Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth

by DivadX

Yuhiro Furutani, one of 8 children kidnapped 10 years ago by an unknown group, now works as Raguel, an agent in LINK VRAINS' Black Market. One day, he fights the Knights of Hanoi and encounters Playmaker, who becomes his newest assignment. Follow Yuhiro as he now must decide who he wants to become: as both a duelist and as an individual.

63. Chapter 63: Nevermore

Response to Reviews

Thank you to Naruto1999, E.T. 2000, HunterHQ, Anonymous, Noobmaster, Unnamed, Unknown, Ambiguous, Kenrio, ZeroMK7, Guest, Kingdom Hearts Guy, Guest and Blue Eyes for reviewing Chapter 62 of Obscured Truth.

Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of 2022! It definitely contained a lot of suspense and information, don't you agree?

Anyhow, let's get to answering some reviews:

Naruto1999: I haven't heard from you in quite a while. Hope you're doing well. Athaliah is similar to that of Light Yagami, as she basically decided to continue doing evil things despite the fact they're wrong. After the Turf War arc, the story will continue following the anime events (and for goodness sake. Thanos is a part of the Marvel universe). My opinion on Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? Honestly, it was one of the best movies I've ever seen. In my opinion, the Mandarin (Xu Wenwu) is unique, as he's a tragic antagonist rather than a normal one. That's why he was one of the best characters in the movie.

E.T. 2000: Well, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I mean, I don't want to waste characters, that's for sure. Sadly, after everything Electrolyzer gave to win the duel, he ended up losing. Glad you liked Numera's new avatar, and for Greg's deck, you'll just have to see what he has. I don't think Yusaku will update his Playmaker avatar, as that's the one he used for the entire anime. So it's very likely I'll keep it the same following Season 3.

HunterHQ: Of course Kyoko getting arrested was on the news. Honestly, I'm not sure if Japan has old fashioned newspapers. Like I said before. If anyone went after Raguel's friends and/or family, well, he'll show the attackers no mercy. Do you not recall what he did to the troops in the previous chapter? That's what the Turf War arc is fur. To put the spotlight on characters that deserved it (ex. Aoi, Emma, Tsubaki, Akira, Kengo, etc.). Well, Ace's family ended up winning the conflict, and surprised everyone by their kind rule. What Brion, Rachel, and Gil suffered in Project: Apotheosis was in the real world. You'll see what happens to Athaliah in this chapter. So you want stories on how each child was taken by Dr. Kogami? I get what you're saying in terms of the comparison between Azrael and Wraith, as well as Vandal Savage and Klarion the Witch Boy (Child was far deadlier in my opinion). Azrael and Wraith are the ones who command Malf, not Ace.

Anonymous: I wouldn't count Speckles out yet. Remember: He nearly defeated Raguel in Chapter 42. Unfortunately, Yuhiro hasn't found Speckles' house yet, and even if he did, Azrael would have wiped any clues that can be salvaged. The branches, while rivals, do have connections with one another. It's a miracle the former Overseer was able to keep them on a leash. If I recall, Takeru commutes back and forth.

Noobmaster: That's why Yuhiro asked Herald to make more sentient Cyberse monsters. So that he isn't shorthanded. Don't worry. The good guys weren't in school when the attacks occurred. Sadly, no one in the real world's safe for the time being. Link Trigger, if you recall, enhances Yuhiro's physical and mental abilities, at the cost of his emotional state. This made him commit brash actions. The troops all had their duel disks attached to them, so Yuhiro was able to force one of the troops to log in after giving him his threat. How did Yuhiro get his Neuralyzer? Simple. He purchased it on the Black Market for a reasonable deal. Do you think Yuhiro's cowardly? Let me give you some examples on how he isn't. One: He risked his life to stop the Tower of Hanoi (remember his third duel against Infearno?). Two: He risked losing his information to Speckles just so he and Playmaker can get Cyberse cards. Three: He's fighting for reasons other than himself (ex. Miyu, the Cyberse World, the coming Crisis, etc.). I wouldn't say Yuhiro's hiding behind his friends. Rather, he and his friends fight together. His sentient Cyberse monsters care for his wellbeing, and will fight alongside him to make sure he's safe. You do, however, make a point. The fact that Yuhiro has allies makes them prime targets for Azrael to attack (ex. he put Lightning's virus in Miyu, which spurred Yuhiro to action).

Unnamed: Crap. I didn't take into account the loophole. Blood Shepherd would certainly be proud of Yuhiro maturing in regards to playing the dirty card. And yes. The fact that Yuhiro has allies makes them prime targets for his enemies to hurt. If Blood Shepherd tried to bribe Ghost Girl with Takeru's info, she'd say no, as she's not that interested in money. Even someone like Ghost Girl has ethics. Malf's basically hopping from branch to branch, but what he's doing, I can't tell you. Malf managed to put both criminals AND innocent people in the hospital (remember one of the penguins?). The reason why the other branches agreed to work with Ace was because they hated the former Overseer.

Unknown: Poor Herald. He only wanted to help Arashi in getting dating tips, and ended up paying a terrible price. No. Windy doesn't know Arashi is Slipstream. Sometimes, even with recent upgrades, programs end up failing. These things happen. I am so sorry for the confusion, so allow me to clarify. There were three scientists who started Project: VIII (Watchman was the third one, even though he was merely an assistant). The Dragon King funded Project: VIII. At least until the whole incident where one of the scientists lost their life and SOL Technologies going through a turbulent period. I'd say that Dr. Kogami tried at first to try and follow the guidelines, but when no one volunteered, he took matters in his own hands. Balius is honestly a real douchebag, and there will be more of them as the story progresses. Oh yeah. Athaliah's in for it now!

Ambiguous: Yeah. It was quite a lot, especially for a chapter like the previous one. For your question in regards to sentient Cyberse creatures, you'll just have to read on to find out. Unfortunately, just because the hospital was saved doesn't mean the others weren't. There's only so much you can do, and the fact Yuhiro chose the hospital meant it was more important than other places at the moment. I mean, come on. Miyu was there, and he wouldn't forgive himself if she got injured. SOL Technologies obviously did something throughout the Turf War, examples being recruiting Epsilon and launching an assault on Delta. I mean, Raguel did voice his threat specifically. Basically, if Blood Shepherd were to leak Takeru's identity, he'd go down big time. Athaliah was originally supposed to begin Project: Apotheosis after the Lost Incident got its results. However, thanks to Ryoken, it began later.

Kenrio: Look. I honestly agree in what you're saying, but sometimes, these things simply happen. Take Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal for instance. They had Tori be a main character, yet when they showed Anna Kaboom, she, in my opinion, was better than Tori. After all, Anna knew how to handle herself in a duel. Ultimately, Fanfiction exists for a reason. To correct flaws in the anime and tell a story that... well, is better than the anime.

ZeroMK7: Glad you liked the duels. Yeah. If Yuhiro keeps on being reckless, it'll be his undoing.

Guest: Watchman was one of the three original scientists. Dragon King was the CEO at the time, who had SOL Technologies fund Project: VIII. No, I haven't did a scene where Roxy adopted Yuhiro yet. Maybe that's something I'll do in the future.

Kingdom Hearts Guy: Glad you liked the chapter.

Guest: Just as Turboblaze Dragon and Teravolt Dragon have OC cards, I will most certainly make one for Kyurem (how can I not? That beast has two fusions). Perhaps I'll make a card for Keldeo in the future. And Yuhiro already has two Link 4 monsters: Turboblaze Dragon and Cyreath Zeus, Lord of the Storm.

Blue Eyes: Of course there's a dueling tournament in this story, but it won't be until Season 4. So be patient.

With that, it's time to begin the penultimate chapter of the Turf War arc. I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 63: Nevermore

The sky appears, full of clouds. Playmaker races through the clouds on his duel board, followed by Raguel, Soulburner, and Slipstream. Two swords then slice the clouds completely to reveal NEW LINK VRAINS. One of the swords, a katana with symbols inscribed on the blade, crosses downwards to the left. Crossing downwards to the right was a typical western sword, with a golden rain-guard and a blue grip. The sword also had symbols inscribed on the blade as well. The two swords made a shining X, causing the Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS! logo to appear, and underneath it, the words "OBSCURED TRUTH" ominously appear.

Yuhiro and Yusaku are walking down the street to school. Naoki runs past them, a large smile on his face. Aoi walks past them on the other side, smiling lightly and blushing at Yusaku. Then Takeru walks up behind them and wraps one arm around Yusaku. He then wraps the other arm around Yuhiro, surprising him for a few moments before being pulled to the side by Rachel, who's clearly happy to see him. Yuhiro smiles back at her.

Tsubaki and Hideki are shown boarding an airplane as they head to their destination. After sitting down next to each other in their respective seats, Tsubaki looks out in the window, which shows a reflection of Rosetta, while Hideki picks up the airplane guide and reads it. In the sky above them is Ace, a malicious sneer on his face.

Go Onizuka is shown wearing a hoodie as he leaves the waterfront for the last time. Outside of his home, he encounters Kenmochi and Yoroizaka, who are waiting for him. Smirking, the three of them raise their left arms into the air and enter NEW LINK VRAINS, with Go in his new avatar riding beside his new allies. Stregone crosses his arms as he looks down at them, a look of shock and disappointment on his face.

Kusanagi is then shown with Roxy at a nearby picnic table, both enjoying food and laughter while talking about technology. Flame and Ai are shown arguing in Café Nagi, while Herald ends up getting annoyed with their bickering. As a result, he snaps his fingers, causing Progleo to jump onto the desk and startle Ai and Flame.

At SOL Technologies, Akira Zaizen and Hayami are shown in Queen's office, with Queen handing them a signed order regarding Playmaker and Raguel. A look of hesitation appears on Akira's face, but he hides it just in time.

Azrael and Wraith are then shown with Ace and Athaliah standing behind them, shrouded in shadow along with their ace monsters Zerrziel, Ruler of the Evil Eyed and El Shaddoll Construct. Standing behind Azrael and Wraith though, is a black, bipedal dragon with red sclera, white irises, and black pupils obscured in shadow. The dragon roars before disappearing with Zerrziel and El Shaddoll Construct. Jumping above Azrael and Wraith is Malf, sporting a demonic expression on his face. He then extends his right arm forward towards the screen, darkening it completely.

When the screen becomes clear, Playmaker and Raguel are shown riding their duel boards next to each other, with Cyberse Witch and Cyberse Magician in front of Playmaker, and Cyreath Hercules and Cyreath Medusa in front of Raguel. The two are chased by Blood Shepherd, who directs two copies of Battledrone Sergeant to fire at them. Although the two of them are hit by the explosions the missiles caused, they escape unharmed. Suddenly, Drachen orders Red-Eyes Black Dragon to fire at them. In response, Playmaker and Raguel are shown swerving left and right to avoid the consecutive fire blasts. Joining the young man in the hunt is Electrolyzer, who orders PSY-Framelord Omega to attack Playmaker, but Raguel turns his duel board around and activates a card, causing Hercules to glow a bright light before transforming into Cyreath Hercules/Alpha Mode. His eyes glowing red, Hercules/Alpha Mode charged forward with his axe sword and clashed with PSY-Framelord Omega.

The screen then shifts to Slipstream watching the duel between Playmaker and an obscured Bohman, while Raguel duels Electrolyzer. Noticing Haru, who's also watching the duel between Playmaker and an obscured Bohman, Slipstream takes a card and summons Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, who roars at the boy. Haru, in response, takes a card and summons Hydradrive Nagini, who hissed at Clear Wing in the process.

Blue Girl and Rosetta are shown in NEW LINK VRAINS at a picnic table, laughing and enjoying each other's company. The two of them then turn their heads towards the duels going on in the sky, a look of concern on each of their faces.

Watchman's group is then shown, with Percival standing slightly apart from them as he makes a fist with his left hand. Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon appear before a massive, red-skinned demonic looking monster with golden elements, several eyeballs embedded on its body and four tentacles with bladed claws rises from behind them.

The Knights of Hanoi are shown summoning their monsters. Motor Worm Spread Queen, Helixx Necro Darwin, and Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps first appear before fading into the background. Next is Dark Magician, Berserker of the Tenyi, and Lucifer, Condemner of the Burning Abyss, with Sunavalon Dryanome behind them. Borreload Savage Dragon then rises from behind the four monsters and roars loudly.

Akira is shown at Green Park with Emma, Gekiryushi, and Aoi, giving them details on finding the Ignis. Emma proceeds to make a flirtatious gesture at Akira, making Gekiryushi facepalm and comment on how flirting can be useful at a time like this. The two women then begin to argue, with Akira and Aoi trying to break up the argument.

Yuhiro and Progleo are shown with Miyu at the Den City Hospital, trying to help her walk. Miyu, who's using the parallel bars, ends up slipping, only for Yuhiro to immediately catch her from behind and help her stand up. Roxy then runs out of nowhere and starts pummeling Yuhiro, causing Miyu to almost fall backwards again to their shock. Catching her this time though is Medusa, who appears behind her and smiles, much to everyone's relief. Miyu smiles back, grateful for Medusa's help. The screen then flips around before showing Yuhiro on his knees, clasping an unconscious Miyu's hand in sadness and rage.

Cyreaths Hercules/Alpha Mode, Medusa, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus are then shown in the air, with Turboblaze Dragon racing past them. The five of them prepare to attack alongside Turboblaze Dragon, who unleashes his Desolation Flare attack as well.

Raguel and Herald are then shown on top of a tower, facing off against Azrael and Wraith in a duel. Behind Raguel and Herald is Turboblaze Dragon, while behind Azrael and Wraith is the black, bipedal dragon from earlier in the opening. Both dragons roar at each other. Raguel reeves up his sword, while Azrael unsheathes his katana before the two of them and their dragons charge at each other.

Yuhiro, Roxy, Miyu, Kusanagi, Takeru, and Yusaku are all shown sitting outdoors at a picnic table near the Den City Hospital, all of them eating hot dogs, and Takeru, Kusanagi, and Roxy are laughing. Three duel disks are shown on the table, with Flame lecturing Ai while Herald plays a game on Yuhiro's tablet.

Yuhiro, Roxy, and Miyu are sitting down on a bench outside the Den City Hospital, with Medusa standing nearby them and Progleo on Roxy's lap. Miyu proceeds to rest her head on Yuhiro's shoulder, causing him to blush as she smiles. Yuhiro smiles back at her, while Roxy and Medusa both smile at them, happy they're able to find happiness with each other. The scene then switches to NEW LINK VRAINS, with Raguel, Playmaker, and Soulburner standing on a building and looking out into the radiant sky.

In the real world, on Ryoken's yacht...

Ryoken looked out towards the sea outside on his yacht. Since their mission in rescuing Kyoko from prison, they remained off the radar, with the group going out to get supplies every now and then. Mikuru managed to send them supplies as well, and Emon knew a few clients that lent a helping hand every now and then.

But with Ace having seized control of Uchida Industries and Mikuru residing in one of the Hanoi's safehouses, they had to be careful more than ever. Otherwise, one misstep, and it could cost them everything.

Luckily, the Hanoi had two aces up their sleeve. First was Lord Kazuma, who worked on the Black Market a long ago. That made him the perfect volunteer in pinpointing Ace's location in the Black Market. Unfortunately, they haven't heard much from him yet in regards to progress. The good news was that Playmaker and his allies were partially doing their work for them, as with each branch that's taken down, the more desperate Ace will become.

The second ace was Akairo, who was spying on SOL Technologies for the Hanoi. While a good majority of people didn't know that Akairo was lending them a helping hand, Ace now had that knowledge, and that wasn't good at all. If he leaked it, all their efforts in staying one step ahead of SOL Technologies would crumble completely.

Akairo and his family, as well as anyone else affiliated with Uchida Industries, would suffer as well. Ryoken didn't want that to happen, as the last thing he needed was for people he cared about to get hurt.

"Ryoken," Kyoko said, getting his attention as he turned to face her.

"What do you want, Kyoko?" Ryoken asked.

"It's about the attacks recently..." Kyoko began.

"We already had this discussion, Kyoko. We're not going to help them." Ryoken dismissed that comment and turned away from her.

"But there's people that are injured. Dying. I took the Hippocratic oath, Ryoken. To treat the ill to the best of one's ability, to preserve a patient's privacy-."

"Even if we wiped our DNA Scan and records, there are still people who know who we are!" Ryoken snapped. "If we go out there, we'll be exposed, and all our work will-!"

"Kyoko's right, Ryoken." Emon interrupted, also walking to the front of the yacht. "Mikuru and the employees at Uchida Industries helped us when we needed it. We owe both her and them for their assistance."

Ryoken turned around to face Kyoko and Emon. "As much as I want to help them, we can't. There's too much at-."

"Wow. Just wow." Kyoko commented, in a tone that stunned Ryoken. "Your father may have done questionable things, but he did it to ensure mankind had a future." Before Ryoken could make a rebuttal, she continued speaking. "And the people here won't have a future unless we step in and do something about it. If you can't grasp the meaning of human life, then you're no better than him." Kyoko and Emon then walked away from Ryoken, leaving him speechless.

Turning to look at the water, he sighed, thinking about what Kyoko told him. Was he truly like his father? Someone who'd sacrifice the few to save the many? Ryoken cared about his friends. Friends who promised to continue fighting alongside him in eliminating the Ignis. So that mankind can have a tomorrow.

After his duel against Playmaker, something had changed. Ryoken only wanted to settle the score with his enemies inside the network, not in the real world. It wasn't worth going after them in the real world, as the Hanoi can fulfil their goals in other ways. One example being to let Playmaker and his allies gather in the real world. That way, more Ignis's would come together, and they can eliminate several of them at the same time.

To sum it up clearly, Ryoken didn't want to get people involved in the Hanoi's vendettas. Not after what happened with the Data Gale and Another Virus scenarios. Not after the Tower of Hanoi.

Besides. If people died from this Turf War, they wouldn't be able to experience a better tomorrow. A tomorrow where they wouldn't have to fear the Ignis going after them. A tomorrow where they can be free from unknown tyrannies. Not just the Ignis, but tyrannies that lied beyond the network as well.

Knowing what needed to be done, Ryoken headed back inside the yacht, where he found the other Hanoi members busy doing various things.

Kyoko and Eizaburo were looking at a screen containing what looked like a piece of DNA on it. Beside it was several pieces of data material.

And in the room nearby, Aso was with Emon and Youta, the trio looking at pieces of technology.

"Kyoko," Ryoken said, getting her attention.

"What do you want, Ryoken?" Kyoko asked him. "Can't you see that I'm-?"

"How many safehouses are nearby Den City?" Ryoken inquired, which made Kyoko gasp out of surprise.

"Aside from the one Mikuru's residing at, there's about five to eight of them." Eizaburo answered. "Why do you ask?"

Ignoring Eizaburo, Ryoken headed over to the cockpit of the yacht, where he pressed a series of buttons on it. As a result, the yacht turned left before heading over to Den City.

"Ryoken, why are you heading to Den City?" Aso questioned, heading over to the cockpit.

"Because the last thing I need is to waste the chance in saving human lives." Ryoken told Aso, his mind having been made up. Parking the yacht at a nearby dock, he headed over to Kyoko and Emon, who prepared to leave the boat, as if they sensed what Ryoken decided.

"Aso. Eizaburo. Take one of our cars at this address." Ryoken instructed the duo, transmitting an address to their duel disks. "Take whoever you can to the safehouses nearby Den City, and have Mikuru help in treating their wounds. But be quick, as we can't be spotted."

"Ryoken. Thank you." Kyoko said, joy and relief evident in her voice.

"We'll be back soon." Emon promised, as the quartet disembarked from the yacht and headed out towards Den City. Since it was getting close to late evening, they had a great chance in completing their task without being seen.

Heading back to the yacht, Ryoken pressed a few buttons on his duel disk, which turned it invisible on the outside.

"Master Ryoken, is this necessary?" Youta asked him.

"We can use this opportunity to get supplies, Youta." Ryoken explained. "That, and unlike my father, I have a grasp on what human life is." After going over to a nearby room, he pressed a few buttons on his duel disk, which caused it to ring for a few moments before a hologram of Lord Kazuma popped out of it.

"Yes?"

"How's the search going for Ace?" Ryoken asked him.

"Unfortunately, it's taking longer than I thought it would." Lord Kazuma answered. "Just when I have a lead in finding him, it slips through my fingers. In my former career as a duel assassin, no one escaped my grasp once I began hunting them. For this to occur..."

"Ace must have a powerful benefactor." Ryoken finished.

"If there's any consolation, only the Alpha Branch remains, and Raguel and his little buddies are there."

Ryoken narrowed his eyes. Just as he suspected, Raguel, Playmaker, and the others were putting all their efforts in stopping the Turf War. And with only Alpha remaining, that meant Ace will eventually be found. "Let me know once you pinpointed Ace's location. I'll send Drachen in to assist you."

"Understood. A quick question: Did you get any updates from Dancho?"

"Dancho told me that Malf's trail was fresh, so the chances of finding that AI and capturing him are good right now. If you somehow run into him, stay on your guard. There's no telling what Malf can do." Ryoken said.

"Got it." With that, Lord Kazuma hung up.

From the azure-overcoated man to Malf to Bohman and Haru. Heck, even this Turf War, I have a feeling that those events are a prelude for something worse, Ryoken thought. We need to be prepared, as otherwise, we'll end up losing everything in the events to come.

In LINK VRAINS...

"Numera..." Athaliah seethed, recognizing the girl as she stood up on her feet, along with Greg. Final Sigma then turned into particles that went into Numera's duel disk.

"It's time for you to pay for your crimes, Athaliah!" Greg declared, as he activated his duel disk.

"Your fun ends here and forever!" Numera added, also activating her duel disk.

Athaliah frowned upon hearing those declarations, as she heard them earlier. "Those are the same words Brion told me, and he ended up losing as a result."

"Brion?" Greg repeated, turning to look behind him. Sure enough, there was Electrolyzer, lying on the ground unconscious. Damn it, he cursed in his mind. I told him to wait, and that idiot didn't heed my request.

"Greg, who is that guy?" Numera asked him.

"His name's Electrolyzer, Numera. One of the victims from Project: Apotheosis." Greg quickly explained, much to Numera's surprise.

"One of my favourite victims to be exact." Athaliah clarified. "He was unique, considering how he and siblings excelled higher in various areas compared to the other children." She smiled. "Moving that aside, I'll admit that I'm surprised you two were able to find me. After all, my benefactor made sure that no one could interfere with my research."

"It may have taken a while, but thanks to Amadeus, we were able to narrow down your location." Greg told Athaliah, much to her shock and anger.

You always were a prideful fool, Amadeus, she thought in her mind. Looks like that pathetic attitude proved to be your undoing after all.

"How does it feel to be caught off guard for once, Athaliah? To know that all your plans are going to be kaput soon?" Numera taunted.

"Do not talk to me like that, little girl!" Athaliah snarled. "As much as I hate the both of you for ruining my plans, I'm actually glad for your presence. Because now..." She pointed to Greg. "I can punish you for shutting down Project: Apotheosis and putting me in that prison all those years ago. As for you..." She shifter her finger to Numera. "I can make you my lab rat once again. One of my favourite lab rats, to be exact."

Greg turned to Numera. "You ready to end this once and for all, sweetie?"

"Yes!" Numera confirmed. Both individuals activated their respective duel disks, with Athaliah activating hers thereafter.

"It's time to duel!" Athaliah, Greg, and Numera said at the same time.

Athaliah: 4000 LP

Greg and Numera: 4000 LP

"Sorry Athaliah, but you're no lady. As such, I'm going first." Greg stated, before immediately turning to Numera. "If it's okay with you, sweetie."

"It's fine, Greg." Numera replied with a smile. "Set the stage for Athaliah's defeat!"

Nodding, Greg directed his attention to the duel. "My turn! I activate the Spell card, Terraforming. This card lets me add a Field Spell card from my deck to my hand. I add the Field Spell card S-Force Bridgehead from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Greg's deck, which he took and added to his hand. "I now activate the Field Spell card, S-Force Bridgehead. When this card is activated, I can add one 'S-Force' monster from my deck to my hand. I add S-Force Orrafist from my deck to my hand." A second card popped out of Greg's deck, which he took and added to his hand. "I summon S-Force Edge Razor from my hand to my field." A futuristic samurai wearing red armor and a jingasa with green panels on the bottom appeared on Greg and Numera's field.

S-Force Edge Razor ATK: 1500 DEF: 1300 LV: 4

"Wait a minute..." Athaliah looked up Edge Razor on her duel disk, and upon doing so, her eyes widened out of surprise. "That monster's a Cyberse monster. How did you get your hands on that card?!"

"I purchased this deck a while back before the Hanoi appeared." Greg simply answered, much to his and Numera's amusement, and Athaliah's chagrin. "Anyhow, Edge Razor's effect activates! When he's Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one 'S-Force' monster from my hand that has a different name. Come, S-Force Orrafist!" A futuristic cowboy wearing a hat and a duster coat appeared on Greg and Numera's field. Attached to his right wrist was a bracelet with a red gem, and in his left hand, he carried a futuristic gun.

S-Force Orrafist ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Greg narrowed his eyes after doing so. Athaliah's deck relies on using Flip Summoning and Fusion Summoning to lock the opponent down, he recalled in his mind. It proved to be so powerful that Numera nearly lost the duel as a result. If we're going to win this duel, we have to be on guard for whatever Athaliah's got.

"My turn! I draw!" Athaliah said, drawing the top card of her deck. "I'll use the Scale 1 Shaddoll Zefranaga and the Scale 7 Shaddoll Zefracore to Set the Pendulum Scale!" Soon, two pillars of light appeared on both sides of Athaliah's field.

In the pillar on the left was a warrior wearing white and black armor with golden outlines all over him. At the center of his chest was a purple gem, and he wore a white-colored helmet with two, circular ridges on him. Attached to his back was a pair of angelic wings.

In the pillar on the right was a dual-colored knight. One whose left side was colored black, with wild, red hair, and demonic veins attached to his body and wing. On his right side, his armor was colored white, with an angelic wing attached to his back.

Shaddoll Zefranaga Scale: 1

Shaddoll Zefracore Scale: 7

"Pendulum Cards?!" Numera and Greg stated in surprise at the same time. Uh Oh. That clearly didn't look good, as Athaliah can now Pendulum Summon monsters and immediately use them to Fusion Summon afterwards.

"I figured these type of cards would be helpful in catching modern day duelists like you off guard, and it seems I succeeded." Athaliah grinned, satisfied upon seeing Numera and Greg's shared reaction. "Pendulum of Darkness! Open the prison gates and release the denizens of shadow! With the Set Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters between Levels 2 and 6 at the same time! Arise, Reeshaddoll Wendi and Nehshaddoll Genius!" Within moments, a portal opened between the two pillars, where two lights emerged. The lights hit the field and then dissipated, revealing two monsters.

The first monster was a girl with a green pin attached to her very long brown, curly hair. She wore a black vest and shorts that had long, wispy parts on them. She also wore long, purple gloves, along with her arms and legs being surrounded by shade. In her right hand, she carried a long staff that had an orb attached to the top.

The second monster was a humanoid shadow with a single eye that had only a left arm. It wore purple armor on its head, left arm, thighs, and right leg. Trailing behind it was a long, wispy shadow.

Reeshaddoll Wendi ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

Nehshaddoll Genius ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"I activate the Spell card, Shaddoll Blessing!" The card showed El Shaddoll Construct raising its arms high into the air, surrounding Winda, Apkallone, and Wendigo in a dark light. "Since I control a 'Shaddoll' monster, I can draw two cards from the top of my deck." She drew the top two cards of her deck, and upon looking at them, smirked. "From there, I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, El Shaddoll Fusion! This card lets me Fusion Summon a 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Materials!"

"Here it comes, Numera!" Greg said, with Numera nodding in response. In Numera's previous duel, Athaliah Fusion Summoned three times, bringing out three Fusion monsters over time that became serious roadblocks for Numera to win the duel.

"I use Reeshaddoll Wendi and Nehshaddoll Genius as Fusion Materials!" Athaliah said, as Wendi turned into green particles, while Genius turned into purple particles. A black puddle soon appeared on the duel field, the particles going into it in the process.

"With these energies of wind and earth, the Construct shall don an armor that will tear the ground asunder!" Athaliah chanted. "Fusion Summon! Arise, Level 10! El Shaddoll Shekhinaga!" A colossal being with the appearance of a nun erupted from the black puddle and appeared on Athaliah's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. The beings' body and armor had two colors. On its right side, the body and armor was colored purple, with two purple towers that had white lines on it. On its left side, the body and armor was colored white, with two white towers that had purple lines on it. An angelic wing sprouted from its right sleeve, while a demonic wing sprouted from its left sleeve. Strings restrained Shekhinaga, preventing its body from moving.

El Shaddoll Shekhinaga ATK: 2600 DEF: 3000 LV: 10

"The effects of Wendi and Genius now activate. First, since Wendi was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can Special Summon one 'Shaddoll' monster from my deck to my field in defense position." A card popped out of Athaliah's deck, which she took and placed on her field as a Set card in face-down defense position. "Second, as Genius was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can target one monster on the field and prevent either player from activating its effects for the rest of the turn. I target Orrafist!"

"Shit..." Greg cursed, as Orrafist was surrounded in an ominous aura, which greyed him out in the process.

"It's time to battle!" Athaliah thrusted out her right hand towards Greg and Numera's field. "El Shaddoll Shekhinaga attacks S-Force Edge Laser!"

"I activate Bridgehead's second effect. Once per turn, when your monster declares an attack on an 'S-Force' monster that's in the same column, I can prevent it from being destroyed!" Greg interjected, as a blue aura surrounded Edge Laser.

Athaliah frowned. She intended on getting rid of Orrafist, but as long as her opponents took damage, it would be worth it. "Your monster may be safe, but your life points are a different story. Apocalyptic Magnitude!" The towers attached to Shekhinaga charged energy before firing brown, string-like energy at the ground, which went towards Edge Laser before hitting the barrier. The blasts bounced off the barrier and hit Greg and Numera, forcing both of them to take a step back in the process.

Greg and Numera: 4000 – 800 = 3200 LP

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Athaliah concluded. "Now, Rachel. I think it's time for you to go next. After all, you'll need to use everything if you want to defeat me."

"My turn! I draw!" Numera said, ignoring Athaliah's comment as she drew the top card of her deck. "I summon Mathmech Multiplication from my hand." A yellow and dark-gray that carried two batons in its hands appeared on Greg and Numera's field. The robot had orange eyes, as well as spikes on the sides of its head.

Mathmech Multiplication ATK: 500 DEF: 2000 LV: 4

"Multiplication's effect! Once per turn, I can target one Level 4 Cyberse monster on our field and make it a Level 8 monster until the end of this turn. I target Edge Laser!" Multiplication fired a blast of energy at Edge Laser, which made him glow as his level increased.

S-Force Edge Laser LV: 4 + 4 = 8

"That's the spirit, Numera! We have her now!" Greg praised Numera.

"Continuous-Trap, activate! Grisaille Prison!" Athaliah interrupted, gesturing to her face-down card. "As I control a monster that was tributed, Ritual Summoned, or Fusion Summoned, neither of us can Synchro or Xyz Summon until the end of your next turn. In addition, until the end of your next turn, Synchro and Xyz monster's can't attack, and their effects are negated."

"WHAT?!" Numera exclaimed, shocked at what she heard. Greg also had a look of surprise on his face.

"Come now, Numera. Do you really think I'd let you Synchro or Xyz Summon after our previous duel?" Athaliah taunted. "This card is one of the best upgrades I made to my deck, a sign that I've grown stronger. To the point where I can reduce you to a hopeless state, just as I did all those years ago."

"You'll never reduce me to such a state again, Athaliah!" Numera said. "Nor will you hurt anyone else!"

"Statements I already heard before." Athaliah reiterated with pure boredom. "In this world, words don't do anything. Actions will, and my actions have got me here at this very moment. Where I'm at the cusp of re-obtaining lab rats for my new experiments."

"New experiments?" Greg repeated. "What are you planning to do? A repeat of Project: Apotheosis?"

Athaliah, in response, wagged her finger at Greg. "Ah, ah, ah. That information's confidential. And even if you did get it, you wouldn't be able to decipher it in time for you to stop what's coming next."

Numera grit her teeth. That... was obviously not good. The fact that Athaliah stopped her plan was a troublesome roadblock she didn't expect. As for the new experiments, Numera was curious about what Athaliah was up to. But that can wait for later. For now, she and Greg had a duel to win. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn, which means Edge Laser's Level reverts back to 4," Numera said, as an aura surrounded Edge Laser, which reduced his level to his original amount.

S-Force Edge Laser LV: 8 – 4 = 4

"My turn! I draw!" Athaliah said with glee, as she drew the top card of her deck.

"Continuous-Trap, activate! Mathmech Induction!" Numera interrupted. "This card increases the attack points of all Cyberse monsters on our field by 500. However, it has another effect. By sending this card from our field to my Graveyard, I can target one card you control and destroy it. Say goodbye to Shekhinaga!"

"Quick-Play Spell card, activate! De-Fusion!" Athaliah interjected. "This card lets me target one Fusion monster I control and return it to the Extra Deck. If the Fusion Materials that were used for the Fusion Summon of that Fusion monster are in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon them back to my field. I return Shekhinaga to my Extra Deck, and Special Summon Wendi and Genius from my Graveyard to my field!" Shekhinaga turned into particles, which was replaced by Wendi and Genius.

Reeshaddoll Wendi ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

Nehshaddoll Genius ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"And since Shekhinaga is no longer on my field, Mathmech Induction's second effect doesn't resolve." As if to prove Athaliah's point, Induction turned into particles.

"Just great..." Numera muttered in annoyance. She intended on getting rid of Shekhinaga to make things easier for herself and Greg, but Athaliah was sadly one step ahead of them. At least for the time being.

"I Flip Summon the face-down defense position Helshaddoll Hollow to face-up attack position on my field!" Athaliah continued, as her Set card flipped up, which revealed a knight immersed in a blazing aura that turned his armor bright orange. He had a single horn that protruded from the left side of his helmet, along with spiky ridges on his forearms and thighs.

Helshaddoll Hollow ATK: 2900 DEF: 2900 LV: 9

"Hollow's Flip Effect lets me target one face-up monster you control and send one 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster that has the same attribute as the targeted monster from my Extra Deck to my Graveyard. By doing so, I can banish that monster!"

"What?!" Greg exclaimed. At the moment, he and Numera only had Edge Laser and Orrafist on their field. That meant they'll be losing one of the two monsters.

"I target the Light Attribute Orrafist and send the-!"

"Trap card, activate! Mathmech Resequencing!" Numera suddenly said. The card showed a blast of energy being hurled towards Mathmech Subtraction, with Addition using a series of binary code to switch places with its comrade, taking the brunt of the attack instead. "If you target a card on the field with a monster, spell, or trap effect, or by battle, you must target one 'Mathmech' monster on our field instead!"

Athaliah narrowed her eyes. "Fine. I target the Earth Attribute Multiplication and send the Earth Attribute Shekhinaga from my Extra Deck to my Graveyard to banish your monster!"

"I activate Orrafist's effect!" Greg suddenly stated. "When a monster you control activates its effect, I can banish one 'S-Force' card from my hand to destroy that monster. I banish S-Force Rappa Chiyoumaru from my hand and destroy Hollow!"

"You'll still lose your monster." Athaliah reminded Greg and Numera, as she sent Shekhinaga from her Extra Deck to her Graveyard. Once that was done, Hollow fired a brown blast of energy from his hands, which turned Multiplication into particles. In response, Orrafist fired a burst of energy from his gun at Hollow, also turning him into particles.

I can only use one effect for my 'Shaddoll' monsters per turn, which means I can't activate Hollow's second effect, she realized in her mind. If Athaliah was being honest, she didn't expect for Hollow to be sent to her Graveyard this turn, as she wanted to attack with him. Looking at the cards she has in her hand and field, she at least had other options for her turn. "Shekinaga's second effect activates! As it was sent to the Graveyard, I can target one 'Shaddoll' Spell or Trap card in my Graveyard and add it to my hand. I add El Shaddoll Fusion from my Graveyard to my hand!" A card popped out of her Graveyard, which she took and added to her hand.

"Appear! The circuit of nightmares!" Athaliah declared, as a Link Portal appeared above her. "The summoning conditions are two Flip monsters! I'll set Wendi and Genius into the Link Markers!" Wendi went into the left arrowhead, while Genius went into the left arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Shaddoll Construct!" A being with the appearance of a youthful nun that was encased in a yellow crystal emerged from the black puddle and onto Athaliah's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Shaddoll Construct ATK: 1200 LINK-2 ⬅️➡️

"In addition, I activate the Spell card, Painful Choice." Athaliah added. "This card lets me take five cards from my deck and reveal them to you. From there, you choose one card for me to add to my hand, and the rest are sent to my Graveyard."

Greg grit his teeth, while Numera narrowed her eyes. That card was deadly, especially how it collaborated with a deck like Athaliah's. No matter what card they chose, she would reap the benefits of the other cards. As such, Greg and Numera had to delay the most threatening card for as long as they could.

Taking five cards from her deck, Athaliah said, "From my deck, I reveal Beast, Hedgehog, Shaddoll Fusion, Dragon, and Resh Shaddoll Incarnation. Which one will you choose?"

"What do you think, Numera?" Greg asked her. "You dueled her, so you should make the decision."

Numera nodded, understanding what Greg said. While she knew what the first three cards did once they were sent to the Graveyard, she didn't know what the last one did. As for the other one, Numera obviously knew that it was a Fusion Spell card. But considering how the former card was an unknown, it'd be better to get rid of that card than deal with it later. "I choose for you to add Nephe Shaddoll Fusion to your hand, and send the other cards to your Graveyard."

"As you wish." Athaliah complied, taking one of the five cards and adding it to her hand before sending the rest to her Graveyard. "The effects of Beast, Hedgehog, and Dragon now activate. First, since Beast was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can draw one card from the top of my deck." She drew the top card of her deck and added it to her hand.

"Second, as Hedgehog was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can add one 'Shaddoll' monster from my deck to my hand. I add Shaddoll Falco from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Athaliah's deck, which she took and added to her hand. "Third, since Dragon was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can target one Spell or Trap card on the field and destroy it! I target and destroy S-Force Bridgehead!"

"What?!" Greg exclaimed, as a silhouette of a purple-skinned dragon with bat-like wings and four legs, as well as brown fur on its head, appeared on Athaliah's field. It roared loudly, which turned S-Force Bridgehead into particles.

"I'm so sorry, Greg. I didn't know what that Trap card did." Numera apologized. "And with Squamata's effect-."

"It's alright, Numera. It's better to get rid of an unknown evil now than to dispose of a known evil and get caught off guard later on." Greg assured her. "Besides. We won't let such a set back prevent us from winning this duel, right?"

"Right!" Numera nodded with a smile on her face.

"How touching. The two of you still maintaining hope, even in circumstances like this." Athaliah tauntingly said. "It'll make it more satisfying for me once I rip it away from the both of you. Starting with this! I activate the Equip Spell card, Nephe Shaddoll Fusion, and equip it onto Construct. This card lets me declare one attribute, and by doing so, the equipped monster becomes that attribute. As such, I declare the equipped Construct to become a Water attribute monster!" A blue glow surrounded Construct, changing its attribute from light to water.

Shaddoll Construct: Light - Water

"Nephe Shaddoll Fusion has another effect! This card lets me Fusion Summon one 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Material, including the equipped monster."

"...!" Numera gasped, while Greg widened his eyes out of shock. Fusion Spell cards were one thing, but a Fusion Spell card that also acted as an Equip Spell card? That... was something they didn't expect at all.

"I use Shaddoll Construct on my field, and Shaddoll Falco from my hand as Fusion Materials!" A silhouette of Falco appeared beside Construct before they turned into red and blue particles respectively, which went into the black puddle below them instead of upwards.

"With these energies of darkness and water, the Construct shall break free of its icy prison and become a beast that will tear everything apart in a glacial fire!" Athaliah chanted. "Fusion Summon! Arise, Level 9! El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis!" A colossal being whose appearance consisted of a nun erupted from the black puddle and appeared on Athaliah's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It wore a violet dress that had demonic-like coils all around its body. Attached to its back and arms were violet, translucent wings that emitted glacial energy. The nun wore a violet headdress on its head, which had a total of nine jewels on it.

El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis ATK: 2700 DEF: 2000 LV: 9

"As Falco was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can Special Summon it right back to my field in face-down defense position." Athaliah added, as a card popped out of her Graveyard, which she took and Set to her field in face-down defense position. "It's time to battle! El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis attacks S-Force Edge Razor! Glacial Resonance!" Anoyatyllis' wings glowed with bright energy that released purple-coloured icy strings at Edge Razor, which impaled him and caused an explosion that pushed Greg and Numera back several feet.

Greg and Numera: 3200 – 1200 = 2000 LP

"I think that's enough punishment for now. As such, I end my turn here." Athaliah thought for a moment before something popped up in her mind. "Oh, and just so you're aware, neither of us can Special Summon monsters from our hand or Graveyard using Spell or Trap cards while Anoyatyllis is on the field."

Numera widened her eyes out of shock while Greg grit his teeth. Such a monster like Anoyatyllis was going to be hard for them to overcome, but they can't give up now. Not when there was so much on the line.

"I'll admit when I say I didn't expect you to have Cyberse cards, Greg. Then again, you are the FBI's commissioner. Someone who has to always be prepared, even if it means resorting to using the unknown to eliminate a threat." Athaliah chuckled. "As for you, Numera, I hoped you would use the same strategy. To either Synchro or Xyz Summon your monsters and get a lead on me. I expected nothing less from the both of you."

"You obviously shouldn't underestimate us, Athaliah." Numera told her. "I'm stronger than ever because of the ordeals you put me through, to the point where you can never revert me back to the scared little girl I was a long time ago."

"Numera's right, Athaliah." Greg continued. "We stopped you once, and we'll stop you again. Even if it's the third time you were arrested, you will be brought to justice in the name of both mankind and the law!"

"So it's justice you're after? Just lame, if you ask me." Athaliah giggled this time before turning to Numera. "I'm surprised that you're not here for revenge, Numera. After all... you always wanted to know what happened to your parents, right?"

"My... parents?" Numera repeated. Now that... she was curious about. Ever since her parents dropped her off at Athaliah's house, they drove away to take care of overdue debts. After that... Numera didn't have a clue on what happened next to them.

"That's right!" Athaliah confirmed. "I might as well tell you since the both of you will lose in the coming turns. I had that debt collector orchestrate their deaths!"

"WHAT?!" Numera and Greg exclaimed at the same time. That was certainly news to the both of them.

"It's true, you fools!" Athaliah pointed her finger to her face. "Your parents didn't go missing, Rachel. I ensured your parents were sent to die. So in a sense, I'm the ultimate killer here! The end of your pitiful parents!"

Meanwhile, at another area of the Alpha Branch...

"Blood Shepherd, what are you doing here?!" Speckles demanded. "Did SOL Technologies send you, a lone wolf, to help in ending the Turf War?"

"No one sent me here. I chose to come here out of my own accord." Blood Shepherd told Speckles. "For two simple reasons. One: You have a bounty on your head, and turning you in will yield me a great reward. Two: If the network goes down, I'll lose my chance in taking down the Ignis for good."

Speckles snarled. "So I'm just another target on your hit list, aren't I?"

"That's correct, little insect." Blood Shepherd confirmed, which made Speckles grit his teeth. "By eliminating you, I can not only get my bounty, but also some great information. Information that will help me find your true boss. After all, you and I already know that Ace isn't the one pulling the strings here."

If I fail, who knows what HE will do to me, Speckles panicked in his mind. Blood Shepherd's stated intentions for him paled compared to the punishment Azrael would unleash should Speckles fail. No. Speckles wouldn't lose to a bounty hunter like Blood Shepherd. Ace put Speckles as leader of the Alpha Branch due to his devious reputation as a criminal. "If you think I'm going to surrender just because you threatened me, then dream on!"

Blood Shepherd activated his duel disk, while Speckles activated his duel disk. "Choosing to prolong the inevitable, huh? In that case, I'll make you suffer before I turn you in."

"Let's duel!" Speckles and Blood Shepherd shouted in unison.

Blood Shepherd: 4000 LP

Speckles: 4000 LP

"There's no way I'll let you take me down that easily! I'm going first!" Speckles immediately said.

"Hmph. Go ahead." Blood Shepherd responded. "It won't change the outcome whatsoever."

"My turn!" Speckles looked at his hand before grinning. Now this... will certainly help him out. "I activate the Field Spell card, World Legacy in Shadow. Now all 'Krawler' monsters on my field gain 300 attack and defense points."

Blood Shepherd narrowed his eyes. An archetype that relies on Flip Summoning, he recalled in his mind. Great. He had to deal with an insect. A cowardly one that uses Flip effects.

"From there, I activate the Spell card, World Legacy Survivor." Speckles continued. "This card lets me excavate the top five cards from my deck, add a 'Krawler' monster or 'World Legacy' card among them, and send the rest to my Graveyard." Taking the top five cards of his deck, he chose one before sending the rest to his Graveyard. "I Set one monster and activate the second effect of World Legacy of Shadows. Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Level 2 or lower Insect monster from my hand in face-up or face-down defense position. I'll therefore Set another monster from my hand, as well as Set one card face-down to end my turn." A total of three Set cards were on Speckles' field. Two in the Main Monster Zone, and one in the Spell & Trap card zone.

"Hiding behind a bunch of face-down cards will not help you out. Especially once I blow them up. My turn! I draw! One!" Blood Shepherd drew the top card of his deck.

SNAP!

"I summon Duplicate Drone from my hand." A small brown orb with three ocular scopes around it appeared on Blood Shepherd's field. It rested on a golden disc that had silver ridges on its sides.

Duplicate Drone ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I activate the effect of Duplicate Drone from my hand!" Blood Shepherd continued. "Once per turn, if I control a copy of 'Duplicate Drone' on my field, I can Special Summon this card from my hand to my field!" A second copy of Duplicate Drone appeared on Blood Shepherd's field as well.

Duplicate Drone ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I also activate the effect of Scud Drone from my hand. As I control a 'Drone' monster, I can Special Summon this card from my hand to my field as well!" Three missiles connected to a tripod appeared on Blood Shepherd's field.

Scud Drone ATK: 800 DEF: 1100 LV: 3

"I know what you'll do next. You'll end up Link Summoning your ace monster with those little machines of yours." Speckles assumed.

"For someone who has a small brain, you've obviously right on that one." Blood Shepherd insulted Speckles, which made him grit his teeth in anger. "I will now forge my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Blood Shepherd. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Drone' monsters. I'll set both of my Duplicate Drones and Scud Drone into the Link Markers!" One of the Duplicate Drones went into the left arrowhead, the other went into the right arrowhead, and Scud Drone went into the bottom arrowhead, which turned all three of them red in the process.

"Link Summon! Deploy! Link 3! Battledrone General!" A massive black military jet appeared in Blood Shepherd's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Battledrone General ATK: 2400 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

Not good. Not good, Speckles panicked in his mind. He knew exactly what Blood Shepherd intended to do, especially in regards to effect damage. Luckily, he had something in mind to stop that. "Sorry, but I won't let you execute your combos. Especially when I have something like this! Continuous-Trap, activate! World Legacy Pawns! This card lets me activate one of two effects per turn. I choose the first effect, which lets me target a face-down monster I control and change it to either face-up attack position or defense position. I change the face-down defense position Krawler Spine to face-up defense position!" On Speckles' command, a four-legged insect with red tendrils and a single eye appeared on his field in face-up defense position.

Krawler Spine ATK: 300 DEF: 2100 LV: 2

Krawler Spine ATK: 300 + 300 = 600 DEF: 2100 + 300 = 2400

"Spine's Flip effect! I can target one monster on your field and destroy it! Say goodbye to General!" Speckles grinned as General turned into particles.

"Heh. So the little bug has a small amount of bite after all..." Blood Shepherd said, insulting Speckles once again.

"Don't you dare underestimate me!" Speckles shouted. "I was chosen to be the Alpha Branch's new boss for my ruthlessness as a criminal, and I won't let anyone disrupt my chances for survival."

That comment made Blood Shepherd pay attention. "Oh. So a bug like you is working for someone? I thought you didn't work for anyone. Is your client so powerful that you chose to kiss his shoes rather than die as a man?"

"I told you not to look down at me!" Speckles screamed. This pro bounty hunter... dared to mock him?! A person that made his name known in the Black Market as a ruthless criminal? He'll make Blood Shepherd pay for that!

"Once I defeat you, I'll investigate this mysterious client of yours. Who knows? He may be worth more of my time than an insect like you." Blood Shepherd replied, which made Speckles grit his teeth in furious anger for a second time. "Anyhow, I activate the Equip Spell card, Assemble Drone. I can target one 'Drone' Link monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it back to my field. By doing so, the equipped monster gains 500 attack points. However, if 'Drone Pawn' is on my field, the equipped monster can't attack. I target General in my Graveyard and equip it with this card. Now return to the skies, General!" At Blood Shepherd's command, General reappeared on his field, only in the Main Monster Zone.

Battledrone General ATK: 2400 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

Battledrone General ATK: 2400 + 500 = 2900

"I now activate General's effect! Once per turn, I can target one 'Drone' monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to a Main Monster Zone it points to. Return, Scud Drone!" Scud Drone then reappeared on Blood Shepherd's field, only in one of the two Main Monster Zones General pointed to.

Scud Drone ATK: 800 DEF: 1100 LV: 3

"This isn't good..." Speckles panicked for a second time. Just when he got rid of General, Blood Shepherd managed to bring it right back to his field.

"It's obviously not good for you. Especially once I do this!" Blood Shepherd told him. "Scud Drone's second effect! Since it was Special Summoned by the effect of a 'Drone' monster, I can draw the top card of my deck. In exchange, it's banished once it leaves the field." He drew the top card of his deck. "In addition, I activate General's second effect. Once per turn, I can target one Level 4 or lower 'Drone' monster with 1000 or less attack points and have it attack directly this turn. I target Scud Drone!" Scud Drone was surrounded in a green aura. "I guess you know what happens next, right?"

"Obviously. You'll attack me directly, and then tribute Scud Drone with General's effect to deal effect damage." Speckles correctly guessed.

"You may have done your homework on me, but there's a difference between learning and knowing how to use that information. Allow me to demonstrate. Battle!" Blood Shepherd thrusted out his right hand. "Scud Drone attacks you directly!" Scud Drone launched its three missiles at Speckles, with each one forcing him to take a step back out of pain.

Speckles: 4000 – 800 = 3200 LP

"And since my 'Drone' monster inflicted battle damage through a direct attack, General's third effect activates!" Blood Shepherd added. "I can tribute that monster to inflict damage equal to its attack points!" Scud Drone turned into a ball of pure energy, which hit Speckles and forced him to take another step back.

Speckles: 3200 – 800 = 2400 LP

"As Scud Drone left the field, it's now banished. But that won't matter. I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Blood Shepherd frowned. "Why don't you save yourself the trouble and surrender, as well as tell me more about your real benefactor. If you do, I'll make your end painless."

"I won't tell you! If I did, he'll kill me!" Speckles exclaimed, pure fear in his voice.

"So this benefactor of yours is a male, huh?" Blood Shepherd pondered this information over before speaking again. "It doesn't matter whether you tell me or not. I always find out what I want, no matter how many people I have to get rid of to do so. Especially if it's a little insect like you."

Elsewhere, at another area in the Alpha Branch...

"Okay, that's the last of them." Raguel commented. He and the girls had to deal with a lot of troops on the way to the Skyhook. And boy were there a lot of them.

"Considering how this branch has the last Skyhook, it makes sense they increased security." Blue Girl stated. The quartet was hidden behind two separate barricades, having successfully dealt with another enemy platoon.

"On the plus side, we're closer to the Skyhook." Ghost Girl said, trying to keep things positive.

"And one step to ending this Turf War." SengokuQueen added.

KABOOM!

All four of them turned at the sound of the explosion.

"It came from the Skyhook area." Herald immediately figured out.

"That means we're on the right path." Raguel said.

"Of course you are, Yuhiro." Roxy stated the obvious over the comm. "Although the area up ahead is rigged with mines, so you'll have to follow this path I'm sending you right now."

"We'll be your eyes in the sky, Yuhiro. So that you don't blow yourself up." Arashi added.

"I'm well aware of that. And thanks." Raguel replied, as his duel disk beeped, which indicated that he received a notification on it. He turned to the girls afterwards. "Change of plans. We need to take this alternative path. Turns out Speckles must have rigged the area with mines."

"And we were so close too.." Blue Girl seethed.

Ghost Girl shrugged her shoulders after hearing this information. "Well, we might as well roll with the punches. Lead the way, Raguel."

Nodding in response to Ghost Girl, the quartet than ran forward before taking a left, following the path Roxy sent to Raguel in the process.

Meanwhile, at Greg and Athaliah's duel...

"Numera..." Greg muttered. This was definitely a shock for him. He had assumed Numera's parents went missing, which was why he put in the time to find them. But for Athaliah to orchestrate their deaths... he didn't expect that at all. Then again, it proved that Athaliah was nothing more than a monster that needed to be stopped for good.

"You're lying, Athaliah..." Numera said.

"I'm not lying, Rachel. I'm the mastermind behind your pain!" Athaliah exclaimed with glee.

"Actually, that's partially a lie." Numera reiterated, in a tone that got both Athaliah and Greg's attention. "You're right on two things, Athaliah. First, you made me into a Construct for Project: Apotheosis. One that escaped from your clutches. Second, I always wanted to know what happened to my parents after they dropped me off at your front door. That's why I looked into that mystery after the Tower of Hanoi, and found out the truth for myself."

"What do you mean, Numera?" Greg inquired, a little scared for what she was about to say next.

"Along the way to that debt collector, my parents stopped at Biratori to get supplies and rest for the night." Numera began. "Little did they know that the town had a virus running amok, and by the time they figured out what was going on, it was too late. The town was quarantined, and both my parents were infected. Even with the aid of the doctors and nurses, both Collin and Lisa Miyake died a few days after."

Athaliah's body stiffened, while Numera cleverly smiled. "Honestly, Athaliah. Do you really think you can rile me up with a comment such as that? You say so many things to enrage your enemies that you don't know whether it's a lie or not. Goes to show that you bark more than you bite, if you ask me."

Athaliah, in response, grit her teeth in furious anger. "You... How dare you... How dare you mock me like that! I didn't become the person I am today just because of my words! My actions yielded me the rewards I sought, and I pursued whatever method that's needed to-!"

"I don't care about your excuses. What I do care about is defeating you in this duel." Numera interrupted, in a tone that basically made Athaliah shut her mouth.

"Numera, are you okay sweetie?" Greg asked in a tone that contained pure worry.

"Yeah. I think I am," Numera answered. If she was honest with herself, she didn't know what came over her to taunt Athaliah like that. Maybe Numera decided to take a page out of Athaliah's book. To see how she liked being taunted like that. To push her buttons and she how she felt being in her opponent's shoes. The shoes of someone whose anger clouded their judgment. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Greg."

"It's okay, Numera. I know you want to put this douchebag down for the count." Greg assured her. "But we can't lower ourselves to her level. Do you understand?"

"I do." Numera confirmed. "I won't do it again. As for this duel..." She turned to Athaliah's field. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'll be fine." Greg assured her for a second time. "My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck before turning to Athaliah. "I'll admit in saying that your monster has a troublesome effect, but there's always a loophole, especially when I got this! Trap card, activate! S-Force Specimen! As you control a monster, I can target one of my 'S-Force' monsters that's banished or in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field in the same column that your monster's in."

"You sneaky little..." Athaliah cursed under her breath, knowing what Greg will do next.

"I Special Summon Rappa Chiyomaru from my banished zone to our field!" A girl with short, dark hair and green eyes appeared on Greg and Numera's field, in the column that Anoyatyllis was in. She wore a black coat that had large sleeves, along with a waist skirt, grey pants, and high-heeled shoes. Around her forehead, she wore a metal headband, and she carried what looked like a futuristic katana.

S-Force Rappa Chiyomaru ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 2

"I summon S-Force Professor DiGamma from my hand." Greg continued, as a male, humanoid monster wearing a dark-blue jumpsuit and a black lab coat appeared on Greg and Numera's field. He had green, spiky hair, as well as electricity that emitted all around him.

S-Force Professor DiGamma ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 3

"When Professor DiGamma is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target one face-up monster you control and change its battle position. I target Anoyatyllis!" DiGamma fired a burst of lighting from his fingertips, which forced Anoyatyllis to change its battle position. "It's time for me to call on the circuit of security and justice!" A Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are three effect monsters, including an 'S-Force' monster. I'll set S-Force Edge Razor, Rappa Chiyomaru, and Professor DiGamma into the Link Markers!" Edge Razor went into the top-right arrowhead, Rappa Chiyomaru went into the top arrowhead, and Professor DiGamma went into the top-right arrowhead.

"Great peacemaker, emerge on the battlefield, and put an end to this transgressor before us!" Greg chanted. "Link Summon! Lead the charge to peace! Link 3! S-Force Justify!" A large, muscular warrior wearing black and orange-coloured armor appeared on Greg and Numera's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had massive shoulder pads that emitted green energy, along with circular pads attached to his legs and arms. Attached to his back was a large cape.

S-Force Justify ATK: 2600 LINK-3 ↖️⬆️↗️

Another Cyberse monster. How many does this fool have, Athaliah seethed in her mind. What got her attention the most, however, was that Link monster's Link Arrows. Why were they pointing to her field? By doing so, it gave her more spaces for her to Fusion Summon. His monster has an effect in regards to the Main Monster Zones he's pointing to. There's no other explanation, she immediately figured out in her mind.

"Battle!" Greg thrusted out his right hand. "S-Force Justify attacks El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis! Transgression Elimination!" Justify charged forward as his fist was surrounded with electricity, which hit Anoyatyllis upon impact and turned it into particles.

"When Anoyatyllis is sent to my Graveyard, I can add one 'Shaddoll' Spell or Trap card from my Graveyard to my hand. I add Nephe Shaddoll Fusion from my Graveyard to my hand." Athaliah stated, as a card popped out of her Graveyard, which she took and added to her hand.

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn, which means Grisaille Prison is now destroyed." Greg concluded with a smile, as the card turned into particles.

"My turn! I draw!" Athaliah said, drawing the top card of her deck. If I'm to use those Main Monster Zones, I must negate Justify's effects, she decided, as she didn't want to take any risks in this duel. "I Flip Summon the face-down defense position Shaddoll Falco to face-up attack position on my field!" The Set card flipped up, which revealed a purple-colored falcon with small wings and golden braces all over its body that appeared on Athaliah's field in face-up attack position. It had a total of five glass orbs, with strings emitting from its wings and legs.

Shaddoll Falco ATK: 600 DEF: 1400 LV: 2

"Falco's Flip effect! I can target one 'Shaddoll' monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-down defense position. Return to my field in face-down defense position, Beast!" A Set card in face-down defense position appeared on Athaliah's field. "From there, I activate the effect of Resh Shaddoll Incarnation in my Graveyard! By banishing this card and one 'Shaddoll' card from my Graveyard, I can target one monster on my field and activate one of two effects. I choose effect one, which lets me change one face-down defense position monster on my field to face-up defense position!"

"What?!" Greg exclaimed, shocked by what he just heard.

"A Trap card with an effect that can activate in the Graveyard?!" Numera added, also surprised by what she heard.

"That's right!" Athaliah confirmed. "I banish Resh Shaddoll Incarnation and Hedgehog in my Graveyard, and change Beast from face-down defense position to face-up defense position!" A pair of strings emerged out of Athaliah's Graveyard, which grabbed the Set card and flipped it face-up. Upon doing so, a large, four-legged creature with purple fur on its back and head appeared on Athaliah's field. Several golden circles were on the creature, which allowed multiple purple strings to manipulate its movements. Looking at Numera and Greg, it roared at them.

Shaddoll Beast ATK: 2200 DEF: 1700 LV: 5

"Beast's Flip effect lets me draw two cards from my deck in exchange for discarding a card from my hand." Athaliah drew the top two cards of her deck before choosing a card and sending it to her Graveyard. "The effect of Naelshaddoll Ariel activates! As she was sent to my Graveyard by a card effect, I can target up to three cards in either of our Graveyards and banish them!"

"WHAT?!" Numera cried out, with Greg gasping out of shock as well. A card that can banish cards from either Graveyard... would be a serious detriment to them.

Images of Numera and Greg's respective Graveyards popped out, allowing Athaliah to ponder over what card to choose. "I banish Professor DiGamma and Rappa Chiyomaru from your Graveyard, Greg, and Mathmech Induction from Numera's Graveyard!" As if on cue, all three cards turned into particles, much to Numera and Greg's dismay. "I also activate the effect of Construct from my Graveyard. By sending one 'Shaddoll' card from my hand or face-up on my field to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon it back to my field!"

Numera narrowed her eyes. "Greg..."

"Wait for it..." Greg told her. He knew that Athaliah was building her moves for something big, and once she brought something big to her field, he'd make her regret wasting all those resources.

"I send Zefracore from my Spell & Trap card zone, and bring Construct back to my field!" At Athaliah's command, Construct reappeared on her field, only in the Main Monster Zone.

Shaddoll Construct ATK: 1200 LINK-2 ⬅️➡️

"In addition, I activate Construct's other effect!" Athaliah added. "I can Fusion Summon one 'Shaddoll' monster from my Extra Deck by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Materials!"

"Get ready, Greg!" Numera said, with Greg nodding in response.

"I use Construct and Falco on my field as Fusion Materials!" Construct turned into red particles, while Falco turned into blue particles, which went into the black puddle below them instead of upwards.

"With these energies of darkness and light, the Construct immerses you with energy to flood the world in darkness!" Athaliah chanted. "Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 6! El Shaddoll Apkallone!" A large, purple piranha with multiple blue orbs and golden outlines on its body, as well as large, translucent fins appeared on Athaliah's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Attached to it was a girl, who wore ornate purple robes with golden outlines on the sleeves. She had long, light-blue hair, and a witch's hat on the top of her head. In her right hand, she carried an Aquamirror staff.

El Shaddoll Apkallone ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 LV: 6

"Apkallone's effect! When she's Special Summoned, I can target one face-up card on the field and-!"

"Just what I was waiting for! I activate Justify's effect!" Greg interrupted. "Once per turn, I can target one face-up monster you control and negate its effects, as well as move that monster to a Main Monster Zone he points to!"

"WHAT?!" Athaliah exclaimed out of surprise. She intended to use Apkallone's effect to negate Justify's effects, but with this turnaround of events...

"I target and negate Apkallone's effects. Security Drain!" Justify threw a blue orb at Apkallone, which grew in size before transporting her to one of the Main Monster Zones he pointed to. After that, she was electrified with energy, which greyed her out as a result.

"Stubborn little... If that's how you want to play it, I'll gladly play along!" Athaliah snarled. "I activate the Spell card, Instant Fusion. By paying 1000 life points, I can Special Summon one Level 5 or lower Fusion monster from my Extra Deck! However, it can't attack, and it's destroyed during the End Phase. I Special Summon El Shaddoll Winda from my Extra Deck!" A dark, purple Chinese dragon with purple strings on its claws appeared on Athaliah's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Each of its eyes looked in different directions before being directed towards Numera and Greg. On the dragon's back was a teenage female sorceress with light-green hair tied in a ponytail. In her right hand, she carried a long staff.

A red aura then surrounded Athaliah, which made her grit in pain as her life points decreased.

El Shaddoll Winda ATK: 2200 DEF: 800 LV: 5

Athaliah: 4000 – 1000 = 3000 LP

"Just like before, I activate the Equip Spell card, Nephe Shaddoll Fusion, and equip it onto Winda. This card lets me declare one attribute, and by doing so, the equipped monster becomes that attribute. As such, I declare the equipped Winda to become a Light attribute monster!" A green aura surrounded Winda, changing her attribute from Dark to Light.

El Shaddoll Winda: Dark - Light

"And with Nephe Shaddoll Fusion's second effect, I can Fusion Summon one 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Material, including the equipped monster!" Athaliah added. "I use Winda and Beast on my field as Fusion Materials!" Winda and Beast turned into red and blue particles of energy, which went into the black puddle below them instead of upwards.

"With these energies of darkness and light, the sinister Construct is finally born!" Athaliah chanted. "Fusion Summon! Behold! Level 8! El Shaddoll Construct!" A colossal being with the appearance of a nun erupted from the black puddle and appeared on Athaliah's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. The being's body and armor was mostly colored purple, with golden elements appearing all over. Thousands of purple strings were attached to its back, signifying its authority as the puppet ruler.

El Shaddoll Construct ATK: 2800 DEF: 2500 LV: 8

"The effects of Construct and Winda both activate. First, as Construct was Special Summoned, I can send a 'Shaddoll' card from my deck to the Graveyard. I send a second copy of Dragon from my deck to my Graveyard!" A card popped out of Athaliah's deck, which she took and sent to her Graveyard. "Second, since Winda was sent to the Graveyard, I can target one 'Shaddoll' Spell or Trap card that's in my Graveyard and add it right back to my hand. I target and add Nephe Shaddoll Fusion back to my hand!" A card popped out of Athaliah's Graveyard, which she took and added to her hand.

"Third, since Dragon was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can target one Spell or Trap card on the field and destroy it! I target and destroy your face-down card!" Athaliah added.

"Crap!" Greg said, as a silhouette of a second copy of Dragon appeared, which roared and destroyed his face-down card. I needed that card, he cursed in his mind.

"With everything out of my way, it's time to battle!" Athaliah declared. "El Shaddoll Construct attacks S-Force Justify! And when it battles a Special Summoned monster at the start of the damage step, it-!"

"I activate the effect of S-Force Protection from my Graveyard!" Greg interjected, as a silhouette of a card popped up, which showed Justify forming a translucent barrier using his hands to protect Professor DiGamma, Orrafist, and Dog Tag. "By banishing this card from my Graveyard, I can target one 'S-Force' monster and have it become unaffected by your card effects for the rest of this turn. In addition, it cannot be destroyed by battle as well! I target Justify!" A translucent barrier appeared around Justify.

"You're still losing life points!" Athaliah reminded the duo. "Sinister Nightmare!" Construct pointed its finger at Justify, causing the strings behind its back to go straight towards Justify and hit the barrier, which made both Numera and Greg wince as their life points drop.

Greg and Numera: 2000 – 200 = 1800 LP

"I never thought I'd have to do this, but you're really pushing my buttons here! I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, El Shaddoll Fusion, which lets me Fusion Summon a 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Materials! This time, I'm using Construct and Apkallone as Fusion Materials!" Construct and Apkallone turned into red and blue particles respectively, which went into the black puddle below them instead of upwards.

"Great Construct of the shadows, immerse yourself with the void, and put everything under your dark rule!" Athaliah sinisterly changed, clasping her hands in front of her. "Fusion Summon! Come forth, the end of all things! El Shaddoll Hamalachai!" A colossal being with the appearance of a nun that had a gem on its forehead erupted from the black puddle and appeared on Athaliah's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It wore dark-violet armor with glowing plates all over its body with jewels that emitted several colours. Attached to her back were four large towers that were surrounded in rainbow-coloured strings. The towers on the left were coloured white, while the towers on the right were coloured purple. It sprouted two panel-like wings, one being white, and the other being purple. Attached to the sides of its head were two, bull-like rams, along with a halo hovering just slightly above it. Half of its mask broke, which revealed its left eye, along with dented teeth in its mouth.

El Shaddoll Hamalachai ATK: 3400 DEF: 3400 LV: 12

"GAAAH!" Numera screamed, having been struck with pure fear. Even Greg widened his eyes, also afraid at what he was seeing.

"Do you like it? This is my ultimate monster. One I thought I'd never use again until now!" Athaliah said sadistically. "And it will be the end of the both of you, starting with this! When Hamalachai is Fusion Summoned, I can place one 'Spellstone' counter for every 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster in my Graveyard. There's currently five 'Shaddoll' Fusion monsters on my Graveyard, which means Hamalachai gains five 'Spellstone' counters!" Five orbs then orbited all around Hamalachai's body.

El Shaddoll Hamalachai SSC: 0 + 5 = 5

"In addition, when Apkallone is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can add one 'Shaddoll' card from my deck or Graveyard to my hand, in exchange for discarding one card from my hand. I add Shaddoll Core from my deck to my hand, and send Nephe Shaddoll Fusion from my hand to my Graveyard!" A card popped out of Athaliah's deck, which she took and added to her hand. Once that was done, she sent a card from her hand to her Graveyard.

"Battle!" Athaliah declared, as she thrusted out her right hand. "El Shaddoll Hamalachai attacks S-Force Justify!"

"Even if your monster attacks, Justify will survive the attack thanks to S-Force Protection, and we'll still have life points remaining!" Greg reminded her.

"I already know that." Athaliah replied with impatience. "Nephilim's Endgame!" Hamalachai's wings glowed vibrantly as it released rainbow-colored wings at Justify, which hit the barrier and bounced off before hitting both Greg and Numera. As a result, they were sent flying off the ground and landed on their backs.

Greg and Numera: 1800 – 800 = 1000 LP

"Let's bring you closer to defeat, shall we?" Athaliah narrowed her eyes. "I activate Hamalachai's effect! Once per turn, during either of our turns, I can remove one 'Spellstone' counter and banish one 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster from my Graveyard to activate one of six effects based on the 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster's attribute! I banish the Earth attribute Shekhinaga, which allows me to halve your life points!"

"...!" Greg grit his teeth, while Numera gasped. With that effect... they'll be close to losing the duel.

"Cursed Convulsion!" After an orb entered Hamalachai's body, it slammed its towers down to the ground, which caused it to shake as strings erupted from the cracks before wrapping themselves around Greg and Numera. The strings tightened around their bodies, which made both of them scream in pain as their life points dropped once again.

El Shaddoll Hamalachai SSC: 5 – 1 = 4

Greg and Numera: 1000 / 2 = 500 LP

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Athaliah concluded, satisfied with her turn. With Grisaille Prison gone, Numera will most certainly Synchro Summon her beloved Geomathmech Final Sigma, she immediately deduced in her mind. While Hamalachai has other effects that can impede Numera and Greg's progress, I can also Special Summon one 'Shaddoll' monster that's banished or in my Graveyard back to my field should it be sent to my Graveyard by battle or card effect. I also have the face-down card Shaddoll Core, which will provide me with another layer of defense that will prevent me from losing this turn. With all of these things, I'll finish them off for good on my next turn, and once I win this duel, Numera will be my lab rat once again, along with Brion!

"My turn! I draw!" Numera said, slowly getting up on her feet before she drew the top card of her deck. She also helped Greg up as well.

"Not so fast! I activate Hamalachai's effect once again!" Athaliah suddenly interrupted. "Once per turn, during either of our turns, I can remove one 'Spellstone' counter and banish one 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster from my Graveyard to activate one of six effects based on the 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster's attribute! This time, I banish the Light attribute Construct, which lets me send one monster on your field straight to your Graveyard!"

"Oh no!" Greg exclaimed, while Numera narrowed her eyes out of anger. There was currently only one monster on the field, and the both of them knew which monster Athaliah would target.

"I send Justify to your Graveyard, Greg! Bright Crackdown!" The gem on Hamalachai's forehead fired a bright beam at Justify, which turned him into particles.

El Shaddoll Hamalachai SSC: 4 – 1 = 3

Numera shook her head, snapping herself out of her stupor from what happened. This all comes down to me now, as the moves I make will determine whether we defeat Athaliah or not, she thought. If Numera had to be honest, she felt the weight of everyone who suffered by Athaliah's hands on her shoulders. If she failed... no. She couldn't afford to think that right now. We will defeat Athaliah this turn, and no matter what happens next, I'll make sure of it! "I summon Mathmech Diameter from my hand." A silver, chrome-coloured robot that carried a large discus appeared on Numera and Greg's field. It had yellow eyes, along with rainbow-coloured dots on portions of its body.

Mathmech Diameter ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 4

"When Diameter is Normal Summoned, I can target one Level 4 Cyberse monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to our field. In exchange, that monster cannot activate its effects! Return to the field, Multiplication!" At Numera's command, Multiplication reappeared on her and Greg's field.

Mathmech Multiplication ATK: 500 DEF: 2000 LV: 4

"I activate the effect of Mathmech Addition from my hand, which lets me target one face-up monster on the field and increase its attack points by 1000. By doing so, I can Special Summon this card from my hand!" Numera added. "I target Multiplication, and Special Summon Addition from my hand!" A red robot with a long cape carrying a large, broad sword appeared on Numera and Greg's field. The robot had two white spikes on each of its shoulders and two white, slanted horns on the sides of its head. Multiplication was then surrounded in a red aura, which increased its strength

Mathmech Addition ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

Mathmech Multiplication ATK: 500 + 1000 = 1500

"I now tune the Level 4 Mathmech Diameter to the Level 4 Addition and the Level 4 Multiplication!" A bolt of red lightning appeared as the whole world greyed out and her three monsters turned to particles. Three rings, one silver, one yellow, and one red, appeared before turning blue and merging. Twelve blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "4 + 4 + 4" in front of them. The screen then changed into a "12" as light surged through the rings.

"Code, Metal, and Fire combine into one!" Numera declared. "Sigma's ultimate evolution has been reached, and is now ready to incinerate all who oppose it! Synchro Summon! Appear, my protector! Geomathmech Final Sigma!" A massive red and white robot, bigger than its brethren, emerged from the light and on Numera and Greg's field in the right Extra Monster Zone, carrying a blazing sword. The robot had shredded pieces of a cape on both its shoulders and its waist.

Geomathmech Final Sigma ATK: 3000 DEF: 0 LV: 12

"The effects of Multiplication and Diameter both activate. First, as Multiplication was sent to the Graveyard, I can target one Cyberse monster that's in the Extra Monster Zone and double its attack points until the end of this turn. I target Final Sigma!" A yellow aura surrounded Final Sigma as its strength increased.

Geomathmech Final Sigma ATK: 3000 X 2 = 6000

"Second, since Diameter was used to Synchro or Xyz Summon Final Sigma, it gains another effect. As for what that effect is, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." Numera added with a smirk.

Athaliah frowned. She had to be careful for whatever effect Diameter had. After all, it can be anything. Still, Athaliah had two things in her favour: Hamalachai's second effect, and her face-down card. Even if Numera did attack with her monster, Athaliah would have life points remaining, and she can bring out a Fusion monster right back to her field. She can also activate Shaddoll Core's effect to Special Summon it to her field as an additional monster. All in all, Athaliah was prepared for what was to come. "Increase the attack points of your monster all you want, Numera. I'll still be in this duel after your turn," she said.

"Then let's test that theory, shall we?" Numera replied cheekily, much to Athaliah's surprise. "I activate the Spell card, Monster Reborn. This card lets me target one monster that's in either of our Graveyards and Special Summon it to our field. I target and Special Summon Justify from Greg's Graveyard to our field!" At Numera's command, Justify appeared on their field.

S-Force Justify ATK: 2600 LINK-3 ↖️⬆️↗️

"Battle!" Numera thrusted out her right hand. "S-Force Justify attacks El Shaddoll Hamalachai!"

"You little child! THAT DECISION WILL COST YOU THE DUEL!" Athaliah exclaimed sadistically.

"No it won't!" Greg countered. "I activate Justify's effect! At the start of the damage step, if he attacks, all monsters he points to are banished!"

"WHAT?!" Athaliah exclaimed, having been taken aback by that comment. She then checked her duel disk, and her face paled upon seeing where Justify was on the field. "Oh no..." With Hamalachai about to be banished instead of being sent to the Graveyard, she couldn't activate its final effect!

"Go! Security Extermination!" Justify let out a shout as he fired a large, green ring at Hamalachai, which turned it into particles. "And with that, Justify now attacks you directly!"

"I won't let that happen! Continuous-Trap, activate! Shaddoll Core!" Athaliah said, panic evident in her voice. "This card lets me-."

"Do nothing!" Numera interjected. "Final Sigma's new effect activates thanks to Diameter! Once per turn, during the turn Final Sigma was Special Summoned by using Diameter as material, if you activate a card or effect, it's instantly negated! I negate Shaddoll Core's effect!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Athaliah shouted, as Shaddoll Core turned into particles.

"Transgression Elimination!" Greg said, as Justify's fist was surrounded with electricity, which hit Athaliah and pushed her back several feet.

Athaliah: 3000 – 2600 = 400 LP

"I STILL HAVE THINGS TO DO! KNOWLEDGE TO OBTAIN! I CAN'T LET ALL MY WORK END AT THE HANDS OF A LITTLE GIRL AND HER GUARDIAN!" Athaliah screamed, her sanity having left her.

"Your experiments are over!" Numera declared. "Geomathmech Final Sigma attacks you directly! Scorching Termination!" Final Sigma charged forward out of pure fury and brought down its sword on Athaliah, causing her to scream as she was launched off the ground before landing on her back, the duel finally over.

Athaliah: 400 – 6000 = 0

"Damn you... Damn you...!" Athaliah said, slowly getting up on her feet, trying to contain her balance.

"You're not getting away from us a third time, Athaliah." Greg firmly stated. "I'll erase your account and ban your access to LINK VRAINS entirely, as well as ensure that all your escape routes are permanently destroyed."

"The both of you won." Electrolyzer suddenly said, getting everyone's attention as he stood up on his feet, a look of relief on his face. "At last, Athaliah can pay for the suffering she's caused to everyone. Especially to me." He attempted to walk forward towards Athaliah, only for Greg to stop him.

"That's not how we do things, Brion." Greg told him, a stern look on his face.

"Greg's right. Killing Athaliah isn't the answer." Numera added.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The three of them turned to Athaliah, who was trying to log out.

"Why can't I log out? Why can't I log out?!" she demanded. "The duel's over! I should be able to log out!"

"That's something I forgot to mention. The program locks you in the network after you lose a duel, and only I can unlock it!" Electrolyzer answered, before attempting to push Greg out of his way.

"Brion, I am begging you! Do not go down this path!" Greg pleaded.

"We can't lower ourselves to her level!" Numera told Electrolyzer as well. "We have to be-!"

"Chains of Tragedy!" a voice cried out of nowhere, as chains emerged from portals before wrapping themselves around Athaliah's arms and legs, holding her in place.

"What... what is this?!" Athaliah said, panic evident in her voice.

"The Chains of Tragedy. A symbol of the trauma I experienced." Gil explained, walking out of the shadows. "The more traumatized the captive, the tighter the chains will hold them. As if I would ever allow you to escape after everything you've done."

"Gil?!" Greg exclaimed, shocked by how Gil was able to get into Athaliah's laboratory. "How were you able to find this place?"

"I have my methods." Gil cryptically answered, before turning to Athaliah. "You, on the other hand, will experience the same pain I did all those years ago." With a snap of his fingers, the chains tightened around Athaliah before emitting electricity, which made her scream in pain.

"Gil, no." Greg said, going over to him and kneeling down at his level. Curious at what Greg may say next, he snapped his fingers, ending Athaliah's pain temporarily. "We need Athaliah alive, so she can tell us what she's been doing here this entire time."

"No we don't." Gil replied with a scoff. "With the right tools, I can figure out what experiments Athaliah conducted since her escape."

"The kid's right." Electrolyzer interjected. "Athaliah's caused nothing but pain her entire life. It's time for retribution."

"Or we could risk losing valuable information." Numera countered back.

"Numera is right. We can't be sure." Greg added in support to Numera's comment.

"What we can be sure of is that Athaliah puts everyone at risk." Gil rebutted, before turning to Electrolyzer. "This is your program, right?"

Electrolyzer nodded in confirmation. "I'll send you the information once Athaliah's taken care of," he promised. "But only if you let me punish her first."

"She's all yours." Gil complied. Hearing this, Electrolyzer went over and proceeded to pummel Athaliah with his fists.

"You may be a prince Brion, but you're not above the law!" Greg shouted, pulling Electrolyzer away from Athaliah.

"Get your hand off me!" Electrolyzer shouted back, taking Greg's hand off his shoulder. Athaliah then screamed again as the Chains of Tragedy continued torturing her.

Seeing this, Numera ran over to Gil and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Stop this, please! This isn't how we should treat our enemies!"

"You suffered like the rest of us!" Gil interrupted, as Abyss King appeared behind him and scared her off. In response, Final Sigma appeared behind Numera, the two monsters clashing against each other. "Being a victim of Project: Apotheosis, you too should want-!"

"GAAAAAAHHHH!"

All four individuals turned towards Athaliah as she began seizing violently, who would have fallen to the ground had the Chains of Tragedy not kept her in place. The next thing everyone knew, blood burst out of Athaliah's body as she screamed further before falling to the ground, the Chains of Tragedy disappearing in the process.

"The Hell?" Gil muttered, shocked that his Chains of Tragedy disappeared like that. The Chains of Tragedy must have sensed something amiss was going on, and disappeared in order to protect themselves.

What happened next caught everyone off guard. A purple-like goo substance cracked Athaliah's bones and ripped out her flesh, fully appearing into the network.

Seeing this, Greg fired his gun at the gooey substance, who simply dodged each bullet before escaping.

"Help me..." were the last two words Athaliah spoke before she breathed her last.

"Was this the doing of your program, Brion?!" Greg demanded, turning to him with a look of pure anger on his face. "Did you-?!"

"It wasn't the works of Electrolyzer's program, Greg." Gil interrupted, before going over to Athaliah's corpse and examining it. Pressing a few buttons on his duel disk, a sphere of data emerged out of the body and hovered above the palm of his hand. "Interesting. Does this program look familiar to either of you?"

"Hang on a minute." Greg said, as he, Numera and Electrolyzer narrowed their eyes at the sphere of data in Gil's right palm. "That's the Another Virus!"

"Seriously?" Numera questioned, walking over to Gil and looking at it further. "Oh crap. It is!"

"So the Knights of Hanoi were responsible for this..." Greg muttered, pondering over everything that recently occurred.

"I doubt it was the Knights of Hanoi this time around." Electrolyzer stated, as he attached PSY-Framegear Alpha to himself before scanning the program. "From what I can tell, someone else must have taken the Another Virus program and made modifications. Ones that render the old cure useless."

"So that they can silence those who work under them should the need arise." Gil finished before pressing a button on his duel disk, which released a scanning wave of the entire area. Once that was done, a large, new data sphere appeared, which went over to Gil as he held it in his right hand. "Let's see what we got here." Pressing the top of the sphere, he paid close attention to the contents, and once that was done, he put it in his duel disk. "Heh heh..."

"Gil?" Greg said, now a little worried at what may happen next.

"Hahahahaha." Gil put his right hand to his face before throwing back his head and bellowing his mirth to the world. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's your experiment, Athaliah? To help in the creation of another Construct?!"

"Another Construct?" Numera repeated, shocked at what she heard. Greg widened his eyes as well upon hearing it. Electrolyzer, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes in suspicion. The fact that Athaliah planned on aiding in the creation of another Construct got his attention.

"You already created a Construct in Numera, and now you wanted to help an AI become a Construct?! THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?! NOW YOU'VE PIQUED MY INTEREST EVEN MORE!" Gil finished speaking, before turning to the others. "It seems my work here is done. Onto the next quest. See ya!" His body flickered, which indicated that he was starting to log out.

"Gil, wait!" Numera said. Unfortunately, Gil ended up logging out, ignoring Numera in the process.

"Damn it." Greg cursed under his breath, going over to Athaliah's corpse and kneeling down to it. He then activated a scanning program on his duel disk, which released a wave of energy that scanned her corpse. "Athaliah could have told us everything she knew, and now we only have this information to go by."

"She's dead. She's finally gone." Electrolyzer stated, his voice containing unbelief for a few moments. Ever since the event of Project: Apotheosis, he wanted to get revenge on Athaliah for what she did to him. And now that she was gone...

"Brion." Greg said, standing up on his feet. "I know where you're heading next. Back to Central Japan, right?"

"I am. Are you going to stop me?" Electrolyzer inquired.

"Not exactly." Greg replied, turning to Numera with a smile, assuring her that it'll be okay. Once that was done, he turned back to Electrolyzer. "The FBI has resources that can help you. In exchange, I not only want you to stay and help end the Turf War, I need your word that you won't kill Balius."

Electrolyzer turned away from Greg and thought about what he told him just now. All his life, his father taught him that winning but not destroying an enemy was what made a true victory. After all, every human life was precious, and always had a chance to choose a better path.

In all honesty, he didn't want to become a monster. One that was no better than Balius. But a chance to fully fulfil his revenge... was within his grasp. Electrolyzer was about to reply when words suddenly popped up in his head.

"Revenge is like a slow knife. The knife that waits years without forgetting, then slips quietly between the bones. That's the knife that cuts deepest into someone. If you let that happen, you'll never experience reprieve again."

"Please stop, Electrolyzer! Don't let yourself get consumed by revenge! Please!"

The words that Shesizi said... were like a warning of what Electrolyzer would become should he follow on his vengeful quest.

Having made up his mind, he turned back to Greg and said, "Fine. You have my word. I won't kill Balius, and I'll see what I can do in regards to ending this Turf War."

That statement made Greg smile. "Thank you." Once that was done, Electrolyzer logged out of the network.

"I can't believe you got through to Electrolyzer like that." Numera said. "To think that he and Gil were victims of Project: Apotheosis. Just like me."

"It shows that you're not alone in this world, Numera." Greg told her.

"Do you think there's others like us?"

Upon hearing this question, Greg turned to Numera, giving her his full attention. "Perhaps. But we'll only find out in due time."

"And what of the body?"

"I got her location in the real world." Greg confirmed. "It's time to bury the hatchet for good."

After Numera nodded back at Greg, the two of them logged out of the network, their task having been finished.

Meanwhile, at Blood Shepherd and Speckles' duel...

"I'll have you regret your taunts at me! My turn! I draw!" Speckles immediately said, drawing the top card of his deck.

"Continuous-Trap, activate! Drone Barricade!" Blood Shepherd interjected. "While this card's on the field, your monsters can no longer attack directly, and you can't target Spell or Trap cards except this one on the field with card effects!"

"That's an easy problem to solve!" Speckles gestured to his field. "I Flip Summon the face-down defense position Krawler Axon to attack position to my field!" The Set card flipped up, which revealed a mechanical insect that stood on its hind legs in attack position.

Krawler Axon ATK: 500 DEF: 1800 LV: 2

Krawler Axon ATK: 500 + 300 = 800 DEF: 1800 + 300 = 2100

"Axon's Flip Effect lets me target and destroy a Spell or Trap card on your field! Say goodbye to Drone Barricade!" Speckles declared.

"In that case, I activate Drone Barricade's second effect! Once per turn, by banishing this face-up card on my field, I can Set a copy of 'Drone Barricade' directly from my deck. In addition, I can activate it this turn." Blood Shepherd interjected, as Drone Barricade turned into particles before it was replaced by a Set card on Blood Shepherd's field. "And since the target's no longer on my field, the effect doesn't resolve."

"You..." Speckles felt his anger rising up. He swore to make Blood Shepherd suffer for playing him like a fiddle.

"And just like before, I activate the second copy of the Continuous-Trap card, Drone Barricade." Blood Shepherd continued. "Like before, your monsters can no longer attack directly, and you can't target Spell or Trap cards except this one on the field with card effects!"

Speckles looked at his hand for a moment, contemplating the options he had. Upon looking at the cards in his hand and field, he grinned. Yes! The combination of cards in his hand and field will help him win the duel! "I activate World Legacy in Shadow's effect. Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Level 2 or lower Insect monster from my hand in face-up or face-down defense position. I Set a monster from my hand to my field to face-down defense position." A Set card appeared on Speckles' field in face-down defense position. "I activate World Legacy Pawns' effect! Just like before, I can activate one of two effects per turn. I choose the first effect, which lets me target a face-down monster I control and change it to either face-up attack position or defense position. I change the face-down defense position Spine to face-up defense position!" On Speckles' command, the card flipped up, which revealed a second copy of Spine in face-up defense position.

Krawler Spine ATK: 300 DEF: 2100 LV: 2

Krawler Spine ATK: 300 + 300 = 600 DEF: 2100 + 300 = 2400

"Spine's Flip effect! Just like before, I can target one monster on your field and destroy it! Say goodbye to General for good this time!"

"Sorry, but I don't think I will." Blood Shepherd said. "Continuous-Trap, activate! Camouflage Drone! Until the end of your next turn, all 'Drone' monsters I control can no longer be destroyed by battle or card effects, nor can you target them with card effects as well!" General then turned invisible, much to Speckles' dismay.

"You think you're so clever, huh? I bet you'll be quaking in your boots after I do this!" Speckles thrusted his right hand upwards. "It's time for me to infiltrate my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are three 'Krawler' monsters. I'll set Krawler Axon and both copies of Spine into the Link Markers!" Axon went into the left arrowhead, the first copy of Spine went into the bottom arrowhead, and the second copy of Spine went into the right arrowhead, causing all three to turn red in the process.

"World Armor of the World Legacies! Merge with the Hive Mind, and transform into a titan of destruction!" Speckles chanted. "Link Summon! Behold! Link 3! X-Krawler Axonisks!" A large, mechanical, golem-sized insect appeared on Speckles' field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It had a singular eye, and swords attached to the back of its arms. Blade-like ridges were also attached to its shoulders as well.

X-Krawler Axonisks ATK: 2500 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

X-Krawler Axonisks ATK: 2500 + 300 = 2800

"When Axonisks is Link Summoned, I can Special Summon one 'Krawler' monster from my deck or Graveyard in face-up attack position or defense position." Speckles explained. "I Special Summon Axon back from my Graveyard to my field in face-up defense position!" At Speckles' command, Axon reappeared on his field in face-up defense position.

Krawler Axon ATK: 500 DEF: 1800 LV: 2

Krawler Axon ATK: 500 + 300 = 800 DEF: 1800 + 300 = 2100

"I activate Axonisks' second effect as well! Once per turn, I can shuffle one 'Krawler' monster on my field to shuffle a card on your field back into your deck, and this does not target!"

"What?!" Blood Shepherd exclaimed out of surprise. Now that... actually got his attention.

"I shuffle Axon on my field and Drone Barricade back to our respective decks!" Both cards turned into particles. "And with Drone Barricade gone, that means I can do this! Battle! X-Krawler Axonisks attacks Battledrone General!" Axonisks charged forward towards Blood Shepherd's field.

"My General has more attack points, which it'll use to decimate your giant bug." Blood Shepherd told Speckles.

"Normally, you would be right. But Axonisks has a third effect!" Speckles suddenly stated. "If it battles, I can have your monster lose 300 attack points for every 'Krawler' monster in my Graveyard during damage calculation!"

Blood Shepherd's stance shifted, as if to indicate the surprise he felt upon hearing that.

"I have Axon, Receptor, Dendrite, Glial, and two copies of Spine in my Graveyard. That means General loses 1800 attack points! Infestation Drain!" Insect-like missiles erupted from Axonisks' back, which fired at the invisible General, each hit making it stagger as it lost attack points.

Battledrone General ATK: 2900 – (300 X 6) = 1100

"Your General may not be destroyed, but your life points are a different story!" Speckles said. "Neural Massacre!" Axonisks charged forward and hit General with its fist, which caused an explosion that pushed Blood Shepherd back several feet.

Blood Shepherd: 4000 – 1700 = 2300 LP

Battledrone General ATK: 1100 + 1800 = 2900

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Speckles grinned. "I told you not to underestimate someone like-."

"If you think you've won the duel just because you caught me off guard a few times, you're mistaken. After all, a littleinsect like you has no chance of defeating a pro bounty hunter like myself." Blood Shepherd interrupted with an insult towards Speckles.

"Shut up! I obviously have the lead in this-."

"You've never had the lead in the first place!" Blood Shepherd interrupted for a second time. "I'll show you what happens to those who think they have a chance of defeating me. My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate General's first effect! Once per turn, I can-."

"Trap card, activate! World Legacy's Mind Meld!" Speckles said, gesturing to his face-down card. "When your monster activates a card effect, I can change it to 'Return 1 face-up monster your opponent controls to the hand'."

"If that's what you want, I'll be more than happy to do so." Blood Shepherd complied. "Since Axonisks is a Link monster, it must return to the Extra Deck. Begone!" Axonisks turned into particles.

"Since Axonisks left the field, its fourth and final effect activates! I can target and Special Summon two 'Krawler' monsters with different names from my Graveyard to my field in face-down defense position. Return to the field, Axon and Dendrite!" Two Set cards appeared on Speckles' field, each one in face-down defense position. "I also activate the first effect of World Legacy Pawns, which lets me target a face-down monster I control and change it to either face-up attack position or defense position. I change the face-down defense position Axon to face-up defense position!" On Speckles' command, the card flipped up, which revealed Axon in defense position.

Krawler Axon ATK: 500 DEF: 1800 LV: 2

Krawler Axon ATK: 500 + 300 = 800 DEF: 1800 + 300 = 2100

"Axon's Flip Effect lets me target and destroy a Spell or Trap card on your field! This time, I target and destroy Assemble Drone!" Assemble Drone then turned into particles, which caused a red aura to appear around General as its attack points decreased.

Battledrone General ATK: 2900 – 500 = 2400

"Camouflage Drone prevents General from being destroyed by battle or card effects, and you can't target it with card effects as well until the end of your next turn." Blood Shepherd reminded Speckles.

"So? That doesn't matter much. Unless you draw a monster, you won't be able to attack, as Axonisks' effect will activate and drain your monsters strength when it battles." Speckles responded, before his eyes widened out of shock. "Wait. Don't tell me you…."

"I drew a monster, little insect. One that will end you this turn." Blood Shepherd confirmed, which made Speckles shiver. "I summon Drone Corporal from my hand." A grey tank with an orange and white bottom appeared on Blood Shepherd's field in one of the Main Monster Zones General pointed to.

Drone Corporal ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 4

"Corporal's effect! By halving any battle damage it inflicts this turn, it can attack you directly!"

"No! This can't be! I'm one of the Black Market's ruthless criminals! The boss of the Alpha Branch! I can't go down like this!" Speckles shouted.

"That's all you are to this world. A little insect. One that's only a short-term threat to be dealt with." Blood Shepherd taunted, which made Speckles furious. "And considering how all your cards are used up, I might as well end this farce. Battle!" Blood Shepherd thrusted out his right hand towards Speckles' field. "Drone Corporal attacks you directly!" Corporal aimed its cannon at Speckles before it fired, the blast hitting him as he was pushed back several feet.

Speckles: 2400 – (1600 / 2) = 1600 LP

"General's third effect now activates! When a 'Drone' monster inflicts battle damage to my opponent through a direct attack, I can tribute that monster to inflict damage equal to its attack points!"

"GAAH! PLEASE! HAVE MERCY!" Speckles begged.

"The time for begging is obviously over." Blood Shepherd said, as Corporal turned into a ball of pure energy that launched towards Speckles, which caused an explosion that send him flying off the ground before he landed on his back.

Speckles: 1600 – 1600 = 0

Speckles struggled to get up on his feet, obviously tired from the duel.

PEEEEWWWW!

He narrowly jumped out of the way of the massive blast that erupted from Blood Shepherd's arm, which hit the Skyhook before destroying it and causing the massive tower to fall to the ground. As a result, the electrical signal it had been emitting dissipated.

"No, no, no!" Speckles exclaimed. "I can't fall here! I can't-!" He narrowly avoided another blast that fired from Blood Shepherd's right arm.

"I think it's time I captured my bounty, as well as some well-earned information." Blood Shepherd stated.

"Like I'll ever-!"

WHOOSH!

A portal appeared behind Speckles, with a purple arm immediately appearing before it wrapped itself around him.

"GAAH! NO!" Speckles panicked, recognizing who the arm belonged to. "HAVE MERCY! HAVE MERCY!"

Blood Shepherd attempted to fire at the portal, only for it to pull Speckles in before dissipating.

"Hmmm..." Blood Shepherd muttered, going over to where the portal was. Raising his right arm in front of him, his right palm glowed purple, the leftover data forming into a ball before floating over to him. The ball of data then hovered on Blood Shepherd's right palm as he looked at it in victory.

"Blood Shepherd." Raguel said, as he and the others went over to him.

"Now this is a worthy reward." Blood Shepherd quietly stated to himself before he turned over to Raguel and the girls.

The next thing everyone knew, the ground shaking, as if something was amiss. Soon, a large battleship resembling a flying pirate ship then started hovering in the sky, getting everyone's attention.

"That's the Overseer's personal flagship." Raguel said, recognizing the massive ship in the sky. "Seems Ace is making a-."

KABOOM!

KABOOM!

KABOOM!

KABOOM!

The ground shook once again as large explosions punctured the Black Market in various places.

"The Hell was that?" SengokuQueen inquired to everyone else.

"It's none of my business, that's what." Blood Shepherd replied, before logging out.

"That son of a-." Ghost Girl began, only for the explosions to intensify and interrupt her thoughts.

"Roxy, what the Hell was that?" Raguel asked through his comm.

"That, Yuhiro, was a ton of explosions throughout the entire Black Market. In other words, they're pretty much everywhere." Roxy answered. "Seems this was Ace's last resort in the event he'd lose the war."

"Shit..." Raguel quietly cursed to himself. Although there were some bad people in the Black Market, good people were also there as well. From Epsilon to Omega and the other branches, everyone was in danger.

"We have to help the people here, no matter if they were criminals or not." Blue Girl told Raguel, Ghost Girl, and SengokuQueen, the three of them nodding in response to Blue Girl's comment.

"Before you say anything Raguel, Yusaku and the others logged in to investigate the situation as well." Kusanagi informed Raguel through the comm.

"Understood. Signing off temporarily." Raguel replied. Turning to the others, he said, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Meanwhile, on the Overseer's flagship...

Ace let out a sigh of relief, glad to have escaped out of the chaos. With all the branches under his control having fallen by his enemies, he immediately activated the flagship and escaped from the Overseer area. This way, Ace can obviously survive and avoid being caught.

After Ace told Azrael that he escaped, the latter activated Operation: Kingdom Come, which mainly involved tearing the Black Market through a series of explosions. By doing so, it'd accomplish two things at once. One: The branches wouldn't be able to repair and restart their operations for a long time. Two: The loss of lives, which would distract everyone while Bohman can recover his energy.

"Well, Athaliah. I guess your time is up..." Ace muttered to himself, knowing that Athaliah died as punishment for her failures. Still, from what Azrael told him, she did complete her assigned experiments. As for what those experiments were, Azrael wouldn't tell Ace, for they were confidential.

"My apologies, sir," one of the Alpha branch troops said, "but Raguel sent you a message."

"A message, you say?" Ace repeated, getting up from his chair. "Play the message."

The troop pressed a button on his duel disk, which showed Raguel delivering his threat to Ace. Once that was done, Ace pulled out a gun and shot the troop in the head, practically logging him out in the process due to the trauma that resulted moments after.

"Received and ignored!" Ace exclaimed. "My benefactor can take care of Raguel in a heartbeat!"

"Benefactor, you say? Now that is intriguing to hear," a voice said out of nowhere.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Ace demanded, looking around his office.

"I'm not in your office, Ace. Meet me on the deck, and you'll find out who's speaking to you," the voice stated.

Following the voice's instructions, Ace ran out of his office and headed down the hallway before making his way to the dock.

Only to find Lord Kazuma waiting for him, a victorious grin on his face as he crossed his arms.

"Lord Kazuma?!" Ace exclaimed, shocked that someone was able to get onboard his ship. And it had to be a Knight of Hanoi of all people?! Uh Oh.

"AAAAAAAH!" various troops screamed, as they fell off their duel boards before logging out.

"My little ally's taking care of your precious troops." Lord Kazuma said, the grin still on his face. "As for you... well, let's just say the show's about to begin. One that will bring victory for the Knights of Hanoi!"

A light shines and the letters spelling out VRAINS light up the screen before a network is formed and several cards are drawn in towards a pillar of light. Playmaker, Raguel, and Soulburner are shown with their respective Ignis and stats, along with real-life forms that across the backgrounds that match their Ignis' colors. The screen then shows each of them being shocked while wearing VR sets as kids, along with Arashi.

The screen gets swallowed with darkness at It reveals a young Yukage huddled up and crying, his shadow shrinking behind him before taking the form of Wraith and comforting him. Yukage looks up with a menacing and soul piercing glare before the darkness consumes him and he's replaced with an older version of himself. Azrael and Wraith are then shown in NEW LINK VRAINS, as they look out into the digital sky. The scene then shifts to Bohman standing tall above NEW LINK VRAINS and holding the earth in his hands with Haru by his side. Malf grins in the shadows behind them, his red eyes shining bright in the process.

A drop of light falls down, and as it explodes, it reveals Playmaker, Raguel, and Soulburner, standing on buildings watching over the network, along with Slipstream as well. Blood Shepherd is shown commanding a trio of Battledrone Sergeants before the screen shifts to Drachen, who is shown commanding Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The screen then shifts a third time to Electrolyzer, where above him was PSY-Frame Driver, with PSY-Framegears Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta. The screen then shows Go Onizuka, Kenmochi, and Yoroizaka with Dinowrestler King T Wrextle, Gouki the Blade Ogre, and Gouki the Solid Ogre behind them ready for battle.

Blue Girl, Ghost Girl, Numera and SengokuQueen are then featured together riding their duel boards across the night sky with shooting stars flying across them. Trickstar Holly Angel was with Blue Girl, while Numera was with Geomathmech Final Sigma. Ghost Girl was with Altergeist Dragvirion, while SengokuQueen was with Secret Six Samurai – Rihan.

The screen then changes to Raguel, Playmaker, and Soulburner riding on their duel boards with Cyreath Medusa and Cyreath Hercules/Alpha Mode, Cyberse Magician, Cyberse Witch, and Salamangreat Heatleo behind them. Following the trio is Slipstream and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. The four of them join together with a fist bump and smile in the real world as the wind blows, with Kusanagi, Roxy, and Greg watching them from Kusanagi's truck. Rachel then runs toward the quartet, and more specifically, Yuhiro, a look of joy clearly on her face. Unbeknownst to everyone, they're watched from the shadows by a cloaked person who glares at them, biding his time.

Card Gallery

Athaliah:

Shaddoll Blessing (Normal Spell card)

Effect: If you control a 'Shaddoll' monster: You can draw 2 cards from the top of your deck. You can only activate 1 'Shaddoll Blessing' per turn.

El Shaddoll Hamalachai (LV: 12/Fiend/Fusion/Effect/ATK: 3400/DEF: 3400)

Effect: 2 'Shaddoll' Fusion Monsters with different Attributes. If this card is Fusion Summoned: You can place 1 'Spellstone' counter on this card for each 'Shaddoll' Fusion Monster in your GY. Once per turn, during either player's turn (Quick Effect): You can remove 1 'Spellstone' counter from this card; banish 1 'Shaddoll' Fusion monster from your GY, and if you do, apply one of the following effects based on the Attribute of the banished monster:

Dark: When your opponent activates a card effect: You can negate the activation.

Wind: Shuffle 1 card your opponent controls into their deck.

Fire: Target 1 monster your opponent controls; it loses 1000 ATK and DEF until the End Phase.

Earth: Halve your opponent's life points.

Water: When your opponent would summon a monster: You can negate the Summon.

Light: Send 1 monster your opponent controls to their GY.

If this card is sent to your GY by battle or card effect: You can target 1 'Shaddoll' monster that's banished or in your GY; Special Summon it to your field in face-up attack position or face-down defense position.

Greg:

S-Force Protection (Normal Trap card)

Effect: When your opponent activates a card effect that targets 1 'S-Force' card you control: You can negate the effect, and if you do, banish it. If this card is in your GY: You can banish this card, and if you do, you can target 1 'S-Force' Monster your control; that monster is unaffected by your opponent's card effects, also, it cannot be destroyed by battle for the rest of this turn. You can only use each effect of 'S-Force Protection' once per turn.

Numera:

Mathmech Resequencing (Normal Trap card)

Effect: If your opponent activates a card effect or battle that targets a card you control, your opponent must target 1 'Mathmech' Monster you control instead. You can only use this effect of 'Mathmech Resequencing' once per turn.

Speckles:

X-Krawler Axonisks (LR: 3/Insect/ATK: 2500/⬅️⬇️➡️)

Effect: If this card is Link Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 'Krawler' Monster from your deck or GY in face-up attack position or face-down defense position. Once per turn: You can shuffle 1 'Krawler' Monster you control into your deck, and if you do, you can shuffle 1 card on your opponent's field into their deck. If this card leaves the field by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 2 'Krawler' Monsters from your GY to your field in face-down defense position.

QOTC

Who do you think was in the right here in regards to next actions? Numera and Greg, Electrolyzer, or Gil?

Chapter Preview

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 64: Battle of Cheaters. With the final Skyhook destroyed, Lord Kazuma, under orders from Revolver, along with Drachen, go after Ace, who's attempting to escape on the Overseer Tower's battleship. Hoping to reclaim Uchida Industries and rectify their mistake in allying with him in the past, Lord Kazuma challenges Ace to a duel. Elsewhere, Drachen attempts to assist Lord Kazuma, only to be intercepted by Malf, the malicious AI having sinister intentions in mind for the young bounty hunter...

Author's Notes

Credit goes to E.T. 2000 for suggesting the S-Force archetype a while back for Greg, as well as HunterHQ for reviewing the duels.

Alright, folks! This chapter has been released in the average time it takes to write one! My apologies for having you wait so much, but as this chapter contained a bunch of information on it, I had to make sure that it was edited and ready to go before releasing it. I do hope you all understand. Anyhow, let the recap begin:

The first scene occurs in the real world with the Knights of Hanoi. It mainly focuses on Ryoken, where he's struggling whether to help the people in danger, or stay in hiding. Here, we see his thought process since his duel against Playmaker. A long time ago, he didn't care about who ended up getting hurt, as long as the Ignis were eliminated. But after losing to Playmaker, Ryoken began realizing that he didn't want to hurt people, whether they were in the real world or not. Not after what happened with the Data Gale and Another Virus scenarios, especially after the Tower of Hanoi.

Now, he only wants to settle the score against his enemies in the network. This was for two reasons. One: The Hanoi can fulfil their goals in other ways. Two: If people died, they wouldn't get to experience freedom upon the deaths of the Ignis. By freedom, I mean having escaped from a fate worse than death, which is being enslaved or killed by the Ignis.

This motivates Ryoken to agree to Kyoko and Emon's request in helping the wounded, sending them out along with the other Hanoi (expect for Youta) to do the task. Honestly, in my own opinion, this helps Ryoken develop as a character. Seeing him move from being a ruthless monster to an anti-hero with an ethical code was something that the anime could have touched on a bit more, as well as the Hanoi being affected by the events that's happening. The second thing was something the anime didn't touch on, so I hope you enjoyed seeing the Knights of Hanoi demonstrating a human side for a change.

Now onto the two duels. The first duel was Athaliah vs Greg and Numera, with Greg dueling the first time in this story. Here, he uses and S-Force deck, which focuses on utilizing banishing and Special Summon effects on top of restricting the opponent's options through effects based on their monsters in the same column as the player's S-Force monsters, thus creating a theme of "arresting" the opponent. I originally decided for him to use SPYRAL, but the S-Force deck honestly fit Greg a lot more than the former archetype.

During the duel, Athaliah reveals that she was responsible for murdering Numera's parents, only for Numera to practically call that out as a lie and reveal the truth: That her parents died due to a virus outbreak. How did Numera find this out, you may ask? Simple. She looked into it following the Tower of Hanoi. Numera also took a page out of Athaliah's book by taunting her, which was something Athaliah did in their previous duel. Goes to show that Project: Apotheosis affected her more than just being traumatized, as this was something Numera would never do to her opponents. After all, she's just an innocent, little girl. Who would expect her to be horrifying? The answer: No one. It's a ruthless side that Numera never showed until now, and luckily, Greg was able to stop it in time. How do you think this will affect Numera's character development moving forward? Let me know your thoughts.

Long story short, Numera and Greg's teamwork ends up having them win the duel against Athaliah, only for Gil to appear out of nowhere and restrain Athaliah, preventing her from logging out. This is where the debate begins between Gil, Electrolyzer, Numera and Greg. Should they kill her and end all her experiments? Arrest her to get some valuable information? I don't want this to be a massive political debate, so if I see any traces of harassment, I'll delete that review instantly.

That debate between the quartet ends up being a dead end, as Athaliah was killed by the Another Virus before anything can be decided on what to do next (we all know who killed her, so there's no point in revealing it). Why did I have Athaliah die in this chapter, you may ask? Well, I originally thought of her sticking around for a bit longer, but after looking into the story closely, I realized that if Athaliah stayed alive, she'd just be a side villain. Someone that'd be a thorn in the good guys' side from time to time. That, and there's always casualties in war. So for a bad guy to die... is cathartic in a way, as Athaliah deserved it after what she did to Numera, Gil, and Electrolyzer. What are your thoughts on my decision to kill Athaliah off? Was it too early? As for what her experiments were, that will be revealed next chapter.

For those of you wondering what that purple goo was, it basically was a piece of Malf that was attached to her insides. Following these events, we see another side of Gil, as he laughs upon learning why Athaliah conducted her new experiments. And this motivates him into looking further to find some answers. How do you think that will affect his character development moving forward? While I'll tell you that his role in the story will be more prominent, I can't tell you exactly what will happen next.

As for Electrolyzer, he was able to agree with Greg's deal to not kill Balius. Why? Because he still had his parent's teachings in that every life was precious. It shows that after everything he went through, there's still traces of goodness within him. Numera and Gil obviously have traces of goodness within them, but while the former was able to move on from the pain and find comfort with new friends, Gil's having a more difficult time in acknowledging and moving on from it. Still, there's hope for Gil, as he was able to end his quest for vengeance and move on to finding out what truths lie in Athaliah's experiments. It shows that he'll be more involved later on in Season 2. I honestly hope you enjoyed this duel, as this one was the hardest ones I ever had to write.

Now onto the second duel, which was between Blood Shepherd and Speckles. I did promise that everyone would get the spotlight, and this time, it was on Blood Shepherd. Though he had some difficulty against Speckles, in the end, he defeated the little insect with his 'Drone' deck. Some points to make on Speckles. First, he has a huge ego, and if anyone looks down on him, he'll get furious. Considering how he made a name for himself, it makes sense, as he wants to be feared by others. It doesn't work on everyone, as indicated by Blood Shepherd taunting him constantly. Following the duel, Blood Shepherd attempts to claim his bounty, only for a portal to yeet Speckles away moments before being captured. I'll just say it now: Azrael saved Speckles' life. Why? For a simple reason: He needs pawns that still can be used as tools. At least until their usefulness has run out.

Where was Raguel and the others in all of this? Simple. They were fighting through an entire platoon of troops, and had to even navigate through a minefield. By the time they reach the Skyhook, the quartet finds Blood Shepherd acquiring some leftover data that remained from the portal. Now some of you may be thinking this thought: Blood Shepherd got some data belonging to Azrael, and will certainly go after him next. If you're confused by this, just pay attention to the next chapter, as Azrael will reveal why he let Blood Shepherd did this on purpose.

From there, Operation: Kingdom Come commences, which basically involves blowing up the Black Market to a close state of being beyond repair. Why did Azrael do this? For two reasons. One: To punish the criminals in the Black Market for their crimes. Two: To distract the good guys and allow Bohman to recover. Let me remind you that Azrael still needs his pawns, which is why he gave Ace the heads up and told him to escape on the Overseer's flagship. For those of you wondering what the flagship looks like, it's based off of Team Plasma's battleship from Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.

Last but not least is the cliff-hanger, with Lord Kazuma finally engaging Ace in a duel, which will be the main highlight of the dule. I hope all of you are looking forward to this duel, as it's going to be AWESOME! As for the other duel in Chapter 64... well, you already know what it is upon reading the chapter preview. I hope you enjoy that as well.

With everything being recapped, I want to thank everyone for reading Chapter 63 of Obscured Truth. As always, please let me know your thoughts about the chapters below in your reviews. Also, constructive criticism is appreciated, as your tips and advice helps make the story better. In addition, don't forget to favourite and follow the story. That way, you will get a notification once the next chapter is released.

Now onto a quick announcement. I noticed that Obscured Truth is almost at 1000 reviews! If this story hits 1000 reviews after Chapter 64 is released, I will announce a VERY SPECIAL contest to celebrate this milestone for the story.

What did you enjoy the most about this chapter? The scene with the Hanoi? The duels? Athaliah's long-deserved death? Blood Shepherd practically tearing Speckles apart? Or was it something else?

That's all for now. Stay tuned, as the Turf War comes to a close next chapter!