Departing from the elevator, Taiga rushed towards Rikou Clothing and skidded to a halt seeing Katsumi kneeling on the ground after being killed by John.

"K-Kou-chan!"

She rushed over, helping her friend get back up on her feet. Katsumi's visor wasn't on anymore, a clear sign she was dead.

"Taiga-chan... don't fight John-san... h-he... he's not worth it..."

"I know, Yuuto-san already told me... tell me, what did he do to you?"

"Takanori-kun did...? Thank goodness... um, well, John-san dealt me twelve damage, e he he..."

Katsumi laughed to try and hide the pain. Taiga's eyes widened.

"How's that even possible?!"

"I was at five damage and couldn't guard a seven critical attack..."

"S-seven critical?!"

"Yeah... his deck can do that... um, very easily."

There was a glaze of fear in Katsumi's eyes when she glanced at John. Taiga gritted her teeth.

"...I'll handle things from here. You go get some rest, okay?"

"O-okay... good luck, by the way!"

Entrusting the rest of her fighting spirit to Taiga, Katsumi made her way to the mall's exit. Once she was out of sight, Taiga narrowed her eyes and turned towards John and Albert.

"Bruv, you mans wanna handle dis? Mans don't think she's gonna fight mans now dat Katsumi chick told her about mans raw sauce, papap."

Albert cracked his knuckles.

"Leave it to me."

"Safe my G, ya done kno!"

Albert took a step forward, casting a shadow over Taiga, who took a step back. The size difference between these two was unnerving, to say the least.

Height wise, Taiga came up to around my shoulder. Since I was 169cm, that would make her around ~140cm, as a rough estimate. Albert, however, was around 7ft tall, meaning he was at least 213cm. He was possibly even taller than that, since his height was also an estimate.

In other words, Taiga barely came up to his chest. Albert was legitimately double her size.

Even if she was a midget in size compared to Albert, Taiga's fighting spirit was just as large as his, if not, even larger. She gulped and stepped forward, bravely looking up at him to lock visors with Albert.

"Let's fight, Obama-kun!"

As usual, Albert simply nodded menacingly.

"Stand up, Vanguard!"

"Crisis Revenger, Fritz."

"Knight of Early Dawn, Coel!"

To my surprise, the information D Class had given us looked right so far. Daman, the card Albert was listed with using, was from Shadow Paladin, like Fritz.

"First Turn: Demiza Taiga."

"Stand and draw! I ride Scout of Darkness, Vortimer!"

For the record, Taiga's riding from the Ride Deck. She just doesn't announce it like the others.

"Scout's skill, I check top seven and add a Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer to my hand! Coel's skill, I draw a card. Turn end!"

Taiga:
Hand: 7
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

Albert:
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw. I ride Abyssal Owl from the Ride Deck. Fritz's skill, I draw and get a Quick Shield ticket. Owl's skill, since we're the same grade, I soulblast to draw. I call Foldbau and two Gururubau. Gururubau attacks. (8000) Gururubau's skill, he gets +2k for each of my vanguard's grades. (8000 > 10000)"

It seems Albert was running some sort of aggro rush or beatdown deck. A strange choice, especially in Shadow Paladin, but getting to go second was probably more helpful to him, rather than detrimental, when it came to this strategy.

"No guard! (Advance of the Black Chains, Kahedin)"

"My other Gururubau attacks. Same skill. (8000 > 10000)"

"No guard! (Scout of Darkness, Vortimer)"

"Boosted by Foldbau, Owl attacks. (5000 > 13000)"

"Elixir Sommelier guards! (28000) No pass!"

"Drive check. (Invest Falcon) Turn end."

Taiga:
Hand: 6
Damage: 2
OXO
OOO

Albert:
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
XXX
OXO

"Stand and draw! I ride Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer! He gets 1k since Scout is in my soul! (9000 > 10000) I call Stronghold of the Black Chains, Hoel and Advance of the Black Chains, Kahedin! Kahedin's skill, I counterblast and discard a card to look at the top three cards of my deck and call Listener of Truth, Dindrane in front of Hoel! Since I have Hoel, I also draw a card! Hoel's skill, Dindrane gets 10k since I have Kahedin! (7000 > 17000) Dindrane's skill, I soulblast to countercharge and she gets 3k! (17000 > 20000) Vortimer attacks! (10000)"

"Darkside Trumpeter guards. (20000) One to pass."

"Drive check! (Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival) Kahedin attacks Gururubau! (9000)"

"He retires."

"Boosted by Hoel, Dindrane attacks! (20000 > 28000)"

"No guard. (Freezing Witch, Bendi)"

I suddenly understood how this deck functioned by seeing that single damage check. Albert's Daman deck functioned because it ran the Phantom Blaster Dragon superior ride engine, something now extremely feasible to do with the addition of the Ride Deck.

By grade skipping straight to grade 3, it unlocked a wealth of rush potential from turn 2 and onwards. If Taiga wasn't careful, she'd get run over by Albert's stampede of knights and beasts while she was still on grade 2.

"Turn end!"

Taiga:
Hand: 5
Damage: 2
XXX
OOX

Albert:
Hand: 5
Damage: 1
XXO
OXO

"Stand and draw. I ride Blaster Dark from the Ride Deck. I call, Freezing Witch, Bendi. Bendi's skill, I soulblast and retire her to superior ride Phantom Blaster Dragon from the deck."

Just as expected, Albert superior rode from the deck. The last grade 3 in his Ride Deck must be a dud then. His choice of SVR Phantom Blaster baffled me, though. I heard rumours that the SVR version was cheaper to buy than the regular VR version, but I never thought that might actually be true...

"Imaginary Gift: Force I. (13000 > 23000) Phantom Blaster cannot activate its skills until end of turn. I move back Gururubau and call Knight of Fighting Spirit, Dordona, Gigantech Enforcer, and Invest Falcon to rear-guard. Boosted by Foldbau, Phantom Blaster attacks. (23000 > 31000)"

"No guard!"

"Twin Drive. (Blaster Axe, Death Feather Eagle) Critical trigger. Critical to the vanguard, power to Enforcer. (31000/1 > 2) (12000 > 22000)"

"Damage checks! (Spectral Duke Dragon, Dantegal) Front trigger! (9000 > 19000) (10000 > 20000) (7000 > 17000)"

"Foldbau's skill, since the attack hit, I counterblast to give Dordona and Enforcer 5k. (10000 > 15000) (22000 > 27000) Boosted by Gururubau, Dordona attacks. (15000 > 23000) Dordona's skill, since I have more rear-guards than you, Dordona gives 3k to Enforcer. (27000 > 30000)"

"Hoel guards! (30000)"

"Boosted by Falcon, Enforcer attacks. (30000 > 38000) Falcon's skill, since I have another grade 1 rear-guard, he gets +5k. (38000 > 43000)"

"Nalnes and Dindrane guards! (45000)"

"Falcon retires. Turn end."

Taiga:
Hand: 2
Damage: 4
XXX
OOX

Albert:
Hand: 3
Damage: 1
XXX
XXO

"Stand and draw! The new age successor descends from a black heaven and ascends from a white hell! With a slash of your golden halberd, etch the legend of the black horse deep into history! I ride my avatar, Spectral Duke Dragon!"

"Imaginary Gift: Accel II! Draw a card! Vortimer's skill, when he's rode upon by Spectral Duke, I look at the top five cards of my deck and call Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival (12000 > 17000) and Scout of Darkness, Vortimer to rear-guard! Percival's skill, since I have a grade 3 or greater vanguard, I counterblast and discard a card to get an Imaginary Gift: Accel II and superior call Oath Liberator, Aglovale (9000 > 14000) from my deck to rear-guard! Spectral Duke's skill, since Vortimer is in my soul, he gets +1k! (12000 > 13000) Skill, activate!"

Taiga's visor began glowing blue, the same pale blue that even the hottest flames emit.

"Hallowed Wound! I deal my vanguard a damage! Damage check! (Halo Shield, Mark) Draw trigger! Power to Spectral, (13000 > 23000) and I draw a card!"

Interestingly, Taiga chose to put herself to five damage. This Skill would be most effective if she was at three damage and needed the fourth to unlock the secondary condition of Spectral Duke's skill, but I could see the merit in activating it here.

Firstly, it was essentially an extra drive check. Obviously, here she hit a trigger, but overall, the main point is that she would have technically done six drive checks in a turn, which is really powerful (see Gavrail). Secondly, pushing herself to five would proc all the heal trigger she was likely to pull, as well as deny Albert of procing his heal triggers, except for the sixth one. That way she could safely push him to five without fear he'd heal out of it.

"Boosted by Hoel, Dindrane attacks! (7000 > 15000)"

"Quick Shield ticket. (17000)"

"Boosted by Vortimer, Kahedin attacks! (9000 > 17000)"

"Blaster Axe. (22000)"

"Spectral Duke attacks! (23000) Hades Annihilation!"

Spectral Duke Dragon unleashed a beam of concentrated shadows at Phantom Blaster Dragon, who tried to block the attack with the back of his lance.

"No guard."

"Twin Drive!! (Oath Liberator, Aglovale, Listener of Truth, Dindrane)"

"Damage check. (Gigantech Enforcer)"

"Spectral Duke's skill! I counterblast and retire Kahedin, Scout, and Dindrane to restand the vanguard! Limit Break! Spectral Duke gets drive +1! Scout's skill, when he gets retired, I put him into soul to give my vanguard +5k! (23000 > 28000) Spectral Duke attacks again! (28000) Hades Annihilation!"

The shadow beam cleared, and Spectral Duke Dragon recklessly, or precisely, flew towards Phantom Blaster Dragon, swinging his halberd wildly at him while releasing an electric web of shadowy energy from his body.

"No guard."

"Triple Drive!! (Stronghold of the Black Chains, Hoel, Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer, Advance of the Black Chains, Kahedin)"

In five drive checks, Taiga got zero triggers. She even put herself to five damage to also guarantee healing off a heal trigger... what horrible luck.

"Damage check. (Howl Owl) Draw trigger. I draw and give power to Phantom Blaster. (13000 > 23000)"

Taiga's luck got even worse when Albert pulled that well timed damage trigger. That 13k base was seriously doing work. This was yet another advantage of superior riding and grade skipping early.

Even though both of Spectral Duke Dragon's attacks landed, little damage had been done to Phantom Blaster Dragon. There were a few scratches and dirt on his armour, but overall, Phantom Blaster Dragon didn't look fazed by Spectral Duke Dragon's double attack. In fact, he looked even stronger.

"Percival can't hit anymore... then, he'll attack your rear-guard Enforcer then! (17000)"

"He retires."

"Aglovale attacks! (14000) His skill, I put Percival into soul to give him +10k! (14000 > 24000)"

"No guard. (Howl Owl) Draw trigger. I draw and give power to Phantom Blaster. (23000 > 33000)"

"Aglovale returns to my hand. Turn end... at the end of my turn, I heal a damage from Hallowed Wound."

Taiga:
Hand: 10
Damage: 4
OOXOO
OOX

Albert:
Hand: 3
Damage: 4
OXX
XXO

OST: Maximise Power!

"Stand and draw. I watch over and help the guys I trust. That's my rule. I've got nothing against you, so don't hate me for what I'm about to do. I'm just following the boss's orders. I ride my avatar, Pulverise Knight, Daman."

"Imaginary Gift: Force I. (10000 > 20000) I call, Pulverise Knight, Daman and two Invest Falcon to rear-guard. Skill, activate."

Albert's visor began glowing shiny metal grey.

"Iron Inheritor. Since my vanguard has no skills that activate on the vanguard circle, I triple my Force markers until end of turn. In other words, I temporarily get four Imaginary Gift: Force I to go from my current two Force markers to a total of six Force markers. (13000 > 33000) (23000 > 33000) (20000 > 30000) Boosted by Foldbau, Daman attacks. (33000 > 41000) Smashing Bad Boy!"

"Mark, perfect guard!"

"Twin Drive. (Gururubau, Death Feather Eagle) Critical trigger. All to my rear-guard Daman. (33000 > 43000/1 > 2)"

That critical trigger just made things dicey. If I were Taiga, I'd take Dordona's attack and focus on guarding Daman, who was now packing the two critical.

"Boosted by Invest Falcon, Dordona attacks. (30000 > 38000) Dordona's skill, Daman gets 3k. (43000 > 46000/2) Falcon's skill, he gets 5k. (38000 > 43000)"

"Nalnes, Dindrane, and Hoel guards! (13000 > 28000 > 38000 > 48000)"

To my surprise, Taiga stopped Dordona's attack. Does that mean she has a way to stop Daman's attack as well? Maybe she had a second perfect guard? If she didn't, then that misplay might have just costed her the game.

"Falcon retires. Boosted by Falcon, Daman attacks. (46000 > 54000/2) Falcon's skill, he gets 5k. (54000 > 59000/2) Daman's skill, when he attacks, if I have more rear-guards than you, he gets +5k. (59000 > 64000/2) The best has yet to come. Smashing Bad Boy!"

"Dantegal, Aglovale, Vortimer, and Kahedin guards! (13000 > 28000 > 33000 > 38000 > 43000)"

Taiga's eyes widened when she realised it wasn't enough. The last card in her hand was another copy of Spectral Duke Dragon, a card with zero shield. With no intercepts, this was the full extent of her guard right now.

Her misplay from guarding Dordona earlier had now dawned on her. Because she guarded it instead of taking the damage, she now didn't have enough cards to stop this massive attack. If she added the shield she used to stop Dordona's attack to her current shield right now, it would increase to 78k. Just enough to stop Daman.

Now, she had no choice but to take the damage since she didn't have enough to guard it. Just as I predicted, this small discrepancy is what would make Taiga lose the game.

I didn't doubt her competency as a player, so I chalked it up to Taiga not being used to guarding with 5k shields, since she usually played Claret, which had an abundance of 10k shields. I guess she'd just have to work on this weakness in the future. Guard management, of all things...

"The attack still hits."

Albert bluntly told Taiga the harsh reality of her incomplete guard.

"Welp, at least me and dad have another thing in common now. And that's losing when the plot demands it! Damage check! (Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival, Spectral Duke Dragon)"

Instead of complaining about it, Taiga took it to the chin and poked fun at her situation. That sort of sportsmanship was hard to come by these days.

"You have a good chip on your shoulder. Good game, Demiza-san."

"GG, Obama-kun! Let's play again some time!"

Albert nodded.

Taiga wasn't upset at all by the loss. I guess on the inside she must've been a bit bitter, but she took it much better than I expected.

"Demiza Taiga is Dead."

Still though, seeing that blood red pop-up appear on my visor... it still shakes me up, even after seeing it multiple times by now. I don't think I'll ever get used to having these harrowing messages be shoved into my face every time someone loses. It was a haunting reminder of the reality of war.

At the very least, I suppose Taiga can die knowing she at least killed someone in this war. Unlike Katsumi, who had that chance completely stripped away from her, Taiga managed to contribute to the war by killing Koizumi when she was first ambushed, even if it was just a little.

Taiga took the elevator down to the bottom floor and exited the mall. She fought well.

I shifted my attention to Yukina, who had just unveiled her brand new deck to the world for the first time. Not even I knew what she was using. During training sessions, instead of practicing with that deck, she kept using her Brandt deck.

She wouldn't so something like that without reason, so I let her be and put my faith that, in the background, she was working on something super strong. Strong enough to justify keeping it a secret from everyone, including me.

When I checked, I was surprised by her new choice. Yukina was... using Nightrose?