"The ability to freely choose whether to accept effects... I see," the Wicked God said in a low voice.
"Is this the true 'absolute resistance'?"
"By amassing Dragons in the grave, it gains incredible power, plus absolute resistance. Indeed, a terrifying dragon."
Even as the Wicked God, he had to admit, in terms of resistance, he fell short.
By now, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon had gathered energy in its mouth, forming a huge glowing orb.
But at that moment, the Wicked God's tone shifted to a sly smile.
"But, this so-called invincible resistance only applies to the dragon itself, right?"
Kaiba frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I activate my set card—Trap Card, High Speed Aria!
By giving up the ability to activate spells next turn and discarding a spell from my hand, this trap can gain the effect of that spell!" (Anime card)
The Wicked God discarded a spell.
"The spell I discard is—
—Soul Release!"
Kaiba's eyes widened.
He knew this card well. Its effect was—
"'Soul Release': Choose up to five cards from either graveyard. Remove them from play!" the Wicked God said.
At this point, the cards to be removed were obvious.
Five Dragons flew from Kaiba's graveyard, turning into golden light and vanishing.
"I remove 'Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon,' three 'Blue-Eyes White Dragons,' and one 'Blue-Eyes Alternative'—five cards in total!
Now you have five fewer dragons in your graveyard, so Shining Dragon's ATK drops by 1500!"
[ATK 5400 → 3900]
"Shining Dragon may ignore card effects, but your graveyard can't," the Wicked God said. "Cut off its source, and no resistance can save it!
Perish before the Wicked God's might, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!"
As Dreadroot prepared to counterattack, Kaiba shouted, "Shining Dragon, activate final ability!"
"What!? It has a final ability?"
"Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon can tribute itself to destroy any card on the field! This is a Quick Effect, and can even be activated on the opponent's turn!
I tribute Shining Dragon to destroy 'The Wicked Dreadroot'—
—Radiant Nova!"
Shining Dragon erupted in a supernova-like flash!
In theory, the Wicked God couldn't be destroyed by effects—but Kaiba, as a god wielder, knew this defense wasn't absolute.
For example, Egyptian Gods can't be forced off the field by effects, but Slifer was destroyed by Marik's Ra, and Obelisk's field-wipe also works on Slifer.
Gods have ranks. If the destruction effect outranks the god, it works.
Shining Dragon isn't a god, but its power is extremely high. In the movie, it destroyed the otherwise impervious Pyramid of Light with its nova, even though the dragon itself was also destroyed.
So even if Kaiba continued attacking, not only would Shining Dragon be destroyed, he'd take battle damage. Better to gamble everything.
The nova exploded. When the light faded, darkness remained. The Wicked God still stood tall, exuding danger.
"That was close—Blue-Eyes really has such a terrifying card, and even a suicide attack.
Without Divine Evolution's rank-up, I might have lost to that dragon."
Kaiba gritted his teeth.
As expected, it wasn't so easy.
But he wasn't surprised. At least the tribute let Shining Dragon escape the battle damage. Kaiba said, "Then I'll normal summon The Agent of Creation - Venus in defense mode."
[Venus, DEF 0]
"Venus's effect—pay 500 Life Points to special summon a 'Mystical Shine Ball'."
[Kaiba, LP: 1250 → 750]
[Mystical Shine Ball, DEF 500]
"I set one card and end my turn."
The Wicked God laughed. "Now you're forced to stall with such weak monsters? The mighty Seto Kaiba resorting to monsters that can't even be called walls to stay alive!"
Kaiba's face remained cold. "Your turn. Draw."
"Heh, as you wish. My turn, draw!"
"Because of High Speed Aria's drawback, I can't play any spells this turn.
Battle. Dreadroot, attack!"
Throughout the turn, Kaiba had his eyes closed, as if thinking, or sensing something.
It wasn't until the Wicked God declared "Battle!" and made his move that Kaiba suddenly opened his eyes.
Sensing something, or perhaps deciding something.
"I activate my set card, Trap Card—
—Absolute End!"
Kaiba declared.
"This turn, all your attacks become direct attacks!"
"NANI!?" the Wicked God exclaimed.
"What are you doing?" the Wicked God demanded. "Are you trying to lose?"
"Who knows?" Kaiba smirked. "So, do you dare to attack?"
The Wicked God hesitated.
His opponent's only face-down card was now revealed. There were only two weak monsters on Kaiba's field, nothing that looked like a threat.
If Kaiba did nothing, Wicked God could attack the weak monsters and Kaiba could survive another turn. But a direct attack would end him.
Yet, Kaiba looked utterly unafraid, almost as if he had something up his sleeve...
As the Wicked God hesitated, Kaiba said coldly, "Well, that's all your Wicked God amounts to. I always knew you didn't have the guts. Because..."
He smirked.
"You study me, study my rivals, preparing special cards to counter me, trying to shake my resolve. The truth is, you're afraid of me."
"Because you know very well, no matter how much you prepare, no matter how you evolve, you will never be my equal."
The Wicked God narrowed his eyes.
"Trying to provoke me? Interesting. But..."
A glint of cold light flashed in the Wicked God's eyes, and he sneered.
"No matter. I'll take the bait!"
...
…
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