Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh!-Chapter 302 -

"Goldy, catch me!"

Deciding to defect on the spot, Hoshino took a leap of faith directly from the helicopter, leaving Valon and Rafael nearly frozen in shock.

"This mongrel's guts just keep growing," Gilgamesh muttered, but he still extended the Chains of Heaven, catching the free-falling Hoshino and pulling her safely into his arms.

Thus, Hoshino landed on the plane's roof in Gilgamesh's princess carry. Grinning, she flashed a V-sign at Kaiba while baring her teeth.

"Quite the grand re-entrance, huh? Looks fancy, doesn't it?"

Kaiba, still reeling from the series of shocking events, blurted out the question Hoshino was thoroughly sick of hearing by now.

"Why are you here?"

Jumping down from Gilgamesh's arms, Hoshino gave Kaiba an exasperated look.

"Why am I here? Why am I here? Always the same damn question! Can't you ask something easier for me to answer? If I weren't here, you'd already be light particles by now, got it?"

Kaiba, momentarily stunned by Hoshino's sudden outburst, found himself at a loss for words.

. .. ...

Two minutes later, the powerless plane finally landed safely, thanks to Blue-Eyes' Herculean efforts. The Doma helicopter landed alongside it.

"You actually jumped onto the plane? That's gutsy, Hoshino! Are you really that eager to avenge Alister?" Valon exclaimed, having followed closely behind.

Meanwhile, Rafael immediately located the card containing Alister's sealed soul, which had been discarded midair.

Midair. And he found it. Does this guy live life in cheat mode or what?

"Valon, stay back," Rafael said cautiously, carefully pocketing the card.

Hoshino, hands on her hips, smiled at Rafael's wariness.

"As expected of the eldest of Doma. You're sharp."

"I must thank you for saving Alister's body—that much is undeniable. But Hoshino, are you a friend or a foe?"

Valon looked baffled.

"Huh? What do you mean? Hoshino's not under Orichalcos control..."

"Valon, you're as much of a blockhead as Jonouchi."

Hoshino, while feeling a little guilty for deceiving such a simple soul, had to admit it had its advantages.

"Depending on your answer, even the identity of the so-called God will need to be reassessed." The overwhelming divine power they had felt before hadn't left room for suspicion at the time.

"Tell Dartz I'm sorry—it was all a tragic accident. If his face got damaged from the wheel running over it, feel free to bill KaibaCorp for cosmetic surgery. Oh, wait, Doma isn't strapped for cash, are they~?"

Her teasing tone left no doubt about where she stood.

Rafael's frown deepened.

"So you're aligned with KaibaCorp after all! That explains why you went all-out to save Kaiba."

"Nope, I'm not aligned with KaibaCorp either—" Hoshino struck what she considered a cool pose.

"I stand for light and justice!"

Kaiba sighed, his exhaustion clear in his tone.

"Whatever happened, just don't underestimate her."

Now that her stance and situation were clear, Rafael responded seriously,

"Even if you deceived us, it's true you saved Alister, and you didn't harm Doma. I won't hold this betrayal—no, this deception—against you. As long as you don't hinder Doma."

This had been Hoshino's main concern: whether her exposure would lead to Doma hunting her relentlessly. Rafael's principled and fair approach seemed to offer reassurance.

But she wasn't here to reconcile—she was here to reclaim Yugi's soul.

"No harm? Can you still say that after seeing this?" Hoshino's grin widened as she pulled three cards from her deck case.

Rafael and Valon froze in shock.

"The God Cards?! When did you...?"

"Even with all three Doma present, you let someone snatch the God Cards off your ritual platform. Talk about bad luck! Then again, it's not stealing if they weren't yours to begin with. You stole them first!"

In her hands were the source of so much chaos and calamity: the God Cards. During the ritual, while the Evil God's oppressive divine power occupied Doma's focus, Hoshino had discreetly pocketed the cards from the platform.

Seeing her play her trump card, Rafael's expression turned grave.

"So, you've been planning to oppose Doma from the very beginning. Consider what I said earlier about 'not pursuing this' revoked. Those God Cards are critical to Lord Dartz."

Naturally, Hoshino wouldn't back down. This was Doma's strongest member, the one who had defeated Yugi. She would need to go all out.

"If you want the God Cards back, duel us! And we'll wager the card containing Yugi's soul!"

From Alister's use of self-destruction tactics to Rafael's anger and his immediate retrieval of Alister's soul card, Hoshino was confident—there was a way to restore souls even after they were sealed.

Kaiba, still bewildered, interjected,

"Yugi's soul card? What in the world is going on here?"

"I don't feel like explaining—" Hoshino crossed her arms in an "X" in front of her chest. After all, Kaiba wouldn't believe in soul-sealing magic anyway.

"I'll keep it brief: Yugi lost. To this man right here—Rafael got it."

Kaiba's jaw dropped, his disbelief etched on his face.

"Yugi... lost to one of Doma's?!"

To him, the idea of Yugi losing was as incomprehensible as magic itself.

"Exactly, Kaiba. But we haven't lost yet! There's still a chance!" Hoshino raised her arm, summoning her duel disk. She glanced meaningfully at Kaiba.

"This is our best shot to defeat Doma in one fell swoop. Let's team up for a tag duel, just this once!"

"Why, Hoshino? Do you want to duel us? Aren't we allies?"

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In stark contrast to Rafael's calm acceptance of the situation, Valon still refused to believe Hoshino had turned against them.

Understanding Valon's straightforward nature, Rafael sighed softly. "Valon, you should step back. Ever since you forcibly disrupted the seal to rescue Mai, your body hasn't recovered. Leave this one to me."

Using the authority to tear apart the seal exacted a heavy toll on the body. That's why Valon had been delaying his duel with Jonouchi. Despite his usual cheerful demeanor, the pain he endured was likely unimaginable to most.

"So, you're going to face the two of us alone?" Hoshino had no intention of playing by the chivalric rules of a one-on-one duel. In a situation where one misstep could lead to irreversible consequences, why not take advantage of a numbers game?

Kaiba, unsurprisingly, had no objections to teaming up with Hoshino for a duel. "So, he's the one who defeated Yugi? The strongest of Doma. Let me see your strength for myself."

[Rafael vs. Hoshino & Kaiba]

"Duel!"

Rafael drew his card first. "Since it's a tag duel, I'll take the first move! I activate the Continuous Spell [Guarded Treasure]!"

[Guarded Treasure – Continuous Spell Effect: Activate this card by discarding 5 cards; draw 2 cards. While this card is on the field, draw 2 cards instead of 1 during your Draw Phase.]

Rafael confidently discarded his remaining five cards. "Thanks to Guarded Treasure, I discard five cards and draw two. Additionally, during each of my Draw Phases, I'll draw two cards instead of one."

Hoshino glanced at the glowing Continuous Spell beneath Rafael's feet. "Exchanging your current hand for future advantage? Feels like a bit of a gamble."

"Next, I set one monster face-down in Defense Position and place one card face-down. Turn end."

In the very first turn of the duel, Rafael had used up his entire hand without gaining any immediate field advantage.

Kaiba sneered. "This man... Did he really defeat Yugi? My turn! Draw! I activate the Ritual Spell [Advanced Ritual Art]!"

[Advanced Ritual Art – Ritual Spell Effect: This card is used to Ritual Summon any 1 Ritual Monster. You must also send Normal Monsters from your Deck to the GY whose total Levels equal the Level of that Ritual Monster.]

"By using Advanced Ritual Art, I send the Level 4 Normal Monster [Vorse Raider] from my Deck to the Graveyard. Ritual Summon!"

Kaiba slammed a card onto his Duel Disk. A white glow materialized in front of him. "Come forth, [Paladin of White Dragon]!"

[White Dragon Paladin★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Dragon/Ritual/Effect][ATK 1900/DEF 1200]

A knight clad in white armor, riding a miniature Blue-Eyes White Dragon, materialized on Kaiba's field.

Kaiba immediately ordered an attack. "Battle! Paladin of White Dragon attacks the face-down Defense Position monster! When this card attacks a face-down Defense Position monster, it destroys it without calculating damage!"

In this era, monsters summoned in face-down Defense Position often had flip effects. Kaiba's Paladin of White Dragon perfectly countered such strategies.

The paladin charged forward, its radiant sword slashing toward Rafael's face-down card.

"A splendid calculation, perfectly targeting my set monster. However..." Rafael smirked as his face-down card activated.

"Trap Card [Magic Cylinder]! Your attack is negated, and you take damage equal to your attacking monster's ATK!"

The paladin's radiant sword was deflected by the twin cylinders on Rafael's field, redirecting its energy back toward Kaiba.

[Hoshino & Kaiba LP: 4000 → 2100]

"Kaiba, can you not mess up this early? We've already lost half our Life Points before I even got to play!" Hoshino chastised Kaiba mercilessly.

Kaiba scowled. "Shut up and watch! Paladin of White Dragon's effect activates. I tribute this card to Special Summon [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] from my hand or Deck!"

A surge of light replaced the paladin, and the iconic Blue-Eyes White Dragon descended onto Kaiba's field with a deafening roar.

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][LIGHT][Dragon][ATK 3000/DEF 2500]

"However, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Special Summoned by this effect cannot attack this turn. I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

[Kaiba's Hand: 2 | Set Cards: 2]

Glancing at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on Kaiba's field, Hoshino shrugged. "Your non-shuffling strategy is slipping. No first-turn Fusion for Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon? Tch, disappointing."

Of course, it was probably a good thing Kaiba didn't Fusion Summon the Ultimate Dragon this early. Otherwise, Rafael's Magic Cylinder would've obliterated them.

"My turn! Draw! Thanks to Guarded Treasure, I draw two cards during my Draw Phase!"

Rafael replenished his hand to two cards and immediately played them. "I set two cards face-down and Flip Summon [Morphing Jar]!"

[Morphing Jar Effect: FLIP: Both players discard as many cards as possible from their hands, then each player draws 5 cards.]

"Due to Morphing Jar's effect, both players discard their hands and draw five new cards!" Rafael's hand skyrocketed from zero to five, while Kaiba's went from two to five. Meanwhile, Hoshino discarded her hand of five cards, forced into a complete reshuffle.

Hoshino felt the pressure mount. "This guy... With Guarded Treasure still active and now a replenished hand... And Kaiba's already wasted half our Life Points..."

"Next, I tribute Morphing Jar to Tribute Summon [Penumbral Soldier Lady]!"

The grotesque jar shattered, replaced by a golden-haired warrior wielding a sword and shield.

[Penumbral Soldier Lady★★★★★★ (Level 6)][DARK][Warrior/Effect][ATK 2100/DEF 1400]

"I activate the Equip Spell [Butterfly Dagger - Elma], increasing the equipped monster's ATK by 300!"

[Penumbral Soldier Lady ATK: 2100 → 2400]

"Battle! Penumbral Soldier Lady, attack the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Kaiba frowned. "Even with the Equip Spell, your monster is no match for my Blue-Eyes."

"The Penumbral Soldier Lady, a symbol of darkness, devours all light! When battling LIGHT monsters, its ATK increases by 1000!"

[Penumbral Soldier Lady ATK: 2400 → 3400]

"Cut down the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

(*****)

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