Chapter 441: Longing (7k)

"I... I haven't made progress?"

Gloria didn't say these words until a long time had passed.

This—

This is impossible.

Half a year ago, when she fused Empress, she had to use three cards and fusion to do it. But now, she can do it with just Princess, saving the cost of one card. Even this turn, she could use the effect of Amazoness Secret Arts to fuse monsters from the Extra Deck to do what only Tiancheng Guang could do back then.

That's right!

The current her has mastered the thing that Tiancheng Guang only mastered back then—using cards in the Extra Deck as fusion materials for fusion!

How could she be standing in place!?

However—

Given her personality, it was impossible for her to say such words to refute Tiancheng Guang.

"Gloria, we at least conducted a team duel together, and you are not the kind of terrible person in the Fusion Army that I have an impression of, so I am very happy to be friends with you." Tiancheng Guang gently raised his right hand to his face, as if chanting, and said, "Fusing everyone who can be fused, this is exactly my fusion.

Even if it is the core person of the Fusion Army, as long as they haven't truly done evil, as long as they are not unchangeable, then I can choose to fuse with each other."

"Gloria, when we teamed up last time, perhaps because it was a team duel, I didn't feel it so directly. But these past few days, seeing you lose to Wan Zhang Mu and seeing your duels in these few resurrection tournaments, I have already determined—you are simply not suitable for single duels."

"Hmm..." Although she had tried very hard to change, this was exactly what she couldn't refute no matter what, and it was also why she had been working so hard during this period.

Gloria herself had slowly realized it.

Without Grace, her dueling was actually not smooth.

As professional duelists for double duels, their performance in single battles was actually very average.

Even some people who performed mediocrely when dueling with Tiancheng Guang would make her extremely troubled when dueling with her. She didn't doubt at all that if she dueled with Jim, she would lose the duel in the blink of an eye.

"Since we dueled, I actually also know that you started trying to communicate with others, and even started trying to contact students in the Combined Department." Tiancheng Guang gently tapped his forehead with his hand. "But, when you were in the Amazoness camp, you still didn't care about others, right?"

Grace bit her lower lip gently.

Tiancheng Guang hit the nail on the head again.

She was still okay; her sister just simply saw Tiancheng Guang's fusion and Tiancheng Guang's dueling, so she followed his train of thought to imitate.

"So, what exactly are you thinking about?" Even Tiancheng Guang didn't know this point.

He could only infer some problems through external things and couldn't see through a person's heart without dueling.

"Damn it... my turn!" Gloria was exposed, her face slightly rosy, perhaps because of long-term training leading to over-stimulation of the body, leading to fever or illness, and her body was also a bit hot.

Thinking about it now, it seems it really is like this.

If she really just wanted to duel with Tiancheng Guang, why not just find Tiancheng Guang directly?

There was always time to find Tiancheng Guang, and there was absolutely no need to find excuses and opportunities in the competition.

Gloria drew a card and glanced at it.

Tsk—

Amazoness Archer!

She looked at the other cards in her hand.

"Since that's the case, then I'll activate this card—activate Spell Card, Card Destruction!"

"Players with cards in their hand discard all those cards. After that, each draws the number of cards they discarded."

She also threw Amazoness Archer into the Graveyard.

Tiancheng Guang looked at his hand cards, raised his eyebrows slightly, and also sent the cards in his hand to the Graveyard.

Gloria drew three cards from the deck again.

In this way, it was completely different from before!

Although until now, she hadn't figured out the vague feeling in her heart, since Tiancheng Guang had said so, she simply gave them up directly!

"Alright—" Seeing the card she drew, she slapped down a card right away. "If there are no monsters on your field or only 【Amazoness】 monsters exist, activate. Special Summon this card!

Amazoness War Chief!"

"Drink—long time no see, Tiancheng Guang!"

Was the War Chief actually lured out by the Tyler sisters?

Amazoness War Chief, Level 5, Earth Attribute, Warrior-Type, Attack: 1900.

"When this card is summoned/Special Summoned, activate. Select 1 【Amazoness】 Spell/Trap Card or 【Fusion】 from the deck and cover it on your field.

I cover Fusion on my field. Then—banish Amazoness Secret Arts from the Graveyard, activate its effect. When I Fusion Summon an Amazoness monster this turn, I can use a monster from the Extra Deck as fusion material!"

"The fusion condition is, Amazoness Fusion Monster and Amazoness monster!"

"Lion that rules over a hundred beasts, offer your loyalty in front of the Emperor—"

"I fuse the Fusion Monster 【Amazoness Pet Liger】 and the Amazoness War Chief on the field!"

"Fusion Summon, Level 10, Amazoness Empress Empress!"

More robust than the Empress, the woman holding a great blade swung her weapon, lifted her cape, and landed on the ground.

Amazoness Empress, Level 10, Earth Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 3200.

It seems it does not have a spirit; it was just a card given to the Tyler sisters by the Empress.

"So—beautiful, Sister Gloria." Grace gently clasped her hands together beside her cheeks, "You did what Gem-Knight Seraphinite did!"

"The effect of Amazoness Empress: activate this effect when this card is successfully Fusion Summoned. Special Summon 1 'Amazoness' monster from your deck!"

"—Amazoness Scout!"

A group of cute little girls, some holding swords, others holding small bows, stood on her field.

Amazoness Scout, Level 2, Earth Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 500.

Although the ATK is not high, the DEF of Prism Aura is 0 anyway, so 500 is already enough.

"Battle Phase, Amazoness Scout attacks your Prism Aura."

The White Crystal, having lost its luster, had no way to fight; with 0 DEF, it was merely touched by the training arrow and shattered into fragments.

"And then—the Empress's direct attack!" Her eyes were filled with excitement.

"Open my face-down card, Trap Card, Scrap Fusion." Tiancheng Guang raised his hand, "Banish the Fusion Materials from the Graveyard to Fusion Summon a 'Gem-Knight' monster. I banish Sapphire and Prism Aura from the Graveyard, Fusion Summon, Gem-Knight Sapphire!"

Gem-Knight Sapphire, Level 6, Earth Attribute, Aqua-Type, DEF 2600.

It was this famous general again. Seeing it appear, Gloria let out a slight "Tsk," but she wasn't surprised. She said to the Amazoness Scout beside her: "Battle continues—at this moment, activate the effect of Amazoness Scout, Tribute itself; 'Amazoness' Effect Monsters on my field cannot be targeted by an opponent's monster effect, and cannot be destroyed by the effects of Spells, Traps, or monster effects."

This is a Quick Effect that can be activated during the opponent's turn; at the moment Tiancheng Guang Special Summons a monster, it can be chained.

"Battle continues, Amazoness Empress attacks Sapphire!"

The Empress killing Sapphire is reasonable and logical.

Sapphire was struck in the body by the Empress's massive blade. Although it wanted to counterattack, under the support of the Scout, it was defeated and disappeared from the field.

Although Sapphire has the ability to return 1 card on the opponent's field to the hand when sent to the Graveyard, unfortunately, this is an effect that "targets," so it cannot be used on the Empress.

"Good... like this, I will set one more card, and end my turn."

Tiancheng Guang rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger.

After pondering for a while, he didn't speak, directly drew a card, and entered his own turn.

"Hand Destruction, Empress..."

Willing to use Hand Destruction to face unknown possibilities—this point alone shows that Gloria has courage.

She is not the type of person who refuses to admit her own problems; on the contrary, after realizing her issues, she decisively abandoned powerful cards like "Amazoness Archer." Furthermore, as she said herself, she can indeed perform Tiancheng Guang's "Extra Deck Fusion" now.

In terms of "ability," Gloria clearly has not stagnated.

However, it is unknown regarding other aspects.

He appeared here and took the initiative to help Gloria, naturally not because he is kind-hearted; mainly, the Tyler sisters indeed did not commit the acts from the original work, and their relationship with Tiancheng Guang has indeed eased quite a bit.

In the future, the mess left by the Fusion Army, such as things like the Union Department, will all require their efforts, so Tiancheng Guang will more or less come to help, whether out of friendship or "work."

It's just that, clearly, the Tyler sisters are still different; they don't even know what they actually want to do.

He glanced at the card in his hand, then looked at the Graveyard: "First, the effect of Displacement Fusion in the Graveyard, return Sapphire from the Graveyard to the deck, draw one card. Then, the effect of Thunder Dragon Fusion in the Graveyard, banish it (since it wasn't sent to the Graveyard this turn), and add 1 Thunder-Type monster from the deck to my hand."

Tiancheng Guang took Thunder Dragon Fusion out of the Graveyard, put it into the bag behind his waist, and then opened his deck to search through it: "Add Thunder Dragon to my hand."

"Then, the effect of Thunder Dragon, discard it from my hand to activate. Add up to two Thunder Dragons from the deck to my hand."

Tiancheng Guang opened his deck, found two cards from inside, and took them into his hand.

"Continuous Spell Card, Flame Sword Domain—"

"Oh! Is it Sword Domain!" A hint of excitement appeared on Gloria's face, "Are you finally going to use Flame Swordsman? Tiancheng Guang—"

It is said that Tiancheng Guang only starts using Flame Swordsman when he is most serious. Although this statement is an absolute false proposition for Tiancheng Guang, many people still think so.

At least for Gloria, being able to get closer to more of Tiancheng Guang's Fusions was undoubtedly what made her excited.

Tiancheng Guang frowned.

"The effect of Flame Sword Domain, send one Thunder Dragon from my hand to the Graveyard, Special Summon—Flame Swordsman!"

"Haha! Flame Swordsman, shining appearance!" Flame Sword laughed and appeared with his hands on his hips.

Flame Swordsman, Level 5, Fire Attribute, Warrior-Type, DEF 1600.

"Normal Summon, Lei Yuanlong - Thunder Dragon—then, Tribute it, Special Summon, Thunder Dragon Colossus!"

A small golden ball flickered in front of Tiancheng Guang, then the light burst, and finally transformed into a black thunder dragon the size of a person.

Thunder Dragon Colossus, Level 7, Dark Attribute, Thunder-Type, ATK 2600.

"Fusion that changes directly from a monster to a Fusion Monster!" Grace whispered—

Gloria was extremely excited, stepping forward; her already exhausted body became more spirited and energetic.

She felt her heart pounding wildly; the scene before her made her feel novelty.

This is Tiancheng Guang: single-card Fusion, deck Fusion, Extra Deck Fusion, Graveyard Fusion, direct transformation... Tiancheng Guang's deck is full of Fusion, and he himself, like his deck, is continuously fusing with others.

Even the Fusion Army, even the Union Department, as long as it doesn't cross his bottom line, it can be fused—

Previously in the Amazoness camp, she had once doubted Tiancheng Guang, doubted that Tiancheng Guang, because of his identity, was unwilling to cooperate with her, unwilling to work with her in a Tag Duel, but after that duel, she understood.

Tiancheng Guang is just such an absolute Fusion Duelist.

Making people full of curiosity, making people full of anticipation.

She really wanted to see more, more interesting Fusions, more intoxicating Fusions.

"Thunder Dragon Colossus attacks Amazoness Empress. The effect of Flame Sword Domain, decrease Flame Swordsman's ATK by 1000, increase Thunder Dragon Colossus's ATK by 1000." Tiancheng Guang commanded the little Lei Yuanlong to attack the opponent.

Thunder Dragon Colossus, ATK: 2600 → 3600.

"Flame Sword Domain can increase the ATK of all your monsters, so even though it has lower ATK than the Empress, it can still attack, but—however, because of Hand Destruction, my cards have changed! Open my face-down card, Continuous Trap, Amazoness Will!"

(Wait, correction: "Open my face-down card, Continuous Trap, Amazoness Will!")

"Select 1 monster with 'Amazoness' in its name from the Graveyard, Special Summon it in Attack Position." Gloria opened her face-down card with a big laugh, "The monster Special Summoned by this effect cannot change its battle position and must attack if it can. When this card leaves the field, that monster is destroyed; when that monster is destroyed, this card is destroyed— Heh, what I want to revive is... Amazoness Empress!"

(Wait, correction: "Heh, what I want to revive is... Amazoness Empress!")

Hum—

The figure of the Empress flashed on the field again.

Amazoness Empress, Level 8, Earth Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 2800.

"Ha, Amazoness Empress is on the field, 'Amazoness' cards on the field cannot be destroyed by card effects, and cannot be destroyed by battle; while Amazoness Empress is on the field, my other 'Amazoness' cards on the field cannot be targeted by the opponent's card effects!"

Gloria waved her left hand, as if dancing with a sword.

"How about that? In this way, the monsters on my field will neither be destroyed by battle nor by effects, and you can no longer control them like you did with Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"

With the two Empresses combined, honestly, the resistance is indeed quite high.

However, Tiancheng Guang was not afraid: "Because you Special Summoned a monster, the number of monsters changed, so a replay occurs—but it doesn't matter, just continue the attack. Change the attack target, attack Amazoness Empress."

(Wait, correction: "Change the attack target, attack Amazoness Empress.")

Zzzzz.

Electric current sounded.

Gloria used her hand to slightly block the pain.

Gloria LP: 4000 → 3200.

Tiancheng Guang thought for a moment and ended his turn just like that.

"Good—in this way, our Life Points are basically at a similar level." A fervent smile appeared on Gloria's face.

Tiancheng Guang frowned.

"Tiancheng Guang—perhaps just as you said, I still haven't figured out what I want to do, I am still staying in the same place, but it doesn't matter." Gloria clenched her fists, and what hung on her face was a ferocious smile full of blood, "But I know, I want to duel you, want to see more of your wonderful Fusions. So, I only need to know this!"

(Wait, correction: "So, I only need to know this!")

She touched her chest, able to feel that intense excitement.

"Draw card!" After a moment, she drew a card fiercely.

Gloria drew the card; seeing this card, her eyes seemed to flash with an inexplicable brilliance: "Good—activate Field Spell! Amazoness Deathmatch!"

(Wait, correction: "Good—activate Field Spell! Amazoness Deathmatch!")

Clatter clatter, jingle jingle—

Countless steel chains rose from all around, combining to form a massive cage.

"When this card is activated, both players gain 600 Life Points."

Gloria LP: 3200 → 3800.

Tiancheng Guang LP: 3000 → 3600.

"Both players recover Life Points?" Tiera stood to the side with her hands behind her back, a bit surprised.

"Good—in this way, let's come from the most direct direction—Tiancheng Guang." Gloria raised her right hand toward Tiancheng Guang, "In the most primitive, most basic, most bloody way: while this card is on the field, when either player's monster declares an attack, they can pay 100 Life Points to inflict 100 damage to the opponent."

Simply put, it is a desperate card.

Tiancheng Guang looked left and right, somewhat speechless.

Could it be that Amazoness duelists all end up using this method?

Can't figure it out?

If you can't figure it out, then act!

Misawa Daichi and his girlfriend met that way back then.

"Battle! Amazoness Empress attacks your Flame Swordsman!"

"Pay 100 Life Points!"

"Inflict 100 damage to you!"

Zzz, a chain flew out from afar. Tiera raised her hand casually, wanting to block it for Tiancheng Guang, but Tiancheng Guang shook his head.

Pfft—

The chain pierced through Tiancheng Guang; he felt a jolt of pain, and also felt a sense of fighting spirit.

A crazy, infinite, crazy passion; this passion seemed to want to ignite Tiancheng Guang, wanting to tear Tiancheng Guang apart.

However, this feeling came quickly and disappeared even faster.

Gloria LP: 3800 → 3700.

Tiancheng Guang LP: 3600 → 3500.

"Activate the effect of Flame Sword Domain, decrease Flame Swordsman's ATK by 1000, increase Thunder Dragon Colossus's ATK by 1000."

"Ha—it doesn't matter!"

"While Amazoness Empress is on the field, 'Amazoness' monsters on the field have a piercing effect!"

Amazoness Empress ran to the side of Flame Swordsman, raised her great sword, and swung it down at Flame Swordsman. Flame Swordsman could not resist and shattered with a crack.

Tiancheng Guang LP: 3500 → 2700.

Boom—

Even hotter flames rolled around, making Tiancheng Guang understand the "heart" of this Gloria Tyler even more.

Pure dueling, pure killing, pure hot-bloodedness; this is what Gloria likes.

"Battle continues, Amazoness Empress also attacks!" She pointed at Thunder Dragon Colossus.

"Ah? Sister—attacking a monster with higher ATK? You will take damage!"

"Oh ho." Tiera understood.

Chains flew out from all around again, piercing through both of their bodies.

Gloria LP: 3700 → 3600.

Tiancheng Guang LP: 2700 → 2600.

Electromagnetic energy gathered on Thunder Dragon Colossus; the massive power supported its body. Even though it had advanced further into Amazoness Empress, it could not defeat the 3600 ATK Thunder Dragon Colossus. It was wrapped in a thunder net, retreated, and knelt on the ground.

Gloria LP: 3600 → 2800.

Thunderbolts bounced from afar and hit Gloria. She staggered, but didn't look like she was going to fall at all.

"End of turn!" Gloria clenched her fists, and her knuckles made a cracking sound.

Tiancheng Guang touched his chest and remained silent.

On the other side, Grace slowly revealed a non-malicious fanaticism: "So that's how it is... attacking each other, killing each other, it's really interesting—"

However, she was ultimately a different person from Gloria. After saying this, she gently tapped her cheek with her right index finger and muttered to herself: "Although Sister didn't think of anything, if we continue to duel like this, relying on the Amazoness warriors that cannot be destroyed, the Life Point advantage will become more and more obvious."

Although Tiancheng Guang can still repeatedly Special Summon Flame Swordsman, in this way, Tiancheng Guang also has to repeatedly take piercing damage; these are all relative.

Flame Swordsman's overly low DEF is a weakness. If the same action is repeated every turn, then Sister basically wins.

"My turn, draw card."

Tiancheng Guang glanced at the card he drew.

"So that's it—"

He thought for a moment.

It seems that this time there is no way to help Gloria walk her own path.

But relatively speaking, Gloria herself found her own "method."

At least, the future matters of the Union Department and the Fusion Army should be much less worrying.

"The effect of Flame Sword Domain, send Thunder Dragon from my hand to the Graveyard, Fusion Summon—Flame Swordsman!"

"Haha, I'm back! Master!" Flame Swordsman ran back laughing.

"Then—Equip Spell Card, Dragon Flame Fusion!"

Roaring flames rose from all around, wrapping the entire arena.

"This card can be equipped to a Fire Attribute/Warrior-Type monster, increasing that monster's ATK by 700."

Flame Swordsman caught the Flame Sword casually. Then, his body began to slowly burn and grow larger; his body, armor, weapons, and flame dragon were all slowly changing.

"Equipped Fusion Magic..."

"The effect of Dragon Flame Fusion!" Tiancheng Guang raised his hand, and flames condensed above him, "Activate this effect when this card is equipped to a Fusion Monster on my field. Send the equipped monster and this card to the Graveyard, Special Summon 1 'Flame Swordsman' or a Fusion Monster listed on it from the Extra Deck!"

Fusion evolution of a Fusion Monster?

The twins whispered in their hearts at the same time.

"Another brand new Fusion method!?" Gloria stared at Tiancheng Guang without blinking.

"Send Flame Swordsman and Dragon Flame Fusion to the Graveyard—"

"Swordsman who controls flames, Flame Dragon who controls the great sword!"

"Gather the power of Fusion, transform into a brand new form, and guard by my side!"

"My partner, my friend, my symbol!"

"Ultimate Flame Swordsman!"

Boom!

A pillar of fire rose to the sky. Under the impenetrable flames, the giant swordsman, already enlarged by the fire, had revealed his brand new form!

Ultimate Flame Swordsman, Level 8, Fire Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 2800.

"ATK 2800!" Gloria watched excitedly.

Its ATK is the same as Amazoness Empress—even the Type and Level are the same!

"This way we don't have to take piercing damage!" Grace was thinking about the duel.

"…Battle Phase! Attack of the Ultimate Flame." Tiancheng Guang looked at Amazoness Empress, "Ultimate Flame Swordsman attacks Amazoness Empress!"

"Pay 100 Life Points!"

A chain pierced through Tiancheng Guang's body. Then, the chain, carrying a purple shimmer, also pierced through Gloria's body.

But—

When the chain pierced Gloria, she did not feel the "pain" she had imagined.

On the contrary, a warm, expanding warmth that seemed to wrap around everything covered her. She felt the power in her body and was momentarily dazed.

Tiancheng Guang LP: 2600 → 2500.

Gloria LP: 2800 → 2700.

Before Gloria could feel more, that power dissipated—but at the same time, Ultimate Flame Swordsman had already rushed in front of her.

It swung its wide great sword, not at all as goofy as before, with a firm expression.

"But, the Empress has higher ATK!"

"The effect of Ultimate Flame Swordsman, activate during the Damage Step when this card battles. This card's ATK becomes double until the end of the turn!"

Ah—

Ultimate Flame Swordsman, ATK: 2800 → 5600.

Now, the Flame Sword easily surpassed the jungle's great blade.

The flames pierced through the Empress, scorched Gloria, and even spread to Grace.

Gloria LP: 2700 → 300.

She finally couldn't hold on, suddenly fell, and Grace hurriedly ran over to support her.

"Attack again, Thunder Dragon Colossus attacks—activate the effect of Flame Sword Domain, decrease Ultimate Flame Swordsman's ATK by 1000, increase it by 1000. At the same time... activate the effect of Deathmatch again! Pay 100 Life Points! Inflict 100 damage to you—"

(Wait, correction: "At the same time... activate the effect of Deathmatch again! Pay 100 Life Points! Inflict 100 damage to you—")

(Wait, correction: "At the same time... activate the effect of Deathmatch again! Pay 100 Life Points! Inflict 100 damage to you—")

Tiancheng Guang didn't mind using this method to let the opponent feel their inner self more intuitively.

He doesn't dislike hot-blooded people, because the duels in this world are never absolutely ruthless.

This time, the chains pierced the humans on the field again, but unlike last time, this time, Grace was also pierced by the power. It was precisely because of this that Gloria suddenly raised her head, felt her sister's worry, and felt the same, connected emotions as her sister.

Tiancheng Guang LP: 2500 → 2400.

Gloria LP: 300 → 200.

Gloria covered her chest, her face flushed red.

There was long-term fatigue, symptoms of a cold and fever, and even more serious things.

She finally understood.

Finally understood why, after the first duel with Tiancheng Guang, she would try to get along with the guys from the Union Department with her sister, try to learn some of Tiancheng Guang's tactics and ideas, try to attempt "Extra Deck Fusion," and even try to imitate Tiancheng Guang.

It was...

Admiration.

This pair of sisters, who seemed born for Tag Duels, had only each other to rely on from beginning to end, and had never understood others.

Boredom permeated their previous duels, because in normal Tag Duels, it was almost impossible for peers to defeat them.

But Tiancheng Guang's appearance and Tiancheng Guang's duels made them feel the long-lost happiness they felt during their first duel.

Therefore, even though they hadn't figured it out, they instinctively imitated and chased after Tiancheng Guang.

Therefore, Gloria started trying single duels, and Grace started paying attention to Tiancheng Guang's affairs.

Therefore, Gloria tried her best in this tournament to duel Tiancheng Guang again, because she was both expectant and fearful.

Expecting to duel Tiancheng Guang, but fearful of her own lack of skill in single duels.

And now... everything is understood.

"Thunder Dragon Colossus's attack—attack Amazoness Empress!"

Thunder descended, but there was no pain; that was the wonder and inclusiveness of Fusion—

And it was also the applause for them to step onto a new path of dueling!

Gloria LP: 200 → 0.

(End of chapter)