Fiend Ruler is literally The Chessmaster. It's one of my favorite archetypes, which is why we have Karen as The Chessmaster for the heroes, and now Fiend Ruler for the villains. Of course Fiend is something special. Not many Chessmasters literally use chess characters to fight. Oh, and also, poor Tucker. He gets an A for effort.
Chapter Sixteen
Their Leader Attacks!
Too Weak to Fight Back
John
My vision, until a moment ago blurred, came back into focus, and I found myself looking into the elderly Keeper's concerned face.
"What happened?" I asked.
"The imbalance between your body and your magic became momentarily greater," Keeper explained, relieved that I had recovered. "We must hurry and continue the duel so that you might find balance and heal. Soon the imbalance will be too great even for me to reach you, and as we speak your fiends reach the end of their rope. If you do not return to the waking world soon, they, and you, will die permanently."
I looked around hastily and took in the state of the Duel, remembering where I'd left off.
“Alright Keeper,” I said (My LP: 5600/Keeper’s LP: 5800), “you’re obviously strong. The combination that you’ve set up here to leave me top decking is brilliant, but you’ve made one fatal mistake; you left your ‘Ghost of Egypt’ in attack mode. You might have ‘Ordeal of a Traveler’, but I’m not afraid to attack.” My Soul flashed briefly gold and purple-black, and Keeper smiled as I declared. “I attack with ‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon’ against your ‘Ghost of Egypt’, Black Fire Bullet!”
I hadn’t been able to follow the cards in Keeper’s hand, thanks to my spaz-out, and the ‘Shifting Shadows’ that still drifted across Keeper's field, making his side of the field harder to see, but when I thought about his hand and what type of card to choose for the effect of his trap, I suddenly knew that…
“The card on the left is a Trap!”
“You,” said Keeper, “are correct.” He showed me his card, the Continuous Trap ‘Bottomless Shifting Sand’. My ‘Red-Eyes’ launched a fireball, hitting the ‘Ghost of Egypt’ dead on. “Your monster might not die,” I said, “but you still take massive damage, a total of fifteen hundred points of it!”
“You’re wrong I’m afraid,” Keeper replied, sounding genuinely regretful, “because I have a Trap that you should know quite well, considering that one of your allies is quite fond of it. Reveal ‘Spirit Barrier’. As you know, as long as I control this card and at least one monster, I cannot take Battle Damage. Your move was good, but not quite good enough.”
Tucker
Archfiend Ruler stepped up between the empty shells of his two former allies. I picked Sarah up and set her down next to the others. Then I turned, fighting exhaustion, and walked back over to face the last remaining member of the Dark Duel Force.
“Alright Fiend, I’m ready,” I said. “Give me your worst.”
“Certainly,” he replied, so calm that it was creepy, “but not just yet. I may have fun killing, but I have even more fun coordinating the hunt. You see, my cards aren’t like yours. I don’t rely on things like luck or magical Souls. My power in a duel comes from a depth of strategy that a literal hothead like you could never understand. Every one of my cards fits together with every other card. That’s why I’m invincible.
“I start,” Fiend began, “with a Field Spell card ‘Pandemonium’, but we’ll get to that later.” All around us the scenery changed. The air became tinted with a thin green mist, and curved bony spikes rose out of the ground at the battlefield’s edge, forming a ring around us. “I also set a monster in defense mode and end my turn.”
“That’s all?” I asked, not sure whether I was more surprised or relieved.
“A good strategist knows that the most effective opening move is often the most subtle one,” Fiend replied.
“Alright,” I said, completely clueless as to what the hell he was talking about. I drew my cards, noticing how sore my arms here now that the adrenaline had worn off. This sucks. After my last duel I can barely stand, or even hold a card!
“Well, for my opening move,” I declared, “I summon my ‘Blazing Inpachi’,” a giant burning man made of logs appeared behind me (ATK: 1850), “and attack with Blaze Burst.”
‘Blazing Inpachi’ raised his flaming hands and poured fire down on Archfiend Ruler’s side of the field. Before Fiend's monster was destroyed it was revealed to be a near human-sized rat with dark red eyes.
“You destroyed my ‘Giant Rat’,” Fiend explained. “That means that I can summon one Earth monster with fifteen hundred Attack points or less from my deck. I summon ‘Vilepawn Archfiend’ in attack mode.”
A demon with a sword for his right forearm and a shield for his left appeared (ATK: 1200). Vilepawn? I thought, Pawn, like in chess? Guess that’s what he meant when he said in-depth strategy. Damn, I suck at chess.
“For my second move,” said Fiend eagerly, a hungry look in his eyes, “I draw, and in my Standby Phase I activate ‘Curse of Fiend’, changing you ‘Blazing Inpachi’ to defense mode (DEF: 0). Usually I would also have to sacrifice six hundred of my Life Points to ‘Vilepawn’ in this Phase as well, but because we are battling at ‘Pandemonium’, my monster’s bloodlust is satiated by the dark forces at work here. And next, in my Main Phase, I’ll summon a second Archfiend monster. Like the chess piece she represents, my next monster is one of the most strategically important pieces of my deck. I summon ‘Infernalqueen Archfiend’ in attack mode.”
A feminine red demon appeared, a sort of small, bony crown on her head, carrying a simple blade (ATK: 900). “I attack the defenseless ‘Blazing Inpachi’,” Fiend declared, “with ‘Infernalqueen’!” The queen slashed my monster with her blade and he fell to pieces, becoming a pile of burning wood and smoldering ash. “Now I attack directly with ‘Vilepawn’,” the second monster jumped at me and swung his sword, slashing me across the chest (8000-1200=6800).
“I lay one card face-down,” Fiend finished, “and end my turn.”
Pieces of smoldering wood still burned at my feet as I drew my next card. I was already weak, and the direct attack had taken even more out of me. My hands were shaking and my legs were starting to feel like rubber, but I wouldn’t give up.
“For my move," I announced, "I summon the ‘Solar Flare Dragon’ and attack the ‘Infernalqueen Archfiend’.”
My monster, a serpentine dragon made of fire, appeared, opening its mouth and launching a fireball at my opponent’s side of the field, but Fiend seemed unconcerned. “I don’t think so,” he said, smiling, “because in this duel, just like in chess, you must first go through the pawns. My ‘Vilepawn’ will block any attack that you launch against my other Archfiend monsters.”
The white warrior fiend jumped in between the ‘Infernalqueen’ and my attack, holding it back with his shield. “But that’s not all,” Fiend declared. “I reveal ‘Ultimate Offering’, paying five hundred Life Points (8000-500=7500) to summon a second ‘Vilepawn Archfiend’.” Another ‘Vilepawn’ appeared beside the first.
“When two ‘Vilepawns’ are on the field together,” Fiend explained, “one intercepts all of your attacks, and the other deflects them.” The second ‘Vilepawn’ swung his sword, dispersing my dragon’s fire. “In other words, as long as I control both ‘Vilepawns’, my Archfiends are impervious to attacks.”
“That’s just wonderful,” I said sarcastically, blinking away a bout of blurry vision. “Good thing monsters aren’t all I have. Reveal Trap card ‘Ring of Destruction’.”
The ring of grenades that I had used in my last Duel appeared and flew toward one of the ‘Vilepawns’, but before it could attach, everything seemed to pause, like time on the field had been made to stand still.
“When one of my Archfiends is targeted by an effect,” Fiend explained smugly, “its special ability activates, the Fiend Roulette.” A ring of six numbered orbs appeared in the air at ‘Vilepawn’’s side. A flame burned, jumping randomly from one orb to the next. The fire finally stopped on two. “Excellent,” said Fiend. “If the Fiend Roulette lands on two or five when activated for ‘Vilepawn Archfiend’, the card that targeted him is negated and destroyed.”
Time resumed and the ‘Vilepawn’ swung his sword, shattering the 'Ring of Destruction' in midair.
“Then I’ll end my turn,” I said, “by activating the effect of my ‘Solar Flare Dragon’, dealing you five hundred points of damage.” The dragon launched a fireball at Fiend, hitting him directly (7500-500=7000). He didn’t even blink.
“Draw,” said Fiend, “and I think I’ll bring another friend to this party. I summon the leader of Archfiends and strategically the most powerful. Introducing ‘Terrorking Archfiend’!”
A tall skeletal fiend appeared. The bone that made up his head was shaped like a crown, and he wore a cape that had broad wings protruding from beneath. He carried a long, broad sword in his right hand. As he came into existence, he roared (ATK: 2000).
“I activate the effect of my ‘Infernalqueen’,” Fiend continued. “Once per turn she can increase the Attack of any Archfiend I control by one thousand.”
The ‘Terrorking’ roared again as energy passed from the ‘Infernalqueen’ into him (ATK: 2000+1000=3000).
“Next I pay five hundred Life Points to summon ‘Shadowknight Archfiend’ as well via the effect of ‘Ultimate Offering,” Fiend announced. Another demon appeared. He was armored, with wings and long blue hair. His right forearm was a sword, and his left forearm was a claw (ATK: 2000).
“I attack with ‘Shadowknight’," Fiend declared, "against your ‘Solar Flare Dragon’,” the evil knight lunged forward and slashed the dragon in half.
“Battle Damage you take from ‘Shadowknight’ is halved,” Fiend explained, “but your dragon is still destroyed (LP: 6550). I attack directly with my ‘Vilepawns’ and my ‘Infernalqueen’ (6550-1200-1200-900=3250), and I finish with ‘Terrorking Archfiend’.”
The final Archfiend rose into the air, his wings spread wide, his sword held high, “Activate the Spell card 'Demon Lightning', increasing the attack of my ‘Terrorking’ by five hundred.” The Archfiend’s sword became charged with electricity (ATK: 3000+500 =3500). “‘Terrorking’, attack with Checkmate Slash!”
The demon swooped past me and swung his sword. My whole body tingled as electricity danced across me from head to toe. I screamed as my body seized violently.
“Checkmate,” Archfiend Ruler declared, “in three moves.”
I fell to the ground, falling into a deep and unending sleep.
Card of the Day:
Terrorking Archfiend
Played by: Archfiend Ruler
In any game of chess, the most important piece is the King. This King, however, doesn't just sit back and let his subjects do all of the fighting for him.
Original Cards in This Chapter:
Original Cards in This Chapter:
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