The Final Assault:
At Kirkwall, Commander Meredith stood in her office looking out of the widow to the surrounding area. She was wondering how did things go wrong so quickly, they had been on the verge of defeating the Spellcasters at Andoral's Reach but at the last minute, a sudden attack had defeated them and ever since then, things had gone downhill. The spellcasters had captured both Redcliffe and Aeonar and had taken out Meredith's top men, Karras and Alrik. Now the Spellcasters and their army were on their doorstep, many Warriors had gone to the rebel Thrask's army and many people in Kirkwall had begun to demand for negotiations as food supplies had fallen. Riots had broken out on the streets and Meredith had declared martial law and curfews. Her warriors had rounded up anyone speaking of defeat and imprisoned them.
There was a knock on the door "Come in!" Meredith called and the door opened to reveal Ser Mettin, Meredith's new second in Command
"Commander." Mettin greeted "We've had reports from the scouts."
"And what have they reported?" Meredith demanded.
"It's not good news." Mettin admitted "The Spellcaster army is within two days march from the city and worse, they've made an alliance with Thrask. It won't be long until they come here."
"Then call back everyone!" Meredith growled "For years, I promised to protect the people from the abomination known as the Spellcasters; I will do what I promised to do. Prepare for a battle, if they want Kirkwall, we will make them fight for it. We will not lose; we will fight until they run out of duel energy."
"As you command." Mettin stated "But there is one more thing, I was shocked to learn of this myself but Cullen has been seen among Thrask's forces."
"You mean he was captured?" Meredith questioned
"No Commander." Mettin replied "He wasn't being held prisoner, he was walking around freely in Thrask's camp, and it seems he had deflected."
"Get out!" Meredith growled which made Mettin freeze in terror until Meredith growled for him to get out again and Mettin quickly left. Meredith walked over to a chest and pulled out a duel disk, this one was different to the one that the other warriors used, this duel disk was red and seemed to have large red crystals coming out of it and there was an eerie dark red glow surrounding the duel disk "I will show the Spellcasters what real power is. With the power that this duel disk has granted me, I shall destroy the Spellcasters once and for all." Meredith's allowed the power that this duel disk granted her to take over causing her eyes to glow red with rage and anger.
...
Some distance away from Kirkwall, the combined forces of the spellcasters, the Bufferlands and the Warrior rebels were planning their upcoming attack on the final Warrior stronghold, the capital of the Warrior Faction, the city of Kirkwall.
"Taking Kirkwall won't be easy." Fiona stated "We've been lucky so far in our campaign but even I know that the Warriors won't give up Kirkwall without a fight. Meredith will have gathered all her remaining loyalists and they will fight us until the end."
"Can't we try and negotiate with her?" Anais asked "Surely she has to see that the war is over."
"Did we surrender when the Warriors came for us?" Anders questioned "No we didn't, Meredith will fight until the end and if that's what she wants, then it's what she gets."
"Meredith has to go." Thrask stated "That I agree with but there are thousands of innocent people in Kirkwall." He looked at Anders "And I know what you think of us but the people of that city didn't do anything to the Spellcasters of the Bufferland people. That was the soldiers and the leaders of the Warrior faction, not the people. Many of them were just trying to get on with their life."
"Couldn't we try and encourage an uprising among them?" Solona suggested
Cullen shook his head "Meredith became more and more paranoid as time went on. She had patrols watching everyone and arrested anyone who questioned her. The people are scared of her and not to mention the propaganda she created about the Spellcasters. Even if they're not true, the people won't know what's the truth and what's lies. Also, this is their city so we're technically invading their lands and destroying their homes."
"I didn't come all this way to end the campaign." Fiona hissed "I would rather avoid massive destruction but if we don't take out Meredith then she'll just regain her strength. If we're going to end this war, we'll have to finish this war now."
"Is there a way we can sneak into the city like we did at Redcliffe?" Solona questioned "There's has to be another way into the city other than just attacking."
"There are sewer tunnels throughout the city." Thrask stated "There's a region known as Darktown where all the undesirables lived. Old sewer tunnels run through that area and go all throughout the city. I used them to escape the city."
"That won't work anymore." Cullen cut in "Meredith has pretty much destroyed those tunnels. There was resistance there and Meredith sent patrols to put them down and now all of the tunnels either have guards or have now been caved in. There is no way we can use them and Meredith will believe we will use those tunnels, we'll be walking into a trap."
"Then I guess there is only one choice left." Fiona stated "I guess we're going to start a siege of the city using our monsters."
"That will take time Fiona." Anais reminded "And remember that the Warriors will have stored all of their power crystals here, they could have a lot more energy than we do."
"She's right." Anders agreed "We only have what we could carry and we may run out of power before they do and then we'll be sitting ducks for them."
"If we break the walls, Meredith will retreat to the Warrior Stronghold." Cullen stated "That will be the strongest part of the city but even so; she will fight until the end."
"What can you tell us about the Stronghold?" Aristide questioned
"The stronghold is known as the Gallows." Cullen stated "It was once an old fortress built by the Dragon Faction long before the Warrior Faction was formed. It was also a stronghold for slavery, despite tales of great heroes from the Dragon Faction, they were also notorious for enslaving people. Even today, the Gallows still has large statues of tortured Slaves which were meant to break the will of newly arrived Slaves. It was used as the Warrior's prison for many years but Meredith decided to use it to imprison captured people. I'm not even going to speak about what she's done in there, back then, I thought it was necessary but now I just know that I'm making excuses."
"Kirkwall and the Gallows also have strong walls." Thrask added "It won't be easy to bring them down."
"But maybe she can." Anders stated looking at Solona.
"Wait, what do you want my sister to do?" Daylen questioned
"We've seen the power that her dragons have." Anders stated "The power they have can help bring down the walls."
"And what of the people inside the city?" Thrask hissed "They've done nothing to you."
"I didn't come all this way to be seen as a butcher." Fiona hissed "But I'm not seeing much choice, if we don't bring down the walls, we may never get into the city since we can't use tunnels this time."
"Is there a place where I could bring down the walls without the risk of killing a lot of innocent people?" Solona questioned.
Thrask and Cullen thought for a moment to try and think of an area where there weren't many people living. And soon Cullen knew just the place.
"There is one area where that could be done." Cullen stated "The only problem is that it's right near the Gallows. On the western side of the city is a stronghold for the local guards that were used to guard the city of Kirkwall itself. When Meredith took over, she stripped the guards of their duty and replaced them with her warriors. There's a gate that leads into the city there but it would be suicide to attack it directly, the Gallows are not far from that gate."
"Then I guess the best thing to do will be to attack the city at different points." Fiona stated "We need to spread the Warrior faction out in the city."
"There may still be those who wish to defect to us." Thrask added "Many of the Warriors in the city don't want to fight for Meredith, they're forced to fight for her but they will fear the Spellcasters, if you can show them that you're not here to destroy them then they may surrender or change sides."
"We need to plan this assault soon." Fiona stated "I just need to decide who attacks where."
...
Livius glared at the Warriors as he walked along the streets of Kirkwall in his Warrior disguise along with Gordian. The two of them had arrived in the hills near Kirkwall and they had quickly taken out a small Warrior patrol and use their uniforms as their disguises to enter the city and they did it just in time as Commander Meredith ordered the Gates to be sealed, now no one was getting in or out. Now they just had to wait until the Spellcaster army arrived and then they just needed to find their target and perform the mission that the Elder One had given them.
Gordian looked at him "So what do we do when the girl arrives?" he asked, Gordian may be a higher ranked member of the Venatori but he was not a top member like Livius was. Livius pretty much disliked most other members of the Venatori, to him; he was the Elder One's top man and the one who would stand by his side when he ascends to Godhood. He was be richly rewarded for his actions and he did not like the idea of sharing his power with others. After his failure to capture the girl, he was determined not to fail again otherwise another member like Gordian or Samson could take his position. Livius knew that Calpernia would outlive her usefulness soon.
"We just need to find the girl and when we do, I'll dart her when I get the chance." Livius replied
"How will that help the Elder One?" Gordian asked
"The effects of the dart will make her not think clearly." Livius stated "Then we just need to get a way of getting the girl to come to us. Then we just need to capture her and take her to the Elder One, she is the key for his plans. Then we just have to find the final Old God card and retake the card that the girl's brother has and then our plans will be complete and the Elder One will ascend to Godhood."
"To the Elder One." Gordian stated
Livius had a fake smile on his face "To the Elder One." Now all they had to do was wait for the battle to begin and then they could locate the girl and wait for the opportunity to do what the Elder One ordered them to do.
...
The Spellcasters and their allied forces arrived a few days later and soon they had surrounded all of the Gates into the city of Kirkwall. Fiona led the majority of the forces at the southern gate, the main gate into the city. Daylen, Aedan and Sereda, Jaden, and Chazz were also with Fiona force as well
The western gate was where Thrask and Cullen were, this was the gate that lead towards the Gallows and so Solona was also with them as well as this was where they planned to use her dragons to blow a hole through the walls. When Cullen gave the signal, the Fiona's army would leave the gate they were attacking and make for the hole. Thrask and Cullen would also try and convince other Warriors in Kirkwall that they were here to help and stop fighting. Solona was also joined by Theorn and her father as well as Neria, Kallian and Alexis.
Anais would also be providing a distraction with the rest of the forces to attack the eastern gate as a distraction. This was mainly a distraction and they were not expected to breach the gate. Anders would also be there as well as a way of keeping him distracted so he doesn't try and hurt a lot of people. Zane and Crowler were there to help provide some heavy attacks. Fiona wanted this war to be over and not to drag on once they defeated Meredith. Once Meredith was defeated, negotiations would take place and hopefully that would please Anders and the other hardliners who would rather see the Warrior Faction destroyed.
Fiona stood in front of her forces. She used special calling crystals to contact the soldiers in the other armies "Everyone, the time has come. The Final Battle is upon us. Before us stands the Great City of Kirkwall, the symbol of Warrior Power and now it is time for us to finish this war that the Warriors started. But remember, our mission is not to destroy the Warrior Faction, we're only here to put an end to the ones who started this war. Our main target is Commander Meredith, if any Warrior does surrender then it is to be accepted. Commander Meredith on the other hand is a different case, I know she will not go down fighting but no matter what happens, Meredith's control ends here today and by the end of this day, the threat of Meredith's paranoia will no longer trouble us. We stand here not as the Spellcasters but as a united force. It's not just Spellcasters with us but people from the Bufferlands and even Warriors who want to put an end to Meredith. We all have one thing in common, our hatred of Meredith. We can't let our differences get in the way of our mission. Once we win this battle, this war is over and we can go back to the way life was before Meredith started this stupid war. Now stand with me and let's put an end to Meredith's control." The people all cheered.
On the Walls, the Warriors of the Warrior army looked at the massive army before them, they had many more soldiers than they did and many of the remaining Warriors were new recruits, most of the veterans were either captured, dead or had defected to Thrask's. Some Warriors would rather surrender but they were just as scared of Meredith as they were scared of the Spellcasters. Meredith had crystallized nearly 10 Warriors the day before after they had tried to convince her to talk with the Spellcasters but Meredith said that they only way they were going down was by fighting.
Meredith herself stood at the southern gate where the main Spellcaster army had gathered, Ser Mettin guarded the west gate and now it was time for the battle. Meredith was determined that if she was going down, she would take as many down as she could before she fell.
Fiona looked at her army and called "Begin!" then everyone started to summon monsters out onto the field with many Spellcasters appearing.
"Come on out Good old Flame Wingman!" Jaden called as he fused Avian and Burstinatrix together to form his favourite hero monster.
"Combine my machines to form the dragon Buster" Chazz added as his ABC monsters combined into one to form a large machine.
"Let's cast some spells Dark Magician." Daylen called as he summoned his magician.
"Time to strike from the shadows with my Silent Sister." Sereda added as she summoned her Dwarven Silent Sister
"Let's shows these warriors how we fight Knight Commander" Aedan finished as he summoned his Knight Commander monster.
On the western side of Kirkwall, Thrask and his warriors summoned their own Warrior monsters and then Solona and her friends summoned their own monsters.
"Strike from the skies Blue Eyes." Solona stated as she summoned her beloved Blue Eyes White Dragon.
"The ancient guardians of the elves have our backs." Theorn added as he brought out his Dalish Varterral.
"Show the power of the heavens." Aristide replied as he summoned Ehther the Heavenly Monarch.
"Let's show them how Angels can fight." Neria stated as he summoned Celestia Lightsworn Angel.
"Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she can't swing swords." Alexis added as she performed a Ritual summon to bring out Cyber Angel Dakini.
"Three knights together make a powerful monster." Kallian added as she fused King, Queen and Jack Knights to fusion summon Arcana Knight Joker.
Cullen looked upon the city and hoped he had made the right choice "I use my Vega, Sirius and Rigel to build the overlay network to summon Stellarknight Delteros."
Soon the western army had built quite an army made up monster of Warrior type monsters from the Warrior rebels and soon then began to march forward to face off against the summoned warriors of the defenders.
On the eastern side, the remaining forces of the army summoned their own monsters. Crowler summoned out his old favourite Ancient Gear Golem while Zane was quick to summon his Cyber Twin Dragon.
Soon the battle was being fought all along the walls surrounding Kirkwall. Meredith glared as she watched the monsters that her followers summoned were slowly being destroyed. "All right, that's it!" she growled and then she pulled out a number of cards and placed them on her glowing red duel disk "Almighty power give my dragons even more power to destroy these fools!" then her duel disk let out a powerful red light as her powerful Ice Barrier dragons, Brionac and Gungnir appeared. Both dragons then unleashed waves onto the Spellcaster forces and began destroying them.
Jaden watched as Brionac wrapped around Flame Wingman and crushed the Hero and then Gungnir increased in power and unleashed a breath of ice which froze Chazz's dragon buster and destroyed him as well causing both duelists to groan in pain as they felt their monsters get destroyed.
Fiona watched in worry at the two dragons "Looks like Meredith is going full on this battle." She stated
"We're not going to last much longer if this keeps up." Daylen added and groaned as Dark Magician was swept away by Brionac.
"We have to destroy those dragons!" Aedan added.
"We need Solona!" Sereda finished.
"Well I'll try and keep up the fight." Jaden stated "I summon Great Tornado." He added as he summoned his wind attribute hero "How blow their strength away." Great Tornado blew his jets at the dragons to drain their strength but the power of Meredith's duel disk kept them at full strength.
"It's no use." Chazz stated "Whatever Meredith's doing is keeping those monsters at full strength."
Then Chazz's duel spirit Ojama Yellow appeared "Oh Boss, please don't make me fight those things."
"Not the time yellow!" Chazz yelled at the spirit which caused Ojama yellow to flee.
Meanwhile, Solona's Blue Eyes was doing well as had the western army, they were slowly overpowering the Warriors and soon Solona could blow a hole in the wall. But then a messenger arrived saying that Fiona's forces were in trouble, Meredith's dragons were destroying Fiona's army.
Solona could see it and knew that those dragons had to be taken out and since Meredith had made them strong, Solona would have to go all out to take them out "Fine." She stated "Let's see how those dragons can handle a God." She pulled out the card she needed.
Aristide looked concerned "Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked
"This may be the only way to end this war." Solona replied looking at her father "She helped us at Andoral's Reach and she can help us again." She closed her eyes "And now I bring forth a dragon blessed with ancient beauty and an Ancient Power, come forth, Urthemiel old God of Beauty!" The sky darkened and then Solona's massive purple scaled Dragon God appeared on the field.
All over Kirkwall, everyone gasped at the sight of the mighty dragon which towered over everything. With one blast, Urthemiel destroyed a section of the Walls and blasted both Brionac and Gungnir into ash.
Meredith glared at the dragon "Hold the Gate!" she ordered "I'm mounting a defence back at the Gallows!" she hissed and then she left.
Meredith expected the Warriors to do their duty and fight until the end. But once Meredith was out of sight, the Warriors just opened the gates of the city and surrendered. They had enough of Meredith and her fanaticism and they just wanted peace.
Soon the Spellcasters had opened the Gates all over the city and secured the city. All that was left was the Citadel of the Gallows itself where Meredith and the remaining Warriors had gathered.
The Gates had been shut but with a quick blast from Solona's Blue Eyes, the Gates were destroyed. Fiona then took a group into the Gallows which included Thrask, Cullen, Solona, Daylen, Theorn, Aristide and Neria.
They soon saw that Meredith had gathered all of her forces in the courtyard "And here we are Grand Enchanter!" Meredith sneered as she narrowed her eyes at Fiona "At long last."
Fiona glared back "You're going to pay for all of the things you have done Meredith!"
"I will be rewarded for what I have done." Meredith sneered "In this world and the next. I have done nothing but perform my duty."
"Your duty?" Thrask spat "You shame all of us! The Warriors and the Spellcasters may not have liked each other but none of us desired to conquer this world."
"And you made Spellcasters attack the Bufferlands and made it look like they did it on their own!" Cullen added "My own family, my people, all of them died because of you!"
"The Spellcasters are a menace and they needed to be destroyed." Meredith sneered "All I needed was a justification."
"And when you couldn't get it, you just made it up." Thrask snarled "You're a disgrace to our people and you dare claim you do this in the name of Brandis, he never would have wanted this."
"Who cared what our founder wanted?" Meredith smirked "That is in the past and it's in the presence."
Then one of the Warriors stepped forward "Commander, I thought our war was about protecting the people, not conquering them."
Meredith glared at the man "You will do as I command Bryant!" he ordered.
The man known as Bryant shook his head "No, I defended you before when Thrask started claiming that you'd gone mad. But after everything that has happened, you've gone too far."
Meredith glared at Bryant as did her second in command Mettin "How dare you speak to our commander that way!" Mettin growled.
Meredith drew her duel disk "I will not have my people question me!" she growled "I will not lower our guard! We must stay true to our path."
Everyone noticed Meredith's eyes glow red as she activated her duel disk which was also glowing red.
"My God!" Cullen gasped
"That duel disk is driving her insane!" Thrask added
Solona gasped at the duel disk but she also suddenly felt a tingle in her neck but she ignored it.
"This duel disk has granted me power like never before." Meredith stated "The purest materials, it gave me strength like never before and it increased the power of my monsters in battle. It has served me well."
"Well it's not going to save you Meredith!" Fiona hissed
Meredith glared at her and then looked at the other Warriors "All of you, attack them, I want them all dead!"
No one except Mettin activated their duels disks. They were unsure what to do. "What are you doing?" Mettin growled "Our command has given us an order!"
"Enough!" Bryant shouted "This is not what the Warrior Faction stands for. We're done with this madness. Knight Commander, stand down. I relieve you of command."
Meredith just gasped and looked at Bryant in shock "Bryant, my loyal ally has fallen victim to the power of these spellcasters?" she stated like it was a question "You all have!" she snapped at the other Warriors who began stepping away from her except for Mettin. She began waving her duel disk around "You're all weak, allow these spellcasters to use their magic to influence you and turn you against me!"
"You've done that yourself!" Solona snapped
Meredith ignored her "But I don't need you. I will protect this world myself!"
Fiona glared at her "Alright then. Let's end this!"
"No" Solona stated as she stepped forward
"Solona?" Aristide questioned
"I'll take her on." Solona replied narrowing her eyes "Besides, I still has something she wants." She pulled out a card from her belt "Evangeline gave me this, it goes with the two you already have."
Meredith glared at her "Trishula" she stated "It belongs with me."
"You'll have to duel me for it then." Solona stated
"Sister, are you sure?" Daylen questioned
"I am." Solona replied
Theorn looked concerned, Solona was suddenly acting more aggressively but didn't say anything.
"So be it" Meredith snarled "I'll defeat you Dragon girl and then I'll take all your dragons and use them to crush the Spellcasters and their pathetic army!"
...
Nearby in a tower, Livius and Gordian looked at the scene before them "The dart has worked." Livius smiled "The girl is acting more aggressively just as we wanted. Once this duel is over, we'll just have to find a way to make her come to us."
"So I guess we just watch and wait." Gordian stated
"We do." Livius said "This will be entertaining."
...
Solona and Meredith stood on opposite sides of the courtyard as they activated their duel disks and shuffled their decks, Meredith was chanted "Blessed are those who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter!"
Both duelists looked at each other and activated their duel disks.
"DUEL!"
Solona: 8000
Meredith: 8000
"As Commander, I'll be going first!" Meredith snarled as she drew her sixth card "And I'll start by playing the spell card, Charge of the Ice battalion, now by discarding the top 3 cards of my deck, I can add one Ice Barrier monster to my hand and I select my Prior."
"That seems similar to my charge of the Light Brigade." Neria commented
"Next I summon Samurai of the Ice Barrier in attack mode." A samurai warrior dressed in armour made from ice appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1800 Defence 400). "Next since I control an Ice Barrier monster, I can special summon my Prior in attack mode." A hooded sage in a blue cloak appeared on the field (Level 2 Attack 1000 Defence 400). "And then I will finish by throwing one card facedown."
"My move." Solona stated "I'll start by playing the spell card Dragon's Shrine, now I can send one dragon card from my deck to my graveyard and I select my Blue Eyes White Dragon. And since that was a Normal monster, I can send a second dragon monster to the grave and I select a second Blue Eyes. Next I play the spell card Monster reborn to summon back my Blue Eyes." Solona's Blue Eyes White dragon appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 3000 Defence 2500). "And I still haven't Normal Summoned yet so I summon Sage with Eyes of Blue in attack mode." A blue haired man dressed in blue armour and wielding a blue metal sword appeared on the field (Level 1 Attack 0 Defence 1500) "And since he was normal summoned, I can add a level 1 light tuner monster from my deck to my hand and I select my White Stone of Legends. And now I tune my level 1 Sage with my level 8 Blue Eyes White Dragon." Sage turned into a right which surrounded blue eyes and turned into a beam of light. "Dragon with deep blue eyes and Silver scales, come and protect our field, I Synchro summon Azure Eyes Silver dragon in attack mode." A new dragon that looked similar to Solona's blue eyes but with much brighter eyes and silver scales appeared on the field (Level 9 Attack 2500 Defence 3000).
"Wait, that monster is weaker than Solona's Blue Eyes." Daylen questioned
"Why would she summon that?" Fiona asked
"You'll just have to wait and see." Solona stated "I equip him with Dragon Shield which will prevent him from being destroyed."
"I don't think Solona wants to keep that new dragon around for defensive." Aristide stated "Dragon's shield protects it from being destroyed."
"And now I'll attack." Solona shouted
"Solona wait!" Daylen called "Watch out for her traps!"
"Too late." Meredith grinned "But you're lucky as I'll just use my negate attack since your shield prevents your dragon from being destroyed."
"That was lucky." Aedan stated "But Solona's never been that reckless before."
"Something's going on here." Neria added "But what?"
"My move." Meredith snarled "And I'll start by playing my Prior's effect, now I can tribute him to summon an Ice Barrier monster from my grave, and I have just the one that I sent there on my last turn with my Charge spell. How about one of the leaders of the Ice Barrier Army, General Gantala. A bald headed man with a blue tattoo on his forehead and wielding ice appeared on the field (Level 7 Attack 2700 Defence 2000). "Then I'll summon Cryomancer in attack mode." An ice wielding warrior wearing a white tunic appeared on the field (Level 2 Attack 1300 Defence 0). "You're not the only one who can Synchro summon, I tune Cryomancer with my Samurai." Cryomancer turned into two circles which surrounded Samurai and created a beam of light "The Ice Barrier army used great beasts as their mounts, now it's time to show them, I summon Dewloren Tiger King of the Ice Barrier in attack mode." A massive blue Tiger dressed in armour appeared on the field (Level 6 Attack 2000 Defence 1400). "Now General Gantala, attack that dragon." The General send a large icy spear which struck Azure Eyes but bounced off the shield and struck Solona.
Solona: 7800
Meredith: 8000
"And now I'll end my turn by playing the spell card Swords of Revealing Light." Meredith finished.
"Great" Jaden groaned "Now Solona can't attack."
"I'm afraid it's worse than that." Cullen stated "Meredith can use that Tiger King's special ability to return Swords to her hand to increase it's power each turn and then she can activate it again."
"It's a never ending loop." Alexis realised "Solona is in trouble if she can't attack."
"Don't count my sister out yet." Daylen stated
Solona drew her cards; she had overheard what the others were saying 'I have to get rid of that Swords Spell and I know just how to do it. I'll just need to wait until my next turn.' She thought "Alright, first I'll show you the power of my Azure Eyes, you see, during my standby phase, I can special summon 1 Normal Monster from my graveyard and so my Blue I'll bring back my Blue Eyes." Solona's Blue Eyes returned to the field. "And to increase my defence, I'll summon a monster in defence mode. I'll also switch Azure Eyes into Defence mode."
"So that was why Solona summoned that Azure Eyes." Aedan stated "She can bring back her Blue Eyes and thanks to Dragon Shield, her Azure Eyes is safe."
"And in defence mode, Meredith can't deal her battle damage." Thrask added.
Meredith glared at her "Your dragons won't protect you from taking battle damage. You still have one card that I can attack, that monster in defence mode and don't think you'll be safe because I equip my General with Fairy Meteor Crush."
Solona gasped, the monster she had place facedown had low defence points.
"And I'll also use my Tiger King's ability to returns my Swords to my hand." Meredith added and the swords vanished and the Tiger King glowed (DTKOTIB Attack 2000-2500). "And now, General Gantala, attack that facedown monster." The General sent an icy spear which impaled the facedown card which was revealed to be The White Stone of Legend and Solona groaned as the spear impaled her.
Solona: 5350
Meredith: 8000
Meredith laughed as Solona fell to her knees "I guess you're not as tough as you think you her."
"Shut up!" Daylen yelled "My sister is strong; she won't let your insults get to her."
"And this duel's not over yet." Solona stated "And since you just destroyed my White Stone of Legends, I can add my third Blue Eyes copy to my hand."
"Have it." Meredith snarled "It won't protect you since you can't attack. I'll end my turn there."
Solona drew her card "You think you can keep on stopping me from attacking with your combo?" she questioned "I have to admit, it is a good combo but you won't be using it much longer. I'll use my Azure Eyes ability to summon back my second Blue Eyes from the grave." A second Blue Eyes appeared on the field "Next I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Solona drew two cards and smiled at what she drew "And now I'll use one of them, Polymerization, now I can fuse my third Blue Eyes in my hand as well as my Blackland Fire Dragon that I drew earlier." The Third Blue eyes and a green scaled dragon were sucked into a portal "There is a first for everything. The first man, the first fish, the first tree and now it's time to summon the one that began the dragon species, I fusion summon, First of the Dragons." A massive blue scaled dragon with a snake like tail and white wings appeared on the field (Level 9 Attack 2700 Defence 2000). "And that's not all, now I'll use my two Blue Eyes White Dragons that are still on my field in order to build the overlay network." The two remaining Blue Eyes were sucked into a black portal "Dragon with shiny scales, come out and show your beauty, I xyz summon Blue Eyes Sparkling Dragon." A massive dragon that looked like Blue Eyes White Dragon only with scales that reflected light appeared on the field (Rank 8 Attack 3000 Defence 3000).
Meredith snorted "So what!" she hissed "You've summoned all those powerful monsters but they can't attack thanks to my Swords. All you've done is waste your cards."
Solona smirked "Not quite, my Sparkling Dragon has a special ability, I can use one Overlay Unit in order to destroy one spell or trap card on your field. So your Swords spell is destroyed." Blue Eyes Sparkling Dragon absorbed one of the overlay units and glow so bright that the swords just faded away. "Now with your swords gone, I'm free to attack so I'll switch Azure Eyes back into attack mode. Now she'll attack your Tiger King." Azure Eyes set out a silver blast of fire which engulfed and destroyed the Tiger King.
Solona: 5350
Meredith: 7500
"Next First of the Dragons will attack your General." Solona added and the dragon set a blast of fire which engulfed Gantala but the General threw an icy spear which impaled the dragon but to Meredith's shock, the dragon remained.
"Our monsters had the same attack points!" Meredith snarled "They both should have been destroyed."
"Normally they would but First of the Dragons can only be destroyed in battle against Normal Monsters." Solona replied "And now that your monsters are gone, you're wide open for a direct attack from Sparkling Dragon." Blue Eyes Sparkling Dragon emitted a burst of light which engulfed Meredith causing her to groan from the attack.
Solona: 5350
Meredith: 4500
"That will do it for this turn." Solona stated.
"You may have destroyed my monsters!" Meredith snarled as she drew her card "But I have more. I'll start with Pot of Greed to draw two more cards. Then I'll play the spell card, Magical Triangle of the Ice Barrier, this allows me to show three Ice Barrier monsters in my hand. Then I get to destroy one of your cards and special summon 1 monster from my hand." Meredith selected three different Ice Barrier monsters which were her Dance Princess, her Pilgrim and Secret Guards. "Now I can destroy your Azure Eyes and summon my Secret Guards." Azure Eyes was engulfed in a large magical triangle which froze the dragon solid and shattered. Then a blue haired man dressed in a blue robe appeared on the field (Level 2 Attack 100 Defence 1600). "Then I'll play the spell card Hard Destruction so we both discard two cards and draw two new ones." Both Solona and Meredith discarded two cards and drew two new ones.
"Now Solona has no idea what cards Meredith is using." Aristide stated
"So her knowledge gained from Triangle is useless now." Alexis added
"I'll now sacrifice my Secret Guards in order to summon a monster facedown." Meredith added "I will also throw one card facedown and finish with that."
Daylen looked concerned "I hope Solona isn't walking into another trap."
"That facedown monster might be a trap." Aristide agreed.
"My move." Solona stated "And I'll use my First of the Dragons to attack that facedown monster." The Dragon unleashed a breath of fire which engulfed the facedown monster, however, a large shield came and absorbed the attack.
"Say hello to my Shield of the Ice Barrier, this monster has 3000 Defence points so that's more than your dragon." A shard of ice broke from the ice shield and impaled Solona.
Solona: 5050
Meredith: 4500
"Great, Solona walked into another trap." Alexis stated "Just what is going on. She seems different."
Solona said nothing "I end my turn."
"Couldn't she have just use her Sparkling Dragon's ability to destroy that Shield?" Jaden questioned
"She could only do that in her Main Phase two so her dragon couldn't attack." Aristide stated "So she decided to wait and save her monster's ability as she can only use it while her monster has overlay units."
"My turn." Meredith hissed "And I'll start by summoning Caravan of the Ice Barrier in attack mode." A small green sea serpent that carried baggage on its bag appeared on the field (Level 1 Attack 500 Defence 200). "Now I'll use his ability, now I can return my Samurai and General Gantala from my graveyard to my deck and we both draw one card." Meredith and Solona both drew one extra card from their decks. "Now I'll use the spell card Monster Reborn which allows me to summon back my Cryomancer in my graveyard. And with Call of the Haunted, my Dance Princess which I discarded last turn with Hand Destruction will also return to my field." The Dance Princess and Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier both appeared on the field. Now I will use all three of my monsters at once, I tune my Cryomancer with both my Caravan and Dance Princess." Cryomancer turned into two rings which surrounded Dance Princess and Caravan "Dragon made from Solid Ice, grant me your power to defeat these villains. I Synchro summon Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier." The massive dragon that looked like it was made from ice and had red markings appeared on the field (Level 7 Attack 2500 Defence 1700). "And now I will use his ability, by discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy that Sparkling Dragon of yours." Meredith discarded a card and then Gungnir blew a powerful ice blast which froze sparkling Dragon solid and destroyed him. "And there's more, the card I discarded was a trap known as Trap of the Ice Barrier, now by removing it from play, I can destroy your other dragon, it may be immune to Monster Effects but not to spells or trap cards." A massive explosion shook the field and destroyed First of the Dragons. "Now that your dragons are gone, you're wide open. So go Gungnir, attack her directly." Gungnir blew a powerful blast of ice which caused Solona to shiver as the blast caused her to feel really cold.
Solona: 2550
Meredith: 4500
"Sis!" Daylen yelled "Are you alright."
"I'm fine." Solona stated "That was freezing."
"Well that's what happens when you mess with the army of the Ice Barrier." Meredith sneered "I end my turn."
However, everyone suddenly saw that the Ice Barrier Dragon was glowing red. "What's going on?" Thrask questioned
"My Dragon is gaining more power." Meredith stated "Not from this duel but in reality." Meredith sneered
"What are you talking about?" Solona demanded
Meredith smirked "Take a look at that." She stated and pointed up towards a balcony on the gallows where everyone saw a large glass orb "That is where our power comes from. The power that the Warriors used in our fights against the Spellcasters. And they need power."
Daylen realised something "The crystals!" he gasped "You use the people trapped inside the crystals to grant yourself more power!"
Meredith laughed "I do indeed." She stated "The strong crush the weak and the souls of those people will help us crush the Spellcasters and usher in a new Age."
"Are you mad?" Thrask growled "That's madness, you're destroying the souls of innocent people in your paranoid Crusade. You don't even realise that most of those people just want to get on with their lives."
"They were in the way." Meredith snorted "You're either with us or against us. Anyone who resists should be shown who's boss. Power is everything."
"You're a monster!" Neria growled "These actions prove that you're no better than the ones who claim to be fighting."
"You claim that we Spellcasters are villains but your actions only prove that you're the real villain here!" Fiona agreed
Meredith laughed "It doesn't matter what you think. Soon I will restore my position to the Warrior army, anyone who disagrees with me can join these weaklings who will be used to power our army."
"SHUT UP YOU SCUMBAG!" Solona suddenly yelled out. Everyone looked at her and saw that her eyes were starting to glow red and a sudden gust of wind was blowing her hair around "You dare believe that you are in the right. You are such a hypocrite, you won't be leaving this duel alive. My draw!"
Daylen looked at Aristide "Father, what just happened?"
"I have no idea." Aristide admitted "Solona does get angry at times but I've never seen her act like that."
Solona glared at Meredith "It's time to show you the real power I use." She stated "I'll start by playing the spell card Monster Reborn, this allows me to summon back my Sparkling Dragon." Blue Eyes Sparkling Dragon returned to the field.
"But what good will that do?" Neria stated "She can't use its power with no Overlay units."
"She won't be the one I'll be using." Solona replied "I activate the spell card Rank up Blazing Blue. I use this and my Sparkling Dragon to XYZ summon a monster 1 rank higher." Blue Eyes Sparkling Dragon was sucked into a black portal "Behold as a dragon with Blazing eyes comes to destroy you. Go rank up XYZ revolution. I give to you, Blue Eyes Blazing Dragon!" a new dragon that had dark blue scales as opposed to the lighter scaled dragons that Solona often used and this dragon had dark red eyes and a much fierce look. (Rank 9 Attack 3500 Defence 3000). "And now I'll use his ability, by using one Overlay Unit, I can destroy every card on the field except for him."
"You dare!" Meredith snarled
"I do dare!" Solona yelled, her voice was sounding more demonic and cruel "Now go, destroy every card on the field." Blue Eyes Blazing Dragon let out a loud roar and soon Meredith's Ice dragon shattered. "Now you're wide open for an attack, go Blue Eyes Blazing Dragon, attack her directly!"
Daylen and Theorn looked at each other in worry and then at Solona "Just what is going on?" Theorn questioned
"Solona is not acting like herself." Daylen added
"First she was reckless and now she's taking pleasure in seeing Meredith suffer." Neria added "I know she has been angry at times but never like this."
"Something is very wrong." Aristide replied.
Blue Eyes Blazing Dragon let out a blast of dark blue fire which engulfed Meredith causing her to yell out in pain.
Solona: 2550
Meredith: 1000
Everyone looked in shock at what Solona just done while Solona just smirked and everyone saw her now glowing red eyes.
"Solona!" Daylen yelled "What are you doing?"
"Making her suffer." Solona replied "She deserves to suffer for what she has done! Now I will end my turn, it's only a matter of time before she's finished!"
...
Nearby, Livius and Gordian watched the duel and Livius was smirking at what he saw "This is even better than I thought it was going to be." He said. "This may only be temporary but I can't wait to see the end result."
"What is the end result?" Gordian asked
"You'll see." Livius stated "You'll have to wait until we get the girl into the Elder One's hands. But soon, we'll just have to goad her into coming with us. And I have just the plan for that."
Gordian said nothing and carried on watching the duel.
...
"It's your move!" Solona growled
Meredith narrowed her eyes and drew her card, she groaned as there wasn't much she could do as she didn't have many cards in her hand "I'll start by summoning a monster in defence mode. That will be it."
"So be it!" Solona growled "It's too bad that I can't use my Blazing Dragon's ability again. I would destroy you if I could. Blazing Dragon, destroy that pathetic facedown monster!" Blazing Dragon blew a dark blue blast of fire which destroyed the facedown monster which turned out to be Secret Guards of the Ice Barrier "That will be all, there's not much you can do against my dragon!"
Meredith narrowed her eyes and drew her next card "I summon another monster facedown and then I'll activate the spell card, the Dark Door, now you can only attack with one monster per turn."
"Bah!" Solona growled as she drew her card "That won't protect you forever. Blazing Dragon, destroy that facedown monster" Blazing Dragon once again destroyed Meredith's monster which turned out to be Strategist of the Ice Barrier.
"My move!" Meredith hissed "And I guess I'll throw one monster facedown and end my turn."
Solona drew her card and grinned "Perfect, you'll be finished soon. I place one card facedown and now my Blazing Dragon will destroy your facedown monster!" Blazing Dragon once again destroyed Meredith's facedown monster which ended up being Spellbreaker of the Ice Barrier.
"My move." Meredith stated
"And your downfall!" Solona sneered "I activate my trap card, Dust tornado, now blow away that Door." A powerful tornado blew away Meredith's spell card "Now with that card gone, you have nothing to protect you on my next turn. You're finished, when I summon another monster, I'll defeat you and you will be no more!" she let out a wicked laugh.
That laugh was not like Solona at all and everyone knew it. This was the breaking point for Daylen "SOLONA, STOP THIS!"
Solona looked at Daylen with her narrowed red eyes "Don't get involved in this!"
"Just stop this!" Daylen begged "Please, this is not who you are."
"The Solona we know would never take pleasure in seeing someone get hurt." Theorn added
"Or laugh about pain" Neria added
Aristide looked worried "I don't know what's happened but listen to me my daughter, something has happened to you. I don't know what but you are not the daughter I know. Something has taken control of you. You have to fight it Solona."
"Aye." Aedan agreed "This isn't who you are."
Solona looked at her family and friends and suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her head. She growled out and fell to her knees. Soon the pain stopped and she groaned as she opened her eyes "Wait, what just happened?" she questioned, her voice was back to normal
Daylen noticed that her eyes were back to their original colour "Sister, are you alright?"
"I think so." Solona replied "What just happened?"
"They interrupted our duel, that's what!" Meredith snarled "Now if you don't mind, I would like to carry on my turn. I'll start by activating the spell Card of Sanctity which allows both of us to draw until we hold six cards." Meredith and Solona drew until they were holding six cards in their hands. "I'll now activate the spell card, Double Summon, this allows me to normal summon twice this turn, so I'll summon Samurai of the Ice Barrier and Dewdark of the Ice Barrier." Meredith's ice armoured Samurai along with a blond haired mask man in purple clothing and wielding daggers appeared on the field (Level 2 Attack 1200 Defence 800). "Now I'll tune Dewdark with Samurai." Dewdark turned into two rings which surrounded Samurai and made a beam of light "When the power of waters turned to ice, I awaken an Ancient Serpent that has been sleeping for years. I Synchro summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier in attack mode." The large ice sea serpent like dragon appeared on the field (Level 6 Attack 2300 Defence 1400). "Now I'll use his ability, by discarding one card from my hand, your Blazing Dragon get's sent back to your hand. Only this time, it will be your extra deck since Blazing is an XYZ Monster." Blue Eyes Blazing Dragon froze solid and then turned into a wave of water and went back into Solona's extra deck.
"Oh boy!" Aedan groaned
"That's right!" Meredith growled "Now Brionac, attack her directly!" Brionac sent a powerful wave that sent Solona flying backwards and onto her back.
Solona: 250
Meredith: 1000
Solona shivered as she got up "This Duel is not over yet!" she hissed.
"It will be soon." Meredith laughed "Now I'm the one at an advantage, no matter what you summon, my Brionac will get rid of it next turn and with one final attack, this duel will be over. Make your move and do it quick, I have a duel to win here."
"I still have my turn for that." Solona stated "I can still win this and thanks to you, I have plenty of cards in my hand." She then drew her next card and looked at it. She thought for a moment and then decided on what she should do, it would be something ironic for Meredith. "I'll start by activating Monster Reincarnation, now by discarding one card in my hand, I can bring my Blue Eyes White Dragon back to my hand. Next I'll summon Protector with Eyes of Blue in attack mode and since he was special summoned, I can summon another level 1 light Tuner from my hand so I'll also bring out Priestess with Eyes of Blue." A blue white haired muscular man wearing chest armour and wielding a sword appeared on the field (Level 1 Attack 800 Defence 1300) along with a blue haired woman wearing blue robes and holding a staff in the shape of a dragon (Level 1 Attack 0 Defence 0). "Now to activate my Protector's other effect, by sending my Priestess to the graveyard, I can special summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon from my hand." Priestess was engulfed in a bright light and was replaced by Solona's iconic dragon. "And now I activate the spell card, Dragon's Army, now by sacrificing a level 8 or higher Dragon monster like my Blue Eyes, I can summon two level 4 or lower dragon type monsters from my graveyard. So I summon Blackland Fire Dragon and Koumori Dragon." A green scaled dragon (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defence 800) and a purple scaled dragon appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defence 1200).
"Wait, she never had that Koumori in her graveyard." Alexis stated
"It was the card I discarded with Monster Reincarnation." Solona stated "But none of them are the cards I need. I now tune Protector with both my dragons." Protector turned into a ring of light which surrounded both of Solona's dragons and created a large beam of light "When dragons combine with the power of enchanter Ice, they form quite a powerful beast, I Synchro summon, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier." A massive three headed ice dragon appeared on the field (Level 9 Attack 2700 Defence 2000).
"The last of the Ice Barrier Dragons!" Meredith gasped
"It's ironic, the card that you desired will be your downfall." Solona smirked "I could have done other tactics or summoned other dragons but I felt like this was the best thing to do. I activate Trishula's ability, now one card from your hand, field and graveyard are banished so now your Ice Barrier Dragon is destroyed." Meredith gasped as Brionac faded as did a card in her hand and graveyard.
Meredith gasped "No, this cannot be, I can't lose."
"Well it's what happened." Solona stated "With no monsters or cards on your field, you're wide open, now Trishula, attack her directly with triple ice blast." The three heads of Trishula fired an blast of ice which combined into one and struck Meredith who was sent flying backwards screaming.
Solona: 250 (Winner)
Meredith: 0000
"All right!" Theorn cheered "She did it."
"It's over then." Fiona stated "With Meredith's defeat, the war is finally over."
Meredith managed to push herself to her feet. She then looked at Fiona and everyone stepped back, her eyes was now glowing bright red "No, this war is not over yet!" she growled out "I will not be defeated!" she held her duel disk high into the air "Maker, aid your humble servant!" What happened next shocked everyone, the Ice Barrier deck was blown from the duel disk and then, the duel disk exploded and Meredith war surrounded by an eyrie red glow. Meredith screamed as her body began burning, she fell to her knees and everyone watched as a stone like substance spread across her body until her screams fell silent and her body fell still in the kneeling screaming position she was in.
"Commander!" Mettin shouted and ran over. He looked at the statue of Meredith and then looked at the other Warriors "Warriors, do your duty, these villains killed our commander, we must avenge her." None of the Warriors move "What are you waiting for, with Meredith gone, I'm your new Commander, I order you to attack."
"No." Bryant stated "It's over Mettin. We're done." He threw down his duel disk and soon, the other warriors did the same.
"You cowards!" Mettin growled
"Take him." Thrask ordered and two of the Warrior rebels grabbed hold of Mettin's arms and dragged him away.
"Get your hands off me!" Mettin growled as he was dragged away "You'll pay for this." He carried on shouting until he was out of sight.
"So that's it then." Cullen stated "The war is over."
"It is." Fiona stated "Now we can rebuild, with Meredith gone, the Warriors are under better leadership now Thrask."
"I still have to be elected Fiona." Thrask stated "But yes, all of the fanatics like Meredith, Karras and Alrik are gone. The Warriors won't be waging war anytime soon. We'll need to begin negotiations soon."
As the leadership began talking, Theorn and Daylen approached Solona who had a worried look on her face "Hey, you alright?" Theorn asked
"I'm fine." Solona replied "It's just, what happened to me. I wasn't acting like myself, I felt like someone else was controlling me, what was that?"
Aristide looked worried "I have no idea." He admitted "I just hope that doesn't happen again."
"Yeah." Solona replied "It was not pleasant. I guess we'll now be trying to find a way home."
"Yes." Daylen stated "Once we restore Alistair, it will be time to go home."
"I can't wait." Theorn stated "I don't know about you, but I've had enough of this place."
"We all have." Solona stated
...
Gordian looked at Livius when the duel ended "So what do we do now?" he asked
"Well even though she broke free of the drug's influence, she still has the drug in her system." Livius smirked "All we need to do now is provoke her." He looked at Gordian "I hope you're ready to duel."
Gordian smirked "I am always ready." She stated
"Good" Livius smirked "Because soon, some of her friends will be in our hands. They think that this little adventure of theirs is over, but it is far from over, the Elder One will have his prize and he will have it soon."
Chapter End:
Notes: Well this is the end of Meredith and the war arc of this story. It's taken me a while since the Ice Barrier deck is hard to use but I did it in the end and I've introduced some created XYZ Blue Eyes Monsters for Solona. I will be taking a break from this story for a while because I have some coursework to do for Uni and I want to do one more chapter of Rise of the Divines before the end of 2020. After that, I want to concentrate on Mass Wars episode 1 as I am nearing the end of that story so once I finished the chapter of Rise of the Divines, I'll be focusing on Mass Wars until that story is finished so the next chapter on this story won't be out for a while.