Yu-Gi-Oh! DF Book Seven: Their Most Dangerous Enemy - Chapter Thirty-Two

The duel between John and the obsessive Damien Curran is in full swing. While last chapter really only showed one of each Duelist's turns, this one is much more of a back and forth. Damien consistently goes all out, and John consistently pulls out all the stops to counter his every move. Both of these Duelists are incredibly skilled, and it becomes pretty clear pretty quick that it's not going to be easy to call which of them will come out of this victorious.

On a different note, with this chapter over with, there are only three more chapters in this book. Who's excited? Because I'm excited.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Pulling Out All the Stops

Damien drew his card, "I got to hand it to you, I was actually surprised that you gave up your monster to defeat mine. I didn't predict it. But that doesn't mean that I wasn't prepared in case my monster fell in battle. I activate 'Monster Reborn' to revive 'The Archfiend Megacyber'!"

There was a bright red flash, and the demonic doppelganger of my most replied-upon monster reappeared, completely unharmed (ATK: 2200).

"My monster attacks," Damien commanded, "with Megacyber Impact."

'The Archfiend Megacyber' surged forward, his fist raised, ready to strike.

I smiled my trademark smile, "You keep saying that you and I are the same. Did you really think that if you were prepared to have to revive your monster, that I wouldn't be? Reveal 'Call of the Haunted'! Revive 'The Fiend Megacyber'!"

My yellow-armored warrior appeared again, standing defiantly, arms crossed, in the path of the attacker. 'The Archfiend Megacyber', not anxious for a repeat of his last encounter with my monster, paused to wait for his master's renewed orders.

I held my purposefully smug smile, Well then, Damien Curran, what will you do? Do you have the confidence to K.O. both monsters, or will you back down, and try to use your monster to secure some kind of advantage?

"In that case," Damien said through gritted teeth, "I halt my attack."

'The Archfiend Megacyber' moved back into position at Damien's side, crossing his own arms, his stance mirroring my monster's. I smiled, Interesting. We've played chicken twice now, and I've won each time.

"You stopped my direct attack this turn," Damien announced, "but it's still my turn, and I haven't even used the turn's Normal Summon yet. I summon the 'Summoner Monk', a monster that can only be summoned in defense mode."

A priest in blue and white robes, wearing a tall headdress appeared alongside Damien's 'Megacyber', crouched down, his hands held together in front of his body, as if in prayer (DEF: 1600).

"While I control 'Summoner Monk'," Damien explained, "I can discard a Spell card once per turn to Special Summon a Level four monster from my deck. And even though I won't be using that ability yet, I did summon a Level four monster from my hand, which allows me to Special Summon 'Kagetokage', the shadow lizard, as well."

The living lizard made of shadows appeared from within the shadow of the priest. (DEF: 1500).

"And," Damien continued, "I'm not finished yet."

My eyes narrowed, Is he going to summon more monsters? He wasn't kidding, he and I really do play similarly.

"One of the two cards discarded for my 'Archfiend Megacyber''s effect," Damien explained, "was 'Level Eater'. I reduce the Level of 'The Archfiend Megacyber' by one, to five, to Special Summon that monster as well."

A Level Star fell away from the demonic warrior, and took the form of the over-sized ladybug, which spread its glossy wings and hovered above Damien's shoulder (DEF: 0).

"And I guess that's all," Damien said tauntingly. "It's your move, but you should know that my plan is well under way."

I drew, He was able to summon four monsters in one turn, and he's set it up so that he can summon two monsters per turn. I have to prevent that from happening.

"I place one card face-down," I announced, "and I attack the 'Summoner Monk'."

'The Fiend Megacyber' punched the 'Monk' clear through the gut, destroying him. I was pretty satisfied with myself, until I heard Damien laughing.

"You screwed up," he explained. "My 'Summoner Monk' was just a decoy, to draw your attention away from my other monsters.  You thought that I had plans to use his effect, but what you didn't realize was that my 'Monk' can't be tributed, while my other three monsters can.

I was taken aback, What!?

"I draw," Johan continued, "and I tribute all three of my monsters to summon 'Beast King Barbaros'!"

'The Archfiend Megacyber', 'Kagetokage', and 'Level Eater' disappeared, and a massive beast rose up behind Damien. His body from the waist down was that of a black lion. His body from the waist up was that of a muscular man with long blond hair, carrying a red lance and a round blue shield, a mane of golden metal spokes, like the rays of the sun, circling his face, and a skirt of the same gold spokes around his waist (ATK: 3000).

"My monster doesn't have to be summoned with three tributes," Damien explained, "but if he is, he destroys every card on my opponent's side of the field the instant that he appears!"

"No way," I protested.

"Oh yes," Damien insisted, and his massive beast thrust with his lance. The air itself shook, and a series of explosions rang across my fiend. When they finally faded, all of my cards, including 'The Fiend Megacyber', were gone.

"I lower the Level of 'Barbaros' from eight to seven," Damien explained, "to summon 'Level Eater' again, in attack mode."

The beetle reappeared, hovering at the enormous beast's side (ATK: 600).

"My monsters attack together," Damien commanded. 'Level Eater' struck first, surging forward and slamming into my gut (6600 -> 6000). I was hit by another electric shock, though this one wasn't as intense as the last. However, before the shock has passed, 'Barbaros' struck me with his lance (6000 -> 3000). The shock still lingering from the beetle's attack was magnified by the much greater shock that came as a result of half of my Life Points being stripped away in an instant. I screamed, and collapsed as much as I could with my legs shackled in place, eventually finding myself propped against the lip of the arena behind me, my clothes steaming. Finally, I found the strength to stand, and by the time I had, I was laughing.

"What are you laughing at?!" Damien demanded.

I just kept laughing.

"Stop that! Stop laughing. You're one solid attack away from losing this duel. You have nothing to laugh about!"

I stopped laughing, and took a deep, rejuvenating breath, and then smiled across the length of the arena at my opponent. I drew my next card, "I summon 'The Fiend Megacyber'."

"What?" Damien asked, taken aback, "but I destroyed it!"

"Are you sure?" I asked. As I spoke, my monster reappeared in a vortex of black and yellow static (ATK: 2200).

"How?" Damien wondered.

"Simple," I told him. "When your monster's effect activated, I revealed my set card, 'Relieve Monster', returning 'Megacyber' to my hand, and summoning another Level four monster in his place. You actually destroyed my 'X-Head Cannon'."

My opponent seemed stunned, but just for a second before he regained his composure, "It doesn't matter. Without his 'Fusion Sword', your monster is no match for mine."

"You say that," I explained, "because you think that this is my monster's true power. But my 'Megacyber' has far surpassed yours, so much so that you can't even fathom what he's capable of. I play 'Special Draw', to draw two cards, and then I discard two cards from my hand to trigger his transformation."

I discarded two cards, and white, black and yellow lightning rolled across my monster's body. He changed into a version of himself in white, almost ceramic-looking plate armor, wreathed in an aura of golden light. He hung in the air, above the field, like an avenging angel.

"Damien Curran," I declared, "meet 'The Fiend Omegacyber' (ATK: 3000)."

I met my opponent's eyes, "You cast your 'Megacyber' aside the instant that something stronger came along. Now, I'm not saying that I have never done the same thing, but at least I care enough about the bond I have with my monster that I try to fight as long as possible with him at my side. 'Megacyber' isn't just a monster to me, he's my ally.

"He and I grow stronger together, and he and I will defeat you, starting with your 'Barbaros'. You may back down from an even fight, but I've already proven that I don't, and I'm about to prove it again. 'Fiend Omegacyber', attack 'Beast King Barbaros' with Omegacyber Impact!"

My monster channeled all of his aura into his fist, and lunged. 'Barbaros' thrust his spear. The two attacks met, and a wave of energy poured forth from the point of impact.

"Our monsters destroy each other," Damien insisted, as the two monsters struggled against one another, "and you're out of monsters again."

I smiled, "I wouldn't count on that, if I were you. I remove from play one of the monsters that I discarded to summon 'Omegacyber': the magical 'Power Gifter', increasing my monster's strength during the damage step of this turn."

A tiny little wizard appeared, and fired a spark from her outstretched hand, hitting my monster, and bolstering his aura (ATK: 3000 -> 4000). 'Omegacyber' pushed against his foe's attack with renewed effort, shattering 'Barbaros'' lance. 'Omegacyber''s fist carried through, and struck the 'Beast King' in the chest. The larger monster was destroyed. Damien lost Life (6400 -> 5400), and was once again struck by an electric shock. He gritted his teeth and clenched his muscles, steeling himself against the pain. Once the shock had passed, Damien looked right at me, scowling.

"Ready to give this up, and let me and my friends go?" I asked him.

"Never," Damien insisted. "I will never admit defeat to you. Never! I'm the true Dark Duelist, and nothing will ever convince me otherwise."

He drew his next card, "I change 'Level Eater' to defense mode, and summon 'Necro Gardna', also in defense mode."

A new monster, a man in black and red armor with over-sized pauldrons, took up a defensive stance alongside the beetle (DEF: 1300).

"Then for my turn," I declared, "I attack your 'Gardna' with 'Fiend Omegacyber'."

My warrior destroyed the opposing warrior with ease. My opponent drew again, and through gritted teeth announced, "I end my turn."

I smiled, "Alright, in that case, I summon the interdimensional swordswoman, 'D.D. Warrior Lady', and I'll have her attack your 'Level Eater'. And I attack directly with 'The Fiend Omegacyber'."

A lady warrior in a silver jumpsuit, carrying a curved, single-edged sword, appeared (ATK: 1500), and sliced the giant beetle in half, and my white warrior raised his fist, charged with crackling energy, and moved to strike. He was only a few feet from his goal when, suddenly, a barrier sprung up, blocking his path.

"I remove 'Necro Gardna' in my Graveyard from play," Damien explained, "to negate your monster's attack, and protect my Life Points."

"Not bad," I complimented, "but you can only protect yourself for so long."

I was still feeling confident. Maybe too confident.

Okay, let's not kid ourselves, I was definitely too confident.

"Don't worry," Damien replied, "I get the feeling that I'll be making a comeback soon."

"We'll see," I told him. "I set a card, and end my turn."

Damien drew, and he smiled as he looked over his newest acquisition. "Here goes," he declared, "I play 'Graceful Charity' to draw three cards and then discard two."

I watched him discard two cards, one of which was 'Djinn Presider of Rituals'."

"Next," Damien declared, "I summon 'Reborn Tengu' in attack mode."

An elderly man with a long nose and deathly purple skin, with broad black wings and hair, appeared, wearing robes and beads of a Japanese priest, carrying a curved, single-edged sword in each hand (ATK: 1700).

"And finally," Damien declared, "I play the Ritual Spell card 'End of the World', tributing 'Reborn Tengu' on the field, and removing from play 'Djinn Presider of Rituals' in my Graveyard to summon one of the most powerful cards in the entire game!"

Darkness swirled together overhead. The rotund demon swordsman, and the winged priest were swallowed up by the darkness, and a tall figure in black and white armor, wearing a skull helm, and carrying a massive long-handled battle ax descended from it (ATK: 2400).

"Introducing, 'Demise, King of Armageddon'! And because 'Reborn Tengu' was one of the monsters used in its summoning, and was sent from the field to the Graveyard, another 'Tengu' is summoned from my deck in his place."

A second 'Tengu' appeared at 'Demise''s side.

"I pay two-thousand Life Points," Damien explained, "to activate my monster's effect, destroying every other card on the field!"

Energy poured from Damien into his monster (5400 -> 3400), and a wave of darkness exploded from 'Demise'. It filled my entire field of view, and when it was gone, so were 'D.D. Warrior Lady', 'Fiend Omegacyber', and my face-down card, as well as Damien's 'Reborn Tengu'.

"And because my second 'Tengu' was sent from the field to the Graveyard," Damien said, "I summon a third 'Tengu' from my deck."

Once again, another of the winged priests appeared alongside Damien's Ritual monster.

"In case you can't count," Damien announced, with a wicked sneer, "my two monsters, together, have more Attack than you have Life. They attack you together, and end this duel!"

The two monsters raised their weapons, and charged, but were held back by an energy barrier put up and held in place by the chanting of three blue-robed priests who appeared on my side of the field.

"Before it could be destroyed by your monster's effect," I explained, with a smug little smile, "I activated my face-down 'Waboku', protecting myself from battle damage for the rest of the turn."

Damien scowled, "Then I place a card face-down, and end my turn."

I drew, "Activate 'Card of Sanctity', allowing us each to draw until we hold six cards."

I drew again, but I didn't look at my new cards yet, So far, I've done a good job hanging on, but I've still been one step behind this guy practically the entire time. I need some way to change that, and put him on the defensive instead.

I turned my cards over, looked at them, and smiled.

"This duel has been fun," I told my opponent. "You've pulled off some good moves. I've pulled off some good moves. We've each managed to do some good damage, and hold the field for a while. But as they say, all good things come to an end. This duel is finally about to go my way, once and for all."

Card of the Day:

Demise, King of Armageddon

Played by: Damien Curran

For a while, "Demise" was quite possibly the most powerful Ritual monster in the game. He might still be. He's popular enough that he even appeared in the GX anime. All of that, coupled with the fact that, if not for "Waboku", John would have lost to this card, earns it this spot.

Original Cards in This Chapter:

Next Chapter >>