I don't know if I've ever said this in these books, but the reason that The Duelist, or Hiro, I guess, was only able to seal Blackheart away in the past rather than destroy him, was that he made a mistake during their Shadow Game. Here it seems that he makes another, and that it will cost him the battle yet again. This time, though, he doesn't have a legacy left to use as the cost to cast his spell. This is the final battle, win or lose, and he knows it.
Chapter NineteenThe Duelist’s Mistake
“You might think you got rid of my ‘Bowganian’ by removing it from play,” said Blackheart happily, almost laughing at me, “but you’re wrong.” He took the ‘Bowganian’ card back out of his deck box.
“I reveal my ‘Return from the Dark Dimension’ Trap card to Special Summon a Dark monster removed from play, and I chain ‘Inferno Reckless Summon’, letting me summon all remaining copies of ‘Bowganian’ in my deck, and letting you summon all remaining copies of ‘Pharaonic Protector’ from your deck.”
We thumbed through our decks. Blackheart took two copies of ‘Bowganian’ from his deck and summoned them in attack mode alongside the first (ATK: 1300 (each)). I chose another copy of ‘Protector’ from my deck and summoned him in defense mode (DEF: 0).
Blackheart and I shuffled our decks and replaced them as we stared each other down.
“My three ‘Bowganians’ attack,” Blackheart said, smiling smugly, “Triple Optiblast!” The three machines fired beans from their eyes. Two of the beams were absorbed by my ‘Protectors’, but the third hit me dead on (8000-1300=6700). I grabbed the spot where the attack hit and clenched my teeth against the pain. I choked out a laugh that sounded more like a cough and said, “Your attacks are as painful as ever.”
Blackheart smiled, full of pride. “I end my turn,” he said, “with a face-down card.”
“At the end of your turn,” I said, doing my best to dismiss the pain, “I reveal a Trap card, ‘The First Sarcophagus’.”
From the ground behind me rose a rectangular stone coffin. The lid slid away revealing a golden sarcophagus twelve feet tall and fit for a pharaoh. The stone coffin crumbled around it.
“During your end phase I can bring a new ‘Sarcophagus’ card to the field,” I explained, “like this, ‘The Second Sarcophagus’. And now, because it’s my turn, I begin my counterattack with the Spell card ‘Tribute to the Doomed’, discarding one card to destroy one of you ‘Bowganians’.”
Bandages burst from the ground, wrapping one of the three machines. Then a mummified hand reached out of the ground and grabbed the machine and pulled it under ground. The ground closed afterward, and I heard the machine’s metal body crunch.
“Next,” I said, a confident smile spreading across my face, “I play a Spell, my ‘Card of Sanctity’, replenishing our hands.” Both Blackheart and I drew from our decks, and my smile widened.
“I place two cards face-down,” I concluded, “and I summon the ‘Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower’ in attack mode, ending my turn.”
A tower of bones appeared, forming from the darkness itself, reaching up to the temple’s high ceiling. A fog of wandering souls surrounded it (ATK: 400).
“Bad choice,” said Blackheart mockingly, his eyebrow raised. “It looks like the millennia have been hard on you. You aren’t thinking straight. I draw now, and the effects of my ‘Bowganians’ activate.”
The two remaining machines aimed their bows at me and fired at my chest. I twisted my body in an attempt to dodge the two potentially lethal crossbow bolts. One of the bolts sliced through my left shoulder, and the other slashed across my chest, cutting my shirt. Blood trickled from my wounds (6700-1200=5500).
“Now I attack ‘Bone Tower’ with Optiblast,” Blackheart continued without missing a beat.
The first ‘Bowganian’ rose up, hovering in the air, and fired his beam at the base of the tower, aiming to level it from the foundation up, but the beam was blocked at the last second by a transparent hemispherical barrier.
“Reveal, the Trap card ‘Waboku’,” I declared, “protecting my monster, and myself, from your attacks this turn.” I smiled despite the pain that still lingered from Blackheart's last attack, “Do you still think that I don’t know what I’m doing?”
“Guess not,” said Blackheart with a wicked chuckle. “This is fun, just like old times! Except for the fact that we’re using pieces of paper to fight, but you know. Anyway, I set three cards and end my turn.”
“Then it’s time,” I declared. “I activate my ‘Second Sarcophagus’! The second coffin opens to reveal the third and final coffin.”
The golden sarcophagus opened, revealing a slightly smaller sarcophagus, this time painted with blue patterns. “Next, during my turn, I open ‘The Third Sarcophagus’ to summon my ultimate card, my Soul, the ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’!”
A light shone from within the final coffin as the lid fell away. A backlit figure emerged. The light faded and my monster stepped forward. He was wearing gold bracers and a gold and blue striped headdress. On his right shoulder was the head of an eagle, and on his left shoulder was the head of a jackal. Over his face he wore a golden jackal-face mask, and on his chest he wore the millennium eye symbol. He carried a golden staff in his right hand and a gold-hilted sword in his left. His skin was stark black, and he projected a regal presence (ATK: 2500).
“When ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’ rises from his slumber,” I explained, “he leads his soldiers back with him from the Land of the Dead! Rise my two ‘Pharaonic Protectors’, and the monster sent to the Graveyard for the effect of ‘Tribute to the Doomed’, the ‘Pharaoh’s Servant’!”
The two ‘Protectors’ appeared alongside another monster that was virtually identical except that he wore a wider headdress, one white ribbon instead of two red ones, and he carried a spear in his right hand (ATK: 900).
“And now,” I continued, “my ‘Bone Tower’ forces you to discard two cards from the top of your deck for every Zombie that I Special Summoned. I Special Summoned four monsters, so you discard eight cards.”
I watched Blackheart smile with confidence as he threw away the top eight cards of his deck.
“Finally,” I said, “to complete this combo I reveal the Continuous Trap card ‘Coffin Seller’. Now every time one of your monsters enters the Land of the Dead you must pay for his lot in the Graveyard in the form of three hundred points of damage.”
Five of Blackheart’s discarded cards were monsters. Blackheart looked far less excited as a wicked aura appeared around him and drained his Life away (7400-1500=5900).
Then, unexpectedly, Blackheart’s wicked smile widened. “To hurt me so much during my own End Phase. Truly brilliant work. You really are the worthiest opponent I will ever face. But you have unknowingly put yourself into the same situation that you found yourself in three thousand years ago. You have made a mistake, and given me the upper hand. My face-down card is the Continuous Trap card ‘Skull Lair’. Using its power I remove six monsters from play to destroy the army that you just summoned!”
Blackheart placed six cards from his Graveyard into the deck box at his waste, and three energy bolts shot from his Trap, hitting my three mummified soldiers, burning them to ashes.
“As long as that ‘Bone Tower’ remains on the field,” said Blackheart, chuckling, “its effect will continue to activate and my monsters will keep going to my Graveyard. Thanks to you and my ‘Skull Lair’ I’ve truly become invincible.”
I smiled, “Not if I can drain away your Life with ‘Coffin Seller’ before you can overrun me with monsters. Activate ‘Monster Reborn’, reviving ‘Pharaoh’s Servant’ and destroying even more of your deck.”
Blackheart tossed two more cards.
“Next,” I continued, “I sacrifice ‘Servant’ to summon the ‘Great Dezard’ in attack mode.”
A sage in white robes appeared. He wore a shoulder dress decorated with gold (ATK: 1900).
“I combine ‘Dezard’ with the magic of ‘Double Attack’,” I declared. “I discard ‘Despair from the Dark’ to allow ‘Dezard’ to attack twice this turn. Go, Necromantic Magic!”
‘Dezard’ raised his hands and the two ‘Bowganians’ were suddenly surrounded by and aura of orange energy. They were lifted into the air and crushed (5900+(1300x3)-(1900x2)=4700). The ‘Coffin Seller’ kicked in and the damage increased (4700-600 =4100).
“Next I activate the effect of ‘Dezard’,” I commanded. “Because he’s destroyed two monsters I can sacrifice him to summon the King of the Walking Dead, ‘Fushio Richie’.”
The ‘Great Dezard’ glowed golden orange and disappeared. In his place appeared a bone-thin zombie man with gray skin and horns. He wore a red cloak and carried a hook-ended staff (ATK: 2600). Blackheart lost two more cards, but he was grinning.
“I attack with ‘Richie’,” I declared. ‘Richie’ raised his staff and fired a beam of pink-purple light.
“My turn to Trap you,” said Blackheart, smiling at his own cleverness. “Reveal ‘Magic Cylinder’, reversing your monster’s attack back at you!”
A cylinder appeared, catching ‘Richie’’s attack and then firing it back at me. I jumped back, avoiding the brunt of the blast (6700-2600=4100).
I scowled, “Then I attack with my ‘Spirit of the Pharaoh’.” The ‘Spirit’ raised his sword, pointing it forward, and charged, only to be deflected by glowing green barrier.
“This time,” said Blackheart, still smiling, “I used my ‘Draining Shield’, blocking an attack and transforming potential damage into Life Points (4100+2500=6600). As clever as you might be, my old friend, you still don’t stand a chance!”
“I flip my ‘Fushio Richie’ face-down via his own effect,” I said, ignoring Blackheart, and my monster disappeared into the darkness around us.
“As your turn ends,” said Blackheart, “I reveal ‘Scapegoat’ to summon four ‘Sheep Tokens’ to the field.”
Four fur balls with goat horns appeared (DEF: 0 (each)).
“Now, in my turn,” Blackheart continued menacingly, “I summon ‘Cannon Soldier’ in attack mode.”
A boxy cannon-barrel-headed robot appeared standing eight feet tall (ATK: 1400).
“I sacrifice all four ‘Sheep Tokens’ to deal you five hundred damage for each.” Blackheart declared and the four fur balls disappeared. The robot fired four shots which were too fast-moving to dodge, hitting me one after another in rapid succession (4100-(500x4)=2100).
“Activate ‘Limiter Removal’,” Blackheart declared with a smile. The Attack of his ‘Cannon Soldier’ doubled (1400x2=2800). “Attack the ‘Spirit’,” Blackheart commanded. The robot fired another blast, piercing my best monster through the chest. He was vaporized (2100+2500-2800=1800).
I was stunned by the loss, ‘Spirit’, no!
“Now I activate my ‘Soldier’’s final effect,” Blackheart concluded, acting without mercy, as was to be expected, “Self Destruct Mode!”
The ‘Cannon Soldier’ ran up to me and exploded. I covered my face with my arms, but the blast still threw me onto my back, burning the sleeves of my jacket in the process (1800-500=1300/Blackheart: 6600-300=6300).
“Face-down card,” said Blackheart. “I end my turn. Let’s try to keep this interesting, shall we?”
“My turn,” Things aren’t looking good for me right now. “I summon a second ‘Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower’. Next I Flip Summon ‘Richie’, activating his effect to call a Zombie back from the Graveyard.”
A second tower appeared alongside the first (ATK: 400), and ‘Richie’ returned in a flash. He held his staff up, summoning the same pink-purple light as before.
“Summon,” I declared, “‘Despair from the Dark’, discarded for the effect of ‘Double Attack’.”
A massive shadowy torso rose up behind me, standing nearly thirty feet tall, flexing its claws (ATK: 2800).
“Now you have to discard four cards from the top of your deck,” I explained. Blackheart did as he was told (6300-900=5400), be he remained undaunted. “Now I attack with both of my monsters, starting with ‘Despair’.”
The shadow reached toward Blackheart, but his claws were repelled by an invisible wall.
“Reveal,” said Blackheart with a yawn, “my Trap, ‘Negate Attack’.
“Now I draw,” said Blackheart, “and I place two more cards face-down. Then I activate ‘Card of Demise’ to draw until I hold five cards.”
He drew, and he smiled when he saw his cards. “I activate ‘Painful Choice’.” He flipped through his deck and picked five cards, showing them to me; ‘Sangan’, ‘Dark Priestess Ohm’, ‘Armageddon Knight’, ‘Dark Grepher’, and ‘Dark Creator’. All of the cards were dangerous, but the least dangerous of them by far was the first.
“Add ‘Sangan’ to your hand.”
Again Blackheart did as he was told, discarding the cards that remained, taking severe damage and enjoying every minute (5400-1200=4200). It was then that I learned why.
“I activate ‘Soul Absorption’,” said Blackheart, his smile wider than ever, “and I remove eight monsters in my Graveyard from play to destroy ‘Despair from the Dark’ with my ‘Skull Lair’’s effect.”
An energy ball hit the massive shadow, dispersing it in an instant. Even more horribly Blackheart gained Life Points from the effect ‘Soul Absorption’, undoing all of the damage that I'd done and then some (4200+4000=8200).
“Finally,” said Blackheart, “I summon ‘Sangan’ in defense mode.” A three-eyed fur ball appeared (DEF: 600). Blackheart couldn’t stop laughing.
This is it, I thought. From now on, every move is even more critical.
Blackheart laughed maliciously. “It’s no use,” he said. “By discarding so many of my monsters you have delivered me the ultimate weapon in the form of ‘Skull Lair’. Watch as I use it to destroy you, and bring darkness to this world forever!”
His laughter deepened, and for a moment I wondered if I might really fail.
Card of the Day:
Spirit of the Pharaoh
Played by: The Forgotten Duelist
It isn't quite clear what Hiro has planned for this monster exactly, though it does seem to very important to his strategy, and has the potential to cause an opponent a lot of problems. Because it is so central to Hiro's deck, it earns this position.
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