Exploring PsyQualia (Cardfight!! Vanguard)

[NewName]

I mean... the chapter kinda showed why that doesn't really work; a 16k column, even in a case where it can't hit a Vanguard, it'll still at least be able to threaten a frontrow Rearguard, still eating up an opponent's resource.

Whereas Death Army Guy on his own is... well, a waste of a stand.

Click to shrink...

I got that...it was more like, this is how it was computed.

1- 14k
2 - 11k
3 - 9k

Or

1- 16k
2 - 23k

Im probably missing a few things, but the thought process behind seperating them was, even if the second one has stronger attacks, 1 critical is still 1 critical. 20k is the same as 10k.

As long as the power is enough to bypass, the thought behind the decision was that its better to keep the enemy either wasting resources guarding low level attacks, or they risk adding more to their damage zone.

Like i knew that army guy and lady together was stronger, thats not up for debate, i just thkught its better to add to the damage instead.

Keep in mind this is all theoretical though, i dont really know if this is an optimal decison or not

 

[Anon-Echo98]

"Damage trigger check." Kamui flipped the card.

Click to shrink...

*Drive, btw.

I got that...it was more like, this is how it was computed.

1- 14k
2 - 11k
3 - 9k

Or

1- 16k
2 - 23k

Im probably missing a few things, but the thought process behind seperating them was, even if the second one has stronger attacks, 1 critical is still 1 critical. 20k is the same as 10k.

As long as the power is enough to bypass, the thought behind the decision was that its better to keep the enemy either wasting resources guarding low level attacks, or they risk adding more to their damage zone.

Click to shrink...

I mean, I see the potential logic... but a few things, for future fights:

1. It would've still been smarter to move DAG back, and using Clay-Doll to attack, as to save DAG for future turns as a booster, whereas Clay-Doll has served its purpose by CC1'ing already. You will not care if it gets ran over or retired.
2. The Death Army duo adds an element of uncertainty for the opponent, which could lead to them wasting guards, or taking a hit that sends an important card down into damage.

Ultimately, just some observations... though, a genuine recommendation; Include lil' updates that tell us how a match is going. Stuff like what's in each column, hand-size, what's in the damage and what CB is available.

Blue Hour on FFN did a version of that, which helps a lot in keeping track of the gamestate, even if I would've done them a smidge differently, having the turn player's board displayed at the start of their turn.

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter
Continue on
Cheers!

 

[NewName]

Kamui let out a long, heavy sigh, the tension finally leaving his shoulders as he leaned back from the table.

"Man, you totally had me cornered. Good game," Kamui said, offering a respectful nod, extending his hands across the table.

Kourin reached out and shook his hand, her grip firm. "Good game. You didn't make it easy."

"Thanks." Kamui scratched his nose, a sheepish grin breaking through his defeat. The frustration of the loss was already settling into something he could live with, the satisfying ache of having genuinely tested himself against someone strong.

"Oh right — don't you have business with Big Bro Aichi?"

"Right." Kourin placed her hand flat against the mat, her fingers lightly pinning a specific card; the same one she'd drawn first that morning, the same one she'd ridden onto the table at the final turn.

She regarded it for half a second, something unreadable behind the dark visor.

Then, with nary a wind-up gesture — just a flawless, lightning-fast flick of her wrist — she launched it.

The card sliced through the air like a shuriken, a sharp blur of blue and white catching the fluorescent light as it zipped clean across the shop, straight toward Aichi's chest.

Driven by pure instinct, Aichi's hand snapped up. The cardboard slammed to an abrupt halt, caught perfectly between his fingers without a single bend.

A subtle, phantom breeze seemed to ripple through the shop's interior, carrying the faint scent of wind-swept stone. For a fleeting fraction of a second, Aichi's eyes flashed with a brilliant, iridescent rainbow gleam. He looked down at the familiar knight in his hand, then back up at the helmeted girl.

"Is this... for me?" Aichi asked.

"Yup," Kourin replied casually, crossing her arms. "Consider it my gift to you."

Aichi tilted his head,. "A gift? For what?"

"For yesterday, obviously." It wasn't obvious with the helmet obscuring her face, but the sharp inflection in her voice made it feel like she had just rolled her eyes at him.

Aichi's mind immediately raced backward, the memories of yesterday hitting him in rapid, vivid fragments.

First came the memory of his match with Ren.

The oppressive, suffocating weight of the Shadow Paladin's Dark Knight. The blinding, chaotic clash of light and dark. Pristine white wings cutting through the gathering gloom, only to be swallowed by the terrifying shadow of the Phantom Blaster Dragon.

Then, his match with Kourin.

The relentless onslaught of a pack of mechanical dogs—the Royal Paladin High Dogs—tearing across the battlefield in a mirror-match struggle between the exact same clan. The weight of that conflict had culminated in a silent, poetic vision on Cray: a knight kneeling in submission before his King.

"I see," Aichi murmured softly, the pieces falling into place. "Thanks."

"No problem."

For a lingering, suspended beat, a heavy silence stretched between them.

The two simply stared at one another—Aichi looking up with a newfound, quiet understanding, and Kourin looking back through the opaque black sheen of her visor, her posture unreadable but anchored.

The rest of the card shop seemed to bleed into static around them, leaving only the weight of yesterday's secrets hovering in the air.

Then, the fragile bubble popped as Kamui aggressively shoved his way into the frame.

"Come on, Aichi, do as the helmeted girl says," Kamui said, physically waving his hands to hurry the older boy along. "Slide him in there!"

He paused.

Oh, right. The thought arrived a beat too late, accompanied by a small jolt of alarm. Big Bro doesn't actually know who's under the helmet. We never told him.

His eyes flicked toward Emi.

Emi's eyes had already gotten there first.

A silent, urgent exchange passed between them.

Should we tell him? Kamui mouthed, glancing — instinctively, helplessly — toward Morikawa, who stood nearby in blissful, oblivious peace, one sentence away from total devastation.

Wait, Emi mouthed back, eyes flicking toward Kourin. Maybe she'll just leave without introducing herself.

"Helmeted girl? Why are you calling her that? Isn't that Kourin?" Aichi asked.

Perfectly casual. Already reaching for his deck box. The question delivered with all the weight of someone confirming what brand of milk was in the fridge.

Kamui's mouth fell open.

Emi froze mid-mouth-shape.

Unfortunately for both of them, they had been entirely absent for the part of the match where Aichi's own consciousness had briefly crossed into Cray — the part where he'd felt, with absolute and unshakable certainty, exactly who was standing across from Blaster Blade's gleaming form. They had no idea Aichi already knew.

As far as they were concerned, "Isn't that Kourin?" was either an extremely lucky guess or proof that Big Bro possessed some kind of terrifying, undisclosed sixth sense.

"H-how did you—" Kamui started.

"Kourin?" Morikawa's head turned. Slowly. Like a tank rotating its turret toward a target it had just become aware of.

The shop went very, very still.

"Kourin?!"

His entire skeletal structure seemed to snap upright at once, as though someone had yanked an invisible string straight through the top of his skull.

"Like — Ultra Rare Kourin?!" Izaki's voice cracked clean in half.

"Oh, here we go," Misaki muttered, already taking two precautionary steps backward, even behind the counter like she already was

"Is she Kourin? " .

"How could you even tell it was her?!" Kamui rounded on Aichi, completely sidestepping the much larger crisis now unfolding three feet to his left. "Is that some kind of sixth sense?! Can you teach me that?!"

Are they are in a relationship? Is this the power of love? he thought privately, already spiraling somewhere deeply unhelpful. If Miss Emi hid her face under a helmet, would I be able to find her too? I need to test this. This could change everything.

The helmeted figure let out a long, weary sigh — the sound of someone who'd known exactly how this moment would unfold and had simply been hoping to delay it a little longer.

With practiced ease, she reached up, unclasped her helmet, and lifted it free, letting her bright blonde hair settle loosely over her shoulders.

A beat of total, stunned silence swallowed the shop.

"...It really is Kourin," Izaki said, his voice gone completely hollow.

"An idol just beat Kamui?" Reiji said, equally stunned, staring back and forth between her and the abandoned cards on the table like the equation simply wasn't balancing.

Morikawa hit the floor.

For a long moment, he didn't move — just lay there, sprawled across the tile, staring up at the ceiling with the stillness of a man whose entire worldview had just been quietly rearranged.

Then, slowly, his hand rose into the air, fingers trembling.

"...I just cardfought against Kourin," he said, to no one in particular, his voice carrying the hollow wonder of a man recounting a religious experience. "My goddess Kourin. The Kourin."

He sat bolt upright with alarming speed.

"And I LOST to her — but that just proves it! I was destined to fall before her glory! There is no shame in defeat at the hands of a goddess!" He scrambled to his feet, practically vibrating with manufactured triumph, before rounding on Kamui with a wide, smug grin. "And meanwhile — you lost to her too, Katsuragi! What does that make you, hm? Hmmm? At least my loss had divine purpose behind it!"

"You didn't even get a single ride in," Kamui shot back.

"IRRELEVANT!" Morikawa threw both fists toward the ceiling, fully committed now, riding the high of a victory that wasn't his to claim. "I touched greatness! I breathed the same air as her during an active match! What did you get, hm? A loss with nothing poetic about it!"

He kept going — something about destiny, something about the honor of defeat, something that had stopped making grammatical sense several sentences ago — when his gaze drifted, mid-rant, across the shop.

And landed on Aichi.

Who had quietly pulled up a chair at one of the side tables and was now calmly, methodically sorting a new card into his deck, cards scattered on the table. His expression soft and unbothered, like none of the chaos currently unfolding behind him was happening at all.

Morikawa's rant stuttered to a halt.

His eyes narrowed.

Wait.

He looked at the card in Aichi's hand. Looked at Kourin. Looked back at Aichi.

She gave HIM a card.

Something in Morikawa's expression shifted — outrage assembling itself from the ground up.

"AICHI SENDOU." He spun toward him, jabbing a finger across the shop with the force of a man delivering a formal declaration of war. "I challenge you! Right here, right now! For the right to—"

He stopped.

A breeze had moved through the shop — faint, brief, gone almost as soon as it arrived, rustling the edges of nearby card sleeves and stirring Aichi's hair where he sat.

Aichi looked up. Met Morikawa's eyes directly.

Morikawa's pointing finger wavered.

The fire in his chest, so certain a half-second ago, guttered out without explanation, replaced by something he couldn't quite name — a small, cold, instinctive certainty that whatever he'd been about to do, it was, for reasons he didn't understand, an extremely bad idea.

"...I mean—" His voice cracked slightly as he course-corrected, lowering his hand. "Cherish that gift, Sendou."

He turned and walked away with as much dignity as he could manufacture on short notice.

Aichi blinked, watching him go.

...What was that about? he wondered, looking back down at the deck in his hands, entirely unaware of what had just passed silently between them.

---

The heavy silence that had anchored the shop just a moment ago was already evaporating, replaced by a low, rising hum of realization.

"Wait..." Izaki muttered, his voice cracking slightly as he took a step closer to the counter. "If she's Kourin... then that means..."

"It really is her!" Reiji yelled, his hands flying to his head.

Before Kourin could even fully settle her hair over her shoulders, the collective dam broke. The quiet, ordinary atmosphere of Card Capital shattered into instant, chaotic pieces.

"Kourin-san! Can I get an autograph?!" Morikawa's retreat from Aichi was entirely forgotten as he practically lunged back into the fray, a rdeck box in hand and a stray marker appearing in his hand out of thin air. "Please sign my deck box! It will solidify our divine contract!"

"Move it, Morikawa! You already got to fight her!" another regular shouted, pushing forward with a binder. "Kourin-san, look at my deck! Is it Ultra Rare material?!"

Kourin didn't even flinch as the small crowd instantly swarmed her, trapping her against the edge of a display counter.

Outwardly, the transformation in her was instantaneous. The weary, sharp-tongued girl who had just rolled her eyes under a motorcycle helmet vanished behind a flawless, high-gloss smile.

"Of course! Thank you all so much for coming out today," Kourin said, her voice dropping into that perfectly pitched, sweet, and welcoming melody that Aichi recognized from the television.

She took Morikawa's marker with effortless grace, angling her head at the exact degree necessary to catch the shop's fluorescent light perfectly. "I'm happy to sign a few, but please, let's keep an orderly line, okay?"

"Yes, goddess!" Morikawa swooned, backing away as if he had just been blessed by royalty.

Aichi let out a soft, quiet breath, turning his attention away from the commotion and back toward his own deck box. The contrast between her two sides was striking, but it only made him respect her more. With a renewed sense of focus, he got back to his deck.

Today really was a good day to get to work.

---

After people got over Morikawa's shouting, the crowd had quietly reorganized itself around the idol now standing near the counter. It was a chaotic scramble of reactions as the realization rippled through the room.

"It's Kourin from Ultra Rare!"

"Come on, let's get her autograph."

"Do you think she'll cardfight me?"

"With this crowd? No chance."

The people interested in Kourin's identity swarmed her immediately, abandoning whatever they were doing. Well, most of them were. A few tables over, mid-match, the distractions were causing a completely different kind of chaos.

"Woah, it's—" one player started, half-rising from his chair to get a better look at the celebrity.

"Are you running away?" his opponent snapped, slamming a hand on the table.

"What did you say?!"

"Scared to lose? It's my turn right now. ""

"That's it! Bring it on!"

At another table, someone was nervously scooping up their playmat mid-game.

"Leaving already?"

"O-of c-ourse I am, it's Kourin!"

"Alright then, then my Bridgette attacks! Finish this!"

"No!! I guard!"

"That's your final card! It's the end of the line, Knight of Harp, Tristan finish it!"

And further back, a seasoned regular was entirely ruthless to a distracted opponent.

"Ah, ah, ah, don't pick up your deck, newbie. It's time for you to lose. I ride Mr. Invincible!"

There were a bunch of different reactions tearing through the shop all at once. Internally, Kourin's immediate thought was a weary, dry sigh. Welp. I should not have taken my helmet off that easily.

But outwardly? The transformation was instantaneous. She deployed the fake, semi-cheerful, kind, and understanding persona without missing a single beat, a polished smile locking into place as she turned to greet her fans.

---

Behind the safety of the cash register, Shin Nitta was currently experiencing a state of pure, unadulterated financial bliss.

While Kourin skillfully managed the wall of fans, a secondary line had rapidly formed right next to her—composed entirely of players who suddenly felt an overwhelming, desperate need to buy whatever booster packs Ultra Rare might approve of.

Shin's fingers were a blur across the keys, the bell of the register chiming a frantic, joyful rhythm.

"Yes, yes, thank you for your patronage! Excellent choice on Booster packs, Morikawa! May the goddess bless your pulls!" Shin beamed, his glasses catching the light with a predatory, capitalist gleam as he slid a fresh stack of booster packs across the glass.

He leaned over the counter, practically radiating a golden aura of his own. "Come now, everyone! Don't let your rivals out-build you in front of Kourin-sama! We have plenty of stock!"

A few feet away, Misaki stood with her arms crossed, watching her uncle with a look of profound, deeply resigned disbelief.

"You're shameless," she muttered, her voice a flat line of judgment over the ambient noise. "An actual vulture."

"It's called supply and demand, Misaki-chan!" Shin countered smoothly, not even looking back as he snapped open a fresh box of cards with a flourish. "Opportunities like this don't just walk into the shop wearing a motorcycle helmet every day! We must strike while the iron is hot!"

Misaki let out a long, heavy sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose as Shin eagerly rang up another starstruck regular. Well, it is our shop.

She headed to go get a few more boxes, threading her way through the crowded aisle, weaving around a player who was loudly demanding a rematch. Reaching the locked storage cabinet behind the secondary counter, she keyed in the small combination lock by memory.

Well, if we're going to bleed them dry, we might as well go all-in, she thought with a dry, internal smirk.

As she walked back toward the front register, she dumped the heavy boxes onto the glass counter right next to Shin with a solid, echoing thud.

"Here," Misaki said flatly, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Don't let them say Card Capital ran out of stock during a divine visitation."

"Oh! Misaki-chan, you are a visionary!" Shin gasped, his eyes practically turning into glowing yen signs as he immediately snatched up the fresh boxes to display them. "See here, boys! The goddess's own fortune awaits in these fresh packs!"

Misaki didn't stay to watch the next feeding frenzy. She stepped away from the cash register, her eyes instinctively scanning the room as the heavy noise of the crowd faded into a dull, predictable hum in her ears.

---

Just outside the blast radius of Shin's sales pitch, Aichi watched the spectacle with a soft, amused chuckle. He looked down at his cards, his thumb lightly tracing the edge of the Blaster Blade Kourin had just thrown to him, and a quiet determination settled over him.

Well, he thought to himself, today's as good a day as any.

He started to rise from his metal chair, scraping it lightly against the tile floor.

"Oh, Aichi, what are you doing?" Emi asked from beside him, tilting her head as she watched him stand up.

"I'm gonna go buy some booster packs too," he explained, offering a small, reassuring smile.

"You're gonna update your deck?" she asked. Her eyes instinctively flicked from her brother over to the massive line snaking toward the counter. Is he planning to line up just because of Kourin too? Does Aichi have a crush?

A small, mischievous spark flared in her mind. Well, he did recognize her instantly even when Morikawa didn't... and he did battle her before... hm...

"Well, it was actually in the back of my mind," Aichi admitted, scratching his cheek sheepishly. "We are heading to the Nationals after all. So..."

"Well, it was actually in the back of my mind," Aichi admitted, entirely oblivious to the rapid inner-monologue his younger sister was currently constructing. He scratched his cheek sheepishly, his eyes drifting toward the ceiling as he thought out loud. "We are heading to the Nationals after all. So..."

"So you're taking the opportunity when Kourin gave you the Blaster Blade card to rearrange your deck then?" Emi prodded, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes playfully, waiting for any telltale blush.

"Uh-huh." Aichi nodded honestly,

Emi let out a tiny, invisible sigh, her shoulders dropping just a fraction. So it's not unrelated to Miss Kourin, but not a crush either. How disappointing.

"Don't forget me, Miss Emi!" Kamui called out from another table across the room. His own cards were heavily scattered across its top in loose, unorganized piles.

Emi turned around, surprised. "You're doing this too?"

"Well, unlike some people..." Kamui turned his head, heavily side-eyeing a certain Grade 3-obsessed someone who was currently suffocating Kourin along with the rest of the crowd. "...I actually want to learn from my mistakes."

"So you're updating your deck too?" Emi asked.

"I wouldn't call it updating completely," Kamui clarified, crossing his arms with a confident grin. "More like reviewing my cards, with maybe a few small tweaks."

"I see. Good luck you two!" She smiled at them.

"Thanks, Emi." Aichi said, as he headed to the lines. Kamui echoing a beat later, smitten by Emi's smile.

---

Behind the counter, the frantic rush of customers had finally slowed to a manageable trickle. Shin let out a satisfied breath, stacking the last pile of yen notes into the register before sliding the drawer shut with a crisp ding.

As he straightened his apron, his gaze drifted across the shop. He saw Aichi first—leaning back in his chair with that quiet, contented smile, thumb resting gently on the newly slotted Blaster Blade in his reorganized Royal Paladin deck.

Then his eyes found Misaki.

She stood a few feet away, knuckles resting lightly on the edge of the counter, staring down at her own deck. Her thumb traced slow circles over the top card.

The sight pulled Shin back to the previous evening.

The shop had been closed for hours.

Only a single fluorescent light hummed above the counter where Shin had been balancing the books. The heavy wooden door to the back stairs creaked open, and Misaki stepped in wearing her comfortable home clothes. She didn't look at him at first. Her fingers traced the edge of the counter before she finally lifted her gaze.

"Uncle Shin…" Her voice had been barely above a whisper, cracking just slightly. "Do you… still have their key?"

Shin had frozen, pen slipping from his fingers. He didn't need her to explain. That key belonged to the small velvet-lined case in the safe upstairs; the legacy Oracle Think Tank cards her parents had built together before the accident.

"Of course I do," he had answered softly, already reaching into his pocket. His hands trembled as he placed the small golden key in her palm. "I never got rid of it."

Misaki's fingers closed around it tightly.

For a long moment she simply stood there, eyes shining with something fierce and fragile at the same time. Then, without another word, she turned toward the back room, carrying the weight of years with her.

Shin blinked, returning to the present. Across the shop, Misaki was still standing in the same spot, but her posture had changed. There was a quiet resolve in the set of her shoulders now—the kind that only came after opening old, painful doors.

She looked up. Her eyes met Aichi's table.

Then, without hesitation, she picked up her deck and started walking toward him.

---

Aichi set the last card into place with a quiet, satisfaction.

He leaned back slightly, looking over the arrangement spread across the table — the familiar shapes of knights and paladins and loyal hounds, reorganized.

Especially the new Blaster Blade copy slotted in where it belonged as naturally as if it had always been there.

He hadn't noticed Misaki approaching until her deck landed on the table in front of him with a soft, deliberate thud.

He blinked, looking up.

Misaki's asking for a match?

The thought arrived with a small note of surprise.

Misaki rarely sought out matches; she watched, she calculated, she offered commentary sharp enough to cut glass, but she didn't usually plant herself across a table and initiate. Usually she just agrees if people ask her for a match but never started them on her own initiative.

"I see you've finished rearranging your deck," she said, nodding toward his spread cards. "So — care for a match?"

"Sure." Aichi smiled, already gathering his cards back into formation. "I was just thinking I'd want to test it out anyway."

"Good." Misaki pulled out the chair across from him and sat, settling her own deck between her hands with a composure that was just slightly more deliberate than her usual kind.

Aichi didn't notice. He was already shuffling.

---

A few feet away, the small cluster of fans still lingering around Kourin finnaly showed signs of thinning.

She had been fielding questions and photo requests for the better part of an hour with the kind of effortless, polished patience that came from practice — smiling at exactly the right moment, angling her head at exactly the right degree, giving responses that were warm enough to satisfy without being personal enough to cost anything.

But her eyes had drifted.

Aichi was settling his deck onto the table. Misaki was doing the same across from him.

Oh?

The corner of Kourin's mouth shifted — barely a fraction, gone almost before it arrived.

I wonder, she thought, her gaze settling on the deck box in Aichi's hands — the one she already knew contained one more copy of Blaster Blade than it had that morning, how he's going to use that.

---

"Stand up," Misaki said, her hand resting flat against her face-down card.

"Stand up," Aichi echoed, his voice grounded with a quiet, focused intensity.

"Vanguard!" They chanted in unison, flipping their starting units simultaneously.

---

A few feet away from the table, Kamui and Emi were watching the match begin, their eyes glued to the newly revealed starting units.

"Wow," Kamui muttered, his eyes widening as he adjusted his posture. "Misaki-san updated her cards too? Man... okay, now I'm not entirely sure about Aichi-aniki winning this one."

Emi tilted her head, turning to look at him with a curious expression. "You had Aichi winning against Misaki, Kamui?"

"Well..." Kamui rubbed the back of his neck, his voice dropping into a slightly more serious tone. "You were there yesterday, Miss Emi. You saw how he was playing."

"Right..." Emi murmured softly, the memory of yesterday's intense atmosphere flashing briefly through her mind. "But what makes you say that you're not sure anymore?"

"Wellllll, just look at Misaki" Kamui said, gesturing subtly with his chin toward the counter side of the table.

"What?" Emi followed his gaze, her breath catching slightly. " Whoa..."

"Right?" Kamui whispered, a grin mixed with pure awe breaking through his face. "She's practically burning with passion right now. The vibe around her is completely different. I honestly can't see who's gonna win now."

"Wait, you guys are talking as if Aichi got absurdly stronger since the last regionals..." Izaki intervened, stepping into their space with his arms crossed, his brow furrowed in deep skepticism.

"He did," Kamui announced flatly, not breaking his gaze from the playmat. "He beat Kourin yesterday."

"But Kamui... you lost to..." Izaki trailed off, pointing a thumb back toward the blonde idol before looking back at Kamui, the math clearly not adding up in his head.

"Yeah," Kamui shrugged, entirely unfazed. "If I wasn't a step beat late today, I would have asked Aichi-aniki for a cardfight myself."

Emi looked at Kamui, searching his face. There was no trace of bitterness or frustration in his eyes—just a pure, electric excitement. "You're not... I don't know, scared? Or angry?" she asked softly.

Kamui looked back at her and answered simply, without a shred of hesitation, "Why would I be?"

Emi blinked, a small smile forming on her lips. "Wow..."

"I mean, yeah, I admit I am a little jealous," Kamui confessed, a sheepish grin returning to his face as he looked back at the game. "But if a Vanguard fighter grows, it should be celebrated. That just means there's a higher wall for me to climb!"

---

"Stand up," Misaki said, her hand resting flat against her face-down card.

"Stand up," Aichi echoed, his voice grounded with a quiet, focused intensity.

"Vanguard!" They chanted in unison, flipping their starting units simultaneously.

"Barcgal!" Aichi declared, revealing the small, metallic high dog puppy.

"Godhawk, Ichibiyoshi," Misaki counter-announced, flipping over the ornate, mystical avian unit of the Oracle Think Tank clan.

The moment the card art of the celestial hawk caught the light, a sudden, jarring sensation ripped through Aichi's mind.

The sounds of Card Capital—the ambient chatter, the rustling of cards, the heavy breathing of the lingering crowd behind Kourin—abruptly bottomed out into absolute, dead silence.

The shop around him didn't vanish, but it blurred, bleeding at the edges like wet ink.

And in the space between himself and Misaki, a faint, hazy image materialized directly over the table.

It was a small, extraordinarily vivid fragment of a memory. But Aichi knew, with an instinct that bypassed his brain entirely, that it didn't belong to him.

The scene was bathed in a thick, warm, amber lamplight—an old, incandescent glow that felt completely different from the stark, sterile tubes overhead.

Two figures were hunched over a counter that looked remarkably like the one Misaki stood behind every afternoon, but it was cleaner, newer. He couldn't make out their faces; their features were softened and obscured by a gentle, golden haze of time.

But he could see their hands. And he could see their expressions.

They were smiling.

It was a deep, comfortable, shared warmth that radiated through the spectral image, a sense of profound peace as their fingers moved together, carefully laying down and sorting through a deck of pristine, crisp cards.

There were no grand stakes here.

It was just a quiet, domestic sanctuary built entirely out of a pure, unadulterated love for the game.

A emotional weight so heavy and sweet it made Aichi's chest ache pressed down on him. His breath hitched sharply in his throat.

He blinked hard.

Thud.

The vision shattered like brittle glass.

The air returned to his lungs.

The background noise of Card Capital slammed back into his ears.

Across the playmat, Misaki was already drawing her card for the turn, her expression cool, calculated, and completely oblivious to the flash of insight that had just cracked open across the table.

What... what was that? Aichi thought, his heart hammering against his ribs as he stared down at the Godhawk, Ichibiyoshi on Misaki's vanguard circle.

 

[NewName]

I'm not completely satisfied with the chapter's pacing, but i wanna be done with the setup for the match already. It's gonna be aichi's revamped deck vs misaki's goddess of the moon deck.

I was thinking for it to be shadow paladin vs oracle think tank, but i felt that the psyqualia moment of seeing memories should belong to the royal paladin, aichi's first clan, so royal vs oracle it is.

Also, i didnt change the last chapter's akane and garmore's calling, i'll keep it in mind for the future, but im satisfied enough with the conversations around it, that i dont want to just change it.

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[NewName]

"Activating Godhawk, Ichibiyoshi's skill," Misaki announced calmly, her voice steady but holding the faintesrt traces of an indescribable emotion. "I look at the top five cards of my deck and search for a copy of Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi. And if there is…"

In the real world, she simply drew five cards with practiced ease, her expression cool and focused. But in the vision unfolding across Aichi's senses, the Card Capital table dissolved into something far greater.

On Cray, beneath a vast, star-filled night sky, the blue-green bird dissolved in a brilliant burst of moonlight. From that silver radiance, a small, graceful figure emerged, clad in flowing white robes that shimmered like liquid pearl. Behind her, a perfect crescent moon rose slowly, bathing the battlefield in gentle, ethereal light.

Aichi's breath caught.

"I Superior Ride…" Misaki continued, placing the card with quiet reverence. "Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi."

The figure on Cray lifted her head. Her presence was serene yet commanding, a quiet goddess stepping into her domain. The night itself seemed to bow as her power rippled outward.

Misaki placed four cards to the bottom of her deck in a smooth, deliberate motion. "I place these four cards to the bottom of my deck in any order."

She looked up, meeting Aichi's eyes across the table for the first time since the ride.

"Then I end my turn."

The vision flickered. For a brief moment, Aichi thought he saw two faint silhouettes standing behind Misaki's vanguard on Cray — a man and a woman, side by side, watching with gentle, proud smiles before they faded back into the moonlight.

The shop's ambient noise rushed back in. The weight in Aichi's chest lingered, warm and heavy, as he stared at the elegant Oracle Think Tank vanguard now standing across from his Barcgal.

That power… that presence…

Aichi exhaled slowly, fingers tightening around his next card.

"My turn."


Misaki Tokura:
Empty / Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi / Empty
Empty / Empty / Empty
Card count: 6 Damage count: 0

---

"I draw," Aichi announced,.

He looked at the cards in his hand, his thumb sliding over the edge of a Grade 1 unit. "I ride... Little Sage, Marron! And because a Grade 1 has ridden over him, Barcgal moves out to the rear-guard circle."

He smoothly slid the metallic high dog puppy out from underneath Marron, placing it in the back row.

"Now, I activate Barcgal's skill," Aichi continued, resting the puppy card. "By resting him, I superior call Future Knight, Llew from my deck to the rear-guard circle!"

A burst of wind and light materialized beside Marron as the young knight appeared on Cray, armor gleaming under the lingering moonlight.

"There it is. He's setting it up. " Kamui said from the sidelines.

"Llew supports Marron," Aichi declared. "Marron attacks Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi!"

The moment the declaration left his lips, the cool fluorescent lights of Card Capital faded into the background once more. In his mind's eye, the battlefield of Planet Cray materialized with vivid clarity.

Behind the young vanguard, Future Knight Llew gave his energy, channeling a bright, pale blue energy that rippled forward across the stone.

In front of him, Little Sage Marron stood resolute, his spellbook flying open as the pages whipped wildly in the sudden draft. Marron brought two fingers firmly to his forehead, his brow furrowing in deep concentration as he focused the borrowed energy.

Misaki didn't move her hand. "I don't guard."

"Drive trigger check. " Aichi flipped the top card of his deck.

Grade 1, Young Pegasus Knight. No trigger.

With a sharp command, a fierce, blinding lightning blast erupted from the sage's open palm, tearing through the heavy darkness of the night sky straight toward the small, moonlit goddess on Misaki's vanguard circle.

The attack landed cleanly. Tsukuyomi gracefully absorbed the blow, though the moonlight behind her wavered slightly from the impact.

" I end my turn. "


Aichi Sendou's field:
Empty / Little Sage Marron / Empty
Empty / Future Knight Llew / barcgal
Card count: 6 Damage count: 0

---

Misaki Tokura:
Empty / Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi / Empty
Empty / Empty / Empty
Card count: 6 Damage count: 1


"My turn," Misaki declared, drawing her card with steady focus.

"Activating Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi's skill. I search the top five cards of my deck…"

Her fingers moved with precision as she found what she was looking for. "And if there is a copy of half-moon, I…"

In the vision blooming across Aichi's senses, the elegant crescent moon goddess shimmered and transformed.

"Superior Ride… Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi!"

The small white figure in flowing robes evolved into a more powerful form—a striking girl with long dark hair, crowned by a radiant golden half-moon headdress. Her crimson eyes glowed with quiet authority as she stood bathed in brilliant silver moonlight, the majestic blue-green bird of Ichibiyoshi soaring beneath her feet, the very image of the card now resting on Misaki's vanguard circle.

---

"Wow… Misaki's hand is massive," Kamui recognized, his eyes widening as he tried to count the sheer volume of cards gripped tightly in her fingers.

"Wait, you're right. How did that happen?" Emi asked, tilting her head.

"That's the power of the Tsukuyomi ride line," Shin interrupted from behind the counter, leaning forward with a proud, knowing smile as he adjusted his glasses.

"Huh?" Emi said, turning to the shop manager.

"Ah! I see!" Kamui exclaimed, hitting his open palm with a fist as the realization clicked.

"Tsukuyomi has the ability to search the top five cards at the start of each turn, with the two normal rides she didn't have to perform from her hand thanks to the activation of the skill…" Shin said, his voice brimming with pride for his niece as he adjusted his glasses.

"She was able to build her hand that large!!" Kamui interrupted, practically bouncing on his heels as he gestured wildly at the table. "Man, she hasn't dropped a single card from her hand to ride since Grade 0! That's insane efficiency!"

---

Misaki didn't let the sideline chatter break her focus.

"Activating Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi's skill. With both Godhawk, Ichibiyoshi and Crescent Moon Tsukuyomi in my soul, I soul charge two cards."

She drew the two top cards of her deck and placed it underneath her Vanguard.

"I call, White Hare of Inaba."

An adorable lavender rabbit with long flowing ears, wearing an ornate golden headdress and surrounded by glowing white butterflies, materialized on the field.

"White Hare's skill — I soul charge one card from my hand." She took one card on her hand and placed it in the soul.

Misaki placed another card down. "And I call Silent Tom to the rear-guard."

A mysterious silver-haired figure in a dark suit and tilted hat appeared in the shadows, one gloved finger pressed to his lips in a hush. An eerie, ghostly aura swirled around him.

"Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi attacks your vanguard."

Aichi didn't hesitate. "No guard."

Misaki flipped the top card of her deck.

And it glowed yellow.

"Battle Sister, Ginger. Critical Trigger. Critical to Tsukuyomi, and 5000 power to SIlent Tom."

The Half-Moon Goddess stood high in her stirrups, raising her sword toward the heavens. The magnificent blue-green bird beneath her unleashed a piercing, otherworldly shriek, its wings beating back the atmosphere as it dove straight out of the lunar sky. It struck Marron with the force of a falling meteor, a cascading wave of pressurized moonlight crashing over Aichi's field.

Aichi checked his damage.

"Damage check," he murmured, reaching for the top of his deck. "First check."

He flipped the card. The surface gleamed under the shop's fluorescent lights, revealing a grand royal knight clad in heavy silver armor, sitting regally atop a pure white armored steed.

"King of Knights, Alfred... no trigger." He slid it into the damage zone.

---

"What? Alfred?!" Kamui yelped from the sidelines, clutching his hair in absolute disbelief. "No way! Not the King!"

"Wow... Aichi's so unlucky this time," Reiji added. He knew exactly what that card meant to Aichi's usual playstyle. "He only has one copy of Alfred in there, too."

"He's down a powerful Vanguard," Eiji noted from the back, crossing his arms with a low, sympathetic whistle. "Losing one of your ultimate Grade 3's to an early damage check hurts."

---

The threat wasn't over. The critical trigger demanded a second sacrifice. Aichi's fingers hovered over the deck, and It showed the very same young, robed figure currently facing the brunt of the assault on his vanguard circle.

"Second check... Little Sage, Marron."

Then came the follow-up.

"Boosted by White Hare of Inaba, Silent Tom attacks!"

A powerful, pressurized surge of pure kinetic force exploded from silent tom's fingertips, tearing through the air toward Marron.

"Silent Tom's skill. While he attacks, no Grade 0 units can be called to the guard circle," Misaki reminded him, her voice deadpan and absolute.

For a fraction of a second, the ambient light of the shop seemed to catch in Aichi's eyes. A strange, fleeting kaleidoscope of color—a faint, rainbow gleam—flashed deep within his irises.

He didn't panic. He didn't even look at his hand. He merely said, "I don't guard."

Marron took the hit head-on, the invisible bullet smashing through his magic barrier and sending the young sage crashing into the stone ground.

"Damage check," Aichi announced, flipping the top card of his deck.

The edge of the card caught the light, glowing a bright, unmistakable yellow. It was a trigger—but it was a turn too late.

"Bringer of Good Luck, Epona…"

Izaki let out a small, frustrated sound, shaking his head. "Oh man… what a waste. Aichi's at three damage, and his last damage check just had to be a trigger too."

"Uh-huh. It would have been great if it was a heal, it's a shame it was a critical..." Emi sighed softly, her shoulders dropping in sympathy for her brother.

Great! I dealt him three damage this turn, but... Misaki's eyes narrowed, her sharp gaze cutting straight past Aichi's vanguard and locking onto the two units waiting patiently in his back row.



Misaki tokura's field:
Silent tom / Goddess of the half moon tsukuyomi / empty
White hare of inaba / empty / empty
Card count: 5 Damage count: 1

---

Aichi Sendou's field:
Empty / Little Sage Marron / Empty
Empty / Future Knight Llew / barcgal
Card count: 6 Damage count: 3

"Stand and draw," Aichi said..

"I call two copies of Young Pegasus Knight to the rear-guard circle!"

On the battlefield of Cray, the heavy silence left by Silent Tom's ghostly presence was suddenly shattered by the piercing cry of celestial steeds. Two majestic white pegasi descended from the starlit sky, their wings kicking up flurries of feathers and dust as their armored riders leveled their swords.

Misaki's eyes narrowed, the gears in her mind turning instantly. That's gonna be a powerful. Attack.

"Wait, why would he summon new units first? He can't ride anymore this turn if he just calls them," Izaki said, scratching his head as he looked at the board.

"Remember, he can still superior ride," Kamui pointed out.

"Right, he can, but why would he call them first before doing the ride?" Izaki asked, still confused by the sequencing.

"It's because of Young Pegasus Knight's skill—" Kamui started to explain, before he was cut off by Aichi's sudden movement.

"Now, I activate Barcgal's skill," Aichi continued, resting the mechanical pup once more. "I superior call... Flogal!"

The pink-and-white high dog bounced onto the field with an energetic bark, taking its place next to Llew.

"The board is set," Misaki said, her voice quiet but remarkably steady as she watched Aichi place the third card needed for the chain. She braced herself, her fingers tightening against her massive hand. "Here it comes."

"Llew's counterblast," Aichi announced, his fingers moving with absolute certainty as he reached into his damage zone and flipped one card face down. "By sending Barcgal, Future Knight, Llew, and Flogal to the soul..."

He slid the three cards smoothly underneath his vanguard. On Cray, the three young units dissolved into pure columns of light, their spirits swirling together and channeling directly into the center of the field.

"I search my deck, and I Superior Ride!!" Aichi's voice resonated, carrying a weight that made the lingering spectators snap their heads toward the table. "Come forth and shine through, my avatar!!"

A massive, blinding pillar of blue and silver light burst straight through Marron.

But unlike the previous sensations of watching Cray as an outsider, this time, the boundary dissolved completely. Aichi didn't just see it—he felt it.

He felt the biting chill of the winds of Cray whipping against his face, the cool, solid weight of enchanted steel resting in his palm, and the heavy, reassuring press of white-and-blue armor locking around his chest.

For that breathtaking second, Aichi Sendou embodied his avatar.

"Blaster Blade!!"

Misaki saw it.

Even on the flat surface of the cardboard mat, the very instant Aichi's fingers released the card, the mundane walls of Card Capital dissolved before her eyes.

She saw Cray.

She saw the sacred knight land with a heavy, echoing thud, the blue-and-silver armor gleaming as the light of justice cut through the moonlight of her night sky.

And for a fraction of a second, when she looked at the knight, she didn't see a drawing—she saw Aichi himself, standing tall his presence overwhelming.

It's like last time….What is this...? …Psy…qualia? Misaki thought, her breath hitching as her perfect memory cataloged something that shouldn't logically exist. Is this... what Aichi sees when he plays?

---

A few feet away, Kourin, even while nodding politely to a starstruck fan's question, froze.

Her sharp eyes snapped toward the table. She felt it instantly—the undeniable, heavy distortion in the air, the advent of Cray bleeding into reality.

But more than Aichi's usual resonance, she felt a secondary, sudden spike in the room's energy. She felt the exact moment Misaki's mind crossed the threshold.

Oh? Kourin thought to herself, a subtle, knowing smirk hidden behind her idol smile. Well, she is fighting Aichi after all. Looks like PSYQualia dragged her into the deep end too. I mean there were small hints back her last two turns, but still…

In her eyes, she didn't see a regular table with plastic mats.

She saw the field, not as a hologram or mere cards, but as a living, breathing reality overlaying the shop.

The legendary knight materialized on the vanguard circle in a flash of light as he unsheathed his blade, shattering Tsukuyomi's golden moonlight with his own brilliant, piercing aura.

Flanking him stood the twin knights atop their majestic pegasi, their steed's wings spread wide as they kicked up gale-force winds across the stone floor.

And on the opposing side, standing right beside the serene half-moon goddess, was the assassin with a ghastly presence—literally speaking—the specter blending into the chilling lunar mist.

Kourin watched, her pulse quickening slightly as she witnessed the raw, unfiltered echo of Planet Cray manifesting right in front of them.

---

"Wow..." Emi whispered, her hands clasped tightly against her chest as she stared at her brother, who seemed to be radiating an entirely different kind of presence now.

"Next, the skill of both Young Pegasus Knights triggers," Aichi declared. "For every card that entered the soul this turn, they gain 3,000 power. With Marron, Flogal, Llew, and Barcgal all added... that's four cards. Both of my Pegasus Knights now stand at 18,000 power!"

The two celestial knights roared as the ambient soul energy absorbed into their swords, their pegasi rearing back as their wings surged with blinding white light.

"So that's why Aichi did that..." Izaki realized, a wave of understanding washing over him. "If he had superior ridden before calling them, they wouldn't have gotten any of that power!"

"Yep. Just this turn, it's like he has the attacking power of an average Grade 3 from his Grade 1 support," Kamui said, grinning ear to ear.

"Amazing." Emi said.

"And I'm not done," Aichi said, his eyes flashing with determination. "Blaster Blade's counterblast! I flip my two remaining damage—Silent Tom,"

Blaster Blade leveled his sword, charging it with a crackling wave of concentrated energy.

"Retire!"

Aichi, embodying him once more, stabbed the floor underneath. The energy traveled invisibly through the ground before erupting upward in a spectacular pillar of white and blue light. The blast caught the ghostly assassin from beneath, and vaporizing Silent Tom into a cloud of dark mist before he could even raise his finger gun.

"With Tom gone, Aichi got rid of her intercept!!" Reiji cheered from the sidelines, completely blind to the ethereal clash the fighters were experiencing. "Not to mention, the grade 0 guarding restriction it had…"

"Then, I move one my front row back, Pegasus Knights to the back row, " Aichi said, sliding his cards down "and from my hand, I call Old Sage, Barron!"

The veteran sage Barron took the left, flank, his hand both backed by the immense, overflowing power of the empowered Pegasus Knights.

Aichi looked up, his gaze steady, matching the quiet intensity of the half-moon goddess across from him. "Let's go, Misaki-san."

Misaki took a look at her remaining cards, at the knight overlapping in her vision.

"Bring it on Aichi. "

---

"Boosted by Pegasus Knight, Old Sage, Barron attacks your Vanguard!" Aichi declared, tapping the cards on the left column.

As the young pegasus knight lent his overflowing soul-strength, the veteran sage moved forward on the battlefield. Even appearing as eccentric as his lore suggested, Barron wielded immense arcane authority. Several massive, runic magic circles materialized in glowing sequence directly in front of the elder.

"I don't guard," Misaki said, her eyes fixed on the unfolding strategy.

The magic circles rotated with a heavy, grinding mechanical sound, and a massive blast of ruptured earth and raw kinetic energy tore through the ground, rocketing skyward to strike the floating half-moon goddess. The impact shook the lunar mist, and in the real world, a second card slid into Misaki's damage zone.

"Then... Blaster Blade attacks!" Aichi shouted, tapping his vanguard column.

With a powerful, localized leap that defied gravity, the legendary knight launched himself high into the air, his glowing blade raised overhead as he aimed a decisive strike directly at the flying, celestial form of Tsukuyomi.

Misaki didn't let the pressure shake her. She pulled a card from her hand. "Battle Sister, Ginger will guard."

On Cray, a pink-haired battle sister stepped into the fray, raising a heavy, buckler-style shield to deflect Blaster Blade's downward slash, sparks flying as the blade ground against the barrier.

"Drive check!" Aichi announced, his hand reaching for the top of his deck.

As his fingers touched the cardboard, the card glowed a vibrant, fiery red.

"Draw trigger! Margal!" Aichi called out. "I give the additional 5,000 power to my right-wing Pegasus Knight, and I draw a card!"

The spectral form of the little high dog popped onto the field, howling as it transferred its energy over to the remaining standing rear-guard.

"Now, the right-wing Young Pegasus Knight attacks!" Aichi directed, his remaining column sliding forward, surged with the extra trigger power.

I would have guarded i if it weren't for the trigger. Misaki thought to herself. "I don't guard,"

The winged steed caught up to the goddess in the silver sky and struck with his sword, the blow hitting with crushing force under the light of the half-moon.

Misaki placed her hand on her deck. "Damage check."

She flipped the top card. "No trigger." It slid cleanly into her damage zone.

Aichi exhaled, the heavy weight of embodying his avatar slowly receding back into the cards as he leveled his posture. "I end my turn."


Aichi Sendou's field:
Old sage barron / Blaster Blade / Young Pegasus knight
Young Pegasus Knight / Empty / Empty
Card count: 6 Damage count: 3

---

"It's Misaki's turn, right?" Emi asked, her eyes darting between the players.

"Uh-huh," Izaki nodded, crossing his arms. "She had Crescent, then Half-Moon, so if we're going by naming convention, next should be..."

"FULL MOON!!" Morikawa suddenly shouted, bursting into the conversation with dramatic flair.

"Morikawa?!" Izaki gasped, nearly jumping out of his skin. "I thought you'd be sticking like dog-plaster to Kourin over by the other tables! What are you doing back here?"

Morikawa flinched, casting a nervous, sweating glance back toward where Kourin stood surrounded by a literal wall of adoring fans. "Well... I..."

"Ah. You got kicked out, didn't you?" Izaki smirked.

"Shut up! No, I didn't!" Morikawa snapped, crossing his arms and huffing proudly. "I merely decided to let others have the chance to bathe in the glorious presence of the goddess that is Kourin! I am a generous man!"

"Speaking of goddesses... do you actually know the next card in Misaki's ride chain?" Emi asked, turning to him with genuine curiosity.

"Of course! You are speaking to Katsumi Morikawa, the absolute master of Grade 3s!" he boasted, striking a ridiculous pose. "There is no Grade 3 in existence that I do not know inside and out!"

"Stop the showboating and get on with it," Eiji sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Hmph! Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi is a card with 11,000 power!" Morikawa declared confidently.

"That's it? Just the power?" Izaki deadpanned.

"Why, you—!"

"Now, now," Emi said, waving her hands to calm them down. "At least we know for sure what the next card is..."

"Are you sure about that?" Kamui interrupted, his voice dropping all its usual playfulness. His eyes remained locked entirely on the field, unblinking.

Morikawa blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it," Kamui said, his expression dead serious. "Misaki-san already pulled off two superior rides just in this cardfight. That's already crazy lucky. She was able to build up her massive hand because of that... but how about now? Can she really pull off a third consecutive superior ride right here, right now? If she misses that one specific card in the top five, the whole chain breaks!"

---

Misaki tokura's field:
Empty / Goddess of the half moon tsukuyomi / empty
White hare of inaba / empty / empty
Card count: 4 Damage count: 3

"Stand and draw," Misaki declared, drawing her card with steady focus.

As she added the extra card to her hand, she released a slow, quiet breath, Kamui's words echoing in her ears.

What he said is true, she thought, her fingers lightly resting on her deck. Even I think I was lucky these past few turns. I already have a copy of Crescent Moon and Half-Moon in my hand from drawing them naturally, but still… I was lucky that I could save them up and let the superior rides do the work.

But I don't have a copy of the Full Moon in my hand though, so… please.

"Activating Goddess of the Half-Moon, Tsukuyomi's skill," she announced, her voice steadying. "I search the top five cards of my deck…"

She slowly grabbed the top five cards, lifting them one by one. Her sharp eyes searched the surface of each card as she slid them into her view.

First card... White Hare of Inaba. No.

Second card... Dream Eater. No.

Third card... Battle Sister, Chocolat. No.

Fourth card... Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi. No.

Then came the fifth card.

Misaki smiled. It was a pure, unburdened smile.

In that exact moment, Aichi's vision shifted. He didn't see the starry battlefield of Cray anymore. Instead, he saw a younger Misaki, laughing and smiling, completely surrounded by two warm, loving figures.

It was the exact same memory that had flickered when Crescent Moon first came onto the field earlier, but now it was radiant and crystal clear.

Misaki lifted the card up high.

"Gentle light breaking through the darkness," she began chanting, her voice steady and resonant.

---

"No way... she actually got all three?!" Izaki yelled, his jaw hitting the floorboards.

"How lucky is she?!" Kamui choked out, his eyes practically popping out of his head. He had just finished explaining how low the odds were, and she had just shattered those odds completely.

"Some would call it luck," Shin said from behind the counter, his tone surprisingly soft. He adjusted his glasses, a gentle, deeply affectionate smile playing on his lips. "And they're probably right."

"Manager?" Emi and Kamui's attention immediately shifted over to Shin, sensing the sudden weight in his voice.

"But in this moment, I see it differently…" Shin murmured, his eyes reflecting the brilliant, imaginary light emanating from the table. "It's like Cray itself smiled upon her today"

At his words, both Kamui and Emi felt their minds instantly flash back to yesterday—to the terrifying, awe-inspiring clash between Aichi and Ren.

"...I think you're right, Manager-san," Emi said softly, her eyes widening as she felt the familiar, mystical atmosphere returning to Card Capital.

"Cray, huh?" Kamui said, a solemn grin replacing his shock as he looked back down at the vanguard circle.

---

"Your smile brings hope to the entire world," Misaki's chant continued, bridging the gap between her memories and the game.

The translucent silhouettes of her mother and father stood close beside her, their expressions radiating a pure, unwavering love that seemed to pierce right through the heavy atmosphere of the cardfight.

The smiles they held were particularly bright, casting a gentle, protective warmth over the chair where Misaki stood.

To Aichi, it didn't feel like a mere trick of the mind or a simple coincidence.

Even if it was just a remnant of the powerful bond they left behind, the light surrounding Misaki in this very moment was undeniably real.

She was no longer just the quiet, guarded girl who managed the shop; she was a fighter standing at the center of her own universe, completely illuminated by the memories that kept her strong.

---

"Light breaks through the shadows!" Misaki declared. For the first time, a delicate tremor shook her voice—not from fear, but from the overwhelming warmth swelling in her chest.

A blinding light erupted from the vanguard circle, far stronger and more brilliant than anything that had come before in this fight. The intense, divine radiance actually tore right through the dark night sky of the battlefield, completely overpowering the soft, quiet moonlight that Half-Moon had left behind.

The Half-Moon goddess ascended into the heart of the light, her form evolving into a majestic, divine figure. Striking, vibrant blue and black feathered wings spread wide like a celestial butterfly, cutting through the darkness as a colossal, flawless silver full moon materialized directly behind her. Crowned with a radiant golden headdress, her presence was absolutely overwhelming—a brilliant beacon of hope and power that pushed back the shadows themselves.

With a definitive, echoing snap, Misaki brought the card down onto the table.

"Superior Ride… Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi!"

 

[Anon-Echo98]

"He's down a powerful Vanguard," Eiji noted from the back, crossing his arms with a low, sympathetic whistle. "Losing one of your ultimate Grade 3's to an early damage check hurts."

Click to shrink...

Yeeeah, thank Bushi for tthe Ride Deck.

"For every card that entered the soul this turn, they gain 3,000 power. With Marron, Flogal, Llew, and Barcgal all added... that's four cards. Both of my Pegasus Knights now stand at 18,000 power!"

Click to shrink...

Slight correction; a card being rode upon doesn't count as a card being moved into soul. Llew and co. still do count, so that'd bring the Pegasus Knights up to 15000, so still going strong. Just not insanely strong.

Everything else seems fine tho.

"Of course! You are speaking to Katsumi Morikawa, the absolute master of Grade 3s!" he boasted, striking a ridiculous pose. "There is no Grade 3 in existence that I do not know inside and out!"

Click to shrink...

Prep to eat humble pie then, 'cause dem Crossrides are-a-coming!

 

[NewName]

Slight correction; a card being rode upon doesn't count as a card being moved into soul. Llew and co. still do count, so that'd bring the Pegasus Knights up to 15000, so still going strong. Just not insanely strong.

Click to shrink...

Itsa superior ride though, that means marron should still count.

 

[Anon-Echo98]

Itsa superior ride though, that means marron should still count.

Click to shrink...

Sadly not. A Ride is a Ride, as far as effects like those care

 

[Lillie Jones]

Absolute Cinema
10/10
Continue on
Cheer!

 

[NewName]

Sadly not. A Ride is a Ride, as far as effects like those care

Click to shrink...

• Use Future Knight, Llew's Counterblast to add him, Flogal and Barcgal to the soul and power up this unit by 12000 Power (for the current turn only).

 

[Anon-Echo98]

Use Future Knight, Llew's Counterblast to add him, Flogal and Barcgal to the soul and power up this unit by 12000 Power (for the current turn only).

Click to shrink...

*Looks at the anime*
Huh... that still don't feel right.