"HAHAHAHAHA——!"
The gigantic burning body of Naglfar shook violently with laughter. Every booming roar that erged from within the raging inferno carried scorching heat waves crashing outward.
"A human actually dares challenge ?! Challenge King Naglfar—the incarnation of natural disaster itself?!"
"No matter how you look at that thing, it's an absurdly dangerous monster. But at this point, running away isn't really an option anymore."
Uria had originally grabbed Akasha's arm to persuade her to flee, but she never expected the girl to imdiately switch into full provocation mode and directly draw the monster's attention.
"So I guess fighting is our only choice now."
Dragging Uria into the ss with her, Akasha grinned mischievously.
"Then I'm counting on your support, Uria. Since even I've stepped up, you can't run away from battle either."
"So that's your plan, huh?" Uria replied helplessly. "Fine. We're already tied together on the sa rope now anyway. There's no way I'd abandon you and flee on my own."
Uria narrowed her eyes slightly. Spiritual energy spiraled upward from beneath her feet, transforming into a swirling stream of heat. For a brief instant, the scene looked strangely familiar to Akasha.
"Uria… is it your zodiac year or sothing?"
"Zodiac year? What does that an?"
Moving her fingers delicately, Uria gathered the spirit energy flowing from below and condensed it into several cards that materialized in her hands.
"After the battle with Hoshino before, my power still hasn't fully recovered. This is already my limit for now."
Taking the cards Uria handed over and shuffling them into her deck, Akasha confidently declared:
"This is more than enough. Even against the Fla King, we've got sufficient firepower now."
If Uria hadn't appeared, Akasha probably would've hesitated much longer over whether she should really confront the Fla King head-on.
But now, she possessed absolute confidence because she held two crucial elents capable of deciding victory itself.
First—the support of the Sacred Beast Uria, whose compatibility with Trap Cards was exceptional.
Second—the newly unrestricted Xyz Summoning rules announced by Kaiba Corp earlier that day.
"Oh? This power… how interesting."
Sensing the Sacred Beast energy radiating from Uria, the Fla King spoke in a low voice.
"At first, I thought you were rely two suicidal human females. But perhaps… you might finally provide with so entertainnt."
"—It's not just us!"
Before anyone saw them, their voices arrived first.
Two small figures leapt out from the blazing flas and landed beside Uria and Akasha.
"To cause trouble during the lunch shift we're assigned to guard?! Your fate ends here!"
Sharing the sa identity as Uria among the Three Sacred Beasts, the self-proclaid leader of the trio—the blue-haired girl Raviel—struck a flashy superhero pose.
anwhile, the other girl who arrived alongside her contrasted completely with Raviel's overbearing confidence. The timid-looking blonde girl was naturally Hamon, the final Sacred Beast assigned to guard the academy.
"It's your turn now, Hamon!"
Raviel maintained her pose while frantically signaling with her eyes.
"We practiced this entrance a million tis already! Don't choke at the critical mont!"
"That's exactly why I said I'm not suited for this kind of thing…"
Letting out a small sigh, Hamon reluctantly struck a pose as well.
"T-Today, the Hero of Justice from the Spirit World—the Three Sacred Beasts—shall deliver punishnt upon you!"
"Perfect!" Raviel praised excitedly. "You're finally starting to sound like Master Emiya! 'Hero of Justice' sounds so unbelievably cool."
"(ㅍ_ㅍ) 'Hero of Justice—the Three Sacred Beasts'… there are honestly too many things to complain about here. It's exhausting just thinking about it," Akasha muttered. "And even though Emiya is a Hero of Justice, he definitely wouldn't strike poses this la."
"How is this la?!" Raviel protested. "It's super cool! Besides, now that the invincible Three Sacred Beasts have arrived as reinforcents, there's nothing left to fear no matter what kind of monster we're facing!"
Just like Uria earlier, the other two Sacred Beast girls gathered power as streams of rising energy flipped up their skirts slightly while cards materialized at their fingertips.
"N-No, no, no!" Akasha hurriedly waved her hands. "Uria's cards alone are enough! You really don't have to go through the trouble of—"
"Even if this power is only temporary, don't hold back with us at a ti like this, Akasha!"
Grabbing the cards that had ford in Hamon's hands as well, Raviel forcefully stuffed them into Akasha's deck while flashing a bright, cheerful smile.
"Aren't we partners? Fighting side by side and facing hardships together—that's what it ans to be heroes!"
"(╯°Д°)╯Don't do that! You'll brick my hand!"
Uria was one thing, since she synergized excellently with Trap Cards. But forcing the other two Sacred Beasts into the deck would massively ruin its consistency.
If all three Sacred Beasts clogged Akasha's opening hand, the destructive power would surpass even Okita's legendary bad luck.
"After the Three Egyptian Gods, now there are the Three Sacred Beasts too? The human world truly possesses many amusing things."
Slamming a massive arm into the ground, the Fla King pulled forth a Duel Disk forged from solidified magma.
Even the cards and deck he used were constructed entirely from flas.
"'Fire Fist'! Beasts of boiling infernal flas—beco the power of King Naglfar!"
"Fire Fist?"
Since Akasha had already seen the Iron King's gigantic Duel Disk and deck before, seeing the Fla King wield a magma Duel Disk and flaming cards sohow felt easier to accept.
But the phrase "Fire Fist" sounded strangely familiar to her.
"o(ﾟДﾟ)っWait, this is NOT the ti to be worrying about that!"
For the sake of her deck's consistency, Akasha decided she should remove the other two Sacred Beast cards first.
"I won't let you escape—Duel!!"
Roaring flas spiraled outward in a giant ring around them, forming a blazing dueling arena.
[Fla King Naglfar LP 8000]
Vs.
[Akasha LP 8000]
"(」＞＜)」Crap, I missed the timing…"
Once a duel officially began, the Duel Disk automatically shuffled the deck. And after the shuffle was completed, it was impossible to pull the cards back out to reorganize them.
Drawing her starting hand, just as expected, one copy of Raviel was hopelessly bricked in Akasha's hand.
"No helping it then—I'll take the first turn! Draw!"
A dead hand was still a dead hand, but securing the first move was still crucial.
Akasha glanced at the card she drew for her turn.
Spell Card Graceful Charity.
A perfect draw. She could imdiately discard the Raviel.
"I activate the Spell Card Graceful Charity! Draw three cards from my deck, then discard two cards from my hand!"
After drawing, Akasha sent Raviel and another card into the graveyard slot of her Duel Disk.
"Eh? Why?!"
Raviel stared in utter disbelief after being sent straight to the Graveyard at the very start.
"You actually discarded the strongest Sacred Beast like so worthless Okita! What are you even thinking, Akasha?!"
"You seriously have the nerve to ask that?"
Akasha shot a glance at the loudly protesting blue-haired girl.
The summoning condition for Raviel required three Fiend-Type monsters as Tributes. But even if Akasha spread out her entire deck, she still wouldn't be able to find three Fiends to summon the thing.
"Finally, I set one monster face-down in Defense Position! Then I set two cards and end my turn!"
[Akasha: 3 Hand Cards | 2 Set Cards]
"My turn. Draw!"
The Fla King drew a burning card from his magma Duel Disk. The fiery dueling field around him swayed violently from the sheer movent of his gigantic body.
"Hey, what the hell is going on here, Akasha?!"
Outside the blazing duel arena, Jaden and the others—who had rushed over imdiately after hearing the explosion from the academy infirmary—were greeted by the shocking sight of Akasha confronting an enormous monster alone.
Just as Akasha had predicted earlier, a disturbance of this scale would definitely attract students. And if they got caught in the spreading inferno as well, the situation would beco irreversible.
"H-Hey hey hey, what kind of ugly monstrosity is that?! I'd pay top dollar for a pair of eyes that never saw that face!"
Minazuki recoiled several steps in fear from the overwhelming presence of the Fla King.
"Could that be… one of the Nine Kings?" Jaden asked worriedly. "Akasha, fighting that thing alone is way too dangerous!"
However, after the Fla King deployed the fiery dueling arena, Jaden and the others couldn't even get close to Akasha anymore.
Frowning slightly as irritation rose within her, Akasha snapped back:
"You're one to talk, Jaden. You're worried about ? You barely ever beat in duels. If even you could defeat the Sword King, why can't I?"
"Ugh…"
Jaden awkwardly shrank back, left speechless by her retort.
Glancing at Blair standing beside him, Akasha added:
"Besides, you already have your cute girlfriend keeping you company, don't you?"
"⁄(⁄⁄•⁄⁄•⁄⁄)⁄ W-What do you an, girlfriend?! That's so embarrassing!"
Completely failing to understand Akasha's tone, Blair buried herself in the word girlfriend, covering her blushing cheeks shyly.
"So now even more noisy little insects have arrived? How irritating."
The Fla King thrust his massive claw into the flas, gathering a scorching fireball before hurling it toward the newly arrived group.
"What kind of lunatic attacks the spectators directly?! Referee, disqualify this guy from the duel already!"
Minazuki panicked as the flas ca crashing toward them with nowhere to dodge.
"—Co forth, Neos!"
Reacting instantly, Jaden pulled out his Neos card and materialized the Duel Spirit of Elental HERO Neos in front of them. With a single punch, Neos shattered the incoming flas.
"W-We're safe…?" Alexis exhaled nervously.
"As expected of Jaden-sama! Protecting us so coolly!" Blair clung tightly to Jaden in admiration.
"This King is completely different from the previous ones," Bastion analyzed while staring at the destroyed school building and the monster's imdiate willingness to kill. "This one is genuinely dangerous."
"So Akasha is dueling sothing that terrifying right now?" Alexis muttered anxiously.
Looking toward Neos protecting Jaden and the others, the Fla King laughed.
"More and more interesting things keep appearing. Very well—after I burn this human female to ashes, I'll play with the rest of you too."
Continuing the duel, the Fla Realm King inserted a burning Spell Card into his Duel Disk.
"—I activate the Continuous Spell Card Fire Formation - Tenki!"
[Effect: When this card is activated, you can add 1 Level 4 or lower Beast-Warrior monster from your Deck to your hand.]
The fiery dance swirling across the field flowed into the magma Duel Disk before ejecting the searched card from the deck.
"I add the Beast-Warrior monster Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla from my deck to my hand! Then I Normal Summon it in Attack Position!"
[Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla ★★★★ (Level 4)][FIRE][Beast-Warrior/Effect][ATK 1600/DEF 1000]
Holding a massive blade heated crimson by intense temperatures and clad in Chinese-style armor, the Fire Fist Beast-Warrior roared onto the field.
"—Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla enters the battle!"
"Fire Fist?"
Even though most monsters used by the Nine Kings didn't belong to this world, Akasha still felt an odd sense of familiarity.
"So this is what the Fla Realm King ant earlier by 'Fire Fist'? I swear I've seen this sowhere before…"
"It's Water Margin!" Bastion instantly realized. "Heavenly Spirit of Valor—Guan Sheng, nicknad 'The Great Blade'! He's a fictional character from the Chinese novel "Water Margin"!"
"(꒪Д꒪)ノ Right, Water Margin!" Akasha suddenly understood. "No wonder it sounded so familiar! I think I've seen a gender-bent doujin version of that novel before!"
"Huh? Why would a King from another world use fictional Chinese novel characters as monsters?"
The tangled layers of references left Minazuki completely confused.
"Also, Akasha, lend that book soti."
"The characters from Water Margin represent the 'Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits' and 'Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.' Perhaps, in so symbolic sense, concepts from the two worlds overlapped," Bastion theorized while rubbing his chin.
"Unlike the 'Generals' from our world, the Beast-Warrior monsters transford into 'Fire Fists' are the versions belonging to the Kings of Cataclysmic War's world."
"That's way too complicated. I completely lost track halfway through."
Jaden gave up trying to understand.
"Basically, they're alternate Chinese heroes, right? They do look pretty cool, but it's a different story when monsters like that are using them. Don't lose, Akasha!"
"Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla's effect activates—once per turn, by sending one 'Fire Formation' Spell or Trap on my field to the Graveyard, I can destroy one card in your Spell & Trap Zone!"
Turning the Continuous Spell Card Fire Formation - Tenki into blazing energy, the flas fused into Fire Fist - Gorilla's giant blade.
With a thunderous roar, Akasha's face-down Sakuretsu Armor was cleaved apart instantly.
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