Nordic Relic Svalinn is a powerful Continuous Trap that, once per turn, can negate the effects of all cards on the opponent's field if a Polar Star monster exists on your own field.
However, Kira had already destroyed this trap in his previous Duel against Broder. In a relay race format, teammates' Graveyards are not inherited, so this card should not exist in Halldor's Graveyard.
Yet Kira immediately realized the truth. "I see… so your deck also contains the same trap card?"
"That's correct," Halldor laughed. "In the previous round, I was sent to the Graveyard by your 'Morphing Jar' before I had the chance to mention it."
"I see. If this is a trap, then I'm really in trouble…" Kira said.
Halldor smiled and replied, "A skilled hunter often feigns weakness to lure the enemy into a trap. Fujiki Kira, you truly are a cunning man. I have seen through your true identity. I will not fall for your schemes so easily."
Kira muttered, "What do you mean by 'cunning'? That's really rude… it's almost slanderous."
"It's my turn! Draw!" Halldor shouted. "We are on the brink of victory or defeat!
You may have secret countermeasures in your backrow to deal with gods, but no scheme will work against the omniscient and omnipotent Odin!"
The effect of Odin, Father of the Aesir activated, and the Runes fell under his dominion! Until the end of the turn, my three divine beasts are unaffected by Spell, Trap, or monster effects!
Odin raised his scepter high, emitting a sacred light that granted the Aesir an absolute barrier of resistance!
"The long-awaited moment has arrived!" Kira shouted. "Face-down card, activate! Trap Card 'Ballista Squad'!
By tributing a monster on your field, you can destroy 1 card on the opponent's field.
I release Meklord Emperor Granel and destroy 'Odin, Father of the Aesir'!"
Halldor suddenly realized. "I see, so that's how it is. Even if Odin is omniscient and omnipotent, this effect still needs to 'activate.' Since later-activated effects apply first, if you destroy Odin before his 'unaffected by card effects' protection kicks in… that was your plan?"
But then he sneered. "However, it was all in vain. The power of the gods transcends such petty tricks!
Activate face-down card 'Solemn Authority'! After activation, until the second Standby Phase, all gods on my field are unaffected by Trap Card effects!"
Sacred light shone forth, divine power poured down, and it affected the three Lord of the Aesir on the battlefield. As a result, the three Lord of the Aesir gained resistance against Traps, and Ballista Squad was negated.
However, Kira smiled and said, "Just as expected.
Activate face-down Trap Card 'Compulsory Evacuation Device,' returning 1 monster on the field to its owner's hand.
'Odin, Father of the Aesir' returns to its owner's hand!"
Halldor: "!!!"
Amid the escalating chain of attacks and defenses, Kira's true intention finally became clear at this moment. Halldor also suddenly understood the truth.
That had been his goal from the very beginning!
He had already foreseen this situation. Odin had the ability to grant the gods complete resistance, and the sacred light had the power to protect the gods from Traps. Only by removing these two obstacles could the ultimate technique "Compulsory Evacuation Device" be successfully activated.
Even if the Ballista Squad broke through and defeated Odin, it would only mitigate this turn's attack, and Odin would revive at the end of the turn.
But if he was returned to the Extra Deck, Halldor would have to prepare the Synchro materials from scratch, and at that time, Odin would truly be defeated.
"You dared to scheme against a god…" Halldor gritted his teeth, but Odin had already transformed into golden light and suddenly flew into the Duel Runner's Extra Deck.
"How is this possible!?" Dragan was also shocked. "Halldor… Halldor's Odin… was really eliminated!?"
"Calm down," Broder said. "We still have the advantage. Halldor still has the fighting spirit of the two of us."
Halldor took a deep breath and said, "Returning cards to the hand, setting up a chain of traps… to defeat a god in such a way, I have no choice but to praise you.
But this is probably your limit, right? Meaning, you no longer have any monsters left to protect you. And now, my gods have gained resistance to Trap Cards.
Lord Thor, attack the 'Morphing Jar' in defense position!"
Thor swung his hammer down, and the transformable pot shattered into pieces.
"Go! Loki, Lord of the Aesir, direct attack on Fujiki Kira!"
But before Loki could fire his void bullet, a golden light burst from Kira's Graveyard, transforming into a transparent kite-like phantom that blocked the path in front of Kira.
Loki's bullet struck the kite directly, creating transparent ripples, but the small humanoid kite stubbornly endured without taking any damage.
Halldor: "What!?"
"The 'Kiteroid' in the Graveyard has one chance to reduce battle damage from a direct attack to 0," Kira smiled. "Sorry, your wish didn't come true again."
"…Good…" Halldor frowned.
This meant that even using "Ballista Squad" to release the Granel as the price for the counter had been calculated into this person's plans?
The kite-type machine only activates when hit by a direct attack. Without releasing the Granel, the kite could not withstand a god's attack.
Just how far ahead had this man calculated?
"After that, I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Although it was face-down, it was effectively a top-class card for both players. It was the same Continuous Trap Card "Nordic Relic Svalinn" that had previously been retrieved by Loki's effect.
"It's my turn. Draw one card."
Wandering the path of mystery.
"Standby Phase: Special Summon 'Playful Possum' from the Graveyard."
[Playful Possum, ATK 800]
"Then, activate Spell Card 'Circuit Treasure,' draw 2 cards from the deck. However, if you do not send a card to the Graveyard by the end of your turn, take 3000 damage during the End Phase."
Kira drew two more cards.
"Playful Possum's 'Playing Dead' effect activates! Play dead!"
"Playing dead again!?" Halldor was surprised.
"But didn't you just say that was the last Meklord Emperor…?"
"Yes, I said the Granel was the last type of Meklord Emperor, but I never said I only have one of each type."
Kira smiled.
"The monster on the field is destroyed by card effect, and I Special Summon 'Meklord Emperor Wisel' from my hand!"
[Meklord Emperor Wisel, ATK 2500]
Meklord Emperor Wisel No. 2!
"Go! Activate the divine power effect!" Kira said. "Absorb 'Thor, Lord of the Aesir'!"
Halldor felt like he was about to cough up blood.
It's happening again?
Meklord Emperor, Meklord Emperor, Meklord Emperor… how long is this going to continue?
Thor also felt like coughing up blood.
Why me again? Is it fun to keep targeting me?
Look at Loki over there, he doesn't look like a good guy at all. Why don't you try sucking his blood instead?
Halldor: "In that case, activate the Continuous Trap 'Nordic Relic Svalinn'!
If a god exists on your field, negate the effects of all cards on the opponent's field. The divine sense effect of the Meklord Emperor is negated!"
The dignity of the gods was once again unleashed through the trap, and the newly appeared divinity instantly lost its glow, its light vanishing.
Halldor was panting heavily.
So… this was one of the preventive measures?
These damned emperors…
"Yes, that's right. That's all you can do," Kira said with a smile. "To avoid being absorbed by the divine sense, you had no choice but to use that trap right now. That is the only line of defense left for the gods."
Halldor: "!"
This man, that tone of voice… Does he have another hidden plan?
"And so, the stage for the debut of the ultimate Meklord Champion is set…"
"The last Meklord Emperor…" Halldor shouted. "Isn't the Granel the last Meklord Emperor!?"
"Yes, but what I said was only that it was the last 'Meklord Emperor.' However, the Meklord Emperor deck has an even more powerful ace card that surpasses the Meklord Emperors."
Now, let everyone see it!
Kira shouted.
"Gather 3 or more 'Meklord' monsters from the Graveyard, then by banishing those 3 'Meklord' monsters from the Graveyard, one each, you can activate this special effect.
Summon the ultimate Machine King!"
He banished 3 Meklord Emperors from the Graveyard — Wisel, Skiel, Granel!
Halldor was shocked, and both Dragan and Broder involuntarily gasped at the same time.
Such a powerful being could only be summoned by simultaneously removing the Three Great Meklord Emperors…
What on earth was it?
The space was suddenly torn apart by three intersecting crimson energy beams. The roaring sound of gears meshing and the dragon's roar echoed from the clouds. A metallic dragon body crawled out from the dimensional rift, blue plasma sparking from every joint. The central dragon head broke through the spatial wall first, its mechanical vertical pupil contracting while emitting laser calibration beeps. Flames gathered in the mouth of the silver-white dragon head on the left, while lightning seemed to erupt from the dragon head on the right.
The elongated spine looked as if it were made of countless titanium alloy vertebrae. The three dragon heads suddenly raised together, and a triple roar created shockwaves in the air, shattering the glass along the track into pieces.
Summon! Meklord Astro Dragon Triskelion!
"Meklord… Astro Dragon!?" Halldor was stunned.
They were shocked, but there were those even more shocked than them.
They were the original masters of the Meklord Emperors — the three Pure Nobles of Iliaster.
At this moment, the three of them were so shocked that their mouths hung open. Primo kept repeating "Impossible" like a broken record.
Because this Meklord Astro Dragon… was a card that even the three of them had never seen before.
What the hell is this? Does something like this even exist?
They arrived first, so why does only Fujiki Kira have such a card while the other three have never even heard of it?
[Meklord Astro Dragon Triskelion, ATK 3000]
"Battle Phase begins," Kira said. "Meklord Astro Dragon Triskelion, attack Loki, Lord of the Aesir."
Halldor's heart tightened. "Even with low ATK, they're still trying to attack…"
This was definitely not good.
Sure enough, Kira continued, "Meklord Astro Dragon Triskelion, effect activate! Once per turn, when this card declares an attack, you can select 1 monster from the opponent's Extra Deck and equip it to this card as an Equip Spell!"
Halldor: "??????????"
For a moment, he suspected he had misheard.
Even the commentator with the airplane-head hairstyle couldn't believe he had heard wrong.
Equipping a monster from the opponent's Extra Deck?
The next moment, when he saw a golden light forcibly pulled from his Extra Deck, transforming into Odin's form and being absorbed into the body of the Meklord Astro Dragon, Halldor finally realized that the problem wasn't with his ears or his understanding.
Rather, there was something wrong with this cursed world!
What the hell is this?!
Halldor felt like he was going crazy, almost losing his sanity.
My Odin! I didn't even summon him, so why is he so powerful coming from the Extra Deck?
What on earth is this?! The ultimate evolution form of NTR?!
"Of course, Meklord Astro Dragon also absorbs the ATK of the equipped monster," Kira said with a smile.
[Meklord Astro Dragon Triskelion, ATK 3000 → ATK 7000]
"Furthermore, if Meklord Astro Dragon Triskelion is equipped with a Synchro Monster, it can attack up to 3 times during one Battle Phase!"
Halldor: "…"
A 7000 ATK monster that can attack 3 times per turn appears from the Extra Deck!
"Meklord Astro Dragon Triskelion, attack 'Thor, Lord of the Aesir' and 'Loki, Lord of the Aesir'."
Triskelion's three dragon heads deployed simultaneously. A piercing scream resembling an overloaded nuclear reactor erupted from its mechanical throat. A spiral plasma torrent burst from the central head, pale blue lightning intertwined with absolute zero and millions of volts shot from the left head, and dark matter breath erupted from the right head. The three destructive energies intertwined in mid-air, forming a deadly spiral of red, blue, and black.
Boom—
[Halldor, LP 3900 → LP 0]
…