"Hey, where's my effect?"
Jalter frantically examined her card, confirming it was hers and not the white-clad Saintess's—after all, what the hell does a proper Saintess have to do with dragons?
"Where's my ATK boost?!"
"Since when did you have the Dragon attribute?"
Jiang You finally arrived, surprised to find a card duel in progress. "The Dragon Witch not having the Dragon attribute is a classic problem, just like Charizard not being a Dragon-type," he explained. "This is the first time I've seen a card with zero synergy with its own user. Seriously, where did you even get the 'Dragon Witch' title? Everyone here is more of a Dragon than you are."
Of course, Jalter couldn't understand Jiang You's abstract humor. "Who says there's no synergy?! You know me so well, you must remember when I summoned Fafnir, right? I am the Flame of Vengeance, the Evil Dragon Witch..."
If Jalter hadn't brought it up, Jiang You would have completely forgotten about that. The main reason was that Siegfried, a supposed TOP-rank Servant at the time, had been utterly useless, slacking off the entire time. This made the First Singularity feel anticlimactic, with no standout characters. Looking back, the First Singularity felt almost like a farce. The power gap between Servants was enormous: at the top were Saint George and Martha, while at the bottom, they had an Executioner and a Spy (Marie Antoinette was also there, but as a Queen, she got a pass).
"So, here's the question: can you still summon that Fafnir of yours?"
"..."
Jalter realized she probably couldn't. Fafnir wasn't even in her Deck. During the First Singularity, Gilgamesh had done most of the heavy lifting while she just vented her rage. Thinking back on it now was incredibly embarrassing. Her Deck didn't even contain a single two-legged dragon.
"So, the one who's about to be destroyed is you."
Jiang You pointed to the Duel Phase, where damage calculation was about to happen. "If you don't make a move soon, you're going to lose this Duel to a minor character whose backstory isn't even fully written."
"Shut up! As if!" Jalter snorted, unwilling to suffer such a humiliating defeat.
"How dare you call us minor characters?" the Pantel Brothers retorted, equally displeased. As freelance Magi hired by the Clock Tower, they were prominent figures in the Magecraft World. "You're nothing but lingering spirits of the past. What right do you have to judge us, who are still moving forward?"
He's suddenly spouting lines that sound profound for no reason, Jiang You thought. What's with this guy? He has zero screen time, and now he's trying to leech off the protagonist's halo? It seems the appearance of a Beast has put them under so much pressure they've been forced to act like heroes. Speaking of which, I haven't seen that homunculus protagonist from FA anywhere.
The Chain had already begun resolving, and Jalter couldn't back out. So, she crashed head-on into the opponent's attack, sending herself back to the Graveyard.
Jalter's LP: 4000 → 3500.
"Damn it!" Jalter complained, clutching the spot where she'd been hit. The 500 points of damage weren't much, but the pain was real.
"You think it's over? How naive! I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card: Liberty Leading the People! This card can only be activated when my opponent controls a Servant and I control none! I Special Summon one Jeanne d'Arc from my Hand or Graveyard!"
It's the world-famous painting, Jiang You mused, except this Jeanne is bigger and... whiter.
"The one I'm summoning is still myself!" Jalter declared.
Jeanne has a Battle Phase lockdown effect, Jiang You noted, but the opponent's effect has already resolved, so locking them down now is useless. Besides, Jalter doesn't get along with herself.
"My summoning effect isn't once per turn, so your Servant is still going to be destroyed! I choose Deimlet!"
The hellfire roared toward the target Jalter had pointed at. If even Spartacus couldn't withstand those flames, Deimlet stood no chance of survival.
"I won't let you!"
Deimlet's Set Card activated again. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Information Counter! When the opponent activates a card's effect, I can banish one card of the same type from my Graveyard to negate that effect! This effect can only be activated once per turn. And I'm banishing Spartacus to negate your destruction effect!"
If he were destroyed, he would leave his brother on the field with 0 Attack Power—a result he refused to accept.
Jalter's hellfire dissipated into nothing, its destruction effect successfully negated.
"Brilliant!" Jiang You applauded with a deadpan expression.
It was hard to believe that in an era of overpowered effects flying everywhere, someone was still stuck in the Stone Age. Both duelists' card effects were rather mediocre; it was baffling how they were locked in such a close match.
I'll have to take Jalter to see the world later, Jiang You thought. And get her some staple cards, like Kiritsugu Emiya or something.
Melusine couldn't make sense of any of this. If it were her, she would have just gone up there and crushed them, whether with brute force or in a card duel. But since Jiang You was clapping, she had to back him up. So, she joined in with a half-hearted applause of her own.
"Damn it!!!"
Jalter gritted her teeth, her face burning with humiliation. She glared at the cards in her hand, her expression darkening as she ended her Battle Phase.
"I set two cards in my Backrow and end my turn!"
"Then it's my turn!"
Deimlet glanced at Jiang You. He couldn't discern the origins of this Eastern Servant, but it seemed this bizarre Noble Phantasm was the Servant's doing. Then he looked at his teammate, Caules. That idiot should have run long ago, Deimlet thought. Now he's just standing there watching the show, and it's too late to escape.
Still, at least my brother is here, he reassured himself. Even if neither of us makes it out, we can still get the message back.
"My turn! I draw!"
Deimlet frowned at the card he drew, clearly dissatisfied. As expected, he casually set it in his Backrow.
"Entering the Battle Phase!"
Deimlet clearly intended to repeat his previous strategy: use his superior Attack Power to send Jalter straight to the Graveyard. Jalter had only summoned one Servant so far, which suggested she didn't have many allies. If he could secure a Life Point advantage, he could summon Spartacus again and detonate him to finish her off.
"Additional condition! If I win, you have to help me escape this place, even if it costs you your life!"
Sensing he had the upper hand, Deimlet didn't hold back, making an outrageous demand.
"Ridiculous! You think your pathetic skills are worth my life in exchange for a brief moment of safety? Dream on!"
"I attack Jeanne d'Arc Alter directly!"
Deimlet ignored Jalter's retort and relentlessly pressed his attack.