Chapter 148: Block That God for Me!
The Eva Network collapse had spread across the mid-district. Automated traffic systems went dark. Signal lights on every street corner died mid-cycle. The entire infrastructure of the city simply stopped.
The resulting chaos brought everything to a halt. People couldn't move. They could only stand where they were and stare upward at the colossal shadow of dread hanging in the sky above them.
A darkened sky. An unknown god from the abyss. A paralyzed city.
Calling it an end-of-the-world scene would not be an exaggeration by any measure.
And yet, in the middle of something that close to apocalypse, directly across from the enormous reflection of the Wicked God in the sky, everyone watching saw it happen: a sudden explosion of Synchro light, blazing to life against the dark.
The light that carried hope with it. And emerging from that light, a Synchro dragon as dazzling and beautiful as crystalline starlight.
"Synchro Summon! Level 8! CRYSTAL WING SYNCHRO DRAGON!!"
CRYSTAL WING SYNCHRO DRAGON
WIND / Level 8
Dragon / Synchro / Effect
ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2500
Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters
Up on the Kaiba Corporation rooftop, Chiaki raised her eyes to the sky.
"A Synchro monster with attack power that rivals Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon placed no restriction on its Tuner material, but its non-Tuner material had to be a Synchro Monster. The chain of Synchro evolution Amano had ignited on his field, in that single unbroken sequence, had scattered the god's aura of oppression like wind scattering smoke.
"Battle! Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon, tear apart the god whose attack power has grown so frail!"
Yes. Frail.
Through Amano's unbroken chain of Synchro evolution, every last Rose Token on his field had been used as material. What remained on his side of the field was two monsters: Stardust Dragon and Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon.
Which meant The Wicked Eraser's ATK had fallen to two thousand points.
THE WICKED ERASER: ATK 2000
"Now, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon, shatter the god!"
The Synchro light and the wind it carried blazed a trail through the sky above the mid-district, a shining arc that reached beyond the god itself.
"Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon attacks The Wicked Eraser! And during the attack, I activate its monster effect!"
"A monster effect?" The Soulswindler's voice sharpened immediately. "Amano Rei, a god cannot be affected by the effects of monsters with a lower Level than itself!"
But Amano had the same answer he always had.
"I'm not affecting the god. I'm affecting Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon itself!"
CRYSTAL WING SYNCHRO DRAGON, Effect 2: During damage calculation, when this card battles a Level 5 or higher opponent's monster, this card gains ATK equal to that opponent monster's ATK during that damage calculation only.
When it came to raw ATK competition, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon could beat a god.
CRYSTAL WING SYNCHRO DRAGON: ATK 3000 > 5000
"Go!"
"CRYSTAL WING BLADE OF RAGING WIND!!!"
The blazing wing blade, wreathed in starlight and wind and layered with the Wicked Eraser's own stolen attack power, became a single strike that surpassed even Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon charged through the raging wind and drove straight through The Wicked Eraser's enormous, contorted, horrifying body, tearing it apart.
Watching the scene in the sky above, the people of the mid-district felt something shift. Something that had been absent for the past few minutes began to return.
Synchro saves the world.
The students of the Synchro Academy in particular, already unable to stay in their classrooms with the chaos outside, had poured out of the school buildings entirely and were staring up at the sky, watching this duel between a Synchro dragon and a Wicked God play out above their heads.
THE WICKED ERASER: Destroyed
"That's three thousand points of battle damage, Soulswindler. Take it in full."
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Three thousand points of damage! That really stings!"
Then the face-down card in the Soulswindler's back row flipped open.
"But what a shame! That sting was just to fool you. I'm taking every last point of it!"
Trap Card: Rainbow Life.
"I discard one card from my hand. All damage I take this turn is converted into LP recovery instead!"
In the animated series, Rainbow Life could negate damage that had already been established and convert it into healing on top. The Soulswindler's version operated the same way.
SOULSWINDLER LP: 4000 > 7000
"And when The Wicked Eraser is destroyed, it carries catastrophe with it and takes every card on the field along!"
The god, shattered by Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon, left a pool of black, murky liquid spreading across the ground where it had stood. That liquid erupted upward like a dark fountain, sweeping across the entire Dark Game field in a wave.
THE WICKED ERASER: When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, destroy all cards on the field. This effect cannot be negated.
"When you activate that destruction effect," Amano declared in response, "I chain Stardust Dragon's effect!"
"I Tribute Stardust Dragon! Go: DUST BARRIER!"
Before the black tide could swallow it, Stardust Dragon dispersed itself into scattered starlight and vanished from the field entirely.
"A god's effect cannot be negated by a monster effect!" the Soulswindler snapped. "Stardust Dragon cannot stop a god's destruction!"
Amano smiled.
"Who said anything about stopping your effect? I just sent Stardust Dragon somewhere safe. In the end, the only cards that get destroyed are yours."
SHRINE OF THE BINDING GODS: Destroyed
CARD OF SAFE RETURN: Destroyed
CARD OF THE NETHERWORLD: Destroyed
The curse-black liquid of the Wicked God swept across the entire field. But the only casualties were on the Soulswindler's side.
Stardust Dragon had already left the field through its own chained effect and was no longer present to be destroyed.
And Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon was not affected by the opponent's activated effects at all this turn. That was the immunity granted by Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon's effect: any monster Synchro Summoned through that effect was unaffected by the opponent's activated effects for the remainder of the turn.
Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon continued to blaze in the sky's reflection, undisturbed.
"Beautiful reversal, Amano!" the miniature Rin Seiya shouted, electric with excitement.
The LP gap was still enormous, but at least the monster presence on the field had swung to Amano's favor.
"But when Shrine of the Binding Gods is destroyed, I can add one Divine monster from my deck to my hand."
Amano's brow furrowed.
"There's another god in your deck?"
It made sense. Before the duel began, the Soulswindler had performed two data extractions from the Eva Network. That meant two cards had been pulled. Both of them were god cards.
"I set one card face-down. Turn end."
And at the End Phase, simultaneously, the Stardust Dragon that had Tributed itself returned from the graveyard.
STARDUST DRAGON: DEF 2000
Amano Special Summoned it in Defense Position. His LP was dangerously low, and conservative play was the only responsible call. Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon carried an unbeatable battle-boosting effect and could match ATK against a god without fear. But Stardust Dragon had no such safety mechanism. If another high-powered Wicked God came out swinging at Stardust Dragon, the duel would be over.
"My turn. Draw."
The Soulswindler drew, scanned her hand, and threw out a Spell Card.
"Spell Card: Graceful Charity. Draw three cards from my deck, then discard two."
After the filtered draw, the Soulswindler produced another Spell Card with a particular smile.
"Now make your choice, Amano Rei. Spell Card: Abyss Herald, activate!"
ABYSS HERALD
Spell Card: Pay 1500 LP and declare 1 Type and 1 Attribute. If a face-up monster of the declared Type and Attribute exists on the opponent's field, the opponent must send 1 of those monsters to the graveyard.
SOULSWINDLER LP: 7000 > 5500
"I declare Dragon-Type and WIND Attribute. Let's see what you decide."
Both of Amano's monsters fell squarely within the declared range. Stardust Dragon and Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon were both WIND Attribute Dragon-Type monsters.
One had to go.
"Sorry, Stardust Dragon."
Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon's ATK-boosting battle effect made it the stronger combat piece in any scenario where another god might appear. There was no other calculation to run.
STARDUST DRAGON: Sent to graveyard
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
Watching Amano send Stardust Dragon to the graveyard, the Soulswindler could not hold back the laughter.
"Wrong choice, Amano Rei! As punishment, let the abyss swallow you!"
The tip of her tongue traced the edge of her next card.
"Spell Card: Rekindling!"
REKINDLING
Spell Card: Special Summon as many FIRE monsters with 200 DEF as possible from your graveyard. The monsters Special Summoned by this effect are banished at the End Phase.
"I Special Summon three Infernal Flame Vixens with 200 DEF from my graveyard!"
"Three?" Amano raised an eyebrow.
Graceful Charity had sent two to the graveyard just now. The third had almost certainly been discarded by Rainbow Life last turn.
INFERNAL FLAME VIXEN
FIRE / Level 4
Pyro / Effect
ATK: 1600 / DEF: 200
Three dancing flame-maiden monsters materialized on the dark ritual floor, their bare crimson feet stepping across the surface of the Dark Game field as fire curled around them.
The Soulswindler's expression lit up.
"Now I have three monsters on my field."
And last turn, she had already confirmed that a Divine monster from her deck was now in her hand.
"I Tribute all three Infernal Flame Vixens to Tribute Summon the god that brings absolute terror!"
All three fire-dancing maiden monsters were swallowed in an instant by the darkness of the Tribute, their souls consumed to wake what slept in the abyss.
"Sink into a despair deeper than any abyss! Let your soul be devoured by terror!"
"Suppress this entire field! Let the voice of dread echo through everything!"
"The god descends! THE WICKED DREADROOT!"
THE WICKED DREADROOT
DIVINE / Level 10
Fiend / Effect
ATK: 4000 / DEF: 4000
Requires 3 Tributes to Normal Summon.
Effect 1: This card is unaffected by opponent's Trap effects, unaffected by Spell effects not activated during this turn, and unaffected by the effects of monsters with lower Levels.
Effect 2: As long as this card exists in the Monster Zone, all other monsters on the field have their ATK and DEF halved.
The colossal Wicked God materialized in the data space, its massive form clad in a pale white bone-like exoskeleton over a body whose very name was the Source of Terror.
In that moment, it felt as though the primal fear seated at the very core of every soul in the world had been ignited all at once.
The people of the mid-district had barely breathed a sigh of relief as the first Wicked God disappeared from their sky. Then the second one arrived, something even more terrifying tearing through the endless darkness overhead, shredding whatever hope had just started to form.
"What is that creature? It's so, so terrifying."
"Lord, am I going to survive tonight?"
"What is happening to this world? How can something like this even exist here?"
"I want my mom!"
The scenes in the mid-district grew increasingly desperate. The terror and hopelessness radiating from the Wicked God began to spread through the crowds like a contagion.
And that was just from seeing the reflection in the sky above. The mere image of the god was enough to shake people's souls to their foundations.
Facing the god directly, the miniature Rin Seiya had simply sat down on the ground.
She was telling herself not to be afraid. Repeating it in her head. But her legs had gone soft beneath her, and her small body would not stop trembling, and there was nothing she could do about it. This kind of fear did not come from the mind. It came from somewhere deeper than thought, somewhere that reason could not reach.
The Wicked Dreadroot at four thousand attack points, both in appearance and raw power, was the counterpart to Obelisk the Tormentor among the three Egyptian Gods.
The Soulswindler spread her arms with a wild laugh.
"Fear it! Tremble! Cry out! Against the effect of The Wicked Dreadroot, all resistance is meaningless!"
THE WICKED DREADROOT, Effect 2: As long as this card exists in the Monster Zone, all other monsters on the field have their ATK and DEF halved.
CRYSTAL WING SYNCHRO DRAGON: ATK 3000 > 1500
A permanent aura suppressing everything on the field. As long as Dreadroot stood, every other monster's combat strength was cut in half without exception.
"Next, I activate Spell Card: Rush Recklessly, targeting The Wicked Dreadroot. And I activate a second Shrine of the Binding Gods!"
RUSH RECKLESSLY
Spell Card: Target 1 face-up monster on the field. Until the end of this turn, that monster gains 1500 ATK.
THE WICKED DREADROOT: ATK 4000 > 5500
With the ATK boost applied, the field Spell card came back into effect and restored the god's immunity against being targeted or destroyed by card effects.
"Finally, I activate Monster Reborn to revive The Wicked Eraser from my graveyard!"
Two Wicked Gods standing side by side on the field. The scene projected in the sky above the mid-district doubled in its apocalyptic weight.
Amano's field held Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon and one face-down card: two cards total. Wicked Eraser's ATK was two thousand points. But The Wicked Dreadroot's halving aura applied to every other monster on the field as well, including the Wicked Eraser itself.
THE WICKED ERASER: ATK 2000 > 1000
Standing between two gods, the Soulswindler raised her hand and pointed forward.
"Battle! The Wicked Dreadroot attacks Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!"
"Fight back, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!"
Even Amano's voice had a tremor in it. The fear was not something he could choose to feel or not feel. It came from somewhere that had nothing to do with choice.
"During the battle, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon's effect activates and raises its ATK by the attacking monster's current ATK of five thousand five hundred points!"
"And that is exactly why you made the wrong call," the Soulswindler said. "Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon cannot beat The Wicked Dreadroot."
She was correct about the mechanics.
The Wicked Dreadroot's ATK-halving aura was not a triggered effect. It was a continuous, permanent presence that applied to every other monster on the field at all times without activation. Which meant that even as Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon's ATK rose during the damage calculation, the aura was simultaneously cutting every point of that increase in half as fast as it was added.
In practical terms, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon was not gaining five thousand five hundred points. It was gaining half of that: two thousand seven hundred fifty points.
A curse with no escape. The last remaining thread of Synchro light, strangled in front of everyone watching, snuffed out before it could burn.
CRYSTAL WING SYNCHRO DRAGON: ATK 1500 > 4250
The Wicked Dreadroot's enormous pale bone-claws reached into the sky as though catching a toy, closed around Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon, and held it completely immobile.
"Vanish, light of hope!"
"TERROR OBLITERATION!!"
CRYSTAL WING SYNCHRO DRAGON: Destroyed
AMANO REI: LP 1900 > 650
"That is the ending you chose, Amano Rei," the Soulswindler announced. "And when your monster is destroyed, Shrine of the Binding Gods activates and deals you one thousand points of damage."
In hindsight, if Amano had chosen to send Crystal Wing to the graveyard instead of Stardust Dragon when Abyss Herald resolved, he might have avoided being pushed this deep into kill range. Stardust Dragon in Defense Position at two thousand DEF could have held against the Dreadroot's attack.
But nobody facing an unknown god had perfect information. Without knowing what was coming, the right answer was impossible to see.
Had Amano truly made the wrong call though?
"I activate Damage Diet from the graveyard! By banishing this card from the graveyard, all effect damage I take this turn is halved!"
AMANO REI: LP 650 > 150
The cheap trap card once again did the only thing it knew how to do: buy one more breath of survival. From inside the divine punishment descending from Shrine of the Binding Gods, Amano held on at the very edge.
One hundred and fifty Life Points. Standing in front of two gods.
Surprise flickered in the Soulswindler's eyes.
"My, how stubborn. Still not dead, Amano Rei?"
"Amano..." The miniature Rin Seiya was trembling. "Amano, aren't you afraid at all? Even in front of gods?"
"Heh. Of course I am." The white smoke from the divine lightning strike hadn't cleared from his body yet. His condition looked genuinely terrible. He managed a wry smile through it. "I'm terrified, Senpai. Look, my fingers won't stop shaking."
It was not performance. The Wicked Gods carried an innate aura that reached directly into the primal fear buried at the base of every human soul, pulling at it without mercy.
The Soulswindler pressed on.
"Even if you cling to life, I still have The Wicked Eraser and it hasn't attacked yet."
After Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon was destroyed, only one face-down card remained on Amano's side of the field: a total of one card. The Wicked Eraser's ATK was one thousand. But with Dreadroot's halving aura applied to the Eraser as well, its actual ATK dropped to five hundred.
Five hundred was still more than one hundred and fifty.
"Direct attack!"
"CATASTROPHIC OBLITERATION!!"
Fear is human instinct. I stepped back because I want to live.
But courage is humanity's anthem. I step forward because I want to win.
Amano pushed every last drop of strength into the call.
"Kuribandit's effect activates from the graveyard!"
The Soulswindler's brow furrowed.
"Kuribandit? From the graveyard? When did you..."
When Coral Dragon's effect destroyed Mirror Force, the card Amano discarded as ammunition was Kuribandit.
It had looked like a straightforward removal play. In reality, it was a precision delivery. The key card sent to exactly where it needed to be.
"I even managed to fool the Soulswindler. Looks like I've got a talent for this."
KURIBANDIT
When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: Banish this card from your graveyard, then draw 1 card. If the drawn card is a monster, you can Special Summon it. If you do, the attack target becomes that monster instead.
The combined deck built from his pool and Rin Seiya's was an unknown quantity. Amano couldn't fully account for every monster in it. If the next draw landed on a monster, it would need ATK or DEF above two thousand points to survive the redirect, since resuming that Wicked Eraser attack would see it as a new card on the field, raising the Eraser's ATK back to one thousand, then halved to five hundred by Dreadroot. DEF needed to exceed five hundred.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Dark Magician, Elemental HERO Neos: any of them would do. But none of them were guaranteed to be sitting in the remaining deck at this moment.
There was one card, however, that Amano knew with certainty would be there.
"Draw!"
Standing in front of two gods. Fingertips catching the faint light of where this all began.
Amano's summoning cry came out with everything he had left.
"I Special Summon in Defense Position: PRIESTESS WHO RECEIVES THE STAR CHALICE!"
"BLOCK THAT GOD FOR ME, EVE!!"
"Oh oh oh oh OH!!"
The spirit girl materialized between Amano and both Wicked Gods simultaneously, staff raised, planting herself directly in the path of the incoming attack. Her expression was the opposite of afraid.
Eve: "I said it once earlier, but I want to say it again! Even a god's attack, I'll block it for you!!"
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