"Don't resist, Kairo. You can't hold us all. Give us your soul and you will be free. I promise it won't be painful," the Collector said, his Ghost Bombs loitering around Kairo like hungry wolves.
"I will make sure no one harms you, Kairo. But you have to hand the card over first. It's nothing personal. I just don't have much choice," Luve said.
Kairo flashed a mocking smile. His eyes looked on all three of his opponents.
"Don't pretend to care. All you want is the Eye of Truth no matter what happens to me afterward," Kairo said. He wasn't duped. Now that they knew about it, they were like insatiable, greedy wolves that would stop at nothing.
If you want it, you will have to earn it, Kairo thought inwardly, ready to fight.
The Ghost Bombs were sent flying toward him by the Collector. Having already seen what they were capable of, Kairo didn't stay in place. Although they could not break the Protector armor, they were powerful enough to keep him restrained—and with Rellion's abilities, this was not the best position to be in.
"Can't let these things stall me again," Kairo said.
The Collector's Ghost Bombs were forming a dense net around him, attacking from all possible angles with the intention of sealing Kairo in place.
Kairo gave up the Protector armor, activating Tactical Brilliance. Because of how huge the Protector was, the Ghost Bombs were charging slightly higher than his actual position. Leaning slightly downward, he pushed forward. Covered in a white-like aura, Kairo skidded past the Ghost Bombs, sliding above them to shoot toward his main opponent.
If I take him down, the rest will be easier to handle, Kairo thought, charging toward the Collector.
On his left hand, a new card was activated—just as Rellion appeared to intercept him. He was met by its counter: the Lance of the Sand Paladin. Rellion's flaming sword came into contact, causing both to stall midway, neither able to take the advantage in terms of strength.
With a smile on his face, Kairo stepped on the Paladin's stretched lance, using it as a trampling point to jump above both opponents.
Rellion frowned in annoyance.
"You have always loved playing the clown. No wonder, Kairo. Now—stupid sandbox—get out of my way!" Rellion cursed at Kairo in midair, using his fingers to make the Four Corner Divination move.
The Sand Paladin, on his part, just dissolved into particles of sand as if blown away by the move of the symbols. But as Rellion moved to intercept Kairo, the Sand Paladin reformed just in front of him, forcing Rellion to parry the lance in a defensive position. The flame sword quivered upon impact, causing the flames to spread out but unable to harm the Sand Paladin.
Chaining sword and dagger attacks, Rellion fought, but the Sand Paladin was like his born nemesis, parrying with the lance again and again, creating dazzling flame sparkles in between them.
Because the Collector was staying far away from him, Kairo guessed he didn't have any form of summon or movement abilities like the other fighters. It was highly possible that his power relied on his moving ghosts—meaning he was vulnerable when alone, Kairo thought.
In midair, Kairo flipped his next card in hand: Wind Breaker, ready for the finishing blow.
The Collector smirked at Kairo, a card between his fingers. He didn't run away. Instead, the Collector flipped a card in Kairo's direction.
"Rise from below... Ghost Lord!" he shouted.
Kairo frowned in surprise. The earth split open as if divided by an earthquake. From within, a ghostly hand cannonballed forward, snatching Kairo midair before he could get closer to the Collector. The next thing Kairo knew, he was hammered onto the cold ground.
"Damn, that's painful," he cursed inwardly, almost vomiting his intestines.
Above him was a floating hand that came out from within the earth. All around the Collector, those strange arms moved out like living hydras, dangling in the air above his head.
"Love it? … This is one of my favourite cards. The Ghost Lord Prison. As long as I stay within this range, you will never be able to touch me or escape this prison, no matter how fast or habile you are," the Collector said, a relaxed expression on his face.
Kairo soon noticed that all around him there was some sort of frail aura above the ground that covered him in an entire circle. The only ones in the circle were Luve and Rellion, dangerously getting closer.
No wonder I couldn't evade that. It looks like some sort of repulsion-attraction circle. Here, the Collector and I repel each other while the hands and I attract each other, Kairo guessed. Earlier, it wasn't that he wasn't fast enough to evade, but he had felt something suck him into the palm hands as if he was being attracted to it.
Kairo was lost formulating a plan and almost forgot this wasn't a one vs one fight. Before he could step to the side, an arrow landed in his shoulder, going straight through with disturbing ease. The arrow landed on the ground with a ping, its tip digging deep into it.
"Sand Paladin, come back here!"
With no choice, Kairo was forced to summon back the Sand Paladin to him. The tall fighter effortlessly disengaged with Rellion and sprinted toward him, using its lance as a shield to parry the volley of arrows that fell Kairo's way. His mastery of the lance always left Kairo in awe. Despite the arrows being as thin as a needle, he was able to parry them with the tip of his lance. Continuous pinging sounds echoed as the arrows were intercepted before they got closer to Kairo.
"Sorry, Kairo, but I need the Eye of Truth for my family. Its ability has the power to erase even in the timeline. Please, just hand it over, Kairo," Luve pleaded with an almost sincere expression.
"This is not going to bring him back..." Kairo said. "There is no certainty card magic can defy the dead…" Kairo said again, but then, witnessing Luve's expression, he understood everything. Balling his fist, he could only sigh.
Luve thought the Eye of Truth could erase the death of her brother—bring him back to life. But was that even possible? Before Kairo dismissed the thought, he understood she too had her doubts. But the Seruht monster had warned them that Card Fossils were semi-sentient life beings created out of card magic. It was not impossible card magic had that ability. From this point, he understood why she was ready to go this far to get the Eye of Truth. She was willing to do everything for her brother.
Kairo stumbled forward, leaning on the Sand Paladin for help. I can't stand up... is this paralysis? Kairo felt sweat trickle down his face. The Ghost Bombs were flying toward him. Rellion and his flaming weapons on the other side, while Luve was aiming with her arbalest once more.
He couldn't move, even with Tactical Brilliance. There was no way he could evade their assault. It can't end like this, Kairo wanted to scream, but his voice was stuck in his throat—affected by the strange poison going through his body.
Kairo noticed Danzan continuously charge toward the circle. With his incredible speed, he was able to slip past the Ghost Lord's arms. All that could be seen was white lightning zipping past the restless arms shooting at him. But before he got any closer, he was plastered to the ground by the massive ghost arms—then sent flying out of the circle. Still, Danzan would get up again without a word and charge again, only to end the same way.
Kairo wanted to scream at him to stop, but he couldn't even talk anymore. Although Danzan had never shown it, Kairo knew he had always taken Nyx and him like his protégés—not only because Kairo was Magnus's son, but because Kairo had come to earn his respect. Kairo's heart bled at Danzan's bleeding face.
"It's one of those rare double-face cards with a continuous effect… it's useless. We can't do anything for him, unless we have a counter card to the Ghost Lord," Mirrele said, her voice pained by the scene—unable to face the Collector's card magic.
Just like Kairo's Wind Breaker / Wind Slayer double-face card, the Collector also had the Ghost Lord / Ghost Prison double-face card—a card on which both faces had an ability. This was what made them so special. The Ghost Lord created those arms that never missed their target, while the Ghost Prison created the circle in which Kairo was now trapped. Their particularity was that everything outside was repelled by the circle, while everything inside was repelled away from the center—which in this case was the Collector. But unlike Kairo's, which vanished after use, the Collector's had a continuous effect, although it drained more aura.
Danzan, Fabian, Mirele, and the Four Star Officer all glanced in Kairo's direction, anger and fury in their eyes, but at last, they could not do anything.
Kairo wiped the blood sliding through his eyes. The blue water falling from the phoenix was healing his wounds, but he still couldn't move. I have fought hard to get out of Father's shadow. I have gone through so many challenges. I have survived death several times. No... I can't fail here... no... I can't, Kairo repeated, stretching the card The Protector forward. He smiled. I will fight until my last breath, he cried.
There was a loud explosion with him at the center. Kairo turned into the heart of a windstorm that rose high into the sky. The particles of blue energy were condensing into form around his body, encasing him in the shimmering blue armor of the Protector. First, use the Protector to take the attacks head-on, Kairo said.
Shielding his body with the arms of the Protector, one after another, their terrifying impacts landed on him. The flaming sword made his entire body quiver from the back. The Ghost Lord's arms slammed restlessly on his sides, while the Ghost Bombs made his body almost bend in pain. The arrows made his armor continuously shudder.
Next, use the switch effect, Kairo thought. Stretching his arms forward, he caught a condensing blue sword in his hands. He had always wondered why the Protector had a sword and not a shield. It was because the Protector was a switch card with two abilities. The first was not the power to avoid damage, as Kairo had expected, but—"to absorb it," Kairo said.
Kairo made a wide swing with the Protector's sword, causing a massive explosion to break forth around him. It was like a star coming to life. All three of his opponents were startled, using their arms to shield their faces from the searing, dusty debris.
Although the Protector was slow, it didn't mean it couldn't move. Using Animate, Kairo encased the Protector's legs in blocks of earth in the form of a fan he had crudely animated. Then, combining it with Wind Breaker, he made them start rotating.
It was like having two propulsors instead of legs. Kairo leaned forward, and the Protector armor cannon-balled toward the Collector. Before he could even react, Kairo's sword—which had absorbed all the impacts—swung down.
"How can he—?" the Collector flashed a worried expression. His body was sent flying out of the Ghost Prison at bullet speed.
Kairo wasn't done. Using his momentum, he skidded to the side and rushed toward Rellion. "Yeah, bring it on," Rellion readied his flaming sword, but Kairo smirked. Sliding down, he took off the Protector armor, causing Rellion to frown in worry. By the time he landed near Rellion, Wind Slayer was behind him.
"Huh?"
Rellion lifted his flaming weapon in an attempt to shield himself. But Kairo snatched his balance away using the Sand Paladin's lance. Stumbling back and having lost his footing, the blade of Wind Slayer hammered into his body.
A clear breaking sound could be heard. Rellion's eyes almost turned white as he was sent biting the ground too.
"Kairo…" Luve said in fear, stumbling back with her wolf. Her arbalest continuously fired bullets like arrows.
Kaior moved without a word, his face partially covered by the blood on his body. Yet it appeared as if it had turned into blood-like gemstones. The lance of the Sand Paladin in hand, he parried all the arrows with a single hand, moving unhindered by her volley. "You have done enough," Kaior said