Teknisk Wereld: Judgment

by Celtic Guardian 7

Seven years later, everyone from the group has finally returned. But just as they do so, problems with the world itself arrive. Who is behind all of this? COMPLETE

22. Truth

Writing roll? Writing roll.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Truth

Nothing impeded their progress towards the city, much to their relief. The trip was slow due to Max's injury, but they went at his pace, making sure he did not get worn out.

Once they had gone a short distance into the city, Zack said, "We have a problem now. Where should we start looking for Seiryu? He could be in any of these buildings."

"Yeah, this could take a while," Miles agreed. "It's not like we can check every building, but what other choice do we have?"

A roar from above answered his question. They looked up to see a black dragon with an appearance similar to a serpent's dive towards them, shooting a blast of black energy.

"Get down!" Draken yelled, pulling Kisara to the ground with him. The rest of them ducked as well, except for Angela. Her hair dove into the ground and came up in front of them, forming a shield. The blast deflected off it, leaving everyone unharmed.

That was not the end of the danger, for the dragon flew past them and went up to try a second time. When they looked at it, they managed to see that there was someone on the dragon's head.

"That's Seiryu!" Brandi said. "We saw him when he came to capture us, and that's how he rode his dragon!"

"It's an Evil Knight Dragon," Mana added. "Named Ryuujin, I think? He knocked me around pretty badly when we fought."

"We don't have much of a way to fight him like this," Max said. "With our support cards banned, he has the advantage."

"I think the best chance of success we have is to attack him in the air," Will stated. "Otherwise, he can keep diving at us like that."

"But we don't have any flying monsters… except…" Brandi trailed off as Kisara got on Kazel. "What? Kisara, you're going to fight him?"

"That's too dangerous!" Hope said. "You just got out of a duel where you were nearly strangled, and it's clear Seiryu and Ryuujin are no novices at fighting!"

"You forget that I am also skilled in aerial combat," Kazel said. "Kisara is too, for she has ridden me when I do my practices. Do not worry. We can handle this."

"You're sure you're up for it, Kisara?" Draken called up to her. "I know you're good enough to take him down most of the time, but you aren't in your best state."

"I will be fine," Kisara replied, so softly that they almost did not hear her. Then she nudged Kazel's side with her foot, similar to what one would do to a horse. Kazel sprang into the air, her wings moving swiftly to catch up to the higher Soul Monster.

Ryuujin saw her coming and shot a beam of darkness at her. Kazel flew up, leaving the beam to decimate a building in the city, and countered by attacking with a fireball. He saw it coming and twisted away, diving towards her with claws outstretched. Bracing herself for the impact, Kazel's claws met with his, and she shoved him towards the ground while simultaneously lashing out with her tail. Ryuujin recovered from the shove only to be slapped across the side by the whip-like strike, which caused him to snarl. He snapped his jaws at Kazel's left leg and managed to catch it. Roaring, Kazel responded with a fierce bite to his neck, which was far more devastating. Ryuujin spun through the air, dragging Kazel with him, and slammed into a tall building. Kisara was nearly crushed by the impact, but Kazel's wings had provided enough of a cushion to avoid hitting her back into it. The suicidal move had affected Ryuujin, although it had also served the purpose he had wanted by getting Kazel to release her grip. He flew back into the air, Seiryu masterfully keeping his balance on his head while Kazel pursued him.

"This is intense!" Rue said, watching the fight in amazement. "I never knew Kisara and Kazel were so good at this!"

"Like Kazel said, they practice. I only hope it's enough," Draken said, clearly concerned.

The chase ended with Kazel biting Ryuujin's tail. Ryuujin turned to her furiously, striking at her head with his claws and leaving a long gash across the top of her head. Kazel released her grip to slash in return, giving him a set of cuts on his side. The dragons continued to fight with fangs and claws, leaving many wounds covering their bodies. In this aspect, they were evenly matched. Realizing that, Ryuujin reared back his head to attack with a wave of darkness. Kazel took the opportunity to shoot a fireball from her mouth, which hit at the exact moment Ryuujin unleashed his attack.

A huge explosion of black and orange masked the fighters in the sky, making it impossible to see the outcome until Mana suddenly said, "Look! Over there!"

The two dragons dropped out of the smoke-covered sky, Kazel's jaws latched onto Ryuujin's throat. He clawed feebly at Kazel, showing that she had hit nothing vital yet. Kazel refused to let go despite his constant battering, and both dragons hit the ground heavily a short distance away. The group swiftly went to the location to see the outcome of the fight.

Kazel lay on top of Ryuujin; apparently he had taken the worst of the fall, for he was barely moving. Seiryu had leapt off his head and was now standing next to him, his hand at his Duel Disk. Kisara held onto Kazel's back in a death grip, still in shock at the fast and furious battle they had just fought.

"You!" Seiryu snarled at Kisara, who shrank back fearfully at his tone. "It was you who killed Duke! I won't let you get away with it!" He turned his glare to the rest of the group. "I won't let any of you get away with it!"

"You're the one who ordered Duke to face us!" Hope said angrily, which earned her a few surprised glances. Her companions had not been aware that she was this furious with Seiryu. "Duke nearly killed Max and Kisara! And that was just the most recent attack! Every Judge you sent after us came with the intent to kill. We fought for our lives, and for the lives of the innocents that the deletion affected! If you hadn't wanted Duke to die, you shouldn't have sent him!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Seiryu snapped. "Nor do I have any intention to enlighten you! If you refuse to die in combat, then duel me, and we'll let that decide the one who perishes!"

"Fine, I accept your challenge!" Hope realized what she was saying and glanced at the group. "If that's okay with all of you, I mean."

"Go ahead," Max said. "I think we know better than to get in your way." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Ryuujin dragged himself upright and went next to Seiryu, ready to help in the duel despite the battering he had received. Gaston stood by Hope's side in preparation. Seeing that they were both set, Hope and Seiryu turned on their Duel Disks.

While they were doing that, Kazel staggered to the group, lying down to let Kisara off and to rest.

"You look pretty bad," Draken said in concern.

"I will recover," Kazel stated. "All I need is a little rest."

"With no support cards, that's the only thing I can give you," Kisara said anxiously.

"Do not worry about me. Hope is the one who needs your concern," Kazel stated. Realizing she was right, they turned back to watch the duel.

Hope: 8000

Seiryu: 8000

"I'm going first-" Seiryu began to say, but was cut off by Hope.

"Oh no you don't! If anything, we're deciding this fairly!" Hope said heatedly.

"Fine, fine, I'll pick a number between one and ten," Brandi said.

Seiryu rolled his eyes. "Five."

"Seven," Hope said.

Brandi indicated to Seiryu. "It was five."

"Darn it," Hope muttered as Seiryu smirked triumphantly and drew a card.

"I begin by summoning Dragonfly. (1400/900) The only other thing I do is lay a card down," Seiryu said.

When Hope saw what she had drawn, she smiled. "I lay a monster in defense and a card. That's all for me."

"Time to start tearing you apart," Seiryu threatened. "I summon Hell Dragon (2000/0) and attack your defense monster with Dragonfly!"

"It's my Big Shield Guarder. (100/2600) You don't even come close to destroying him," Hope said.

Hope: 8000

Seiryu: 6800

"His effect forces him to switch to attack mode when he is attacked though," Hope said, changing his position.

"If that's the case, I attack with Hell Dragon to destroy him!" Seiryu said.

"That's what I was hoping you'd do," Hope told him. "I activate my trap card, Assault Preparations! It allows me to switch one Magic-User or Warrior monster to face-down defense mode, so I do that with my Big Shield Guarder! Your attack makes him go to attack mode again, but you don't have any more monsters to attack with."

Hope: 8000

Seiryu: 6200

Seiryu glared at her before saying, "Although it makes no difference now, Ryuujin's Deck Master ability activates. When one of my Dragon Sub-Types fails to destroy a monster in battle, your monster loses attack and defense points equal to my monster's attack. (0/600) This only lasts until the end phase of my turn though, hence why it is pointless at this moment. Hell Dragon is destroyed when he attacks, so he goes to the Cemetery. I lay two cards down and end my turn. This means I can use Hell Dragon's other effect. By sacrificing a monster on my field-in this case, Dragonfly-he returns to my field. Go."

Hope blinked a few times, sorting out everything he had said, and then took her turn. "I switch Big Shield Guarder to defense mode and summon Goblin Strike Team. (2300/0) Goblin Strike Team attacks your Hell Dragon!"

Once the Goblins had destroyed the Hell Dragon and had their stats decreased (300/0), Seiryu said, "Since my monster was destroyed in battle, I may now activate this trap card, Hell Blast! The monster on the field with the lowest attack is destroyed, and each of us takes damage equal to half of its attack. That means your Guarder's gone!"

The Guarder exploded in a fiery blast, inflicting a bit of damage to both duelists.

Hope: 7950

Seiryu: 5850

"There isn't much I can do about that," Hope said. "My Goblin Strike Team switches to defense mode after attacking. I'm done."

Seiryu looked at the card he drew with satisfaction. "It is time to unleash my deck's true power. I summon Armed Dragon Lv 3!" (1200/900)

"A level monster?" Hope said warily as the orange dragon with metal body parts appeared.

"Correct. It appears you already know what those are," Seiryu said. "Though that should not be your immediate concern, for now I activate a permanent trap card, Dragon Rage! Whenever a Dragon Sub-Type attacks a defense monster, you take damage anyway. Once I have laid a card down, Armed Dragon attacks Goblin Strike Team!"

Hope definitely had a sense of déjà vu when it came to seeing her Goblins be torn through in defense mode to have a hard blow landed on her.

Hope: 6750

Seiryu: 5850

"You're free to take your turn," Seiryu said.

"Then I will," Hope answered. "I don't want to have to worry about you getting out a higher leveled monster, so I'm going to destroy your Armed Dragon while I have the chance! I summon Troop Commander! (1200/400) When he is summoned successfully, I can special summon a level four or lower monster from my hand to the field, so I bring out Surprising Matasa! (1300/800) Matasa attacks your Armed Dragon!"

"Afraid not. I activate Attack Nullification to negate your attack and end the battle phase," Seiryu said.

Hope winced. "I guess I'm done."

"Then you're too late!" Seiryu said. "On my standby phase, I sacrifice my Armed Dragon Lv 3 to special summon Armed Dragon Lv 5 from my deck!" (2400/1700)

Confronted by the larger dragon with red skin, gray metal parts, and spikes coming from its body, Hope said, "This will be a lot more difficult to deal with."

"I lay a card down and attack Troop Commander!" Seiryu said.

One smack from the Armed Dragon's large, metal-covered fist instantly destroyed the Troop Commander, leaving Hope with one monster.

Hope: 5550

Seiryu: 5850

"On the end phase, my Armed Dragon Lv 5's effect activates. I can sacrifice it, since it destroyed one of your monsters, to special summon Armed Dragon Lv 7 from my deck! (2800/1000) If you want to go on, take your turn," Seiryu said as Hope watched the giant orange and metal dragon roar. "Wouldn't blame you for quitting though."

"I'm not about to give up!" Hope declared, drawing. "Once you're defeated, Teknisk Wereld won't be in danger of being deleted anymore. I have to succeed in that!"

To her surprise, and the spectators' as well, Seiryu laughed at that. Once he had stopped, he said, "You really think defeating me will end this?"

"You're the head of the Judges," Rue said. "So why not?"

"Before I answer that, let me ask a question of my own," Seiryu said. "Why are you trying to defend Teknisk Wereld?"

"It's a world too," Brandi said. "One that you're trying to destroy!"

"Your actions have caused at least three people to fall into a coma," Zack stated. "Perhaps more. If Teknisk Wereld is completely lost, those people will probably remain like that until they die."

"What if other innocents get caught up in this?" Draken pointed out. "We're trying to help them too!"

"Yet you fight for Teknisk Wereld without knowing what it really is," Seiryu said.

"What do you mean by that?" Larka asked.

"Have any of you ever sat down and asked yourselves what Teknisk Wereld really is?" Seiryu inquired. Receiving no response, he continued. "Not many do. They merely think it is a virtual world that their minds can go to while their bodies remain safe. How wrong they are! Teknisk Wereld is no mere virtual world. It is actually a parallel world, one that lies beside the one we call the 'real world'. Normally, people could never access it, because their minds would always hold some doubt to its existence. So nobody was able to go in, until a certain man thought of a way to make it possible. By creating a Guardian to serve as the 'core' of this world, by designing a map of the world on a computer, by telling people it was a virtual reality they could access through machines, the man was able to have people enter this world! Their minds had been dispelled of doubts, so long as they followed the procedures and rules that went with it, such as using a Duel Disk to enter. Not many people know this, but I do, and a member of your group does." He looked at Angela. "Do you agree with me, Guardian?"

"Everything you have said so far is correct," Angela replied.

Seiryu nodded, and then said, "At first, I was going to kill that man, the creator of Teknisk Wereld, to obtain justice for the victims of it. Yet when I really thought about that, I realized something. Slaying the creator would do no good to those victims, for Teknisk Wereld would still exist to torment others. So I decided to destroy the creation itself. And who better to destroy the creation than its creator?"

"What? You mean…" Larka trailed off, unable to finish.

"That is right," Seiryu said. "Sarov Yggdrasill, the creator of Teknisk Wereld, is the one who hired us to help destroy it."

The group was silent in shock at that. All except Will, who stated, "Now I understand why he banned us from entering Teknisk Wereld for so long. Since we had defended it before, he was afraid we would do so again, thus he wanted preparation time."

"We were hired specifically to stop those who tried to interfere with the deletion," Seiryu explained. "The creator spoke of your group, and I knew we would probably face you. Your group prefers to hide behind cards, so we decided to learn how to play the game as well. We spent a year training for two reasons. One, so that we would be ready. Two, to defeat all of you at once."

"But… the creator wants to destroy the world he made? Why?" Hope said.

"I asked the same thing," Seiryu stated. "All he said was that had caused too much suffering and he wanted to end it. If you want more details, you'll have to get by me and ask him yourself!"

"Then I'll do just that! I place a monster in defense mode and a card down!" Hope said. "Do your worst."

"Not yet, but I will soon," Seiryu said. "I attack your face-down monster with Armed Dragon Lv 7!"

"I won't let you!" Hope said. "I activate Curse of Darkness to halt your monster and reduce its attack points by 700!"

"And that is something I will not let you do," Seiryu retorted. "Another permanent trap of mine will stop that, one called Dragon's Jewel. By discarding a card from my hand-I will get rid of Level Down?!-a trap targeting one of my Dragon Sub-Types is negated and destroyed. My attack goes through!"

"You destroyed my Command Knight…" Hope said, watching the Armed Dragon violently shred the defense monster apart.

Hope: 4650

Seiryu: 5850

Hope glanced at her Life Point counter before saying, "You're done? If so, I summon Female Warrior of the Wilderness (1100/1200) and end my turn."

"A foolish move," Seiryu said. "I have just drawn my most powerful monster, and thanks to him, you will perish! I sacrifice my Armed Dragon Lv 7 to special summon Armed Dragon Lv 10!" (3000/2000)

This was certainly the most threatening Armed Dragon of the lot, with dark red skin and silver metal covering its upper body. It gave a harsh, metallic roar as it spread its sharp wings.

"All of my Armed Dragons but the Lv 3 one have effects in addition to leveling up," Seiryu said. "Lv 5 and Lv 7 allowed me to discard a monster card from my hand to destroy all face-up monsters on your field with attack equal to or lower than the monster discarded. But Lv 10 allows me to discard any card to destroy all your face-up monsters. I discard Spear Dragon to do so!"

The Armed Dragon sped to the monsters, whipping two blows at them in a blur. They were sliced to ribbons in the blink of an eye.

"Then he attacks you directly!" Seiryu declared.

Hope braced herself, but it did little good to defend against the giant dragon's fierce attack. Hope was knocked over, landing on her back from the harsh strike.

Hope: 1650

Seiryu: 5850

"Are you all right?" Gaston said anxiously, helping her up.

"Yeah, thanks. I can continue. I just have to hope for the right card…" Hope drew a card and looked at it, and then smiled. "I really owe my friends for giving me such good birthday presents."

"What are you talking about?" Seiryu said, wary at her confident expression.

"I have a way to take down your monster," Hope declared. "I summon Retrained Elven Swordsman! (1400/1200) Then I equip him with Dragon-Slaying Sword! This increases a Warrior Sub-Type's attack by 700. (2100/1200) The effect I was really after, though, was that when a monster equipped with it battles a Dragon Sub-Type, the Dragon Sub-Type is instantly destroyed at the end of the battle phase! Retrained Elven Swordsman attacks Armed Dragon Lv 10!"

Although the Retrained Elven Swordsman was clearly at the disadvantage, he sliced cleanly through the Armed Dragon. It fell into two pieces, cleaved by the Dragon-Slaying Sword.

Hope: 750

Seiryu: 5850

Seiryu stared at the field in disbelief. "I can't believe you destroyed my Armed Dragon Lv 10. Wait… how is Retrained Elven Swordsman still there? He should have been destroyed anyway!"

"When battling a monster with 1900 attack or more, Retrained Elven Swordsman is not destroyed," Hope answered, still managing to stand strong despite having very few Life Points. "It's your turn."

"It's not over yet!" Seiryu said. "I play a magic card, Level Adjustment! You draw two cards, but it is worth it, as it allows me to take a monster with Lv in its name from my Cemetery and special summon it! I obviously choose my Armed Dragon Lv 10!" Seeing Hope's horrified look, he added, "I unfortunately cannot attack or use effects with that monster for this turn, but that restriction will be gone on my next one. Go ahead and make your move."

Hope considered the cards in her hand before saying, "If your Level Adjustment had not let me draw two cards, I would have been in deep trouble. As it is, I think I have what I need to win. I equip Retrained Elven Swordsman with The Fused Sword, Murasame Blade! It raises his attack by 800! (2900/1200) Then I summon Blade Knight! (1600/1000) I lay one card down, and due to only having one card in my hand, Blade Knight's attack increases by 400! (2000/1000) Retrained Elven Swordsman destroys your Armed Dragon, and Blade Knight attacks directly!"

Watching his Armed Dragon be destroyed a second time must have cut Seiryu deeply. Whether it was worse than the Blade Knight's attack or not was not something that could be guessed easily.

Hope: 650

Seiryu: 3850

"That's… impossible…" Seiryu slapped a card onto his Duel Disk. "I place a monster in defense mode… and end…"

"I have you!" Hope declared. "I summon The Magnificent Infiltrator! (1300/1200) Blade Knight attacks your defense monster!"

"My Mirage Dragon is destroyed…" (1600/600)

"The Magnificent Infiltrator attacks you directly, and Retrained Elven Swordsmen ends the duel!"

Seiryu winced as the Infiltrator's bullet made contact with him, but that was nothing compared to the painful slash the Retrained Elven Swordsmen dealt him with his two enhanced swords.

Hope: 650

Seiryu: 0

"No… I swore I would win! I swore I would avenge him!" Seiryu snarled.

"You lost," Hope stated. "It's time you accepted the consequences for what you've done."

"I refuse!" Seiryu pulled a card out and put it into his Duel Disk, vanishing with Ryuujin.

"What the hell did he just do?" Rue said in disbelief.

"There is a 96.09 percent probability he used the magic card Receding Circuit," Angela said.

"What does that do?" Mana asked.

"The user teleports to a set location in Teknisk Wereld," Angela responded.

"Then he could be long gone!" Miles groaned.

"Negative. A similar anomaly occurred in this city, approximately in Sector 5345," Angela stated.

"Can you lead us there?" Max said.

"Yes." Angela started walking down the street. The rest of the group rushed to follow, determined to end the conflict with Seiryu before he permanently escaped.

To be continued…