Not Yet in the Birdcage
"With this, there are no creatures left in your field except Musca Corps Cradle. You can't protect it with Parmesium's effect anymore."
And my [MQ-20 Avenger] can attack all creatures in the opponent's field.
"Battle. MQ-20 Avenger—"
I was about to declare the attack when I suddenly stopped.
Atop the throne in the Kingdom of Flesh [Parmesium]. Even amid this, the Musca Corps Cradle was being devoured by swarms of flies feasting on Musca Turnedrink. The repulsive mass of flesh began pulsating violently, like a freshly extracted heart.
"Heh... heheheheheHAHAHAHAHA..."
Glontes, staggering from the materialized damage, let out a sinister laugh.
His sunken eyes burned with a feverish glow, like blood squeezed from a wound.
"Thanks to Parmesium's effect... Musca Corps Cradle's stats have risen by 2,400..."
Stats:2,050 → 4,450
That didn't matter. Even if Musca Corps Cradle had grown stronger than my card.
The Avenger still had a hidden special ability.
'Self-destruct ability.'
If this card is destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard, it destroys all cards in the opponent's field.
With that, I could take out not just Musca Corps Cradle, but that annoying Parmesium in one go... or so I'd thought.
"And at this moment, Musca Corps Cradle's special ability activates... Oh, great Chipera. The seed you bestowed upon me finally sprouts..."
Muttering like a prayer—or like a fly—his hands clasped together, he then spread them wide and declared.
"If Musca Corps Cradle's stats rise by 3,000 or more due to Parmesium's effect, you can tribute this card to summon Banquet Great King - Musca Belgever from deck or hand...!!"
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
The flesh cocoon throbbed with urgent, short rhythms.
The noise built like drumbeats, reaching a fever pitch. Then, the center tore open like a split drumskin, and a slender arm thrust out.
At a glance, it resembled a human arm—but closer inspection revealed something else entirely. A mockery of humanity, sculpted in the most grotesque way.
Pus-like slime oozed endlessly from its five joints, granting it unnatural flexibility beyond any human limb.
The dense fur sprouting from it writhed like tentacles, each strand tipped with a toothy maw gnashing greedily.
Tap, tap-tap.
The fingers protruding from the cocoon drummed rhythmically on the throne, heralding the feast.
Grrrrumble... splurt...
The arm bracing against the throne hauled up the body trapped inside. Flesh and oily blood poured out, carpeting the floor like a red carpet welcoming the king.
First to emerge: six pairs of wings, vibrating thinly and spreading the stench of rotting corpses everywhere.
Then the full body revealed itself. Unlike other Musca cards, Belgever's silhouette wasn't bloated. It looked almost efficiently functional, like a human frame packed tight with insect chitin.
But its head. Six compound eyes wriggled like maggots. Below, a vertically split maw drooling sticky saliva. And atop that, a tumorous flesh mass dangled like a crown, dragging on the ground.
【Banquet Great King - Musca Belgever】
★5 / Earth Type / Insect, Demon
Stats: 4,450
The monster raised one hand. The entire Kingdom of Flesh quaked in welcome, and tens of thousands of flies surged upward.
Their wingbeats chanted a name, repetitive and insistent, scraping at the ears until you wanted to tear them off.
—Belgever. Belgever. Belgever...
"Ah... aah..."
Erhun gasped in terror, her small body trembling like a leaf.
"Banquet Great King - Musca Belgever's stats become equal to the amount Musca Corps Cradle gained from Parmesium's effect..."
"..."
So it let the cocoon summon after all. But that changed nothing.
"Then I'll attack Musca Belgever with MQ-20 Avenger."
Stats didn't matter. The summon didn't matter. If anything, this was better.
Bury that grotesque monster with the Avenger's self-destruct.
The Avenger soared silently once more, invading the throne atop the fly demon king's perch. Its wings, laden with thousands of missiles, flapped once.
"Looks like the Avenger still has a special ability left... Persisting with the attack, eh..."
But.
"—It's useless!!!"
Glontes gaped his steel jaws, spraying boiling saliva, and thrust his left hand forward.
"Banquet Great King - Musca Belgever's special ability! As long as this card exists on the field, all special abilities of lower-rank opponent creatures are negated! And their stats drop by 1,000!!"
In the hush of silent death, the Gluttony Demon King sat indifferently on the Parmesium throne.
Its six compound eyes clearly locked on the Avenger.
Tap, tap-tap.
The demon king's fingers drummed the throne armrest.
Then the swarms of flies dove at the Avenger like a black wave.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch—.
The flies clinging to the missiles—and the Avenger itself—now bared razor teeth from sponge-like maws, gnawing away unlike before.
Some burrowed inside, ripping out the mechanical horse's camera eye from within and flying off.
So fast neither missiles nor Avenger could explode—they crumbled like sandcastles in the black tide.
【Ricardo Bardi】
Soul Point 9,400 → 6,200
"Guh..."
The pain felt like my body being torn apart. I spat out the breath caught in my lungs. Every nerve screamed.
"B-Bardi-nim!"
Erhun's muffled voice reached me. Instead of replying, I steadied my staggering body.
My left eye hadn't closed yet.
"I'll end my turn..."
"Ooh... Still fighting after taking Belgever's attack... Splendid, splendid... Great Chipera, I am eternally grateful for this banquet..."
Glontes burst into tears. In ecstatic rapture, he drew a card.
"My turn...!! Don't get swallowed in one gulp! I'll direct attack with Banquet Great King - Belgever!!!"
Tap, tap-tap.
Belgever, perched silently atop the Kingdom of Flesh, drummed the throne again. Tens of thousands of flies surged toward me on the new command.
Wrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!
Vision went black, filled with wingbeats. My skin crawled with the sensation of tiny things biting everywhere.
【Ricardo Bardi】
Soul Point 6,200 → 1,750
"Not yet! Belgever's special ability activates! When this card successfully attacks the opponent! Choose and destroy 1 card in the opponent's field! I choose Lost World!!!"
The fly swarm's onslaught continued. They scattered, devouring the old world entire.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...
Weeeeeeee—crunch!
The screaming Siren Tower, half-buried Liberatas. The world I'd lived in, loved—it was being dismantled without mercy.
My right hand reached out instinctively, then fell limp.
【Ah, my pitiable king.】
【Shouldn't you be grateful instead?】
【Your enemy is dismantling the old world you so desperately fled.】
More intimately, more viciously. Like a serpent tempting with forbidden fruit.
【With rage, hatred, fear, sorrow.】
【Then reach out, my king.】
【Salvation lies within grasp.】
The moment Lost World fully collapsed, the Battle Arc's magic triggered. A card popped from the deck.
I quietly picked it up: [Operation: Nuclear].
The final key to summon Enola Fortress.
"I'll end my turn... Hm? What's that card...?"
Glontes asked curiously. I answered softly.
"...When Lost World is destroyed, Operation: Nuclear's effect activates, adding this card from deck or graveyard to hand."
"... Operation: Nuclear?"
I said no more, drew for my turn.
The card: [Machinery Siege Dragon - Gustav Dora]. Twin to the long-held [Machinery Abyssal Dragon - Nautilus].
"...I'm tired. Really."
With a sigh-like mutter—I slotted [Operation: Nuclear] into the Battle Arc.
Like pressing the trigger button.