Phila did not retreat because of that cold gaze. She stepped forward and walked straight up to Rikka, who was standing in front of the vending machine, then took a deep breath.
This was the first time she had ever taken the initiative to challenge a stranger.
"Um… would you like to have a duel with me?"
Rikka frowned slightly. Those azure eyes sized up the girl in front of her–the one in a gothic dress with white hair and red eyes–before her gaze fell on the nameplate on Phila's uniform.
"From Synchro Academy, huh?"
The silver-haired girl's voice sounded a bit hoarse, yet there was still that unyielding stubbornness in her tone. The oversized black long coat fluttered slightly as she turned.
"I'm not afraid."
She instinctively tried to put on a proud posture, just like how she usually dealt with her big brother in the mornings, but the faint redness at the corners of her eyes greatly weakened that presence.
Seeing her forcing herself like this, Phila hurriedly waved her hands and explained, "No, no! It's just a friendly duel. It's just that you look… kind of unhappy, so I thought, maybe a duel would help you feel a little better."
"Haa…" Rikka let out a long breath.
She irritably brushed the hair by her ear aside. Looking at this Synchro Academy freshman who didn't seem to have any ill intent, the thorns she had raised gradually settled a little.
"Is that so…" she muttered softly.
Indeed, her mood was terrible right now.
"Well, I guess I am a bit anxious because of a certain idiot." Rikka hugged the card boxes she had bought to her chest, forcing a faint smile onto her delicate face. "Alright, let me finish opening these packs first. I was just about to find someone to test my new deck anyway."
Seeing her agree, Phila let out a breath of relief.
"I haven't finished opening mine either."
The two sat across from each other at a long table in the corner of the card shop.
Niobe, who had been chattering beside them, took one look at the silver-haired girl across the table–draped in a black coat with an intimidatingly low pressure–and wisely pulled a chair farther away, becoming a spectator.
As for Raku, floating above the tabletop, he could only stare helplessly.
Watching his precious little sister and his newly accepted student about to clash, all he could do was scream internally, "What kind of situation is this?!" while being completely unable to make a sound.
On the table, the crisp tearing sounds of plastic packaging rose one after another.
Rikka lowered her head, skillfully opening the packs with her fingers. In the gaps between drawing cards, her blue eyes swept across the table, glancing at the cards Phila had just laid out.
[Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring], [Uni-Zombie], [Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon Lord]…
Zombies?
Rikka silently noted this crucial information. It looked like a troublesome Graveyard-focused deck with plenty of disruption points… and rather sinister in style. Just like the kind of annoying traps that idiot big brother used.
Thinking of her brother, her movements paused for a moment.
Her fingers pinched the back of a newly drawn card and flipped it over.
A pitch-black background with a ghastly green border. It was a Spell Card.
[Allure of Darkness].
Its effect was simple: draw two cards, then banish one DARK monster from your hand. If you cannot, send your entire hand to the Graveyard.
A card that traded massive risk for deck filtering and resource flow.
Rikka stared at the card, her grip on its edge tightening.
Is this… power?
Even if it meant losing everything in her hand, even if it meant being swallowed by darkness, she could forcibly squeeze out the power within her deck…
…If back then, I had possessed the absolute strength to change everything.
If my power were more than just the light of Starry Knights.
Then… would my brother not have had to face that rift alone?
If power demands a price…
Rikka closed her eyes.
A deep breath.
She pressed all of her anger, guilt, and tears–along with that [Allure of Darkness]–deep into the deck in front of her.
"That should do." Rikka stood up, and Phila followed.
Pushing open the glass doors of the card shop, the sunlight outside was somewhat dazzling. Beside the streets of Duel Academy, there happened to be a spacious open plaza, its ground painted with special duel grids.
The two stood at opposite ends of the grid, and the Duel Disk's holographic projection system activated accordingly.
As a coin used to decide turn order spun through the air and fell.
"My turn."
Rikka raised her arm, the oversized black coat billowing in the sea breeze. The face that usually carried a hint of girlish charm now held nothing but cold focus.
"I Normal Summon [Aloof Lupine]. Then I activate its first effect: when this card is summoned, you can banish one monster from your hand; banish one monster from your Deck with the same Type as the banished monster."
A lone wolf phantom, radiating dark purple light, appeared on Rikka's field.
Banish?
Floating at Phila's side, preparing to watch the duel, Raku looked at the card Rikka had taken from her hand.
Not a Starry Knight deck?
"I banish [Thunder Dragondark] from my hand, then banish [Thunder Dragonmatrix] from my Deck."
Golden lightning exploded within the Banished Zone. Without even glancing at the two cards sent there, Rikka immediately raised her voice.
"After that, Chain-1 [Thunder Dragondark], Chain-2 [Thunder Dragonmatrix]."
Rikka stared coldly at Phila. "Resolve the Chain in reverse order. Second effect of Thunder Dragonmatrix: if this card is banished or sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can add one [Thunder Dragonmatrix] from your Deck to your hand."
A card shot out from the Deck.
"From there, Thunder Dragondark's second effect: if this card is banished or sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can add one 'Thunder Dragon' card from your Deck to your hand, except [Thunder Dragondark]."
Rikka's fingers slid rapidly across the Duel Disk's virtual interface.
"I add–[Thunder Dragon Fusion]."
"Next, I activate [Thunder Dragon]'s first effect from my hand: discard this card; add up to two [Thunder Dragon] from your Deck to your hand."
Rikka sent the original Thunder Dragon she had just revealed to the Graveyard. "And I only add one Thunder Dragon."
Right after, she sent the newly added Thunder Dragon to the Graveyard again.
"In this way, I activate Thunder Dragon's effect again, discard this Thunder Dragon, and then add the final Thunder Dragon to my hand."
Standing across from her, Phila watched this series of discards, confusion filling her eyes.
"Huh? You could have added two cards at once, but in the end you only kept one Thunder Dragon in your hand?"
"That's how Thunder Dragons are played," Raku explained.
"[Thunder Dragon Fusion] uses materials from the field, Graveyard, and Banished Zone–but not the hand. She's deliberately only taking one Thunder Dragon and discarding repeatedly to quickly load Thunder monsters into the Graveyard and build up fusion resources."
As Raku explained, Rikka had already placed the swirling-patterned Spell Card onto the Duel Disk.
"I activate [Thunder Dragon Fusion]! First effect: return monsters from my field, Graveyard, and Banished Zone to the Deck as Fusion Materials, then Fusion Summon a Thunder Fusion Monster."
The Duel Disk roared.
Rikka looked toward Phila's Deck.
If she blindly pursued suppression, [Thunder Dragon Colossus] would undoubtedly be the optimal choice; it could lock down the opponent's ability to search cards from the Deck.
But the cards her opponent had just opened in the shop were almost all Zombies.
Rikka understood Zombies well; their core engine wasn't in the hand, but in the Graveyard. They relied on sending cards to the Graveyard and starting plays from there. Colossus's search lockdown wouldn't do much against such a deck.
Rikka's eyes sharpened.
To disrupt the Zombie Graveyard loop, she needed a method that could destroy key points of their plays at any moment.
So, there was only one answer.
"I return two [Thunder Dragondark] from my Graveyard and one [Thunder Dragonmatrix] from the Banished Zone to the Deck, and Fusion Summon–"
Dark clouds gathered above the plaza without warning, thunder roaring as if it would tear the entire street apart.
Rikka pointed sharply toward the sky.
"With crashing thunder, descend upon this place! [Thunder Dragon Titan]!"
Violent golden lightning struck down from above. A terrifying three-headed dragon roared as it descended in a storm of electricity, its massive body scorching the surrounding air.
[Thunder Dragon Titan, ATK: 3200]
"My turn ends."
...
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