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Several days had passed since Lilith's departure. In that time, no one had come to disturb Luke, and he'd finally completed the reconstruction of Red-Eyes Black Dragon, along with the background and design of the Swords of Revealing Light.
On the materials front, for Luke, who possessed the Rewrite and Reorganize Authority, supply was no longer much of a problem.
Back when he'd crafted Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon, Luke had already taken the eventual reconstruction into account. Red-Eyes Black Dragon's primary material was still the Reverse Scale of the Undying Inferno Dragon, with no additional main material required, which saved him a considerable amount of time.
The materials for the Swords of Revealing Light were likewise all prepared.
With everything in place, Luke exchanged a few words with Mana and Blanc, his two adorable companions-slash-comrades, and then threw himself into the reconstruction of Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon.
「 Red-Eyes Black Dragon. One of the dragon species possessing top-tier destructive power, and a colossus among the Legendary Dragons. 」
A second Legendary Dragon. After the Eye of Timaeus, this was the next dragon-type card whose flavor text invoked the word "Legendary."
That said, Red-Eyes Black Dragon's legend differed from that of the Three Legendary Dragons. Or rather, Red-Eyes Black Dragon's legendary renown ran higher than the Three Legendary Dragons', at least where longtime players were concerned.
「 Red-Eyes Black Dragon's most striking feature is a pair of dragon eyes like blood-red gemstones. 」
「 Wielding furious black flame as its weapon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon burns to ash every enemy reflected in its eyes. 」
"Sister Mana, do you think the Tamer will be all right?" In a corner of the room, Sistermon Blanc held the Cross Barbie trident, positioned like a loyal little bodyguard, as though she'd leap to the defense at the slightest disturbance.
The trouble was that her timid, fragile little expression, paired with the rabbit-doll hat, made her difficult to take seriously on that front.
"No need to fret, Blanc." Watching her, Mana patted her on the head, then gave her staff a gentle wave, and an invisible barrier settled over the entire room once more. "Master is only reconstructing and crafting cards. There won't be any danger."
Mana had witnessed scenes like this many times. As for failure? In Dark Magician Girl's heart, the concept simply didn't exist. She trusted Luke completely.
Although this time Luke was only reconstructing a card rather than building a new one, whether some anomaly might appear was hard to say, so Mana figured it was best to play it safe.
Time slipped by. Neither Mana nor Blanc voiced a single complaint, sitting primly a short distance away and trading whispers, four big eyes fixed steadily on Luke's progress.
ROAR.
A dragon's roar, deeper than Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon's, shattered their hushed conversation. The sudden bellow even startled Blanc badly enough that the trident nearly flew out of her grip.
Fortunately, Mana's reflexes were quick, and she caught it just in time, sparing them any damage. Blanc's face, meanwhile, flushed a deep, helpless red.
Registering as much, the two of them fell silent, four big eyes locked tight on Luke.
"Looks like Master will succeed soon." Having sat through the crafting of two dragon-type cards already, Mana knew the signs.
A short while later, waves of mana fluctuation surged out from Luke, and within seconds his level had risen from Eight-Star Leader Realm to Nine-Star Leader Realm. He was now a single step away from the Monarch Realm.
This round of crafting was, in all likelihood, drawing to a close.
"Success!" Catching the mana fluctuations radiating from Luke, both Mana and Blanc lit up with excitement, the two of them even slapping their little hands together in a celebratory high-five, as though they were the ones who'd reconstructed the card rather than Luke.
But they quickly straightened up again. Reconstructing Red-Eyes Black Dragon had succeeded, yes, but the two of them knew that this time, Luke wasn't simply reconstructing Red-Eyes Black Dragon and nothing more.
"A pity. The mana backflow from reconstructing a card only fills the level gap between the two cards, rather than granting a fresh, complete backflow." Noticing the change in himself, Luke felt a flicker of regret. "Otherwise, I could have ascended to the Monarch Realm right now."
「 Construction successful. Mana backflow obtained. 」
The trace of regret was fleeting, quickly cast to the back of his mind, and Luke drew out Red-Eyes Black Dragon's card to examine it.
「 Red-Eyes Black Dragon 」 Race: Dragon Quality: Legendary Level: ★★★★★★★ (Seven-Star) Skills: Black Flame Bullet, Dragon's Furnace Heart, Red-Eyes Incineration, Form Awakening: Red-Eyes Undead Dragon
Black Flame Bullet: Condenses the internal black flame into a high-purity flame projectile and fires it, dealing dual damage to both the target's body and soul.
Dragon's Furnace Heart: Each enemy slain restores 10% of Red-Eyes Black Dragon's health and mana.
Red-Eyes Incineration: Detonates the internal dragon flame in a single burst, at the cost of self-destruction, to slay an enemy no more than one full tier above itself.
Form Awakening, Red-Eyes Undead Dragon: Auto-activates upon death. Red-Eyes Black Dragon awakens into an energy-body form, the Red-Eyes Undead Dragon (Seven-Star, Perfect quality), lasting 10 minutes, with a 24-hour cooldown. If it survives the duration of the Red-Eyes Undead Dragon form without dying again, it is reborn as Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and all skill cooldowns are refreshed.
"Only a single tier higher, but the gap in strength really is absurdly large." Having reviewed Red-Eyes Black Dragon's attributes and panel, even Luke clicked his tongue.
The Six-Star Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon had already been formidable enough, holding its own against even a fully-equipped Mana, if not edging ahead of her. After all, slaying Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon only meant facing the stronger Red-Eyes Black Dragon afterward; Mana, without bringing in outside help, simply couldn't clear that gate.
Now reconstructed to Seven-Star, its combat power had climbed straight to an even more terrifying height. Both being dragon species, were Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon to meet Red-Eyes Black Dragon, the only outcome would be a one-sided beating.
Still, considering that the equally Seven-Star Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl and Angewomon possessed equally absurd panels, Luke found it acceptable enough.
Seven-Star cards, after all, had crossed into the ranks of the high-tier. Against the merely mid-tier-peak Six-Star cards, a substantial gap was a given.
And more importantly, this was his card. The stronger it was, the better.
"Red-Eyes Incineration works similarly to Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl's Black Dragon Burst Wave. Both can slay an enemy up to one full tier above themselves."
"But the two differ in how the effect plays out."
"After Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl unleashes Black Dragon Burst Wave, she merely drops into a weakened state. When Red-Eyes Black Dragon releases Red-Eyes Incineration, though, it's a mutual-destruction affair."
"Then again, compared to Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl, who can only summon the Six-Star Dark Magician Girl afterward, the Red-Eyes Undead Dragon's awakened form holds a certain advantage. Its quality drops by a single tier, but it still retains Seven-Star combat power."
"And so long as the Red-Eyes Undead Dragon survives ten minutes, it can be reborn as Red-Eyes Black Dragon all over again, with every skill cooldown refreshed."
"This combination pushes both Red-Eyes Black Dragon's combat power and its endurance to a whole new height."
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