Dirge's Acrobatic Flight
Regardless of whether it soured Alexander's mood, Diego cackled like he'd already won.
That smug bastard grated on my nerves, so I immediately activated the card I'd set face-down.
"In that case, right now, I'm activating the magic circle I installed last turn."
"What?"
"That card is—"
To the immature brat who abruptly stopped laughing and stared at me, I smoothly flipped up the set card and showed it to him.
"—Rescue Signal! It's a card that meets its activation condition when a Rank 2 or lower creature in my field leaves the field but doesn't go to the graveyard."
"Doesn't go to the graveyard...!"
Yeah, perfect for a situation just like this.
As if I wouldn't know the weakness in my deck that even that idiot Diego figured out.
One of my deck's opening deployment plans is the combo of Cursed Doll, Lost World, and Rusty Factory to quickly summon a high-rank creature.
Forgetting how to draw the single copy of Lost World in my deck, if Cursed Marionette Doll gets removed by non-battle means, that route gets blocked.
Supplementing such an obvious weakness is just common sense unless you're an idiot, right?
If we were poor, that'd be one thing, but House Bardi is a prominent family in the provinces, and I'm the only son. No obstacles to buying up support cards. Plus, thanks to remembering my past life, my origin card pool was fatter than kids my age.
"I can summon a Rank 1 creature of the same attribute from my deck."
"Same attribute... Machine!"
"The creature I'm summoning is Terrforming Drone!"
I smoothly placed the origin card I'd drawn from my deck onto the field. At the same moment, a drone materialized over my side, roaring with the harsh whir of its propellers. Its heavily rusted, precarious body carried a translucent green capsule underneath.
★1 / Wind / Machine
Stats: 400
"The moment Terrforming Drone is summoned, its special ability activates! I can select and deploy one Zone card from my deck!"
"What?!"
Zone cards can only have one copy in the deck, but there are ways to search for them.
"The one I'm deploying is, of course, Lost World."
Rumble rumble rumble...
Unlike in my duel with Alexander, this time Lost World tore up the earth as it rose. The landscape of a world remembered only by me still looked like a massive graveyard.
But today, for some reason, pure white snow piled thickly on the skyscrapers standing like tombstones.
Just like in that nightmare a few days ago.
Of course, that didn't bring life back to the dead world... but it looked a bit better.
"...With Lost World's effect, I additionally deploy Rusty Factory from my deck without consuming mana crystals."
The grotesque factory district poked its head up from the world's grave. Above it, Terrforming Drone performed a precarious stunt flight.
"On top of that, I'll deploy another magic circle, Dirge's Acrobatic Flight."
"Kuh..."
"At the end of the turn when a Wind-type, Machine-attribute, Rank 2 or lower creature exists in my field, I can summon as many creatures with the same name as possible from my deck."
Vrrrrm—!
The propeller noise from Terrforming Drone was joined by more and more in harmony. Soon, four drones soared over the dead world.
They might look a bit shabby, but they flew carrying the wish for the peace of the dead.
"At the same time, Rusty Factory's effect activates. At the end of your turn, it adds Factory Gauges based on the types and number of creatures on my field."
Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!
Each Terrforming Drone adds two Factory Gauges, so now we have eight.
"To pull off this kind of deployment even on your turn... As expected of Bardi. Impressive."
"You got this~ Ricardo~."
I nodded once to my friends' cheers, then proceeded with my turn.
"My turn."
The new card I drew... perfect.
"First, I'll consume six Factory Gauges to summon two Lost Soldiers."
Clank. Clank. Clank. Screeeeech...
With grating noise, Rusty Factory opened its maw. Two mechanical soldiers shuffled out, their crimson camera eyes flashing.
The oil occasionally spurting from their bodies looked like thick blood.
"Lost Soldier's special ability. Perform three coin tosses; if two or more are heads, I can add one Machine-attribute creature from my deck to my hand." The coin toss magic built into the Battle Table activated.
At the same time, one of the mechanical soldiers wandering Lost World dug through a scrap heap and pulled something out. Bingo.
Even if Lost Soldier's ability had whiffed, I had backups, but this saves more advantage.
I drew one card from my deck. Seeing it, Diego's face tensed, probably thinking it was Nautilus.
"The creature I'm adding is Atomic Core!"
"Wha... not Nautilus?"
What would I even do with that guy right now, moron?
Even Nautilus isn't invincible. Magic & Creature has rare cards that remove opponent creatures without battling—like Nautilus itself.
If I drop Nautilus and it gets popped by one of those, then what? Just low-rank creatures and an exhausted Rusty Factory left.
Oh, and plummeting Soul Points from the destruction, too.
Nautilus is for the finishing blow. Not for situations where I can't guarantee the kill.
Yeah, better to build advantage more solidly.
"I'll tribute the two Lost Soldiers to summon Atomic Core!"
Rumble rumble rumble...!
A massive sphere rose from the center of the grotesque factory district. Atomic Core emitted blinding light mimicking the sun, stretching rays into every corner of Rusty Factory.
★4 / Light / Machine
Stats: 1,500
"Atomic Core... Rank 4... Stats 1,500...?"
Diego gaped in disbelief at Atomic Core's stats.
Way too low for a creature that ate two tributes. Alexander's tribute-free Abyssal Watchman from before was 1,600, and Diego's Snake Shaman - Gorgon Witch hit 1,500.
"Ha! I wondered what you'd do, and it's just summoning trash like this!"
"You need to fix that mouth of yours first."
"What?!"
Setting aside the rude tone, that's straight-up a flag, dumbass.
"I'll set one more magic circle and end my turn. And right now, Rusty Factory's effect activates."
Creatures on my field: four Terrforming Drones and one Atomic Core—five total.
But the Factory Gauges stacking this turn will be way higher.
"Plus, Atomic Core's special ability activates!"
"Special ability?"
"As long as this creature is on my field, I gain five extra Factory Gauges each turn!"
"Wha...?!"
The four Terrforming Drones provide eight gauges total. Atomic Core itself gives one base, plus five more from its ability.
So, Factory Gauges gained this turn—
"Fourteen...?"
Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!!
The rusted factory's meter hit 16. Excluding next turn's gains, I could summon five Lost Soldiers.
Well, max creature slots are eight, so practically three, but still.
"Like I said before, my deck has no trash cards."
Each one is a piece of victory.
"No, not just my cards—every card in Magic & Creature. Calling them trash is easy, but first check if you even qualify."
"You little...!"
"Your turn, Diego Borromeo. I told you."
If you have something to say, say it with cards, not your mouth.
His face flushed beet red.
"Kuh!"
That certain prince who called Cursed Marionette Doll trash before was the same.