Melusine began her turn.
"First, I activate the Spell Card 'Birth of the Dragon Fairy'!"
The card depicted Aurora cradling a piece of rotting flesh—the moment of their fateful first encounter, the start of their cursed bond.
"This card requires discarding one card from my hand to activate. I can then Special Summon a 'Fairy Knight Lancelot' from my Deck to the field!"
A blue light descended from the heavens.
Fairy Knight Lancelot
Lancer 8★ Attack Power: 2800 → 0
"So, she's not a 6-Star after all?"
It was understandable that Melusine was stronger than the other two, but if her level wasn't 6, she wouldn't synergize perfectly with the other Knights of the Round Table. Jiang You glanced at her effect: when face-up on the field, she could be treated as a 6-Star Servant. That's fine then.
"How could this be happening?"
Melusine felt a wave of powerlessness upon her arrival, reduced to a state as fragile as a leaf in the wind.
Tiamat's effect: While this card is face-up on the field, all Servants on your opponent's field have their Attack Power and Defense Power reduced to 0.
Without explicit explanations, the opponent would have to slowly deduce the card's effects themselves. This was especially advantageous with tricky effects like Tiamat's, creating a significant edge.
"Such power... but I can still fight! My own effect! When this card is successfully summoned, add one Horizon of Light from your Deck to your Hand!"
"Useless! Anti-Genesis negates all non-Beast Servant effects on the field!"
"I know. That's why I'm activating the Quick-Play Spell Card, 'Farewell to the Beloved'..."
The card art depicted Aurora lying in a pool of blood, still breathtakingly beautiful even on the brink of death. For some reason, Melusine couldn't shake the feeling that, in that moment, Aurora's expression was genuinely gentle, utterly devoid of artifice.
"Is this... the future?"
"The answer is: yes!" Jiang You affirmed. "You couldn't accept the consequences of Aurora revealing her true nature, so you took matters into your own hands. Based on the timeline, this should have happened within the last two years."
Of course, Jiang You's intervention had completely shattered the original narrative of the Faerie Realm. The Lostbelt's collapse and Aurora's entry into Pan-Human History would never come to pass. However, since this presented an opportunity for Aurora to die a more fitting death, Jiang You naturally offered the version that best served his interests.
"I... So it's just a possibility, right?"
Melusine understood that Jiang You had no reason to deceive her. The strong don't need to reassure the weak. She readily accepted his half-true, half-false answer.
"At least let me try harder! This card's effect! Destroy all cards on my field, and for each card destroyed, draw one card from the Deck!"
This card also has an effect: if it destroys "Aurora," it can Special Summon "Flame Calamity Melusine (Dragon Remains of Albion)" from the Deck, Hand, or Graveyard. But it doesn't really matter. Like Barghest, Melusine can pay half her Life Points to Special Summon her corresponding Calamity when her original form is destroyed by an effect.
"Because the effect activated when she wasn't on the field, she bypassed 'Anti-Genesis's' lockdown? Brilliant!"
Jiang You rarely saw his opponent play so well and felt genuinely impressed. However, the gap between them was too vast, and he hadn't even explained his own card's full effect yet. Melusine stood no chance.
"Since I was destroyed, I'll pay half my Life Points to Special Summon 'Flame Calamity Melusine' from my Deck! Ugh... Aaaahhh!"
Melusine let out a pained roar as black wings unfurled from her back. Her fairy form could no longer be maintained; surging crimson magical power enveloped her completely. In the next moment, she shot into the sky.
"Then let me show you my true power, fully unleashed! I will win this Duel!"
A crimson meteor plunged from the sky as a colossal black dragon, wreathed in razor-sharp gale winds, plunged into the battlefield. The dragon's form fused organic and mechanical elements, her slender body adorned with glowing red magical power patterns.
Flame Calamity Melusine
Lancer 10-Star Attack Power: 3800 → 0
With the chain of card effects resolved, Melusine successfully evaded all lockdown measures and added Horizon of Light to her hand.
Melusine discovered she could maintain full cognitive awareness in this dragon form, further elevating her assessment of Jiang You's Noble Phantasms by several orders of magnitude.
"Now then! Next is my effect as the Dragon of Calamity!"
Melusine, now in her dragon form, spoke in her usual voice.
"This effect can only be activated by tributing myself! Destroy all cards on your opponent's field. Your opponent cannot activate card effects in response to this effect! Additionally, if this card is sent to the Graveyard by this effect, it can be activated during the End Phase to Special Summon this card from the Graveyard, tributing the card that was used to activate this effect."
Melusine spread her wings and soared high, unleashing a blinding cruciform radiance from the heavens. A black-red energy cannon erupted, engulfing the entire Duel Space!
"With this..."
Melusine, having temporarily retreated to the Main Battle Zone, was about to breathe a sigh of relief. She had exhausted every means to counter Jiang You's lockdown tactics, and perhaps by sheer luck, she had barely survived this ordeal. But before she could even finish catching her breath, Tiamat's song pierced through the smoke and dust, materializing before her completely unscathed.
"...What?!"
[Tiamat] cannot be destroyed by card effects.
In reality, this Card was immune to the effects of other cards, which included battle destruction, so Jiang You wasn't exactly lying.
"It seems even this form of yours can't evade Tiamat's effects. So, how do you plan to win now?"
"But your Anti-Genesis, Set Card, and Lahmu Token have all been destroyed! So my attack still had an effect!" Melusine gritted her teeth, clinging to the slightest sliver of progress.
"Now you can't block my servant's effects. Time for a Normal Summon: Coral!"
A pink wind fairy materialized on the battlefield, seemingly carried by a gentle breeze. As one of the few virtuous beings among fairies, her aura was remarkably gentle.
Coral
Lancer, 1-Star, Attack Power 500
"Lord Lancelot?"
Coral looked around, her expression deeply puzzled. Just moments ago, she had been in Salisbury, overseeing the Lord's affairs as his right-hand fairy while he was away.
"Why am I here?"
"I'll make it brief," Melusine said.
Melusine had briefly considered sending Coral to inform Aurora, but with Coral's limited mobility, she would arrive too late to make a difference.
"The one over there is my enemy. I need your help!"