"So this is the final complete form, huh."
Yugen tilted his head back and looked up at Yubel, who had already transformed into a gigantic monstrosity before him.
Indeed, the aura radiating from Yubel in this form was far stronger than before, probably the utmost peak she could reach in her current state. The Tier Three "Extremely Sad Demon Dragon" was precisely the ultimate form she had transformed into in the Cosmos when she was affected by the fluctuations of the Light of Destruction.
Yet facing this colossal demon, the corners of Yugen's mouth still lifted slightly.
Yubel snapped, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. It's just that... so-called ultimate means that while you're at your strongest, it also means your evolution has reached its end."
Yugen shrugged.
"It just means there's no road beyond this, or in other words..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"It's a dead end."
"What?"
Yubel felt she was being underestimated yet again.
This wasn't the first or second time during this Duel. Before, she could still brush it off, but now, even after seeing her final form, this terrifying figure with demonic qi surging to the heavens, he still reacted like this. How could she not have her fury boil up inside?
"Don't agree? Fine, then let me prove it to you with facts."
Yugen slapped down another Monster Card from his hand.
"I Normal Summon 'Sword Fighting Beast - Rope Fighting'."
Flames surged across the field, and within that blaze the image of a Fierce Tiger quickly took shape. The ferocious tiger Warrior, wreathed entirely in flame, stepped down onto the field.
[Sword Fighting Beast - Rope Fighting, Attack Power 1800]
Then Yugen swung his arm, issuing another command to the Sword Fighting Beasts on the field.
"'Sword Fighting Beast - Augustus', 'Sword Fighting Beast - Rope Fighting', and 'Sword Fighting Beast - Fish Fighting', these three Sword Fighting Beasts on the field return to the Card Deck—Triple Contact Fusion!"
Yubel: "A Triple Contact Fusion!?"
"The Fusion requirement is 'Sword Fighting Beast - Augustus' plus any two Sword Fighting Beast monsters."
Under Yugen's command, the Sword Fighting Beasts on the field took Augustus as their core and transformed into three pillars of light. The three beams converged into one, piercing through the air to carve open a vortex that seemed to lead to ancient Rome. A tempest of spacetime burst forth from within, and the soul of an ancient King, as though trampling across a thousand years, descended upon the field.
[Sword Fighting Beast - Blind Fighting, Attack Power 1000]
Yubel pressed down the unease in her heart. "After all that trouble, the Fusion monster only has 1000 Attack Power..."
"Is that really the case?" Yugen casually farmed some style points.
"Nani?"
"Effect of Sword Fighting Beast - Blind Fighting!" Yugen declared. "When Blind Fighting is successfully Special Summoned, from the Fusion Card Deck, I can Special Summon any Sword Fighting Beast Fusion Monster other than 'Sword Fighting Beast - Blind Fighting', ignoring its Summoning conditions!"
The Fusion Card Deck compartment on Yugen's Duel Disc automatically popped open, and a card was ejected into his hand. A green storm burst out from the card, and the king of sword duels, bearing a prestige that once resounded across an ancient battlefield, descended!
Sword Fighting Beast Caesar, Summon!
[Sword Fighting Beast Caesar, Attack Power 2400]
"When Sword Fighting Beast Caesar is Special Summoned, its Monster Effect activates," Yugen said. "I can destroy up to two cards on the field!"
Yubel: "!"
He can keep blowing things up!?
In that instant, Yubel understood what he meant by so-called ultimate being both the strongest and also the end.
He was right.
Yubel the Extremely Sad Demon Dragon—this form was both Yubel's final form and also her last form. It was just like a BOSS going berserk on low HP, entering the final phase. This phase was the strongest and most ferocious, but it also meant this was its last life bar.
No more HP protection, no more extra lives. If she got taken down this time, it meant true annihilation.
"Sword Fighting Beast Caesar."
When he gave the command, Yugen sounded almost like a God of Death passing sentence.
"Destroy 'Yubel the Extremely Sad Demon Dragon' and the face-down Cover Card in your back row."
Of course, he knew that one of the back-row cards was very likely "Emergency Food"; even if he destroyed it, she could chain it. But which card actually got blown up would come down to luck.
Yubel said coldly, "Chain the Cover Card, Trap Card 'Peaceful Envoy'!
This card's effect: during the turn it's activated, monsters cannot be destroyed by battle, and all battle damage I take becomes 0."
The Trap Card activated in the split second before Caesar's steel wings pierced through, and a nun holding a Protective Talisman appeared on the field. She closed her eyes and chanted, casting a final protective barrier over Yubel's field.
"I also chain another Cover Card, Trap Card 'Blessing of the Holy Spirit'. I recover Life Points equal to the number of monsters on my field times 300.
Right now, I have Caesar, Blind Fighting, and the Extremely Sad Demon Dragon on the field, so I recover a total of 900!"
"At the same time, I activate another Cover Card," Yubel shouted. "Speed Attack Magic 'Emergency Food'!
By sending my own Magic and Trap cards on the field to the Graveyard, I recover 1000 Life Points for each one."
She drew out several Magic Traps from her back row in one breath.
"I send the Continuous Magic 'Nightmare Mirage Tube', 'Netherworld's Treasure Scroll', the currently resolving 'Peaceful Envoy', and 'Blessing of the Holy Spirit', a total of four cards, to the Graveyard, and recover a total of 4900 Life Points!"
The three back-row cards vanished together, merging into Yubel's body, instantly refilling a huge chunk of her HP.
[Yubel, LP4800 → LP9700]
"Life Points nine thousand seven hundred." Yugen rested his chin on his hand. "Terrifying."
The watching Thousand Gold said lazily, "I think the Master, who can say that without a shred of emotion, is even more terrifying."
Silent, who had been standing at the side holding her Magic Staff and guarding, didn't speak, but she nodded in agreement.
They'd seen plenty of big bad bosses while following Yugen, but it felt like they really hadn't met anyone more frightening than their Master...
See, the opponent was another demon lord who'd returned from training beyond this world, and she seemed one step away from breaking down too.
However, although the Trap Cards themselves had already left the field, their effects had already resolved. The Peace Envoy's barrier protected Yubel's field; even though it now looked empty, in reality it was as solid as an iron fortress.
But Yugen didn't care about any of that.
"Then first, Sword Fighting Beast Caesar," Yugen said. "Attack Yubel directly."
Yubel's heart jolted. "He knows it's meaningless and still attacks?"
But she immediately understood.
No, it wasn't meaningless.
This guy's Sword Fighting Beasts... this Card Deck's entire design was about triggering abilities through battle. Even if Peaceful Envoy could nullify battle damage, it couldn't nullify the fact that a battle had taken place.
Caesar spread its wings and took to the sky again, a transparent storm wrapping around a rain of steel feathers that showered down. Of course, the dense steel feathers all slammed into the barrier in front of Yubel, sending ripples across it without any actual effect.
But Yugen didn't mind; he simply continued, "Next, Sword Fighting Beast - Blind Fighting, attack Yubel directly."
Blind Fighting followed suit, charging at Yubel as well. Naturally, that attack was also blocked by the Peaceful Envoy's barrier, failing to deal even a sliver of damage.
But Yugen had already achieved his objective.
"At the end of the Battle Phase, the effects of 'Sword Fighting Beast Caesar' and 'Sword Fighting Beast - Blind Fighting', which both battled this turn, are activated."
Yugen said.
"Caesar, which battled, returns to the Card Deck, and from the Card Deck I can Special Summon two Sword Fighting Beasts other than 'Sword Fighting Beast - Gun Fight'.
Blind Fighting, which battled, also returns to the Card Deck, and I can Special Summon two Sword Fighting Beasts from the Card Deck as well."
The two Sword Fighting Beasts turned into twin beams of golden light, both returning from the field and transforming into two cards in Yugen's hand. Yugen slotted them into his Duel Disc, and the Duel Disc automatically stored them back into the Fusion Card Deck compartment.
"Therefore, I Special Summon four Sword Fighting Beasts from my Card Deck!"