Chapter 820
Starting Point
Chapter 820 Starting Point (4K)
"My turn, draw a card."
Dennis glanced at the cards he had drawn, then looked at his opponent's field.
Jet Man, Defense 1800 points.
At first glance, it might not seem very useful, but Dennis knew it.
When this card is targeted for attack by an opponent's monster, the controller of this card can activate a Trap Card from their hand.
Furthermore, Sho Marufuji's deck also contains cards such as "Magic Cylinder" and "Divine Shield Mirror Power".
"...In the end, at least let you leave this world with a smile." Dennis thought for a long time, then held up a card, "Normal Summon, Rank 4, Entertainment Mage Flame Devourer."
Entertainment Mage.
The deck used by Dennis.
Marufuji Sho naturally recognized these cards, so he wasn't too nervous.
Entertainment Mage is a deck that relies on effect damage to fight, but its effect damage is relatively slow, giving it time to drag out the game.
However, things didn't go as Marufuji Sho had planned.
Dennis did not simply summon a level 4 monster.
"If there are 2 or more monsters on the field, this card can be Special Summoned from your hand."
"Special Summon, Level 4, Fun Wizard Hat Trick!"
Attack power 1100——
Ok!
It seems there was no fusion, hence the failure to fuse with the Swing Power Witch...
"Watch closely, Xiang—"
?
"Construct an Xyz Network using two Level 4 monsters!"
"What!?"
Marufuji Sho took a half step back in astonishment.
Xyz Summon!?
"Xyz Summon, Rank 4, Entertainment Mage Swing Magician!"
To his astonishment, the two monsters, accompanied by Dennis's voice, transformed into golden spheres in the air. Then, from within the enormous vortex, a chuckling magician, gripping a swing, swung in front of Dennis.
Entertainment Mage Swing Magician, Rank 4, Light attribute, Mage race, Attack 2500, Xyz Material 2.
"Xyz Summon...?"
Marufuji Sho muttered to himself in disbelief.
"That's right, it's an Xyz Summon."
"This... you don't use it normally because of another dimension..."
“Of course not, Sho.” Dennis’s smile looked particularly fake. “There’s no need to make excuses for me at a time like this. You should know very well why I can use Xyz Summon.”
"...You were there when the Fusion Army invaded the Hyperdimension!?"
Marufuji Sho uttered those words with a trembling voice.
Because Xyz Summoning and Synchro Summoning are not things that normal people can use normally.
Synchro Summoning is somewhat better. Nowadays, the power of Synchro Dimension is spreading outwards. As long as you have Synchro Monster Cards, you can try to resonate with them. If the resonance is successful, you can perform a Synchro Summon.
But Xyz Summoning is different.
Xyz Summoning is so unique.
Although the Fusion Dimension and the Hyperion Dimension have known each other the longest, have maintained the longest-standing relationship, and even frequently interact with each other, there is also his brother, Ryo Marufuji, a duelist who travels between the two dimensions simultaneously.
However, Xyz Dimension and Xyz Summon are still the most "exclusive" types!
Aside from humans in special circumstances like the Pendulum Dimension, it's incredibly difficult for humans in other dimensions to master Xyz Summoning!
This is not something that can be achieved through technology or hard work; it requires extraordinary power, a sublime soul, or other auxiliary tools.
For example, his brother Ryo Marufuji was able to perform Xyz Summoning because of the "Photon System" obtained from the Xyz Dimension.
So, how can an ordinary person perform an Xyz Summon?!
Or rather, what does it really mean when someone performs an Xyz Summon?
“At the time, the Fusion Army was searching for a girl who looked a lot like Serena. Of course, you should know later, that’s Ruri, Kurozaki Ruri.” Dennis slowly began, “Back then, I didn’t know what the professor was trying to do. It wasn’t until later that I learned that the professor wanted to find all his daughters in order to awaken the [GOD] card that existed in the future.”
"That operation was a complete failure."
"It was after that that Yuri had other ideas."
"...Could it be that..."
That guy named Youli, what exactly...?
"The professor raised him from childhood, always teaching him the ideals of integration and world unification. He didn't allow him to have friends or contact with others. He was a very lonely guy, so he rarely smiled from a young age."
"Back then, it was me. I thought he looked ugly because of his behavior, so I got in touch with him by virtue of being a secret spy specially trained by the professor."
"Such a talented guy... isn't it a shame he always has such a stern face?"
Marufuji Sho felt like he'd heard those words somewhere before.
"Anyway, after that, we became friends and talked about almost everything, but I also became more and more afraid of him."
"Because the professor's training of him became increasingly incomprehensible and terrifying."
"But even so, he is still my friend."
"That day, he successfully captured Ruri Kurosaki, but after the entire plan failed, he had a new idea."
He thought—if what the professor had told him had always been correct, and everything he had learned from childhood had been right, then the fact that the professor had failed now meant…
Is the professor getting old?
"Is the professor no longer qualified to lead the Fusion Army?"
Marufuji Sho felt his hands were cold, and his entire spine was chilled; a cold sensation permeated his body.
"Could it be that he decided back then to..."
He always thought that Yuri took over after Amagi defeated Akaba Zero!
“…What a pity.” Dennis looked at the sky and muttered to himself, “What a pity.”
If Yuri had left the Fusion Army much earlier than Serena, or even earlier than Yuri did... if he had left the Fusion Army much earlier, had his own life and his own experiences, instead of only having me as a friend, or even if he had met Amagi earlier, then perhaps things wouldn't be like this.
But now, it's too late—"
“Back then, Yuri had already transformed into a monster that devoured everything. He wanted to use everything he had to devour everything in the world. So, at that time, he used the experiments within the Fusion Army and his own achievements in easily completing missions in the Hyperdimensional Dimension to integrate a small portion of the special power he had recovered from the Hyperdimensional Dimension into my body.”
Dennis waved his hand and said, "So, my soul has long been adapted to Xyz Summoning. It's just that I haven't shown it to you yet."
"Do you understand now?"
"As your friend, I didn't show you Xyz Summoning... Thinking about it this way, perhaps I really do prefer Yuri."
Marufuji Sho remained silent, unsure of what to say.
After all, he's not really good at this kind of verbal exchange.
Although he had grown to the point where his older brother, eldest brother, and Amagi Hikaru all praised him, he had never argued with a friend who was mentally clear-headed and self-aware, but whose path was completely opposite to his.
So, he was momentarily speechless. "As long as the Entertainment Wizard Swing Magician is in the Monster Zone, it won't take damage from effects below this card's ATK. So, Sho, even if you have a Magic Cylinder in your hand, it's useless!"
"Eh--"
"fighting!"
"The Swing Magician attacks Jet Man!"
Hehehe—The swing magician grabbed the swing that fell from the sky and then flew straight toward the little red airplane on Marufuji Shoji's field.
"When Jetman is targeted for attack by an opponent's monster, the controller of this card can activate a Trap Card from their hand."
"Activate the trap card boost!"
"If you control only Machine-Type monsters, you can activate this effect when your opponent declares an attack. Draw two cards from your Deck."
"Pressure boost?" Dennis shook his head. "You don't even have a magic cylinder... It seems that because of your injuries, you can't even unleash your usual strength."
Marufuji Sho gritted his teeth.
He silently drew two more cards from the deck, picked them up and glanced at them.
"Then, let the battle continue, Swing Magician, continue your attack."
The swing magician, swinging on the swing, chuckled and struck the jet-powered man on Marufuji Sho's field, smashing him to pieces with a loud bang.
"Set one card face down to end your turn."
Dennis watched Marufuji Sho's actions without paying much attention, calmly covering the cards and ending his turn.
"...My turn!"
Marufuji Sho felt his body going weak.
Let's get moving!
Let's get moving!!
My body—
I can't give up yet!
If words can't change Dennis's mind, then we'll have to resort to a duel. So, we absolutely cannot lose!
"My turn, draw a card—"
He drew cards from his deck.
Uh……
The action of drawing the card tore open his wound, which had just begun to scab over, causing him even more pain. His hand trembled, and he almost dropped what he was holding.
He glanced at the card in his hand.
"Normal summon, submarine robot."
Submarine robot, Level 4, Water attribute, Mechanical race, Attack 800.
"Activate Field Spell Card: Giant Machine City!"
Marufuji Sho gritted his teeth and placed the Field Spell Card into the Field area.
As he moved, a huge and magnificent sci-fi city slowly rose up; however, as the site rose, something different became apparent.
Normally, this futuristic city should be bright and bustling with countless vehicles, but at this moment, the entire city is marked with red crosses, not only because many settings have been shut down due to insufficient power, but also because there are hardly any robots around, making it appear desolate and closed off.
"Fight! Fight with submarine robots!"
"This card can attack directly. In this case, the battle damage dealt to the opponent becomes the card's original ATK value. However, the effect of Giant Machine City!"
When your own Mech Monster engages in battle damage calculation, you can send 1 Mech Monster from your Deck to the Graveyard to activate this effect. That Mech Monster's original ATK and DEF are swapped only during that damage calculation!
"I sent the Kite Machine from my deck to the graveyard."
"You want to cause massive damage all at once using this method, right?"
“But—it’s impossible!” Dennis exclaimed, spreading his arms wide. “Surprise!”
"What!?"
Before the submarine robot's missile even reached Dennis, the Swing Magician jumped over, grabbed the missile, and then, like something out of a 20th-century cartoon, turned it into a cartoon missile, tossed it into the sky with a whoosh, where it exploded in mid-air, turning into a dazzling firework.
"...How could that be?"
"As long as the Entertainment Wizard Swing Magician is in the Monster Zone, it will not take battle or effect damage equal to or less than this card's ATK."
Sorry, Xiang, what I just told you was only part of its effect.
Dennis had a stiff smile on his face: "I know you too well, Xiang. Your deck has defensive trap cards like Magic Cylinder, as well as direct attack cards like Submarine Robot and Double Bicycle Robot!"
If you can't immediately perform a fusion summon for a quick victory, then you'll definitely switch tactics and use a direct attack strategy to win.
"Unfortunately. I know everything."
"A clever manipulation magic trick—I learned it from Mr. Yukatsu Sakaki during my vacation. You might think that the Swing Magician's effect is only to resist effect damage, but in reality, it can resist both combat and effect damage!"
"So, you're out of options now, aren't you?"
Marufuji Sho felt dizzy.
Because of the sneak attack, he is in extremely poor condition. The cards he drew were not perfect or of high quality to begin with, and now his opponent has ruined all his tactical arrangements and preparations with tactics, magic and psychology. He feels that his body can hardly hold on and he is about to collapse.
But just as he was about to fall, he suddenly regained his balance.
Dennis's pupils contracted slightly.
why?
Why...why haven't you given up yet?!
Dennis felt an indescribable sadness and confusion.
Clearly, he can't even stand up straight anymore, and he can't even unleash the full potential of his deck. Why?
Marufuji Sho supported himself on his knees with both hands, breathing heavily.
he--
Suddenly, I remembered the past.
It doesn't refer to his relationship with Dennis.
It was something else entirely.
He remembered the expression on his older brother Jaden Yuki's face when he faced the Dragon God, Huber, and Darkness of the Dark World. He remembered how Jaden Yuki could still smile even when faced with a sad past.
He recalled how his older brother, Marufuji Ryo, faced the crisis of death head-on, and even when dueling with Fubuki-senpai, he was able to achieve a further "victory".
He remembered that purest "fusion" duelist.
I was reminded of Hikaru Amagi.
The junction section has always seemed to be benchmarking itself against the integration section.
But he was very clear that compared to Hikaru Amagi, his "purity" was far inferior.
However, this does not mean that he does not cherish his own partners, his own understanding, and his own "integration".
Whether it's the eldest brother, the older brother, or Tiancheng, their integration didn't happen overnight.
Before, he was just following in other people's footsteps.
Now, this is a duel that belongs solely to him!
My own "fusion" is actually only... just beginning.
And right now!
“I will not lose, Dennis! Absolutely, definitely!”
Marufuji Sho drew another card and placed it face down: "Face one card, end turn!"
"...He brought this on himself."
4K4K
(End of this chapter)