"Crush them! Smash them! And a thunderous cheer—Fusion Summon!!!"

Hoshino Alter sighed in admiration. "I didn't expect this Spirit could even imitate that line… it really has learned Kaiba's soul."

The Dragon's Mirror, reflecting three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, shattered apart, and the ultimate emperor—the three-headed dragon—roared onto the Duel Arena.

[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon ★★★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 12)][LIGHT][Dragon/Fusion/Effect][ATK 4500/DEF 3800]

["Blue-Eyes White Dragon" + "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" + "Blue-Eyes White Dragon"]

"ROAR—!"

"Summoning Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in such a flashy way on the very first turn… but if it's not the true Ultimate Dragon, it still feels like it's missing something."

Hoshino recalled the past—back when Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon first appeared, its overwhelming presence had completely shaken her.

But now, this strongest of dragons had gradually become little more than a unit for battle power calculation. Times really do change.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card Dimension Fusion!"

The third card for "Fusion," yet unlike the others, Dimension Fusion doesn't fuse monsters—it "fuses" the banished zone with the field.

[Pay 2000 Life Points. Both players Special Summon as many of their banished monsters as possible.]

[Guardian Spirit · Kaiba LP 8000 → 6000]

"By the effect of Dimension Fusion, I Special Summon the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons banished by Dragon's Mirror! Descend—my supremely noble and beautiful white dragons!"

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][LIGHT][Dragon][ATK 3000/DEF 2500] ×3

Future Fusion, followed by Dragon's Mirror, then Dimension Fusion—this sequence allowed Guardian Spirit Kaiba to fill the field in a single turn with a total of six white dragon heads.

["This Kaiba is way stronger than expected. Aibo, don't let your guard down."]

"End turn!"

[Guardian Spirit · Kaiba: 3 Hand Cards]

"My turn, draw!" Facing Kaiba's perfect opening with Ultimate Dragon, Hoshino began her move.

"—Spell Card Graceful Charity!"

A sacred, angelic image appeared on her field, allowing her to draw three cards from her deck and discard two, refreshing her hand.

"I draw three cards, then discard Heroic Spirit – Okita Soji and Heroic Spirit – Sakura Okita Soji from my hand to the Graveyard."

["Whoa, discarding two Okitas right off the bat. That's so like you, Aibo!"]

"Eh?!" Eve looked confused. "Isn't Okita supposed to be Hoshino's ace monster? Why would she discard both of them immediately?"

"…Because of a bad hand," everyone answered in unison.

Miss Okita—this opening was a double disaster.

"Still, normally having Sakura in hand shouldn't make things this bricky," Yugi analyzed. "Hoshino must have her own plan."

"—Next, Quick-Play Spell Demon King Descends!"

[You can only use one of this card's effects per turn.

①: Add 1 "Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga" from your Deck to your hand.]

"By this effect, I add 'Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga' from my Deck to my hand."

After searching her Deck, Hoshino revealed another Nobunaga from her hand.

"And I activate the effect of Heroic Spirit – Demon King of the Beach Oda Nobunaga in my hand—!"

[①: You can banish 1 "Heroic Spirit" monster from your Graveyard; Special Summon this card from your hand in Defense Position.]

"I banish Heroic Spirit – Sakura Okita Soji from my Graveyard—burn brightly, the blazing flames of the Summer Demon King!"

[Heroic Spirit – Demon King of the Beach Oda Nobunaga ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][FIRE][Warrior/Effect][ATK 3000/DEF 2500]

"Yahoo—!" The stylishly summoned Demon King Nobunaga appeared with an extremely arrogant grin.

"The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven arrives at the beach today, stepping over weak Okita's corpse—under the midsummer sky, I ignite the soul of rock!"

Eve: "┌(.Д.)┐ Is… is this what they call dancing on a grave?!"

"When Heroic Spirit – Demon King of the Beach Oda Nobunaga is successfully Special Summoned to my field, I can choose 1 'Heroic Spirit' monster in my hand—negate its effects, and Special Summon it as a Level 8 monster!"

Another monster card slammed onto the Duel Arena as the flames of a second Nobunaga spread across Hoshino's field.

"I Special Summon Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga, the one I just added to my hand, in Attack Position!"

[Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][FIRE][Warrior/Effect][ATK 3000/DEF 2500]

"Didn't expect this, did you? This is the moment for my grand performance as the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!" The two Nobunagas laughed boldly in perfect sync. "Could it be because it's an event period, and we've received a full Nobunaga all-out assault buff?"

You comedic characters—don't casually break the fourth wall like that!

"Oda Nobunaga… not a bad monster," Kaiba admitted. After all, back then, Nobunaga single-handedly shattered the true Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon—making her a specialist in taking down Level 10+ monsters.

However, since she was Special Summoned with her effects negated, there was no way to expect a comeback one-shot through her anti-boss ability now.

"Kaiba of a bygone era, taste this new power! Two Level 8 monsters are ready—let's go, Nobunaga!"

Sliding her fingers across the two Nobunaga cards on the Duel Arena, Hoshino began constructing a Rank 8 Xyz Overlay Network.

"Hoshino, you idiot!" Kaiba scolded helplessly.

Nothing happened. Let alone an overlay network or any Xyz Summon effects—Hoshino's two Nobunagas didn't even move at all.

The pale pink ahoge on top of Hoshino's head curled into a question mark. "What's going on? Is it because my pose wasn't confident enough? I'll try again…"

"No, Hoshino," Mokuba explained awkwardly. "A Duel Arena from seven years ago—how could it possibly support an overlay network?"

"Huh? It can't connect to an overlay network? What kind of terrible product design is that?!"

"It's a product from seven years ago—how could anyone have considered integrating overlay networks back then…" Mokuba replied innocently.

"Hahaha, how amusing, Hoshino girl~" Pegasus laughed cheerfully from the side. "Your request is like asking an old computer to connect to Wi-Fi. Omoshiroi."

"..."

Hoshino Chiyuki was probably experiencing the most awkward moment of her dueling life.

Even though the opposing Guardian Spirit Kaiba had opened with a swarm of White Dragons, they were ultimately just effect-less units of battle power, so Hoshino hadn't been afraid at all.

—Of course, that was under the assumption that she could successfully set up and Xyz Summon a Rank 8 Heroic Spirit.

"Damn it… in this situation, I don't even have the right to mock them as mere stat sticks."

Hoshino's current field—Summer Oda Nobunaga and the effect-negated Oda Nobunaga—were also basically just vanilla monsters.

Even more ironically, Nobunaga's stats were identical to those of the so-called "battle power unit," Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Comparing the two sides, Guardian Spirit Kaiba—who had summoned three Blue-Eyes White Dragons plus one Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon—was clearly far superior.

And since Xyz Summoning couldn't be used on this Duel Arena, Hoshino didn't even dare try Synchro Summoning either.

After all, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was standing on the opponent's field. She could barely stabilize after one mistake—if another embarrassing failure happened, the situation could turn disastrous.

"Then I'll have to settle this with Fusion! I set one card and end my turn!"

Placing a face-down card onto the Duel Arena, Hoshino ended her turn.

[Hoshino: 3 Hand Cards | 1 Set Card]

"My turn, draw!" As his turn began, Guardian Spirit Kaiba wasted no time and immediately launched an attack.

"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack Oda Nobunaga on the opponent's field—crush her!"

Locking onto Nobunaga with 3000 ATK, the Ultimate Dragon's three heads simultaneously gathered explosive white light.

"Tch! If my effects weren't negated, I'd have already reduced that mere Ultimate Dragon to dust!" Nobunaga complained irritably.

"Oh? So now you're trying to shift the blame onto me?" Summer Demon King Nobunaga shot back. "If not for my effect, your normal form wouldn't even have been summoned!"

"At a time like this, you two still have the energy to argue with yourselves?!"

While complaining, Hoshino flipped over her face-down card—instantly deploying an absolute barrier capable of stopping the Ultimate Dragon's attack.

"—Be destroyed! Ultimate Burst Stream of Destruction!!"

"—Not happening! I activate my set Trap Card: Virtuous Pike and Shield!"

[When a monster you control is targeted for an attack, you can Special Summon 1 "Heroic Spirit – Mash Kyrielight" from your Deck in Defense Position, and switch the attack target to it.]

[Heroic Spirit – Mash Kyrielight ★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Warrior/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 2000]

"Rest easy, Senpai—Mash Kyrielight has arrived to support you!"

Raising her massive shield, Mash projected a gigantic wall through her Noble Phantasm, intercepting the Ultimate Burst Stream.

"The Mash Special Summoned by Virtuous Pike and Shield gains DEF until the end phase equal to the total DEF of all Heroic Spirit monsters on my field!"

[Mash DEF 2000 → 7000]

"7000 DEF… damn it, I lost!"

Eve had originally thought Mash's 2000 DEF was even 100 lower than her own—

But after adding the DEF of the two Nobunagas (2500 each), Mash transformed into an ultimate shield that even Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon couldn't surpass.

"—True Name: Concealment deployed! I will bear all the damage!!"

The massive shield clashed with the Ultimate Dragon's blazing white beam—reversing the difference in DEF, the 2500 damage was reflected directly back to Guardian Spirit Kaiba.

[Guardian Spirit · Kaiba LP 6000 → 3500]

"And because Mash was Special Summoned by Virtuous Pike and Shield, she cannot change her battle position this turn!"

Normally, after being attacked, Mash would be forced into Attack Position—but this time, she firmly held her 7000 DEF shield against the army of White Dragons.

Kaiba said, "Thanks to Mash, you've finally managed to salvage that pathetic play from your last turn."

Hoshino retorted, "Pathetic? Wasn't that just because your company's products don't keep up with the times?!"

Seeing that attacking wouldn't break through Mash's barrier this turn, the opposing Guardian Spirit simply ended the Battle Phase.

"I set one monster in face-down Defense Position. End turn."

[Guardian Spirit · Kaiba: 3 Hand Cards]

"At the moment you end your turn! The effect of the Quick-Play Spell Demon King Descends in my Graveyard activates—while this card is in the Graveyard, I can pay half my Life Points to add it back to my hand!"

[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 8000 → 4000]

"Even at the cost of 4000 Life Points, Hoshino still wants that card back?" Yugi asked curiously.

"If I can't Xyz Summon, this is my only way to break through…" Hoshino replied. "My turn—draw!"

At the start of her turn, she immediately activated the Quick-Play Spell she had just recovered.

"—I activate the effect of Demon King Descends! Let all gods and buddhas return to dust!!"

[Send 1 "Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga" from your hand or field to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 "Demon King – Oda Nobunaga" from your Extra Deck.]

"This is the moment—all Nobunagas, advance together! I send Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga from my field to the Graveyard—descend now, the ultimate Demon King who embodies and unites all possibilities of Oda Nobunaga!"

[Demon King – Oda Nobunaga ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][FIRE][Warrior/Fusion/Effect][ATK 3000/DEF 2500]

[This card can only be Special Summoned by the effect of "Demon King Descends." This card is also treated as a "Heroic Spirit" card.]