[Archer Install – Shirou Emiya ATK 2300]
[This card cannot be destroyed by battle or effects.]
Anubis, who had been clenching his fists, finally let out a breath, relaxing his previously tense nerves completely.
"Heh... Hahaha! Hoshino Chiyuki, you fused every monster at your disposal, and this is what you ended up with? This ridiculous creature? That attack power isn't even enough to scratch my Sphinx!"
"No, this is more than enough, Anubis—this is my ultimate counterattack!"
Standing with her hands on her hips, Hoshino pointed at him confidently, her pose arrogant and unshaken.
"It... it really is Onii-chan! Or rather, Miyu's older brother," Illya and Kuro exclaimed in unison. "But… can Onii-chan really defeat such a powerful monster on his own?"
Clenching his fists, Shirou answered seriously, "Don't worry, Illya, Kuro. My magical energy is surging—I can feel my bond with Miyu stronger than ever. This time, and only this time, I won't lose!"
"That's the spirit, Shirou! Ride this momentum and smash through the enemy!"
With Hoshino having played her final move, the rest of the battle now rested entirely in Shirou's hands. The outcome would be decided by a single, decisive blow.
"—Trace... On!"
Surpassing and refining countless creations—
At this very moment, a sword imbued with pure fantasy is forged!
Sparks of magical energy crackled through Shirou's hands as his circuits surged to life. The boundary between illusion and reality shattered, allowing him to manifest a weapon that embodied the pure essence of a "sword."
"That sword...!" Kaiba and Yugi widened their eyes in shock. The blade in Shirou's hands was unmistakable—a weapon they both knew all too well. A sword synonymous with Hoshino's ultimate attack.
"Rengoku!!"
Now grasped in Shirou's hands, the weapon was none other than Okitan's sword—a massive, elegant great katana nearly as tall as its wielder.
"With this blade that reaches the ends of infinity—I'll carve out victory!"
Soaring into the air, Shirou brought the katana down with a decisive slash. The silver-white blade dug deep into the Sphinx's massive form. Just before the weapon shattered, Shirou poured all of his strength into the strike, leaving a deep, pitch-black gash across its body.
"Shirou Emiya's special effect activates!"
[Once per Battle Phase: You can target 1 "Heroic Spirit" Fusion Monster in your Extra Deck; equip it to this card. (This is treated as an Equip Card.) At the end of the Battle Phase, destroy the equipped monster.
While this card is equipped with a monster by this effect, it gains ATK equal to the equipped monster's ATK and gains the equipped monster's effects.]
"As soon as the Battle Phase began, I targeted Okita Alter in my Extra Deck and equipped her to Shirou Emiya!"
On Hoshino's Duel Disk, Okitan had already shifted from the Extra Deck to the Spell & Trap Zone as an Equip Spell.
[Okita Alter ATK 3000]
[This card gains ATK equal to the number of "Heroic Spirit" monsters in the Banished Zone × 1000.]
"And with five 'Heroic Spirit' monsters in my Banished Zone—Shirou, now inheriting Okitan's power and effect, gains 8000 ATK!"
[Shirou Emiya ATK 2300 → 10300]
Kuro's eyes lit up as realization struck. "By equipping a Fusion Monster to boost his attack, Onii-chan is treating the Heroic Spirit cards like class cards in a Phantasm Summon! That's how he was able to project such a difficult weapon like the katana!"
"Hmph! So what if you boosted your ATK by equipping a Fusion Monster? It won't make a difference! You still can't scratch Theinen the Great Sphinx!"
Shirou, his blade shattered and his head bowed, let out a cold chuckle. "Oh? Are you sure it didn't leave a scratch? Look again."
"Raaaaghhh!!"
A deafening roar erupted from the Sphinx's maw. Despite the staggering difference in attack power, the behemoth now writhed in agony from their clash.
Hoshino smirked. "So, Anubis—still think it's unharmed?"
"Impossible! The power of the lingering spirits—the energy it absorbed from the Dragon—it's leaking from the wound! That shouldn't be possible!"
From the gash left by Rengoku, the Dragon's stolen energy began to pour out as if desperate to escape.
"This is the Graveyard of Swords," Shirou said coldly. "A power that exists solely to kill… To me, it's no different from a graveyard of projected blades."
"Graveyard of Swords?" Anubis echoed, shaken by Shirou's steely resolve, unconsciously stepping back.
The instant he did, a chill crept up his spine from the ground beneath him. A sensation—cold as snow.
"Snow...? How is there snow here?! The Field Spell was destroyed earlier!"
Hoshino pointed toward the dim sky with a cryptic smile. "Take a closer look around. Welcome, Anubis, to the Reality Marble~"
Anubis's eyes darted around. Just moments ago, they had been inside Kaiba Land's dueling dome. But now, the scenery had shifted completely.
He was no longer in a theme park.
He stood in a mirrored world born from Shirou Emiya's soul—
A snow-covered battlefield, where countless swords stood buried in the ground like silent gravestones.
"Wh-What did you do?!" Anubis shouted, panic creeping into his voice.
"Nothing much," Hoshino replied coolly. "Just setting the stage for the final act. Now—prepare to be buried beneath these infinite swords!"
Feeling the chilling texture of real snow beneath his feet, Yugi gasped. "This is... Unlimited Blade Works?! But last time, when Hoshino used it during the Duelist Kingdom finals, it was a vast desert—an arid wasteland buried under sand..."
That memory had burned itself into Yugi's mind—the day he faced Unlimited Blade Works in a head-on duel.
But though the scenery had changed, the overwhelming pressure of infinite blades remained.
No—this time, it was even stronger.
"B-Bluffing! What sword grave? What unlimited swords? You think you can defeat my Sphinx with something so abstract? Keep dreaming!"
Anubis forced himself to stay composed. With his overwhelming advantage still present on the field and Hoshino having already launched her attack, there was no reason to panic.
"If you think this is abstract, then let me make it real! Shirou Emiya's final effect activates—Infinite Sword Grave!"
[At the end of the Damage Step, when this card battles, you can target 1 monster card in either player's Graveyard. Equip that card to this card as an Equip Card.]
"This is why the souls trapped inside your Sphinx are leaking away! Shirou Emiya can't be destroyed by battle, so after clashing with your Sphinx, his effect still activates—I equip Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon from your Graveyard to him!"
Gripping his sword tightly, Shirou drew a blade glowing with a blue light from the snow-covered ground. The moment he unsheathed it, a high-pitched dragon's roar echoed through the night.
"Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon Sword—yeah, let's go with that name!"
[Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon ATK 3000]
[Shirou Emiya ATK 10300 → 13300]
"This is also why your Sphinx is weakening! Since Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon was removed from your Graveyard and equipped, Theinen the Great Sphinx—whose ATK is boosted by the total ATK of monsters in your Graveyard—has now dropped!"
[Theinen the Great Sphinx ATK 38500 → 35500]
"Nice move, but it changes nothing! Even if your monster can't be destroyed in battle, the massive gap in ATK remains! The battle damage will still go through!"
"Anubis, did you forget? No matter how much damage I take now—it doesn't matter at all!"
That's right. Hoshino had already executed a strategy that made her LP irrelevant.
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP: 0]
Through the effect of Relay Soul, she had transferred her survival condition to Kuro. Since her LP was locked at 0, taking thousands—or even tens of thousands—of battle damage meant absolutely nothing.
"Anubis, every piece of my victory condition is now in place! Shirou—let's finish this! Inheriting Okitan's effect, Shirou Emiya can attack as many times as needed!"
[If this card's attack does not destroy an opponent's monster, you can banish 1 'Heroic Spirit' monster from your Graveyard to attack again.]
"I banish Medea Illya from my Graveyard—Shirou, attack again!"
[Shirou Emiya ATK 13300 → 14300]
Gripping the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon Sword, Shirou slashed once more at the towering Sphinx. From the snow-blanketed ground, countless swords erupted in unison with his strike, tearing into the beast's frame.
"I'll equip Blue-Eyes Ultimate Alternative Dragon from your Graveyard!"
[Shirou Emiya ATK 14300 → 18800]
"Damn it!!"
[Theinen the Great Sphinx ATK 35500 → 31000]
Hoshino didn't give Anubis a moment to recover. After the second strike, she banished another Heroic Spirit to launch a third.
"Next, I equip Blue-Eyes White Dragon from your Graveyard!"
[Shirou Emiya ATK 18800 → 21800]
[Theinen the Great Sphinx ATK 31000 → 28000]
With each blow, Shirou's strength surged, while the Sphinx's might continued to dwindle. The tides of battle had fully turned.
Kaiba, trembling with excitement, laughed aloud. "You're turning all my Blue-Eyes dragons into swords to power up your monster? Hah! You've got guts, Hoshino!"
"And now—the final blow! This strike will shatter Anubis's ultimate guardian! I equip Andro Sphinx from your Graveyard!"
[Shirou Emiya ATK 21800 → 25800]
[Theinen the Great Sphinx ATK 28000 → 25000]
Yugi gasped. "Hoshino's ATK has surpassed Anubis's! This final clash completes the reversal!"
Her Spell & Trap Zone was now filled entirely with equipped monsters.
This was the apex of her strategy—she had calculated both Shirou's rising ATK and the Sphinx's diminishing power to claim victory by the narrowest of margins.
With every drop of magic flowing through him, Shirou's eyes reflected only the infinite swords suspended in the night sky. "Now, I return these countless blades upon you—this final strike ends it all!"
"Go, Shirou—Final Attack!"
"—Unlimited Blade Works!!"
A torrent of swords converged at a single point before raining down with relentless force, tearing through the colossal Sphinx. Amid the snow, the scales of fate tipped at last in Hoshino's favor.
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP: 0]
[Theinen the Great Sphinx Destroyed]
"Aaaaaaaahhh!!"
[Anubis LP: 500 → 0]
"Even if I've lost, I'll take you down with me! For my master's sake, I'll erase your existence right here, right now! Theinen the Great Sphinx's effect activates!"
[When this card is destroyed in battle, destroy all monsters on the opponent's field.]
The Sphinx's shattered remains suddenly erupted into a fiery blast, sending a wave of destruction racing toward Hoshino's field—and toward Kuro, completely unprotected.
"If I destroy the monster carrying your soul, you'll fall into the abyss with me! Come—let us curse this world together, Hoshino Chiyuki!"
"I refuse! The thing I love most is telling arrogant people like you—NO!"
"Roaaar!!"
A proud dragon's roar echoed through the snowy battlefield. A radiant figure soared into the stormy sky—Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, its form blazing with moonlit majesty.
"Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon Sword! Since I equipped Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon to Shirou, he naturally inherits its effect!"
Raising the glowing blade, Shirou swept it in a radiant arc, slicing through the oncoming explosion aimed at Kuro.
"Any effect targeting my field—I get to choose whether or not to accept it! And as for this one..."
[Duel Over—Winner: Hoshino Chiyuki!]
"—I refuse! Die alone, Anubis!"
(*****)
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