This chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter. Read the last chapter before reading this one.
At the Shindou residence, Alex steps out of the shower wrapped in a towel and goes to the sink to blow dry her hair and fix it to her normal style. She walks out of the bathroom and notices the time. "Crud! I'm gonna be late!" she says in a panic. She runs to her room, dropping her towel, throws on her normal clothes and leaves the house. Today was the day of Kazuma and Yusuke's match.
Opening Theme – ZERO! (Devil is a Part-Timer opening)
Drive 9 – The Black Cataclysm
Alex arrives at a large stadium on a large platform just off the coast. She makes her way up to the stands, filled to the brim with people, young and old, making it hard for her to find a place to sit. As she looks around, she sees Yui and Rina and calls out to them as she heads toward them, "Yui! Rina!"
They look over, "Hi Alex!" Yui says with a smile.
"You guys are here too?" Alex asks sitting in the seat next to Rina.
"Of course! I wouldn't miss this fight for anything!" Yui says with excitement and joy.
"And I didn't expect to see you here Rina." Alex says.
"I really only came because my dad asked me to." She says sitting with arms and legs crossed.
"Sure you did." Alex says with a smug expression.
Just then, the lights in the stadium go out and the announcer comes on the mic. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Cardfighters alike! The Nationals are just around the corner, and to celebrate the coming of this annual tournament, we are holding this special exhibition match today between two of the strongest cardfighters in existence!" A spot light shines on one of the tunnels on the sides of the arena in the middle of the stadium, "Having just returned from the United States, he and his team have really made a name for themselves in recent years, even being able to go toe-to-toe with the legendary team TRY3, it's Yusuke Katsunori from Team Exodus!" Yusuke walks out of the tunnel waving to the crowd as they cheer for him. Alex watches Yusuke intently with a gleam in her eyes. "And, from one of the most famous teams since TRY3, a legend among cardfighters, it's Kazuma Shouji of Team Striders!" Kazuma walks out of the other tunnel and the crown cheers even louder.
"Go dad! I believe in you!" Rina cheers for him and both Alex and Yui look at her with a confused expression. Rina realizes this, clears her throat and fixes her posture.
Both Yusuke and Kazuma meet in the middle of the arena, "It's an honor to fight you today." Yusuke says.
"The honor is all mine." Kazuma replies and the two shake hands before walk to opposite ends of the arena.
"Now! It's the moment you've all been waiting for!" the announcer shouts, "GIRS 2.0, ACTIVATE!" The floor around the edges of the arena open up to reveal brightly shining crystals beneath a body of water. The light from these crystals gives the stadium with soothing blue hue. Just then, a holographic image of a barren wasteland covers the arena, and a holographic fight board appears in front of both competitors. They each draw five cards from the holographic deck and stare each other down.
Alex, Rina, and Yui all watch on with excitement in their eyes, as both Kazuma and Yusuke declare in unison, "Stand up… VANGUARD!"
"Dragprince, Rute (G0/5000)!" Kazuma declares.
"Crimson Devil, Isen (G0/5000)!" Yusuke declares. Both of their units appear in full body form in front of them.
"Whoa!" Alex exclaims in amazement. "That is so cool!"
"That's the GIRS for you." Rina explains.
"I'm up first," Kazuma explains drawing a card, "Ride! Dragwizard Knies (G1/7000)!"
"My turn!" Yusuke declares, he looks at the card he drew and smiles, "Ride! Hellhound Cerberus (G1/11000)!"
"Wait what?!" Alex exclaims and Yui gasps.
"A grade 1 with 11000 power?!" Rina questions.
"Due to Isen's skill, all of my Shadow Servant and Shadow Lord units gain 1000 power during my turn (11000-12000)! I also call Shadow Knight, Devox (G2/10000-11000)!
"Wait! How is he able to call a grade 2 when his Vanguard's only a grade 1?" Alex questions.
"Due to Devox's skill, if I have a Shadow Servant or Shadow Lord as my Vanguard, he can be called as a grade 1 (G2-1/11000). Boosted by Devox, Cerberus attacks (12000-23000)!" (Kazuma: []).
"Ride! Dragwizard, Liafail (G2/9000)! I call Black-winged Swordbreaker (G1/5000), using her skill ([X]) draw a card and add 5000 power (5000-10000). I also called Abyssal Owl (G1/7000) using its skill, I look at the top 7 cards of my deck and add a card with Luard in its name to my hand. I then discard cards whose total grades are 3 or more." Kazuma discards three grade 1s. "Boosted by Swordbeaker, Liafail attacks (9000-19000)! Drive check (Critical). Critical Trigger! All effects to Liafail (19000-29000/Crit 1-2)!" (Yusuke: [][]).
"Ride! Shadow Dragon Knight, Croxis (G2/10000-11000)! Croxis's skill, Soul Charge 2 (Soul 2-4). Dimension Creeper's skill in the soul ([X][]). Soul charge 3 (Soul 4-3-6)! I call Forsaken Mage Ein (G2/10000-11000) and Forsaken Angel Orphan (G2/10000-11000). Boosted by Devox, Croxis attacks (11000-22000)!
"Guard (10000+10000=20000)!" Kazuma declares.
"One to pass. Drive check (Draw (Sentinel)). Draw Trigger! Power to Croxis and draw a card (22000-32000)." (Kazuma: [X][]). "Ein and Orphan attack!" (Kazuma: [X][][][]).
"Kazuma's already at 4 damage." Yui says.
"It's okay, the fight's only just begun." Alex says with excitement.
Kazuma draws his card to start his turn and smiles, "Let's do this, old friend." He says and looks back at Yusuke. "Devour! My alternate self! Ride! Dragheart… LUARD! (G3/11000)! I call Dragwizard Morfessa (G2/9000) and Swordbreaker (G1/5000)! Swordbreaker's skill ([X][X][][]) I draw one card and add 5000 power to Swordbreaker (5000-10000). Boosted by Swordbreaker, Luard attacks the Vanguard (11000-16000)! Devour everything in your path! Twin Drive (Critcal/none). Critical Trigger! Power to Morfessa (9000-19000) Critical to Luard (21000/Crit 1-2)!"
"AGGH!" Yusuke grunts as he is hit by Luard's attack and can feel the pressure from the blow ([X][][][]).
"Boosted by the other Swordbreaker, Morfessa attacks the Vanguard (19000-29000)!"
"Guard (20000)!" Yusuke declares.
Kazuma smiles at Yusuke, "I end my turn."
"They're both at four damage." Yui says sitting at the edge of her seat.
"But Yusuke's about to ride to grade 3…" Rina adds.
"This is where the fight really begins…" Alex mutters.
"Stand and draw!" Yusuke declares. He looks at the card he drew and smiles, "Rise up, my avatar, the reincarnation of evil! Ride!" A bright purple light fills the arena and a figure emerges from its center. It's human-like with a white and purple jacket, and black t-shirt underneath, white gloves, and floating metallic wings on its back, "Lord of Eternal Darkness, Kaos (G3/13000-14000)!" The whole stadium roars into excitement.
"There it is! Yusuke's ace in the hole, KAOS!" the announcer shouts and everyone cheers louder, but Alex, Rina, and Yui sit there in amazement.
"I activate Kaos's skill! Soul Charge 3 (Soul 6-9). Now I'll show you Kaos's special power."
"Here it comes…" Kazuma mutters.
"I activate Kaos's skill! CATACLYSM ([X][X][][])!" A large vortex appears beneath Morfessa as it drags her down into it.
"Morfessa!" Kazuma exclaims.
"Due to Kaos's Cataclysm skill," Yusuke explains, "he makes one of your rear-guard circles completely useless until the end of your next turn, and on top of that, he excludes any unit on said circle for the entire game!" Kazuma grits his teeth in frustration.
"I didn't know a skill like that existed…" Rina says in shock, and Alex continues to watch intently.
"I activate Isen's skill in the soul! I my Vanguard is Kaos, I can call him to my rear-guard and soul charge 1 (G0/5000). (Soul 9-8-9)."
"But now since Isen is no longer in the soul, your units don't get their 1000 power boost. (11000-10000) (14000-13000) (11000-10000)." Kazuma tells him.
"I'm aware." Yusuke tells him. "I call Cerberus (G1/11000) and Crest (G1/7000). I activate Crest's skill! Liafail looses his AUTO abilities during your next turn!"
Board State
(G2/10000) (G3/13000) (G2/10000)
(G1/11000) (G0/5000) (G1/7000)
"Let's battle! Boosted by Isen, Kaos attacks the Vanguard (13000-18000)! I activate Isen's skill ([X][X][X][])! When he boosts Kaos, your Vanguard looses 3000 power until the end of the turn."
"What?!" Kazuma exclaims (11000-8000).
"A skill that decreases the power on an opponent's Vanguard?!" Yui exclaims.
"Complete Guard!" Kazuma declares.
"Twin Drive (none/Draw (Sentinel)). Draw Trigger. Power to Orphan and draw a card (10000-20000). Boosted by Crest, Orphan attacks the Vanguard! Crest's skill! When she boosts, she gains 3000 power for every card in the soul. I have nine cards in the soul right now."
"Umm… 9 times 3000 that's… uh…" Yui tries to do the math with her fingers.
"That's 27000 power…" Rina mutters and Yui turns in shock (7000-34000) (20000-54000)!
"No guard…" Kazuma says ([X][][][][]).
"Orphan's skill! Send him to the soul (9-10) and one of your rear-guards loose 5000 power until the end of your next turn. I choose back middle Swordbreaker (5000-0). Now, booste by Cerberus, Ein attacks your Vanguard (10000-21000)!
"Guard (Shield 15000)!" Kazuma declares and the audience roars with excitement.
"He did it! Kazuma survives Yusuke's assault with five damage!" the announcer shouts and the girls breathe a sigh of relief.
"That was a close one…" Alex says.
"I'll say…" Yui replies.
"Heh, not bad Kazuma. Though what was I expecting from a champion?" Yusuke tells him, "At the end of my turn, Cerberus is put into the soul (10-11)."
"This fight is tense! Kazuma with 5 damage starts his turn. Will he be able to defeat Yusuke here? Or will he finally be defeated after his long 15-year reign as champion?!" The announcer asks the audience with excitement, and Rina watches tensing her body up.
"You have been a good opponent yourself Yusuke…" Kazuma tells him drawing his card, "but I'm afraid this is over." He holds up the card he drew high in the air, "Fallen magician! Now is the time to make amends, and set the wrongs you've done right! I will atone… THIS IS MY FUTURE! RIDE!" A bright light engulfs Luard and the arena. When it fades, Luard appears dressed in longer robes with a red aura surrounding him, "Dragking… LUARD (G3/13000)!" Everyone in the audience is shocked and stunned at the appearance of Kazuma's new unit.
"What is this?! At the last moment on the brink of defeat, Kazuma unveils a brand-new ace unit!" the announcer shouts on the mic and the audience roars into cheer.
"Hey Rina, what is that unit?" Alex asks her.
"I don't know… I've never seen my dad use it before." She replies in awe.
"Due to Dragking Luard's skill, if Dragheart Luard is in my soul, his Soul Drive can be activated on the same turn!" Kazuma declares.
"What?!" Alex exclaims.
"Dragking Luard's Soul Drive… ACTIVATE! ([X][X][][][])" A bright blue light emits from Luard as black and green dragon wings sprout from his back, his other arm becomes the same as his demonic one and he removes his wizard hat as his eyes glow a bright red. "Luard gains 4000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive (G3-4/13000-17000/drive 2-3)! I'm not done! Not even close!" Kazuma declares and holds his hand up, "Dragking Luard's Ritual X ([X][X][X][X][])(Soul 3-1)! In exchange for sending all of my drive check cards to the drop zone, Luard's drive count becomes the same as the number of grade 1 cards in my drop zone!"
"That means…" Rina mutters.
"Dragking Luard's drive count raises to 7 (G4/17000/drive 3-7)!"
"I didn't know someone's drive count could get that high…" Yui says in awe.
"Same here!" Alex says with excitement then screams, "This fight is so cool!"
"I call Dragsorcerer Morfessa (G2/10000) and Dragsorcerer Knies (G1/8000)!"
Board State
(G2/10000) (G4/17000) (XXXX)
(G1/8000) (G1/5000) (G1/10000)
"He's betting everything on this one turn." Alex says and Rina tenses up more.
"Boosted by Knies, Morfessa attacks your Vanguard (10000-18000)!"
"No guard." Yusuke declares with a smirk on his face. (Yusuke: [X][X][][][])
"Knies's Ritual 4! When an attack he boosted hits the Vanguard, I can retire him to call another Grade 1 Drag unit from my deck. I call Dragwizard, Iucharba (G1/7000)! Morfessa has the same skill, except it's with a grade 2! I call Dragsorcerer, Liafail (G2/10000)! Liafail's Ritual X! He gains 2000 power for each grade 1 in my drop zone. There's a total of nine as Morfessa counts as a grade 1 in the drop zone so add 18000 power (10000-28000)! Liafail attacks the Vanguard (28000)!
"Guard (Shield 15000+15000=30000)."
"Boosted by Iucharba, Luard attacks the Vanguard. Iucharba gains 3000 power when she boosts (17000-27000)!"
"Complete Guard!" Yusuke declares with slight anxiety in his voice.
"Septuple drive! First (none) Second (Critical). Critical Trigger! All effects to Luard (27000-37000/Crit 1-2)! Third (none) Fourth (none) Fifth (Draw) Draw Trigger! Again, all effects to Luard (37000-47000). Sixth (none) Seventh (Critical). Critical Trigger! All effects to Luard (47000-57000/Crit 2-3)!"
"But what good is it to put all those triggers on the Vanguard? It's already attacked." Yui questions.
"I activate Luard's Ritual 12!"
"Twelve?!" Alex exclaims.
(Kazuma: [X][X][X][X][X]), "When Luard finishes attack, by making his drive 0 and retiring all my rear-guards, I can Stand him! So Luard gets to attack again!"
"What?!" Yusuke exclaims.
"Dragking Luard… attacks the VANGUARD!" Kazuma shouts at the top of his lungs (57000/Crit 3).
Yusuke smirks and holds up a card, "I use the skill of Dark Shield Inaba in my drop zone." And Kazuma is shocked, "I can send her to my soul from my drop zone to cut your Vanguard's power in half (Soul 11-12)!"
"What?!" Kazuma exclaims and looks at Luard (57000-28500).
"Now I guard (Shield 10000+10000+5000+5000=20000)."
"He blocked it?!" Alex exclaims.
"Tch… that was a cheap move…" Rina growls in frustration.
Kazuma is still in shock, but he smiles and stands up straight, "Well done Yusuke. I end my turn." (Luard: 28500-17000).
"INCREDIBLE! EVEN AGAINST 7 DRIVE CHECKS AND DOUBLE ATTACKS, YUSUKE SURVIVES ANOTHER TURN! THIS FIGHT OF LEGENDS IS INTENSE!" the announcer screams and the audience roars into cheers once again.
"I will admit, I was scared there for a moment until I remembered Inaba's skill." Yusuke says, "What say we ends this?"
"Bring it!" Kazuma challenges.
"You asked for it, Kaos's Soul Drive activates (Soul 12-7). He gains 3000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive (G3-4/13000-16000/drive 2-3)! Using his skill, Cataclysm ([X][X][X][][])! Morfessa is excluded! Boosted by Issen, Kaos attacks the Vanguard (16000-21000). Using Isen's skill ([X][X][X][X][])! Luard looses 3000 power (17000-14000)!" Because all the cards Kazuma checked with Luard went to the drop zone, he has nothing to guard with.
"No guard…" he says. Kaos steps back, and then lunges at Luard delivering a sucker punch to his face, filled with dark energy, causing Luard to vanish… (Kazuma: [X][X][X][X][X][]).
The audience roars into their loudest cheer and the announcer shouts, "IT IS OVER! AFTER MANY TWISTS AND TURNS, YUSUKE KATSUNORI IS OUR VICTOR!" All of the holograms disappear and the stadium lights return to normal as the audience begins to clap.
"He… lost…?" Rina mutters in surprise. Meanwhile, Alex and Yui are clapping at her sides. Rina smiles and claps along with them.
Later, Alex and her friends meet Yusuke and Kazuma outside the stadium. Yusuke and Kazuma shake hands. "That was an amazing fight." Yusuke tells him.
"Agreed. I've never felt that kind of honorable defeat in a long time." Kazuma tells him.
Yusuke then turns to Alex. "Alex." He calls her.
"Y-Yes?" she stutters a little.
"What say we have that fight tomorrow at Card Capital 2?" he proposes.
Alex's eyes gleam with joy, "Really?!" she asks with excitement.
Yusuke nods, "And I'll even make it one better. I'll make it a quest."
"A quest?" Yui questions.
"If Alex can defeat me, she will become grade 2 instantly." He explains and the girls gasp in surprise. "That is, if it's alright with you Kazuma."
"I see no problem with it." He replies with his hands in his pockets.
Yusuke smiles and begins to walk away, "10 o'clock tomorrow Alex, don't be late."
"I won't be! I promise!" She shouts back to Yusuke as he walks off. Meanwhile, Rina watches this scene unfold and grits her teeth slightly.
Ending Theme – Itsuka Sekai ga Kawaru made (Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet ED)
[Next Time]
Alex: Today's the day I get to fight Yusuke! If I beat him, I'll be grade 2 instantly!
Yui: Alex, are you sure you can defeat him?"
Alex: After seeing what he did against Kazuma, I'm not so sure. But you know me, I won't back down, and I will try my absolute hardest!
Yui: I know you can do it Alex! I believe in you!
Alex: Next time on Vanguard X, "The Road to Legend"! Don't miss it!
Alex and Rina's Card Corner
Alex: Hello everyone! It's that time once again. I know there hasn't been a chapter in forever, but the author has been very busy lately.
Rina: Hopefully things will finally be able to get back on a steady track.
Alex: Anyway, today's featured card is Kazuma's new ace, Dragkng Luard!
Grade 3 / Twin Drive! / 13000 Power / Shadow Paladin / Elf
Rina: He has the Soul Drive ability to gain 4000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive, for 2 Counter Blast.
Alex: But if Dragheart Luard is in your Soul, that Counter Blast cost is reduced by 1 and it can be activated in the same turn as he is ridden!
Rina: Luard also has the powerful driven skill of Counter and Soul Blasting 2 cards to make his Drive equal the amount of Grade 1 cards in your drop zone.
Alex: So if you had 7 grade 1s, that means 7 drive checks!
Rina: In addition, when he finishes an attack, and you have Ritual 12, you can Counter Blast 1 to stand him.
Alex: So what do you think? You like this card?
Rina: If you wanna discuss the fanfic or any of the author's other fanfics, you can join us on the author's Discord server at
discord . gg / BQfguu8
Alex: Just paste this link into your internet browser without spaces, or use the link on his profile page.
Rina: In the meantime, always remember…
Alex & Rina: Stand up the Vanguard!