"Attack of Electromagnetic Stone Warrior Alpha!"
Seeing that tiny Magnetic Warrior recklessly charge at the Sun Dragon, Godwin felt there was a trick, but had no other choice for the moment. He shouted, "Sun Dragon Inti, hit it back!"
The Sun Dragon roared, molten energy surged out from the core in its chest, converging into its four dragon mouths, turning into torch-like beams of light that blasted forth!
The result was only to be expected. The gap in strength between the little Electromagnetic Stone Warrior and its opponent was far too huge; it couldn't even get close before it was swallowed by the flames spewed out by the Sun Dragon. The Magnetic Warrior's body melted in those flames, rapidly dissipating until it turned into molten iron and vanished completely.
[Yugen, LP2500 → LP1200]
The shockwave of the explosion sent him staggering back again, his back slamming into the glass curtain wall of the office behind him. The violent impact made the glass crack into a web pattern with a loud clang as transparent air currents and smoke swirled backwards.
Seeing that there didn't seem to be any sort of reversal, and that the Sun Dragon had easily crushed the opponent's Magnetic Warrior without obstruction, Godwin sneered. "Has your mind snapped under the pressure of this Dark Duel?"
Yugen said, "That's not necessarily the case."
Godwin: "Nani?"
Realizing something was wrong, he jerked his head up to look at his Sun Dragon. He saw that the clearly already-destroyed Magnetic Warrior was releasing a massive electromagnetic force, as if binding and entangling his Sun Dragon. Under the repulsive magnetic force, Sun Dragon Inti's form flickered between solid and illusory, shaking like a badly received video signal.
Finally the electromagnetic fluctuation crackled and burst, and the Sun Dragon could no longer hold on, completely turning into a phantom image and dispersing.
Only then did Godwin cry out in shock, "Sun Dragon Inti... why!?"
The sun is undying; even if it's taken out by some special hidden effect, it will call forth Moon Shadow Dragon in its place. And when Moon Shadow Dragon falls, the sun will rise again... that's how it's supposed to be.
So where the hell is his big-ass Sun Dragon? Why is it gone?
Only now did he notice the electric snakes crackling across the ring-shaped magnetic field under their feet. His gaze shifted slightly, and he suddenly realized something. "Super Electromagnetic Field, this Field...!?"
"Oh? You noticed." Yugen said. "That's right. Another hidden effect of Super Electromagnetic Field is: once per turn, when your opponent's Monster battles with your own Rock Race or Earth Attribute Monster, and the opponent's Monster is not destroyed, then at the end of Damage Calculation, that undestroyed opponent's Monster returns to its owner's hand."
Godwin: "!"
What kind of shut-in Field is this?
Not only does it have the effect of reviving a Magnetic Warrior from the Graveyard every turn, it also comes with this ability...
In other words, if the opponent simply puts some Rock Race fodder in Defense Position on the Field, he can't just attack carelessly. If he lets his big Monster battle some Rock trash, it'll casually turn into a one-for-one trade.
And since it bounces back to the hand instead of being destroyed, his combo of infinite alternation between Sun and Moon is broken without Yugen ever having to attack it...
Sun Dragon Inti is a Synchro Monster and cannot return to the hand, so it was bounced straight back to the Extra Deck. With the Sun Dragon gone, the Moon Shadow Dragon in the Graveyard was now just for show.
With this in mind, Godwin looked at Yugen with a dark expression.
This guy... could it be he already knew about my infinite Regeneration combo with the Sun and Moon Dragons, and specifically chose this tactic?
But how is that possible? How could he know?
"The battle continues." Yugen snapped his fingers. "Electromagnetic Stone Warrior: Electromagnetic Mad God, direct attack Godwin... or whoever is inside that Godwin body."
[Electromagnetic Stone Warrior: Electromagnetic Mad God, Attack Power 3000]
[Godwin, LP3000]
Earlier, Godwin had paid 1000 Life Points to Special Summon Dark Adjustment, leaving him with exactly three thousand. This one strike would directly decide the outcome.
The Long Sword of the Electromagnetic Mad God swung out, accompanied by a crackling roar as it tore through the air. The sword wind wrapped in electric current howled toward him. Godwin cast aside his inner doubts and shouted, "Then I activate my Cover Card!
Trap Card 'Honorable Tribute'!"
The Cover Card flipped, and a boulder-like object appeared on his Field. The giant stone floated in midair, its surface engraved with patterns reminiscent of the Nazca Lines, each line emitting a strange purple light.
Anyone who has seen the original 5D's even once would recognize it as the heart-like object that appears every time the Dark Markers' ace "Earth-Bound God" is summoned.
And at this moment, that giant hovering stone, like the heart of an Earth-Bound God, erupted with terrifying energy and formed a purple light barrier. The finishing blow of the Magnetic Warrior's sword struck that barrier, sending ripples exploding out.
"Honorable Tribute can be activated when you have no Monsters on your Field and your opponent declares an attack." Godwin said. "That Monster's attack is negated!
And then, I Special Summon two 'Sacrificial Stone Monument Derivatives' on my Field!"
The sword slash of the Magnetic Warrior was deflected. After absorbing the impact, the hovering giant stone was wrapped in purple light and split into two, transforming into two monument-like objects that fell onto Godwin's Field.
[Sacrificial Stone Monument Derivative, Defense Power 0] x2
"And after that,"
Godwin sneered and took the card that popped out from his Card Deck.
"I add one 'Earth-Bound God' to my hand."
As he drew the auto-searched card and revealed it, a peal of thunder seemed to rumble in the sky outside the window. The entire Security Bureau building they were in trembled slightly.
Yugen narrowed his eyes.
Earth-Bound God. By the normal plot, Godwin shouldn't have obtained the power of the Earth-Bound God yet... No, he's already become a Dark Marker, so of course he'd have an Earth-Bound God.
The Earth-Bound God is the strongest ace of the Dark Markers, and in the anime it's much stronger than in Physical Card form. All Earth-Bound Gods can ignore any Monsters on the opponent's Field and attack the Duelist directly, and they are unaffected by any Magic or Trap effects. On top of such an overwhelmingly powerful universal ability, each Earth-Bound God also has its own unique effects.
Their design prototype comes from the gigantic ground drawings "Nazca Lines" in the Nasca Desert of Peru, gods bound to the land.
This Honorable Tribute is also an Earth-Bound God-exclusive Trap, used by Godwin in the original as well. The Physical Card effect is basically preserved, but with quite a few limitations added.
The Physical Card requires the controller's Life Points to be under LP 3000 to activate; the anime version has no such restriction. However, the Physical Card can activate when the opponent declares a direct attack, which means even a Submarine-type Monster that slips past the frontline is valid, but that doesn't work in the anime, because the anime version specifies it can only be activated "when you have no Monsters on your Field."
And as for the Derivatives Special Summoned by this effect, the Physical Card stipulates that they cannot be used as Synchro Material and can only be Tributed for the Upper-Level Summon of an Earth-Bound God. But the anime has no such restriction; if you want to use them as Tribute for other Upper-Level Monsters, or want to use them to Synchro, it's all allowed.
Yugen narrowed his eyes.
Looked at this way, this card is actually pretty valuable. Two free Derivatives, handy for whatever you want to do with them. You could even use them as Tributes for a Phantom God or Evil God.
Being stared at like that for no reason made a chill run down Godwin's spine.
Why does it feel like I've suddenly been marked by some thief halfway through the Duel...?