Chapter 779 - 779

"— Trap Card! Invisible Air!"

Invisible Air, one of the Noble Phantasms used by Artoria, is the invisible sword.

Its primary function is to make it difficult for enemies to determine the sword's range of attack, allowing it to catch opponents off guard in close-quarters combat.

However, besides the advantage of making the blade itself invisible, the compressed wind can also be released as a one-time ranged weapon.

Only at the instant the compressed wind is released can a vacuum be created. This allows the wielder to use the anti-army ranged weapon "Strike Air," which can sweep away large groups of enemies in a single attack.

[Invisible Air — Trap Card Effect: You can Tribute 1 "Artoria" monster you control to activate this card. Change all monsters your opponent controls to face-down Defense Position, then Special Summon 1 LIGHT "Heroic Spirit" monster from your Deck in Attack Position. At the end of the Battle Phase, send that Special Summoned monster to the Graveyard.]

Within the raging wind, Illya swung the holy sword and slashed toward the attacking Neos Wiseman.

"— Strike Air!"

"That's all?"

Supreme King Jaden sneered coldly. "How disappointing."

"Neos Wiseman, strengthened by Nightmare's Chains, is unaffected by the effects of other cards. Of course, Invisible Air won't be able to change it to face-down Defense Position either!"

Tearing apart the violent winds unleashed by Invisible Air, Neos Wiseman's scorching ultimate nova entered a spiraling vacuum state, transforming into a fiery tornado that devoured everything in its path.

"As expected, it's really hard to stop Neos Wiseman's attack!" Alexis panicked. "3000 points of effect damage — we're out of options!"

Hoshino drew a card, following the lingering afterglow of the holy sword after the vacuum had dispersed.

"I never expected Invisible Air alone to stop this attack. What I need is its Special Summon effect!"

Guided by that faint radiance, a brilliant holy night descended beneath the pitch-black sky, accompanied by the crisp and pleasant ringing of silver bells.

"The effect of the Trap Card Invisible Air! I Special Summon the LIGHT 'Heroic Spirit' monster Heroic Spirit – Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily in Attack Position!"

[Heroic Spirit – Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily ★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Fairy/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 800]

After using Illya as the Tribute to activate Invisible Air, Jeanne d'Arc Lily took her place on the field where Artoria Illya had originally stood.

"A present from the holy night! Catch it, Master! A song of praise dedicated to this wonderful, invincible, miracle-filled moment!"

Making her entrance through the Special Summon, Jeanne Lily pointed the silver spear in her hands toward the radiance of the night sky and activated her effect.

[When this card is Special Summoned: You can activate this effect. Gain 300 LP for each "Lily" monster you control.]

"I control Jeanne Lily and Medea Lily! That's two monsters, so I recover a total of 600 Life Points!"

[Hoshino LP 2999 → 3599]

This wonderful, invincible, miracle-filled moment had come down to the wire.

Even though it was only 600 Life Points, the increase provided by Jeanne Lily at the last possible moment successfully allowed Hoshino to cross the 3001-point lethal threshold of Neos Wiseman.

"That means even if Neos Wiseman and Oda Nobunaga destroy each other in battle and I take 3000 points of damage, I still won't lose! And now, I activate the effect of the Trap Card Eternal Reign in my Graveyard—"

[Eternal Reign — Trap Card Effect: Banish this card from your Graveyard to target 1 "Heroic Spirit" Xyz Monster you control and 1 card in your Graveyard; place that card from your Graveyard beneath that Xyz Monster as Xyz Material. This effect cannot be activated during the turn this card was sent to the Graveyard.]

"I banish Eternal Reign and target Okita Souji in my Graveyard, stacking her beneath my Xyz Summoned Nobunaga as Xyz Material! And as long as Nobunaga has Xyz Material, she can detach it to prevent herself from being destroyed by battle or card effects!"

After recovering her Life Points, Neos Wiseman could no longer reduce Hoshino's Life Points to zero.

And after Eternal Reign resolved, even destroying Oda Nobunaga alongside it was no longer an option.

"Come on, Jaden! Your turn!" Hoshino urged him. "Given the situation, are you still going to choose Oda Nobunaga as your attack target?"

"Because the types of monsters on the field have changed, I replay the attack and choose a new attack target!"

Under Supreme King Jaden's command, Neos Wiseman fired the explosive Ultimate Nova into the sky.

"Heh. Just as I thought — you took the bait~"

Watching Jaden halt his attack, Hoshino secretly smiled to herself.

"No, Hoshino Chiyuki. I know exactly what you're planning…"

Jaden did not immediately select a new attack target.

Instead, he said quietly, "You deliberately used Eternal Reign to give Oda Nobunaga resistance. You were trying to lure me into attacking her, weren't you?"

With 3000-ATK Nobunaga and the 3001-ATK Evil God both protected from destruction, Jaden's best target should now be Space Ishtar, which had 2900 ATK and 2900 DEF.

That would not only allow him to inflict another total of 3000 damage to Hoshino, but Neos Wiseman's effect would also let him recover a massive amount of Life Points equal to Space Ishtar's 2900 DEF.

And because Neos Wiseman was unaffected by other card effects, Ishtar's ability would no longer be able to force it to stop attacking.

Supreme King Jaden continued:

"But I saw it! Even though you activated it extremely quickly, I still noticed the second effect of Invisible Air!"

[Invisible Air — Trap Card Effect: You can banish this card from your Graveyard to target 1 "Heroic Spirit" monster on the field; until the end of the turn, that monster gains ATK equal to the number of cards in your hand × 500.]

Hoshino still had one card left in her hand: Oda Nobunaga.

If Jaden chose to have Neos Wiseman attack Space Ishtar, Hoshino could banish the Trap Card Invisible Air from her Graveyard and use its 500-ATK boost to launch a counterattack and kill Neos Wiseman.

Hoshino herself would only need to endure the 2900 points of reflected battle damage in exchange for taking down Jaden's ace monster.

"This time, Headmistress was already thinking two levels ahead!" Minazuki exclaimed. "Too bad Jaden was thinking five levels ahead…"

Hoshino clicked her tongue.

"Tch. I thought I was pretty quick with that play. I didn't expect you to see through the effect anyway. Your eyes are pretty good."

"Attack replay! I choose the Attack Position Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily as my new attack target! — 'Ultimate Nova'!"

The Ultimate Nova exploded once again across the shattered battlefield.

Because Jeanne Lily had been Special Summoned by Invisible Air in Attack Position and was required to remain in that position, Jaden could choose to destroy her.

Although doing so would recover fewer Life Points, the attack would still inflict a total of 3000 damage to Hoshino.

And even if Hoshino used Invisible Air to boost Jeanne Lily's ATK, she still had no chance of defeating Neos Wiseman in battle.

[Heroic Spirit – Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily] destroyed.

[Hoshino LP 3599 → 1599]

"Next is the effect of Neos Wiseman! I inflict damage to you equal to Jeanne Lily's ATK, and recover Life Points equal to her DEF! — 'Nightmare Radiance'!"

[Hoshino LP 1599 → 599]

[Supreme King Jaden LP: 998 → 1798]

Alexis said regretfully, "Senpai's Life Points were still overtaken in the end."

Hoshino added, "But if all it cost me was this little Life Point advantage to lure Jaden into my trap, I'd say it was well worth it~"

"You say I fell into a trap?"

Supreme King Jaden frowned slightly.

He had clearly seen through the effect of the Trap Card Invisible Air hidden in the Graveyard.

After Jeanne Lily was destroyed by battle and her card was sent to the Graveyard, Hoshino declared:

"Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily's effect! When this card is destroyed by battle or by a card effect, I can activate this effect to add 1 'Heroic Spirit' monster from my Deck to my hand. The monster I'm adding is Heroic Spirit – Irisviel von Einzbern!"

Supreme King Jaden sneered.

"A hand trap that can grant resistance and ATK to a Heroic Spirit monster? If that's what you call your trap, then it doesn't hurt at all."

Even if Irisviel increased a monster's ATK by 1000, Hoshino only had 599 Life Points remaining.

No matter which monster she used to attack Neos Wiseman, she would still be unable to withstand the reflected damage from Neos Wiseman afterward.

"I Set two cards from my hand and end my turn."

[Supreme King Jaden: 1 Hand Card | 2 Set Cards]

"No. Watch closely. This is the real trap that's been waiting for you to fall into!"

The instant Supreme King Jaden declared the end of his turn, Hoshino activated the effect of Magical Girl's Other Half – Chloe in her Graveyard.

[Magical Girl's Other Half – Chloe — Effect: This effect can be activated during your opponent's turn. If this card is in your Graveyard, you can banish 1 card from your hand to activate this effect. Banish the Fusion Materials listed for a Fusion Monster that requires "Magical Girl's Other Half – Chloe" as Fusion Material from the Graveyards of either player, then Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck.]

"I banish Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga from my hand as the cost. Then I fuse Chloe with Jeanne Lily in the Graveyard! A Shared-Pain Dream Summon — Magical Girl – Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily Chloe!"

Hoshino pulled the absurdly long-named Chloe Fusion Monster from her Extra Deck.

The returning dark-skinned Christmas Chloe was visibly a little more provocative than before.

[Magical Girl – Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily Chloe ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][DARK][Fairy/Fusion/Effect][ATK 1500/DEF 1500]

"Master's Christmas present is a kiss from Kuro, you know… Oh? You say naughty children don't get presents? That's fine. Kuro is Santa Claus now~"

With her rosy lips lightly kissing her fingertip, Chloe blinked and threw out an adorable wink.

"Jaden, you remember, right? Jeanne Chloe's effect! At the End Phase of the turn this card was Fusion Summoned, I can activate its effect to choose 1 card in my Deck and place it on top of my Deck!"

Back when she had fought Uria in the volcano, Hoshino had already used Jeanne Chloe's ability to manipulate her next draw — a skill comparable to Yugi's legendary destined top-decking ability.

By rearranging the order of her Deck, Hoshino could finally put the card she wanted on top without having to worry about shuffling it back.

"Let me tell you right now. The card I've placed on top of my Deck is a Monster Card!"

"A Monster Card? Is it Illya?" Alexis asked.

"And now, it's my turn!"

The turn began.

Hoshino should have drawn the card on top of her Deck, yet she did not move.

"This turn, I'm not drawing a card! I activate the effect of the Spell Card Fate/Grand Order Memories I in my Graveyard!"

[Fate/Grand Order Memories I Spell Card Effect: If this card is in your Graveyard, you can activate it before your Draw Phase. Instead of conducting your normal draw, add this card from your Graveyard to your hand.]

"You're not drawing? Why?!"

Alexis found it difficult to understand.

"You finally summoned Chloe and rearranged the order of your Deck, so why would you skip your draw?!"

"Skipping the draw is so it can serve its purpose at the most critical moment."

Hoshino entered the Battle Phase directly and looked toward Space Ishtar on her field.

"Space Ishtar's effect! When this card declares an attack, if I draw a Monster Card, it can bypass the opponent's monsters and attack directly! And I already told you what my next draw is going to be, didn't I?"

A Monster Card.

Through Jeanne Chloe's effect, Hoshino had placed a Monster Card on top of her Deck, making the result of her next draw 100% certain.

No superstition, luck, or dramatic Flag could interfere with it.

Even a woman who always seemed destined to fumble at the critical moment couldn't change the simple fact that Hoshino's next draw was guaranteed to be a Monster Card.

A guaranteed direct attack, combined with the resistance provided by Irisviel in her hand, was impossible to stop.

"This is my ultimate combo — turning the impossible into possible, and turning the woman who is absolutely destined to fumble at critical moments into a woman who absolutely will not fumble!"

"You… you calculated things to such an extent just for my effect?!"

Space Ishtar tightly gripped the hilt of her blades, her hands trembling slightly.

A sense of trust she had never experienced before filled her heart.

Fighting alongside this unfamiliar girl before her, she felt more secure than she ever had.

"Let's go, Ishtar! This is the final direct attack!"

"At this point, it would be downright wrong not to live up to your expectations!"

The radiance of Space Ishtar's divine swordsmanship erupted.

She poured all of her magical energy into her twin blades, seeing through the causality that existed upon the battlefield.

"Accept your fate. The wilderness of nothingness, the shining crown, blooming extravagantly like a magnificent rose! — 'Crown Shining in the Primordial Universe'!"

"DORE, MONSTA KADO! —!"