Viper was full of question marks.
On my field… what?
He saw Kira reveal a monster card. A golden light flared, and a hulking demon encased in metal rose into view.
Despite being fully metallic, it exuded a chilling savagery. The steel demon bristled with spikes; in the center of its body, a sawblade spun at high speed. From head to toe, it seemed armed with torture implements—clearly not a monster for the forces of good.
In fact, this monster's design intentionally mirrors Lava Golem in many ways. It feels like a steel torture-device version of Lava Golem. Even the "Level 8 big guy that appears on the opponent's field" trait makes it feel like family.
[Grinder Golem, ATK 3000]
Viper blinked for two seconds.
Huh? So generous?
He gets a Blue-Eyes-level beater for free. Unlike Lava Golem, it doesn't even eat two monsters as tribute—completely free of charge.
Does the Duel King's dueling philosophy involve resource charity for the opponent?
Of course, such a naive notion was absurd. Viper knew the man before him was dark-hearted and would never do anything pointless. Any seemingly generous gift would hide something even grimier.
Sure enough, two small monsters popped into existence on Kira's field.
"Of course it's not a freebie. I'm not that charitable," Kira said. "Grinder Golem can Special Summon two 'Grinder Token' to your opponent's field and Special Summon itself to the opponent's field."
[Grinder Token, ATK 0] x2
"Two Tokens," Viper muttered. "For tribute?"
In the real card game, after using Grinder Golem's Special Summon effect, you can't perform a Normal Summon that turn. In the anime, there's no such restriction. Yubel's first true-body descent used Grinder Golem's tokens as tributes, then she gave the opponent the Level 8 beater and bounced 3000 damage back at a bewildered Adrian to finish him off.
Yubel's pretty adept at being nasty too.
"Next, I Special Summon 'Jester Confit' from my hand," Kira said.
A goofy clown appeared, head cocked at a not-very-bright angle.
[Jester Confit, ATK 0]
"Then I tribute the two Grinder Token and Jester Confit—three tributes!"
Viper: "!"
Three tributes?
Adrian's expression also shifted.
As everyone knows, Level 5–6 monsters need one tribute; anything Level 7+—even if there were a Level 12 that could be Normal Summoned—needs only two tributes.
Monsters that explicitly require three tributes are rare, usually only when the effect text specifically says so. The most iconic examples are the Egyptian God Cards.
But Kira wasn't summoning a god.
Water burst onto his field—clear and surging. A blade cleaved through the blue curtain. A female-looking warrior in blue armor, with a flowing cape like woven water, stepped forth. Twin blades glinted, their color like water, their form like lightsabers.
"From the Planets series: The Tripper Mercury, descends!"
[The Tripper Mercury, ATK 2000]
Viper and Adrian both paled.
"That's the legendary Planets…!?"
Adrian adjusted his glasses. "Interesting. Looks like the rumors were true—most of the Planets are in the Duel King's hands…"
"Mercury is Level 8, but can be Tribute Summoned using three tributes," Kira said. "Mercury gains different effects based on the number of tributes.
First, on Summon, all monsters on the field become Attack Position—"
Kira paused and smiled.
"Of course, they're already in Attack Position, so we can ignore that.
However, if three or more tributes were used, while Mercury is on the field, all monsters on your opponent's field lose ATK equal to their original ATK!"
Viper's pupils contracted.
Lose original ATK… meaning any monster without external buffs goes straight to zero?
"Mercury Suppression!"
Water surged like a flood across Grinder Golem. The giant staggered and nearly toppled before steadying.
[Grinder Golem, ATK 3000 → 0]
Viper grit his teeth.
No wonder he handed over a Level 8 beater so casually—because to Kira, it didn't matter.
In front of Mercury, their ATK becomes zero anyway.
"And with 'A Legendary Ocean' on the field, the WATER-attribute Mercury gains 200 ATK."
[The Tripper Mercury, ATK 2000 → 2200]
"Mercury, attack."
Kira waved.
Mercury drew her blades; her gossamer cape fluttered; crossed sword-lights sliced through the giant's waist.
Grinder Golem exploded. The arc of light carried on and blasted Viper off his feet.
Damage reduction was active this duel, so battle damage was halved.
"Ugh—!"
[Viper, LP 2900 → 1800]
A brutal impact.
Intense pain.
Viper fell to his knees, clutching his head, body trembling.
What was that?
It wasn't just the physical pain of a Shadow Duel—he knew that feeling well.
There was also a mental lance, something piercing his soul.
For a moment, he thought he saw Pierce.
Yes, Pierce—his child. The child he would bring back to reality at any cost.
But now, the liveliness and joy were gone from the boy's face. In the darkness, he looked at Viper with a strange gaze.
What was that?
Disappointment? Even disgust?
"Don't—don't look at me like that!" Viper clutched his head and roared like a lion. "Everything I do is for you—even if I become a demon to do it!"
Adrian, watching, started and then seemed to understand.
The Duel King had started attacking his spirit.
Uncovering the darkness in his opponent's heart, finding mental weaknesses and leveraging the duel to strike…
Just like he did to Adrian before.
The deeper the inner darkness, the stronger the obsession, the heavier the burden, the more a person treats dueling as life itself—the more they seem to be countered by the Duel King.
Because dueling means so much to them, because they carry so much, they more easily fall into despair under the Duel King's torment…
So thought the past victim, Adrian.