"Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, direct attack!!!"
The golden phantasm was entwined with lightning, electric lights surged into the clouds, like a colossal dragon of thunder thrashing and roaring in the sky, tearing the leaden black clouds into chaos.
Thunder of Fallen!
The Giant Soldier was defeated, and Youyu's field had lost all defensive measures. And Hamon's attack power was ten times his Life Points!
But Youyu quickly revealed the card he had just drawn through "Command Silencer."
"The effect of 'Gladiator Beast Noxious' in my hand!" Youyu said, "When the opponent declares a direct attack, this card can be special summoned from the hand. Afterward, the attack target is forced to switch to Noxious for damage calculation!"
Kagemaru: "!"
Gladiator Beast? What kind of monster is that?
A warrior resembling a cheetah leaped from Youyu's hand onto the field, with blue alloy steel claws forming a defensive cross in front of it.
[Gladiator Beast Noxious, Defense 1000]
"Trying to summon a wall monster to block at the last moment, but such means won't work before the phantasm!" Kagemaru raised his voice, "When Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, destroys a monster by battle, it inflicts 1000 points of damage!
I still win! Go, Hamon, reduce that last small fry and the Duel King to ashes!"
"Unfortunately, it won't happen," Youyu said. "When 'Gladiator Beast Noxious' is Special Summoned by its own effect, it is not destroyed by that battle!"
Kagemaru: "!"
How is that possible?
The fierce lightning struck the Gladiator Beast warrior, but the tenacious warrior stood firm, though covered in soot and with a smoky body, it managed to withstand the thunderous bombardment.
"Did he block it again?" Kagemaru frowned.
"It's not over yet," Youyu said. "At the end of the Battle Phase, Gladiator Beast Noxious's effect activates! After battling, if he survives, he returns to the deck, allowing me to Special Summon another Gladiator Beast monster from the deck!"
Though Youyu's level now is legendary and he is not afraid of poor card draws theoretically, a deck can hold only so many cards, allowing only a few of these systems.
The Gladiator Beasts are like this. Youyu included 'Gladiator Beast Noxious' only because it is a reliable hand trap, and as shown now, it can also trigger a counterattack when paired with this card.
Noxious transformed into a golden light and flew back into the deck, while a new card was automatically ejected from it.
"From the deck, special summon, Gladiator Beast Bestiari!"
[Gladiator Beast Bestiari, Attack 1500]
"The effect of Bestiari! When summoned by a 'Gladiator Beast' monster's effect, destroy one magic or trap card on the field." Youyu pointed to Kagemaru's back row, "Destroy the Continuous Trap 'Hyper Blaze'!"
Bestiari soared into the air, the turbine behind him roared, and a faint green whirlwind shredded the exclusive trap of the Lord of Flames into pieces. The flame effect surrounding the Lord of Flames dimmed, and the divine power was somewhat weakened.
"Only know how to play tricks," Kagemaru said unhappily. "However, the effect of 'Raviel, Lord of Phantasms', when the opponent summons, or special summons a monster, it special summons 'Phantasm Tokens' on its own field!" (animated effect)
Because Youyu had sequentially special summoned both 'Gladiator Beast Noxious' and 'Gladiator Beast Bestiari', the effect of Raviel, Lord of Phantasms activated, sequentially special summoning two Phantasm Tokens on its own field.
[Phantasm Token, Defense 1000] x2
"Using the 'Phantasm Tokens' as tributes, return 'Raviel, Lord of Phantasms - Shimmering Scraper' from the graveyard back to the hand."
A card exited the graveyard and was returned to Kagemaru's hand.
"Set two cards face-down, and end my turn."
Now Youyu truly understands why so many strong opponents covet the phantasms' power, and why, despite being unimpressive in the animation, the phantasms are hailed as extraordinary.
They indeed have some skills.
Up until now, Youyu palpably felt a pressure from these three phantasmic deities and the Kagemaru manipulated by them, a pressure he hadn't felt in years.
That kind of presence only a true elite opponent, a supernatural being beyond human understanding, possesses.
It made him feel "I could really lose."
This is a worthiness of his all-out effort.
As Youyu dusted off and stood tall again, Kagemaru felt from that upright posture an overwhelming presence, almost absurdly non-human.
"My turn, draw. Magic Card 'Upstart Goblin', draw until the hand reaches five cards from the deck."
With the new cards, Youyu immediately drew one of them.
"I use 'Gladiator Beast Bestiari' as a tribute to perform a Tribute Summon!
My most trusted partner, spirit of the Magician—
—Dark Magician Girl, summon!"
Bestiari vanished as magic circles surrounded it, followed by a pink magic circle bursting open. A fair-skinned, blonde girl flew out, stepping lightly across successive layers of transparent magic circles, landing before Youyu.
[Dark Magician Girl, Attack 2000]
The girl's mood was mixed with excitement and nervousness.
Excited, because she realized her master had changed his summoning words—
—Did you hear what the master called me? Most trusted partner!
The girl arrogantly flexed her exaggerated chest muscles (white, big, and jiggly).
Nervous, because right upon appearance, were three ultimate demons capable of world-end destruction.
The girl shrank her white neck as she felt uneasy.
She was touched by the master's trust but knew that even with her limited brain, she could judge that the situation on the field was beyond her abilities…
At the same time, the effect of "Raviel, Lord of Phantasms" activated again, summoning another "Phantasm Token" in Kagemaru's field.
[Phantasm Token, Defense 1000]
"Magic Card 'Timaeus the Knight of Destiny'!" Youyu declared, "Using 'Dark Magician Girl' as fusion material, she will fuse with 'Legendary Dragon Timaeus'!
The disciple of Black Magic dons the armor of a Knight, transforming into the strongest Black Magician Cavalry—
—Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight, summon!"
A long, gleaming sword, silver-white armor shimmering with divine light. The girl in armor transformed into a knight, riding on the singular-eyed dragon Timaeus, and a hint of golden hair slipped out from under her helmet.
[Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight, Attack 2600]
"Oh, planning to attack with the power of 'Legendary Dragon'? Indeed, the intelligence says that after the age of Doma, the only 'Legendary Dragon' left is in the hands of the First Duel King Youyu."
He had collected every detail on Youyu he could, understanding well his commonly used trump cards.
The fusion of Legendary Dragon 'Timaeus' and the Duel King's favored spirit 'Dark Magician Girl' could potentially summon the mighty 'Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight'.
Dark Magician Girl, empowered by the Legendary Dragon, can discard a card to destroy any card on the opponent's field, with the terrifying propensity to do so even during the opponent's turn. Unleashing attacks to clear monsters or breaking key cards on the opponent's turn to disrupt their actions, it is a potent offensive and defensive ace.
Kagemaru's voice rose sharply.
"But that's also accounted for! At the moment you activated 'Timaeus the Knight of Destiny,' the ultimate trap of the phantasms has already been triggered!"
Youyu's eyelid twitched.
The ultimate trap of the phantasms, could it be...!?
His gaze quickly landed on Kagemaru's back row, indeed a Trap Card had been flipped over.
As the trap card turned face-up, the three phantasms in play seemed to respond simultaneously! Red, gold, and blue beams shot into the heavens, intertwining into a vast and inescapable net covering the entire dueling arena... no, it covered the whole island they were on!
The card was a Continuous Trap—
—Awakened Three Phantasm!