Cardfight!! Vanguard: Zerø Chronicles

Turn 01 / Phase 04: The Silver Wolf And The Guardian Dragon

[Italicized text = Occurs within the player's imaginations of the fight on Planet Cray]

Hikaru examined his hand, looking for a grade 3 unit to ride. He took a deep breath and raised his arm, holding a single card. "If I'm going to catch up, it will be with this...!"

Jin and Kanade tensed up, anxiously awaiting Hikaru's next move. What is he up to...? They both thought.

"For a better world—the world I desire to protect! I ride! The grade 3–Soul Saver Dragon!" Hikaru chanted, placing the card onto the Vanguard Circle. He looked up and closed his eyes, allowing light to envelop him once more. He extended his arms to the side, as well as other appendages—wings! When his eyes opened, he found himself to have become a dragon looking down at his opponent.

"This... this is a grade 3 then," Jin said in wonder. In front of him stood the giant guardian dragon of the United Sanctuary—letting out a great roar that commanded the respect of its subordinates.

"Now that you've reached grade 3," Kanade began to explain once more, "you've unlocked new powers. That of the 'Imaginary Gift'." She pointed at the pile of cards above Hikaru's damage zone. "Your Imaginary Gift is known as Force, and lets you place one of those cards onto one of your circles to give your units on that circle additional strengths."

"So then," Jin interjected, "Imaginary Gift is like the product of one's strong imagination—reaching grade 3... Sound about right?"

"Exactly."

"Well then, let's try it out!" Hikaru exclaimed, reading the Imaginary Gift card he picked up from the pile. "I activate Imaginary Gift: Force," he said, placing the card underneath his Vanguard. "With the skill of my Imaginary Gift, the my vanguard gets +10000 power during my turn. I'm sure to make a comeback now!"

"I'm sure you'll have a better chance now," Kanade supported Hikaru. "Imaginary Gift is just the first power available to grade 3 vanguards. The second power you gain is seen here—the 'Twin Drive'." She pointed to the double helix-like icon under Soul Saver Dragon's grade level. "That means that when your vanguard attacks, you perform two drive checks instead of one."

"Sounds good, but first comes my Main Phase," Hikaru said, ready to move on with the game. "I call one more Knight Squire, Allen behind the first one. Using it's skill I-" Hikaru stopped abruptly, becoming confused by the card's skill. "Hm... what's a... counter-blast?"

"A counter-blast is a type of 'cost', if you will," Kanade explained. "You perform a counter-blast by taking a face-up card in your damage zone and flipping it face-down. There's also soul-blasts, which are done by taking cards from your soul and placing them into your drop zone."

"I see... in that case, I'll flip this face-up damage over and continue with Allen's skill! By paying the cost, I superior call Wingal to the front-row circle in my right column. Allen gets +3000 power until the end of my turn, and I also draw a card!"

"Certain units have skills that help you make up for costs, known as counter-charge and soul-charge," Kanade interjected, continuing on from her previous explanation. "When counter-charging, flip a face-down damage back to face-up, and when soul-charging, you take the top card of your deck and place it into your soul—the pile of cards under your current vanguard."

"Call the rear-guard—Bringer of Good Luck, Epona. And now I'll lead the charge and attack!" Hikaru exclaimed, placing the unit behind the newly called Wingal and immediately turning his center-column units into the [Rest] position. "With my vanguard's effect, I soul-charge 1 card!" (31000 —> 9000)

So much power... Jin thought as he examined his hand. "I'll play a no guard."

"Then here comes my Holy Charging Roar!" Hikaru harnessed light energy and created an energy beam that struck Jin to the ground.