Hi again everyone! New chapter is up after the announcement I made two days earlier. In case you didn't read it before then, I went back and revised a few things. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.
As the battle between Kai and Chiyori continued to play out, those who were watching from the side of the table looked closely at Vortex Dragon's card. Hitoe and Yuzuki were still curious as to why he decided to swap out Aleph who was already Level 3, with Vortex Dragon who was also Level 3. Even Tama was surprised by this play, considering she mostly expected him to Grow Dragonic Overlord at this point. She turned to Yuzuki.
"Why isn't Kai using Overlord?" she asked in curiosity.
"I guess Kai wants to test out Vortex Dragon's abilities," murmured Yuzuki "Considering that it is the first time he's used it in Wixoss."
Over from her card, Eldora stared closely at Vortex Dragon's card, curious as to how something like this even existed as an LRIG. This is nothing like the LRIGs that Chiyori and I have come across. Even though it appears to be like any other LRIG card that belongs to a non-Selector, I can still feel a strange presence...
"Are you curious about Kai's cards?" asked Yuzuki, interrupting Eldora's thoughts. Chiyori's LRIG snapped out of her ponder and turned back to Yuzuki.
"Yeah," she answered "Do you know something about them?"
Yuzuki nodded and began to explain everything that she knew about Kai's Kagero cards and the Planet Cray to Eldora. Tama also joined in on the conversation, though most of her comments were more about Dragonic Overlord and how strong it looked in Kai's first Selector Battle. Meanwhile, just beside the entrance to the shop room, a girl in a dark school uniform was observing the battle. She wore a dark black shirt along with a short red skirt. A portion of her brown hair covered over one of her brown eyes. The girl held a card in her right hand and was staring closely at the table where the battle was taking place, mostly intrigued by what Kai had to offer. Back over to said battle, Kai continued on with his turn.
"With Vortex Dragon's ability," he spoke "I flip over the top card of my deck. If it is a Red SIGNI, it goes to my Ener Zone. Anything else and it is sent to the bottom of the deck and I must also trash a card from my Ener Zone."
"So you're taking a gamble?" murmured Chiyori "This 'ought to be fun! Now then, let's see what you get!" Kai nodded and flipped over the top card. It revealed Dragon Monk, Genjo.
"Since it's a Red SIGNI, I move it to my Ener Zone," he said as he moved the card there. "Now then, to my Attac..."
"Not so fast!" called Chiyori "ARTS, But Any Other! With this, I declare a number between 1 and 4 and if my top Life Cloth happens to be a SIGNI of that Level, none of my Life Cloths can be crushed this turn!" Yuzuki at first was about to blurt out that a gamble was going to be ridiculous in this scenario, but Eldora glanced across to her to tell her that there was nothing that Chiyori had to be concerned about. Yuzuki turned back to face Kai who didn't seem fazed by this, though she could tell there was a small hint of disappointment on his expression. He looked across to Chiyori and smiled a little.
"Impressive," he said "By utilizing Eldora's ability last turn to swap your top 2 Life Cloths from looking at them, you know exactly which Level to declare."
"Of course!" replied Chiyori "I declare Level 4!" She revealed the Life Cloth to be Servant Q before placing it back on top of her other Life Cloths.
"In that case, I will just end my turn," spoke Kai "But, your ARTS forces you to trash one of your Life Cloths at this point." Chiyori didn't worry about it as she picked the second Life Cloth she had placed back on the previous turn, revealed to be another copy of Chounan, Water Phantom and placed it in her Trash Pile.
End of Turn 6
Kai vs Chiyori
Hand - 5 : 4
Life Cloths - 4 : 4
Current LRIGs - Vortex Dragon : Eldora=Mark III'
SIGNI: Silvan, Natural Stone - Iron Tail Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY
Ener - 4 : 2
"My, Chiyori's actually doing better than recently," murmured Eldora "She's still hanging in there, making the best of the resources she has at her disposal."
"Yeah," replied Yuzuki "Had she not seen her top two Life Cloths last turn, Kai could have brought her down to 1 Life Cloth in an instant."
"How so?" asked Hitoe.
"Don't you remember? Chiyori used a Life Burst earlier to put Servant Q in her hand at the ready to fend off Vortex Dragon," she answered "Even if Kai used the ARTS One Rule, Two Birds, Chiyori would still be able to Guard as Servant Q is Level 4." Tama over from her card just pouted from the fact that Kai couldn't get a single attack through that would do anything to swing the game in his favour. Nonetheless, she was intrigued to see what Vortex Dragon was capable of.
"Yes! And now, the great heroine draws and Ener Charges!" called Chiyori "The time has come for her LRIG to emerge at the height of its potential! And with it, the story will shine the torch of victory on the amazing Chiyori! Grow, Eldora=Mark IV'!" On the imagined battlefield, an aura of sparks and electricity coursed through Eldora, making her appear more brighter than before. Her hammer had also been affected by this aura, turning into a gold colour with sparks coursing through it.
"Then I'll Summon 2 Shiira's and a single copy of Octo!" Kai noticed the SIGNI appear in front of his own. Both Shiira, Water Phantoms were Level 4 and despite going through the packs, he didn't obtain a single Level 4 LRIG to use as his own.
"Attack!" called Chiyori. Kai moved all of his defeated SIGNI to his Ener Zone before briefly looking back at his hand. "Then Eldora will bring the hammer down on Vortex Dragon!"
"No guard," he spoke. In the battle he pictured, Eldora took a giant leap into the air and with a swing of her hammer, she knocked quite a punch into Vortex Dragon. Kai flipped over the crushed Life Cloth, revealing it to be Wyvern Guard, Barri.
"Got a Life Burst," spoke Kai "Ener Charge." Chiyori held a wide grin from managing to turn the tide of the battle, for now at least.
"Turn End!" she smiled.
End of Turn 7
Kai vs Chiyori
Hand - 5 : 2
Life Cloths - 4 : 4
Current LRIGs - Vortex Dragon : Eldora=Mark IV'
SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Shiira, Water Phantom - Octo, Water Phantom - Shiira, Water Phantom
Ener - 10 : 0
(Insert Music: Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: Trinity Crimson Flame)
"Draw and Ener Charge," Kai spoke "Using Vortex Dragon's ability, I flip the top card of my deck." He revealed the card to be Gatling Claw Dragon, which he placed in his Ener Zone afterwards. That was when Chiyori began to notice something.
"Wait a second," she said "Don't tell me... Your deck doesn't have a single Spell?!"Over from her card, Eldora could only look up at Kai in surprise, wondering why he had chosen to settle with a build such as this.
"That is correct," replied Kai "Whilst I admit this wasn't the best option I had in mind to building this deck, it helps to build up the Ener I need, for this!"
"This?" murmured Chiyori.
"Allow me to show you, Vortex Dragon's true power," he spoke "Megablast!" As all 12 cards in Kai's Ener Zone entered his Trash, Chiyori started to feel nervous all of a sudden.
"Image it," said Kai "This very battlefield and all who stand on it before us shake under the weight of an omonious dragon!" Chiyori suddenly began to picture the way things were being carried out on the battlefield. A whirlwind of crimson fire swirled around Vortex Dragon as it began to charge up power for its ability.
"The flames of purgatory raging within can no longer be contained! Its fiery roar reduces everything in this world to ash! Vortex Dragon, Burning Hell!" Vortex Dragon unleashed a torrent of crimson red fire right at Eldora. The LRIG managed to jump back to dodge the blaze, but the SIGNI were not so lucky. They were caught in the inferno and incinerated in an instant. As the cards moved over to Chiyori's Ener Zone, she could only stare at Vortex Dragon's card in shock.
"How did... How did you manage to take out all of my SIGNI at once?" she asked.
"Vortex Dragon's Megablast," explained Kai "By paying 12 Red SIGNI cards from my Ener, I can choose up to 3 SIGNI and banish them."
"I see!" gasped Yuzuki "Vortex Dragon's ability for Ener Charging made it possible for Kai to pay the cost earlier!"
"But even so, Kai's no longer got any cards in his Ener Zone," said Hitoe "Won't that affect him badly?"
"I wouldn't be so sure," replied Eldora "He just took out 2 of Chiyori's strongest offence and he doesn't seem to be stopping there."
"Go Kai!" called Tama with upbeat enthusiam.
"I summon Calamity Tower Wyvern and pay the Exceed cost of 2," Kai spoke as he moved the two copies of Bahr stacked beneath Vortex Dragon to the LRIG Trash. "I draw a card. Summon!" Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara and Silvan, Alluring Stone were placed alongside Calamity Tower Wyvern.
"Calamity Tower Wyvern will attack Eldora!" Chiyori could only "TSK!" as she couldn't do anything to stop the SIGNI from attacking. The first Life Cloth, Servant Q, had its Life Burst triggered allowing her to Ener Charge Pearl, Water Phantom.
"Using Eldora's ability," she said "I draw 1 card each time one of my Life Bursts is triggered."
"Next!" called Kai as he downed Kimnara's card. The next Life Cloth Una entered Chiyori's Ener Zone, no Life Burst present on the card. Then as Kai downed Silvan's card, Servant O entered her Ener Zone, triggering another Life Burst allowing her to Ener Charge Ryuuguu, Water Phantom before drawing another card.
"Vortex Dragon!" On the imagined battlefield, Vortex Dragon let out a roar at Eldora before flapping its large wings and charging towards her, ready to strike with its raised left claw.
"Guard!" called Chiyori as she pulled and revealed Servant Q out of her hand. Kai nodded before she placed the card in her Trash Pile.
"Turn End."
(End Insert Music)
End of Turn 8
Kai vs Chiyori
Hand - 4 : 3
Life Cloths - 4 : 1
Current LRIGs - Vortex Dragon : Eldora=Mark IV'
SIGNI: Silvan, Alluring Stone - Calamity Tower Wyvern - Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY
Ener - 0 : 8
Kai looked at Chiyori who had her head down.
"Is something wrong?" he asked. He was suddenly met with the unexpected response. Chiyori bounced back up with even more energy than she had before and an energetic smile to match that.
"Awesome!" she called "I didn't think your Vortex Dragon was capable of something like that! But now, the real battle begins!" Kai could only smile a little from her enthusiasm and nodded.
"Come then!" he replied.
"Yes! Draw and Ener Charge!" called Chiyori "Summon and ARTS, Cloth Crush Flash!" She moved Servant O and Una, Water Phantom from her Ener Zone to her Trash before gazing back at Kai's Life Cloths.
"Now reveal the top Life Cloth you have," she said. Kai revealed the card to be Dual Axe Archdragon. "Since it has no Life Burst on it," Chiyori continued "You must place it in your Trash." He nodded and placed Archdragon's card in his Trash.
"Then I'll use the same ARTS again!" called Chiyori "Now reveal your next Life Cloth!" Kai revealed the next Life Cloth to be Iron Tail Dragon in which he promptly placed the card in his Trash Pile like before. "One more!" Kai flipped up Berserk Dragon before placing it into his Trash Pile.
"Then I'll use Plus Rush to look at your last Life Cloth and Trash it," Chiyori continued "But there is an upside. That Life Cloth is replaced with the top card of your deck." Kai revealed the Life Cloth to be Dragon Monk, Genjo before placing it in his Trash Pile and putting the top card of his deck in its place.
"I don't know if I can watch," murmured Hitoe.
"Chiyori's not done yet," said Eldora. Yuzuki and Tama looked at her before turning back to the game to see what she meant.
"With Eldora's ability," spoke Chiyori "I pay the cost and banish Silvan!" Kai nodded and moved the card to his Ener Zone.
"Ryuuguu, attack Vortex Dragon!" On the imagined battlefield, Ryuuguu surrounded herself in a veil of water before launching herself towards Vortex Dragon. The jet of water and the Phantom that travelled inside of it hit the dragon head on, knocking it to the ground. Vortex Dragon roared before flapping its wings to hover just above the battlefield. Kai revealed the final Life Cloth to be Dragon Monk, Gojo before placing it in his Ener Zone.
"Kai's got no Life Cloths left!" gasped Tama.
"Which means unless he Guards against the LRIG attack..." murmured Yuzuki. She suddenly paused when she glanced at Eldora. "What's up?" The LRIG could only sigh.
"I wouldn't be certain that Chiyori's won this just yet," she replied "Just take a look at Kai's hand." Yuzuki, Tama and Hitoe looked over at Kai's hand to notice that he still held 4 cards.
"Next, Ouika and Kozama!" called Chiyori. Kai simply moved the SIGNI to his Ener Zone before glancing back at his hand. Chiyori held a smirk after seeing that his SIGNI spaces were now empty.
"Now Eldora, deliver the final blow!" she declared before downing the card. On the imagined battlefield, Eldora gripped onto her hammer tightly and took a giant leap into the air before swinging the barrel down towards Vortex Dragon.
"Behold!" called Chiyori "This is my strongest move! 'Chorizo in the Fantasy!'" Eldora could only facepalm when she heard her Selector say "it" out loud.
"I told you that 'Chorizo' doesn't exactly sound right like that!" she groaned.
"What else did you want me to say?!" replied Chiyori "Hammer Time?" At this point, everyone else except for Kai could only sweatdrop at this whilst Tama just stared in confusion, unsure of what she actually meant. Kai meanwhile could only look at her with a look of partial disbelief and confusion. I'm not sure which one sounds more ridiculous he thought to himself 'Chorizo in the Fantasy' or Naoki's 'Break Time'. "Guard!" he called as he revealed Wyvern Guard, Barri in his hand before placing it in his Trash Pile. Chiyori could only pout in disappointment from this turn of events.
"Turn... end," she groaned.
End of Turn 9
Kai vs Chiyori
Hand - 3 : 0
Life Cloths - 0 : 1
Current LRIGs - Vortex Dragon : Eldora=Mark IV'
SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Kozame, Water Phantom - Ouika, Water Phantom - Ryuuguu, Water Phantom
Ener - 3 : 0
Kai looked on at Chiyori, noticing her disappointment. "You did well, but this is the end of the line," he spoke. "Final Turn!"
(Insert Music: Cardfight! Vanguard Soundtrack: Kai no Theme)
Chiyori could only stare in confusion at him for this sudden declaration, but chose not to reply as she glanced over her current situation. She had no cards in her hand, her SIGNI were her last line of defence and she only had one Life Cloth left. Not yet! I can still pull through this!
"Up and Draw," spoke Kai "Then Vortex Dragon's ability." He revealed Embodiment of Spear, Tahr from the top of his deck before placing it in his Ener Zone. Chiyori could only grit her teeth. Thanks to her last attack on Vortex Dragon, she practically handed Kai the means to the end of the battle.
"Using the effect of ARTS, Dominating Fury, I banish Ryuuguu!" As Kai paid 3 of the Ener he had, Chiyori moved Ryuuguu's card to her Ener Zone.
"Then using One Rule, Two Birds," he continued "I give Double Crush to Vortex Dragon and you're not allowed to use any Level 1 SIGNI to Guard." Chiyori could only groan a little. Kai was managing to keep up the pressure to minimize her chances of making his Final Turn fail.
"I summon Dragon Monk, Genjo and attack Eldora with it!" Chiyori reached forward for the last Life Cloth she had available. It was all or nothing now. Come on, as long as I can still grab something to save Eldora from Vortex Dragon! She flipped the card over, revealing Octo, Water Phantom. She could only sigh in disappointment. You win Kai. Kai having read her expression nodded in agreement.
"Vortex Dragon, final attack!" he declared as he downed the card. On the imagined battlefield, Vortex Dragon charged up a vast amount of energy in its mouth before unleashing a torrent of crimson red fire at the imagined Eldora. The LRIG could do nothing as the blaze consumed her in an instant.
(End Insert Music)
Back in the store, the girl who was watching the battle was still staring at Kai, curious about his strength and skill. She still held a card in her hand whilst she was watching the entire match. She held it in front of her, revealing a girl with a large dark dress with long and large white sleeves. This LRIG in particular also appeared to wear a headdress that mixed in both colours from her dress. She had long brown hair and dark green eyes. The LRIG had observed the battle as well as her Selector, sharing equal curiousity about the Kagero cards that Kai had used. As the Selector held up the card in front her, the LRIG looked up at her.
"Well, what do you think Fumio-san?" asked the LRIG. Fumio said nothing in response. She briefly glanced across towards Kai before turning back to her LRIG.
"I've seen enough Anne," she replied.
At this moment, Kai suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine. He quickly turned around towards the room's entrance, but Fumio was already gone. Tama looked up at him in concern whilst Hitoe, Yuzuki, Eldora and Chiyori just stared at him in confusion, unsure of what to make from this.
"What's wrong Kai?" asked Hitoe.
"It felt like we were being watched," he replied "Someone was observing us."
"You think it could be a Selector?" said Yuzuki.
Kai pondered on this for a moment. If someone else knew about the fact that his LRIGs were actually from Cray or looking to oppose him in his efforts to help Tama, Yuzuki and Hitoe find Ruko, there was no telling what they could be up to. Regardless, he looked back at the group and answered Yuzuki's question.
"Possibly," he said. He then turned back to Chiyori.
"Thank you for our match," he spoke "I hope that fortune favours you well until we next battle, as you wanted." Chiyori bounced up from her seat in excitement, despite being downcast from losing earlier.
"Mhm!" she replied happily "I look forward to the next time we face each other!" She then picked up Eldora's card before the two waved goodbye to the group. Kai, Hitoe, Yuzuki and Tama waved goodbye as Chiyori went running out of the store. With that aside, they turned back to one another.
"Now there is only one thing left for me to do," said Kai.
"Oh that's right!" replied Yuzuki "You mentioned you were going to find a place to stay whilst you were stuck in this world. We'll leave it to you, right Kai?" Kai nodded in response.
"Hold on a second Kai!" called Hitoe as she dug through her bag before pulling out a small white cell phone. "You do have a phone of your own, right?" He nodded before revealing his mobile phone.
"Is it alright if we trade numbers?" she asked "Just in case one of us happens to find Ruko and so we don't lose each other the next time we meet up."
"It is fine," he replied. After the two had exchanged numbers, they placed their respective phones back in their pockets.
"Well then Kai," said Yuzuki "Good luck on finding a place to stay here. We'll keep in touch whenever we can."
"Yeah," he said "I'll see you two later." Kai then waved goodbye to Hitoe and Yuzuki before exiting the store and wandering out into the city streets once more. He held Tama's card close to him in case they happened to come across Ruko during his trek. Sadly after about half an hour later, Tama eventually gave up trying to track her, having used up a lot of her energy in doing so. Kai having noticed this, suggested she took a rest to which the LRIG agreed. He slipped the card back into his pocket before continuing on his trek.
Elsewhere in the city...
"No way Eldora! Kai's LRIGs are actually creatures from another planet?!" Chiyori had been told everything about the Kagero clan and Cray, courtesy of Eldora who had learned about this from Yuzuki during the battle earlier.
"Well, that's what she said she knew," the LRIG replied whilst shrugging her shoulders "But, I could still feel a strong presence from Vortex Dragon's card, despite the appearance that it was a plain LRIG card that non-Selectors have." Chiyori's eyes only went wider with awe, curiosity and excitement all at once before she briefly jumped up a few times.
"Amazing! What a twist!" she called "This is way beyond what the novel's plot suggested! I'm really looking forward to seeing those dragons in the flesh!" Eldora could only sweatdrop and sigh. Provided she doesn't go to her head and lose 2 more Selector Battles before we meet with him again.
Around 3 hours later...
It took a long while, but Kai had eventually managed to purchase some essentials along with the place he needed to stay at. As he walked across to the building where his 'temporary' home away from home would lie in one of the apartments present there. As he approached the building's entrance, he stopped to briefly notice his surroundings. Looking up, Kai could see the building that he first met Tama in the distance, its size still looking ominously imposing like a giant pillar in the middle of everything that stood before it. Netherless, he turned his attention back to getting accomendated back to his rented apartment. He entered the building before turning a corner to find a list of numbers on a series of boxes before him. Taking out the card he had recieved when he rented the apartment, he found the number he needed to be at. Before leaving, he quickly noticed one particular number with a single name jotted beside it.
802 "Kominato"
That's Ruko's last name he pondered So her family is close to where I am staying. Visiting them out of the blue this moment may not be wise unless Hitoe is with me.
Deciding to worry about it later, he continued up the stairs to where his apartment room awaited.
And there we go! Hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter! Once I get the next one up, I'll leave a link in my profile to the Vortex Dragon build that Kai used in his battle with Chiyori. Don't forget to favourite, follow and/or leave a review. Until then!
