Is this the first time that John calls "Garzett" his "Soul", as in his Duelist's Soul? Yeah, that was a thing in terms of conceptualizing this series, but the exposition regarding it never really fit into the narrative anywhere, so it was never mentioned. Basically each Soul-powered character has a card which was destined to be theirs because it was somehow representative of their Soul's intended trait. John has "Garzett", Rocky has "Exxod", etc. Maybe I'll come up with a way to exposit this in the future, but it isn't super important to the story anyway.
I like this chapter. John and Hiro trade blows, and it seems that neither has an edge, until it becomes clear that Hiro's confidence isn't because he's overconfident, but because he's been in control of the situation all along. Freakin' scarey strong, seriously.
Chapter Sixteen
Final Round!
A Supreme Pair, Tualatin and Van’Dalgyon!
‘Voltanis’ raised his staff and called lightning down from the clouds (7000-2800 =4200). ‘Harvest Angel of Wisdom’ summoned light into his fist and slammed me in the chest (4200-1800=2400). One more round of attacks like that and I wouldn’t make it. Luckily Hiro wouldn’t get another chance like that one again.
“Your control of the field is about to end,” I declared. “When you control two more monsters than I do, I can Special Summon my favorite card, ‘The Fiend Megacyber’!” The yellow-armored warrior appeared in a burst of yellow and black static, his fists charged (ATK: 2200). “But ‘Fiend Megacyber’ won’t be around for long. I tribute him to summon my Soul, the Demon Lord ‘Great Maju Garzett’!”
The warrior became wisps of black smoke, which reformed into a twenty foot tall brown skeletal demon with hairs protruding from the back of its head and from beneath its massive bulbous shoulders. There was a red crystal sphere embedded in each of the monster’s shoulders, and in his forehead. He flexed his massive arms (ATK 4400), and then crossed them defiantly.
“‘Great Maju’,” I commanded, “give the ‘Adjudicator’ your ruling. Vile Energy Blast!”
‘Great Maju Garzett’ aimed his palm at ‘Voltanis’, unleashing a massive wave of black energy that engulfed the fairy monster, swallowing him up. Hiro would have taken damage, except for his Field Spell card’s effect.
“I guess I should have seen that coming,” said Hiro.
“Yeah,” I said, “probably.” I crossed my arms confidently, my stance mirroring my monster’s.
“Don’t expect that you’ve won just because you’ve managed to summon one powerful monster,” said Hiro. “I still have plenty of moves in reserve. For starters, I set a card face-down and summon ‘Banisher of the Radiance’.”
Another ceramic angel appeared. This one had a large round body, a small head, and a hole in its chest lined with jagged orange crystals (ATK: 1600).
“Next I activate ‘Magical Stone Excavation’, discarding ‘Angel 07’ and ‘The Light Effigy’ to return ‘Card of Sanctity’ in my Graveyard to my hand. I activate ‘Card of Sanctity’, allowing us both to draw until we hold six cards.”
He drew and paused to survey his hand. I expected him to play more cards, but he simply said, “I end my turn.”
I really should thank him, I thought, because of ‘Card of Sanctity’ I have a way to cripple his strategy here and now.
“I draw,” I began, “and I activate ‘Heavy Storm’, destroying every Spell and Trap card on the field.”
A powerful wind picked up, carrying the Holograms of every Spell and Trap away. The wind ripped the roman temple that was the Field card ‘Sanctuary in the Sky’ from the “ground” beneath it, pulling it apart, reducing it to rubble. An instant later, the ‘Dimensional Fissure’, no longer supported by magic, closed up and disappeared.
“Next,” I continued, “I activate ‘Soul Absorption’. Now, when a card is removed from play, I gain five hundred Life Points. And I’ll make a stand with ‘Chaosrider Gustaph’!” A green-skinned demon warrior wearing red armor appeared aback a motorcycle, carrying a pike (ATK: 1400).
“Once per turn,” I explained, “I can remove up to two Spell cards in my Graveyard from play to boost the power of my ‘Chaosrider’ by three hundred each.”
‘Chaosrider’ gained a fiery green aura (1400+600=2000).
“And because two cards were removed,” I announced, “I gain one thousand Life Points (2400+1000=3400). I attack ‘Harvest’.”
‘Gustaph’ revved up his engine and shot forward. He did a wheelie, trying to hit ‘Harvest’ with his fast-spinning front wheel, but ‘Harvest’ was too strong. He deflected the wheel with his arm. ‘Chaosrider’ threw his weight, spinning around on his back wheel, and slashed with his pike. ‘Harvest Angel of Wisdom’ was shattered by the impact. The shards of his body were pulled through the hole in ‘Banisher of the Radiance’’s chest, removed from play by his effect (7000+1800-2000=6800).
“Because another card was removed from play,” I explained, “I recover another five hundred Life (3400+500=3900), and I’ll attack ‘Banisher of the Radiance’ with ‘Great Maju Garzett’ and clinch this thing, Vile Energy!”
‘Great Maju Garzett’ fired his attack again, and ‘Banisher of the Radiance’ melted away (6800+1600-4400=4000). Hiro was, as usual, unconcerned. He selected a card from his hand and placed it on the platform made by his Duel Disk.
“Because you destroyed all of my two or more monsters in one Battle Phase,” said Hiro, “I can Special Summon ‘Tualatin’ to the field.” The silvery armored angel descended from the clouds overhead, its entire body radiating a bright light (ATK: 2800).
“At this point,” said Hiro, “I declare a monster Attribute, and every monster with that attribute on the field is destroyed.”
The light haloing ‘Tualatin’ expanded out, and ‘Great Maju Garzett’ disappeared, as if he were erased.
“Additionally,” Hiro continued, “while I control ‘Tualatin’, no monster of the declared Attribute can be summoned to the field.”
“It doesn’t change anything,” I said. “I set a card. It’s your move.”
Come on Hiro, attack me!
“I draw,” Hiro declared, “and I attack, Erasing Light!”
Light poured from ‘Tualatin’’s body, but I was ready.
“Reveal Trap card, ‘Mirror Force’,” I declared, “turning your attack back on your monster.” A reflective barrier appeared around my body, bouncing the light back at ‘Tualatin’, destroying it instead. I expected Hiro to finally look worried, but he still seemed utterly un-fazed.
“I place a monster face-down in defense mode,” he said, “and pass.”
What are you planning? I wondered. Are you just trying to psych me out, bluff me, or do you really still have something up your sleeve? Either way, I can’t give you even one turn to recover. Even though you’ll be expecting it, I’ve got to come at you with everything I’ve got!
“I summon ‘D.D. Warrior Lady’ in attack mode,” I declared, “and attack your face-down monster.” A young blond woman in a silver jumpsuit, a glowing energy katana in hand, appeared (ATK: 1500). She charged, sword raised, and slashed, revealing the face-down monster as the six-armed ‘Layard the Liberator’ (DEF: 1600). He caught my warrior’s blade, holding her in place (3900+1500-1600=3800).
“I activate my monster’s effect,” I declared. “You should know what it does, but just in case I’ll tell you. I remove ‘D.D. Warrior Lady’ from play to remove your monster from play as well.”
A dimensional vortex began to spread from my monster’s sword, but before it could have its intended effect, ‘D.D. Warrior Lady’ was struck by lightning and disappeared.
“Reveal ‘Divine Wrath’,” Hiro declared, “discarding a card from my hand to negate your monster’s effect and destroy her. Now, because I negated an effect using a Counter Trap, I can summon a new monster from my hand. Behold my ‘Van’Dalgyon the Dark King Dragon’!”
Thunder clouds rolled in, lightning struck the ground around the arena, and from the clouds there emerged a huge black dragon, at least ‘Tualatin’’s size, if not larger, with glowing red eyes and a crystal embedded in its forehead (ATK: 2800).
“Next,” Hiro continued, “I can activate one of my monster’s effects based on the type of card that I negated. Because I negated the effect of a monster, I can summon back any monster from the Graveyard. Be revived, ‘Tualatin’!”
The massive glowing angel descended from the still-dark clouds, turning them gleaming white as he passed through (ATK: 2800). I could feel myself shudder. I could feel the immense pressure of the combined power of Hiro’s cards washing over me, nearly causing me to panic.
These last few turns have all been part of one big setup, I realized. Hiro was forcing me to use up my best cards so that when he summoned out his two monsters, I wouldn’t have a way to destroy them. He knew that, even if ‘Tualatin’ was defeated, he could just use ‘Van’Dalgyon’’s effect to revive it again. It was a setup, and I fell for it! How the hell am I gonna get out of this? Can I get out of this?
I looked over my hand, If I can’t beat his monsters, I’ll have to do my best to buy myself some time until I can.
“Activate,” I declared, “the Spell card ‘Swords of Revealing Light’.” Swords made of light itself rained down from the sky, surrounding Hiro’s monsters. “While these swords remain in play, none of the monsters on your side of the field can attack.”
You may command powerful forces my friend, I thought, but I’m pretty powerful too. I won’t make any more mistakes, and I promise that, from now on, this will be a duel to that even you will have to work at!
I nodded to Hiro, and he nodded back, acknowledging what we both knew, that the real struggle was about to begin.
Card of the Day:
Van'Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord
Played by: Hiro
This card is the first indication that Hiro's deck isn't just fairies. He uses any monsters which fit his theme of total domination of the field. "Van'Dalgyon", in a Counter Trap heavy deck like Hiro's, is absolutely deadly.
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