Quintett Feuer was negated and destroyed.
"Damn it… So they saw through the destruction effect." Watching the sea return to calm after the violent clash, the Dwarf King sighed regretfully.
If the Magical Girls' Quintett Feuer had managed to break through the Megalith defensive line on King Utgarda's field…
Then Hoshino's three Magical Girls, together with Yugi's Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, would have been able to inflict devastating damage upon King Utgarda. Even if they couldn't wipe out its 20,000 Life Points in a single Battle Phase, they would have crippled it.
Of course, all of that depended on breaking through its defenses first.
Now that the Magical Girls' attack had been blocked, their chances looked bleak.
"It's not just immune to battle destruction — even effect destruction gets countered. Does this thing seriously have no weaknesses?" Hoshino grumbled.
King Utgarda's body was simply too enormous.
There wasn't the slightest hint of emotion to read from it as a Duelist.
An opponent like this was even more troublesome than someone with a perfect poker face.
Other than the cards it played, there wasn't a single clue to glean.
A Duel with no conversation and no soul.
Even though she knew her opponent was one of the Nine World Kings, Hoshino couldn't shake the feeling that she was Dueling nothing more than an unimaginably gigantic rock.
"…Even playing against an AI would be more enjoyable than this. I should've let Kaiba, the so-called Prince of AI Duels, handle this one."
Quickly adjusting her strategy, Hoshino realized that trying to force her way through the stone wall formed by Megalith after her bombardment had been stopped would cost far more than it was worth.
"— I activate the Quick-Play Spell Phantasm Summon! I banish the Magical Girl monsters on my field as Fusion Materials and Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck! Get ready, Miyu!"
For once, Hoshino didn't choose Illya.
Instead, she entrusted Miyu and Sapphire with carrying out the Dream Summon.
"Understood. Leave it to us, Master!"
Drawing a Class Card from her thigh holster, Miyu closed her eyes as Sapphire emitted a soft blue-white glow.
"I pray… for the future we wish to reach. Class Card — Rider. Install… Medusa."
As Miyu slammed the card into the Duel Disk in perfect synchronization with Hoshino, waves of Dream Summoning energy spread around the steel body of Savior Mk. II.
"Fusion Summon — Magical Girl – Medusa Miyu!"
[Magical Girl – Medusa Miyu ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][DARK][Warrior/Fusion/Effect][ATK 2300/DEF 1000]
["Magical Girl – Miyu" + "Heroic Spirit – Medusa"]
Mounted upon the mythical Pegasus soaring above the nighttime sea, Miyu opened her Mystic Eyes of Petrification and gazed across at King Utgarda.
"When Magical Girl – Medusa Miyu is successfully Fusion Summoned, her effect activates!"
[If this card is Fusion Summoned: Target 1 card on the field. While this card remains face-up on the field, that card cannot activate its effects, nor can any of its effects be applied.]
"Mystic Eyes that seal a card's effects!" Yugi exclaimed from the neighboring cockpit.
"Hoshino… don't tell me you're planning to…"
"Exactly!"
Hoshino nodded emphatically as she declared her target.
"I choose King's Proof!"
"It may not be destroyable, but if I seal it, that'll stop King Utgarda from endlessly recovering Life Points!"
That was the emergency strategy Hoshino had switched to.
Since she couldn't break through the defense, she would first shut down the boss's bug-like Life Point regeneration.
Petrifying magical energy flowed from Miyu's eyes and reached King's Proof.
The symbol of the Rock ruler was literally turned to stone.
"And when Magical Girl – Miyu is banished as Fusion Material, I can return her from the banished zone to my hand once per turn~"
Unlike Magical Girl – Illya, who Special Summoned herself back to the field after being banished…
Magical Girl – Miyu was designed more like a hand trap, making her far more valuable in the hand than on the field.
"KYAAAAAA —!"
After Magical Girl – Medusa Miyu sealed King's Proof, King Utgarda naturally wasn't about to let Hoshino have her way.
A piercing shriek echoed from the Megaliths on its field.
[Megalith Phul Effect: During either player's Main Phase: You can Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels equal or exceed the Level of a "Megalith" Ritual Monster, then Ritual Summon 1 "Megalith" Ritual Monster from your hand or Deck.]
"It can Ritual Summon during the opponent's turn?!" the Dwarf King exclaimed, staring intently at the monitor as Megalith Aratron (Level 8) shattered beneath the high-pitched cry.
"It Tributed the Level 8 monster on its field…" Kaiba said gravely.
"And earlier, to negate Quintett Feuer, it returned a Ritual Monster from the Graveyard back into the Deck. That Ritual Monster was…"
"It's that pitch-black dragon statue that destroys multiple cards —
Megalith Bethor!"
Akasha answered immediately.
The light of the Ritual Summon bloomed…
…only to be swallowed by darkness an instant later.
Just as Akasha had feared, by Tributing the Level 8 Megalith Aratron, King Utgarda Ritual Summoned another Level 8 Megalith from the Deck —
Megalith Bethor, the jet-black dragon statue of destruction.
[Megalith Bethor DEF 2600 → 4400]
[If this card is Ritual Summoned: You can target cards your opponent controls, up to the number of different Ritual Monsters in your Graveyard; destroy them.]
Fortunately, Megalith Aratron had originally been revived from the Graveyard through the Continuous Trap Megalith Emergence.
Since it left the field as a Tribute afterward, it was returned directly to the bottom of the Deck instead.
As a result, only two copies of Megalith Ophiel — the goddess statue — and one copy of Megalith Hagith — the demon statue — remained in King Utgarda's Graveyard.
That meant there were only two different Ritual Monster names, allowing Megalith Bethor to destroy two cards.
The destructive light erupting from Bethor's colossal body immediately locked onto one obvious target —
Magical Girl – Medusa Miyu.
As long as Miyu was destroyed and left the field, the petrification sealing King's Proof would be lifted.
Its second target was the monster with the highest ATK — Valkyrion the Magna Warrior.
"I finally sealed its effect! There's no way I'm letting you destroy her so easily!"
Hoshino immediately responded.
"Merlin Illya's effect activates!"
It could be said that Hoshino was making perfect use of the support role Merlin Illya had been summoned to fulfill through Limited Deployment.
[While this face-up card is on the field, you can discard 1 card (once only): this turn, monsters you control cannot be destroyed. This effect can also be activated during your opponent's turn.]
"I discard Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga from my hand to activate its effect! I'm counting on you, Illya!"
"Get behind me, Miyu!"
Leaping in front of Magical Girl – Medusa Miyu with her wand raised, Merlin Illya unfolded an illusory magic barrier, doing everything she could to protect her dear friend.
"I won't let you hurt Miyu! — Noble Phantasm Activate! Garden of Avalon!!"
The barrier — looking both like an illusion and a beautiful dream — absorbed the black dragon's destructive light. The overwhelming blast faded away peacefully, like the last ripple disappearing across the sea.
"Thanks to Magical Girl – Merlin Illya's protective effect, neither Miyu nor Valkyrion the Magna Warrior will be destroyed!"
After the black dragon's destructive light dissipated, King Utgarda's Field Spell Megalith Portal triggered its once-per-turn effect — because a Megalith Ritual Monster had been Ritual Summoned — returning Megalith Ophiel from the Graveyard to the hand.
At the same time, with only two Ritual Monsters remaining in the Graveyard, the ATK and DEF boosts granted by the two giant warrior statues, Megalith Phaleg, dropped significantly compared to the previous turn.
[Megalith Phaleg ATK 3700] ×2
[Megalith Bethor DEF 3700]
[Megalith Phul DEF 3200]
Carefully watching the changing numbers on the monitor, the Dwarf King exclaimed in surprise:
"Although the Magical Girls' bombardment was stopped earlier, you kept forcing King Utgarda to consume Graveyard resources to activate its effects. As a result, the opponent's battlefield strength has dropped dramatically! We might finally have a chance to break through!"
"Exactly what I was thinking!"
Holding up the Magical Girl – Miyu card that had just returned to her hand, Hoshino activated its effect.
"We have to seize this opening! I activate Magical Girl – Miyu's effect! I discard this card from my hand, return Magical Girl – Merlin Illya to the Extra Deck, and perform Phantasm Summon — Form Change!"
As Miyu's magical energy enveloped Merlin Illya's enlarged body, the flowing white robes vanished. For a fleeting instant, Illya's figure was revealed before the Phantasm Summon completed, changing her equipment in the blink of an eye.
"Fusion Summon! Magical Girl – Karna Illya!"
[Magical Girl – Karna Illya ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][FIRE][Warrior/Fusion/Effect][ATK 2800/DEF 2000]
The flames of Indra ignited the sky, illuminating the darkness of the other world's midnight in the wake of the Form Change.
"When Magical Girl – Karna Illya is Fusion Summoned, I can banish one monster from my Graveyard, and this card gains ATK equal to that monster's original ATK!"
Hoshino swung her custom Duel Disk, banishing the Heroic Spirit – Oda Nobunaga card that had just been sent to the Graveyard as the activation cost.
"Now let Indra's flames merge with the flames of Honnoji! Add Nobunaga's 3000 ATK to Karna Illya's power!"
[Karna Illya ATK 2800 → 5800]
"So that's the idea!" the Dwarf King realized. "Merlin Illya, summoned through Limited Deployment, couldn't declare an attack. But thanks to Miyu's effect, changing into Karna Form lets her attack normally!"
Zane frowned.
"Even if she can attack, all the Ritual Monsters on King Utgarda's field are protected by the Field Spell — they can't be destroyed by battle once per turn. Karna Illya alone can't destroy even a single Megalith."
"No, but if she attacks together with Yugi, they can at least destroy Megalith Phul!"
Valkyrion the Magna Warrior had 3500 ATK, only slightly higher than Phul's 3200 DEF, but lower than the other two Megalith monsters. If they wanted to combine their attacks to break through, Phul was their only realistic target.
"Destroying them one by one is too much trouble! Illya, let's hit them with some AOE instead!"
Hoshino raised her Duel Disk. At the same time, Savior Mk. II synchronized with her movements, pointing toward Karna Illya, who blazed overhead like the sun.
[Effect: Once while this card is face-up on the field, you can discard one card. Send face-up monsters your opponent controls to the Graveyard whose combined ATK is less than or equal to this card's ATK. This card's ATK becomes 0.]
"Burn brightly, O Sun Wheel!"
The divine-slaying spear in Illya's hand shattered, and the flames covering the heavens spread toward the colossal body of King Utgarda.
The Dwarf King stared at the soaring energy readings on the monitor.
"That's right! The Megaliths have incredibly high DEF, but their ATK is much lower! If we're only counting their ATK…"
"O Sun, Abide Unto Death!"
The divine spear, capable of slaying even gods, erupted from the heavens in a single overwhelming blast, sweeping across the sea and cleaving through the colossal Megaliths.
"That energy… incredible!"
The Dwarf King tilted the monitor upward toward the sky in amazement.
"Such overwhelming power… Wait — that's not right!"
"Not right? What do you mean?" Hoshino asked.
The Dwarf King's eyes went wide as the detector displayed an extreme anomaly.
"That isn't just Illya's energy! These readings… there's an even more absurd source of power suddenly appearing far above us!"
She could hardly believe what she was seeing.
"Judging by the distance… it's out in space!"
An enormous burst of energy had entered the Duel from outer space without any warning. Something of that magnitude could not possibly be ordinary.
And if neither Hoshino nor Yugi had sensed it during the Duel, then there was only one possible source —
King Utgarda.