Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh!

"Master, I'm so glad you're safe… Pwah!!"

"Blood! Blood! She's coughing up blood!" Sugoroku panicked at the sight, having never seen Okita before and unaware of her inherent condition.

Recognizing Okita immediately, Yugi reassured him, "Grandpa, don't worry. This should be one of Hoshino's card spirits, though she rarely appears."

"Don't worry, Okita. Just take your time… What happened?" Hoshino asked, concern in her voice as she watched the heavily wounded swordswoman.

Okita smiled weakly. "Master, you're so kind… comforting me to take my time coughing up blood… Wait, no! That's so hurtful!"

"If you still have the strength to complain, I guess you're not in too bad of shape," Hoshino remarked.

"I'm absolutely in bad shape, Master!" Okita clutched her chest, enduring the pain as her materialized form flickered unsteadily. "After that battle, even with my maxed-out stats, my mana is almost completely drained!"

"Okita, with your already low mana, wouldn't you be used to running on empty by now? But what kind of battle could have injured you this badly?"

Hoshino's instincts told her something was seriously wrong when she noticed the black liquid slowly dripping from Okita's sword.

"A battle broke out in Chaldea! The black mud absorbs Servants' mana, putting us all in a desperate fight!"

"Black mud? A desperate battle? Who are you fighting?"

Okita's words were too vague for Hoshino to understand.

"Could this be why I can't summon my Heroic Spirit cards today?"

But seeing Okita's unstable form made it clear—her mana exhaustion was no joke. In this state, she could disappear at any moment.

"Master, Da Vinci told me… The final defense system of Chaldea in times of crisis must be entrusted to you!"

Struggling to lift her left hand despite her injuries, Okita finally placed the item she had fought so hard to protect into Hoshino's palm.

"Okita-san?"

"Though it's frustrating, consider this my final gift as your ace. To overcome this crisis, you must rely on this power and conquer the darkness in your heart."

Okita's voice and figure grew fainter. Without mana to sustain her, she could not remain in this world much longer.

"One last thing… Master, you look so good with darker skin… Pwah!!"

With one final spurt of blood, Okita's briefly materialized body vanished.

"OKITA—!!"

Opening her hand, Hoshino looked at what Okita had left behind—the so-called final defense system of Chaldea: a pink, crystal-like star.

The others had stayed silent the entire time, sensing the heavy atmosphere. Given Okita's usual comedic personality, this was probably the most serious she'd ever been.

Yugi hesitated before asking, "I don't fully understand what just happened, but something serious must be going on, right?"

The names Okita had mentioned—Chaldea, black mud—were completely foreign to them.

"I'm just as confused… but I have a bad feeling about this."

Hoshino tightly clenched the pink star in her palm. No matter what crisis she had faced before, she had always had Chaldea behind her.

Just like the saying, "As long as the universal genius Da Vinci is here, everything will be fine," had always given her confidence in the worst situations.

"Open the system…"

[Error! System connection interrupted!!]

Now, not only could she not summon her Heroic Spirit cards, but even the system was completely down. All she had left was this pink crystal star.

Letting out a sigh, Hoshino muttered to herself, "Okita, if you had the time to make jokes, couldn't you have told me how to use this thing instead?!"

Mokuba handed her the now-repaired duel disk. "Hoshino, I checked your duel disk—there's nothing wrong with it. The battery was just about to die, so I replaced it. I also linked it to KaibaCorp's satellite system, so you'll save over 80% on energy consumption now."

"Thanks." As she strapped the duel disk onto her arm, an image suddenly flashed through Hoshino's mind.

She remembered someone else who had worn this duel disk—someone who had also lost the ability to summon Heroic Spirit cards.

Yet, that person still fought with all their strength, using a dazzling, star-filled finale to defeat Paradox and save the world.

Realizing this, Hoshino looked at the pink crystal star in her hand and gasped, "Wait… Could this final defense system of Chaldea actually be… Illya?!"

[Keyword 'Illya' recognized. Chaldea's Final Emergency Defense System—"Magical Girl" activated!]

The pink crystal star in Hoshino's palm began to glow warmly, spinning and floating into the air. The energy it emitted shifted into a familiar form—a wand with a red gemstone—before settling back into her hand.

A lively voice rang out. "Long time no see, Hoshino! I can't believe you tanned to match Kuro's skin tone~!"

"Ruby… It really is Ruby! That means I was right—if Illya is here, even without summoning Servants, I can still fight!"

Ruby chuckled. "Hehehe, too bad! Right now, it's just me~ If you want to fully activate the Magical Girl system, you'll have to use me to summon Illya yourself."

Hoshino frowned. "Use you to summon Illya? How?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ruby wiggled proudly in the air. Though she was a magical wand, she somehow looked… suspiciously smug.

"You must stand tall and proud and call forth love and justice… like a true magical girl!"

Hoshino froze, then glanced awkwardly at her companions. A faint blush spread across her tanned cheeks. "W-Wait… You mean I have to do it here? A magical girl transformation…?"

Ruby's voice suddenly became serious. "Hoshino, is this really all the determination you have? With that kind of attitude, you're still a thousand years too early to unleash a magical girl's full power!"

"Ugh…" Left speechless, Hoshino had to admit that Ruby's sheer energy was overwhelming her.

"Alright, alright! I get it! I just have to call for love and justice like a magical girl, right?! I'll do it!"

As a girl, one of the must-do things in childhood was standing in front of a mirror and imitating the classic magical girl transformations seen on TV. For Hoshino, who had once been a middle-schooler obsessed with anime, this was hardly the first—or even second—time she had done it. She was practically a pro.

With no way out, Hoshino did her best to ignore her companions' gazes, took a deep breath, and began spinning the Ruby wand in her hand at high speed with practiced ease.

"—Key that hides the power of the stars, show your true form before me! I command you in my name!"

"Whoa! That was so professional!"

Her flawless performance left her companions speechless, and they couldn't help but start clapping. Even without changing into a fancy outfit, at this moment, Hoshino truly looked like a real magical girl.

"—Release the seal!!!"

The spinning wand slowly descended, and the star-shaped tip lightly tapped the Deck placed on the table.

Then, just like ripples spreading across water from a drop of magic, the power of light surfaced on the deck. A real, fully materialized magical girl—her face flushed with embarrassment—took the mischievously grinning Ruby from Hoshino's hand.

"The magical girl who upholds love and justice, Illyasviel von Einzbern, has arrived!!"

"Whoa! That was amazing!!"

The applause around them grew even louder, leaving a flustered Hoshino and Illya standing together.

"Master, it's all your fault for summoning me in such an embarrassing way! Now I feel all weird too!"

Illya pouted. A line like "a magical girl who upholds love and justice" was something she would never normally say.

"Actually, Master, you just needed to use Ruby to establish a connection between the Magical Girl Power and the deck—you didn't need to do any weird poses… By the way, why do you have the same skin tone as Kuro now?"

"I knew it! I was tricked!!"

Overcome with embarrassment and anger, Hoshino grabbed Ruby from Illya's hand, ready to snap it in half.

"Ahh! It's gonna break! This feeling of being about to leave this world in the hands of a tanned beauty… I never expected it to be so thrilling!"

There was no saving this one. Ruby's pervy personality was already maxed out, reaching a level on par with Blackbeard.

Anzu looked at the petite Illya with envy and said, "So this is the final defense you were talking about, Hoshino? She's so cute… Magical girls are the best…"

Tossing the battered Ruby aside, Hoshino nodded. "Illya, since Da Vinci designated you as Chaldea's final defense, do you know what's happening over there right now?"

"I don't know..." Illya shook her head apologetically. "I was summoned directly from my original world, so I didn't pass through Chaldea on the way."

Ruby, now slightly bent from Hoshino's grip, floated back into Illya's hands. "Actually, I do have some information, but in exchange, I need to know the color of Hoshino's underwear…"

Hoshino's gaze instantly turned ice-cold. "Tomorrow will be your death anniversary, Ruby."

Ruby shivered. "Sorry! I got carried away!"

Illya, nervous that Hoshino might actually snap Ruby in half, held onto it tightly. "Ruby, if you know something, you should just say it… For your own good."

"Ahem, fine~" Ruby actually coughed to clear its throat before speaking.

"The Pyramid of Light and Seto Kaiba! That's all the information I managed to receive due to time constraints."

"!!!" The entire group was shocked.

Mokuba's jaw dropped, unable to process what he had just heard. "Brother? Why did you suddenly mention Brother? Did something dangerous happen to him?"

Hoshino frowned in thought. "The Pyramid of Light and Seto Kaiba, huh… Mokuba, you were trying to contact Kaiba earlier, but you couldn't reach him, right?"

"Yeah, Brother said he was going to find Pegasus to collect his debts, so he flew off on his private jet this morning. He hasn't answered my calls either."

"If it's Kaiba, no matter how arrogant or troublesome he can be, he shouldn't be able to affect Chaldea. So the issue must be the 'Pyramid of Light.'"

Additionally, the moment she heard "Pyramid of Light," Hoshino felt as if she had seen it somewhere recently.

"Master! Since you've activated the Magical Girl System, according to protocol, I have to give you this~"

Illya timidly lifted her pink skirt, revealing a card case strapped to her snow-white thigh. "These cards, related to magical girls, should be a form of usable power in this world."

"Huh? Illya, shouldn't you be carrying your Class Cards for Phantasmal Summoning? Since when did they become Duel Monsters cards?"

Holding the real Duel Monsters cards from Illya, Hoshino felt a strange sense of unease.

Illya scratched her head and laughed. "Ehehe~ Different worlds have different rules. To fight in this world, these cards are essential."

As she flipped through the cards Illya handed her, Hoshino's expression grew more serious. "That makes sense, but… Illya, your deck is way too weak to fight with directly."

"Eh?! I can't use it? Then what should I do?" Illya panicked.

"No, it's not that you can't use it. It's just that if you used this deck as-is, you wouldn't stand a chance against anyone…" Hoshino stated bluntly.

Although the deck revolved around magical girls, it consisted only of cards related to that theme. With her experience, Hoshino could immediately tell that the deck lacked crucial power.

"We need to rebuild this deck!" Without hesitation, Hoshino grabbed her currently unusable Spirit Card Deck from the table.

"I remember that Hoshino-sensei's strategy was to combine magical girls with Heroic Spirits, using Phantasmal Summoning to fully unleash the power of Illya and Miyu."

Recalling her own duels from the future, Hoshino quickly pieced together the direction for the adjustments. Merging the two decks into one, she created a brand-new deck centered around Illya's fusion abilities.

"Talking about it is easy, but even if I have the right idea, my future self must have gone through countless adjustments and practical tests before perfecting the ultimate magical girl deck."

A deck refined through time and experience was something present-day Hoshino couldn't simply recreate on the spot. However, what she could do now was optimize it as much as possible with the limited time available.

"Jonouchi, you said that you wanted to duel me, right? Then do me a favor and help me test my new deck!"

(*****)

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