Draws Are a Serious Matter #8
“Here goes—draw!”
Pollux swallowed hard and drew a card. But was it the overwhelming pressure from [Sea King - Nerbarus]? His fingers trembled faintly.
“……Hoo!”
Finally, after checking the drawn card, Pollux let out a deep sigh in a high-pitched tone. Relief bloomed across his feral face.
“The drawn card is Destiny Draw! So, I’ll add it to my hand!”
“Hm, in that case, further attacks would be pointless. I’ll end my turn!”
“Good—now it’s my turn!”
Pollux, who had immediately taken over the turn, drew two more cards from his deck. Tension still lingered on his face.
“Hahaha! It’s here! One of the cards I drew is Beast of the Stars - Kerawum! I summon it!”
Beast of the Stars - Kerawum
-Heh heh heh……
He had safely drawn the card he needed.
[Carne] let out a meaningful chuckle as she stroked her crystal orb. Her movements were a bit stiff from the earlier blow by [Specter Jelly], but the astrology she had divined last turn descended intact onto Pollux’s field.
The night sky artificially conjured by the magic of the Battle Table. Above Pollux’s side, untouched by the dark clouds summoned by [Sea King - Nerbarus], a trail of pure white starlight wove across the heavens.
The starlight connected into lines, the lines formed shapes, and the shapes birthed existence. The star cluster filling the sky suddenly turned—Leo came alive and stirred.
-……Grrrrowl……
An eerie silence. Followed by a low, rumbling roar. The beast’s cry, muffled and intertwined with thunderous echoes, sent chills racing up the listeners’ spines.
Its fur trailed long like a comet’s tail, and the lines composing its body resembled a neural network woven from starlight. With each heartbeat, the stars linked to its form flickered faintly, and miniature galaxies swirled quietly in its pupils.
[Beast of the Stars - Kerawum]. The tiger made of starlight descended straight from the heavens. The power of the stars pushed back the seawater. [Sea King - Nerbarus]’s brow twitched visibly.
-Grrrrowl……
Yet [Kerawum] paid no mind to the subtle ire emanating from the ancient lord of the seas, locking eyes directly with it. Those eyes were purely feral, yet they held the profound mystery of antiquity.
【Beast of the Stars - Kerawum】
★5 / Light Type / Beast Series
Stats: 3,000
“And at this moment! The special ability of Beast of the Stars - Kerawum activates!”
As I had predicted, the lingering star dust from [Diakan] still on the field rose on the sea breeze.
[Kerawum] gazed silently for a moment at the beautiful yet ephemeral dance, then parted its jaws wide, filled with starlight.
[Diakan]’s star dust sparkled even more brilliantly, as if in ecstasy, and flung itself into [Kerawum]’s maw.
“When Kerawum is successfully summoned, if there’s a Creature card named ‘Beast of the Stars’ in my graveyard! Kerawum’s stats rise by half of that Creature card’s stats for this turn!”
-Rooaaar—!!
【Beast of the Stars - Kerawum】
Stats: 3,000 → 4,300
“Stats 4,300!!”
“To think it would surpass Nerbarus……”
“Eek!”
“The numbers are so high my head hurts~.”
Having devoured [Diakan]’s star dust and bulked up further, [Kerawum] bellowed a mighty roar and immediately assumed a battle stance toward [Nerbarus].
The ancient king of the seas, acknowledging its foe, gripped the trident he’d held in one hand with both, even before his master’s command.
“Here I come, Alexander Wales Belluraca!”
“……Come at me, Pollux!”
The two exchanged a brief glance, eyes blazing.
“—Battle! Beast of the Stars - Kerawum attacks [Sea King - Nerbarus]!”
The tense moment of stillness shattered in an instant with Pollux’s shout.
-Rooaaar—!!
[Kerawum]. The starlight tiger infused with its kin’s power charged across the sea surface. With each step, the waters convulsed and retreated.
-Hmmm—!!
Boom!
In response, [Sea King - Nerbarus] slammed the butt of his trident down. As if rebuking the sea for cowering before the enemy.
With that fierce strike, the waters at least held firm around [Nerbarus].
Whoosh!
Seemingly satisfied, [Nerbarus] snorted a puff of breath, readjusted his trident, and thrust straight at the oncoming Beast of the Stars.
Just like [Diakan] before it, [Kerawum] projected blinding starlight flooding its surface. The light battered the Sea King’s trident relentlessly. Even the immensely powerful [Nerbarus] couldn’t completely shrug off the harassment from a Beast of the Stars of equal caliber.
And so, in that fleeting gap, ever so slight—Beast of the Stars - Kerawum seized it, driving in its starlight-glowing claw.
“If this attack lands, Alexander’s done for!”
“Eek!”
As Princess Alessia said, the strike carried enough force to decide the duel outright, hurtling toward the Sea King’s chest.
—But.
Thud—!
The claw from the Beast of the Stars didn’t rend the Sea King’s chest—instead, it bounced off with a dull thud.
“What!?”
“Heh heh heh…… You rushed the finish, Pollux! I activated the special ability of Seabed Shield Soldier!”
“The Shield Soldier’s special ability……!”
“That’s right! This card can once per turn negate the destruction of my Water-type Creatures in battle!”
“Nngh……!”
What had blocked [Kerawum]’s claw was a turtle-like merfolk warrior, [Seabed Shield Soldier]. He had plunged into the fray without hesitation, shielding his king’s noble form by turtling up completely.
“Kerawum’s stat boost only lasts until the end of this turn, right? Meanwhile, my Sea King - Nerbarus draws power steadily from the unyielding Maritime Kingdom - Belluraca. Next turn! My Nerbarus will crush your Kerawum!”
“……No, not yet.”
Pollux bit his lip for a moment, then drew a card from his hand, eyes still burning.
“I’ve got this! I activate a Magic Circle—Destiny Draw!”
“A card divined by Astrology Vision……!”
“Exactly! When activated, this sends all Destiny Draws from the deck to the graveyard. Then add this card to the deck and shuffle.”
Pollux, face tense, pulled two cards from his deck and slid them into the graveyard slot, then placed the Destiny Draw from his hand into the deck.
He shuffled vigorously and continued.
“Then, draw 1 card. If the drawn card is Destiny Draw, destroy all opponent Creatures and deal damage to their Soul Points equal to the total of those Creatures’ stats.”
“……!”
“A true one-shot reversal card……”
“But if the drawn card isn’t Destiny Draw, all my Creatures are destroyed, and I take damage equal to their total stats.”
Boom!
Pollux set the well-shuffled deck back down and placed a trembling finger atop it, his gaze deadly serious.
His finger was definitely shaking.
“Here……goes……!”
Pollux’s finger drew the card.
Pollux’s mother was a renowned astrologer. Having lost her husband early to illness, she raised her son with her gift for reading the stars. Whenever work allowed, she’d rush home to her pleading boy and teach him the arts of the heavens.
But she knew.
That her son Pollux had no special talent for astrology. Pollux took after his father, excelling instead with beasts.
But.
“Mom! I wanna be a famous astrologer like you! And make you happy!”
She couldn’t crush the will of her son, whose eyes sparkled brighter than starlight itself. No, she wouldn’t.
Stroking young Pollux’s head, she whispered softly.
“Yes, I look forward to it. My son.”
It was the moment the seed of the stars took root in Pollux’s heart.
“……”
In that instant, Pollux recalled a memory from his childhood.
His finger, placed atop the top of the deck, trembled faintly.