Yugioh [811-813] (Patreon)

Chapter 811: Preparations Complete

"Uwaaah!"

Rex let out a bloodcurdling scream.

The terrifying impact wasn't just physical pain. The instant he was struck by the Dragon Lord's breath, Rex felt as if despair itself, in the most literal sense, had pierced straight through him. His whole body plunged into an ice cavern; his hands and feet went cold, and even his thoughts seemed frozen.

[Rex, LP 4000 → LP 2400]

Rex struggled to one knee.

"What is that monster?" He looked, still shaken, at the terrifying demon across from him. "A dark spirit?"

Kira smiled.

"Grapha is the most fearsome existence from the Dark World, a dreadful demon god who once ruled an entire dimension—until he was defeated by an even more terrifying being."

The Dragon Lord let out a muffled growl.

Meaning: You flatter me, my lord. You're still the more terrifying one.

"I set one card. Turn end," Kira said.

"Revolver—your reputation's not for nothing. You're tough to deal with, after all."

Rex stood, snorted.

"But I've never been afraid of anyone in my life!"

Back then, whether it was facing Joey Wheeler, Yugi Muto, or Seto Kaiba, he never won, but he never feared them either. He'd always thought he belonged among legends too—he ought to be special.

"My turn. Draw!" Rex declared. "I activate the Spell Card 'Card of Adversity'! If your opponent controls a Special Summoned monster while you control no monsters, draw two cards from your Deck!"

Rex drew two cards.

"Then I Normal Summon 'Babycerasaurus'!"

[Babycerasaurus, ATK 500]

Kira raised an eyebrow.

Oh, he just casually summoned something nasty.

"Next I activate the Spell Card 'Dark Hole'!" Rex brandished the DM-era board wipe. "Destroy all monsters on the field!"

For a brief moment the backdrop became a sea of stars. A terrifying black hole ripped open, devouring the cosmos and snuffing out everything, dragging even the last glimmer of light into oblivion.

The Dark World Dragon Lord and Rex's own Babycerasaurus were both swallowed, reduced to ashes.

"Ah, we worked so hard to summon that awesome Dragon Lord…"

The spirit with the big eye behind Kira lamented, but quickly perked up again.

"But your monster got destroyed too!"

Kira shot the not-so-bright-looking eye a glance.

"He deliberately summoned a monster before playing Dark Hole. You think that was a misplay?"

The big eye froze, blinking innocently twice.

"Eh? It wasn't?"

Sure enough, Rex continued: "Babycerasaurus's effect! If this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the GY, Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Dinosaur monster from your Deck.

I Special Summon 'Sabersaurus' from my Deck!"

[Sabersaurus, ATK 1900]

"Ooh, there really was a follow-up effect!" The big eye looked at Kira with worshipful eyes. "Lord Revolver really is a great duelist, you even predicted that!"

Kira: "…"

Well, maybe this spirit's strength is unclear, but its brain is definitely not its strong suit.

"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Big Evolution Pill'!" Rex said. "Tribute 1 Dinosaur-Type monster you control. While this card remains on the field, for 3 of your opponent's turns, you can Normal Summon Level 5 or higher Dinosaur-Type monsters without Tributing!

I Tribute 'Sabersaurus'!"

Sabersaurus dissolved into points of light, and the Spell Card depicting an evolution drug appeared in Rex's back row.

"Therefore I can Normal Summon a high-level Dinosaur without Tribute!

And I activate the Spell Card 'Double Summon'—this turn I can perform a second Normal Summon.

Show yourself, my new strongest Dinosaur—

—Ultimate Tyranno!!!"

A domineering presence, like the roar of a king of beasts shaking the mountains. A dinosaur clad in steel-like armor thundered into being with overwhelming force.

[Ultimate Tyranno, ATK 3000]

"Whoa, that's a strong one!"

The big-eyed spirit grew nervous.

"This is fine, right, Lord Revolver?"

"Be quiet," Kira said.

"Oh."

And the big eye really did go quiet.

Well, if it were Ultimate Conductor Tyranno—its future counterpart—that would be a little tricky in this era. But if it's just Ultimate Tyranno…

"Your field is empty; that's the end of it!" Rex declared. "Ultimate Tyranno, direct attack!"

The big eye looked at Kira in panic, as if wanting to ask something—but remembering Kira told it not to talk, it instead let out a string of "mm-mm-mm oh-oh-oh" noises.

"I activate a Trap." Kira flipped his set card. "Continuous Trap 'Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light'! When your opponent declares an attack, pay 1000 LP to negate the attack."

[Kira, LP 2600 → LP 1600]

Golden light turned into ranks of spiritual blades raining down from the sky, forming a barrier before Kira. Ultimate Tyranno crashed into the sword formation as if into a wall, wailed, staggered back two steps, and retreated with its tail between its legs.

"Tch, you still managed to turtle it out."

Rex grunted.

"Whatever, with your LP you can at most use that one more time. I'll let you live one more turn."

"Yeah? How kind of you. Thanks," Kira smiled.

Rex: "…"

For some reason, even though he clearly had the advantage, he couldn't smile at all.

"My turn. Draw."

Kira leisurely revealed a card from his hand.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Necro Sacrifice.' By Special Summoning a monster from my GY to your field, I can reduce the Tribute requirement to Normal Summon a monster." (Anime card.)

Kira lifted his Duel Disk, and a mass of dark light shot from his GY to Rex's field.

"I Special Summon 'General Raiho of the Ice Barrier' to your field."

[General Raiho of the Ice Barrier, ATK 2100]

"You're giving me such a powerful high-level monster?" Rex put his hands on his hips, continuing to trash talk. "Trying to give up and let me put you out of your misery?"

The big eye couldn't help blurting, "Eh? Giving the opponent such a strong monster—won't that be really bad?"

"Yeah, yeah, pretty bad."

Kira chuckled.

"For him, anyway. Thanks to Necro Sacrifice, I can reduce the Tribute requirement by one for the monster I want to Normal Summon from my hand.

So I'll Normal Summon a Level 5 monster without Tribute. I summon 'Snoww, Unlight of Dark World'—no, 'Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World.'"

[Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, ATK 2300]

"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Monster Reborn' to revive a monster from my GY," Kira continued. "I'll bring back the one that got tossed in by Forceful Wall before.

Cannon Soldier, summon."

[Cannon Soldier, ATK 1400]

"With that, preparations are complete," Kira smiled.

Chapter 812: Who Are You Calling Trash?

"What preparations… That's just a 1400 ATK scrub. Even that high-level Dark World isn't a match for my Ultimate Tyranno," Rex frowned. "Did your brain break?"

Scrub?

Kira laughed.

Calling one of the most vicious classic bans from the DM era—more brutal than even Catapult Turtle—a scrub?

Someone hasn't been beaten up by reality yet.

No worries. He'll help this naive dino bro learn fast.

"Cannon Soldier's effect: Tribute 1 monster on your field; inflict 500 damage to your opponent," Kira said. "I Tribute 'Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World' to deal 500."

Goldd didn't complain, turning obediently into a shell and loading into Cannon Soldier. Dark miasma swirled around the Soldier, ready to fire at any time.

"Hah! You finally summon a high-level monster, and you Tribute it just for a measly 500 damage?"

Rex nearly burst out laughing.

"Are you insane?"

"The 'General Raiho of the Ice Barrier' I gave to you also has an effect," Kira added.

Rex: "?"

Huh? My monster?

"While General Raiho is on the field, whenever the opponent activates a monster effect, in order for that effect to resolve, they must discard 1 card from their hand.

If they don't discard, that monster effect is negated."

Rex: "???"

Nani? That savage?

It's basically a one-sided lock that silences all opponent monster effects. And if they want to avoid the lock, they have to pay the steep cost of a hand discard every single time they activate a monster effect.

You're giving me something this degenerate?

Rex was dumbfounded. He even felt a little uneasy accepting such a precious gift.

The big eye was dumbfounded too, stunned for a long beat before blurting, "If you want to commit suicide, you don't have to do it so elaborately, right? You just gave him such a strong monster?"

"Don't mention it."

Kira smiled.

Rex: "…"

Big eye: "…"

"Since Raiho is on the field, if I want my Cannon Soldier's effect to resolve, I have to discard a card," Kira said. "So I discard 'Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World' from my hand to allow Cannon Soldier's effect."

[Rex, LP 2400 → LP 1900]

Rex tanked the damage and snorted. "So what if it hits? Now all your monster effects come with a discard tax. How many cards do you even have left to pitch?"

"No need to worry yourself."

Kira smiled.

"The 'Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World' I just discarded—when this card is discarded to the GY by a card effect, Special Summon it.

Return to the field, Beiige."

[Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World, ATK 1600]

Rex's eyelid twitched.

Right, this guy's Dark World deck—he'd noticed earlier—triggers by discarding cards from the hand via effects.

And this General Raiho, seen alone, looks like a powerful lock. But from another angle, it becomes "each time the opponent activates a monster effect, they can discard another card from hand"—an enabling clause.

If that's the case…

Rex's smile faded. His legendary duelist instincts kicked in—something felt wrong.

Very, very wrong.

"In my GY, 'Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World'—by returning the face-up 'Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World' on the field to my hand, Grapha Special Summons itself from the GY.

I bounce Beiige to hand—revive, Dragon Lord!"

The Dragon Lord descended again, still exuding absolute arrogance. A surging tide of darkness swept across the field; a monstrous fiend rose clawing from the abyss.

[Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, ATK 2700]

"Once more, Cannon Soldier's effect. This time I Tribute the revived Dragon Lord to deal 500," Kira smiled. "Of course, since the Cannon Soldier's effect activates on the field—

per Raiho's effect, for this effect to resolve, I must discard a card.

So I'll discard the card I just returned to my hand from the field—"

Kira showed the still-warm Beiige that had bounced to his hand a heartbeat ago.

"I discard 'Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World.'"

Kira narrowed his eyes with a sunny smile that, to both Rex and the big eye, looked extremely dangerous.

"Since I discarded a card, Cannon Soldier's effect resolves," Kira said. "Here's another 500."

Grapha obediently became a roiling black shell, loaded into Cannon Soldier. Boom—fired straight into Rex's chest, sending his complexion flushing and paling as he staggered backward.

[Rex, LP 1900 → LP 1400]

"Y-you—"

Rex clutched his chest, unsure whether from shock or fear, barely able to speak.

Kira calmly continued.

"'Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World'—discarded by a card effect, Special Summon itself back to the field."

"In the GY, Grapha's effect—return Beiige to hand; Special Summon Grapha from the GY."

"Cannon Soldier's effect—Tribute Grapha; load the shell; fire!"

"And of course, for this shot to resolve, I have to discard a card again. I discard 'Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World' once more."

"Uuuaaaah—"

[Rex, LP 1400 → LP 900]

Behind them, the big-eyed spirit's eye was opened wide, though it was only one eye—now filled with sheer disbelief.

It was as if saying—

—you can do that?

With Raiho on the field, every Cannon Soldier shot requires discarding Beiige. Beiige auto-jumps back when discarded by effect. Grapha can revive from the GY as many times as you like in a turn as long as there's a Dark World monster on the field—an endless supply of shells.

Cannon Soldier isn't once per turn; as long as you have monsters to Tribute, you can fire as many times as you want.

Beiige isn't once per turn; if it's discarded by a card effect, it always triggers.

An infinite loop—Cannon Soldier with unlimited ammo and unlimited fire rate!

Kira's smile remained.

Scrub? Who are you calling a scrub?

A humble 4-star machine from the DM era—what do you think it got banned for?

Looks like even after joining a criminal organization for power, Rex's understanding of dueling remains charmingly naive.

"As long as these cards are simultaneously present in hand, on field, and in the GY, Cannon Soldier's ammo this turn is infinite," Kira said.

"So the damage you will take is likewise infinite."

Rex: "Aaaaaaaaah—"

[Rex, LP 0]

Chapter 813: An Improper Spirit

"N-no way…"

Rex collapsed, mumbling.

"I wasn't supposed to lose anymore. I swore I wouldn't lose. I sold my soul—the evil god's power… it's fake, all fake…"

"Yeah, yeah, all fake."

Kira crouched beside him, speaking idly.

"So why don't you elaborate on that evil god?" Kira said. "What's your cult? Which god? What's your objective? And…"

He pointed at the big eye floating behind him.

"What do you want with this dopey spirit?"

"Yeah, yeah, out with it!" the big-eyed spirit chimed in, then immediately realized something was off. "Hey! 'Dopey' was unnecessary, right?"

"The cult… the cult is… the Advent Church. The evil god… is the evil god."

Kira frowned.

If all he had was "evil god," that was too broad. In this world, in this day and age, any high-ranking monster spirit could call itself an evil god, and a flashy display of power can draw believers.

It might even be that there is no god—just an organizer using the idea to brainwash subordinates' loyalty. Though the organizer would need some real ability to show "supernatural" power to convince others.

It wouldn't be the first time.

"Then who is it?" Kira pointed at the eye. "Why do they want it?"

Rex mumbled for a long time, incoherent, unable to form a complete sentence. Kira pressed several times, and the man just broke down crying.

"I—I don't know. I really don't…"

"I just didn't want to keep losing. I didn't want to be a failure anymore. I don't want…"

"Mom… Mom, I want to go home…"

Kira: "…"

Alright, looks like he really doesn't know much.

But there was still plenty to ask about their organization—like his usual base of operations, his superior, teammates, and so on.

The details would be too numerous to grill right now. Kira felt it would take too much time and energy—better to leave it to professionals.

He opened a comm line to the Knights of Hanoi.

"This is Revolver. I've sent my coordinates," Kira said into his earpiece. "Send someone to collect within three minutes."

After hanging up, he turned—and saw the big eye that had been floating behind him had vanished. Kira frowned, scanned around, and finally found it huddled in a patch of shadow, staring at him in fear.

"Let's go. The danger's over."

Kira spoke amicably.

"The bad guys chasing you are handled."

The eye blinked twice and said nothing.

After watching that duel, it couldn't help doubting whether seeking protection from this man at the last second had been a bad idea.

Because judging from that short duel, the deck he used was so dark, the duel so evil, and even his tone and bearing—just now his aura screamed "evil boss who commands the powers of darkness."

Oh, and the way he won…

The spirit's jaw dropped.

He so casually tossed out an infinite loop—a move that, by its understanding, should be rare and earth-shattering in the dueling world. Yet somehow, he used it like it was just a basic auto-attack.

It couldn't help wondering if it had run from the cult's clutches only to jump straight into the arms of a far more terrifying demon lord…

Kira took out that completely blank card again and examined it for a moment, but still couldn't make anything of it.

"Strange. I've never seen a spirit like you. You even forgot who you are…"

The big eye acted bashful. "Ehehe, I'm not that great, really."

Kira was speechless. "I wasn't complimenting you."

"Eh? You weren't?"

Kira tucked the card into his case for the time being and stood to leave.

"Where are we going next?" the eye asked.

Kira gave it a curious look.

"What?" the big eye asked.

"Nothing… just noticing you're quite chatty."

The big eye got bashful again. "Ahaha, I'm not that—great."

Kira: "…"

And very pleased with yourself, too.

He'd had plenty of spirits, but one this lively seemed to be a first… though that just comes down to personality.

Jaden also had card spirits; in the anime, the chattiest was always Winged Kuriboh. Whatever happened, Winged Kuriboh popped up first, and even when nothing was happening, it liked to chat with Jaden.

"…"

At KaibaCorp, Mokuba Kaiba and the company's expert team clicked their tongues at the blank card.

"This is a first for me, too."

A lab-coated researcher studied the card, looking baffled.

"A spirit that can forget who they are…"

"And so a spirit's memory and self-recognition can affect a card's power," Mokuba said, chin in hand. "The info that should be on the card won't display—looks tied to it not remembering its identity?"

The researchers were intrigued—and thought it a promising topic. If a spirit's missing self-identity could make card data vanish, then could changes in self-identity develop a card's potential or evolve it into a new form?

"We'll need some tests," the researcher said. "If we probe the power of this blank card more deeply, we might find clues to its true identity."

"Alright."

Kira glanced at the floating eye.

"But calling it 'the blank card' all the time is awkward…"

"Oh, oh."

The eye floated closer.

"Give me a name, then. What should I be called?"

Kira thought for a moment.

"Let's go with 'Eye.'"

Mokuba coughed.

"Isn't that a little… too casual?"

But before Kira could say anything, the eye was already whirling around in delight.

"Yay, I have a name! From today on, I am Eye!"

Mokuba: "…"

Uh, the party concerned likes it, so… whatever.

The researchers took the card into the lab for tests.

From inside came Eye's various strange exclamations.

"Hey, not there!"

"What are you all looking at that sort of indecent place for!"

"No, not this—if you put that in it'll… it'll get weird—"

Kira: "…"

Mokuba: "…"

They waited in silence for several minutes.

Then Mokuba slowly turned to Kira.

"Are you sure this is a proper spirit?"