I do not own Zero no Tsukaima or YuGiOh! They belong to their respective creator and not me. I am only writing this for fun and in response to the idea Kamen Rider Chrome posted under the same name.
Duelist of Zero
Idea by Kamen Rider Chrome
Story by Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 2: The Ninety-Nine
Saito groaned and tried to see what was going on around him. Stepping into that portal suddenly didn’t seem like such a cool idea. The portal had closed up behind him as soon as he was through it, leaving him stumbling around in the dark. The situation had just gone from something exciting happening in a boring world, to something dangerous happening in an otherwise safe world!
“WHERE AM I?-!-?-!” he screamed out into the emptiness.
(LINE BREAK)
“Ugh.”
Saito groaned and opened his eyes to see the insides of the Academy. His body ached in so many different ways it made the boy wonder what part of his body was aching in that way to make it so painful. He brought his arm up to massage his forehead and found something attached to his shoulder. Touching it, he felt what was likely a bandage strapped onto his body. No doubt it was treating the acid burn he had received from the Acid Golem of Destruction.
“Ow,” he grumbled.
“Saito!”
Saito blinked and turned to see what was going on when he saw Siesta in the entrance to the sizable room which turned out to be Louise’s. The maid was as cute as ever and was holding and armful of blankets which were likely for his benefit. She was wearing the portrait of shock as she saw him moving around and apparently awake. She dropped the blankets and dashed to Saito’s side so to examine him.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” she exclaimed. “When everyone saw you brought in after defeating that monstrous golem we feared the worst!”
“Hey, I’m okay,” Saito grinned. “Better than that, I won!” He sat up with a little bit of effort with Siesta’s help. “Was anyone else hurt?”
“Those awful golems hurt a lot of the guards and frightened many of us,” Siesta shivered. “They were chasing everyone and melting all of the doors which people were trying to hide behind. We were quite confused when they just suddenly stopped and then fell apart.”
“Must have happened when I destroyed the Acid Golem of Destruction,” Saito frowned. “At least I managed to stop it before someone got seriously hurt.”
“Acid Golem of Destruction?” Siesta blinked. “Was that the giant golem we heard about you fighting?”
“Yeah,” Guiche nodded, looking at the maid. “Have you heard of it?”
“Well…I know a few stories which talk about golems which use acid,” Siesta frowned in thought. “I can’t remember any details though…”
“Tabitha sure seemed to know what it was,” the Japanese boy recalled. “She took one look at it and dropped to her knees talking about doom.”
“I did hear it was very scary,” Siesta argued. “Weren’t you terrified when you saw it?”
“Good point,” Saito nodded. He had been pretty scared when he had faced down that giant monster. It was only the fact that it was a Duel Monster in the middle of a match that kept him from screaming like a loon.
“Everyone is talking about you though!” Siesta brightened up. “Miss Valliere and her friends have been telling everyone that it was you who defeated that monster and Mr. Guiche who had been the one controlling it.”
“More like it was controlling him,” Saito replied.
“Huh?” Siesta blinked.
“Guiche might be a playboy, but do you honestly think someone like him has the guts and sheer maliciousness to do something like this?” asked Saito. He could already guess that Guiche was a pompous jerk, but from the way he cowered as soon as things got bad he didn’t seem the type to begin a world-conquering scheme out of the blue. “If anything, I’d bet the Acid Golem of Destruction had been influencing him. It outright took control of him when he summoned it.”
“Do you think so?” Siesta pondered. “If that’s the case then he may be forgiven for what happened. He never really was mean, just a bit of a playboy.”
“Hopefully,” Saito nodded. The guy may have been a jerk, but he had been punished enough by this point.
The door to the room creaked as it was opened, revealing Louise as she came into the room. She almost tripped over the blankets that Siesta had dropped. Stumbling slightly, she looked up in her face ready to scold somebody, but saw that Saito was awake and sitting up.
“You’re awake!” she gasped, running over to his bedside. It seemed she was going to show some genuine concern…
WHAP!
“Ow!” Saitoh cried as Louise slapped him upside the head. Siesta gasped at the sight.
“Idiot!” Louise snapped. “How dare you go and risk yourself like that! You’re my Familiar! You’re supposed to do what I say, not go and risk yourself in situations like that! Do you know how much trouble you caused me?-!”
“Oh come on! I just risked my life to save the school from a massive killer golem!” Saito snapped back. “I didn’t see you or any other nobles being able to help!”
“You just got lucky!” the pinkette shouted back. “I’m sure once the teachers got organized they would have quickly crushed Guiche’s rebellion! It was only a matter of time before it failed!”
“Um…” Siesta mumbled. “The teachers did regroup. None of their spells were working on the golems from what I heard from the other staff who were with them.”
“See?” Louise nodded, as if she heard confirmation on her argument. “The teachers were perfectly…” she then blanched and turned to gape at Siesta. “WHAT?-!”
Siesta flinched and took a step back, “W-well, some of the staff were trapped with the teachers during their morning tea. That was when the golems broke in and started attacking. The teachers used many different spells, but all of them just splashed off the golems and didn’t even seem to slow them down.”
Louise gaped at the maid, unsure what to think. Her noble pride demanded that she disregard Siesta’s words as just a commoner who wouldn’t be able to recognize how effective a spell was on anything, but her common sense argued against that. Out of any commoners, the staff of Tristain Academy would be the ones to know what a spell would look like and if it was effective or not. It would be even easier to tell since the spells would no doubt be geared for battle and it would definitely show if they were effective or not in the damage of the golems that Guiche had created. For no damage to be dealt to the golems from the teachers who were some of the most experienced the land had to offer, it spoke about how serious the threat was.
And that frightened her.
“Hello? Is he awake yet?”
The mood was broken when the familiar form of Professor Colbert entered the room, sidestepping the dropped blankets without even looking at them. Adjusting his glasses, he saw the scene of Louise, Siesta, and Saito before smiling. “Ah, looks like the young man is up and about. Good. You gave us all quite a scare.”
“So I’ve been told,” Saito nodded, rubbing the back of his head.
“Yes, but a lot of people are wondering what the entire situation is,” Colbert continued. “If you’re well enough to walk Saito, the headmaster and I would like to have a few words with you concerning what happened.”
“Well…I guess,” Saito shrugged. “Just let me find my shirt and I can-”
“Already taken care of!” Siesta announced. Reaching behind her back into a pocket…or somewhere, she produced Saito’s blue and white sweater. The sleeve was reattached and the hole was patched, even if one could tell that it had been fixed up in such a way. It still looked respectable. “I found it during the cleanup and decided to fix it.”
“Siesta…” Saito blinked, honestly surprised and a little touched. “Thank you.”
“Mn!” the happy maid beamed as she handed over the garment.
After dressing, Colbert guided Saito and Louise through the hallways to the upper levels of the school. Saito remained quiet while Louise seemed somewhat introverted at the moment, still shaken at the fact that the magic that she was raised to believe was supreme was completely useless when it was needed most.
They came to a large pair of double doors which had a desk stationed outside. Manning the desk was a pretty woman with tied back green hair and glasses. Colbert greeted the woman with a smile, obviously fond of her. She nodded in response and gestured to the doors, indicated that they were free to enter at their own discretion. The balding teacher nodded and guided the pair through the doors.
Inside was the massive office which had shelves upon shelves of books, a private library’s worth. At the back of the room in front of a large window was a wizened old man with a staff, quite obviously the headmaster. He was writing on some paper when he looked up from his work. Seeing his guests, he smiled.
“Ah, it seems our little savior has arrived,” he smiled. Behind the pair, Colbert closed the doors behind him. “Well, I was hoping that your Familiar would be able to shed some light on the latest crisis that we had to deal with.”
“I’ll, tell you what I know,” Saito shrugged. “But what do you need in particular?”
“What I need to know is how you managed to deal with the threat,” explained Headmaster Osmand. “How did you defeat the massive golem we managed to get glimpses of when even our magic didn’t seem to slow down even the small ones?”
Saito scratched his cheek as he considered his answer, “Well, the short answer is that Guiche and I did battle in a match of Duel Monsters. He summoned the golem in an effort to beat me and I summoned my own Tao Warrior to destroy it.”
“And what would Duel Monsters be?” asked the headmaster.
“In my world Duel Monsters is played all over the world by people from all walks of life. It's a game played with cards and we use devices to conjure realistic illusions in order to make it more thrilling. Players like me are called duelists."
“So this method of dueling is used to solve issues and disputes between people in place of the conventional dueling done here?” asked Colbert, somehow having brought out a roll of parchment and a quill, beginning to scrawl notes.
“Well, it’s used to solve a lot of disputes, but it’s also a national sport and pastime,” Saito replied. “It’s a really big part of my society.”
“Interesting,” Colbert nodded.
“So Mr. Gramont engaged in this method of dueling against you,” Osmond frowned. “What confuses me is how he managed to procure such cards, the items needed to use them, and knowledge on how to duel in this way.”
Saito nodded before reaching into his pocket, “I think that the reason Guiche got all of those things is because of this,” he pulled out the card depicting the Acid Golem of Destruction. “When he played it, Guiche was possessed by this monster. It spoke to me using Guiche’s body. If it was powerful enough to do that, I think it was influencing him and giving him everything he needed to duel.”
“So then this card is not one you normally associate with your dueling?” asked Colbert, adjusting his glasses to look at the image.
“No,” Saito shook his head. “I’ve never heard of an Xyz monster like this or of Exceed Summons. There are a lot of ways to summons monsters to your aid, but this isn’t one I’m familiar with.” He eyed the Acid Golem warily. “It’s also a kind of monster I’ve never heard of before. It called itself a Number.”
“Is that significant?” asked Osmond.
“Well, this thing is ridiculously strong, and it can only be destroyed by another Number,” Saito replied, setting the card onto the headmaster’s desk. Searching through his pocket a second time, he retrieved Tao Warrior and set it next to the Golem. “I only beat it because a Number chose me to wield him.”
“Ah, so this…Tao Warrior, destroyed the Golem at your command?” asked Colbert. “And you have no idea what these ‘Numbers’ are?”
Saito nodded, “Yes. It managed to turn the tide in my favor.” He looked to the two men. “I think the Numbers might be something connected to this world though.”
Osmond looked up from the two cards, quirking an eyebrow, “Really? What would make you say that?”
Saito scratched his cheek in though, “Well, when the Acid Golem of Destruction came to the field, Tabitha got really frightened. She called it one of the Ninety-Nine Demons of the Void and-!”
WHAP!
“Ow!” Saito cried, taking another smack to the head. Frowning, he glared at the pinkette next to him who had been silent up until now. “What was that for?-!”
“For daring to consider the blasphemy that a wicked monster such as that golem came from the Void!” Louise snapped. “It is a righteous and holy element that Founder Brimr created to guide us onto a path to holy virtue! I will not have you desecrate it!”
“Ms. Valliere, your Familiar is correct,” Headmaster Osmand spoke up.
Louise halted in her berating of Saito to suddenly turn towards her headmaster with bulging eyes, “What?-!”
Colbert sighed and adjusted his glasses, “It is a story that is all but forbidden to be told by the church since it is almost heretical of the faith we hold in the Void and Founder Brimr, but if what Mr. Hiraga says is true then we may have to consider its authenticity, whether we like it or not.”
“How does it go?” asked Saito, infinitely curious.
Osmond stood up from his desk and began heading towards his bookshelves. As he walked, he began the story, “You likely don’t know this Mr. Hiraga, but our very way of life was started by Founder Brimr. He was the first Void Mage whose power was so mighty, many believe him to have been chosen by God and still do today. It was he who united the then chaotic lands and trained the primitive magic users into the method of government and magical systems we use today.”
‘He must be rolling in his grave if spoiled rich snobs are the norm these days,’ the Japanese boy thought to himself, but kept his thoughts to himself lest Louise smack him again.
“The church likes to preach the story that it was the coming of a new age which had people conforming to his teachings and converting everyone into the thriving society we now hold,” Osmond continued, checking his books. “Of course, those of us who are realists know that such a change is never accepted without struggle despite what the church would have us believe.”
Louise looked like she wanted to interrupt, but she held her silence. Her faith in what she was raised to believe in the Void obviously demanding she denounce such an idea, but the headmaster obviously knew what he was talking about and lessons from her own family helped teach her that things rarely went the way people preferred to believe they would.
“Many fought against Brimr, clutching to the power they collected desperately, or simply out of fear of change, or even seeing him as another conqueror who would subjugate the people in a quest for personal gain,” the headmaster spoke. “The story our religious leaders would prefer us not to know concerns one such group of people.”
“Who were they?” asked Louise, her curiosity overcoming her temper for a moment.
“No names were recorded, but it was known that they were a group of mages who believed that Brimr’s methods would end up destroying the power they had collected for themselves,” Osmond answered. “They collected other like-minded mages or simply those who wanted more power and were dissatisfied with Brimr’s methods. Together, they began researching his methods of magic, wanting to steal his secrets for themselves.”
“Well obviously they would have failed,” the pinkette huffed.
“Oh no,” Osmond shook his head, finally taking a book from a shelf. “They were thorough, copying everything they could, researching what they found out, and pouring every bit of ingenuity they could into mastering the strange new art. One day, after much toil and effort they succeeded.”
“They…used the Void?” asked Saito.
“Yes,” Osmond nodded, sitting back at his desk. “What little research was done into these events leads me to believe that they wished to summon powerful Familiars of their own, much like the ones Brimr had summoned to assist him. Using what they stole, they tapped into the power of the Void and brought forth creatures the likes of which no one had ever seen before. Ninety-Nine mages were counted in this group and each one summoned what we would call a Demon of the Void.”
“The Ninety-Nine Demons of the Void,” Saito frowned.
“No two were alike,” Colbert added in. “Each one was as different as you and I are from each other. The only thing they had in common were the strange markings which likely denounced a kind of ranking system. The markings looked close to numbers so the people of those times decided to use those to identify which of the monsters they could expect and strategize against if they could.”
“Really?” Saito blinked. Approaching the headmaster’s desk, he looked at the book the old man was flipping through. “Does it have anything on one marked Number 30?”
“Number 30? Well, I suppose so,” Osmond flipped through the pages before he found the one in question. “Ah, here it is. ‘And lo, the giant of steel would crush all resistance, using his very blood as a weapon which would render steel, stone, and flesh as that of melted ice, running through the lands as rivers of blood.’ Most ominous.”
Saito leaned over the desk to see what he kind learn. The words were indecipherable to him, but there was a picture. It looked like something out of a gothic era bible like he had seen in history classes and it was in black and white, but the figure of a giant crushing houses and melting mobs of suffering people definitely struck a familiar chord in his eyes.
The marking on the creature’s leg just cinched it.
“That’s him,” Saito frowned. Picking up the Number 30 card, he placed it next to the image in the book. “That’s Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction.”
“By the Founder!” Colbert gasped, leaning in and likewise seeing the resemblance. “So it is true! The Ninety-Nine Demons do exist!”
“It can’t be!” Louise cried, her faith already taking a hit from being told such a story from an elder. Scrambling for a look as well, she peered at the image of the card, the true monster from her memories, and the creature depicted in the book. As much as she wanted to deny that the images were wrong, that the Void was truly the holy element that they were all told of, even her noble instincts couldn’t deny the resemblance without sounding like desperate denial. “It..can’t be…”
Osmond’s eyes narrowed, the severity of the situation very clear in his mind. He craved his pipe at the moment, but this wasn’t the time for it. Taking the edge of the page, he turned it over. More words were on one page, but the accompanying picture was a much better scene. This one depicted the Acid Golem being stabbed through the heart by what looked like an armored angel with one black wing and one white wing.
“No way! It’s Tao Warrior!” Saito gasped. Picking up the card in question, he compared it to the picture in the book. It was another uncanny resemblance despite the age difference in the two items.
“Which brings me to the rest of the story,” Osmond nodded. “With their summoned demons, the mages began their mission of greed, conquest, and bloodshed. No army could stop them, no magic would affect them. Worse still, each mage who was contracted to such a beast gained abilities that no other mage seemed capable of.”
“Like creating an army of golems that couldn’t be destroyed and could destroy everything they touched?” asked Saito.
“Correct,” the headmaster nodded. “Even Brimr found himself at a loss against these creatures. In a most desperate move, he decided to delve deep into his Void magic so that he too could summon a being capable of battling the demons.” Despite Louise’s gasp of shock, he continued. “He performed a ritual much like the mages did and made contact with a being from the Void. However, this one was benign. It was a warrior of balance, who sought to bring harmony to the world. Good and evil, dark and light, all was to be balanced to bring peace to the world. This warrior, called the Angel of Balance pledged his service to Brimr until such a time that the demons were defeated.”
“Did he do it?” asked Saito.
“Indeed,” Osmond answered with a smile. “One by one, little by little, Brimr and the Angel of Balance destroyed the Demons until they were all gone. The Angel and Brimr then used their powers to seal the Demons away in the Void itself, thought never to return. His own task complete, the Angel of Balance likewise vanished to never be seen again.”
“Until now,” Colbert frowned grimly.
Louise seemed numb to the conversation, stepping back from the group. Her eyes were unfocused, obviously not taking the news well, “I…I don’t understand. All my life I was told that the Void was a holy and righteous element which only those Chosen by God would use. How can it be used for such evil?”
“It is an element,” Colbert sighed. “Just as fire can warm us and yet burn us, just as water and quench thirst yet drown us, just as earth can sustain us yet crush us, and as air can give life yet cut us. The Void can save us, yet also destroy us depending on the heart of the person who is using it. We consider it holy because it is mostly pious people who used it in the past, but if more evil people had used it, we likely would have considered it a demonic art.”
“Whaaaaa?-!” Louise gasped out, looking ready to pass out.
“But that is neither here nor there,” the old man shrugged. “What matters now is what are we going to do about it?”
“Shouldn’t we warn the queen and princess?” asked Colbert. “This is surely a crisis which affects all of Halkenginia!”
“I agree, but what proof do we have?” asked Osmond. “Yes, we have witnesses to the event, but most would simply believe that Guiche did this of his own accord and would punish him before simply forgetting about the incident. No one would believe, or rather not want to believe that a foreigner who uses a system of magic completely foreign to us saved the Academy where we trained mages could not. Furthermore, most have never heard the tale of the Ninety-Nine Demons and trying to speak about it would no doubt have the church brand us as blasphemers. No one would dare listen to us then.”
“So there’s nothing we can do?” asked Saito, his shoulders drooping.
“Well, I did not say that,” Osmond shook his head. “We do have a saving grace. Obviously the Demons themselves cannot fully enter our world unless someone summons them. To do this, they likely send their spirits in the form of these cards to be picked up by people and then influence them into summoning them.”
“That’s how it seemed with Guiche,” the Japanese boy agreed. “Once the Golem was summoned, it took over completely. It said it intended to pick up where it left off before Brimr defeated it.”
“Then all we must do is locate the cards before they can be used,” Osmond replied. “If worst comes to worst, Mr. Hiraga has the ability to combat the demons with a good chance of victory. He does possess knowledge of this form of combat as well as the Angel of Balance.”
“That’s true!” Colbert gasped, sounding quite relieved. “Still, it raises the question as to why the Demons are taking the form of the cards which Mr. Hiraga uses to duel in his home country.”
“Wish I knew,” Saito sighed. “It would be nice if we could ask Tao Warrior, but he doesn’t seem to talk to me unless he has to.”
“A shame,” Osmond sighed. Perking up, he looked to his student and her Familiar, “I suppose that’s all I need to know for the time being. You two may return to the dormitory. If we need any further information, we will send for you.”
“Yes sir,” the two teens nodded before exiting the room.
“Now then,” Osmond frowned, looking to Colbert. “How many of your contacts do you think could help with this?”
(LINE BREAK)
Saito and Louise travelled back down to head back to the dorms where they could collect their thoughts and get their minds back to normal. Saito had a lot to think about while about the Numbers while Louise just had a huge hole punched into the world view that she had been nurturing her whole life. It was something akin to hearing the folk hero you had been told about all of your life led a secret double life where they drank and gambled or something.
The students who were travelling through the halls gave the pair a wide berth. Well, it was more like they were giving Saito a wide berth. Gossip had spread across the school, stating that it was indeed Saito that had defeated the leader of the magical golems that attacked their school. Both used a brand of magic that no one had ever seen before and clashed against each other in a battle that few would admit being witness to. Normally gossip had a way of warping, but it seemed that in the halls of the academy gossip was kept straight with Saito being the one who bested the massive golem and Guiche was an unfortunate victim of the golem which enchanted him.
It still had people wary of Saito if he could destroy such a monstrous golem.
“Darling!”
Almost everyone.
Saito instinctively turned, but didn’t see much before tan cleavage engulfed him. He recognized the sight in an instant as belonging to Kirche. Apparently she heard that he was back on his feet or had seen him walking through the halls.
“Oh Darling I was so worried about you!” Kirche babbled, wrapping her arms around Saito’s head. “When you collapsed after so heroically rescuing us I didn’t know what I would do!”
“Zerbst!” Louise snapped, coming out of her funk. Being faced with something she could properly be angry at helped get her mind back up to speed. “Unhand my Familiar this instant!”
“Oh?” Kirche pouted, looking at Louise. “Why should I? He’s the hero of Tristain Academy you know. Since no one else seems willing to give him the respect he deserves, I’m going to do that instead.”
“He doesn’t need your kind of thanks!” the pinkette snapped.
“Oh?” Kirche smirked, she leaned back slightly to reveal Saito’s face. “I think he enjoys my thanks.”
Saito’s face was holding a dreamy smile with red cheeks and dazed eyes. Only a complete and utter fool would mistake him as anything but in utter bliss at being pressed into the busty girl’s cleavage. He spoke dazedly as he looked up at Kirche’s pretty face, “Just…doing my job. Eh heh, heh, heh, heh.”
Louise’s frown turned outright murderous as she drew her wand in her trembling fist. Gritting her teeth, she raised it up with a cry of, “YOU DOG!”
BOOM!
(LINE BREAK)
The Day of the Void arrived at Tristain Academy, which as far as Saito could figure meant that it was akin to a day off from studies and work. The school was happy for the day since it would allow for the people in charge of the repairing the school to get the job done. The students themselves were going to enjoy their day off, having just faced off against an invasion of golems. Saito would have been happy to be one of them, especially since Siesta and the rest of the serving staff thought he was all but a celebrity in their eyes. Siesta was ready to hand feed him meals and Marteau the head chef was singing his praises while making the daily meals.
No, Saito wasn’t at the Academy at the moment. Instead, he had been dragged along on horseback into the city nearest to Tristain. Being a city boy, he found the experience downright uncomfortable but he couldn’t complain lest Louise smack him again like she did the first time.
Arriving into the city borders, Louise guided the horse to a public stable. After paying a small fee, the handlers took the horses to a stall to rest while the pair went out to do their errands.
“Louise?” asked Saito as they walked down the street. “Why are we here?”
“To get you a sword,” the girl replied, leading away. “While you seem capable enough of battling these Numbers demons, you are going to need a practical weapon if we are going to be fighting them.”
“Okay,” Saito shrugged. It made sense he supposed. There was no guarantee that all of the people who had Numbers would want to duel in the sense that he was used to. A sword would come in handy.
Walking through the market district, Saito eyed everything. It was like looking into one of the history books about Europe. People were bartering left and right, trying to haggle for a good price and things they wanted. Looking up, he saw the signs for the various shops hanging above in an attempt to bring in customers by showing what it was that they dealt in. Still, one thing was off about the hanging slices of wood.
“Louise, why don’t any of the signs have words on them?” he asked.
“It’s because most commoners can’t read,” the pinkette replied. “So instead the signs are made colorful with big pictures to tell people what their wares are.”
“What?-!” Saito gaped. “So only the nobility can read?”
“It’s only natural,” Louise shrugged.
“No it’s not!” Saito growled, once again being reminded of the blatant unfairness which resided between the nobles and the commoners just because one had magic while the other didn’t. “Back home, ninety-nine percent of the population are able to read! Learning to read is a skill everyone needs and denying someone the opportunity to learn that is an infringement of human rights!”
“I’m not denying that reading is a useful skill, and certainly if one wishes to learn it then I for one believe that they should go claim it,” Louise sighed, glancing over her shoulder at her Familiar. “When I say it’s only natural, I mean that most commoners simply do not have the time to learn it since they are busy working at their chosen professions. The only commoners I know of that can read are the ones who work with printing, libraries, or other professions that deal with the written word.”
“Well for a moment there you made it sound like something a commoner shouldn’t have simply because a noble had it first,” Saito sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets.
“There are many things only a noble should be entrusted with, but the simple ability to read is not one of them,” Louise answered, turning her attention back to in front of her. “Does ninety-nine percent of your homeland’s population really know how to read?”
“Yes,” Saito nodded. “Our education system is hailed as one of the best in the world.”
“And the nobles allow it?” asked Louise, knowing from experience within her family’s social functions that there were some who felt that the commoners should be kept as ignorant as functionally possible in order to keep things running smoothly.
“There are no nobles where I come from,” Saito shook his head. “There’s no magic either. Our government is based off merit instead of bloodlines. We elect people who apply for the various positions based on what they’ve done and what their plans for once they reach office. We have an emperor who has final say in changes in government, laws, and all that but he usually just leaves it in the hands of the elected.”
“Dwah?-!” Louise gaped. No nobles?-! How could a society function without the nobles to cultivate the government to ensure the smooth running of the country? Oh the idea of choosing someone based off their accomplishments was logical, but no divine right as decreed by God? Surely it was eventually doomed to failure! Then again, they did have a monarchy who had final say. She supposed he left the ruling for his chosen court while he kept an eye on the country as a whole.
"So, there were no nobles at all?" she questioned, stunned by his statement.
"Not anymore, but a long time ago there was a system where we had nobles and nowadays there are people with noble bloodline but they don't have any actual power in government. They have money and land but that's about it," Saito explained. "The nobles we had were called Damiyo and then they had samurai who would be like knights. Of course then the nobles abused their power so the common people rose up and took them down to make a new government."
"Not anymore, but a long time ago there was a system where we had nobles and nowadays there are people with noble bloodline but they don't have any actual power in government. They have money and land but that's about it," Saito explained. "The nobles we had were called Damiyo and then they had samurai who would be like knights. Of course then the nobles abused their power so the common people rose up and took them down to make a new government."
“But-but-but, what about the divine rule?” Louise pressed, turning around. “Surely you can’t go against what God decreed as the proper rulers!”
“Well, the emperor is descendant of the king of the gods, which is why we still hail him and call him our leader,” Saito scratched the back of his head. “But all of the others were just men like the rest of us. The people couldn’t stand being treated so wrongly anymore and so they did something about it.”
One may have called Louise a sheltered little girl who didn’t know much about the real world and nine times out of ten they would be right. Still, if there was one thing that Louise could understand it was solid reasoning…when she wasn’t in a fit of rage. Most of the nobles in Tristain were indeed endowed with nobility because Founder Brimr taught them how to use magic and founded the modern government by choosing them to help establish it. His descendants were the ones who ruled the countries except for Germania. Despite the ability to use magic, all of the other nobles were just that, human, not the divine figures which several tried to make themselves out as for the sake of their pride.
“I mean, don’t you think that if someone is threatening your health and wellbeing you have the right to defend yourself?” asked Saito.
“Of course you do!” Louise grumbled. “It would be stupid of you to think otherwise!”
“Well, that was the reason why my people revolted against the Damiyo,” Saito nodded. “Too many of them were endangering the lives of their people, making it impossible for them to live by taxing them for ridiculous things, or even killing them for crimes which no one in their right mind would have executed them for.”
“These Damiyo of yours abused their power that much?” Louise shook her head. “No wonder you seem to be ignorant of the noble system. Your country was given the worst examples of it and you actually rose up and discarded it.”
“Well, we can’t complain about how it’s gone since then,” Saito shrugged. “It’s not perfect, but we’re doing alright.”
“If you say so,” Louise shrugged. She may have been a firm supporter of the current government, but far be it from her to mock another land’s customs and ways no matter what her opinion of them were.
The travelled down the streets until they found a sign with a sword on it hanging above the street. Following the pole which held the sign, they found the door which it belonged to. Leading the way, Louise entered the store with Saito in tow. Inside were shelves upon shelves of polished steel weapons. Swords of all shapes and sizes were set out for the customers to see and free to handle if they wanted to test them out.
At the side was a wooden counter where a greasy man in oil stained clothes with greasy hair and more or less looked like a mouse in human form with a pair of small glasses over his nose. He heard the pair enter the store and looked up while adjusting his glasses.
“Eh?” he blinked, focusing on the pair. He noticed the way Louise was dressed and flinched. “Oh! Nobles!” He stood up straight. “Now listen, this is a respectable store! I’ve paid all my fines on time and in full!”
“I am here as a customer!” Louise spoke up. “I am here to get a sword for my Familiar. Now, are you able to suggest anything in particular? I do not know much about swords, but I expect something suitable!”
The merchant’s face did a one-eighty as he became all smiles, “Of course, of course!” He rubbed his hands together. “Now, is there anything you’d favor in particular?”
“I don’t care how it looks. Just make sure that it is functional,” Louise shrugged.
The mousy man grinned, “Well then I have just the thing for you!” Moving onto the shelves behind the counter, likely where he kept his really expensive wares, he shuffled among several wrapped packages before picking one up. Bringing it to the counter, he unwrapped it to reveal a polished rapier with a polished silver hilt that was elaborately designed and looked like it was a work of art than a weapon.
“Wow! How pretty!” Louise admired. “Still, it looks a little too thin for any practical use.”
“Oh it’s functional,” the salesman insisted. “Many nobles are placing orders for this kind of sword for their servants.”
Louise blinked, “Really? Why?”
Scratching his cheek, the salesman shrugged, “Rumors are saying there’s a nasty thief running around. They call her Foquet the Crumbling Dirt. They call her that because she turns any walls and doors into sand and just walks through ‘em. She then takes the treasures the noble has and leaves a message sayin’ ‘treasure duly received’.” The man chuckled. “It’s got a lot of the nobles freaked out.”
“Woah,” Saito couldn’t help but be surprised by the story.
“Yes,” Louise nodded. “In that case this sword is much too thin then. Do you have something a bit sturdier?”
“I might have something,” the salesman nodded, taking the sword back. He rummaged around a little bit before he came back with a more classical European sword, this one inlaid with elaborate gold and a decorated leather sheathe. “Here you go. You won’t find a better sword than this easily. It’s made by the famous Germanian alchemist Lord Spee. It’ll cut through stone like wet clay!”
“Wow!” the two teenagers gasped in admiration. Louise looked up from the beautiful weapon, “How much?”
“3000 new gold,” the salesman answered.
“What?-!” Louise cried out. “You could buy a new mansion and the forest around it for that kind of money!”
“A fine sword is worth its weight in gold,” the salesman defended his price. “Besides, this sword will come through as promised! I guarantee it!”
“Your words aren’t worth the air needed to make them!”
Louise and Saito both yelped, turning to see who had spoken. They both feared that they were going to get involved in a fight between two people, but they didn’t find anybody there. It confused them, making them wonder just who had spoke.
“Shut up Derf! I’m trying to make some money here!” the salesman shouted at the corner.
“You’re trying to scam these kids!” the voice came from a barrel in the corner of the room which was filled with some cheap wares. “That sword’s better off being melted for coins! It would be more useful that way!”
“Quiet or I’ll melt you!” the merchant shouted back.
Now infinitely curious, Saito walked up to the barrel to see just what was talking. Inside were some obviously cheap wares which looked like they had been tossed together and had little to no decoration beyond their sharp edges. However, they were neglected and were either rusty, broken, or a mix of the two.
“Hi. Nice to meet you kid.” The voice had come from an extremely rusty sword that seemed like an average blade with a handguard that had a loose piece which moved when the weapons spoke.
“Holy cow!” Saito gasped. “You can talk?-!”
“And he never shuts up!” the salesman grumbled. “Keeps scaring away my customers!”
“I don’t have to scare people away! Everyone knows you’re a scammer!” the sword snapped back. “Trying to charge a fortune for that piece of scrap when you leave me to rust and make me only worth a few gold!”
“With how much trouble you cause me, you’re lucky I don’t sell you for scrap!” the salesman shouted back.
Saito was entranced by the weapon and couldn’t help but pick it up so he could admire it. The thing was rusty, no doubt about that. Still, he couldn’t see any chips or cracks in it. Maybe aside from some polishing, the sword looked perfectly good to use. Plus, it was obviously magical since it could talk. Saito remembered his mom telling him to always look in the bargain bins since you never know what the store employees might consider junk that might in fact be valuable.
“I’ve never seen a talking sword before,” Louise admitted.
“Me neither,” Saito nodded before turning to look at the salesman. “How much for him?”
“Mnn,” the salesman frowned. On one hand, he really wanted to sell something really expensive to the noble brat so he could make a huge profit but on the other he could finally get rid of the rusty sword that was the bane of his business for a while now. “100 gold. Not a coin less!”
“Deal!” Saito grinned, ignoring Louise’s frown of annoyance.
“Hey, seems like you’ve got a sense for steel after all,” the sword spoke in a happy voice. “You got a name kid?”
“Saito Hiraga,” the boy answered. “You?”
“Just call me Derflinger!”
After handing over the gold needed to pay for the sword, Derflinger left the shop with Louise and Saito inside a nice blue sheathe strapped to the boy’s back. Their task complete, the two began to head back out of town so they could get their horse back. Derflinger managed to wriggle himself out of his sheathe enough to be able to talk.
“So Partner, you’re the Left Hand eh? How’s it feel?”
“Left Hand? What’s that mean?” asked Saito.
“Oh, you don’t know? Nevermind then,” Derflinger replied abruptly, sheathing himself completely once again. Saito blinked at the question, but he shrugged and decided to let the sword tell him when he felt like it. Besides, he still had to worry about the other Numbers and where they may have ended up.
(LINE BREAK)
“Now get out of here!”
“Woooah!”
From inside a fancy house no doubt belonging to someone of high status or at least high income, a man was thrown out onto the streets. He was dressed in clothes common to that of a traveler and looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in a while. He had messy brown hair and a handsome face, not appearing to be that of the usual person who would be travelling at low costs. As he hit the ground, what looked like an ornate black flute with silver accents fell from his belt. Despite his shabby clothes, the flute was lovingly cared for and looked very expensive.
Behind him, the guards turned away and moved back into the house. The man grumbled and got to his knees, dusting himself off.
“Damn magistrate,” he grumbled. “Too cheap to even pay for a simple extermination job.”
Getting up, he kicked a rock down the street in his frustration. If his best paying job in a long time refused to pay him, how was he supposed to keep himself from sleeping in the streets now? He still couldn’t believe that the stupid magistrate refused to pay him! If it weren’t for him, the princess would have booted the man’s ass out for someone more competent long ago! If it was any other exterminator the magistrate would have paid, but just because he could use magic…!
“I can help you gain what you deserve.”
The man blinked and looked towards the source of the voice, not seeing any human being. What he did see was a floating light which simply hung into the air. As he stared at the light, his eyes began to grow dull.
“I will give you the power to take what you deserve!”
(LINE BREAK)
1 Week Later…
It was nighttime and the children were sleeping. However, a melody was soon heard floating in the air and the children’s eyes all opened. They got out of bed, like zombies, and exited their rooms with their parents none the wiser.
Many, many children were seen marching out of their homes, following the song. In the morning, several parents would begin to panic.
(LINE BREAK)
Tristain Academy --- Louise’s Room
Saito was currently lounging in Louise’s room, having absolutely nothing to do while the pinkette was in class. He supposed it could be worse, she could have forced him to follow her everywhere like a dog which other Familiars would do. He supposed after revealing his own magical power in dueling, Louise at least considered him human rather than an animal like a regular Familiar would be.
At the moment, he had his cards spread out on the table even though his mind wasn’t entirely on them at the moment. His thoughts were focused more on the Numbers themselves. Ever since the revelation of just what the Numbers were to the people of Tristain, he wanted to try and find out more about them. Since he couldn’t read the books from the library though, he had to ask Siesta to assist him. She was only too happy to help, but he also had to tell her what the Numbers actually were so she’d know what to look for. She was naturally horrified by what she was told but it also made her more determined to help.
The two worked together when Siesta was done for the day and Saito wasn’t being ordered around by Louise. The two worked in the library, trying to find anything they could on the history of Brimr and mentions of the Ninety-Nine Demons of the Void. Unfortunately, a lot of the books about the Founder spoke only about how pious the man was and how glorious his actions were. Most of the books never mentioned anything about the Ninety-Nine and the ones that even talked about demons at all said that they were summoned from the depths of hell by blasphemous mages in the service of evil. It truly seemed that the church didn’t want anyone to know that the Void was capable of being used for evil. It seemed like Saito’s history teacher back home had been right, history truly was written by the victors.
“Guess they just want to ignore the possibility rather than confirm it since it’ll just mess with their power base,” said Saito.
“Well, that’s nobles for you,” said Derflinger. “They don’t want anything that can mess with their positions to exist. I mean they even disown their own kids if they aren’t up to their standards.”
“Out of sight, out of mind,” Saito agreed. At least he and Siesta got to spend some time together as she was one of the few people in the Academy that was nice to him. Also, tales of his skills as a duelists seemed to have spread among the academy’s staff. They didn’t consider him a noble since he didn’t wave a wand around or boss them around but they were initially wary of him until Siesta managed to vouch for him. Speaking of which, the girl had been teaching him the alphabet and also teaching him how to read.
He had to get special permission to use the library through Louise first. Considering what was at stake she was more than happy to allow it. He was, obviously, the only one capable of dealing with this threat since he was the only duelist they had. Any other duelist in the future would be a Number-controlled slave.
Saito glared at the cards he had. Since he was no longer in his world the rest of his collection was left behind so he only had the cards in his deck. Oh, and he also had Tao Warrior and Acid Golem. Speaking of which, Saito picked up the Acid Golem card. It hadn’t tried to possess but that was because he’d defeated it in a duel. He inspected Tao Warrior and Acid Golem. They were colored black, which was something Saito hadn’t seen before in Duel Monster cards. Also, the position of the stars which denoted level was on the opposite side. There had to be a significance to that.
Also, unlike regular effect monsters, the use of the Numbers’ effects were limited to the number of monsters ‘overlayed’ to summoned them. But the effects were sure powerful. Tao Warrior could divide a monster’s attack power by the number of monsters its owner controlled. Of course, the effects of the Numbers would not be without a cost in some cases. The Acid Golem of Destruction was powerful and easy to summon, but the controller couldn’t special summon while it was on the field, it couldn’t attack when it didn’t have any Overlay Units on it, and it had to give up a Unit every turn lest the controller take 2000 damage.
‘No wonder the golem kept using cards that negated effects or brought back Overlay Units,’ Saito thought to himself.
“You seem pretty interested in those black cards there Partner,” Derflinger spoke up, seated in another chair. “Sure they aren’t putting a spell on you?”
“Oh, no,” Saito shook his head. “I was just wishing that I had the rest of my cards here. I could really use some extra cards and strategies. The stakes of these duels with the Numbers are incredibly high and I don’t want to lose.”
“No kidding,” the sentient sword agreed. “Losing your soul sounds like a pretty lousy way to go out.”
“Yeah,” Saito shivered.
Further conversation was halted when Louise came into the room with her schoolbag and looking a little tired from a day of school. It was better than her days where she would come in grumpy because someone had called her a zero again. The other students at the school may have been wary of Saito, but they didn’t seem to have any higher opinion of Louise’s skills in magic, considering her summoning of Saito more of a lucky break than actual skill.
“Long day?” Saito asked.
“Just another day of classes,” said Louise. “And a test, which I know I did well in.”
“Good for you,” said Saito as he picked up his cards and stacked them back into his deck.
Louise’s worldview had been shaken with the recent events in her life. Considering she had learnt that the Void element, a holy element, was capable of creating such creatures like the Ninety-Nine Demons, she felt like something she had believed strongly in had taken a hit. Then Saito, her Familiar whom she’d first dismissed as a Familiar had the ability to fight using a card game from his home world. Yes, she had to admit that her Familiar was from another world with a different way of doing things. That also meant of course that Saito was the only one that could fight against the Ninety-Nine Demons.
That just made Louise feel worse as her Familiar was more capable than she was as a mage. Still, she would hold her head high and continue doing her best to master her own skills so that she would be able to stand up against the Numbers as well. If her Familiar could do it, so could she!
“Anything interesting happen?” asked Saito as he shuffled his deck.
“The school s going to be posting a curfew and adding more guards to patrols,” Louise answered, placing her book bag by her bed. “Apparently there has been a rash of disappearances lately. Children have been vanishing from their homes and its making everyone scared.”
“Lemme guess, noble children?” asked Saito.
“Yes,” Louise nodded. “Apparently whoever did this took not only several prominent heirs, but dozens of commoner children as well. Everyone is in a race to discover who the kidnapper is. I’m not sure if he’ll be captured and prosecuted or lynched for what he’s been doing.”
“Depends who catches him first,” Saito shrugged. “How’d he manage to do it though? I thought noble kids would be guarded pretty well or something.”
“That’s the thing, no one is sure,” Louise shrugged. “I heard rumors saying that there aren’t any signs of anybody breaking in. It was simply like the children just got up and left. Of course, it has been causing everyone to become paranoid if that Foquet woman wasn’t enough.”
“Yeah, and I bet no one noticed this was happening until noble kids started disappearing,” Derflinger commented.
“No, it only spread out from a single town and now higher authorities had to get involved!” Louise snapped at the sword.
“And you honestly believe that?” Derflinger laughed. “Then you don’t know politics!”
“Come on, ease up,” Saito tried to calm the pair down, even if he had a sinking feeling that his sword was right. Still, at least someone was doing something about it now, right? “So people are going to be on the lookout for this guy, right?”
“Of course!” Louise nodded. “This is the highest amount of gathered nobles in Tristain outside of the queen’s castle. It would make a tempting target to any lowborn brute who intends to harm us!”
“Well, I guess it must count for something,” Derflinger agreed. “But my instincts tell me that this guy can’t be normal! You’d better be on the lookout too Partner!”
“Will do,” Saito nodded, glad the argument was defused.
(LINE BREAK)
The guards were stationed at every entrance and exit to Tristain Academy when the moons rose. With the entire student body composing of heirs and heiresses of all of the nobles in the entire country and some from outside of the country, the guards had to pay attention to everything that was going around them. So far, everything seemed normal, but in a school for magic that could be a relative term.
Two such guards were standing watch over the main gate, being bored. They themselves had been students at the school but coming from minor noble families and being second or even third sons, there wasn’t much in terms of employment opportunities for them. Still, they made their way as best they could, hoping that something would come up that would get them some reputation for a promotion or at least get them in good with the families of the students that attended the school.
They would get their opportunity…and blow it.
Standing by the great doors, one of the guards froze as he looked out into the distance, “Hey, do you hear something?”
“No,” denied the second.
Both guards stood still to see if they could listen in on whatever the first guard may have seen. At first only the night air was what they seemed to be listening to.
A musical song echoed in the night.
“Is that a flute?” asked the first guard.
“Is a minstrel coming through?” wondered the second. “Maybe we should pay him for a song. It sounds pretty…” his eyes began to get droopy. “Good…”
“Yeah…” agreed the second before the pair of them dropped to the ground, snoring loudly.
When both guards were out like a light, a figure stepped out of the darkness, wearing travelling clothes and holding an ornate and polished black and silver flute. The man smirked at the sight of the snoozing guards and walked up to the front gates. He reached up and pushed the massive wooden doors, the locks undoing themselves before the massive slabs swung open.
“Now to add to my collection,” the man smirked. He glanced over his shoulder, which signaled the sound of feet, bare feet, marching up behind him. “All of you wait here. I’ll be adding more comrades to our ranks soon enough.”
“…yes, Lord Piper…” a monotone mob reply answered.
(LINE BREAK)
Saito and Derflinger set out soft snores on the straw pile which counted for their bed. In her own fancy bed, Louise snoozed softly without a care in the world, likely one of the few times that she looked completely at ease rather than agitated over something. The silence was in itself pleasant rather than deafening which was perfect for the trio.
And then the pipe started.
“Snk!” Saito grimaced, being dragged out of dreamland. “Wazzat?”
THUMP! THUMP!
“Huh?” Deflinger mumbled, waking up. “Who’s dancing?”
“Dunno,” Saito rubbed his eyes. Standing up, he wandered to the door of the room with the intent of hushing up whoever decided to take a late night jaunt while playing music. Noble or not, there were some things that you just didn’t get away with! Gripping the door, he opened it wide and stuck his head out, “Hey! We’re trying to sleep! Shut…up?”
Saito trailed off was on account of the number of female students who were leaving their rooms in their night clothes. All of them had dreamy gazes on their faces, like they were still sleeping but were still awake. It was like they had all been turned into zombies or something.
“Montmorency! Please stop!”
Saito blinked and turned to look at one of the doors. Coming out of them was a fully clothed Montmorency, but she was being held back by Guiche, who looked like he was losing when it came to strength with the girl actually pulling him along as she went.
“Let go…let go…let go,” the curly-haired blonde mumbled as she struggled against the boy’s grip.
“What’s all the noise?” came Kirche’s tired voice, emerging from her room dressed in a flimsy nightgown and skimpy panties that despite the situation made Guiche and Saito stare for a few moments.
“Uh…” Saito blinked, but then shook his head. “Everyone’s turned into a zombie!”
“Zombie?” Kirche blinked, but then looked around to see her fellow dorm residents. “How did that happen?”
“The music…the beautiful music…let me go to the music…” Montmorency moaned, still struggling against Guiche’s grip.
“Music? What music?” Guiche demanded.
“I don’t hear any music,” Kirche mumbled, rubbing her forehead.
“Outside.” Saito blinked and turned to see Tabitha coming down the hallway, almost like she was a ghost herself. The Japanese boy certainly hadn’t heard or seen her coming.
“Here’s an idea!” Derflinger’s voice called from behind Saito. “Why don’t we follow those hypnotized kids and see what all the excitement is about?”
“What if it’s a trap?” asked Saito, turning to look at his sword. How Louise hadn’t woken up yet was anyone’s guess but at the moment Saito wasn’t too concerned about her amount of comfort when it looked like all of the students were being lured out of their rooms.
“You got a better idea?” asked the sword.
When no one spoke up beyond Guiche trying to snap Montmorency out of her hypnosis while the girl tonelessly pleaded for him to let go, Saito decided that his weapon had a point. Quickly crossing the room, he grabbed Derflinger and strapped him over his shoulder. Glancing at Louise, he then took a running start after the marching zombies.
“Go get some help!” he shouted to the others before vanishing around the corner.
Saito dashed through the halls, heading for the exit. Since there was only one way in or out of the tower, he knew where the hypnotized students would be going to an extent. He reached the first floor, seeing the door wide open, no doubt the remaining students had exited through it. Dashing into the night air, Saito looked around for the other students, quickly spotting a huge gathering near the front gates of the school and also where the flute music was coming.
“Let’s go Derflinger!” Saito frowned, drawing his weapon.
“You got it Partner!” the sword grinned, or would have if it had lips.
Saito charged towards the mob, looking for anything that didn’t belong. As he went, the markings on his left hand began to shine in the night. Saito immediately became much faster, his eyes keeping a sharp eye out for the source of the music which was apparently working the magic on the hypnotized students.
“So you are the Left Hand,” Derflinger mumbled to himself, but Saito wasn’t listening.
Coming closer to the mob, Saito spotted someone who was taller than the others and was playing an ornate flute in the middle of it all. Gripping Derflinger’s hilt, Saito charged towards the taller man, ready to split his flute in two and stop his music.
The man’s eyes opened to gaze at Saito.
The Japanese boy was then suddenly struck with an invisible wall of air, Launching him backwards with a shocked cry. The boy hit the ground heavily, coughing from the air getting knocked out of his lungs. Getting his breath back, he scrambled to his knees. He glared at the musician and would have gotten up to attack again, but the sudden sensation of burning in his right hand and shoulder caused him to flinch. On his hand, the marking of Tao Warrior’s double zero appeared while his right shoulder lit up with the three zero marking for Acid Golem of Destruction.
The flute player stopped his music as he spotted the markings, lowering the flute from his lips. The students around him remained hypnotized, showing that the musician was indeed some kind of skilled magician if the spell didn’t need music to stay in effect.
“Well, well, well,” the musician spoke. “So it seems I was not the only one blessed by the power of the Void Spirits.”
“Huh?” Saito blinked, getting up to his feet.
“Those markings on your body,” the musician pointed out. “The markings only those worthy of power possess. I do wonder how it is that an obvious commoner is permitted to have two of them though.”
“Marks?” Saito frowned, but then his eyes bulged as the truth came to him. “My Numbers? You mean you-?”
“Yes!” the musician laughed. Raising his free hand, he showed his palm to Saito before it lit up in ominous red light, forming the numbers one and six. “I too possess this awesome power! With it, I will reclaim all of my former glory and status and there is nobody in this land save Brimr himself that can stop me!”
“That kinda looks familiar…” Derflinger pondered to himself as he saw the three markings.
Saito clenched his teeth as the seriousness of the situation came down on him. He hadn’t been expecting to find another one of the Numbers so suddenly. It did serve to explain why the musician suddenly had such powerful magic already. The Number he had was giving him his powers.
The musician continued with a smirk on his face, “My spirit tells me that should I defeat someone with such powers in a duel, his power will become mine. Is that how you received two markings instead of just one?”
“You’ll have to beat me to find that out,” Saito frowned, getting to his feet.
“Very well!” the musician laughed. “Raise your sword commoner!”
“Actually,” Saito frowned, raising his right arm. “I was thinking that we would duel with something aside from swords and wands!” The double zero marking flashed brightly on Saito’s hand before his Balance Duel Disk appeared on his arm. The Duel Disk promptly unfolded and activated, ready to be used.
“What? Surely you jest!” the musician smirked. “What manner of dueling could be done with that contrap-EURGH!” the man doubled over, clutching his head tightly as if in sudden pain. On his arm, a square that was a crimson color with dark lines appeared. It was stationary for a moment before it split apart into four triangular sections. The far left corner unfolded and spread apart to reveal a playing area. The remaining three sections slid inside of the disk, revealing gold plated area which was shaped like some kind of ceremonial mask with a single slit for eyes, which displayed life points and an open mouth that held the deck with a space beneath the chin for the graveyard.
For a moment, the musician panted as he tried to recover himself, “It seems…my spirit wishes for me to duel your way. Very well, I shall oblige its wishes.” The musician raised his flute to his lips and played a sharp note, causing the mob of children to back away.
“Shall we begin?” asked the musician.
“You’re on!” Saito growled.
“DUEL!”
Saito: 4000 --- Piper: 4000
“Superiors first!” Piper announced, taking his first cards. Glancing at them he took one from the rest. “I shall place this monster in defense mode,” Piper placed the card onto his disk, creating a large copy n the field in front of him. “Then I shall place another two cards on the field.” Piper placed his cards down, marking their appearance on the field. “That shall complete my turn. Now, show me what a commoner is capable of with true power!”
Saito: 4000 --- Piper: 4000
“Ore no ta-an! Doro!” Saito announced, taking his card. Looking over his hand, he quickly began making his movements. “I summon Defender, the Magical Knight in attack mode!”
A flash of light announced the appearance of the blue knight with his short sword and massive shield. The orb in the middle lit up as magic power formed into a Magic Counter. (4/1600/2000)
“Battle! Defender will attack your face down monster!” Saito announced, pointing at his monster’s target.
Defender scowled and charged across the battlefield, his short weapon raised. Defender’s aim was true as he slashed at the face down monster. As the weapon came closer, the card vanished to be replaced by a monster. This one was a woman in white robes who sat on a stool, playing a large golden harp. The woman played a beautiful melody on the strings, creating a wave of sound that stopped Defender in his tracks.
“Is my Spirit of the Harp (4/800/2000) a little too much for you?” Piper gloated.
“Tsk!” Saito grunted, feeling his life points take a small hit. Looking at his cards, he eyed Spiritual Earth Art – Kurogane. It would be good in a pinch if he could time it right. “I place one card face down.” The large card appeared behind Defender. “Turn end.”
Saito: 3600 --- Piper: 4000
“Now I shall draw my card!” Piper announced, taking his next card. Eyeing his new draw, he began to smirk. “Ha! Fortune is on my side!” Taking the card, he slapped it onto the his Duel Disk. “I shall summon my Hibikime in attack mode!”
A flash of light brought out a pretty woman with pale skin and blue hair who was wearing a green dress. In her hands was a dangerous-looking scythe that was styled to look like a musical note. (4/1450/1000)
“Hibikime?” Saito blinked. “I didn’t think anyone used that card anymore.”
“It has its purposes,” Piper snorted. “In one case, allowing me to Overlay my two monsters together!”
“What?” Saito gasped.
Hibikime vanished into an orb of bronze energy while Spirit of the Harp turned into bright yellow power. Both orbs then shot up into the air, swirling around one another to look almost like a double helix. Below them, Piper began to speak as he pointed at the ground, “Now the Overlay Network will be constructed by my two monsters!”
The ground between the two duelists was engulfed in a swirling red vortex which in the centre a hole formed. The two streams of power dove inside. A heartbeat later, there was a blast of light which opened the way for a new monster to emerge into the world.
“Exceed Summon!” Piper announced. “Symphony Devil Maestroke!”
(LINE BREAK)
Inside the girls rooms, Kirche and Tabitha had been trying to find one of the teachers in charge of the girls tower to try and report to her what the situation was. Unfortunately, the woman was asleep and dead to the world, a condition which Tabitha believed was brought on by the music which caused everyone else to shuffle out of the tower like mindless zombies. As Kirche usually did, she decided that it was time to forge her own way through the adversity and face the fiend responsible head on.
Dashing down the halls, still in their nightclothes Tabitha and Kirche along with Guiche who had locked Montmorency in her room headed for the front doors. As they passed by Louise’s room though, Kirche skidded to a halt and dashed inside.
“What are you doing?-!” demanded Guiche.
“We’ll need all the help we can get,” Kirche called back, heading for Louise’s bed. “Even if it is the Zero!”
“I AM NOT A ZERO!” Louise immediately leaped up from her bed, a subconscious reaction. Standing on her bed, she blinked slightly as she saw Kirche in her room with Tabitha and Guiche outside. “Huh?” she spotted Kirche and frowned. “Zerbst, why are you in my room? Trying to seduce my Familiar again?”
“No! Well, maybe later!” Kirche replied. “There’s some fiend outside who’s hypnotized almost everyone in the tower! Saito went outside to find out whoever it was!”
“What?” Louise blinked.
There was suddenly a flash of red which lit up the room. The group of students dashed over to the nearest window which gave them a view of the courtyards. There they could make out the image of a mob of people around a circling red vortex which had a figure rising out of it.
“Darling!”
“Saito!”
(LINE BREAK)
Saito shielded his eyes as the Xyz Monster appeared. At first he feared that it was the Number which was driving the musician, but the summoning was completely different from what he remembered Number 30 and his own Number 00. The monster didn’t come out as an object, but instead it emerged as a fully formed monster.
It looked like a teenager wearing a black uniform that wouldn’t look out of place on someone leading a marching band. His hat was part of the uniform, but out of the sides were a pair of devilish horns that looked like they were coming from his head rather than from the hat itself. Gripped in his hands was something akin to a maestro’s baton which could double as a sword. Finally, a pair of purple orbs circled around him like orbiting moons. (4/1800/2300)
“Is…that really a Number?” asked Saito, eyeing the monster but not seeing any kind of symbol matching the one on the Piper’s hand.
“Of course not!” Piper scoffed. “As if I would waste the might of my Void Spirit on a commoner like you! If you wish to see it, you will have to call on your own power, if you truly possess it!”
Saito frowned as the truth dawned on him. That meant that there were more Xyz Monsters aside from the Numbers! If that was a good thing or a bad thing was yet to be seen, but right now it wasn’t going to be a good thing.
“I am not finished though,” Piper continued. “I shall then activate the spell Double Summon, allowing me to normal summon again!” the card appeared and flashed, lifting the restriction of the rules. “Next, I shall summon Tour Guide From The Underworld!”
Another flash brought out a pretty woman with red hair done in two pigtails. She wore a dark blue uniform like that a tour guide from Saito’s world might wear. However, she was marked with a skull and crossbones badge on the breast of her uniform, on her bag, on her hat, and marked on her stockings. She smiled cheerfully and spoke into a small microphone in a language Saito couldn’t understand.
“Now her special effect activates!” Piper announced. “When she is Normal Summoned, she can Special Summon a LV3 Fiend-Type from the deck, but its abilities are negated and it cannot be used in a Synchro Summon.” A card popped out of his deck, allowing Piper to bring it out and play it on his disk. “Now I summon Tour Bus From The Underworld!”
The Tour Guide nodded and pulled out a small flag which had a word written in a strange language on it. She waved the flag around for a moment, bringing another flash that brought out a large black bus, again something Saito recognized from his own world. The headlights looked amber yellow in a fiendish light, the front looking almost like a demonic face. Inside was amber yellow light and what looked like several demons inside, reading brochures about the academy. (3/1000/1000)
“Two LV3 monsters…” Saito frowned, feeling a sinking sensation in his gut.
“Yes! Two monsters I will Overlay!” Piper laughed. The Bus and Tour Guide vanished into dual orbs of purple energy which shot into the air. A red portal opened between the duellists before the dark orbs shot into it. As the light began to shine in the centre, Piper continued to gloat. “Exceed Summon! String Devil Muzumuzu Rhythm!”
The monster that emerged from the cortex was a short creature. It wore jeans and shoes, but most of that was covered by the trench coat it was wearing. Its head was a black fuzzy mass with two yellow spots for eyes with a rose sticking out of where the mouth would be. It wore a cowboy hat with two devil horns sticking out of the sides. In its hands was a country-style guitar with two necks, and another guitar was on its back. Finally, a pair of green orbs circled around the Xyz Monster. The beast squeaked and strung a short tune on its instrument. (3/1500/1000)
“Now I will begin your funeral song!” Piper crowed. “Maestroke, attack that magical knight!”
The conductor nodded and dashed across the field, pointing his sword-like baton to pierce Defender through the chest. Defender was ready and raised his shield before the devil lunged with his weapon, the tip striking the steel of Defender’s shield.
“I activate Defender’s effect!” Saito shouted, “By removing a Magic Counter, I can prevent his destruction!” In response, the stone on Defender’s shield lit up and projected a barrier which prevented the magical knight’s destruction.
“But damage still goes through, which means I’ll activate Muzumuzu’s effect by removing one of his Overlay Units!” Piper removed the card from underneath his Xyz Monster and one of the green orbs dove for the devil’s guitar and was absorbed by it in a flash of light. Muzumuzu then began to play a fast-paced song. The sound waves struck Maestroke and made the devil glow with a green aura. “During the damage step, one of my Devil monsters like Maestroke gain double attack points!” (SDM: 1800 → 3600)
“What?-!” Saito cried, but a phantom image of Maestroke slipped past Defender and crashed into him, knocking the Japanese boy clean off his feet and onto his back. “WUAGH!”
“Heh! Laying on the ground like an inferior suits you!” Piper laughed. “I will set one card face down. Now take your turn, if you can move!”
Saito: 1600 --- Piper: 4000
“You okay Partner?” asked Derflinger. “These devils or Xyz Monsters or whatever you call them seem like they pack a punch!”
“The Numbers are worse,” Saito grunted getting to his feet. “I think I prefer the way we duelled back home though.”
“SAITO!”
Blinking, Saito turned to see the zombified students be shoved aside so that four familiar faces could get through. Louise, Tabitha, Kirche, and Guiche were able to shove their way through, the hypnotized students offering no real resistance besides a weak unwillingness to move. The girls were still in their night clothes, which gave Saito another eyeful of Kirche’s goods.
“Darling, are you all right?” Kirche cried as she led the way to Saito’s side, worrying over his recent wounds.
“I’m fine, but I’m in the middle of something!” Saito cried, desperately trying not to get distracted by the amount of cleavage being presented to him.
“Another one…” Tabitha commented, taking a stance with her staff across from Piper, but she was clearly afraid. She recalled what happened the last time a duel occurred in her presence, bringing the summoning of the Acid Golem of Destruction.
“What is all this?” Guiche asked, but nobody was paying attention to him.
“What is this? My music did not affect any of you?” Piper frowned, catching the attention of the four students. “That should not be possible. My music is able to affect any child that hears it. The commoner I understand since he holds Void Spirits, but what makes you four so special?” His eyes narrowed as he rubbed his chin. “The only thing I can think of is that you four have lost your innocence, making you adults in spirit.”
“Ha! Then no magic you possess can affect me!” Kirche bragged. “I haven’t been ‘pure’ in ages!”
Guiche grinned stupidly, rubbing the back of his head, “Ah heh heh heh heh, when one sees the opportunity, does he not seize it?”
Tabitha merely blushed, looking like she wished she had her book.
Louise turned bright red, “How dare you! I retain my purity thank-you very much! I will not debase myself to some man’s lusts! Just who do-!”
“ENOUGH!” Piper bellowed, stalling the argument from the pinkette. “I will deal with you four later. I am in the midst of a duel which will surely amplify my power when I win. It is the boy’s turn!” he looked at Saito. “Now will you take your turn or forfeit?”
“You don’t need to tell me how to play!” Saito retorted. “Doro!”
The Japanese boy looked at his card and then at the field. Taking his card, he slapped it onto the disk, “I summon Element Dragon in attack mode!”
Energy from the form of the card was a quadruped dragon with a beak-like mouth with a bright orange mane and green tinted wings. (4/1500/1500)
“Since there’s a WIND monster like your Muzumuzu on the field, my Element Dragon can now attack twice if it destroys a monster in the first attack!” Saito continued, the dragon’s wings beginning to glow green. “I’m not stopping there though. I’ll play my spell, Scroll of Bewitchment!” Saito placed the card on his disk, bringing forth and ancient scroll with strange markings on it which wrapped around Defender’s torso. “When I equip this card to a monster, I can choose its alignment so I’ll change Defender from LIGHT to FIRE!”
The scroll’s markings then turned into a burning red color, indicating the change of alignment. At the same time, the crystal in the centre of Defender’s shield lit up with power once again.
“Now that a FIRE monster is on the field, my Element Dragon gains 500 extra attack points!” Saito continued, the mane of his dragon glowing as its second effect kicked in. (ED: 1500→2000). “Now I’ll have Element Dragon attack Muzumuzu! Elemental Breath!”
The Element Dragon inhaled deeply and unleashed a green and red stream of fire which scorched the grass as it went. Muzumuzu squeaked in panic and looked around for something to try and protect it from harm.
“I activate Maestroke’s effect!” Piper spoke up. “By removing one of its Overlay Units, I can prevent a devil’s destruction!”
Maestroke was quick to move, stabbing one of its orbiting units, making its sword glow. The devil then made a wide wave with its sword, creating a white wave which intercepted the attack, rescuing Muzumuzu from destruction and damage. The small guitar devil heaved a sigh in relief.
“Nice try,” Piper grinned. “I’ll also activate Spirit Barrier, preventing me from taking any damage!” The trap card turned up, forming a misty barrier between Piper and the field, blocking the flames which were deflected from Muzumuzu.
“Oh man,” Saito frowned. Taking another card, he placed it in a free slot. “I play the Dark Door. Now only one monster can attack per turn. Then I’ll switch Defender into defence mode.” Defender kneeled down and held up his shield, ready to take anything. “Turn end.”
Saito: 1600 --- Piper: 4000
“Now for my move!” Piper grinned, taking his next card. “Aha! I’ll activate the Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards!” The spell card activated, bringing forth a green and blue jar which laughed loudly, making Piper’s deck glow before it released two new cards.
“Next I shall activate one of my face down cards, Ultimate Offering!” the card turned up, revealing a fat green monster which had red liquid shoot from its head turning into a horned red monster. “By giving up 500 life points, I can Normal Summon an additional monster.”
“Aw crap,” Saito hissed.
“Now I will summon another Tour Guide From the Underworld!” slapping the card onto the disk, another perky fiend-like tour guide appeared.
“Oh, what a cute outfit!” Kirche admired. “I must know who her tailor is!”
“I’ll use her ability to summon another Tour Bus From The Underworld!” Piper continued, bringing out the black bus which seemed partnered with the Tour Guide. “They will not stay long though since I will Overlay them both together!”
“Again?-!” Saito cried.
The bus and guide formed into the purple energy pulses which dove into the forming red portal before another fountain of light came up, “Exceed Summon! Brass Devil Mellowmellow Melody!”
Coming from the newest portal was a small girl with green hair and short devilish horns. Her outfit made her look a little like a schoolgirl. She was sitting on a giant brass horn which had a mouthpiece that curled around her torso with more brass horns coming from a mount behind her. Spinning around her were two yellow orbs of light, representing her Overlay Units (3/1400/1600)
“How dare you force children to fight for you?-!” Louise demanded hotly, apparently missing the horns on Mellowmellow’s head.
“She’s my monster. I do what I wish,” Piper shrugged. “Now I will activate Ultimate Offering by giving up 500 life points,” Piper flinched as a red aura from his trap drained his life points from his body. “Now I am allowed another Normal Summon which I’ll use to summon my final Tour Guide From the Underworld!”
Yet another perky redhead appeared with a skip and a hop.
“And of course that brings another Tour Bus From the Underworld!”
And like before, the fiendish bus filled with touring demons appeared.
“And then I will overlay them both!”
“Again?-!” Saito and Louise both cried out.
Once again, the two monsters vanished before being pulled into the red portal before unleashing another blast of light, “Exceed Summon! Drum Devil Tenten Tempo!”
Once again, a small childish devil with horns appeared. This one wore a brown witch-like hat with holes made for its horns. In front it had three small drums which hung from its torso clad in a green jacket while playing a small drum roll. On its shoulders each hung a large drum which was decorated with a music note decorated with a fiendish face. Around it spun a pair of bronze orbs, marking its Overlay Units.
“Now behold my Devil Orchestra!” Piper proclaimed proudly. Maestroke waved his wand, making the other three devils play a song which was actually very nice. “Their perfect music will play your funeral song and my victory chorus!”
Saito grimaced. This was turning into a disaster situation for him. He wasn’t sure if even the Duel Legends like Yugi Motou, Jaden Yuki, and Yusei Fudo could get themselves out of this kind of mess without getting hurt.
“Turn End,” Piper laughed. “I’m more than willing to let you forfeit if you don’t feel like continuing.”
Saito: 1600 --- Piper: 3500
“I never quit! Draw!” Saito announced, taking his next card. Setting it with the other card in his hand, he looked to his field. “You asked for this! I’ll overlay Defender and Element Dragon together!”
Defender transformed into an orb of red energy while Element Dragon vanished into a bright yellow one. Both shot into the air before the ground was engulfed in a spiralling dark portal which looked like a spiralling galaxy, “Ni tai no Monsutā ga Obarei Nettowāku Kōchiku suru!” the two orbs then dove down into the portal, creating a supernova-like blast. “Ekushīzu Shoukan!”
The light receded to reveal the large ball depicting yin and yang, orbited by a pair of bright yellow orbs which represented the two Overlay Units. Saito raised his palm up to point at the sealed monster, “Nanbāzu Zero! Watashitachi ni shidō-ken o fuyo! Tao Woriā!”
The orb unfolded and formed into the familiar form of Tao Warrior, the Number which had chosen Saito as its duelist, the double zero marking shining to life both on Tao Warrior’s side and on Saito’s hand. (4/2500/2000)
“HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER!” Derflinger suddenly shouted, seeming shocked by the appearance of the Angel of Balance. “Tao! Tao, is that you?-! Down here! It’s me, Derflinger!”
To Saito’s surprise (why he was surprised by this point he wasn’t sure) Tao Warrior turned to look down at the Japanese boy and the sword on his back. He could almost feel like the large Warrior-Type was squinting his eyes trying to recognize the speaker.
“As loud as ever Derflinger,” he heard Tao Warrior speak. “It’s been a long time. You’ve gotten horribly rusty.”
“Ah, blame the jerks who would peddle me around,” the rusty sword grumbled. “Man, I didn’t know that you were one of these Numbers that Partner was talking about! Does this mean the Ninety-Nine Demons really are free?”
“Unfortunately,” Tao Warrior nodded, turning his attention towards Piper. “That man holds one of them with him, Number 16 if I recognize the marking on his hand properly.”
“Number 16? Oh shoot, I forget which one that was,” Derflinger grumbled. “Doesn’t matter too much though. They’re all bad news.”
“Indeed they are,” Tao Warrior nodded. “Gandalfr, let us take down these enemies!”
“Right!” Saito nodded. “I attack Maestroke with my Tao Warrior! Equilibrium Strike!”
Tao Warrior drew his swords and surged forward on his wings of light and shadow. Rearing back, he slashed at the devilish conductor with his weapon. “I activate Maestroke’s ability!” Piper announced loudly.
Meastroke raised his sword and stabbed his last Overlay Unit before slashing his weapon at Tao Warrior. A white barrier appeared and blocked the attack, sending sparks in all directions at the impact but otherwise doing absolutely nothing.
“Ha! Your attack failed again!” Piper gloated.
“Yeah, but now Maestroke can’t save himself or the others anymore!” the Japanese boy shot back. Looking to his hand, he slipped one of his cards into the disk. “I play one card face down, turn end.”
Saito: 1600 --- Piper: 3500
“Then I shall draw,” Piper continued. He looked to his card before placing it with the other. Raising his hand, he pointed it at his Drum Devil, “I shall now activate Tenten’s special effect! By giving up one Overlay Unit…” Tenten made a snappy drum solo before one of his Overlay Units collided with the drums on his back, making them shine. “And I can remove all of the Overlay Units from an Xyz Monster that my opponent controls!”
“What?-!” Saito gasped.
“Is that bad?” asked Kirche.
“Yes!” Saito grimaced. “Tao Warrior needs his Overlay Units to use his effects. Without them, he’s simply a beatstick. He’s got nothing but raw strength and that doesn’t always guarantee a victory!”
Tenten released a hard drumbeat which had sound waves cover the battle area. Tao Warrior’s Overlay Units were affected as they were drawn into the large drums which the child-like devil was wearing on his back.
“Now, all of my devils increase their attack points by 500 for every Overlay Unit taken,” Piper explained. “That means all of my devils gain 1000 attack points!”
SDM: 1800 → 2800
SDMR: 1500 → 2500
BDMM: 1400 → 2400
DDTT: 1700 → 2700
“Now my Drum Devil will destroy your weak Void Spirit!” Piper laughed. “Devil’s Drum Roll!”
Tenten unleashed a rapid drum roll before slamming his drums hard, making the two drums on his shoulders unleash twin streams of energy that were directed at Tao Warrior, looking more than enough to hurt the Number monster.
“No way! I activate a trap!” Saito grit his teeth. “I activate Negate Attack! Now your attack and your battle phase end here!”
The trap card turned up before creating a vortex in front of Tao Warrior. Tenten’s attack flew straight into the vortex, not harming Tao Warrior in the least. Tenten eventually gave up his attack, huffing in disappointment as the vortex closed.
“Fine! One turn longer makes no different,” Piper hissed. “I’ll place one card face down.” The card appeared on the field at his command. “Turn end.”
Saito: 1600 --- Piper: 3500
“Ore no ta-an! Doro!” Saito called, taking out his next card. Looking over his hand, he looked over to his opponent’s side of the field. “Now it’s time for me to take this duel back!”
“Oh? I’d like to see you try commoner!” Piper grinned.
“Oh you’ll see!” Saito nodded. Taking his first card, he placed it in his disk to activate its powers. “First I’ll play Heavy Storm to destroy all magic and trap cards on the field!” Piper may have shouted something, but the sudden windstorm which kicked up by the power of the card drowned him out. Fierce windstorms blew all over the playing field, forcing Louise and Tabitha to keep their skirts down while Guiche got distracted by the female students who were not so inclined to try the same. On the field, The Dark Door on Saito’s side and the three traps on Piper’s side were destroyed and shattered like fine glass with the pieces being blown away. With the cards gone, the wind died down again.
“You…you…” Piper snarled, his perfect defense gone.
“My turn’s not over!” Saito continued. “Next I’ll play a monster in face down defense position!” Beside Tao Warrior, a monster card appeared on the field.
“Fine!” the musician snapped. “Are you finished?”
“Heck no!” Saito grinned, using his next card. “Now I’ll play Book of Taiyou to Flip Summon Wynn the Wind Charmer into attack mode!”
The sun-marked book from Saito’s first duel appeared and shone its light on the face down card. It immediately flipped over to reveal the artwork. It flashed and from the light emerged a young girl in plain robes who was holding a silver staff with a crystal on the top which was styled to look like wind was circling around it. Her hair was green and tied into a ponytail. With her was a small yellow serpentine dragon with small wings, fluttering about like a happy puppy. (3/500/1500)
“You know, I learned something about Xyz Monsters and their Overlay Units,” Saito grinned. “When each one of them are summoned, their Overlay Units tend to be in different colors. At first I thought that as just a personal taste, but when I got a good look at the cards themselves, I noticed something interesting.”
“And that would be?” frowned Piper.
“The Overlay Units are different colors for a reason,” Saito grinned. “Tao Warrior is a monster of LIGHT and incidentally the Overlay Units he has are bright yellow. My other Xyz Monster is a monster of WATER and his Overlay Units were blue last I checked.”
“So what?”
“Well, Wynn’s special ability is that she can take control of a WIND monster when she is Flipped Summoned,” Saito explained, gesturing to his monster, whom smiled cutely. “And judging by the green Overlay Units which circle around Muzumuzu, he’s a monster of WIND!”
“ERK!” Piper flinched, realizing what Saito was getting at.
Wynn raised her staff and let the stone inside shine a dazzling green. Most of the Devils shielded their eyes out of annoyance, but Muzumuzu was different. His eyes transformed into a pair of hearts before he dashed across the field to where the Wind Charmer was. He plucked the rose from his mouth and gave it to her, making the girl giggle, before he began playing a new song on his guitar.
“Traitor!” Piper bellowed angrily.
“Never underestimate the power of a Charmer!” Saito grinned. “Okay, next up is the spell card Rush Recklessly, giving Tao Warrior 700 attack points!” Tao Warrior’s attack points rose as the card took effect. (TW: 2500→3200) “Next, Muzumuzu Rhythm, attack Brass Devil Mellowmellow Melody!”
Muzumuzu quickly snapped to attention and turned to his former compatriot. He immediately played a song on his guitar when sent a blast of power towards the Brass Devil. The girl devil squeaked in fear before the blast struck her, knocking her off of her horn before she vanished with her instrument going with her.
“Erg!” Piper grunted.
“Now I’ll use Muzumuzu’s special ability by removing his last Overlay Unit!” Saito continued. Muzumuzu absorbed his last Overlay Unit into his guitar, making the dwindling stream of his attack revive itself before slamming into Piper himself, knocking him onto his back.
“Bravo Saito!” Louise cheered.
“Amazing Darling!” Kirche cried in admiration.
“Incredible!” Guiche gasped.
“Now for round two!” Saito continued. “Tao Warrior will attack Drum Devil Tenten Tempo!”
Tao Warrior unleashed his wings of light and dark before surging across the field. Unleashing his swords, he dove at the Drum Devil before unleashing a slash that sent the child-like devil flying. The Drum Devil hit the ground and vanished into a haze of gold sparks.
“You…scum!” Piper groaned, getting to his feet again.
“Turn end,” Saito frowned, allowing Tao Warrior to return to normal. (TW: 3200 → 2500)
Saito: 1600 --- Piper: 100
“My draw!” Piper hissed, taking his card. Frowning, he looked over his options before deciding on a course of action. “I will activate the effects of Tour Bus From the Underworld, allowing me to shuffle a monster from either graveyard into their decks and I will shuffle my three Tour Guide From the Underworld back into my deck!”
Piper’s graveyard slot began to glow before the three cards slipped out of the graveyard before he took them and placed them into his deck. The Duel Disk automatically shuffled the deck so that the cards were placed in properly.
“Then I will play Card of Sanctity, allowing us both to draw until we both hold six cards!” The card appeared on the field, causing gold coins to fall from the sky. Both Piper and Saito’s decks shone before the two of them drew until their hands were full.
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Piper grinned. “First I shall play the Black Pendant on Maestroke, granting him 500 extra attack points!” Piper played his card, summoning a small pendant made from a black stone. (SDM: 2800 → 3300) “However, I will not be attacking you with him.”
“You aren’t?” Saito blinked.
“No. I am going to instead play Mystik Wok,” Piper answered, revealing his next card. “I will sacrifice him and gain his attack points in life points!”
Beneath Maestroke, a massive pot of stir fry rose up. Maestroke sank down into the soup and the entire pan vanished into gold sparkles. Saito frowned as he saw the sparkles wash over Piper, raising his life points. As the sparkles faded though, the Black Pendant remained before it shot across the field, crashing into Saito’s Duel Disk, causing his life points to drop.
“Ergh!” he grunted.
“Oh, the Black Pendant causes you to lose 500 life points when it is sent to the graveyard,” Piper snickered, looking at his hand. “Now where was I?” He picked a card from his hand. “Now I shall play Monster Reborn to revive Spirit of the Harp!”
A large ornate silver artefact with a red gemstone in the centre appeared on the field. The relic then flashed before the Spirit of the Harp rose up from the ground, still playing her harp as if she hadn’t been used to summon a devil.
“Now I shall use Inferno Reckless Summon!” Piper continued, showing the card which Saito recalled Acid Golem using. “Since I Special Summoned, I can Special Summon more Spirits of the Harp from my deck or hand!”
Two cards slipped out of the deck which Piper then slapped onto his disk, bringing two more identical Spirits to the field.
Saito grimaced, knowing he didn’t have any further copies of Wynn, Muzumuzu, or Tao Warrior to summon. This was one of the reasons he wished he had his collection, so he could get extra copies of his Charmers among other cards.
“Now, allow me to Overlay my three Spirits together!” Piper laughed.
The three spirits vanished into a trio of yellow lights which surged into the air. On the field, a massive black portal similar to what a galaxy would look like which instilled a sinking sensation into Saito’s gut. The three spheres of yellow light dove into the centre of the portal.
“Je vais créer un réseau de superposition de ces trois monstres!” Piper chanted as the lights vanished into the darkness. “Exceed Invocation!”
A blast of light emerged from the portal before something emerged high into the air. It looked like a cube with concave sides with a hollow middle with a square panel. The cube was a crimson color with dark lines running horizontally. Around the sealed monster was a trio of yellow lights that orbited around it.
“Comparaître devant moi! Numéro Seize! Interdire tout ce que je dis est faux! Choc Maître!”
The large cube immediately disassembled into separate pieces which cut through the air. Each piece connected to one another before first forming a large pair of legs which then unfolded, revealing machinery which hadn’t been there before. A body was then formed and a large single-legged back made of both panels as well as sheets of steel which held the brand of a red Number 16. The head had a pair of bulging glowing eyes and three horns. At the end of the head though was a stoic face which would look like something from an ancient stone carving. Fully assembled, the Numbers’ eyes flashed brightly.
“HURAAAAAAAAAGH!” Piper bellowed as a crimson energy began to course through him. The aura sank into his skin, saturating every cell in his body. Piper then slumped over, but he didn’t stay that way long. A savage grin came over his face as he looked to reveal his eyes having turned the same color as Shock Master’s armor. “Finally! I thought that twit would never get around to playing me!”
Saito frowned as he faced off against the new Numbers, knowing that the duel had just turned to a very dangerous event. Behind him, Tabitha, Guiche, Louise, and Kirche all became tense now that they were looking at one of the legendary demons which their society would just as soon forget about.
“Shock Master I presume,” Saito frowned.
“You presume correctly,” Shock Master grinned through Piper’s lips. “I can’t begin to tell you how nice it is to finally be free from Brimr’s prison.”
“The Demon of Prohibition,” Derflinger gasped quietly. “Man, of all the Demons to fight it had to be him.”
“Huh?” Saito frowned, glancing at his sword. “Derflinger, you know this guy?”
“Yeah. Me, Brimr, and Sasha took this guy on back in the day,” Derflinger replied. “It was really hard too. He kept using his magic to prohibit our moves. Either he’d seal Brimr’s magic, Sasha’s weapons, or my abilities. It was a good thing Tao was with us or else we would have been dead for sure.”
“Hm?” Shock Master blinked, noticing Derflinger. “Oh, so you’re that elf woman’s sword eh? Gotten really junky over the years haven’t you. Just like the rest of the people Brimr tried so hard to guide and save, it’s all gone to crap! Ha! I only wish he were here to see how much his lessons have been forgotten for the sake of people’s pride, greed, and gluttony!”
“What makes you such an expert on that?” demanded Louise hotly.
“Because this host has seen it happen!” Shock Master grinned. “This host of mine managed to harness wind magic through music and become able to control small animals and such depending on the kind of tone he’d use.”
“Amazing,” Tabitha gasped softly.
“He thought so too,” Shock Master nodded. “He decided to use this skill to become famous as someone who could end pestilence by driving rats and things out of villages and cities.” Shock Master’s grin turned truly malicious. “His family was appalled that he’d consider such ‘commoner’ work and cast him out immediately. Better yet, half the magistrates in the towns he works for cheat him out of his fees hoping to suck up praise from the higher nobility for ‘dealing’ with the health issues themselves! Your whole corrupt system made it ever so easy for me to find a host!”
The possessed man chuckled before returning his gaze to his cards, “But that is neither here nor there.” He spoke. “First I will play Mist Body on myself, preventing me from being destroyed even by a fellow Number!” The Shock Ruler on the field became covered in a fine mist, making it look like it was mist itself. “After that, I’ll place my last card face down!”
“So now it’s Saito’s turn!” Louise grinned.
“Not yet it isn’t!” Shock Master laughed. “Next, I’ll use an Overlay Unit to activate my special ability!” The Shock Master’s Overlay Units reacted with one of the three changing course before colliding with the horn in the centre of its forehead, making it shine. “When I do this, I can negate the activation of trap, spell, or monster affects on the field and I think this time I’ll negate monster effects!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Saito cried.
Shock Master only laughed as the horn on its true form began to shine. With a thrust of its head, the glowing horn detached and flew through the air before impacting on Saito’s side of the field, leashing a barrier of electricity that blinded Saito for a moment.
“Now my turn ends,” Shock Master grinned. “Remember though, this effect doesn’t resolve until the end of your turn.”
Saitoh: 1100 --- Shock Master (Piper): 3400
“My draw!” Saito took his next card. Eyeing the card, he placed it with the others before beginning his turn.
“Hold it!” Shock Master suddenly interrupted, flipping up one of his cards revealing a pair of students ready to fight one another. “I activate Battle Mania! Now all monsters must be in attack mode and must attack!”
“Why play that?” asked Saito. “Tao Warrior is stronger that Shock Master and I can move Wynn easily.”
“I have my reasons,” Shock Master grinned. “Now continue.”
Saito frowned, smelling a trap but there wasn’t a lot he could do about it. Besides, all of his Trap Cards wouldn’t work on this turn either. Still, he had some options left and he was definitely going to use them! He took a card from his hand and placed it on the field, “Okay, I’ll activate the ability of a card in my deck! By sacrificing Wynn and Muzumuzu, I can summon Familiar Possessed – Wynn from my deck! Since the effect resolves in my deck and not on the field, I think I can get away with it!”
Muzumuzu and Wynn vanished into streams of green energy that merged together before burst out as the serpentine dragon that followed Wynn around, but looked longer, had bigger wings, and more teeth. The spectral image of Wynn with a white and blue ribbon around her shoulders appeared next to the dragon. (4/1850/1500) The image of Wynn appearing made Saito heave a silent sigh of relief. Shock Master’s effect only applied to the field after all.
“Next I’ll play Premature Burial!” Saito continued, activating a card which had a blue-skinned man clawing his way out of the ground. “By giving up 800 life points, I can summon a monster from my graveyard with this card equipped to it and I choose Wynn the Wind Charmer!” The ground in front of Saito cracked before a blast of wind erupted out of it followed by the solid Wynn leaping out at the ready.
“Next up is my Spell Card Star Changer!” the Japanese boy continued. The card appeared on the field showing a red orb with a star on it shining brightly. “This card allows me to increase or reduce a monster’s level by one. In this case, I’ll reduce Familiar Possessed – Wynn’s level by one.” The card flashed and above FP-Wynn’s head four spheres with stars on the appeared. When they were accounted for, one then vanished into sparkles of light.
“Next, I’ll Overlay them both together!” Saito announced. Both Wynn’s transformed into streams of green energy that danced through the air. The black portal appeared on the ground which swallowed the two green streams. “Exceed Summon! Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction!”
The portal all but exploded as from the centre rose the sealed form of the golem rose up. Once it was free from the portal, it quickly shifted and transformed into the massive golem which tried to conquer the academy. Around it the two blue Overlay Units orbited the massive monster. One thing that had changed about the creature since its last appearance was that the number on its leg had turned yellow. (3/3000/3000)
“Are you crazy?-!” demanded Louise, seeing the appearance of the massive golem. “Why are you summoning that demon?-!”
“It’s a gamble,” Saito frowned. “But this way I can deal damage to him with my monsters instead of having Wynn get destroyed and do damage to me!”
“Heh! So you beat old faithful huh?” Shock Master smirked. “Well, he was only Number 30. You will have a much harder time even competing against me!”
“Whatever! Since Battle Mania is activated I have to attack. So, Acid Golem of Destruction will attack you with Exceed Acid Stream!” Saito barked. In front of him, the purple golem raised its hand and unleashed a stream of acid which sizzled through the air towards the Shock Master.
“I activate my trap, Begone, Knave!” Shock Master’s puppet interrupted. “Now whenever a monster deals battle damage, it has to return to its owner’s hand!”
“What?-!” Saito cried.
The acid flew and struck true against the enemy Number, but the Mist Body allowed the acid to pass through it harmlessly. The acid splashed on the clothes of the meat puppet, sizzling through some of his clothes but the man didn’t show any signs of pain.
“Begone, Knave activates!” Shock Master cried, lashing out with his hand like the trap card’s picture did. A blast of wind fired out from his palm, pushing with enough force to knock the golem to fall backwards before vanishing. Saito grimaced as he placed the Xyz Monster back into his Extra Deck while sending the Overlay Units to the graveyard. “I still take damage from the attack, but I like to think I got the better end of this deal.”
“Tao Warrior still has to make his attack!” Saito called out. “Equilibrium Strike!” Tao Warrior lunged across the field wings of black and white out once again before he slashed through the true Shock Master, passing through the monster as if it were made of mist.
“Begone, knave!” Shock Master’s puppet bellowed, sending another blast of wind which made the Angel of Balance vanished back to Saito’s Extra Deck.
Saito frowned, but he kept his game face one to keep from letting the Shock Master know he had the edge. Instead, he looked to his hand to see what else that he could do to keep himself in the game, “I’ll play a monster in defense mode and one card face down to finish my turn.”
Saito: 300 --- Shock Master: 2500
“Then it’s my turn!” Shock Master laughed, taking his next card. Eyeing it, he placed it in his hand before examining the field. “First I’ll use an Overlay Unit to negate Trap Cards until the end of your next turn.” The true Shock Master absorbed another Overlay Unit into its horn before launching it across the field, impacting Saito’s side and creating another flash of voltage. Saito had to shield his eyes again to prevent the spots from blinding him.
“Now, I’ll attack your face down monster! Imperial Charge!” Shock Master’s true form lunged forward to strike the face down card. The card flipped over, revealing a teenage magician with spiky blonde hair and dressed in purple robes with a short staff (2/400/800). It didn’t remain long before it was crushed by Shock Master, vanishing into gold sparkles.
“Now Apprentice Magician’s effect activates!” Saito announced, snatching a card from his deck. “I can take a LV2 or lower Spellcaster and place it on the field!” He slapped the card onto the disk, making the larger version appear on the field.
“Fine. I’ll place one card face down to finish my turn,” Shock Master shrugged.
Saito: 300 --- Shock Master: 2500
“Ore no ta-an! Doro!” Saito announced, taking his next card. “Okay, first I’ll summon Raging Eria to the field in attack mode!”
The new Spellcaster that appeared bore a resemblance to the Charmers Saito used, only this one looked like a woman with long blue hair, brown robes, and held a staff which was decorated with a water drop-shaped crystal on the top. Next to her was a bipedal reptile and a magic circle which radiated with water magic circled around her. (4/800/1500)
“Next I’ll play Scroll of Bewitchment on Apprentice Magician,” Saito continued, bringing out a familiar Spell Card which wrapped a scroll around the smaller magician, the markings on it turning blue. “I’ll change it from a DARK alignment to a WATER alignment.”
“Is this supposed to scare me?” Shock Master chuckled.
“Not yet,” Saito shrugged. “Now I’ll activate Raging Eria’s effect by sacrificing my WATER monster to summon a WATER monster from my hand. So goodbye Apprentice Magician!” the kneeling magician vanished in a flash, allowing Raging Eria to move her magical circle to the free space. “Now hello Familiar Possessed – Eria!”
Emerging from the blue magical circle was a 6ft lizard creature which looked similar to the monster which followed Raging Eria, just bigger. Almost superimposed onto it though was a teenage version of Eria wearing a blue and white ribbon. (4/1850/1500)
“Now we can move to the next step, Overlay!” Saito announced. Both versions of Eria turned into blue streams of energy before shooting into the air. The black portal opened beneath them which drew in both the streams before unleashing a pillar of light. “Exceed Summon! Return to us Tao Warrior!”
The tao orb rose up and once again formed into the Angel of Balance that the people of Halkenginia would recognize. The warrior narrowed his eyes as his golden Overlay Units circled around him.
“Attacking would just make him return to the Extra Deck though,” Saito frowned. “So I won’t attack. Instead, I’ll just place one card face down.” The card appeared on the field. “Turn end.”
Saito: 300 --- Shock Master: 2500
“Then I’ll draw!” Shock Master grinned. “Now I’ll use my last Overlay Unit to negate monster effects until your turn ends.” Shock Master’s true form took its last Overlay Unit and fired another horn which caused another electrical discharge which covered the field. “Next, I’ll begin getting rid of your face down cards with Mystical Space Typhoon!”
A lightning bolt shot down from the sky, racing towards Saito’s left facedown card. The Japanese boy grimaced and moved into action, tapping a button on his facedown card.
“Activate Fake Trap!” Saito announced. One of his two cards flipped up and flashed, revealing a cackling purple imp that was holding a scroll with a crudely drawn image of a machine firing something into the air. The lightning bolt suddenly changed course and zapped the imp, making it shatter like glass but leaving Saito’s other card hidden. “Since you were targeting a trap card for destruction, this card gets destroyed instead!”
“Tsk! A minor setback. Now I know that it’s a trap card you’re hiding,” Shock Master shrugged. “Moving on though, I will empower myself by equipping my true form with the Axe of Despair!”
Shock Master played the card, making a large axe with a gnarled handle appear in the air. The weapon then turned into energy before merging with the Shock Master, increasing its attack power significantly.
(SM: 2300 → 3300)
“Now you’ll meet your end boy!” Shock Master laughed. “No trap you have can destroy a Numbers and by keeping your monster effects negated, you can’t use anything to save you!” the possessed man laughed loudly in victory. “Now die and submit your power to me! Imperial Charge!”
The true Shock Master lunged forward and aimed to crush Tao Warrior in one blow. The black and white warrior tensed, ready to do battle even though it was obviously a losing battle.
“SAITO!!!” Louise and Kirche cried as one.
“I’m not losing today!” Saito shouted. He pressed another switch on his Duel Disk for his final card. “I activate my trap card!”
“Fool! Don’t you remember that a Number like me can only be destroyed by another Number?” Shock Master laughed as his true form continued its charge.
“Oh, it’s not a trap card that will destroy a card,” Saito grinned as the card revealed itself. It showed some kind of device which was launching a monster into the air like a rocket. “Compulsory Evacuation Device! It doesn’t destroy monsters, but send them back to your hand! Since it doesn’t destroy monsters, I figure it can affect Numbers just fine!”
“What?-!” Shock Master gasped in horror. From the card, a large metal bunker appeared with what looked like a rocket rising from the top. “NOOOOO!” The front door of the device opened up before a beam of energy struck the Shock Ruler. The evil Fairy-Type was compressed into a ball before it was yanked into the bunker with a loud slam of the door following it. There was a loud siren which followed before the top of the machine let off a loud boom, sending a golden orb into the sky.
“YOU LITTLE BASTARD!” Shock Master bellowed, incensed by the loss of its true body. “I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS INSULT!”
“Acid Golem said something along those lines too,” Saito grinned. “So, you got any other moves lined up?”
“URK!” Shock Master gasped, his mind returning to the game. He had emptied his hand in his attempts to clear the field so his true form could win the battle. He still had Begone, Knave in play but it was useless if he was going to be defeated in a single blow. His only facedown was Overlay Regenerate which would return an Overlay Unit to all Xyz Monsters on the field but it was useless when there weren’t any Xyz Monsters for him to use! “You…you...you…!”
“No move? Okay, I draw!” Saito announced, taking his card. “Now I’ll have Tao Warrior attack you directly!”
Tao Warrior’s eyes flashed before the wings of light and shadow surged out. The Angel of Balance then lunged across the field with his swords drawn, ready to unleash pure hell on his target.
“YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS! I’LL COME BACK! I DID IT BEFORE! I CAN DO IT AGAIN!” Shock Master bellowed as the Tao Warrior came closer. Finally, the twin blades struck home and struck the possessed man in the chest, launching him backwards from the force of the blow before he landed on his back. “GYAAAHHH!”
Saito: 300 --- Shock Master: 0
SAITO WINS!
“All right Partner! You did it!” Derlfinger cheered. “Man, I was worried there for a while.”
“Yeah, me too,” Saito grimaced. Well, at least he wasn’t as battered and bruised as he was when he had to duel the Acid Golem. Still, he was sore and tired and he could really use some bed rest at the moment.
Where Piper lay, his Shock Duel Disk and cards vanished into sparkles before a single glowing card appeared on his chest. Saito’s left hand jerked up with the palm open like a beckoning call. The glowing card crossed the distance and landed in Saito’s hand, losing its glow to reveal the Shock Master. A burning sensation suddenly arrived on Saito’s left side, forcing him to lift his shirt to see a red 16 on his flesh on his rib cage which turned yellow after a moment and ending the burning feeling.
Around them, the hypnotized students suddenly began blinking and looking around in confusion. Many of them began complaining about why they were outside in their night clothes. Some of the female students shrieked and began to cover themselves despite the fact their clothes covered them just fine.
“Darling!” Saito turned at the voice but was met face to cleavage with Kirche as she hugged him tightly to her chest fondly once again.
“Zerbst, now’s not the time!” he heard Louise shout from his new surroundings.
“Oh poo,” Kirche huffed, reluctantly releasing Saito from her embrace. The Japanese boy shook his head, feeling slightly dizzy from the adrenaline leaving his system. Looking around, he saw that many of the students were demanding to know what was going on while more were trying to hide themselves.
“Does anyone know where we can find a teacher or something?” he asked out loud before gesturing to the downed Piper, “And can somebody tie this guy up at least until we know he’s not possessed by an evil monster bent on destruction?”
Guiche quickly volunteered, being the only one there who had his wand aside from Tabitha and conjured up chains of bronze which wrapped around Piper’s wrists and ankles. After checking to see if the chains were secure, he decided to go see where they could find one of the teachers to sort the mess out.
“Hello? Is someone there?”
Saito blinked and turned to where the voice had come from, spotting what appeared to be a mob of children hiding behind one of the massive doors to the school. They were of various young ages but it was plain to see which ones were noble and which ones weren’t by the quality of their clothes.
“The missing children!” Louise gasped.
(LINE BREAK)
It took some time, but everyone was relocated to the Alviss Dining Hall since almost nobody was dressed to spend any amount of time outside in the night. A lot of people had sniffles and their feet were dirty and cut, meaning they had marched a considerable distance since Piper had gotten his hands on them.
The teachers were eventually alerted to what was going on, thanks in no small part to the noise that all of the children were making in their complaints or fear. Headmaster Osmond along with his staff were shocked to find so many unknown children inside their school, even more so to hear that they were the missing children as well as the one who captured them. Louise had given the Headmaster a quick debriefing as to what happened.
“Another one slipped right in,” Osmond frowned as he watched the healers on staff help the children with their malnutrition and hurt feet. Commoner and noble both were treated since to Osmond this was not the time to distinguish between ranks.
“Truly the Ninety-Nine are more powerful than we thought,” Colbert sighed, eyeing the formerly missing children with guilt at having been unable to help them.
“Thank the Founder that Mr. Hiraga was able to confront and defeat this one,” Osmond sighed. “No doubt there are many parents that are going to be pleased about being reunited with their lost children.”
“Indeed,” Colbert agreed. “Still, what are we to tell the people who are no doubt going to investigate? Surely we can’t let the man be persecuted for this when it was one of the Ninety-Nine that were responsible.”
“And we won’t,” Osmond reassured his employee. “We will report that the man was under control of a more powerful source of magic, hinting that there are greater forces at work.”
“Ah,” the absent-minded teacher nodded. “Manipulating the truth by omitting the details?”
“Indeed,” Osmond nodded. “Frankly, unless the queen or princess sees members of the Ninety-Nine I doubt they would believe that the situation is as dire as it says it is.”
“True,” Colbert nodded.
At another section of the room, Saito was leaning against the wall as he watched the missing children be treated by the healers. Most of the other students immediately dashed towards their rooms so to get some more respectable clothes on so they could come back and witness what was going on. The duelist’s attention wasn’t so much on the people around them, but on the three Xyz Monster cards which he was holding in his hand.
“Number 00: Tao Warrior, Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction, and now Number 16: Shock Master,” he sighed. Looking over his shoulder, he looked at Derflinger. “So you were there when Brimr fought these guys?”
“Yeah,” Derflinger confirmed. “I may have forgotten a lot of stuff over the years, but guys like them you just don’t forget. They were some of the worst I have ever seen and trust me Partner, I’ve seen a lot.”
“Any advice then, as someone who saw all of the Ninety-Nine?” asked Saito.
“Yeah. Don’t lose.”
That wasn't very informative. It was obvious that losing wasn't an option. It wasn't like duels back home where one risked losing just their dignity a little. These were high stakes games and not the type where money was put on the line. It was life or death, which was why Saito could no longer treat dueling as just a game. It was his only weapon against the Numbers when they began trying to break free and losing against them would mean losing everything.
“Anything you want to add about Shock Master then?” asked Saito. “You said he could actually seal things?”
“Yeah! It made it super tough fighting him!” Derflinger complained. “I mean, he’d use that horn trick of his to seal Brimr’s magic, Sasha’s weapons, or my abilities! We couldn’t use traps, strategy, or even armies since he’d just seal them. We’d have to bring in a party of specialists to fight him and even then half of their skills were sealed away. We had to hold Tao as a trump card until that creep sealed something that didn’t have anything to do with him.”
“It fits with his special ability on his card,” Saito nodded. “What about Acid Golem of Destruction?”
“We lost a lot of good men against him,” Derflinger sighed. “That hunk of rock was filled to the brim with acid, shooting it everywhere like a rainstorm did rain. His hide was super strong and anything his acid touched was liquefied in a heartbeat, making it impossible to save anyone who was hit in the wrong place.”
“How’d you beat him then?” asked Saito, feeling slightly pale at the story considering the acid from the golem had splashed on him. He was lucky to get off with some burns if the acid was that lethal.
“It was actually Brimr who figured it out when out of frustration he chucked a boulder at it to distract it,” the sentient sword chuckled. “It blocked up one of the nozzles and made it panic. Tao distracted the thing so Brimr and his mage buddies could block all of the holes. The golem flipped and began to melt from the inside out with so much acid piling up inside! Tao then finished it off with a solid strike! Man was that satisfying!”
“I’ll bet,” Saito sighed, sticking the three cards with the rest of his deck. “Don’t know about you though, but I need some rest after getting throttled. Fighting Numbers isn’t easy.”
“Hey, if anyone has earned his rest it’s you Partner,” Derflinger agreed.
“Indeed you have Gandalfr.”
“Woah!” Saito cried, leaping at the deep voice which sounded off next to him. Trying to control his heart, he looked towards the source. His jaw immediately dropped at the sight.
Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed was a human-sized Tao Warrior!
Turn End…
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