"Starhulk, Lurli!"
"Barit Dracokid!"
Fighting against Brandt is a pain, since it seems my luck somehow becomes inversely proportional in this fight. Instead of pulling no triggers like I usually do, triggers seem to come flying at me.
I can't even count the number of times Heal triggers have killed me on my fingers anymore. It's such a painful experience seeing that trigger box when playing Yukina.
During middle school, when I played Vanguard with her, I'd switch out the heal triggers for front triggers the night before. That way Brandt won't ever hurt me.
But that felt like cheating, and I let my guilty conscience get the better of me... so I continued to use heal triggers in my deck, even though they usually were my demise.
Sakigamiya peered over our match. "This looks interesting."
She was standing on Yukina's side. Well, they were friends after all, so I guess she had some bias.
"I'll start us off if that's okay, Yukina-san." I said.
"Go ahead." She smiled.
"Alright. Stand and draw! I ride, Demolition Dragon! Barit Dracokid draws! End."
Yuuto:
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO
Yukina:
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO
"Stand and draw! I ride, Iron Staff of Forbid Extinguish, Ilinvert! Lurli's skill, I draw a card. Ilinvert's skill, I draw a card and then discard a card. Ilinvert attacks! (7000)"
Yukina's deck is a strange one. She doesn't play a standard Brandt deck, but rather, her own variant. Even though she's using grade 1 Perfect Guards, which might look quite strange to someone else, it lets her use twelve critical triggers, which gives her the edge she needs to help close out games.
"No guard!"
"Drive check! (Pulse Monk of the Quaking Foot) All to vanguard! (7000 > 17000/1 > 2)"
I should've not thought about those critical triggers. It's like her deck read my mind...
"Damage checks! (Rising Phoenix, Spark Edge Dracokid)"
While in any other situation, getting that critical trigger would be a waste, when fighting Yukina, I consider burning through my triggers early a blessing.
"All to vanguard. (8000 > 18000)"
"Turn end."
Yuuto:
Hand: 6
Damage: 2
OXO
OOO
Yukina:
Hand: 7
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO
"Stand and draw! I ride, Dragonic Deathscythe and attack! (9000)"
"No guard!"
"Drive check! (Wyvern Guard, Guld) Draw trigger, all to vanguard! (9000 > 19000)"
See, in any other situation, I wouldn't have gotten a trigger. But because my luck somehow gets turned topsy turvy when playing against Yukina, I seem to see triggers almost all the time.
I won't complain about this though. A draw early on means I won't incur the wrath of Brandt later.
"Damage check! (Binodal Dragon)"
"Turn end."
Yuuto:
Hand: 8
Damage: 2
OXO
OOO
Yukina:
Hand: 7
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO
"Stand and draw! I ride, Swift Deletor, Geali, and attack! (10000)"
"Dragon Dancer, Catharina, guard! (9000 > 24000)"
There's no way I'd give her free advantage. Geali hitting means she'd get to draw a card, which I do not want.
I could have called a rear-guard to prevent this, but I'm still losing a card either way.
"Drive check! (Decaydal Automata) Turn end."
Yuuto:
Hand: 7
Damage: 2
OXO
OOO
Yukina:
Hand: 7
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO
Alright, it's time to go all out.
"A high voltage strike that pierces down to the very core of the earth! Destroy everything in my way, Detonix Drill Dragon ride!"
In this situation, Detonix's restand would be more beneficial than Gauntlet Buster's high critical pressure. I need to make use of the limited time I have before Yukina reverses the trigger effects.
"Imaginary Gift: Accel II! I draw a card! Next up, I'll call Cho-Ou, Deathscythe and Demolition (8000 > 13000) to rear-guard! Since you have no front row rear-guards, Demolition gets 3k! (13000 > 16000) Detonix Drill Dragon attacks first! His skill, I counterblast and discard zero cards! At the end of the battle he attacks, he restands! (12000) Core Blazer: First Current!"
"No guard!"
"Twin Drive!! (Exorcist Mage, Lin Lin) Front trigger! (16000 > 26000) (9000 > 19000) (12000 > 22000) (9000 > 19000) (Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Cho-Ou)"
That front trigger came at the perfect timing. All my attacks will be able to hit now.
"Damage check! (Fatal Shockwave, Jetshaft)"
I probably have some hidden trauma from that card. Forcing interceptors against an Accel clan should be illegal, if you ask me...
"Detonix Drill Dragon's skill! He restands with +5k and drive minus one! (22000 > 27000/2 > 1) Next up, Cho-Ou attacks! (19000)"
"Pulse Monk, guard! (10000 > 25000)"
"Detonix Drill Dragon attacks once more! (27000) Core Blazer: Second Current!"
"No guard!"
"Drive check! (Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon)"
"Damage check! (Swift Deletor, Geali)"
"Cho-Ou's skill! Since you have no front row rear-guards, I counterblast to stand him back up! Cho-Ou attacks once more! (19000)"
"Duskblade, guard! (10000 > 20000)"
"Dragonic Deathscythe attacks! His skill, since you have no front row rear-guards in the same column as him, he gets 5k! (19000 > 24000)"
"Axino Dragon, guard! (10000 > 25000)"
"Demolition Dragon attacks last! (26000)"
"No guard! (Lady Healer of the Torn World) Heal trigger. All to vanguard and healing one. (10000 > 20000)"
That's annoying. I had managed to push lots of cards out of her hand, so it should be easier to kill her the following turn.
"Turn end."
Yuuto:
Hand: 8
Damage: 2
XXXX
OOO
Yukina:
Hand: 4
Damage: 3
OXO
OOO
OST: Bullet Dance
"Stand and draw! Dark warrior from another world, envelop the galaxy in crimson blackness! Divide and conquer, Wandering Starhulk Ruler, Brandt ride!"
Yukina smiled at me when she rode her avatar. I gulped, bracing myself for what was to come.
"Imaginary Gift: Force I! To the vanguard circle! (13000 > 23000) Brandt's skill! I counterblast and soulblast, and I reverse your critical and heal trigger effects!"
God of RNG, please don't screw me over.
"I call Whiteouter, Vect, and Sunset Edge, Duskblade. Brandt attacks! (23000) Planetary Collapse!"
"No guard!"
"Twin Drive!! (Asteroid Wolf) Critical trigger. Power to Vect, critical to vanguard. (10000 > 20000) (1 > 2) (Whiteouter, Vect)"
Here's the moment of truth. If I get a Heal here, that would push me to five damage. Double heal would kill me.
"Damage checks! (Supreme Army Eradicator, Zuitan, Desert Gunner, Gaiban)"
I safely made it out alive. The only time my bad luck is a blessing.
"Boosted by Duskblade, Vect attacks! (20000 > 28000)"
What an annoying column. If I let the attack hit, Duskblade would activate and bind a rear-guard. If I guarded, I need to call a trigger unless Vect would activate and bind a rear-guard. Not to mention both cards let her draw.
The only thing I could do here was call a trigger to guard and not let her get any benefits. Luckily, I didn't mulligan away the heal trigger I got in my starting hand out of fear for Brandt, so now's a better time than never to use it.
"Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo guards! (12000 > 32000)"
"Hmm... Turn end."
Yukina had a thoughtful look on her face. What was she planning?
Yuuto:
Hand: 7
Damage: 4
XXXX
OOO
Yukina:
Hand: 4
Damage: 3
XXO
XOO
Now then. What should I do?
"Stand and draw. I call, Rising Phoenix. Now, Detonix Drill Dragon attacks! His skill, I counterblast and bind your Vect face up! Then, I discard a card to make him restand at the end of the battle! (12000) Core Blazer: First Current!"
"Lady Healer of the Torn World, guard! (13000 > 33000)"
"No pass... Twin Drive! (Rising Phoenix, Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo)"
Oh, c'mon...
"Brandt's skill activates! Your heal trigger deals one damage to you instead!"
I'm going to pray that I don't get another heal trigger.
Sakigamiya was watching us intently. It seemed our fight had completely sucked up her attention.
"This is going to be painful. Damage check..."
I flipped the top card of my deck slowly.
I buried my face into my hand seeing what it was.
It was Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo.
"Heal trigger..."
I placed the card into my damage zone and prepared to take a sixth damage. This was definite death.
"What horrible luck!" Sakigamiya exclaimed, laughing.
Yukina laughed a little, and urged me to take my last damage.
"Well, Brandt's skill activates. Your heal trigger deals one damage to you instead."
"That line is gonna haunt me in my dreams. Damage check. (Dragonic Deathscythe)"
I accepted my loss and shook Yukina's hand. "Good game, Yukina-san."
"Good game, Yuu-kun."
"I think what I've concluded from this game is that Takanori-san has the worst luck ever." Sakigamiya said.
"I can't help but agree." I said an off-handed comment like that.
Sakigamiya left to go view the other games.
"Hey, Yukina-san."
"Yes?"
"Why did you choose to be an attacker?"
Yukina paused, having a thoughtful face. Then, she looked at me with a deep conviction in her eyes.
"I want to help defeat A Class."
I didn't expect such a bold statement from her. She was still beautiful even with that look of decisiveness on her face.
"Then, let's do our best."
"Same for you too, Yuu-kun."
I went to go watch the other games that were being played. Mitsuba and Kawaguchi were playing each other. Mitsuba used his Overlord deck while Kawaguchi used Ezel. Kawaguchi was unleashing a chain of attacks one after another. A reckless play-style.
Then, one of the other games were between a boy named Ayano, and the girl named Kita. Ayano used Dantarian, while Kita used Martina. Ever since enrolment these two were always together. Some rumours about them dating had already cropped up as a result, but I doubted it since Kita didn't even come to school that often, while Ayano was here nearly everyday.
The last fight was between Jomko and a girl named Rinbayashi. While Jomko was the sociable type and we had even talked briefly in between classes, Rinbayashi was a complete enigma to me. During the second week, she had asked to switch seats with Yukimura, which he agreed to. That was the most I knew about her, since she was a loner.
We had quite a few loners in E Class, actually. Ikesugi and Kouji both spent their time in solidarity and refused to socialise with others, but I think Ikesugi just doesn't like our class. I've seen him play with others sometimes, but they were mostly people from his club, the basketball club, so they were probably friends through that sport and nothing else.
I sometimes wonder if people label me as a loner as well.
Jomko was using Incise Raizer while Rinbayashi used Harmonics Messiah. I decided I'd go watch this game for a bit since it interested me the most.
"Jomko-san, who's turn is it?" I asked.
"It's my turn right now. I'm about to win!" She said.
The game-state was currently in her favour. While Rinbayashi had a healthy board, her hand was low and her damage was high. Jomko had three Accel circles up and was on Incise Raizer. Her board was a little lacking, but she quickly filled out the empty ranks with cards like Kick Kick Typhoon, Vernal Cracker and Farmed Gaias. Since she chose Accel I, her cards got a significant power boost.
"Alright, Farmed Gaias attacks first! (13000/2)"
"Lady Battler, intercept. (13000 > 18000)"
Rinbayashi sounded completely disinterested.
"Kick Kick Typhoon's next! (24000) Skill, I counterblast and restand Farmed Gaias!"
Well, that was a poor play on Jomko's part. On her other Accel circle was Maximum Raizer which would've attacked for 32000 Power, so restanding him instead of Gaias would have been more preferable.
Two critical at this stage of the game was good pressure, but due to Rinbayashi's hand size, Maximum Raizer would have done a lot more damage. She could use her intercepts on Gaias and save her hand for later.
"Asteroid Wolf, guard. (13000 > 28000)"
"Farmed Gaias once more! (13000/2)"
"Panther, intercept. (13000 > 18000)"
"Maximum Raizer attacks! Since he's not boosted, he gets 10k! (22000 > 32000)"
"No guard. Damage check. (Sunset Edge, Duskblade)"
"Nice! Boosted by Shout, Incise Raizer attacks! (12000 > 19000) Incise Raizer's skill! I counterblast to restand everything on my Accel circles! This is my... Hi-powered Accel Burst!"
"Cosmo Wreath, perfect guard."
It was almost scary how devoid of emotion Rinbayashi was. Jomko was so pumped up and upbeat, it was like I was seeing two opposites clash.
"Twin Drive! (Battledore Fighter, Maximum Raizer) Damn it... no triggers. Famed Gaias attacks once more! (13000/2)"
"Lemaitre Code Dragon, guard. (13000 > 18000)"
"Boosted by Jet Raizer, Vernal Cracker attacks next! Vernal's skill, he gets 3k for each of my other rear-guards! I have four, so add 12k! (8000 > 20000 > 36000)"
"No guard. Damage check. (Harmonics Messiah)"
Rinbayashi lost and didn't even look bitter about it. What a cool beauty. Jomko began cheering at her win.
"Did you see that amazing attack, Takanori-san?! Wasn't that so cool!"
"Yeah, that was a deadly column."
"In this war, I'm gonna beat the King for sure! I can't wait."
Jomko was looking unbelievably happy at her win. It was just one game, yet she was overjoyed.
Me and Rinbayashi exchanged quick glances. I looked away the moment our eyes met.
"If you excuse me." Rinbayashi said, standing up. She left to go scan her deck.
As she walked away, she took one last glance at me over her shoulder, then ignored me completely for the rest of the day.