The girl's cry shattered the barrier of space, and the shining card in her hand finally revealed its true face.
In the next flash of flames, a burning meteor burst forth from the rainbow nebula vortex and exploded with a thunderous roar.
From within the broken meteor, a hero wreathed in flames slowly stretched his body.
His left hand bore a gauntlet like molten lava, his right hand ended in sharp beast-like claws, and his grayish-brown armor and black iron wings gleamed under the firelight.
A hero born from the Contact Fusion of three heroes—Level 9, the super monster, Elemental HERO Magma Neos—descends!
[Elemental HERO Magma Neos, Attack 3000 → ATK 3500]
"Triple Contact Fusion, Magma Neos, huh." Magical Scientist looked at the hero radiating heat even hotter than magma. Even without knowing its effect yet, he could already guess that this hero was extraordinary.
Immediately after, Alicia shouted, "Elemental HERO Magma Neos's effect! This card gains 400 Attack for each card on the field. There are seven cards on the field right now, so Magma Neos gains 2800 Attack! Magma Force!!"
"Ha↓~~ha↑aa!!"
Magma Neos roared, and orange flames burst from its body. The terrifying heat caused the two Myutant monsters on Magical Scientist's field to emit black, foul-smelling gas as their agonized shrieks echoed across the field.
[Elemental HERO Magma Neos, Attack 3500 → ATK 6300]
"6300 Attack!?" Alice stared in shock. She never expected a single monster could reach such power through its own strength.
Magical Scientist nodded slightly as he looked at the Attack value. "Impressive power. Achieving this with just a triple Contact Fusion… it seems its future is worth expectations indeed."
Yuui, however, looked somewhat disappointed as Magma Neos slowly landed on the field. He had just realized why he had been unable to fully create Magma Neos despite exhausting his magic.
Up until now, all the cards he and Alicia had "printed" came from two methods.
The first was outside of duels, when he and Alicia worked together—with help from the corresponding spirits—using the card imprint inside his body as a template to copy a card.
The second was inside duels, by resonating with spirits and using the card imprint inside him as a template to create a card.
These two printing methods were, in fact, different.
The first method used him as the primary medium. As long as he had enough magic, he could print a card.
The second method used Alicia as the primary medium. Only with the help of the spirits could a card be created.
The reason for this was simple: aside from Odd-Eyes Dragon, the only spirit contracted to Yuui, all the other spirits belonged to Alicia. Even Yuui himself was technically Alicia's spirit. Without Alicia—the contractor—participating, how could they possibly print cards during a duel?
Realizing this at last, Yuui felt a bit enlightened.
Anyhow, it was fine. Now that he understood the principle, all he had to do was exert more power during future duel-printing, then let Alicia take the spotlight at the key moment.
"Battle Phase!" Alicia declared. "Go, Magma Neos! Attack Myutant Synthesis Beast—Magma Nova!!"
Magma Neos raised his left hand, and slowly, a three-meter-wide meteor burning with orange flames condensed above him.
He then swung his arm downward, sending the meteor crashing toward the twisted monster.
Seeing the incoming meteor, Magical Scientist smiled faintly.
"It is indeed a powerful monster. Still, I said it already… if I refuse to lose, you will not defeat me."
His eyes widened as he swept his hand out. "I activate my Set card, the Trap Card Past Image! If I control a face-up Psychic monster, I target 1 monster your opponent controls; banish it, and during the next Standby Phase, it returns to their field in the same position.
"I target your Magma Neos and banish it. It will return next Standby Phase!!"
"What!?" Alicia gasped. A beam of light shot from the Trap, piercing Magma Neos' body. Magma Neos vanished from the field in a burst of lava, and the falling meteor disappeared with him.
Alicia bit her lip, and Yuui let out a quiet sigh.
They understood… no matter how strong their newly created Magma Neos was, they could not be true opponents for Magical Scientist.
Even with only a remnant soul remaining, Magical Scientist was still at the peak of Archmagus, while Yuui was only at Great Magician Peak. Their power difference was almost an entire tier. Alicia was even lower, only at the early stage of Great Magician, two tiers beneath him.
Under such circumstances, defeating Magical Scientist was impossible unless they cheated.
And frankly, the only reason they had lasted this long was because Magical Scientist had held back, wanting to observe the potential of Yuui and Neos.
Otherwise, he could have ended the duel on turn one.
Realizing this made Yuui feel incredibly frustrated.
"Screw this… I have to recover my strength as soon as possible!"
Alicia: "Language, Yuui-san!"
On the field, Alicia looked at her last Set card—NEXT.
It was a very strong Trap, capable of quickly summoning multiple Neo-Spacians or Neos from the hand or Graveyard. Albeit, she only had Glow Moss in her Graveyard, and only Stratos left in her hand.
All she could do was wait.
Fortunately, Magma Neos would return next Standby Phase.
An Attack of 6300 was still a towering wall—breaking through it would not be easy.
After comforting herself internally, Alicia reluctantly declared, "My turn… ends."
"Then it's my turn. Draw!!"
Alicia immediately shouted, "At this moment, Past Image's effect activates—Magma Neos returns to my field!"
Orange flames ignited from thin air, and Magma Neos reappeared amid the fire, releasing overwhelming pressure once again.
[Elemental HERO Magma Neos, ATK 6300]
Looking at the Spell Card he had just drawn, the Magical Scientist didn't care about the reappearing Elemental HERO Magma Neos; he had already seen what he needed to see, and now it was time to end this Duel.
Thinking so, the Magical Scientist waved his hand. "I activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed, drawing two cards!"
Looking at the two new cards, the Magical Scientist lifted his eyelids slightly.
"Then I Normal Summon Myutant ST-46."
[Myutant ST-46, ATK 500]
"ST-46's effect activates. When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can activate it to add 1 Myutant Spell/Trap from my Deck to my hand. I choose to add my second Spell Card, Myutant Fusion, to my hand."
The Magical Scientist drew a card from his Deck. "Then I directly activate the Spell Card Myutant Fusion. I choose to Fusion Summon by fusing Myutant Arsenal from my hand with Myutant ST-46 on my field.
"The conditions are 2 Myutant monsters with different Attributes. Fusion Summon—come forth, the second copy of Myutant Synthesis!!"
A sinister red light blossomed once again as the second Synthesis descended from the vortex of darkness.
[Myutant Synthesis (No. 2), ATK 2500]
"Myutant Synthesis's effect activates. When this card is Fusion Summoned, I can target 1 card on the field and destroy it. I target your Set card and destroy it!"
Hearing this, Alicia understood he was trying to force her to activate her Set card. She gritted her teeth, but beside her, Yuui spoke softly, "Use it. It's good to test the card's effect early."
Hearing Yuui's words, Alicia made her decision.
"Then I flip my Set card, the Trap NEXT. From my hand or Graveyard, I Special Summon any number of Neo-Spacian monsters and Elemental HERO Neos, up to 1 copy of each name, in Defense Position.
"I choose to Special Summon Neo-Spacian Glow Moss from my Graveyard in Defense Position!"
A mass of pure-white, liquid-like humanoid light slowly took form on the field.
[Neo-Spacian Glow Moss, DEF 900]
"Oh? Any number… quite a strong Trap Card!"
The Magical Scientist looked at the Trap Card that was immediately destroyed by Myutant Synthesis's effect, showing clear surprise at its strength. Even though it wasn't fully revealed, it was obvious the card had additional effects.
"It's a good Trap Card, indeed. Unfortunately, you two cannot fully bring out its power right now!"
His words made both Yuui and Alicia's faces darken. Immediately after, the Magical Scientist continued, "Since you've shown me the limits of what you can currently reach, I shall show you my greatest masterpiece from the past!"
Hearing that, Yuui instantly guessed what he intended to do.
Next, the Magical Scientist played the last card in his hand.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Teleport Fusion. I created this card over several years, after losing the ability to use the card that once proved my title as a Sage. You two are the first to witness it—so open your eyes wide!
"Teleport Fusion can only be activated during either player's Main Phase. Using Psychic monsters on my field or in my Graveyard as Fusion Materials, I banish them to Fusion Summon 1 Psychic Fusion Monster.
"I choose to banish Myutant Synthesis on my field, Myutant Mist from my field, and Myutant Arsenal from my Graveyard as Fusion Materials. Fusion Summon!!"
A pitch-black abyssal vortex swallowed the rainbow nebula in the sky as the three Myutant monsters flew into the whirlpool.
Dark purple ominous mist surged out, and a low, twisted beastly roar made everyone's spine freeze.
The Magical Scientist raised his right hand, sending surging magical power into the vortex.
"The conditions are three Myutant monsters that are Level 8 or higher! Mysterious beings from the cosmos! Wield your tentacles, bare your fangs, devour everything, and become the ultimate beast!
"Fusion Summon! Devour the world! Level 10—Myutant Ultimus!!"
"ROAR!!!" ×7
Seven different roars echoed from the abyss. The next moment, six titanic black tentacles—each as thick as millennium-old trees—shot out wildly and dug into the ground.
Then, a mountainous colossal body was dragged out from the abyss.
BOOM!!!
A thunderous impact like an earth dragon turning over shook the battlefield. Dust shot skyward. Alicia on the field and Alice off the field both steadied themselves and stared into the smoke.
There, twelve purple and one yellow—thirteen eyes in total—gleamed within the cloud of dust. The tentacles swayed, stirring a violent gale that finally blew the smoke aside, revealing the monster's full form.
Six colossal serpents with maws wide enough to swallow the heavens glared with violet-red eyes flickering inside their throats, each with an additional eye at the base glowing with eerie purple light.
And the core body of these six serpents was a black giant about the size of a small mountain; clearly an enlarged version of Myutant Synthesis.
Only now, its power was far, far beyond what it was before.
The ultimate Myutant monster, the Magical Scientist, once raised using humans and spirits from several cities—Myutant Ultimus—finally revealed itself before everyone.
[Myutant Ultimus, ATK 3500]
...
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