NovelOnline Chapter 706 - 706
Chapter 706 - 706
Looking at the two inexplicable words branded onto her thigh, Akasha frantically waved her hands."Why am I Lust?! (||ﾟДﾟ) It's not like that! Hoshino-nee, let me explain!"
Standing on tiptoe, Blair gently patted Akasha on the back.
"Some things don't need explaining. The innocent stay innocent, and the guilty stay guilty, Akasha-senpai~"
"(╯°Д°)╯ Damn it, doesn't that basically expose everything already?!"
"A Seven Sins?" After examining the 『Wrath』 mark on Minazuki's arm, Bastion wondered aloud, "Could this be something similar to Frodi's Seven Sword?"
"So Harr wasn't targeting Jaden and me, but Akasha and the others instead?" Hoshino's expression darkened. Since she had only set up a defensive barrier around the duel field itself, she immediately realized her mistake. "I underestimated him. A barrier involving the Seven Sins already sounds extremely troublesome."
"Creatures of the primate order are easily corrupted by sin. The Seven Sins draws upon the hidden 'sins' within your hearts and delivers 'punishment' to the two duelists!"
Yet even Harr's vague explanation gave Hoshino no real clue as to what exactly was happening.
"Continue, Jaden. I want to see what this guy is really planning!"
"Got it, Sensei." Jaden swung his Duel Disk forward and nodded. "Then I'll move into the Battle Phase! Elemental HERO Grand Neos, attack!"
[Grand Neos ATK 2500]
[Mordred Chloe ATK 2300]
After the exchange of effects, the duel entered direct combat. Thanks to its superior 2500 ATK, Grand Neos narrowly overpowered Chloe, its spinning drill shattering the magical girl's chest armor.
[Magical Girl – Mordred Chloe] destroyed
[Hoshino LP 8000 → 7800]
"Now then—engrave the sins!"
The instant battle damage was dealt, the Seven Sins beneath Hoshino lit up with the symbols representing 『Wrath』 and 『Lust』.
At the same time, matching words appeared branded onto Hoshino's arm and thigh, identical to the marks on Minazuki and Akasha.
"Lust Hoshino-nee…"
"Wrath Hoshino…"
Akasha and Uria instantly fell into bizarre fantasies, their cheeks flushing red.
"Stop with those completely baseless delusions!"
Flipping open her Set card, Hoshino declared:
"At the moment Chloe was destroyed, I activate the Trap Card—The Merciless One!"
[Trap Card Effect: When a "Heroic Spirit" monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: Special Summon 1 "Heroic Spirit" monster from your hand or Deck with a lower Level than the destroyed monster.]
"I Special Summon Level 4 Magical Girl – Illya in Defense Position!"
[Magical Girl – Illya ★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 1000]
"And when Illya is successfully Special Summoned, I can add the Quick-Play Spell Card Phantasm Summon Install to my hand!"
"Why does Master have the word 'Lust' written on her thigh?" Illya narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Well, obviously because before Illya showed up, Master did something with Kuro~"
Ruby twisted its wand-like body mischievously as it stirred up trouble.
"Like maybe some mana-transfer kisses or something—that would definitely qualify as Lust~"
"K… kisses…"
The moment mana-transfer kisses were mentioned, Alexis immediately recalled the time she had been drained by Vampire magic.
"Hm?" Akasha shot Alexis a sideways glance, suspicion filling her eyes. "(ー`´ー) I smell the scent of a sneaky cheating cat…"
"Are you okay, Sensei?" Jaden asked worriedly after noticing the strange changes appearing on Hoshino's body following the battle damage he dealt.
"For now, there doesn't seem to be any abnormal effect."
Hoshino narrowed her eyes and carefully examined herself.
"They call these the marks of the Seven Sins, but neither my body nor my mind seems to be affected in any concrete way yet. Focus on the duel, Jaden."
Continuing his turn, Jaden inserted an Equip Spell from his hand into the Duel Disk.
"I equip Instant Neo Space to Grand Neos! Its effect prevents Grand Neos from returning to the Extra Deck during the End Phase. Then I Set two cards and end my turn!"
"My turn, draw!"
Drawing the virtual card displayed by the AR Duel Disk at the start of her turn, Hoshino pointed toward the Continuous Spell activated during the previous turn.
"I activate the effect of the Continuous Spell Card Phantasm Summon—"
[Continuous Spell Effect: Once during your Standby Phase, target 1 Level 4 "Magical Girl" monster in your Graveyard or banished zone; Special Summon it with its effects negated.]
"I Special Summon Chloe—which was sent to the Graveyard as Fusion Material—with her effects negated in Defense Position!"
[Chloe DEF 1000]
The moment Chloe materialized once more, she immediately leaned in close to Hoshino's thigh.
"Lust really suits you, Master~ As expected, you and Kuro have the best compatibility~"
"And this is Wrath!"
Raising the arm branded with the 『Wrath』 mark, Hoshino smacked Chloe hard on the head.
"Fight seriously already and stop slacking off."
">~<>"
Bastion widened his eyes in shock.
"Did Headmistress just physically hit a hologram? Is that even possible?"
"It's probably because of that Duel Disk that looks insanely overpowered," Minazuki guessed.
Touching the virtual card floating before her, Hoshino selected the Phantasm Summon Install she had searched with Illya's effect and activated it.
"—Quick-Play Spell Card Phantasm Summon Install! I banish my Magical Girl – Illya on the field as Fusion Material and Special Summon a 'Magical Girl' Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck!"
Responding to Hoshino's summon, Illya ran a Class Card across Ruby's wand, causing brilliant white rose petals to bloom around her.
"Class Card Saber — Install: Nero Claudius Bride!!"
"Bloom forth, Fusion Summon! — Magical Girl – Nero Claudius Bride Illya!"
[Magical Girl – Nero Claudius Bride Illya ★★★★★★★★][LIGHT][Fairy/Fusion/Effect][ATK 2300/DEF 1000]
["Magical Girl – Illya" + "Heroic Spirit – Nero Claudius Bride"]
"To the stars of heaven! To the flowers upon the earth! To the love within humanity! With the kingly sword, I shall carve open this road overflowing with flowers~"
Her outfit transformed into a pure white bridal dress through Dream Fusion. Standing amidst drifting petals, Illya wielded the silver-glimmering Aestus Estus.
"I activate Nero Bride Illya's effect!"
[When this card is Fusion Summoned: Target 1 monster you control; until the end of the next turn, it gains 1000 ATK/DEF. Also, whenever that monster destroys an opponent's card by battle or card effect, draw 1 card.]
"I target Illya herself and raise her attack power beyond even Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
[Nero Bride Illya ATK: 2300 → 3300]
"That's so mean, Hoshino." Mokuba rubbed his forehead helplessly. "At least keep comments like that to yourself when my brother is standing right here…"
["Foolish Mokuba. The joy of bullying Blue-Eyes White Dragon doubles when Kaiba himself is present~"]
"Now Illya's attack power exceeds Jaden-sama's Grand Neos…" Blair clenched her small fists nervously for Jaden's sake.
"As expected of Sensei~ She's amazing as always!" Jaden, however, showed no concern at all — his face was filled only with excitement.
"It's still too early, Jaden. Now things are getting serious!"
Sweeping her arm across the AR Duel Disk's banished zone, Hoshino returned the Illya used as Fusion Material.
"Magical Girl – Illya's effect activates. Once per turn, when she is banished as Fusion Material, she can Special Summon herself back onto the field~"
[Magical Girl – Illya DEF 1000]
"Now I have two Level 4 monsters!"
Akasha's eyes widened.
"Two Level 4 monsters… Don't tell me Hoshino-nee is about to—"
"Let's do this, Illya, Chloe!"
Linking the two virtual cards floating before her, Hoshino used the blue-glowing AR device in her right eye to construct an Overlay Network.
"Got it, let's cuddle, Illya!" Chloe wrapped her arms tightly around Illya's tiny body and rubbed her dark cheeks against hers.
"Xyz Summoning isn't cuddling, Kuro!"
"I overlay the Level 4 Illya and Chloe as Xyz Materials! — Xyz Summon, the wind of conviction that cuts through all! Heroic Spirit – Okita Souji, Sincerity's Conviction!"
As the summoning effects exploded forth, Okita drew her sword from her waist and sliced through the tearing Xyz light in a cool entrance.
"Hmph hmph hmph, hahaha! Didn't expect this, did you? This time, it's the invincible Okita-san making her glorious comeback!"
[Heroic Spirit – Okita Souji, Sincerity's Conviction Rank 4 ☆☆☆☆][WIND][Warrior/Xyz/Effect][ATK 2500/DEF 2000]
[2 Level 4 monsters]
"At last, the day has come for me to appear using Illya as material. This proves that the ace position will forever belong to the invincible Okita-san~"
"Um… this might not be the best time to mention it, but I'm still standing right here~" Bride Illya scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"Nani?! As expected of Illya, unexpectedly persistent. No time to waste, Master, hurry up and destroy her!"
"Aren't you two supposed to be on the same side?" Akasha complained.
"So this is the Xyz power humanity has obtained…"
When Hoshino completed the Xyz Summon, Harr also sensed the Overlay Network spreading across the sky.
"Even this immature Xyz Light, when wielded by humans, has managed to consecutively defeat five Kings."
"Hmph. Doesn't that simply prove how pathetically weak you Nine Kings really are?" Kaiba mocked mercilessly.
"No. It instead proves how dangerous humans become once they gain power they were never meant to possess!"
The Seven Sins reacted again. Two more sin sigils appeared — one branded onto Kaiba's hand, the other onto Eve's forehead.
Kaiba — 『Pride』
Kaiba glanced indifferently at the word on the back of his hand without saying anything.
"ᓫ(°⌑°)ǃ Um… could somebody tell me what's written on my forehead?"
Eve could only feel her forehead glowing and couldn't see the words herself.
"Let me check." Mokuba brushed aside Eve's bangs and examined it. "It says 'Gluttony.' That's not really a very serious sin, right?"
"(˘••˘) But doesn't that just expose me as a foodie?"
Eve — 『Gluttony』
"More of these weird marks keep appearing…" Hoshino reviewed the duel flow and analyzed aloud. "Every time a monster is summoned from the Extra Deck, another sin appears. That seems to be the pattern so far."
Unfortunately, both Jaden's and Hoshino's decks heavily revolved around Fusion Summoning. At this rate, all Seven Sins would probably be branded onto everyone within just a few turns.
"I'm ending this quickly!"
Entering the Battle Phase, Hoshino detached one of Okita's Xyz Materials and activated her effect.
"I activate the effect of Heroic Spirit – Okita Souji, Sincerity's Conviction! Once per turn, at the start of the Battle Phase, I can detach 1 Xyz Material — in this case, Illya — to equip this card with an Equip Spell from my Deck!"
"Illya, you can stay quietly in the Graveyard for now~"
Hoshino flung a virtual Equip Card into the Spell & Trap Zone. The headband symbolizing the Shinsengumi's spirit of sincerity appeared upon Okita's forehead.
"—Equip Spell Card Headband of Resolve!"
[Headband of Resolve Equip Spell Effect: Can only be equipped to an "Okita Souji" monster. ①: The equipped monster cannot attack directly, but its ATK becomes doubled. ②: During the End Phase, send the equipped monster to the Graveyard.]
"Because of Headband of Resolve's effect, Heroic Spirit – Okita Souji, Sincerity's Conviction's attack power doubles!"
"An attack boost that huge… for Okita of all people?!" Akasha stared in disbelief.
"Doubling her ATK is impressive, but being sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase is a pretty severe drawback," Bastion added.
Touching the familiar headband on her forehead, Okita's fighting spirit exploded forth.
"As long as the duel ends this turn, it doesn't matter! The character of 'Sincerity' engraved upon my soul shall decide this battle here and now!"
[Okita ATK: 2500 → 5000]
"Go, Okita! Crush the earth itself with your blade of resolve! Target — Elemental HERO Grand Neos!"
"—Mumyo Sandanzuki!!"