Thunder Originating from Changkong (2)

"Uh, Player Bronya seems unable to accept defeat and requests a tie-breaker. What do you say, Player X?" The host felt a chill from Bronya's icy stare, his survival instincts kicking in.

"Hm?" Xing, still groggy, pulled himself out of Raven's embrace.

"Player X agrees! The finals will now be a best-of-three match! The next game will feature a new set of rules~"

???

This time it was a card game. When Xing saw the cards, his eyes lit up. "I can't believe I'm seeing you all again here. This is great!" (Author's personal indulgence ahead! Readers who don't play Yu-Gi-Oh! can skip the first half of this chapter.)

"This duel will use the new Master Rules (the ones from when Link Monsters first came out)! Both players can edit their decks using cards from this shop. All duelists, celebrate!" The host couldn't suppress his fanaticism as a card game enthusiast.

Xing pondered for a moment, wrote down a list, and handed it to a staff member. "Ah, this..." The staff member's expression was complicated.

Bronya thought for a moment, wrote down a list, and handed it to a staff member. The latter trembled, as if remembering the fear of being dominated by a certain entity.

Both players are building their decks...

"Holographic projector, activate!"

Xing looked at the Duel Disk provided by the arcade, his eyes full of excitement. He handed his Main Deck to Bronya, and at the same time, took her deck. They shuffled each other's cards.

"You are strong, but Bronya will not lose again." Bronya said faintly as she returned the deck. Although there was no emotional fluctuation, it was clear she was very serious now. Xing looked at Bronya, who was like a doll, his eyes full of little stars.

"(Bronya, a living Bronya, hehe~)"

Stepping onto the dueling field, both sides distanced themselves, inserted their Main Decks into their Duel Disks, and then uttered the incantation that declared the start of the duel:

"DUEL!"

"I'll go first!" Bronya looked at her hand. "A perfect hand." A smile curved the girl's lips.

Xing looked at the four Normal Monsters and one Trap Card in his hand and felt a bit doubtful. "A 'perfect' hand, huh..."

"Bronya Normal Summons Knight of the End, activates its effect. When this card is successfully summoned, send one Dark Attribute Monster from your deck to the graveyard. Are there any chains?"

"I didn't draw any hand traps, you can continue..."

The following text about Phantom-Honkai U-Lock's combo is omitted to avoid accusations of padding...

"Because the two EX Zones are connected by arrows, Bronya can use your EX Zone. Appear, the circuit that declares Bronya's victory!" After summoning the last Link Monster, Bronya ended her turn with confidence.

"Oh, oh, oh! It's the legendary complete Extra Link U-Lock! And it's a Phantom-Knight series with Tri-Gate Wizard suppression! Bronya's monsters on the field now cannot be destroyed by battle or effects, nor can they be targeted by effects. If the monsters on both fields are not in a Linked State, their ATK and DEF are reduced by 1000 points, and monsters Special Summoned cannot activate their effects! Furthermore, due to the presence of Tri-Gate Wizard, once per turn, you can negate and banish the activation of a monster, spell, or trap effect! Phantom-Honkai Despair Field is truly terrifying! How will you respond, genius player X?!" the host excitedly explained.

"My turn." Xing placed his right hand on his deck, closed his eyes, and hesitated to draw a card. Raven, watching from the side, comforted him, "If it's impossible, just surrender. The opponent is too strong. If it's really impossible, you can win with a new game in the next round." She glanced at Xing's hand. Although she had only just begun to understand the game, she knew what Normal Monsters represented. "To think he'd include vanilla monsters. This little guy doesn't seem to know much about this game. He was so excited earlier, I thought he was an expert."

"Under the new Master Rules, monsters Special Summoned from the Extra Deck must be summoned to an EX Zone. All EX Zones are now blocked by Bronya, and you only have five meaningless cards left in your hand. When Bronya's turn comes again, your 8000 LP, which is like a candle in the wind, will be instantly reduced to zero. This duel is Bronya's victory!"

"Is that really the case? (Sore wa dou kana?)"

"What? (Nani?)"

Xing suddenly opened his eyes. "I can feel it, the power sleeping at the top of my deck. My turn, draw!" The boy slowly revealed the card he had just drawn, and the air in the venue suddenly froze.

"That's, the legendary?!"

"Few have successfully controlled it?!"

"The one that can directly grant the duelist victory?!"

"Wait, does that mean... it's impossible? Did he pull off a miracle?!"

Bronya's heart sank violently. "Is that, Exodia the Forbidden?!"

"I have all its parts in my hand. You know what that means, right?" The boy placed all five Exodia pieces on the Duel Disk at once. "Sorry, I win. (Feels like I traded years of my life for this.)"

A giant pentagram array appeared behind the boy, and a golden giant descended with endless flames, burning Bronya's five Link Monsters on the field.

Exodia the Forbidden, Effect: When this card and "Right Arm of the Forbidden," "Left Arm of the Forbidden," "Right Leg of the Forbidden," and "Left Leg of the Forbidden" are all gathered in your hand, you win the Duel.

"Oh, oh, oh! Another unexpected victory! It's a victory that surpasses gods, Exodia! Genius player X wins! Never give up until the last moment, always believe in your deck, he has shown us the spirit of a duelist!" the host exclaimed emotionally.

"Lost, lost, Bronya is completely defeated." The girl slumped to the ground, muttering to herself. Suddenly, a furry sensation pulled her back to reality. "Here." Xing handed her the large Humo plushie.

"I don't really like dolls. This is for you, but I really like manga, so I'll keep the tankobons myself." Xing smiled.

"Thank you." Bronya took the Humo plushie. Although her emotions were still undetectable, a slight smile appeared on her face.

——Divider——

"Quite generous, little guy." In a park on the outskirts of Changkong City, Raven sat on a bench and poked Xing, who was engrossed in his manga.

"It's just a doll, no big deal." Xing looked at the manga seriously. Crimson Kite was also perched on his shoulder, flipping through it with him. Wait, can it understand it?

"Alright, stay here, I have something to do." Raven stood up to leave, reminding him as she departed. As for what she was going to do, why do you think she came to a park on the outskirts?

Of course, it's because the target is here!

Raiden Mei's expression was dazed, and faint currents flickered in her purple eyes. She didn't know what was happening to her. All she knew was that the further away she was from that girl, the better, because...

"What are you afraid of?" that ghostly voice sounded again. "Destroy everything, make those people pay the price they deserve, isn't that good?" Mei clutched her head in pain, the concentration of Honkai Energy around her surged, and visible purple currents raged around her.

However, this scene only lasted for a moment before returning to normal. Apart from the scorched ground that proved the anomaly that had just occurred, there was nothing else. Mei gasped for air, staggering forward. She didn't know where she was going, she only knew that the further away from that girl, the better...

"Heh, how much longer can you resist me, 'me'?"

Bronya observed quietly from a distance. "Target has shown signs of Herrscher Transformation. Requesting next instructions." Cocolia's new order came through the communication. "...Bronya, received."

A giant mechanical construct appeared behind her. It was the only gift her sister had left her. Bronya looked at Heavy-Duty Rabbit 19C, and the hesitation in her heart instantly turned into resolve. "Siri, Bronya will find you, no matter what, even if Bronya becomes a demon."

Xing, who had been reading a manga, suddenly shivered. He put down the manga and looked around in alarm, but there was nothing unusual. Xing scratched his head in surprise, about to continue his reading, when his vision suddenly turned black and white. In the black and white world, a trace of purple was exceptionally dazzling.

"!? Xing blinked, and his vision returned to normal. "What's going on?" Xing focused his attention on his eyes, recalling the feeling he just had. The black and white edges spread within his eyes, and he saw it – the purple mass that was moving away.

Xing put down Crimson Kite. "I'll be right back. You stay here and wait for me, don't move." Without waiting to see if Crimson Kite understood, he took off running. Crimson Kite lay obediently on the single-volume book and began to sleep.

Kiana was anxious. To calm her friend's mood, she skipped class midway to buy a gift, and even participated in a game competition, but unfortunately, she didn't win the championship. But that wasn't important. What was important was that when she returned to Senba Academy, she found Mei missing!

Mei had quite a few enemies who relied on her protection. If those guys had kidnapped Mei while she was away... a certain white-haired furball automatically imagined a plot where a fallen young lady was kidnapped by her enemies and then forced into unspeakable acts.

"I have to find Mei immediately!" Kiana wiped her mouth, hefted her baseball bat, and continued her search. "Speaking of which, according to everyone's descriptions, Mei seemed to disappear suddenly. If it were those people, they shouldn't choose a time with such heavy foot traffic, when it's hard to cover their tracks. But if it wasn't a kidnapping, then..."

Mei disappeared on her own!

Thinking of this, Kiana suddenly remembered a park she and Mei had visited together last time. Although it was on the outskirts of the city and not very crowded, the environment was beautiful and had great viewing value. Mei had also said that she would go there to adjust her mood when she was feeling down.

(Without teammates, Kiana is even smarter than Bronya~ With teammates, she becomes that sluggish cockroach who doesn't want to use her brain...)

Raven loaded her gun with bullets containing anesthetic and Honkai Energy inhibitors. She watched the blind Mei walk forward from a distance, noticing the intermittent sparks around the girl, and felt a little troubled. "I knew it wouldn't be that easy, but—" Raven pulled down her hood. At this moment, she had changed into the combat uniform that belonged to "Raven." The black assassin flexed her claws, and the weapon made of Soul Steel reflected a cold sheen.

"It's just a bit troublesome. Speaking of which, Jackal didn't tell me that the Herrscher Candidate brought back had to be alive, right?"

Just as she was about to make her move, a black figure entered her vision. "That little guy? Didn't I tell him to stay put obediently?"

Mei heard the sound of rapid footsteps and looked up in terror. A mass of white fur entered her sight. "Kiana?" the delirious girl asked.

The young man who had followed the purple light rubbed his eyes and smiled with slight excitement, "Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Xing, the Xing from lucky, Xing Kaslana."

Kiana, who was rushing over in a taxi, had a strange feeling that a thief had broken into her house.

Author's Notes—

Next chapter, Xing's first Bonded Weaponry debut!

PS: The author will occasionally slip in some personal preferences.

Oh, and for any card game players out there, can you guess what trap card Xing drew when playing cards?