Hello again everybody! New chapter is finally up! Please enjoy!


The local store known as Card Luck was not as busy as it would normally be on weekends and certain special events, particuarly those related to Wixoss as of recently. Even though most of the casual players in the store were unaware of the Selector Battles and the secrets that they held within, the game itself had recently seen an uprise in the number of female players, partially due to those circumstances. The shopkeeper was busy overlooking some of the games that were currently going on in the store at the current moment, whilst also having her mind preoccupied by a certain thought. Earlier in the morning, she seemed to notice an oddity in one of the booster box shipments that the store had recieved and she didn't want to put it up on the sale yet, unless she was absolutely certain that the set was legitimate. Her preoccupied thoughts were interrupted when she heard some footsteps over from the stairs that led to the bottom floor of the building. She then turned to see Hitoe enter the store with Kai walking behind her.

"Oh, welcome Hitoe-san," she greeted.

"Hello," replied Hitoe. The shopkeeper greeted her with a kind nod before looking over to Kai.

"So who is this person you've brought along?" she asked.

"My name is Kai Toshiki," he replied "I am currently a novice into the game of Wixoss. Hitoe told me I could come here if I needed to find a way to fix up my deck." Hitoe blushed a little inside. Though Kai had said it out to cover up the details of Yuzuki's current state, it was Yuzuki's idea to head over to Card Luck in the first place and she was a little embarrassed for taking credit where it wasn't due.

"Well, you've come to the right place," replied the shopkeeper "So what kind of LRIG do you specialize in your deck?"

"Kagero," he answered. The shopkeeper suddenly froze a little at the mention of that name. Kai noticed this.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"N... no," she replied "Its just that, earlier today, we had an oddity in our shipment and now that I think about it, I definitely remember seeing the name Kagero somewhere within the shipping details. Hold on a second." She reached down behind the counter and eventually came back up holding a single box of Wixoss on the front counter now. The box had the Wixoss logo imprinted on the front face with a crimson fiery red colour in the background and the words "Flames of Purgatory" imprinted beneath the logo. Looking at the top face of the box, Kai could already see several units that he was already familiar. Staring closely, he could recognize those units as "Vortex Dragon", "Blazing Flare Dragon" and "Blazing Core Dragon" and also noticed the words "Unleash the fiery blaze of Kagero!" imprinted on the box, just above Vortex Dragon's right wing.

"I see," he murmured "So this may be the set I require to adjust my deck."

"I guess so," replied the shopkeeper "Seeing that you somehow know something about this Kagero, I'll be kind enough to sell as many boosters as you want, at the same price as the other packs here of course." Kai then briefly glanced at the other booster sets, noticing their price tags for either a single booster or a whole box, then he took out his wallet and lay down a handful of cash on the counter.

"I'll purchase the entire box if it's alright with you," he said. The shopkeeper nodded happily as she made the transaction for Kai's payment.

A few minutes later...

Kai had opened his way through all of the packs that the single box had to offer, finding both SIGNI and LRIGs that his units had transformed into as well as several other ARTS and Spells that he could consider teching into his current deck. Needless to say, he was pretty pleased that he was getting some of his old units back by his side to aid him in his struggle to find Ruko and discover the truth behind the Selector Battles. Hitoe sat beside him whilst he went through the packs, taking great interest in some of the Kagero units that he had managed to pull from the packs. Yuzuki and Tama, having watched from their cards, noticed the pack opening as well and took greater interest into the LRIG cards he had managed to obtain.

"Kagero..." murmured Tama "Looks amazing."

"Yeah," replied Yuzuki "Kai mentioned he had used these units before in that other game he mentioned playing back in his own world. Cardfight... Um... What was the last word again?"

"Vanguard!" replied Tama.

"Right, sorry about forgetting that," she said in embarassment "Anyway, with something he's more experienced with fighting beside him, our chances of finding Ruko may have just gone up even more." Tama nodded in both excitement and agreement. Before she, Yuzuki or their respective holders could even think of anything else, she suddenly felt a chill run up her spine. Yuzuki glanced across to Tama before recieving the same feeling as well.

"I feel a Selector nearby!" she called "Heading straight for us!" Before Hitoe or Kai could even ask her about anything else...

"I found more!" called a loud voice from the bottom of the stairs. As the two turned their heads towards the exit, right in an instant, a blur had leaped all the way up the stairs into the shop room. The newcomer in the shop was shorter than Hitoe and Kai and surprisingly fast on her feet. One moment she was right by the top of the stairs and the next, she was already over by the table. Hitoe almost jumped from the sudden energy that this girl had whilst Kai remained still, slightly caught off guard by the girl's sudden arrival. She had two long braids of dark hair, each held up by a pink hairband of some sort that had the design pattern of a cartoonish skull. Her bag that she carried appeared to harbor the same design of a cartoonish skull, only it was colored white rather than pink. She wore pink goggles on her head with white rims and a very large scarf or something of the sort that she wrapped into a ridiculously large bowtie. She also wore a long pink coat over her lighter colored shirt, some yellowish colored shorts and some pink and black striped stockings under her long white boots.

"You were right Eldora!" she called "We've found more Selectors here today!" She suddenly stared across the room, then back to Hitoe and Kai, with a partially confused look. Then, she reached out in her pocket for her LRIG in question and pulled out the card.

"Eldora, I thought you said there was more that one Selector around here!" she snapped, partially annoyed by this turn of events.

"I did Chiyori," replied Eldora "There was this girl and..." The LRIG looked across her surroundings and upon looking at Kai, she suddenly found the answer to qwelll her Selector's doubts.

"So you're the LRIG that led this Selector to us," he spoke "Eldora and Chiyori were your names if I'm correct?"

"T... That's right," the LRIG answered "How is it you can see me?" Chiyori stared at Kai and could only let out a very confused "EH?!".

"I would say it would be a rare coincidence," said Kai "If I wasn't in possession of an LRIG myself." He then revealed Tama's card to make his point clear. Upon seeing Eldora, Tama greeted her with a wide smile.

"Tama says hello!" she beamed. Eldora could only greet her with a warm smile, but at the same time, she felt some sort of strange vibe. Like she somehow knew this LRIG from before, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Hey Chiyori!" called Yuzuki. As Chiyori and Eldora scanned the room to find out where Yuzuki's voice had come from, Hitoe brought over the card from the table that she and Kai were sitting at. Yuzuki looked at both Eldora and Chiyori, the latter of which was surprised to see her in this state.

"Do you remember me?" she asked. Chiyori nodded to response to her question.

"Wait, you two met before?" asked Hitoe.

"But of course," answered Eldora "You were the Selector that Chiyori had her first battle with and promptly lost to." A small tick mark appeared on Chiyori's head as she pouted in annoyance. Once in a while whenever she went out to look for Selectors, Eldora would sometimes tease her about her first battle with Yuzuki with the overconfidence she had back then. As much as she found her LRIG fun to hang around with, at times she felt that Eldora could be a little annoying when she felt like it. Yuzuki then cleared her throat to try and get the conversation back onto the topic at hand.

"Chiyori," she said "If you want what's best for yourself and Eldora, turn your back on the Selector Battles now!"

"Erm... Why exactly?" asked Chiyori.

"Do you want to end up like Yuzuki?" replied Kai "Is this what you're willing to go through for the sake of winning?" Chiyori pondered for a moment, taking what Yuzuki and Kai had just said into account. Then, she finally had answer of her own.

"Oh that's right!" she replied "The Selector becomes the LRIG themself and the story continues from there!"

"Story?" pondered Tama, curious as to what she meant. Chiyori dug into her bag and pulled out a book. She showed it briefly to Kai and Hitoe before putting it back inside her bag.

"That's a novel," murmured Yuzuki "She showed one to me when we first met. Only this one is..."

"That's right!" replied Chiyori "Volume 2 to be precise! My true wish is to venture into the world of Wixoss itself!" As soon as she realized that she had said her wish out aloud however, she quickly shut her mouth in embarassment. Kai and Yuzuki could only sigh at this.

"Come to think of it, what would be a good name for me if I became an LRIG?" she pondered "Chiyorinda? Chiyoringa? Chiyo-number blah, blah, blah..." As Chiyori continued to murmur away at the prospects of becoming an LRIG whilst sharing some banter with Eldora, Hitoe and Yuzuki only looked at each other in worry. Kai had equal concern for the Selector's state of mind as well whilst Tama just stared at both the Selector and LRIG in confusion before turning to him.

"Why does Chiyori want to be an LRIG?" she asked.

"I wish I knew," he answered "But I believe that novel she is reading may hold a clue as to why." As he finished his sentence, Chiyori jumped right in front of him to his utmost surprise.

"Say "boy" Selector!" she called "What's your name?"

"Kai Toshiki," he answered.

"Would you be honored to give Chiyori a battle?" she asked. Hitoe gasped in worry whilst Tama's eyes widened in excitement, looking forward to seeing if Kai was willing to accept Chiyori's challenge.

"Wait Chiyori!" called Yuzuki "Do you really want to go through with this? How many times have you lost since our battle?!"

"Relax," she replied "My first battle was the only one I lost."

"But you haven't found many other Selectors," said Eldora "I'm not sure if challenging Kai immediatly would be wise."

"Are you saying I can't beat him?!" snapped Chiyori. Before Eldora could reply to her question, Kai got up from his seat and looked down on Chiyori.

"I will accept your challenge," he said "But are you sure you don't want to take this battle into a casual game? From what I can see, both of us are still not fully familiar with what the Selector Battles may hold." Before Chiyori could reply to his answer, Eldora had already spoken out for her.

"He does have a point," she said "It would be wise if practice would make perfect for your state." Chiyori pouted for a brief moment, annoyed that Kai was only willing to take this battle to a casual battle so the real Eldora would not be involved.

"Fine," she sighed "I will battle under those conditions. But the next time we battle each other, we will enter a Selector Battle, okay?" Kai nodded in agreement to those conditions.


A few minutes later, the two of them borrowed a double sided playmat from the shopkeeper to use for their battle and laid it down on the table. Kai and Chiyori were seated on opposite ends of the table, preparing for their casual battle whilst Hitoe watched from the center with Tama, Yuzuki and Eldora's cards held up for them to observe the battle.

"Geez," sighed Chiyori "Just battling without the real Eldora might make this a boring match."

"There may be a way for you to keep your attention focused," replied Kai.

"How so?" she asked.

"Image it," he answered "The two of us have been transported to the space where our LRIGs are prepared for battle under our command."

"Oh, I see!" called Chiyori "So you imagine yourself there to avoid from being bored of these casual battles!"

"In a sense, you're right," said Kai "Now then, are you ready?"

"Mhm!" The two then reached for their starting LRIGs on their respective ends of the playmat.

"Open!" called Chiyori.

"Open, "the" LRIG!" called Kai. As they flipped up their starting LRIGs, Chiyori briefly stared at Kai in confusion.

"Is "the LRIG" really that necessary?" she murmured. Netherless, she turned her attention back to playing the game as it was.

"Eldora=Mark 0!"

"Lizard Soldier, Conroe!"

Chiyori looked closely at the card in disbelief for a moment, having not been familiar with Kai's Kagero cards before. Is this LRIG even legitimate? Even so, I wonder what Kai here has for this battle. "I'll go first!" she called as she drew her card "Ener Charge and grow, Eldora=Mark 1'!" In the battle that was pictured in Kai's mind as well as Chiyori's to some extent, nothing changed much of Eldora's appearance, but the LRIG had recieved a large pink hammer with gold faces and a dark bluish pole that the barrel of the hammer was attached to.

"Growing Eldora in this state will now let me discard 1 of my cards in exchange for drawing 1 more," Chiyori spoke as she performed the action that was required. "Summoning Una, Water Phantom and using her ability. I peek at the top card of my Life Cloth and leave it there."After looking at the top card of the Life Cloths she had, she looked back to Kai. "Over to you."

"So she can peek at the Life Cloths she has?" asked Hitoe.

"That's right," replied Eldora "Chiyori's deck focuses on the using my abilities as well as her SIGNI, Spells and ARTS to manipulate Life Cloths."

"I was only lucky to win my battle against her due to her inexperience at the time," said Yuzuki "But if she has gotten better, Kai may be in for a mindboggling time."

"Go Kai!" called Tama from her card.

"My turn," spoke Kai "Draw and Ener Charge. I grow Embodiment of Armor, Bahr and summon 2 Iron Tail Dragons!" In the battle pictured in his mind, Bahr appeared in the place of Conroe whilst the Iron Tail Dragons appeared both in front of the demon as well as to the left.

"My first Iron Tail Dragon attacks Una!" Chiyori moved the defeated SIGNI to her Ener Zone.

"Then my other Iron Tail Dragon attacks Eldora!" As the first Life Cloth, 'Ryuuguu, Water Phantom', moved to Chiyori's Ener Zone. She caught her eye on the black section at the bottom of the text box.

"Got a Life Burst," she said "I move one Life Cloth to my hand and put the top card of my deck in its place."

"Finally, Bahr attacks!"

"Servant O will guard!" In the battle that Kai was picturing, Servant O took the brunt of Bahr's attack whilst Eldora swung her hammer to counteract the next swipe of the demon's blade. The impact of the hammer swing knocked Bahr back to Kai's side of the field. Back to reality, Chiyori placed the Servant O card in her Trash Pile.

"Turn end," Kai spoke.

End of Turn 2

Kai vs Chiyori

Hand - 4 : 4

Life Cloths - 7 : 6

Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Eldora=Mark I'

SIGNI: Iron Tail Dragon - Iron Tail Dragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY

Ener - 1 : 3

"Yes! Now it's the heroine Chiyori's turn!" called Chiyori. Kai could only look at her in curiousity for her term 'heroine'. She reminds me somewhat of Kamui, both are full of energy and seek an intense battle. 'Heroine...' Could her wish be...?

"Hey, what's the matter?" she asked.

"It's nothing," replied Kai "Please continue."

"Alright then! Draw and Ener Charge!" she called "Grow, Eldora=Mark II'! Then I summon Chounan, Water Phantom!" In the battle pictured in Kai's mind, Eldora's pigtails grew longer and her hammer had vanished into thin air. Chounan appeared in front of Eldora in a kneeled stance, facing Bahr and the two Iron Tail Dragons that were present.

"With Chounan's ability," Chiyori explained "I trash a Life Cloth and add the top card of my deck in its place." She moved on of her hands over a Life Cloth of her choice and flipped it face up. The card revealed was Octo, Water Phantom before it was moved to Chiyori's Trash Pile. The top card of her deck was then placed at the top of the pile of Life Cloths. "I also summon a pair of Kozame, Water Phantoms. With their abilities, their powers becomes 5000 and Eldora's own ability powers up all of my SIGNI by 1000 at all times."

"Impressive," murmured Kai "By taking advantage of each of their abilities, you've managed to assemble a strong formation in your second turn. But this battle is far from over."

"Mhm! And now to battle!" called Chiyori "My first Kozame attacks Bahr!" In the battle pictured in their minds, Kozame unleashed a torrent of water at Bahr, knocking the demon back a few steps. Back into reality, Kai revealed his first Life Cloth.

"Blue Ray Dracokid's Life Burst!" he called "I give 5000 power to my center Iron Tail Dragon as well as the Lancer ability. Those power increases will last until the end of my next turn."

"Tsk! So Chounan can't beat the Iron Tail Dragon in front of it," pouted Chiyori "But your other one is still exposed to my other Kozame. Attack!" Kai moved the defeated Iron Tail Dragon to his Ener Zone. "Next, Eldora!"

"No guard," spoke Kai as he moved his second crushed Life Cloth, Cross Shot Garp, to his Ener Zone. No Life Burst was present on it though.

"And now, the heroine Chiyori ends her turn!" called Chiyori.

End of Turn 3

Kai vs Chiyori

Hand - 4 : 2

Life Cloths - 5 : 6

Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Eldora=Mark II'

SIGNI: EMPTY - Iron Tail Dragon - EMPTY : Kozame, Water Phantom - Chounan, Water Phantom - Kozame, Water Phantom

Ener - 4 : 3

"Chiyori has taken the lead," murmured Yuzuki.

"But, she could have wrecked more of Kai's formation if she attacked the 2 Iron Tail Dragons first," replied Eldora "I'm sure she's still in over her head." Even so, what was with that weird feeling I had from those LRIGs Kai used?

"Battle Kai!" called Tama.

"Up and draw," spoke Kai "I Ener Charge and grow Dragon Knight, Aleph. I summon Embodiment of Spear, Tahr and pay the cost for Aleph's ability." Chiyori looked across in wonder to see what Kai was about to do next. "I move a copy of Bahr from my LRIG deck to the stack underneath my current LRIG and Tahr to my Ener Zone. By doing this, I can search my LRIG deck and grow!" Chiyori then gasped, realizing what Kai was about to perform.

"Superior Grow! Embodiment of Victory, Aleph!" Over on the imagined battlefield, both the dragon and Aleph transformed in a blinding orange glow. When it subsided, Aleph looked far more demonic that it was previously whilst the dragon's skin colour had just merely changed from orange to grey.

"You managed to get to Level 3 in only your second turn?!" gasped Chiyori.

"Impressive," murmured Yuzuki "Hitoe has a card herself that allows the same effect on me."

"Tama wonders if Kai will use Overlord at this point though," said Tama. She then turned back to the battle to see how things would play out from there.

"I use the ARTS Fiery Spring Landscape and check the top card of my deck," spoke Kai.

"Ah, I know this one!" called Chiyori "If it's a Gem or Ore SIGNI, you can draw it and 1 additional card. Will you be lucky though?" Kai flipped the top card over, revealing Alluring Stone, Silvan.

"Since Silvan is a Ore SIGNI," he spoke "I add it to my hand and draw. I then summon that SIGNI with Dual Axe Archdragon!" As Chiyori looked over Kai's field, she could only groan from the advantage he had just pulled. "First, I'll have my powered up Iron Tail Dragon attack Chounan!"

"So long," she sighed as she placed the card in her Ener Zone.

"Not yet," spoke Kai "Iron Tail Dragon still has the Lancer effect it gained from Blue Ray Dracokid's Life Burst until the end of this turn so your LRIG takes 1 damage!" Chiyori then placed the top Life Cloth she had into her Ener Zone. It was another copy of Una, but no Life Burst was present on it.

"Next, Silvan and Dual Axe will attack your other two SIGNI!" Both copies of Kozame moved to Chiyori's Ener Zone after being defeated.

"Finally, Aleph attacks!" Chiyori placed her next crushed Life Cloth, PLUS RUSH, into her Ener Zone. She smiled in joy when she noticed the Life Burst effect on the bottom of the card.

"Yes!" she called "Searching my deck for a SIGNI with a Life Burst and putting it into my hand!" She searched through her main deck and revealed Servant Q to Kai before concealing it in her hand and shuffling the deck.

"Turn end," spoke Kai.

End of Turn 4

Kai vs Chiyori

Hand - 3 : 3

Life Cloths - 5 : 5

Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Victory, Aleph : Eldora=Mark II'

SIGNI: Alluring Stone, Silvan - Iron Tail Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY

Ener - 3 : 5

(Insert Music: Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack)*

"Let's go!" called Chiyori "Draw and Ener Charge! Grow, Eldora=Mark III'!" Over on the imagined battlefield, Eldora gained a large X like structure on her back as well as a transparent azure visor and retrieving back her trusty hammer. The hammer's barrel was now mostly pink and some of the folds on her skirt had gotten longer.

"Using her ability, I look at my top two Life Cloths and put them back in any order." Chiyori picked up the topmost two Life Cloths she had and put them back in the opposite order after taking a good look at them.

"Attack!"

"No guard," spoke Kai before he moved the topmost Life Cloth he had to his Ener Zone. The card revealed was Seal Dragon, Artpique.

"Got a Life Burst," he said "Draw."

"Turn end," replied Chiyori.

End of Turn 5

Kai vs Chiyori

Hand - 4 : 4

Life Cloths - 4 : 5

Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Victory, Aleph : Eldora=Mark III'

SIGNI: Alluring Stone, Silvan - Iron Tail Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY

Ener - 4 : 5

"That's strange," murmured Yuzuki.

"What's strange?" asked Tama.

"Chiyori didn't summon any SIGNI this turn," answered Eldora "Her hand must not be looking so good or she's saving something."

"I see," said Hitoe "She must be saving some SIGNI to use later when Kai has finished with his attacks."

"Up and draw. Ener Charge." Kai then looked across to Chiyori, the small Selector still holding both excitement and determination in her eyes. He then closed his eyes as he spoke towards her.

"It seems you aren't as bad as Eldora made you out to be," he said "Your deck has an interesting balance of power and manipulation. But from what I can gather, you've still got a long way to go to becoming a strong Wixoss player." Chiyori pouted a little from what Kai had to say, but she didn't let it get her down.

"So you think I could maybe...?" she asked in curiousity.

"Maybe," replied Kai "But, the world of Selectors is not forgiving as it appears. Allow me to teach you that." He then opened his eyes with fierce determination.

"Grow the Vanguard! The blazing hellfire that reduces everything in its presence to ash!" he called as he placed his new LRIG onto Aleph's card.

"Vortex Dragon!" Over on the imagined battlefield, a whirlwind of an inferno consumed Aleph, removing him from the battle before two large bluish grey wings with a very light yellow wingspan emerged from the blaze. As the flames faded out, the blazing inferno had revealed a large bluish grey dragon with dark red eyes and three pronged claws. It stared ominously at the imagined Eldora, hovering just a few feet above the ground. Back in the shop, Chiyori could only stare in confusion.

"Why would you swap out one Level 3 LRIG for a different one?" she asked "You do realize you wasted 2 Ener in doing so, right?" She then looked back at Kai to see he wasn't concerned in the slightest.

"Allow me to show you, the true power of the Kagero clan!"


And there we go! As much as I would like Kai to show off Vortex Dragon in a Selector Battle, I don't want to interfere too much with Chiyori's current win-loss streak in the Selector Battles until I feel the time is right (as I am including some key events from Spread, even though this fic is an AU of that season). Until then, don't forget to favourite, follow and/or leave a review!

*This soundtrack first plays at the beginning of Kai and Gaillard's first fight in Legion Mate and Miwa's last desperate attempt to beat Neve.