Hello again! Now it may look like that not much may happen over this chapter and the one after (minor spoiler alert), but I can assure you by the end of it all, we'll be getting right into the endgame of Arc 2. So for now, I hope you will enjoy what is currently here.
Ruko's School
After exiting the school building and closing both the main doors along with the front gate, the group advanced forwards onto the pavement in front. They were waiting for Hitoe's father to arrive after her mother had sent him on his way to Ruko's school. As they waited anxiously for his arrival, Hitoe looked over towards Aichi's face as his unconscious form was held on her right shoulder and could only stare in worry. His breathing had become slightly ragged and his face, most notably his forehead had gone red.
"Aichi...?" Hitoe murmured nervously.
"He's burning up..." said Yuzuki "I guess the drawn-out strain of having to keep Umr around in the battle must have did a lot more than just tire him out."
"It's no surprise though," spoke Ren "Overusing PSY Qualia can result in some 'side effects' as I experienced firsthand when I was consumed by that power and... when I was getting used to it."
"It hasn't been the first time Sendou has fallen victim to a concussion post battle because of something like this," muttered Leon "But it appears that the consequences have only been more fatal this time."
The moment the Aqua Force user had finished his sentence, everyone within the group immediately looked to their right as they heard the noise of an oncoming vehicle approaching where they were currently standing. A medium sized car came into view as it came up towards the edge of the pavement before coming straight to a halt in front of everyone. When the engine's noise had died down, the right door at the front opened up, revealing a tall man with black hair and a pair of glasses over his brown eyes. When he turned to face everyone, he immediately noticed Hitoe along with Aichi that she had resting on her shoulder.
"F... Father..." the Selector murmured.
"I'm glad to see you're alright," the father replied as he came over towards her before looking at Aichi for a brief moment. "Your mother told me that you wanted my help for something."
"Y... Yes," she answered, quickly shrugging her shoulder holding up the cardfighter for one or two seconds. "Aichi's fallen ill and I'm worried about him. I want to help, but I don't know if dragging him through the city will make things any worse for him."
Before he did anything else, Hitoe's father glanced over at the rest of the group, curiousity present on his mind as told by his expression. It wasn't stern but it was full of a little bit of bewilderment.
"I was aware my daughter mentioned she made a new friend recently, though this is quite the lot," he spoke "Is any one of you this Kai Toshiki she spoke of?"
"That would be him," Naoki answered by pointing over to Kai who was still held up on his shoulder. The Kagero user nodded in response to the Narukami user's answer, indicating that he was the person that Hitoe had told her father about earlier.
"I suppose we meet at last," he said before noticing the small ink stain at the Kagero user's right side, presumably explaining to him why Naoki was holding him upwards at this point.
"Indeed, Mr. Uemura," replied Kai "I only wish that the circumstances were not as unfortunate as they appear."
(Selector Spread Wixoss OST: Wonder)
Hitoe's father nodded grimly in agreement with the his statement before turning his attention back to Aichi's unconscious state and approached the cardfighter himself. He studied his expression carefully before taking note of both his breathing and the redness present on his forehead. He then turned his attention back to Hitoe as if he already knew what to do.
"... Bring him in quickly," he spoke "We'll take him over to home and help him recover from there."
"R... Right!" the Selector replied as the back door beside her was opened up. As she gently moved Aichi over towards the back seats, her father turned her attention back towards the remaining cardfighters.
"With the way things are," he continued "I won't be able to fit all of you in the car with Aichi and Hitoe at once."
"K... Kai can catch up with us," Hitoe replied, causing him to look towards her with a small hint of confusion. "He escorted me home on the night we first met."
"So I see..." he murmured before glancing back at Kai, who nodded to confirm his suspicions. The father then turned back to his daughter who had already gotten into the back seats of the car with Aichi laid back on the seat that was beside her. "Very well then Hitoe. We'll wait for Kai and these others there. Perhaps you would be kind enough to introduce all of them to your mother when they catch up."
"Yes!" the Selector answered.
"We'll meet you there as soon as we can," said Leon "Be careful."
Hitoe said nothing, but nodded in response to tell him that she understood what he was saying. Although she knew Hitoe's father could not hear her, Yuzuki kept her mouth shut, knowing better to avoid raising any suspicion around both him and her Selector. Glancing up from her card towards Aichi, she could only remain worried as to what could happen if he remained the way he currently was. After closing the doors, Hitoe's father drove the car away from the school and down the street towards their home. When the area was quiet once again, Naoki looked over to Kai who he still held over his left shoulder.
"Lead the way," the Narukami user spoke.
Kai didn't need to be told twice about this, having nodded in agreement with his statement. As the group left the school premises for Hitoe's home, an all too familiar Selector stepped out from the shadows, watching them head off into the distant streets. Ruko glanced over towards Kai and Ren in particular as she watched them vanish into the darkness, also taking note of the conversation that she had been observing.
"So Aichi emerged victorious..." she said to herself, somewhat letting out a breath of air out as she did so.
"You seem relieved, for someone wanting him to face you soon enough."
Ruko then turned her attention towards Iona, whose card she had fished out from her jacket pocket. The LRIG seemed puzzled by this choice of tone and action from her Selector, considering the 'message' that she wanted Ren to pass on over to Aichi once his battle with Ulith was finished.
"Even so, I can't imagine how he was able to overcome Ulith's cruelty on his own," she murmured "Then again, that will make things all the more interesting, when I eventually face the 'third one'."
"The 'third one?" Ruko murmured in confusion.
"All in due time," Iona replied. "For now, I believe you need to steel yourself."
Just as the LRIG had finished speaking, Ruko suddenly found herself cringing in pain for a brief moment as an all too familiar dark red aura surrounded her once more. That was when something would have suddenly felt strange to her, that is, if it had not happened beforehand earlier in the day. The Selector held up her right arm and carefully folded back the sleeves of both her jumper and coat, revealing her bare arm to her sight. Ruko could only grit her teeth a little as she knew this was starting to become a common occurrence. Her arm as she was seeing now almost appeared as if it was being squeezed tighter than she anticipated by a large compression, the fact that some veins were now bolded out had practically given that away. The compression in this case being the power of Reverse that she was still struggling to keep restrained.
So it's even affecting my body now that I'm struggling to keep it back she thought But... I won't let this stop me from freeing everyone from the Selector Battles, one way or another. Until I can save everyone... I can't lose!
(End Music)
Uemura Household
Hitoe's mother waited anxiously in the living room of the Selector's home for the eventual return of her daughter along with her father, wondering what exactly had been going on recently when Hitoe herself said that she needed some help with something. In fact, she couldn't help but remain worried about the Selector in general, unaware of her role in the battles taking place outside the comfort of the house. First after making new friends amongst Ruko and Yuzuki, Hitoe from her perspective had been acting strange, breaking down in pain whenever she attempted to pick up her phone or read through her notes, claiming that they were vanishing from her mind.
Recently after coming as close back to normal as possible, one of her best friends happens to vanish from her home for some strange reason. Then around two nights afterwards, Hitoe began talking about this Kai Toshiki that she had met who was willing to help her find Ruko. Although the mother of Midoriko's former Selector had been slightly skeptical about this at first, the fact that Hitoe herself was appearing to be honest in her findings with Kai so far had a bit of positive impact for her and hope that Ruko would eventually be found, safe and sound. If only she would had known about or could even possibly comprehend everything that was amiss in the outside world.
Her trail of thoughts were interrupted as she heard the front door open up with a slight creaking noise to it. Walking over to the front entrance, she came into the hallway, just in time to see Hitoe with the unconscious and unwell Aichi on her shoulder along with her father enter the house, closing the front door behind him as he did so.
"Hitoe, what's going on?" she asked in confusion before glancing over to the Royal Paladin user. "Is this Kai that you mentioned?"
"N... No," the Selector answered "He's a friend of Kai and right now, he needs help."
"This is Sendou Aichi, as Hitoe has explained to me," the father continued "He seems to be in a concussion for the time being, with a bit of a fever stirring up. We brought him here so we could help him quicker and so Hitoe could introduce us to Kai Toshiki when he arrives."
"I see..." the Selector's mother replied as she briefly looked over Aichi's expression, taking into account of what was present on his face and forehead as well as his breathing. "I'll prepare a wet cloth for his forehead. Hitoe, get him settled on the sofa."
"Right," Hitoe replied as she walked over into the living space, carefully carrying the cardfighter over on her shoulder and glancing over at him as she did so. By the time the Selector had gotten over to the sofa, her mother had already managed to get a wet cloth ready from the nearby sink. After laying Aichi down along the full length of the sofa, Hitoe then took the wet cloth from her mother and gently lay it over his forehead, moving some of his hair to the side in the process. The two of them waited anxiously for a few moments, as did Yuzuki from her card, to see what would happen. Eventually, as the Royal Paladin's breathing had somewhat calmed down as a result, the three of them could only let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness," Hitoe murmured.
Eventually, the room fell silent once more as the Selector's mother glanced over Aichi's unconscious state. From his appearance alone to her perspective, he seemed harmless enough to her, otherwise her daughter would not have been so concerned over how he was holding up.
"So how long have you known about this Aichi in particular?" she asked.
"I only just met him today, along with some of Kai's other friends," Hitoe answered "But... Aichi's one of the kindest people I've ever known. Seeing him like this though..."
"I understand," the mother replied, placing a hand over the Selector's shoulder gently for some reassurance. "But for the moment, all we can do is wait and hope that he recovers just fine. That reminds me, you mentioned Kai was on his way over here?"
"Yes," she replied "I'll let him know that Aichi's resting just fine for the moment."
After her mother let out a gentle smile in response, Hitoe picked out her mobile phone from her pocket and immediately called Kai through on his number to let him know that the Royal Paladin user was resting for the moment. Eventually, a short while later after recieving her answer back from the Kagero user himself in their conversation, a knock at the door was heard. Hitoe's father went over and opened it up to see Kai, now no longer being supported on his feet by Naoki who merely stood beside him whilst Leon and Ren were standing behind the two.
"Has there been any change in Aichi's condition?" asked Kai.
"He's remained unconscious for the moment," Hitoe's father answered "But the earlier fever he was picking up seems to be dying down now."
"That's good to hear," Naoki replied "We owe you and Hitoe one there."
"Well then," he spoke "If you would kindly follow me, I believe Hitoe's mother has a lot to discuss about with you."
The group stared at each other for a brief moment before following Hitoe's father inside, one person at a time. Kai briefly cringed in pain for a moment, but pressed on inside. During the trek over to Hitoe's home, he eventually found the strength within to walk by himself once again, with some of the pain from the injury still present, albeit not as much as before though when he struggled from the hospital back to his rented apartment to tell the group of what happened after Akira had attacked him earlier in the day. He held back a hand for a short moment to assure Naoki that he was 'fine' and could keep on going.
The White Room
"Ulith, you dare return empty handed?"
Mayu sat atop her negative hued throne in the center of the White Room, a hint of displeasement now present on her face. She had watched over the conclusion of the earlier battle in which Aichi had emerged victorious thanks to the aid of both Umr and Blaster Blade. Ulith, although angered from losing to the cardfighter due to a small miscalculation in not knowing the full conditions of Legion, was hardly concerned for the result at all. In fact, part of her was still smiling, despite being on the recieving end of the mastermind's fury at this very moment.
"That is no longer of our concern," the Selector replied. "The battle, regardless of what happened, spoke out for itself. Shiro is no longer of any use to us, nor is even a threat any more."
"And what ensures that conclusion?" Mayu asked.
"I felt it myself," Ulith answered "Shiro is no longer at the prime of her true strength, even during the battle. It appears a majority of it was lost due to that 'incident' that Photon generously filled me in on. Even through that setback, I now know about Sendou's strengths and where I can make him crack."
"Even so, we cannot leave another possibility of Sendou coming into contact with Project: Locked Soul once more out of debate," the mastermind spoke "The problem in sealing that 'contact point' within her mind would be solveable if one were to truely understand the mysteries of PSY Qualia themselves."
Upon finishing her sentence, Mayu suddenly paused for a brief moment as a thought had crossed her mind at this very instant. Then she let out a small, but dark laugh underneath her breath. Ulith merely remained unresponsive as it was sounded out over the vast white expanse with the hundreds of windows surrounding them. Mayu got up from her throne and turned around, opening a small vortex in front of her. She then turned around and glanced back to the Selector in her servitude.
"Tell Photon to meet me in his lab and make sure, that he brings 'him' along," she spoke.
"Understood," Ulith replied, briefly bowing as she did so.
Mayu then turned around and left for Photon's lab through the portal that she created, before it sealed up behind her. When the White Room had fallen silent again, if anyone was somehow observing through the windows that surrounded the vast expanse, no one would have noticed a small, but sinister smile creep up across Ulith's twisted expression.
Uemura Household
(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Hitoe)
Back at Hitoe's home, the group of cardfighters, minus Aichi who remained on the sofa unconscious were conversing with Hitoe's parents, mostly explaining about how they came to meet each other and how they were willing to aid the Selector herself in her search for Ruko, all whilst keeping their lips shut about any details linking to the Selector Battles and the LRIGs. A topic that Naoki had almost stumbled into had it not been for Leon interrupting at the last second, much to the Narukami user's inner relief when he eventually realized what he would have said. Hitoe meanwhile had remained in the large chair beside the sofa, looking over at Aichi and her deck which she had laid out on the small table in front of her.
When she was looking at her cards though, her attention was mainly focused on the still LRIG cards representing Yuzuki's new forms in battle. Empowered by Kai's Kagero units towards the end of the battle with Akira, she could see that the Kagero clan name was imprinted beside the LRIG's very own type. Yuzuki herself couldn't help but ponder about all of this though. Ever since the battle had ended, she could still feel a small portion of the power she had possessed for that moment coursing through her veins. Perhaps this was all a result of her now walking under the banner of Kagero, sort of. Both she and her Selector had their trail of thoughts interrupted when they heard a groan come from the sofa beside them.
"He must be waking up," Yuzuki spoke.
Looking over towards it, they could see Aichi slowly trying to open his eyes which also caught the attention of everyone else around the kitchen table who came over to see the Royal Paladin user at once. Eventually, with much effort and a bit of adjustment to the light in the living space, Aichi was awake once again.
"Uh... Where... am I?" he murmured as he gazed around the room, his sight eventually landing on Hitoe. "H... Hitoe-san?"
"Are you alright Aichi?" she asked in concern.
"I... think so," Aichi replied as he tried to sit up. He clutched his head for a brief moment, his right hand now touching the wet cloth on his forehead, much to his confusion. The Royal Paladin user then looked to his left, now seeing Kai, Ren, Naoki and Leon all looking down at him.
"Kai-kun... where are we?" he asked.
"We are currently at Hitoe's home," Kai answered "Her father helped to bring you here."
"You have been in quite the state to be honest," Ren mused.
"Indeed you have," Hitoe's mother spoke as she came over towards the Royal Paladin user, now standing beside her daughter. "I helped to prepare the cloth that's currently on your forehead. It kept down a fever that you were getting whilst you were unconscious."
"So then... you must be her mother," Aichi murmured before he bowed briefly, clasping the wet cloth over his head as he did so. "T... Thank you very much."
"It's the least we could do for a friend of our daughter," Hitoe's father replied as he came into view. "Are you feeling any better?"
"My head feels a bit light..." he replied "But I think I'm alright now."
Hitoe smiled warmly in response to his answer, relieved that the Royal Paladin user was recovering just fine, as did Yuzuki from her own card, who felt a waver of relief wash over her. Her parents looked at one another and smiled in agreement with each other, knowing that Aichi was just as kind and geniune as their daughter had told them so. In regards to their earlier conversation with Kai and the others, that was when the Selector's mother had something on her mind that she wished to speak out about.
"Aichi, from what I've been told," she said "You, Kai and your friends are Wixoss players yourself. I was wondering... if one of you could maybe have a game with Hitoe so we could see how things would play out?"
"I wouldn't mind," Aichi murmured as he attempted to get up from the sofa, only to recieve a hand to his shoulder from Kai in response. Looking up in brief confusion, the Royal Paladin user then turned to Leon.
(End Music)
"Are you certain you have recovered enough to battle again?" the Aqua Force user asked.
"I think so..." Aichi replied as he removed the wet cloth from his forehead, now back to its original colour, and brought out his deck case from his pocket. He watched as Hitoe cleared the table in front before rearranging her deck back together. Everyone present in the living space took a seat each to watch the friendly battle that was about to unfold as the Royal Paladin user and the Selector as the two of them set up the playmat along with their decks, Life Cloths and starting hands. When both Aichi and Hitoe were ready to begin, they reached out for the starting LRIGs they had face down on their sides of the field. Over from her card was, Yuzuki looked up towards her Selector.
"Do your best, Hitoe!" she called.
Hitoe said nothing in response, not wanting to draw any confusion or worse suspicion from her parents watching, but briefly glanced back and smiled in response to the LRIG's encouragement before turning her attention back to Naoki and the card she kept ahold of.
(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: Advance Liberators!)*
"Open!" they both called.
Respectively, both of them flipped up Advance Party Seeker, File and Yuzuki-Zero, Spark of Perdition. From there, the game between them advanced fairly quickly between the two of them in the opening three turns. Everyone watching from the sidelines were curious as to how the friendly battle between them would unfold, Hitoe's parents in particular as it was the first time for them seeing their daughter participate in a game of Wixoss. Hitoe having already been aware of this fact was somewhat thankful that neither of them would have to experience some of the dangers or horrors that lay within the Selector Battles and that she could play for fun at this very moment, much like with Ruko before she ran away from home because of Reverse.
At the start of the fourth turn, Aichi took two of the three cards he had in his Ener Zone, Defending Seeker, Shiron and Margal and placed them in his Trash Pile before searching through his LRIG deck for the card he was after. Before he took a hold of it though, he briefly looked amongst the other cards, confirming to him that Umr really did vanish at the end of his previous battle with Ulith. He then placed back the remaining cards as he held the one he picked high above him.
"Stand up, my avatar!" he called "Grow! Blaster Blade!"
On the battlefield that both Aichi and Hitoe had imaged out before them, Marron vanished in a bright white flash before Blaster Blade himself then appeared in his place, holding the weapon out in front at arm's length. In front of him for the moment was Honest Seeker, Cynric who smiled in approval to the Swordsman of Light's arrival before to the units' left and right, appeared Knight of Silence, Gallatin and Seeker, Loving Healer. The three units in front of Blaster Blade charged out towards Yuzuki as well as both the Dragon Dancer, Barbara, Genjo and Kannya, Phantom Dragon that were on the field.
Both Gallatin and Loving Healer quicklyoverpowered their opponents, banishing them from the field before Cynric shot out several light beams that struck Yuzuki who tried desperately in vain to shield her face from the impact with the cannon hovering over her right arm. Then when she got back her line of sight, the LRIG looked forwards just in time to see Blaster Blade charging towards her. The Swordsman of Light leaped into the air, preparing to bring down the blade upon her before Wyvern Guard, Barri suddenly appeared in front, blocking his attack in the process. Landing on his feet and gazing at Yuzuki, he made a quick retreat back to his side of the field.
Back to reality, Hitoe placed Barri's card into her Trash Pile before glancing down at the field. Thanks to Aichi's move just now, she had no SIGNI present, but her Ener Zone was now brought up to 4 cards thanks to the Servant D's Life Burst she triggered from Cynric's direct hit. For the moment, the Royal Paladin user had taken the lead by just one Life Cloth and he appeared to have the advantage for the moment. The cardfighters, Kai included, said nothing for the moment as they kept a close eye on the two of them, as did Hitoe's parents.
"That ends my turn," Aichi spoke.
(End Music)
"R... Right," Hitoe replied as she upped Yuzuki's card before drawing two from the deck. Looking amongst the cards in her hand, she placed in face down on the table outside of the playmat as she moved both Servant D and Kannya's cards from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile. Searching through her LRIG deck, she picked out the card she needed before looking towards Aichi.
I really do thank you for giving me the confidence I needed to get back Kai's deck from Akira she thought I'm not sure if I can get as serious as you and the others, but I'll do my best!
The Selector held up the card she picked high into the air, much like Aichi in how he grew Blaster Blade on the previous turn.
"Stand up... my...!" For some reason though, she suddenly froze up, earning a multitude of confused looks from most of the people watching the battle. These mainly came from Yuzuki herself, Aichi and everyone else watching, with the exception of Kai and Leon who said nothing in response.
"Is something wrong, Hitoe-san?" the Royal Paladin user asked, blinking for a brief moment.
"N... Nothing!" she replied "C... Can I try that again?"
Aichi gave a single nod, a little unsure as to why exactly though. Taking a deep breath, Hitoe held out the card she was already holding in the air once again.
(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Battle ~ Call out the Name!)
"St... No... Ignite, my avatar!" she called as she placed down the card over on top Yuzuki's new Level 2 form. "Yuzuki-Three, Flame of Perdition!"
On the imagined battlefield, a blaze of fire surrounded Yuzuki as the organic black wings on her back grew even larger and the cannons that were hovering either side of her were now a gleaming gunmetal grey with a hint of gold near the mouth of the barrels. Back to reality, Aichi looked down upon Yuzuki-Three's card, remembering that it was far different than it appeared in Hitoe's previous friendly battle with Ren back at the library, much like the other forms he had seen her use so far. What had surprised him the most was not the change in appearance, but the Kagero clan name being beside Yuzuki's LRIG type. He pondered for a brief moment, wondering if Hitoe's battle with Akira had caused this change somehow, he himself having not been present when it concluded.
"W... Was that alright?" Hitoe asked, interrupting his trail of thought.
"Yes," he said, smiling a little nervously. He saw that the attempt had came off as somewhat forced in his opinion, but the last thing he wanted to do was accidentally offend his friend for a 'valiant' effort.
"T... Then I'll use Swift Advance to Superior Grow!" she continued "S... Soar higher, my avatar! Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition!"
After placing the card down on top of Yuzuki-Three, Flame of Perdition, Hitoe also placed down Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess and Orochi, Phantom Dragon Princess to the left and right SIGNI spaces along with Tokage, Phantom Dragon in the center. Back on the imaged battlefield, as the three Dragon Beast SIGNI appeared in front of Yuzuki, now with much larger wings and cannons along with what appeared to be dragon hide covering over where the bandages covering the lower halves of her arms and legs. Tokage glowed a bright red as she powered up from the presence of both Dragon Princesses being alongside her.
Tokage, Phantom Dragon: 1000 - 9000
"My SIGNI attack!" Hitoe called "With Orochi's ability, I send the only card in your Ener Zone to your Trash Pile!"
Aichi moved Palamedes' card who was already in the Ener Zone from an Ener Charge on Hitoe's first turn of the battle. Then, he moved all of his defeated units over to his Ener Zone.
"Yuzuki attacks!"
Aichi did nothing as he imaged everything happening in front of him. On the battlefield, Yuzuki took flight with her large black wings and charged up the energy for her attack in the barrels of the cannons either side of her. The LRIG pointed them directly at Blaster Blade who could only brace himself as she launched the energy in two fiery streams, right at the Royal Paladin unit. The Swordsman of Light cried out loud in pain as he was scorched by the flames before they eventually withered away as Yuzuki landed back on the ground. Back in reality, Aichi's next Life Cloth revealed Axe, Large Breaker, a Life Burst coming into his favour. He searched through his deck for God Eater, Ultimate Sword and placed it into his hand.
"T... Turn end," Hitoe spoke.
End of Turn 5
Aichi vs Hitoe
Hand - 7 : 4
Life Cloths - 3 : 4
Current LRIGs - Blaster Blade : Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition
SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess - Tokage, Phantom Dragon - Orochi, Phantom Dragon Princess
Ener - 4 : 1
"My. I see that our daughter is doing rather good," Hitoe's mother murmured.
"Well, her experience around Ruko before she went missing does add up a bit," the father replied.
As Aichi began the start of his turn, he looked forward to see Hitoe glancing down at her cards before suddenly turning her attention back to him, as if she had something on her mind.
"Um... I'm sorry about earlier..." she murmured.
"About what?" asked Aichi.
"It's just... I know how strong you are from Kai," Hitoe explained "So I tried to sound a bit more... serious. With the 'avatar' thing though." Her cheeks flushed a bright pink for a brief moment when she recalled that moment earlier in the previous turn.
"Don't worry about it," Naoki replied "I kinda did the same thing when I first battled Aichi."
"There's nothing wrong with that," the Royal Paladin user spoke, smiling warmly to reassure her. "Just go with what feels natural to you."
"... Right," she said, her face having now reverted back to its normal colour. "Carry on."
Aichi nodded in compliance and moved two of the cards from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile.
"Enter the fray, King of all Knights!" he called "Grow, Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv!"
On the imagined field, Blaster Blade vanished in a bright white glow as the King of Knights himself appeared before Yuzuki and all of Hitoe's Dragon Beast SIGNI, pointing out his sword as he did so. Then in front of him and to his right appeared Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes and Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn. Tranquil Unicorn's horn set off two bright beams of light between Alfred and Palamedes, powering up the Royal Paladin unit that was to the right of the King of Knights as he leaped up into the air.
Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes: 8000 - 13000
"Seek mate!"
Upon the declaration, a bright column of gold yellow energy appeared beside Alfred as an all too familiar figure began to manifest beside him.
"Stand up once more, my avatar! Blaster Blade!" Aichi's voice called "Legion!"
With that, Blaster Blade appeared beside the King of Knights as they firmly landed on their feet, the Legion symbol briefly flashing in front of them as this happened. When the glow had died down, God Eater, Ultimate Sword appeared to the pair's left before both she and Palamedes charged forwards towards their respective opponents in front of them. Whilst the Swordsman of the Explosive Flames briefly powered up again, he quickly made short work of banishing Orochi from Hitoe's field, the Level 4 White SIGNI approached Mušḫuššu, quickly overpowering the Dragon Beast SIGNI, causing Tokage to lose all the power she gained the previous turn. After Tranquil Unicorn made quick work of the only remaining SIGNI, back to reality, Aichi turned his attention to Blaster Blade and Alfred.
"Bring hope to the battlefield and lead the way!" he called "Legion attack! With Alfred's skill, he gains Double Crush for this turn!"
"N... No guard!" Hitoe replied.
Back in the imaged field, Alfred and Blaster Blade charged forwards towards Yuzuki who held her cannons out in front of her, only for the King of Knights to slash them to the side, giving the Swordsman of Light an opening available for him to strike. He slashed down the front of the LRIG, knocking her backwards a few steps before she recovered back onto her feet with the aid of her wings. Meanwhile, Hitoe flipped up the two crushed Life Cloths she had as a surprised look came across almost everyone from watching. The cards revealed were both Gatling Claw Dragon and Wyvern Guard, Barri.
(End Music)
"A... A double Life Burst?!" Naoki gasped in disbelief.
"I'm assuming that's a good thing for Hitoe, right?" the Selector's mother asked out of curiousity.
"It would appear so," Ren spoke "The ones she triggered has allowed her to increase both her hand and Ener by a small margin. Then again, who knows if they will contribute to a victory?"
Everyone else in the room remained silent as they turned their gaze back onto the battle before them.
"Turn end," Aichi spoke.
End of Turn 6
Aichi vs Hitoe
Hand - 6 : 5
Life Cloths - 3 : 2
Current LRIGs - Light Source Seeker, Alfred (Legioned with Blaster Blade) : Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition
SIGNI : God Eater, Ultimate Sword - Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn - Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY
Ener - 2 : 7
Hitoe breathed in a little as she began the start of her turn. Looking amongst the cards in her hand, she made a decision before taking another copy of Dragon Dancer, Barbara in her hand and placing it in her Ener Zone.
(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: The Thunder Dragon Descends)
"F... First, I'll use Salvage to add Orochi back to my hand," she spoke, revealing the ARTS from her LRIG deck and taking Orochi's card from amongst the cards in her Trash Pile and putting it back into her hand.
"Then I'll summon her and use her ability to banish God Eater!"
After the Selector had paid the cost for the Dragon Beast SIGNI's ability, Aichi took God Eater's card and moved it to his Ener Zone as a result of it being banished. When he looked back at Hitoe, he could see that for the moment, there was no longer a hint of any nervousness beneath her expression as there usually was. He was beginning to wonder if her earlier battle with Akira had indeed had a bit of an impact for her.
"Limit Break!" she called "I crush a Life Cloth and negate any Life Burst it has!"
Aichi's eyes widened in surprise. He knew a lot about Yuzuki had changed since their friendly battle had begun, but a Limit Break of all abilities was the last thing that he was expecting to appear before him. Hitoe revealed two Dual Axe Archdragons from her hand before dropping them into her Trash Pile along with another 3 cards from her Ener Zone. On the imagined field, Yuzuki gathered up the energy in her cannons before pointing them at Blaster Blade and Alfred and unleashing a torrent of flames at the two units, engulfing them into both a massive explosion and a raging inferno. As Aichi flipped up the crushed Life Cloth, he could only groan upon seeing that it was Margal. Without the Life Burst, he could not increase his hand as a result.
"Amazing..." he muttered under his breath "Just how strong did Hitoe get from her battle with Akira?"
Upon realizing it, he was immediately thankful that Hitoe's parents had not overheard what he had just said, at the risk of raising any suspicion of her involvement in the Selector Battles. Turning his attention back to the field, he saw the Selector summon another Kannya along with Gatling Claw Dragon.
"M... My SIGNI will attack!" she called.
On the imaged field, Orochi and Gatling Claw charged across towards their respective opponents. Palamedes and Tranquil Unicorn did the best they could to fend them off, but their efforts were in vain as they were quickly overpowered by the two dragons. When they retreated, Alfred and Blaster Blade looked forwards just in time to see both Kannya and Yuzuki taking flight towards them. The Dragon Beast SIGNI landed a kick to the King of Knights, knocking him backwards whilst the Swordsman of Light braced himself for the oncoming LRIG. A bright flash appeared in between them as Defending Seeker, Shiron emerged with a green circle in front of him, blocking Yuzuki's attack. Aichi moved Shiron's card to his Trash Pile as he looked back over at Hitoe.
"That was amazing," he spoke, a warm smile present on his expression. "I had no idea that Yuzuki managed to get that strong recently. This is really... fun."
"W... Well, I mainly have you to thank for that," the Selector answered, blushing a little as she did so. "But... now that you mention fun though..."
"Don't worry," Aichi replied "We're not giving up on Ruko-san."
"... Thank you," said Hitoe.
"I see now that these boys are good friends for Hitoe to have around," the Selector's mother spoke "They really do look out for her."
"Indeed," the father replied "The fact they would go as far as to help her in searching for Ruko does confirm this."
Whilst the two were conversing with each other, Kai briefly turned his attention away from the battle and took out Shiro's LRIG card from his jacket pocket. He could see that the LRIG was now sleeping peacefully amongst the space around in her card. He kept a gaze upon her before turning his attention back towards Aichi and Hitoe, with several thoughts now on his mind, thinking back to the battle he had with Ruko.
From what I can understand, in order to save Ruko from Reverse he thought I need to not just restore her faith in the friends around her, but I also need to rebuild her trust with Shiro. Only then, could she possibly listen to reason. If that's the case, then this is what I must do.
He then took out the deck that Ruko had passed on to Ren, which he had passed on to the Kagero user, fanning out all of the cards that were present.
Even now, Ruko's original deck alone will not be enough to accomplish that. But even so, I will advance forward.
(End Music)
Fumio's Apartment
Around an hour or more later...
After her LRIG Anne had fallen asleep on the card that was present on her desk, Fumio had turned down all the lights that were around her home, seemingly ready to tuck in for the night. However, a closer glance at her pained expression could tell that she was not quite ready to call it a night just yet. She turned her attention towards the farthest left draw in her desk and carefully opened it up. Inside was a pile of cards, seemingly compiled into a full deck that was compatible for the Wixoss card game. As she picked them up, a familiar dark red aura covered over the deck as she turned it around for her to view the top card.
"How long do I have... before it must begin?" she asked, seemingly to no one in particular.
"My higher ups will notify me when the time will come," a deep voice sounded out, the same one that the Selector conversed with since the night that Leon had arrived in her apartment. "For now, you know what to do."
"Indeed, for the sake of myself, Anne, and 'her'*," Fumio replied "I will carry out your orders... Schwarzschild."
And there we go! With a little help from Hitoe and her parents, Aichi manages to make a recovery from his drained state after his battle with Ulith. By the request of both Hitoe's mother and father, the Royal Paladin user agrees to a friendly game with the Selector as they haven't seen their daughter in a game of Wixoss before prior to Ruko's disappearance. As neither of them hold back, Ruko meanwhile begins to see that keeping back Reverse may have more consequences than she currently realizes as her body begins to suffer from the effects whilst Fumio glances over the cards she has been keeping hidden from her LRIG, Anne, once again talking to the voice that she calls Schwarzschild. What will happen? Find out next time.
Now before anyone gets all angry with the conclusion to the battle not being shown, I can assure you that this will be both the first and the last time that this will happen (and if anyone calls me out on laziness for that, I understand as I wanted to make sure the story gets to Arc 2's endgame as quickly as possible without jumping over too many important things in the next chapter with it being the last 'filler' before that). For what you wanted to be the result of this particular battle... I'll let you be the judge of that.
That aside, don't forget to follow, favourite and/or leave a review and I'll see you all next time! Until then!
*This first plays in Episode 105 when Aichi rides Blaster Blade Liberator.
*More foreshadowing for later on. I'll keep you guessing as to who Fumio may be referring to until later on.
