Chapter 149: Synchro Saves the World!
Standing before two colossal Wicked Gods in a flood of despair, one monster stepped forward and took the hit.
PRIESTESS WHO RECEIVES THE STAR CHALICE
WATER / Level 2
Spellcaster / Normal
ATK: 0 / DEF: 2100 > 1050
The Wicked Eraser's ATK after the halving effect was one thousand. Eve's DEF after the halving effect was one thousand and fifty.
Fifty points. The margin between falling into despair and stepping toward hope.
"What is that monster?"
"So weak."
"So weak. But... somehow, so strong."
The weakest possible body, standing in front of a god. Eve's appearance, projected in the sky above the mid-district, did something the two Wicked Gods had not managed to do in reverse: it scattered the fear from the crowd, even if only a little.
Most people in the mid-district didn't recognize the monster. But the people who did recognize it mostly also recognized Amano Rei.
Amano Shio: "That's nii-san. That has to be nii-san's card."
Finesse: "Why is Amano dueling a god? Is this a new type of Dark Game?"
Nanki'in Sakuya: "Amano is dueling up in the sky."
Kikawayu: "Rei. Why can't I sense your location at all?"
Up on the Kaiba Corporation rooftop, watching the scene of an ordinary mortal body holding back a god, Kaiba Chiaki's suspicion resolved into certainty. She even let out a small, relieved laugh.
Only that man could produce a duel like this. At the most critical moment, the most dangerous moment, the most desperate moment, pulling out an ordinary common-rarity priestess and changing the course of the entire battle in a way nobody could have predicted.
Eve crossed her arms with a smug smile.
"My, my. Without me as the deck's ace, I really don't know how you'd ever win."
"I'm canceling this attack!"
Even after eating the Kuribandit effect, the Soulswindler could forcibly abort her own attack.
Kuribandit's effect redirected an attack to the newly Special Summoned monster, but Kuribandit itself was a Level 1 monster. The Wicked God's immunity to the effects of monsters with lower Levels meant it could simply ignore the redirection and roll the attack back.
"Clinging to those fifty LP that hard? You really are terrified of dying, aren't you, Soulswindler!" Amano called out. "You know what that tells us, Eve?"
"She chickened out!" Eve answered without missing a beat.
The combined taunt landed perfectly.
"That garbage monster actually blocked a god!" The Soulswindler's composure cracked into genuine fury. "This is completely absurd!"
And then, without warning, the entire space shook.
The pure white void around them erupted with flowing light-blue data symbols rushing in every direction, moving fast.
NETWORK DISRUPTION DETECTED. VIRAL INTRUSION IDENTIFIED. INITIATING PURGE SEQUENCE.
The familiar synthesized voice. The voice of the tower mainframe Eva, the one that had become background noise in daily life.
The Soulswindler's fury transformed instantly into something she couldn't hide: panic.
"Impossible. This space should be the deepest layer of the Eva Network. I shouldn't be detectable here."
Then her eyes snapped to Eve, standing on Amano's field. Something shifted in her expression.
"Could it be... that garbage monster? Did summoning that garbage monster guide the mainframe Eva's consciousness here?" She stared. "That's insane!"
"Me?" Eve tilted her head at the Soulswindler's stare, visibly confused about what she'd just caused.
"No. No, don't panic. Even if the mainframe Eva detected us, I activated administrator mode before the duel started. There's a buffer. This won't collapse immediately."
The Soulswindler forced herself steady, her hands moving faster. She immediately closed the Battle Phase and set her last remaining hand card face-down.
"I set one card face-down. Turn end! Move quickly, Amano Rei!"
Amano had no idea what was happening either, but the Soulswindler was clearly rattled.
The more flustered the opponent, the calmer he became.
Then, at the exact moment the Soulswindler declared Turn End, The Wicked Eraser, which should have been destroyed by Monster Reborn's end-of-turn clause, was caught by the chains of Shrine of the Binding Gods and forcibly held on the field.
"Although a god is only unaffected by Spell effects activated during the same turn," the Soulswindler explained quickly, "when it would be destroyed by an effect, Shrine of the Binding Gods' protection prevents the destruction of any Level 10 or higher monster on the field."
True to the card's name, it was binding the god that wanted to leave.
With both gods forced to remain on the field, the Soulswindler clearly had no more interest in dragging this out. She wanted to end the duel next turn.
At that same moment, the light-blue data flowing through the surrounding space flickered with a strange new luminescence.
PURGE SEQUENCE FAILURE. INITIATING EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY.
The mainframe Eva's synthesized voice returned.
EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY: PROXY EXECUTOR PROTOCOL.
DESIGNATED PROXIES: AMANO REI. RIN SEIYA.
ASSIGNED TASK: ELIMINATE THE HERESY.
EXECUTION CODE DISTRIBUTED. USE THIS POWER TO DESTROY THE GODS.
"Execution code?"
The moment Eva's voice faded, something appeared in both Amano's and Rin Seiya's minds simultaneously, like a memory being written directly into consciousness: a single line of text.
"Senpai?"
"Senpai!"
They looked at each other. The text that had appeared unbidden in both their minds was strange and inexplicable, and yet neither of them needed a moment to understand its intent.
Because for Amano Rei and Rin Seiya, the literal meaning of that line of code was something they both understood perfectly.
The smile that spread across Amano's face was completely different from the desperate grin he'd been wearing for the past two turns.
"They got their god cards by cheating with a virus. No reason for us to hold back anymore either. Senpai, activate the code!"
The code required an Eva Terminal to activate. Amano's Eva Terminal was currently locked in Duel Disk mode. That was why the mainframe Eva had delegated this to two proxies.
"Leave it to me!"
The miniature Rin Seiya's fingers flew across her wrist-mounted Eva Terminal.
"Eva Network, data retrieval! Code 5DS: SALVATION!"
The moment Rin Seiya entered the code at maximum speed, Amano's Eva Terminal Duel Disk resonated in response. The countless streams of data flowing through the surrounding space converged all at once into Amano's deck.
With the vast incoming data gathered, the card sitting at the top of his deck began to glow. Brighter and brighter, until it was bright enough to push back the dark ritual magic circle of the Wicked God's domain just from where it sat in the deck.
"My turn! DRAW!!"
Amano drew the blazing card. In that instant, something that had no right to feel emotion, a Wicked God, seemed to produce a sound like a scream of fear.
The embodiment of terror, afraid?
Amano threw the card toward his Duel Disk.
"I Normal Summon the monster I just drew! MAJESTIC DRAGON!"
MAJESTIC DRAGON
LIGHT / Level 1
Dragon / Tuner / Effect
ATK: 0 / DEF: 0
When used as a Synchro Material, it can only be used for the Synchro Summon of a "Majestic" monster.
A Level 1 Tuner dragon with zero ATK and zero DEF. And yet it was the tool the mainframe Eva had chosen to give Amano as her proxy executor. The instrument for defeating gods.
Just like in the 5D's anime, where the Red Dragon gave the people bearing the Dragon Stars the Majestic Dragon to defeat the Earthbound Gods, Amano finally got to feel what it was like to have the anime literally drop a card directly onto his field.
Current field state: Level 1 Majestic Dragon, Level 2 Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice, and one face-down set card that had not yet been activated.
"I activate my set Trap Card: Lost Star Descent!"
LOST STAR DESCENT
Trap Card: Target 1 Synchro Monster in your graveyard. That target's Level is reduced by 1, and it is Special Summoned in Defense Position with its effects negated. The Special Summoned monster cannot change its battle position.
"Using Lost Star Descent's effect, I Special Summon Stardust Dragon from the graveyard!"
"Gather the wishes once more and fly again, Stardust Dragon!"
The starlight of hope surged back to life. Stardust Dragon rose from the graveyard and materialized between Majestic Dragon and Eve, the last piece of the puzzle Amano needed to defeat a god.
STARDUST DRAGON: Level 7 (reduced from 8 by Lost Star Descent)
"Go, Amano!" The miniature Rin Seiya was electric with excitement. "Save the world with Synchro Summoning!"
Amano swept his arm across the Duel Disk and lit up all three monsters at once.
"Come forth, the Synchro that saves the world!"
"I tune the Level 1 Tuner Majestic Dragon with the Level 7 Stardust Dragon and the Level 2 Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice!"
The Tuner dragon became one enormous Majestic Synchro ring and passed through both Stardust Dragon and Eve simultaneously.
Eve blinked.
"A Majestic Synchro? Me?"
Yes. Eve was part of the Majestic Synchro too.
To be precise: if Eve hadn't blocked the god's attack last turn, this turn wouldn't have had enough Levels to satisfy the Majestic Synchro condition at all.
1 + 7 + 2 = 10.
"The gathered radiance of the stars will illuminate a new miracle and blaze a shining path!!"
"MAJESTIC SYNCHRO SUMMON! Level 10!"
"Descend from the light! MAJESTIC STAR DRAGON!!"
MAJESTIC STAR DRAGON
WIND / Level 10
Dragon / Synchro / Effect
ATK: 3800 / DEF: 3000
"Majestic Dragon" + "Stardust Dragon" + 1 non-Tuner monster
Effect 1: Once per turn, when the opponent activates a Spell, Trap, or monster effect, Tribute this card to negate that activation and destroy all cards on the opponent's field. Once per turn, target 1 face-up monster on the opponent's field and negate its effects until the End Phase; this card gains the same effect. At the End Phase, return this card to the Extra Deck and Special Summon 1 "Stardust Dragon" from the graveyard.
The enormous Majestic Star Dragon descended from the light of the Majestic Synchro, spreading wings that radiated the starlight of hope outward. Its form was projected into the sky above the mid-district, and where it appeared, the endless darkness that had swallowed the fake stars began to pull back.
Everyone who looked up at Majestic Star Dragon in that moment arrived at the same thought simultaneously.
"Synchro Summoning really can save the world."
"Majestic Star Dragon?" The Soulswindler's voice was sharp. "That monster's ATK is still halved by The Wicked Dreadroot's aura!"
MAJESTIC STAR DRAGON: ATK 3800 > 1900
At nineteen hundred attack points, it was just barely higher than The Wicked Eraser's current zero. Marginally.
But Amano still had two cards in hand. One from his own pool, one from Rin Seiya's.
He opened the hidden Field Zone on his Duel Disk and played Rin Seiya's card first.
"Field Spell: STARDUST OVERPASS, activate!"
The moment Stardust Overpass went live, Amano discovered something: there were no other Tuner monsters left in the combined deck. They had all been used.
But he hadn't activated a Field Spell for its effect.
He had activated it for its rule.
Under normal Field Spell rules, only one Field Spell could exist at a time. Playing a new one destroyed the existing one.
Amano activated Stardust Overpass and it displaced the Soulswindler's Shrine of the Binding Gods.
In place of the three chained stone pillars binding the gods, the iconic landmark from the 5D's anime materialized on the field, starlight gleaming off its elevated structure as music seemed to rise beneath it.
Beneath Stardust Overpass, Majestic Star Dragon blazed even brighter.
"With Shrine of the Binding Gods gone, Level 10 or higher monsters can now be targeted by effects!"
The gods' immunity to targeting had been stripped along with their binding field. Amano raised his hand toward Majestic Star Dragon in the sky and activated its effect.
"Majestic Star Dragon's effect! SUBLIMATION ABSORPTION!!"
MAJESTIC STAR DRAGON, Absorption Effect: Once per turn, target 1 face-up monster on the opponent's field. Negate that monster's effects until the End Phase. This card gains the same effect.
"My target for the effect absorption is The Wicked Eraser!"
The absorption light of Majestic Star Dragon poured down over The Wicked Eraser's enormous, contorted form. The Wicked God that had been rearing its head in triumph slumped instantly, as though hollowed out.
THE WICKED ERASER: Effects negated
"With The Wicked Eraser's effects negated, the ATK it gained from its own effect drops to zero!"
THE WICKED ERASER: ATK 0
"At the same time, Majestic Star Dragon, having absorbed The Wicked Eraser's effect, now raises its own ATK by the number of cards on the opponent's field!"
THE WICKED ERASER's absorbed effect: ATK and DEF increase by the number of cards on the opponent's field x 1000.
The Soulswindler's current field: two Wicked Gods plus one face-down card. Three cards total. Three thousand additional attack points.
"That doesn't matter!" the Soulswindler pushed back. "Even with the absorbed ATK boost, Majestic Star Dragon's ATK will still be halved by The Wicked Dreadroot!"
"It won't be halved. I'll use this card to surpass the god!!"
Amano threw his final card toward Majestic Star Dragon blazing in the sky.
"Quick-Play Spell: STAR CHANGER, activate!"
STAR CHANGER
Quick-Play Spell: Target 1 face-up monster on the field and apply 1 of the following effects. Increase that target's Level by 1, OR decrease that target's Level by 1.
"I'm increasing Majestic Star Dragon's Level by 1!"
MAJESTIC STAR DRAGON: Level 10 > 11
"Level up by one?" The Soulswindler's composure was fracturing under the pace of the play. She couldn't immediately parse the purpose. "What does increasing by one Level even do?"
"It does everything. Don't forget: Majestic Star Dragon absorbed a god's effect."
A god's effect. Among them: immunity to the effects of monsters whose Level is lower than its own.
The Wicked Dreadroot was Level 10. Majestic Star Dragon was now Level 11.
An 11-star monster carrying divine immunity was no longer within range of a Level 10 god's halving aura.
Even Kaiba Chiaki, watching from the rooftop, could not stop herself from exclaiming it aloud.
"He surpassed a god using that method, Amano Rei?"
"FLY, MAJESTIC STAR DRAGON!!"
Free from the halving aura, every point of ATK restored in full, Majestic Star Dragon beat its wings toward the highest point in the sky.
MAJESTIC STAR DRAGON: ATK 3800 + 3000 = 6800
"Majestic Star Dragon's ATK is six thousand eight hundred. The Wicked Eraser's ATK is zero. Soulswindler, you know what this means."
Two completely reversed attack values. Majestic Star Dragon soaring to the apex of the sky, its starlight already fixed on The Wicked Eraser below.
"It's over, Soulswindler! Majestic Star Dragon attacks The Wicked Eraser!"
The sky above the mid-district that had gone dark, the sky that a god had extinguished, began to fill with the light of salvation. Majestic Star Dragon plunged through the air at full velocity, its colossal form wrapped in star-radiance, bearing straight toward the god.
"I haven't lost yet!" The Soulswindler ripped her final face-down card open. The composure she had carried through the whole duel had finally broken into open desperation, her expression twisted far beyond any resemblance to Rin Seiya's face. "Continuous Trap: Mirror Wall! As long as this card remains on the field, any attacking opponent's monster has its ATK halved during the attack!"
"Hmph. Halve a monster's ATK?"
The smile at the corner of Amano's mouth had been waiting for this exact moment.
"This isn't a monster."
"This is a GOD!!"
He had been waiting to say that line this entire duel.
Majestic Star Dragon had absorbed a god's effect. Naturally, it had also absorbed a god's immunities. And gods are not affected by the opponent's Trap Cards.
Majestic Star Dragon hit Mirror Wall. The transparent barrier shattered on contact. The dragon didn't slow by a single frame as it drove through and continued directly toward The Wicked Eraser.
"This is the god-slaying finisher!"
"SHOOTING SONIC!!!"
The blazing salvation starlight drove into the Wicked God in the middle of the mid-district crowd's roar, and reduced it to nothing.
THE WICKED ERASER: Destroyed
Synchro saves the world!
"NOOOOOO!!"
SOULSWINDLER LP: 5500 > 0
A single strike that erased every last LP the Soulswindler had. Amano Rei ended the battle against the gods with Majestic Star Dragon.
DARK GAME
VICTOR: AMANO REI
PROXY EXECUTION CONFIRMED.
GOD ELIMINATED. HERESY PURGED.
DISPENSING EXECUTOR REWARD.