Outer Entity Azathot!
Looking at the twisted mass of flesh before him, Hikaru felt wave after wave of dizziness.
He shook his head and reached up to brace his forehead with effort, only to see beside him that Black Flame had already collapsed outright, returning to Hikaru's Deck.
Although the three knights were among the strongest of the ordinary spirits under Hikaru, compared to Flame Sword and White Crystal, it was still slightly inferior.
Tierra's brow was tightly knit, and she was a bit shocked too.
The "monster" before them... no... the "incarnation of a god" before them was already terrifyingly powerful.
That "Selfless Painting School"... how powerful a god must "Azathot" itself be?
"Can't take it." Hikaru rubbed his forehead, looked at the monster card across from him, and took a deep breath.
Outer Entity Azathot. Rank 5, DARK Attribute, Fiend-Type. ATK 2400. Xyz Materials: 3.
"Oh ho... Facing our supreme, invincible power, you can actually still stand upright?" Diabolos looked at Hikaru with some shock. "Human, you're no ordinary warrior..."
It drew its countless limbs together, murmuring: "In the past, things that dared to covet my darling would, the moment they truly faced it, either surrender outright or fall into a faint... You're the first human to duel as normal."
"Is it that exaggerated?" Hearing its words, Tierra was rather unimpressed.
True, this Azathot possessed unbelievably immense power, but it was merely mental pollution. As long as a soul's magnitude reached a certain level, it wouldn't be affected. A "planetary god" like her was a typical example.
And by her judgment, even without her tier of standing, a mere planet's nature god would be qualified to look upon Azathot directly.
"Hahahahaha, you'll soon know its strength."
Diabolos laughed wildly: "This invincible card's divine power: on the turn the Xyz Summon succeeds, the opponent cannot activate monster effects!"
That powerful?
Hearing this from the side, Tierra could understand Diabolos's obsession with this card.
"A small problem, right, Hikaru? You can deal with it using this card, can't you?" Tierra pointed at the card in Hikaru's hand. Hikaru glanced at it, then shook his head.
"It's no use."
"?" Tierra was puzzled. "Why?"
"It's not like those cards we ran into when we dueled Darkness before. It's not a monster where 'getting rid of it' solves the problem." Hikaru frowned and continued, "It's an extremely special 'continuous applied effect.' As long as the summon succeeds, whether it's negated by a card like Infinite Impermanence, or any other card negation or destruction, none of it works. As long as it appears, then for the opponent's entire turn, they can't activate monster effects!"
"So... even getting rid of it is meaningless."
"To think..." Tierra grew startled.
And at this point, Flame Sword and White Crystal finally couldn't hold on either. Like Black Flame, the colors on their bodies gradually faded, slowly turning ashen gray. Not only that, they themselves became like origami, looking as though they'd gone from three-dimensional projections to paper scraps.
"Come back." Hikaru raised his left hand, having the two of them hurry back into their cards too. White Crystal struggled for a moment, then turned into streaming light. But the Flame Swordsman, even in this situation, still gritted his teeth and held on.
"I... must protect... my lord." the Flame Swordsman insisted.
Tierra glanced at it.
Although it was the dumbest of Hikaru's high-level spirits, it was also the most persistent.
Tierra shook her head and lightly raised her hand. A giant demon materialized, then burned with blue flames, igniting the "paper scrap" of its body. Then, it returned to its card once more.
She did appreciate the Flame Swordsman's loyalty, but there was no need to force it at a time like this.
"Don't rush. This should be the monster card's special power upon appearing. Come out again after adapting a bit... With me here, no one will be able to hurt Hikaru." Tierra said offhandedly.
On the other side, Hikaru was also observing the spirits across from him.
Besides Diabolos, the other spirits, after Azathot appeared, also showed varying degrees of frenzied states. Quite a few spirits' original bodies grew twisted or even sprouted extra bodies.
Even more, Hikaru watched with his own eyes as an ordinary spirit twisted into a Tindangle Intruder.
So that was... how those Tindangle monsters came about.
Hikaru couldn't help but feel moved.
It seemed the recovery of the "Selfless Painting School's" body parts really couldn't be dragged out.
Now, recalling what Zone had said to him back then, Hikaru roughly understood too. "Cthulhu-mythos" gods indeed didn't exist in the human world, so it was perfectly normal for those Cthulhu-mythos cards to appear as multiple copies.
But...
Everything had a single root.
The true "gods" were in fact hidden among the countless spirit dimensions.
No wonder the "Selfless Painting School" could survive being pierced head-on by the red light. So it was "Azathot."
Hikaru rubbed his forehead. In the "Cthulhu Mythos," the root and creator of all things, the true creator of the universe, the blind idiot god!
Hikaru shook his head.
No.
What was he doing thinking about background lore at a time like this.
Hikaru looked at the opponent's field.
Although there was only one monster, this single monster was already enough to shut down 99% of decks.
Outer Entity Azathot, the strongest card in the "Cthulhu Mythos series cards," and one of the two Forbidden cards in this series, a Korea-exclusive card designed by a Korean designer.
And it was precisely this one card that made Hikaru always firmly believe one thing: if a Yu-Gi-Oh! player doesn't curse this series' designer, then he's a player who doesn't understand Yu-Gi-Oh!
Because this was a card that would qualify as a "Forbidden card" even in a "no-banlist duel"!
A simple summoning method, a potent battlefield restriction. Even decks in Hikaru's memory like Tearlaments, Zoodiac, and Thunder Dragon, upon running into the great Outer God, could only silently pass their turn, because the moment it appeared, it basically declared that you couldn't play Yu-Gi-Oh! this turn.
That was "Outer Entity Azathot"!
Hikaru looked at his hand, feeling rather helpless for a moment.
Although his deck was centered on Spell and Trap cards, wanting to fight, wanting to face Azathot, was still an extremely difficult matter.
Even with cards like Instant Fusion that simply and efficiently put out Thousand-Eyes Restrict, facing this situation he could only endure.
Little Blue clearly couldn't be summoned.
Hikaru looked at his hand.
"Spell Card, Roar of the Blue-Eyed Dragons." Hikaru slotted the Spell card in. "I Special Summon, in Defense Position, one Blue-Eyes monster from my Deck, Graveyard, or banishment. If I control no Blue-Eyes White Dragon, this effect must Special Summon a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. This turn, I can't Special Summon monsters that aren't Dragon-Type from my Extra Deck."
"Blue-Eyes Dragon??"
The spirits around finally noticed Hikaru's movements at this point.
Watching Hikaru's actions, they couldn't help but gape.
"Special Summon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!!"
White moonlight illuminated the ground, then a streak of purple flashed past, and a dragon with a pure white body bearing purple patterns slowly descended.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Level 8, LIGHT Attribute, Dragon-Type. DEF 2500.
"It's actually Blue-Eyes White Dragon?!"
"This guy actually possesses the legendary dragon!"
"■■■■."
"No wonder it dared to challenge us. So it's a Blue-Eyes White Dragon user."
Blue-Eyes White Dragon had an illustrious reputation in the spirit world, so after a true Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared, these spirits all showed enormous interest.
Only... this kind of interest was far from enough.
Hikaru noticed that quite a few spirits couldn't even speak clearly. Or perhaps he himself could no longer understand them.
He shook his head and looked at his hand.
It felt very dangerous...
He had a premonition that the opponent's tactics were very likely completely different from before he came.
In that case...
"I Set two cards and end my turn."
"Hahaha, even Blue-Eyes White Dragon is no match for us!" a spirit laughed loudly.
"It's over, no one can resist the power of us gods!"
"This means we've won!"
Diabolos laughed hahaha. Its voice had already become quite twisted, mechanical sounds, wind sounds, and dragon roars mixed together, chaotic like the tormented sound produced by tearing apart someone's vocal cords.
"Human warrior, you who use Blue-Eyes White Dragon, are indeed a remarkable existence. But facing my treasure, in the end you can only wait for death." It roared, and from within its body new limbs sprouted again, growing even more revolting.
"It's absorbing that card's power. It wants to become a part of Azathot." Tierra reminded Hikaru.
Hikaru nodded.
Understandable.
Far too understandable.
Who wouldn't want to be a card on the banlist?
He still kept cards like Metamorphosis in his deck right now.
"My turn, draw." Diabolos drew a card from its deck, then laughed wildly, hahahaha. "It's over. This is its invincible power!"
"Activate Spell Card, Ready Fusion. I pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon one Level 6 or lower non-Effect Fusion Monster."
Diabolos, LP: 4000 → 3000.
"Special Summon, Rare Fish."
Rare Fish was a monster with the upper body of a lion and the lower body of a fish. As a Fusion Monster, Hikaru could recognize it at a glance. But after Diabolos summoned it, its body instantly burst apart, becoming a freakish fish with five limbs and three tails.
Hikaru's brow knit tightly.
Rare Fish. Level 4, WATER Attribute, Fish-Type. ATK 1500.
"Huh?" Seeing this monster, Tierra was a bit puzzled.
As a low-rank, effect-less Fusion Monster, students at Duel Academy had no interest in this kind of card and often tossed them into the well. Only Hikaru would silently collect these seemingly useless Fusion Monsters.
But what was the point of summoning this at a time like this.
"No... it should be that one." Hikaru's brow knit even tighter.
The unease in his heart came true!
"Spell Card, Forbidden Trapezohedron!" Diabolos sniggered with a sinister giggle. "If I control exactly 2 monster card types among Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz, I can activate a different effect based on the combination.
In the case of Xyz and Fusion, I Special Summon one 'Old Entity' Synchro Monster from my Extra Deck.
Grant us power, ■■■■!!
Old Entity Cthugua!"
"Directly summoning a card with a specific summoning method?" Tierra blanked beside him.
This card seemed to have a lot of significance in terms of summoning methods.
Old Entity Cthugua. Level 4, FIRE Attribute, Pyro-Type. ATK 2200.
From the massive body of Azathot, a ball of flame slowly rose, then transformed into a bizarre-looking monster.
"Hehehehehe, using the Level 4 Rare Fish and the Level 4 Cthugua to form the overlay network, I perform an Xyz Summon!"
By this point, Flame Sword and the three knights had gradually adapted to this mental pollution and appeared again beside Hikaru, warily on guard.
Hikaru frowned, feeling a bit helpless.
Unbelievable.
It really was coming for a "second time."
"Xyz Summon, Outer Entity Nyarla!"
In the darkness, countless tentacles rolled in like flowing water, and along with the tide-like tentacles, gaping bloody maws emerged one after another, making one shudder.
Because of this, the three knights led by Flame Sword shivered again, clearly made uncomfortable once more by this mental pollution.
But with the experience of the first time, the adaptability of the three of them seemed to have improved considerably, and they didn't suffer a serious hit.
Outer Entity Nyarla. Rank 4, EARTH Attribute, Fiend-Type. ATK 0.
"Cthugua's effect: when a monster used as Xyz Material succeeds in an Xyz Summon, I draw 1 card."
It drew a card from its deck, then revealed it: "Spell Card, Xyz Gift. It can be activated when I control 2 or more Xyz Monsters. I detach 2 Xyz Materials on my field and draw two cards from my deck.
I detach two Baby Spiders and draw two cards."
It drew two cards but didn't mind them.
Because now, it was about to win!
"Activate Trap Card, Ring of Destruction! Destroy one face-up monster on my field, and both players take 1000 damage each! I destroy, ■■■■■■!"
It could no longer pronounce Azathot's name.
Hikaru looked at the monster on the field, inwardly guessing at what came next.
A ring nested onto one of Azathot's tentacles, then exploded with a boom. Although Azathot had theoretically been destroyed, its figure still remained on the field, unable to dissipate.
Hikaru, LP: 4000 → 3000. Diabolos, LP: 3000 → 2000.
"It destroyed its own ace monster? What on earth is this guy thinking?" the Flame Swordsman asked, puzzled.
"No idea. This guy's just gone completely mad." Black Flame muttered grumpily.
"I activate another Trap Card, Xyz Soul! It can be activated by selecting one Xyz Monster in my own or the opponent's Graveyard. All monsters on my field gain ATK equal to that monster's Rank × 200 until the end of the turn. After that, I can return the selected monster to the Extra Deck."
A group of spirits' expressions changed drastically.
What did 1000 ATK matter? They all knew clearly that wasn't the point.
The point was...
Azathot had returned!
"Don't, don't be afraid..." White Crystal was a bit tense. "It has no other Xyz Materials left."
"Hahahahaha. Naive, far too naive. Let me show you the ultimate power beyond all things that the gods have granted me!"
"What?" Flame Sword asked tensely.
"Rank-Up!"
Rank-Up?
The three spirits and Tierra all showed puzzled expressions. They were all hearing this term for the first time. And Hikaru had already silently opened a Set card.
"That's right, Rank-Up! The sublimation of the soul, the sublimation of matter, this is precisely the power that Xyz commands. Hahahaha, O gods, grant me this great power!
■■■■■■ can be Xyz Summoned by overlaying it on top of an 'Outer Entity' Xyz Monster on my field!"
Nyarla sniggered a couple of times, then transformed into a giant black orb, mixing with the purple orb and white orb beside it.
The three colors of monsters cycled through the air in flight, circling onto that great card's body.
"Xyz Summon!"
Outer Entity Azathot!
"Hehehehehe hahahaha, on the turn it's Xyz Summoned... you can't activate monster effects."
"This is bad." The three spirits each let out a low cry.
All that effort, just to summon Azathot?
But...
It was worth it!
Because Azathot taking the field meant that, this turn, nothing could stop Hikaru's opponent again!
"But in terms of DEF, Blue-Eyes White Dragon has 2500!" Cold sweat beaded on Flame Sword's forehead. Azathot's reappearance made it feel ill all over. But it didn't say this because of the discomfort. Rather, it realized that its lord was about to face something extremely terrifying next.
So it said this instinctively, hoping to bolster its lord's courage.
But Hikaru was far calmer than it.
"Spell Card, Riryoku." Diabolos laughed wildly. "I halve your monster's ATK and add that amount to my god's ATK."
Blue-Eyes White Dragon, ATK: 3000 → 1500. Outer Entity Azathot, ATK: 2400 → 3900.
"But Blue-Eyes White Dragon is in Defense Position... so it should be fine."
"Fine? Far too naive!" The demon dragon's unrecognizable wings whistled. "When my lord has Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz monsters as materials at the same time, I can detach 1 Xyz Material to activate its divine might: destroy all cards on your field!"
This is bad!!!
The three knights' hearts lurched.
"Hahahaha..."
"Wahoo, wahoo!"
"Hehe, hehehehe."
The spirits of the Dark World, as if infected, began laughing wildly.
"This is bad." Albaz clutched its forehead and said in pain, "There's no way to stop it!"
Reducing its own Life Points by 1000, just to lower the opponent's Life and recover Azathot!
As long as Azathot was present, its side wouldn't fear the opponent's monster effects. After clearing all the opponent's cards, attacking directly with Azathot would basically clinch the duel!
This was Diabolos's tactic!
In the past, it had once been the overlord of this dimension, possessing dueling strategies and methods different from now. But those duels and methods were too classical, too laughable!
Under the gods' unmatched immense power, all things would be annihilated!
As long as it opened its eyes, who could resist!
This ever-victorious tactic was the same no matter what kind of deck the opponent had!
Even Blue-Eyes White Dragon, what could it do!
The black clouds crashed down, and all things would fall to silence... silence?
It froze in place, looking at the monster on Hikaru's field.
"What's going on?"
"Invoked Cocytus's effect: this card on the field can't become the target of the opponent's effects, and can't be destroyed by the opponent's effects. Because it isn't an activated effect, it can be preserved."
Beside Hikaru, Cocytus drew in its wings, carefully guarding before Hikaru. Without the domineering confidence of when Hikaru first met it, it instead looked quite nervous.
"Hikari, this isn't something a fish or two can take care of anymore!" it cowered, hunching its head as it spoke to Hikaru in a low voice.
Hikaru gave a helpless smile and promised to take it traveling somewhere else. Only then did it barely manage to suppress the fear in its heart with the prospect of the future.
Invoked Cocytus. Level 6, WATER Attribute, Dragon-Type. DEF 2900.
"That's not what I mean. I mean, how did you summon it?"
Hikaru shrugged and pointed beside him.
Only then did Diabolos notice the other cards on Hikaru's field.
Chain Material and Necro Fusion!
"When you summoned Azathot, I activated Chain Material." Hikaru continued explaining. "But at that time, you were entirely fixated on Azathot and didn't care at all about what I activated."
Uh...
Only now did Diabolos realize what had happened.
Using Chain Material, this human could perform a Fusion this turn using materials from his Deck. And Necro Fusion was a card used for Fusion.
"Damn it..."
"You're too fixated on the 'guaranteed-win' duel, Diabolos." Hikaru shook his head. "True, Azathot is powerful enough, so powerful that the moment it takes the field, this turn goes however you say. But you're too fixated on winning directly.
By rights, you should have many other ways to clinch victory. For instance, your own true body?
Relying on Azathot's power, relying on your own ability, yet every card you've used up to now seems to be considered solely on the basis of Azathot."
"You won't shut up, it's infuriating! The gods' power is a hundred times mine. What's wrong with borrowing its power? Hmph, even if you survive this attack, so what? Your Blue-Eyes White Dragon is gone anyway. You used three cards just to survive my attack. Next turn I'll win all the same!
O gods, bring down divine punishment!"
Azathot slowly raised one tentacle. Seeing this, Cocytus shrieked, and before the tentacle even fell, it burst apart on its own with a pop.
It was so terrified that, before the attack landed, the "attack" had already arrived for it.
"I Set one card and end my turn!"
Outer Entity Azathot, ATK: 3900 → 2400.
Hikaru let out a sigh of relief.
He even felt a bit fortunate inside.
Fortunately the opponent had been blinded by Azathot's power. If its sanity remained, he really wouldn't have gotten through so easily.
"My turn, draw."
Hikaru looked at his hand.
Dragon's Mirror...
He looked at his Graveyard again.
"Normal Summon, Dragonmaid Laundry."
"Awoo~"
Little Blue jumped onto the field and let out an excited cry. It wasn't a spirit, just a simple holographic projection, but after taking the field, it immediately lowered its tail, trembling.
"Don't be afraid, Little Blue, you don't need to fight. Just activate your effect!"
"Dragonmaid Laundry's effect, which can be activated when this card is Normal or Special Summoned. I send the top 3 cards of my Deck to the Graveyard."
Hikaru picked up the top card of his Deck.
Diabolos was utterly indifferent.
Its god was invincible!
Its Set card was a Continuous Trap, Mirror Wall, which could halve the ATK of the opponent's monster when it attacked. In other words, you'd need at least 4800 to defeat its god.
Even Blue-Eyes White Dragon would find it hard to muster that level of ATK!
Hikaru picked up the top three cards of his Deck.
First card.
Fusion Conscription.
Hmm... I'm used to it.
Hikaru didn't mind and looked at the second.
Monster card, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon.
Stacked well, but this isn't the one I need.
The third card...
Invocation!
That's it!
Hikaru's eyes lit up.
"I activate the effect of Invocation in my Graveyard! I return it from the Graveyard to the Deck and add the banished Aleister the Invoker to my hand!"
Hikaru picked up Invocation, showed it, shuffled it back into the Deck, then took the Aleister floating beside him into his hand.
"Then, Spell Card, Dragon's Mirror. I banish monsters from the field and Graveyard to perform a Fusion of Dragon-Type monsters! The Fusion conditions are Blue-Eyes White Dragon and a Dragon monster. I fuse the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my Graveyard with the Dragonmaid Laundry on my field!"
"Shine, my wings of Fusion!"
"Fusion Summon, Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon!"
Purple wings of light slowly spread, and a silver-white giant dragon slowly descended.
Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon. Level 8, LIGHT Attribute, Dragon-Type. ATK 3400.
"With this, there's no problem. Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon attacks Outer Entity Azathot!"
"Don't even think of touching our god! I activate the Continuous Trap Card, Mirror Wall!" Diabolos shouted in a frenzy. "As long as this card exists in the Spell & Trap Zone, the opponent's attacking monster's ATK becomes half!"
"Sorry. Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon is unaffected by Trap Cards!"
!!!
"What's more, I discard the Aleister in my hand to activate its effect, raising one Fusion Monster on my field's ATK and DEF by 1000!"
Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon, ATK: 3400 → 4400.
"Aaargh..."
4400 minus 2400 was exactly 2000!
That was the 2000 it had deducted in order to win!
A large group of spirits, seeing Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon about to attack Azathot, suddenly linked hands one by one, forming a wall of spirits, blocking in front of Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon.
"Don't pay them any mind!" Seeing this, Hikaru's resolve to take Azathot away grew even deeper.
This absolutely could not stay here!
Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon heard Hikaru's voice, nodded and let out a roar, then charged straight at the "sun" in the sky.
Seeing this, Diabolos stopped playing its cards and rushed up into the sky, following close behind, even faster—
The two monsters erupted in a terrifying collision in the air. Along with a "boom," Diabolos was slammed into the ground like a cannonball.
Diabolos, LP: 2000 → 0.
To keep Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon from attacking Azathot, it willingly crashed into the monster on its own, so that, as a duelist, it would lose its Life as fast as possible and end the duel!
Hikaru let out a sigh of relief.
He'd won.
Fortunately Diabolos had been too fixated on the Outer God's power. If it had been a bit more normal, it really would have been hard to deal with. Then he remembered again that there were still several scattered parts of "Azathot's" true body in other places.
This was very likely the "easiest" recovery spot. If he had to face an Outer God once at every other location...
He felt that even he, who had held on without issue all this time, was getting a bit dizzy.
And just at that moment.
Hmmm—
Hmmm—
Hikaru blanked for a moment, then the whole world abruptly turned to black and white. Those spirits that had drawn power from the Azathot card fainted almost instantly, and beside Hikaru, the three spirits felt dizzy once more.
But compared to before, it was much better now.
In the sky, the enormous Azathot slowly turned into a card, then slowly flew down, toward Hikaru's hand.
To the side, the Diabolos that hadn't yet lost its sanity or memory gave a wretched smile, then roared: "No difference, there's no difference! Human, although you beat me, there's no difference! Once you've experienced the power of a god, any existence will become its believer! There's no difference, you'll become like this too!! Haha, hahahaha—"
"What nonsense are you spouting? Hikaru is an absolute Fusion user. What's the mere temptation of a powerful card?" Tierra gave a cold snort, raised her hand to summon hellfire, gave it a finishing touch, and sent it into slumber.
Once Azathot completely left this dimension, although the red light would still exist here, the mutations they'd developed because of Azathot would gradually be replaced by other spirit power, slowly becoming "normal" dueling spirits again. Though that was only relative to their previous state. Compared to truly ordinary spirits, they probably wouldn't be normal again for quite a while.
Hikaru shook his head and instinctively reached out to catch it, then...
Uh!
His eyes went wide.
His original eyes were instantly filled with black energy.
Outer Entity Azathot!
The supreme, ultimate monster, a monster possessing infinite divine might!
A Forbidden card from before he came to this world, the Forbidden of Forbidden cards, a super-Forbidden card that could hold its own even among the many Forbidden cards!
A powerful card that, with a reasonable build, could let you win almost brainlessly!
If this card stayed in his hand, he could think of countless ways to summon it. After all, as long as it was summoned, then unless it was a deck specializing in Spells and Traps, almost any deck would be crippled!
As long as he summoned Azathot ahead of time, then he could perform Fusions however he pleased. Even the strongest deck couldn't stop him in the slightest...
Hikaru clutched his forehead.
As for it being an Xyz Monster... it doesn't matter, I can Fuse it away during battle, there can be many reasons, it doesn't matter...
"Hikaru?" Tierra was the first to notice something off about Hikaru. She slowly grew somewhat serious, and the other three spirits also showed worried expressions.
No way!?
Was what Diabolos said true!?
Hikaru, with difficulty, held the card, moved it far away, and placed it into a separate card case.
"Let's go, quickly." Hikaru bit his lip. "Hurry and send it back to the Selfless Painting School dimension!"
He was Hikaru, the pursuer of Fusion, and his Fusion was inclusion, so using an Xyz Monster wasn't out of the question. But he absolutely could not, at a moment like this, deceive himself!
The three spirits looked at each other, then hurriedly responded, escorting Hikaru away. Tierra couldn't help but break into a smile.
This was Hikaru! The extraordinary person she admired!