SWNOVELXO Chapter 67: DSMW [67]
"—Descend now, Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel!"
[Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel] Level 8│EARTH│Plant│2900 ATK
"This card cannot be Normal Summoned. Must be Special Summoned by banishing 1 Level 7 or higher Plant monster each from your hand and Graveyard."
By banishing [Fallen Angel of Roses] from the Graveyard and [Queen Angel of Roses] from the hand, the summoning condition was fulfilled.
Rosaria embodied the forms of both angels, its left and right wings starkly divided into black and red. Despite not being a Fusion Monster, it exhibited an even more harmonious and noble presence than a typical Fusion. Its radiant four wings fully showcased the dignity of a great archangel.
Aisha exclaimed, "2900 Attack—it's stronger than Summoned Skull! Almost catching up to Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Once again, Blue-Eyes became the measuring stick for raw power—as long as it's around 3000 Attack, comparisons were inevitable.
"A strike infused with both divine and demonic power... Summoned Skull, be obliterated by this chaotic force!"
Rosaria gathered divine power in its left hand and demonic energy in its right, merging them into a chaotic storm that surged toward Aisha's field.
"—Trap Card activate! Pinpoint Guard!" Miles flipped his face-down card.
[When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Target 1 Level 4 or lower monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it in face-up Defense Position. It cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn.]
"When you declared your attack, I Special Summon [Queen's Knight] from my Graveyard in Defense Position!"
[Queen's Knight] DEF: 1600
"Nice try, but even if you summoned something else, my attack target is still your Summoned Skull!"
The chaotic storm couldn't be halted by mere demon thunder. It tore through Summoned Skull's massive body, pushing Aisha herself to the very edge of the duel field.
Naturally, in a duel, a duelist being blown out of the arena isn't a foul.
"Hey, hey, this is just a mock battle! Going this far is way over the top!" Irene exclaimed, genuinely worried for both Aisha and Miles from this overly intense exchange.
The others were speechless. Witnessing a duel of this caliber left them feeling unworthy to even comment.
Was this truly a first-year duel?
How did Aisha Yuna Carlos, once a bottom-tier student on the verge of expulsion, grow this powerful without anyone noticing?
Irena smiled. "Told you, Aisha Carlos is destined to become an incredible duelist. Or rather... she's already qualified to represent Fusion Academy in battle."
Although Luca Slint had transferred to Fusion Academy, she'd only been there for a single day. She still largely represented XYZ Academy's strength.
This duel was escalating to a point where people started seeing it as a showdown between Fusion Academy and XYZ Academy.
It was practically a microcosm of the third-years' duels at the Sacred Ground of Spirits.
Kevin narrowed his eyes, murmuring, "Don't lose... Ai↑sha↓!"
[Aisha, LP: 2000 → 1600]
"Hehe, finally managed to land a hit on you."
Seeing Aisha's LP drop thrilled Luca.
Miles responded with a sneer. "It's just a scratch. This kind of attack couldn't even take down Summoned Skull."
"What?"
As the dust from the chaotic storm settled, Summoned Skull remained standing on Aisha's field—proving the old adage 'smoke without fire' quite literally.
Miles retrieved [Relinkuriboh] from the Graveyard and moved it to the Banished Zone.
"While [Relinkuriboh] is in the Graveyard, I can banish it to prevent a monster from being destroyed by battle."
True to the Kuriboh line, even [Relinkuriboh] had a survival effect.
"Ho? You went out of your way to banish Relinkuriboh to protect Summoned Skull. Well done. Really, well done."
And why was soul-swapped Luca so delighted? Simple—because she still held one deadly trap: [Magic Cylinder].
The only path she expected Miles to take was to equip Summoned Skull to boost its Attack. That would be checkmate.
No matter offense or defense, the only outcome awaiting Aisha Carlos... was defeat.
"I Set one card and end my turn. Come—if you think you can break through, try it, Aisha Carlos!"
After setting [Magic Cylinder], Luca, in her Millennium Ring spirit form, couldn't help but taunt.
Even Aisha could guess that the Set card was going to be a nightmare.
To defeat Luca Slint, it wasn't enough to just overpower [Fallen Angel of Roses]—that Set trap had to be neutralized too.
"A way to break through... a battle between Artifacts and their wielders..."
Miles began his turn, tapping the top card of the Deck.
"My turn—draw!"
The drawn card traced an arc over the Millennium Puzzle resting on Aisha's modest chest, glowing faintly gold.
It was the Continuous Trap [Human-Wave Tactics].
A completely useless card right now—an absolute dead draw.
But that dead draw sparked something electric in Miles's brain.
Disconnected pieces suddenly clicked together like a solved equation.
"Fusion... Trap... and the ultimate... knight."
Miles looked toward the [Queen's Knight] defending on the field.
"The ultimate knight? What are you saying, Miles?"
"It's time to gamble once more—the summon of the strongest knight in this battle of Artifacts!"
Miles played a Spell Card forward.
"—Spell Card activate: The Warrior Returning Alive!"
[Target 1 Warrior monster in your Graveyard; add it to your hand.]
"I retrieve [King's Knight] from my Graveyard to my hand, then Normal Summon it in Attack Position!"
[King's Knight] ATK: 1600
Golden-armored King appeared alongside the crimson-armored Queen. Their crossed blades invoked the third: Jack.
"When [Queen's Knight] is on the field, and [King's Knight] is summoned, I can Special Summon [Jack's Knight] from my Deck!"
[Jack's Knight] Level 5│LIGHT│Warrior│1900 ATK
Clad in silver armor, Jack charged onto the field. In a single turn, the Poker Knights—Queen, King, and Jack—stood united.
Luca chuckled. "The Poker Knights, huh. They might work against others, but not me. My [Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel] is far stronger."
Miles pointed directly at Luca. "No. The Poker Knights' true strength only reveals itself when summoned the right way. Tell me, Luca Slint... do you know where you currently stand?"
"Uh... the duel arena?" Luca tilted her head.
"Heh—wrong. The correct answer is... on the sacred grounds of Fusion Academy!"
Miles threw a card toward the sky.
"—Spell Card activate: Polymerization! I fuse my Poker Knights!"
"Fusion the Poker Knights?" Irene gasped. "But didn't you fail before? Can they even be fused?"
"Yes, they can!"
The prior failure was due to Miles simply testing the fusion's feasibility. That hesitation was fatal in a world where Duel Spirits were real.
Without firm resolve and belief, the cards would never respond.
"But this time is different!"
This time, it carried the hopes of all the students wishing for Aisha's victory. This was a battle for Fusion Academy's honor.
"If you won't answer me now, then when?! Fusion—our strongest knight!"
A fusion spiral exploded in the sky, pulling in all three Poker Knights.
Aisha cheered, "It worked, Miles!"
"This is our ultimate comeback fusion. Ascend to the highest position in the heavens—Fusion Summon! Arcana Knight Joker!"
[Arcana Knight Joker] Level 9│LIGHT│Warrior│3800 ATK
Materials: "Queen's Knight" + "Jack's Knight" + "King's Knight"
The true form of the fused Poker Knights. Donned in jet-black armor and wielding a holy longsword, Arcana Knight Joker represented the supreme power of the Joker card.
"Arcana... Knight Joker? Attack... 3800?!"
Luca was forced to take two steps back from the knight's overwhelming presence.
"To think Aisha Carlos pulled off a monster of this magnitude at the last moment."
An Attack stat that completely dwarfed even Blue-Eyes White Dragon's 3000.
"As expected of a fellow Artifact wielder—you're no pushover."
"Time to decide the victor. Arcana Knight Joker!"
Bathed in the radiance of fusion, Arcana Knight Joker stood tall. Miles pointed forward and declared battle.
"With 3800 Attack, Joker can easily destroy Rosaria and deal enough damage to end this!"
"Attack—Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel!"
"Hahahaha!"
The moment Miles declared the attack, Luca burst into laughter.
"Incredible! So strong! Yet, I still outplayed you, Aisha!—Trap Card activate: Magic Cylinder!"
[When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Target that attacking monster; negate the attack, and inflict damage equal to its ATK to your opponent.]
"Take 3800 damage straight from Joker's Attack!"
"No—it's you who's been outplayed, Luca!"
Miles flipped his last card.
"Arcana Knight Joker's effect activates!"
[When a Spell, Trap, or monster effect that targets this face-up card is activated (Quick Effect): You can discard the same type of card (Monster, Spell, or Trap); negate that effect.]
Discard a card of the same type to negate the corresponding effect.
And Miles revealed his last card—Luca's sapphire eyes widened in disbelief.
It was the Trap [Human-Wave Tactics].
"Impossible!"
"I discard my Trap Human-Wave Tactics to negate your Trap Magic Cylinder!"
[Magic Cylinder]—Negated.
A holy light radiated from Arcana Knight Joker, dispersing the Magic Cylinder completely.
"It's over—final strike! Celestial Holy Cross Slash!"
Joker's holy sword unleashed a double-cross slash, carving a radiant cross of energy into Rosaria's body.
The next moment, the cross exploded, shattering Rosaria into four fragments.
The shockwave also blew Luca clean off the duel field.
"Aaaaahhhhhhh!"
[Luca, LP: 700 → 0]
The cigarette that had fallen to the ground had long since burned out. This duel was so intense that even Miss Erin forgot about her smoking habit.
Glancing at her score sheet, Miss Erin genuinely didn't know how many credits to assign for this match.
"This was just supposed to be a weekly mock battle... No need to go this far..."
…No need to summon Arcana Knight Joker just for this, Aisha.
...
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