"Guardian Barrier of the Holy Land, activate!"
Azure flames leapt up to form a ring, enclosing the duel field.
As if in that instant, the valley collapsed. Dust filled the air, blocking the fierce sun, as all the rocks crumbled noisily. The forbidden Valley of the Royal Family disintegrated under the mighty force of nature, turning into nothingness.
Blue flames governed the field, it was the domain of the giants.
This card has not been made physical; it was precisely the field Jim used in his famous animated battle against the Overlord.
"The Guardian Barrier of the Holy Land is a field exclusively for Rock Race," Jim said. "In this domain, whenever any Rock Race monster is successfully Normally Summoned, place a Guardian Counter on that monster.
A monster with a counter can prevent destruction in battle or by card effect by removing the Guardian Counter instead!"
In other words, it gives all Rock Race monsters an extra life.
Of course, this field itself wasn't Jim's main goal. The real focus was that the appearance of the new field replaced the old one.
This was a rule from early Yu-Gi-Oh!, which might be unfamiliar to new players. In early Yu-Gi-Oh!, only one Field Spell could exist; regardless of using the same field or not, a new field activation would replace the old one.
It was one of the common ways to solve troublesome fields early on, as replacing them with new fields didn't enter chains and couldn't be countered.
But this rule has been abolished for many years. In modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, both sides can have one Field Spell each, without conflicting with each other's field.
With GX era rules, Jim naturally pushed aside Yugen's Valley of Eternal Rest using the old field.
Free from the constraints of the Valley of the Mother's Eternal Rest, Jim suddenly felt relieved and invigorated.
"Then I'll activate the Magic Card 'Angel's Charity'!" Jim said. "Draw three cards from the deck, then discard two hands to the Graveyard."
Obviously, Jim wanted to take this opportunity to send resources to the Graveyard. Fossil Card Deck relies heavily on Graveyard resources; after all, it's an archaeology deck, all big monsters are unearthed from graves.
Yugen, of course, wouldn't let him get his way.
"Unexpectedly dealt with the Valley of Eternal Rest, not bad, not bad. However..."
He chuckled, and his tone shifted.
"What about this?"
Jim was startled.
Then he saw Yugen raise his hand, and the trap card releasing a foreboding aura slowly flipped up in the backfield, revealing its sinister, ghastly claws.
Continuous Trap - Great Cosmos!
"Effect of Great Cosmos," Yugen said, "All cards sent to the Graveyard by both parties are not sent to the Graveyard but directly removed from the game instead!"
Jim: "..."
Starlit sky appeared above the sacred Rock Barrier, then quickly drew closer, seemingly placing the field within the cosmos.
An immense force came from the boundless cosmos, a Black Hole opened above Jim's head, unleashing endless gravity, capturing the two cards he just discarded, all swept away into the Other Dimension without a trace.
Jim fell silent.
He was truly naive, indeed.
He thought that getting rid of the Valley of the Mother's Eternal Rest would liberate the Graveyard, allowing him to showcase his proud fossils on stage.
But who knew, after clearing the Valley of Eternal Rest, what lay hidden was this heavyweight business.
If dealing with a forbidden grave was one thing, this directly blew his entire graveyard away...
"Couldn't manage to send fossils to the Graveyard smoothly, quite a shame," Yugen said with a smile.
Jim: "..."
However, after several deep breaths, he adjusted again.
No panic, it's not yet the dead end.
Though the grave was blown away now, earlier he accumulated some resources in the Graveyard a little. Now with the Valley of Eternal Rest gone, he can finally manage.
"Activate the Magic Card 'Fossil Fusion'!"
It seemed like an arduous journey, Jim finally played his key card.
"From both my and your Graveyard, remove monsters from the game as Fusion Material, to perform Fusion Summon of 'Fossil' Fusion Monster!"
"Fusion still, huh." Yugen smiled.
"I remove the Rock Race 'Shell Knight' from my graveyard, and the Five-Star 'Thunder Emperor Zaborug' from your graveyard, as Fusion Material for fusion!"
From both sides' Guardian Barrier, the ground cracked open. Shell Knight and Thunder Emperor emerged from both graveyards, but the bodies of the two monsters were decayed and broken, seemingly worn by countless years underground.
Then those two monsters both merged into the fusion vortex, absorbed into the Fossil Fusion Magic Card. Then an explosive surge of energy burst out from the whirlpool at the center of the card, as if traversing endless constraints of time.
"Fusion condition is a Rock Race monster plus Five to Six-Star monster, Fusion Summon—
—Middle Age Fossil Knight - Skeleton Knight!!!"
A body completely built of bones, the skeletal framework resembled a suit of indestructible armor. He held a sword and shield, wearing a cloak, his whole appearance brimming with the aura of age.
[Middle Age Fossil Knight - Skeleton Knight, Attack Power 2400]
Finally!
Jim felt it might be the first time in his life that successfully activating Fossil Fusion ever brought such huge satisfaction and a sense of achievement.
A feeling of long-standing frustration instantly swept away with sheer joy!
Is this the wondrous aspect of dueling with the Duel King?
"Battle!" Jim shouted, "Attack 'Evil Emperor Gaius' using 'Middle Age Fossil Knight - Skeleton Knight'!"
[Evil Emperor Gaius, Attack Power 2400]
The Evil Emperor also rallied, stepping forward proudly, gathering dark waves in his palms.
"Equal attack power." Gaius sneered, "Does this guy want to end with me together?"
"Not at all."
Yugen calmly reminded him.
"They have a barrier."
"Eh?" Gaius blinked.
Boom!
The Skeleton Knight's sword struck the wave blasted forth by Gaius. Indeed, evenly matched, the explosion occurred where the sword's wind and energy met.
Both monsters were swallowed in it. But Skeleton Knight raised his shield to block, repelling the impact and merely staggered back. In contrast, Gaius directly shattered into pieces.
"Field Spell 'Guardian Barrier of the Holy Land', provided the Rock Race 'Skeleton Knight' a Guardian Counter upon summoning."
Jim shouted.
"I removed the counter to substitute for Skeleton Knight's destruction!"
Already in ghostly form, Gaius furiously cursed: "Fair duel! This does not count! I demand a rematch! Requesting a rematch!"