ignoring the trembling Dolgrune, Keiji continued where he had left off. Somehow, when the burst of power went off the duel itself had frozen. However, as the force began to wane, so did the ability of the monsters to not move, and soon the attack was once again falling towards Keiji's Ranger.
"My trap card is Attack Guidance Armor, which I will use to direct your attack at your Queen of the Hive (3400)!" Instantly the demonic armor appeared around the bee, causing the mantis to grind to a halt and then turn around, glaring at the Queen.
"Activate face down card," Dolgrune shouted. "Exoskeleton! This card activates whenever an insect monster on my field is attacked. I may control the attack target and reduce the damage by half." Again the mantis came to a stop and turned again, this time pointed at the Insect Princess, whose body was suddenly very reflective, coated in a thin later of some transparent material. Slashing down, the mantis cut the Princess in half and her remains fell in a pile on the white floor, staining it with her fluids. (DLP:500)
"I also activate my other trap card, Rage of the Swarm, dealing you one hundred points of damage times the level of all insect monsters in my graveyard when an insect monster is destroyed. I have thirty levels worth of monsters in my graveyard, meaning I'll drag you even lower than myself." Dolgrune explained as his other face down card activated and thousands of wasps began to emerge from both the trap card and from the catacombs in the walls.
The buzzing became almost too much for even Dolgrune himself to withstand as the plethora of wasps surrounded Keiji, but somehow burned into nothingness when they touched his aura. After a minute or two, the pests scattered, returning to their tunnels. However, the damage was done. (KLP:400)
"I also still have my Queen of the Hive (3200), and you're out of face down cards. Queen of the Hive, attack Ranger of the Starlit Sky." Opening her mouth wide, the massive bee released a wave of insects that devoured Keiji's monster until only fragments of bone remained.
Setting a card face down, Dolgrune nodded to Keiji, who drew a card. "It's over Dolgrune. You may still have the stronger monsters, but you no longer have a reason to face me. A puppet only has purpose so long as he is of use, and your time of use is ended."
Surprised that Keiji somehow knew his dilemma, Dolgrune shook his head snarled "Even if my master has abandoned me, I will be able to continue with the purpose I was created for, and that is the elimination of demons!"
"Like I said, you no longer have a purpose." Keiji said, holding up his drawn card. "You were created without any of the attributes that you would need to survive in the world. You have no soul, no heart, not even a brain. You've been programed using a form of magic to give you a form of intelligence so that you can duel effectively and adapt to such situations, you lack reasoning, and so you cannot even defeat me. You have no way of understanding what it is that drives me, so you cannot comprehend what I say."
Sliding his card into his magic zone, Keiji folded up the remaining cards in his hand. "Star Restoration allows me to shuffle all cards in my hand back into my deck and then draw five cards." he explained, shuffling his deck and then drawing a new hand of cards. Setting one of those cards into a magic zone, the holographic image of the card appeared. "One card face down. Turn end."
Shaking slightly, Dolgrune drew a card. For the first time, Keiji had a feeling of superiority, despite the situation. 'Nonsense! He only has four hundred Life Points left; he'll lose right now thanks to Queen of the Hive's effects.'
"I activate the final ability of my Queen of the Hive!" he shouted as his Deathscythe Mantis began to suddenly convulse. Upon further inspection, it could be seen that the Queen of the Hive had stabbed it in the side with her stinger. As she withdrew, a white fluid began to pour out of the hole she left, but the mantis continued to thrash about, growing more and more violent. "In exchange for his life, Deathscythe Mantis has been turned into a berserker who will bypass your monsters and deal you eight hundred points of damage."
As the explanation ended, the mantis flew into a rage, storming across the field. When it was only a few feet away from crashing into Keiji's North Star Ranger it leapt into the air, where its body caught fire (an apparent side effect of the venom it had been injected with) and it began it's decent towards Keiji, dealing enough damage to finish Keiji twice.
"North Star Ranger!" Keiji shouted, and to Dolgrune's surprise the Ranger sprung backwards, hovering in the air between Keiji and the mantis.
"What do you think you're doing?" Dolgrune shouted. "This is a direct damage effect, not battle."
"I understand that." Keiji responded. "However, North Star Ranger allows me to sacrifice him to negate all Life Point damage I would take this turn." he explained as his Ranger held up his shield just as the flaming insect collided with him, resulting in a standstill for a few seconds before they both exploded in a shower of light.
"Fine, then I'll discard my Immortal Cockroach three times to special summon three Insect Knights (1900/1500) from my deck to the field, and then I'll sacrifice them to my Queen of the Hive to gain eight hundred Life Points each." Dolgrune shouted, sounding erratic as three identical insectoid warriors standing on their hind legs and wielding shields and swords in their hands appeared. Seconds later they were sucked into the gaping mouth of the Queen while Dolgrune's Life Points ticked up. (DLP:2900)
"Finally, I summon my Immortal Cockroach and sacrifice it to my Queen of the Hive to further increase her attack points." Unable to do anything more, Dolgrune ended his turn as his Queen devoured the small insect creature and grew stronger.
"I summon Ranger of the Moon (1400/1000)!" Keijji called, slapping his drawn monster onto his Duel Disk. From the air descended the off-white robed warrior, sword at the ready. "Next, I will equip him with his preferred weapon, Tidal Flamberge, boosting his attack points by 800!"
Instantly the short sword of the warrior began to shift, as if the blade had suddenly been heated to high temperatures, softening it. After a few more seconds of warping, the blade re-solidified, only its edges had been modified with a series of small curves, looking like waves of the sea.
"Also, when Ranger of the Moon (2200/1000) is equipped with Tidal Flamberge he may attack twice each turn."
"It doesn't matter." Dolgrune shouted. "My Queen of the Hive (3600/3200) still has more attack points."
"Not after I activate this next equipment magic card," Keiji said, holding up the center card of the ones he still held. "Empyrean Sword boosts my monsters attack by one thousand!
In the other hand of the Ranger appeared a sword with a blade shimmering like silver and a hilt of gold. With runes etched into the flat of the blade and twisting designs in the handle, it truly was a beautiful weapon to behold.
"It's still not enough!" Dolgrune shouted.
"His attack power is plenty. However, now it's time I dealt with your monsters power." Keiji said, grabbing another card from his hand and shoving it into his graveyard. "Empyrean Sword is one of the most deadly equipment cards in the game. Not only does it give my monster an incredible increase of attack points, but it also allows me to once per turn discard a monster from my hand and then I must choose. I can deal the discarded monsters attack points as damage to one of your monsters, or half of its attack points as damage to each of your monsters. I choose to deal the full power of my discarded monster, Ranger of the Falling Stars (1700/1400), to your Queen of the Hive!"
Raising the sword above his head, Ranger of the Moon waited a second as a bolt of light fired from Keiji's graveyard into the sword. Swinging the claymore down, the same light was fired from the blade, striking the Queen in the area that, if she were human, would have been her heart. Howling in pain, the Queen fell forward, nearly half of it's power drained.
"What are you?" Dolgrune asked, his voice trembling slightly.
"I am innocent." Keiji declared. "Ranger of the Moon (3200), attack Queen of the Hive (1900)!" Bolting across the field, each sword held out to the side, Ranger of the Moon quickly closed the gap between himself and the Queen, slashing down with the sparkling sword first, hitting the ground but releasing a blast of light that consumed and burned her body. Then, rising from his knee he leapt at Dolgrune and slashed straight down with his wavy sword, aim for Dolgrune.
However, seconds before the attack could hit, Dolgrune began to glow for a second, and when the light faded, a simple flower was all that remained, which the Ranger cleaved in half. (DLP:0)
Sighing, Keiji felt the aura of light vanish from around him, just as the walls of darkness did, returning him to his apartment. Happy just be back home and alive, Keiji smiled slightly before falling forward, sleep overcoming him even before he touched the carpet.
To Be Continued...
There you have it. As always, any cards that aren't real are made by myself or Seeker. Speaking of Seeker, he's got the next chapter, that he does. See ya.
Next time from Seeker of the Soul: Keiji's sudden burst of power has intrigued Juushin, and the demon slayer seeks to learn more about this pure power. So while his mission to capture Amarai remains, Juushin's eyes are now personally set on Keiji. And that is never a good thing…
See it all on, Unwanted Attention!