Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Nero, now fully transformed with her Saber Regalia, bore massive golden gauntlets on both arms, closely resembling Obelisk's fists.

"Umu, status optimal! Feel it well—for I am the strongest!"

"Just as I thought! If it's Nero fused with Obelisk's power, then we might actually defeat Diabound! You did it, Hoshino!"

Yugi exclaimed with delight. Hoshino's quick thinking had paid off—Millennium Scales could indeed be used to fuse both gods and Heroic Spirits.

The violently burning soul energy caught even Hoshino off guard. Despite being the one who summoned the monster, the energy it consumed was greater than even taking a direct hit from Diabound.

The Soul on her Duel Disk dropped nearly halfway before her eyes.

"So fusion summons in this world cost that much energy? Or is it just because I fused with a god?"

At this rate of soul drain, even with Hoshino's immense reserves, summoning Nero in her Saber Regalia state had brought her dangerously close to her safe limit.

She even began to wonder—if she activated Nero's Rome MAX ability, which grants infinite ATK, would it instantly drain the rest of her soul energy dry?

"Man... what a troublesome era. I still prefer the kind of duel where you just slap your card down and go wild."

Complaints aside, it was time to fight. Pointing toward Diabound's dragon-headed tail, Hoshino declared the attack.

"Go, Nero! Let that ugly monster see what real beauty looks like!"

"Leave the glamour to me, Master!"

With flaming gauntlets, Nero delivered a massive punch directly to the snake-like dragon head attached to Diabound's lower body.

"Same 5000 ATK! Don't you dare back down, Diabound!"

Bakura, unwilling to concede, launched a counterattack. The dragon head emitted a white blast of energy at point-blank range, aimed directly at Nero.

"Feel the impact up close—Burst Gale of Destr—"

"Stuff it back in, Nero!!"

Before Bakura could finish the name of his attack, Nero, following Hoshino's command, twisted her body and slammed a fist straight into the dragon head's mouth—forcing it back down its own throat.

"You're the one tasting a point-blank attack, Bakura!"

The dragon head, shoved back into Diabound's body, exploded from within. Blinding white light of destruction burst out through every crack and crevice in Diabound's frame.

Even with the same 5000 ATK, Nero had battle destruction immunity. Whether by brute force or technique, the advantage was fully on Hoshino's side.

Diabound's current form was no match for Nero in Saber Regalia.

"AAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!"

Bakura screamed in agony, as if his insides were being scorched. Sharing Diabound's soul link, he took the full brunt of the backfired Blue-Eyes attack combined with Nero's counter—double damage that decided the duel.

After the scream, Bakura collapsed to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"You did it, Hoshino—we won!"

Mana jumped up in joy and hugged Hoshino, wrapping her legs around her waist in her usual spirited way.

"Mana, calm down a little—ah, never mind~"

Smelling the faint fragrance from the foreign girl hugging her so tightly, Hoshino immediately surrendered. Being hugged by a Dark Magician Girl like this? She never would've even dared to dream of it.

"A-Affair in progress, Master! It's bad enough when you sneak around behind my back, but now you're cheating in front of me?! You must be punished—with a flurry of tiny punches to your chest!"

Uh, Nero—your "tiny punches" in Saber Regalia form would literally kill me on the spot.

"Mana, that's just too improper! Get your legs down this instant!"

Mahad scolded his young apprentice, clearly exasperated.

Before, Mahad and the priests only treated Hoshino with respect out of loyalty to Yugi. But after this duel, their attitude shifted to genuine admiration.

To be Yugi's friend... clearly, Hoshino was no ordinary person.

With mixed emotions, Seto stepped forward and offered, "No time for chatter. Mahad, we priests need to move. The monsters Bakura summoned outside the palace need to be dealt with. I'll start gathering what forces we have!"

Seto, known for his pride, was no doubt shaken by the power gap he'd just witnessed. But more than anything, as a royal priest, he felt it was his duty to act when a girl did more than the priests themselves.

"I'll leave it to you then, Seto," Yugi nodded.

"Hehehe... Leaving already? But this game's only just reaching its climax."

Hoshino froze, turning toward Bakura, who was still lying on the ground but now letting out an eerie laugh.

"He took that attack and still kept his consciousness? Or... was he just playing dead?"

"Hahaha... You're right, Hoshino. For a thief, playing dead is second nature~"

Bakura slowly pushed himself back up, raising his Duel Disk once again.

"No one's leaving alive today!"

"Oh? You're still standing?"

Hoshino motioned to Nero to prepare for battle and smirked.

"If you're gonna fake death, at least commit. What, you think getting back up mid-act is gonna save you from another beatdown?"

"No more need for pretending. I told you—no one is getting out of here alive!"

There was no fear on Bakura's darkened face. He didn't look like someone who had just been smashed by Nero.

"Just now, Diabound finished absorbing Obelisk's power and evolved again! Answer my call—come forth, the Diabound!"

[Diabound Kernel "Obelisk" ATK 4000 → ∞]

Thick arms like Obelisk's were now grafted onto Diabound's humanoid body—an unsettling and unnatural sight.

Yugi immediately understood—Diabound's evolution worked by attaching itself to other monsters and stealing their power. Even though Obelisk had ripped Diabound off its body earlier, it had still lost a portion of its divine energy.

"Now then, Hoshino—round two begins!"

(*****)

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