"I don't like you anymore, Master!!"
Launched at high speed, Illya—who'd long carried the title of Magical Girl of the Stars—finally became a real star herself in that instant.
BOOM—!!
Though her body was small, the impact when she hit the ground was far greater than even Waver's explosive blast.
"Hakutaku's done for—Chen Gong's effect allows me to Tribute a Heroic Spirit monster and destroy all of my opponent's monsters with ATK less than or equal to the Tributed one's! That's the artificial meteor—Number One!"
Face-first into the ground, Illya's impact sent a shockwave tearing across the field, effortlessly shattering Hakutaku's Des Koala and Bowganian.
"Professor Hoshino… you're a demon."
"I swear, I just saw a demon-shaped Stand appear behind Hoshino-nee…"
But Minazuki raised a hesitant hand. "Um, even if she wiped out his whole field, isn't that kind of unnecessary? I mean, with Gravity Bind still up, Professor's monsters couldn't attack anyway. She could've just left Illya on the field."
Bastion shook his head sternly. "That's where you're wrong, Minazuki."
"Wha—BASTION MISAWA!? Aren't you from Yellow Dorm? Why are you even over here?"
"Hahaha, I've recently become very interested in Red Dorm. But that's not important."
Bastion continued his analysis. "The Des Koala doesn't matter, but Bowganian has an effect that inflicts 600 points of damage to the opponent during each of its controller's Standby Phases."
Syrus gasped, finally understanding Hakutaku's strategy.
"So that's it! By locking down Hoshino-sensei's ability to attack, he could've just burned her Life Points little by little until she lost! Even without attacking, it was only a matter of time!"
Akasha snorted. "Wow, not only is he using a stall-and-burn deck, he even added Puppet Plant and Soul Release just to counter Hoshino-nee. As expected of Hakutaku-sensei—truly the most despicable duelist alive. You'll never make friends like that!"
Having wiped out Hakutaku's monsters, Hoshino immediately raised her Duel Disk. "Battle! Since Waver is in my back row, Chen Gong's ATK rises from 0 to 300!"
[Effect: As long as this card exists in your Spell & Trap Zone, all your "Heroic Spirit" monsters gain 300 ATK/DEF.]
[Heroic Spirit – Chen Gong ATK: 0 → 300]
"Returning kindness with betrayal—that's the mark of a true strategist, isn't it?"
"Shut up. If it weren't for Master's orders, I'd never help a guy like you."
Feeling his strength enhanced by the buff, Chen Gong raised his sleeve launcher. "I don't enjoy direct combat, but strategy sometimes requires sacrifice."
He fired a small bolt. It wasn't much—but it struck true.
[Hakutaku LP 3000 → 2700]
"Finally, I set one card face-down and end my turn. And at the end of the turn, my Continuous Spell Necessary Sacrifice activates—allowing me to draw cards equal to the number of Heroic Spirits I Tributed this turn."
Hoshino drew two new cards. Thanks to her Continuous Spell and Chen Gong's combo, she could keep replenishing her "ammunition" after every blast. Truly, a duel strategy as cruel as it was efficient.
[Hoshino's: 3 Hand Cards]
"My turn—draw!"
Seeing the card he'd just drawn, Hakutaku—whose monsters had been completely wiped out—suddenly began to laugh.
"Ahahahaha! At last, I've drawn it! The key card to counter you, Headmistress! It seems Luck is on my side today!"
As his turn began, he slammed down two Spell Cards in succession. Three beams of summoning light erupted from his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card Monster Reborn to revive Bowganian from my Graveyard! Then I play the Quick-Play Spell Inferno Reckless Summon!"
[Bowganian ATK 1300]
"The effect of Inferno Reckless Summon allows me to Special Summon as many copies as possible of the same monster from my Deck when a monster with 1500 or less ATK is Special Summoned to my field!"
[Bowganian ×3]
Three identical Bowganian lined up in formation, nocking their bolts and aiming directly at Hoshino.
Hakutaku's lips curled into a wicked grin. "Of course, my opponent can also Special Summon duplicates of their monsters with the same name—but I happen to know, Headmistress Hoshino, that your Heroic Spirit cards are all unique~"
Jaden's eyes widened. "So that's why he added Inferno Reckless Summon to his deck! This is bad—forget attacks, even the Bowganian's burn damage will be too much for Sensei to handle!"
"Exactly," Hakutaku declared, pointing forward. "Now—Bowganian, fire!!"
The sharp bolts cut through the air, piercing straight through Chen Gong's chest.
Falling to his knees in disbelief, Chen Gong turned toward the smirking Waver behind him.
"Zhuge… old man… you betrayed me…?"
[Heroic Spirit – Chen Gong destroyed]
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 1600 → 600]
"Hmph. Finally dead, are you? Then it's my turn to act!"
Waver raised his feather fan—and massive stone soldiers materialized, crashing down from above to surround Hakutaku's three Bowganian, sealing them within an ancient maze.
"This is the Grand Strategist's ultimate formation—Stone Sentinel Maze! Try to break through this, if you can!"
"Trap Card, activate—Stone Sentinel Maze!"
[Stone Sentinel Maze – Trap Effect: ① Until the end of your opponent's next turn, all monsters they control cannot declare an attack, and their ATK/DEF each decrease by 500.]
[Bowganian ATK 1300 → 800]
"Because of the Trap Card's effect, Bowganian can't declare an attack this turn!"
Minazuki frowned in confusion. "What's going on? She could've activated that Trap Card earlier to protect Chen Gong… so why wait until after he got destroyed?"
"Was that… a misplay, Headmistress?"
"Or maybe she's going easy on Professor Hakutaku? Trying to give Yellow Dorm a free win?"
"Typical Red Dorm—even their Headmistress doesn't want them getting any benefits, huh?"
The murmurs among the crowd grew louder.
But Hakutaku knew better. The Hoshino standing before him wasn't the type to make careless mistakes—she'd clearly allowed Chen Gong to be destroyed for a reason.
"No matter what you're plotting, Headmistress," Hakutaku smirked, "once my next Standby Phase begins, Bowganian's effect damage will finish you off."
Having emptied his hand, Hakutaku ended his turn confidently. With Gravity Bind still protecting his field, as long as even two Bowganian survived, their combined 1200 burn damage next turn would seal his victory.
"No, Hakutaku," Hoshino replied, her voice calm and cold. "The moment Chen Gong was sent to the Graveyard—you already lost."
She drew her card. The board was already set. Sliding a Spell Card into her Duel Disk, she invoked a radiant fusion spell that shimmered with parallel starlight.
"When I control no monsters, I can activate the Spell Card—Parallel Fusion!"
[Parallel Fusion – Spell Effect: If you control no monsters, pay half your Life Points; Special Summon 1 "Magical Girl" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, treating it as a Fusion Summon. That monster cannot attack directly, and it is banished during the End Phase.]
Akasha gasped. "So that's why she let Chen Gong get destroyed—to meet the activation condition for Parallel Fusion!?"
"I pay half my Life Points! Let's go—Parallel Fusion!"
[Hoshino LP: 600 → 300]
The fusion magic transcended dimensional boundaries, linking to a parallel world where another Magical Girl awaited. Paying half her Life Points, Hoshino summoned her without using any Fusion materials.
"Fusion Summon—Magical Girl – Illya of a Hundred Faces!"
[Magical Girl – Illya of a Hundred Faces ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][DARK][Warrior/Fusion/Effect][ATK 2000 / DEF 1000]
['Magical Girl – Illya' + 'Heroic Spirit – Hassan of the Hundred Faces']
Wearing Hassan's mask, Illya appeared on the field—summoned through the power of parallel fusion.
"The other me just got blasted away pretty badly… good thing Chen Gong's gone this time."
Hoshino raised her hand. "Upon being Fusion Summoned—Illya of a Hundred Faces activates her effect!"
[①: When this card is Fusion Summoned, you can activate one of the following effects. ● Special Summon a number of "Hundred-Face Tokens" (DARK / Warrior / Level 1 / ATK 100 / DEF 100) up to the number of monsters your opponent controls.]
"Since you have three Bowganian, I can summon three Hundred-Face Tokens!"
She formed a cross-hand seal, and a puff of smoke filled the field—three more Ilyas appeared beside her.
"—Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
[Hundred-Face Token ATK: 100] ×3
The four Ilyas struck synchronized poses, shouting together:
"To put it simply—this is my ninja way!" ×4
Hakutaku twitched. "So that's how you'll bypass Gravity Bind—by summoning three Level 1 Tokens. Clever… but with only 100 Attack Points, they're basically decorations."
"Hmph. Then how about this card?" Hoshino drew another card and revealed it with a flourish. "I activate the Spell Card—Another Ending! I discard one 'Heroic Spirit' monster, or one Spell that mentions 'Heroic Spirit,' to add one Spell Card from your Graveyard to my hand!"
She discarded Oda Nobunaga from her hand and targeted a specific Spell Card in Hakutaku's Graveyard.
"Using Another Ending's effect, I add your Monster Reborn from the Graveyard to my hand! And immediately, I activate it—reviving Heroic Spirit – Chen Gong from my Graveyard!"
Chen Gong strolled back onto the field, adjusting his glasses with a calm, calculating smile.
"Yare yare… sometimes, feigning death is also a form of strategy."
Illya froze. "Ma… masaka (no way)!!!"
Looking around, she realized in horror that she was the only Illya left on the field—no one else to use as ammunition. The word DANGER might as well have been flashing above her head.
Holding out a compact energy accelerator, Chen Gong smiled pleasantly. "I'm counting on you again, young lady. I know it's improper to say this, but when you're launched, your destructive power is… unparalleled."
Illya, tears welling up, accepted the device with trembling hands. "Wh-why… I'm just an elementary schooler… why do I have to go through this!?"
"—Two-Pronged Formation! For the greater good… sacrifice yourself!"
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Illya ascended once again—Illya's Second Launch!
"I Tribute my Illya of a Hundred Faces! All opponent monsters with ATK lower than hers are destroyed!"
Hoshino thrust her arm forward as an even greater explosion engulfed the field. Smoke and flame billowed across the arena.
"This is your final sacrifice, Illya! Because of Chen Gong's effect—your three Bowganian are annihilated!"
[Bowganian ×3 Destroyed]
"Professor Hakutaku's monsters—Sensei blew them all up again…" Jaden trembled. "I don't even know if I should be impressed… or terrified."
"With his field empty, my Hundred-Face Tokens can attack directly!"
Hoshino slammed her last card into the Duel Disk. Energy flared across the field, empowering every Illya clone.
"Final Spell Card—Command of the Strategist!!"
[Command of the Strategist – Spell Effect: Target 1 'Heroic Spirit' monster you control; it gains 1000 ATK. If you control a face-up 'Heroic Spirit – Zhuge Liang,' this effect instead applies to all your monsters.]
Chen Gong & Waver, in unison: "This is the grand strategists' ultimate reversal! The outcome was decided long before the battle began!"
[Hundred-Face Token ATK: 100 → 1100]
The three shadowy Ilyas darted through the air, slipping past Gravity Bind's web, appearing behind the defenseless Hakutaku like vengeful spirits.
"Total attack power—3300 points! Hakutaku, when it comes to strategy… you're still a step behind me!!"
Slash!
Three dark blades flashed simultaneously. Hakutaku let out a strangled cry—
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
—and the final Duel ended with Slifer Red's complete victory.
[Hakutaku LP 2700 → 0]
[Duel—Finished!]
[Winner: Slifer Red!]