Chapter 302: Slifer vs. the Sun God, the Riding Battle of the Gods!
Thunder and raging fire tore through the sky as the two gods faced off, splitting Speed World clean in half.
"Slifer the Sky Dragon!"
The instant Kaiba Chiaki saw the Sky Dragon Amano had Summoned, she lost control of her emotions and slammed a furious fist on her desk.
Desk LP: -3000.
"Amano, you actually had the nerve to lie to me!"
Thinking it through, the only chance Amano could have possibly had to obtain Slifer the Sky Dragon was that very Chronicle duel where the Sky Dragon had actually appeared.
Only now did it belatedly dawn on Chiaki: no wonder Amano had acted so strangely when she'd asked him about his Chronicle rewards back then.
"So you already had Slifer the Sky Dragon back then!"
Chiaki couldn't hold back and slammed her fist on the desk again.
It wasn't that she was upset over some sense of unfairness about Amano getting an Egyptian God.
The real root of Chiaki's anger was that Amano had gotten the card and deliberately kept it hidden from her.
"What, am I really that untrustworthy to you? You just wait, Amano!"
If you don't trust me, then I don't need to keep playing nice either.
"I'm going to strip every last secret right off of you!"
Amano, in the middle of his Riding Duel, obviously had no idea he'd just infuriated his own boss in such spectacular fashion.
Right now, a double dose of divine fury was already echoing across the Speed World track.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: 3000] [DEF: 3000]
"3000 ATK?" Celestia threw her head back and cackled on her D-Wheel.
"Ha ha ha ha, isn't that the exact same as the Blue-Eyes from before? A god at that level can't possibly extinguish my true sun! That's the gap in divine rank for you!"
Celestia wasn't wrong about that, either. Winged Dragon of Ra genuinely was set as the highest-ranked deity among the three Egyptian Gods.
Its standing was roughly equivalent to Wicked Avatar's relative to the other two Wicked Gods.
But even with a gap in divine rank, there was never any rule saying a lower-ranked god absolutely couldn't beat a higher-ranked one in a duel.
And this one happened to be Slifer the Sky Dragon, the old king's own favorite.
"I'm not entering the Battle Phase this turn!"
With Amano having Summoned Slifer the Sky Dragon, setting up a fierce Riding Duel standoff between two gods, everyone expected him to press the attack this turn.
Instead, he skipped the Battle Phase entirely.
Made sense, actually. Looking closer, even with both gods snarling and glaring at each other above the track, Amano had actually Summoned Slifer the Sky Dragon in Defense Position.
Summoning face-up in Defense Position was only possible under anime rules, and a monster Summoned that way naturally couldn't attack.
Not only did he skip the Battle Phase, Amano also set 2 of his remaining 3 cards face-down in his D-Wheel's back row.
"I set two cards. Turn end!"
Even with the Sky Dragon already on his field, he'd still set two cards from his hand.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [DEF: 3000 to 1000]
Rin Seiya: "Oh no, now it's really worse off than Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
"Hmph, only 1000 DEF? My turn, draw!"
As the Riding Duel's turn passed over, Celestia drew her card.
Celestia - Speed Counters: 4 to 5
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 5 to 6
Even at only 1000 DEF, since Slifer the Sky Dragon's own ability cut 2000 ATK off any monster its opponent Normal or Special Summoned, its real, practical combat power was still on the level of Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
And in terms of raw board-lockdown power alone, it went far beyond Blue-Eyes White Dragon anyway.
"Well, it really is a bit of a thorny ability, Slifer the Sky Dragon."
Celestia scanned the remaining monster cards sitting in her D-Wheel's hand slot. Not a single one could survive Slifer's punishing effect.
Even if the Winged Dragon could beat the Sky Dragon in battle, if none of her other monsters could survive that punishing effect, there'd be no way to follow up with a direct attack and wipe out Amano's remaining Life Points.
"This'll have to do for now."
Celestia's golden eyes flickered as she made her decision, pulling a card from her D-Wheel's slot and slapping it down onto the Monster Zone of her Duel Disk.
"I Normal Summon Damage Eater in Defense Position!"
[Damage Eater] [Level 2 / DARK]
[Fiend / Effect]
[ATK: 100] [DEF: 800]
A yellow fiend, its body twisting in an unsettling contortion, materialized and hopped onto the Speed World track.
Amano pointed up at the Sky Dragon looming overhead, ready to strike. "The moment you Summon a monster, the punishing effect activates."
The real-card Slifer could only trigger the 2000-point reduction against a monster Summoned in Attack Position, but the anime-original version of the god's effect triggered no matter what position it was Summoned in.
Summoned in Defense Position, it took the 2000-point cut to its DEF instead. And of course, if its DEF fell short of that 2000, it would still be destroyed.
Coiling overhead above the track, the Sky Dragon's second mouth slowly opened, gathering the thunder of its special effect.
"Cut Damage Eater's DEF by 2000!"
"Thunder Bolt, fired!"
[Damage Eater] [DEF: 800 to -1200] Destroyed
The instant the lightning burst and detonated, the monster that had only just been Summoned onto the track was shattered to pieces by the god's own effect.
"That takes care of the damage effects in Speed World for now." Celestia gave Amano a bright, cheerful smile. "Thanks for sending it to the Graveyard for me, sweetheart~"
Celestia had gone ahead and Summoned the monster even knowing full well it would be destroyed by the punishing effect, all because of Damage Eater's own built-in Graveyard effect.
[When your opponent activates a Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster's effect that would inflict damage: You can banish this card from your Graveyard. That effect becomes a Life Point gain effect instead.]
Fighting with the Winged Dragon of Ra often meant locking herself down to 1 LP, and the biggest fear in that state was direct effect damage aimed at the player. With Damage Eater sitting in her Graveyard, that worry disappeared entirely, freeing her up to lock her Life Points as much as she wanted.
Amano obviously understood exactly what Celestia was up to, deliberately Summoning a monster just to feed her Graveyard, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. After all, even the Pharaoh himself hadn't been able to stop Slifer's mandatory punishing effect.
"That woman, calling Rei 'sweetheart' right out in public like that." Kikawayu pinched her own thigh in frustration.
"Why are you so mad about it, Kikawayu?" Finesse shot her a suspicious glance.
Ever since that Chronicle duel, even though Amano had explained Kikawayu had been under mind control at the time, the young lady had still gotten a little more wary of this particular man.
"I just, I just... I'm worried Rei's going to get smothered to death."
"Right, same thing I'm worried about." Sakuya nodded.
"What a strange thing to be worried about." Finesse, lacking the necessary equipment to smother anyone herself, said she couldn't relate.
Celestia twisted her D-Wheel's throttle and surged forward. "Now then, it's time for the battle between gods! Battle!!"
With that bold declaration entering the Battle Phase, the Winged Dragon blazing above Celestia's D-Wheel erupted, in that same instant, with sky-devouring flames that seemed capable of swallowing the entire field.
"Burn Slifer the Sky Dragon to nothing with divine flame!"
"Sun God, attack!"
"Divine Might Blazing Cannon!"
Golden flame gathered in the Winged Dragon's beak, and the divine cannon blast tore across the sky, swallowing the roaring Sky Dragon on the other side in a scorching sea of fire.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, destroyed]
"That's the gap between gods for you, Amano boy!"
Having won a decisive victory in the war of gods, a delighted Celestia set a card and ended her turn.
"I set one card. Turn end!"
"You think the fight ends there, Celestia?! The instant your turn ends!"
Amano, riding neck and neck alongside Celestia, swept a hand out to the side and flipped up the card set on the right of his D-Wheel.
"Slifer's true power is only just about to show itself! I activate the Trap Card Revival of the Sky God!"
The Trap Card's artwork clearly depicted Slifer the Sky Dragon bathed in holy light, roaring.
"That's, a support card exclusive to the three Egyptian Gods?" Celestia's golden eyes flickered. "You even have a card like that, Amano boy!"
"Well, I've got you to thank for that, Tia."
"Oh? Me?"
He had to admit it: if Celestia hadn't treated him as her betrothed and sent his affection rating rocketing up to 80, he genuinely wouldn't have had this card at all.
It had come from the dueling skill Heir to the Sun God, and the Spell and Trap cards it brought with it for the three Egyptian Gods.
[Revival of the Sky God] [Trap Card: You can use each of the (1) and (2) effects of this card's name once per turn, and their activation and effects cannot be negated. (1): Special Summon 1 "Slifer the Sky Dragon" from your Graveyard. After that, both players draw from their Deck until they each have 6 cards in hand.]
Not only was the god itself immune to Trap Cards, even the Spell and Trap cards exclusive to a god couldn't be negated.
"By Revival of the Sky God's effect, I Special Summon Slifer the Sky Dragon from my Graveyard, and both of us draw until we have 6 cards in hand!"
Paired with the Sky Dragon's own dedicated Trap Card, it pulled off a draw effect that rivaled Card of Sanctity.
Blinding thunder burst up out of the Graveyard zone on Amano's D-Wheel Duel Disk, surging toward the sky and gathering once more above Speed World into the long, crimson shape of the great dragon.
"Revive, Slifer the Sky Dragon!"
This time, Amano was meeting the Sun God head-on, Special Summoning Slifer the Sky Dragon in Attack Position.
"Slifer the Sky Dragon's ATK is 1000 for every card in its controller's hand! Thanks to Revival of the Sky God's effect, I've got 6 cards in hand right now!"
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: X000 to 6000]
At twice the ATK it had carried on its first appearance, the Sky Dragon, revived once more to face off against the Winged Dragon over Speed World, churned with even greater thunderous power.
Celestia declared loudly, "Even revived, Winged Dragon of Ra's ATK is still higher!"
"Now it's my turn!"
The advantage of reviving the anime-version Egyptian Gods with a Trap Card was that, unlike the real-card version, they didn't get sent to the Graveyard at the End Phase. They just stayed on the field indefinitely.
"My turn, draw!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 6 to 7
Celestia - Speed Counters: 5 to 6
"I've got 7 cards in hand now, so Slifer the Sky Dragon's ATK becomes 7000!"
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: 6000 to 7000]
The Trap Card's draw at the end of the previous turn, stacked with the draw at the start of this one, sent the Sky Dragon's combat power climbing even further this turn.
Celestia showed no fear at all, her smile only growing more excited. "7000 ATK, that's probably about the limit for your Sky Dragon, isn't it! But it's nowhere near my Sun God's limit!"
Right now, the ATK of Winged Dragon of Ra on Celestia's field appeared to be 7299.
But with Celestia still holding 1201 Life Points, she could activate the effect at any time to lock down to 1 LP, sending the Winged Dragon's ATK rocketing up to 8499.
"Celestia, I've still got one more set card I haven't used!"
Amano raised a hand to the side and flipped up the card set on the left of his D-Wheel.
That set card wasn't actually a Trap or a Quick-Play Spell, so setting it wouldn't have let him use it during his opponent's turn anyway.
The reason Amano had set it in the first place was, of course, to draw one extra card off Revival of the Sky God, and to create the illusion that the Sky Dragon's max ATK was only ever going to be 7000.
"I spend 2 Speed Counters to activate the Spell Card Dark Factory of Mass Production!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 7 to 5
One of Amano's most classic little gadgets, an effect that recovered two Normal Monsters from the Graveyard.
"I add Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice and Yuyu from my Graveyard to my hand!"
"Now I've got 9 cards in hand!"
With a hand nearly overflowing Amano's D-Wheel's card slot, Slifer the Sky Dragon's ATK climbed once more, surpassing even the maxed-out Winged Dragon.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: 7000 to 9000]
"Roar!!"
A thunderous roar rang out over the Speed World sky, successfully overpowering the sky-devouring divine flame.
At 9000 ATK, even if Celestia sacrificed every last one of her Life Points to lock herself at 1, the Winged Dragon still couldn't surpass the Sky Dragon.
The crowd looked up at the deafening thunder and flame filling the sky, painting the whole of Eden's heavens into the backdrop of a war between gods.
"W-what an incredible sight!"
"Is this what a war of gods looks like?"
"It feels like heaven and earth themselves are shaking!"
Racing beneath the thunder of the Sky God, Amano raised a hand and declared, accelerating his D-Wheel into this turn's Battle Phase.
"Let a god be the one to defeat a god!"
It wasn't that Amano didn't want to Summon any more monsters. It was just that he needed to hold onto exactly 9 cards in hand right now to guarantee the Sky Dragon could beat the Winged Dragon.
"Attack, Slifer!"
The Sky Dragon raised its proud, otherworldly head, its terrible jaws stretched to their limit, gathering lightning bright enough to annihilate everything in existence.
"Superconducting Wave Thunderburst Cannon (Thunder Force)!!"
A 9000-ATK strike from a god. Whether Celestia took it head-on or boosted the Winged Dragon's ATK first, either way her Life Points were going to zero.
Celestia scrambled to flip up her set card. "Continuous Trap Card, Soul Barrier, activate!"
[Soul Barrier] [Trap Card: As long as you control a monster, battle damage to this card's controller becomes 0.]
Immune to battle damage as long as a monster stood on her field, this let Celestia take the Sky Dragon's attack head-on without falling.
"And it doesn't stop there! I'm activating Winged Dragon of Ra's effect! It can be activated after the Life-Point-paying effect has already gone off!"
[During your turn or your opponent's turn after this effect has activated, you can send 1 "De-Fusion" from your hand to the Graveyard; gain Life Points equal to this card's ATK, and this card's ATK becomes 0.]
"I send De-Fusion to the Graveyard, breaking my soul's bond with the Winged Dragon!"
The divine flame wreathing Celestia's dark, sultry frame slowly guttered out, and once the soul-bond was severed, the entirety of the Winged Dragon's ATK transformed into a vast surge of life, flooding back into her body.
Celestia LP: 1201 to 8500
[Winged Dragon of Ra] [ATK: 7299 to 0]
The blazing divine flame in the sky guttered out an instant before the Superconducting Wave's blast could land, its golden body shattering in the flash of lightning.
[Winged Dragon of Ra, destroyed]
"Even with the Winged Dragon's ATK at 0, thanks to the Continuous Trap Soul Barrier, I still won't take any battle damage!"
She'd absorbed a massive surge of Life Points from the Winged Dragon and taken not a single point of damage in return. If Celestia, in a state like this, ever Summoned the Winged Dragon again, its ATK would still be formidable.
But there was no way for Amano to keep his Sky Dragon at 9000 ATK forever.
By the rules, if he ended the turn with more than 6 cards in hand, he'd have to discard the excess to the Graveyard.
He needed to whittle down Big Thunder's Life Points one more time!
"I spend 2 more Speed Counters, activating the Quick-Play Spell Card Infiltration Fusion from my hand during the Battle Phase!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 5 to 3
[Infiltration Fusion] [Quick-Play Spell: Activate only during a turn a monster was destroyed by battle. Using monsters from your hand and/or field as Fusion Material, Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster.]
Since the Winged Dragon had been destroyed by battle this turn, it satisfied Infiltration Fusion's activation condition.
"I Fusion Summon using Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice and Yuyu, the two I just recovered from my Graveyard!"
Using the flattest and second-flattest cards in his Deck as Fusion Material, it was basically a Fusion Summon of pure flat-chested tofu-grinding.
"With two Normal Monsters as the vessel of Fusion, awaken the ancient dragon from its slumber!"
"Fusion Summon! Progenitor Dragon - Ancient Dragon!"
[Progenitor Dragon - Ancient Dragon] [Level 9 / DARK]
[Dragon / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 2700] [DEF: 2000]
[2 Normal Monsters]
A Fusion-Summoned ancient dragon, its roar shaking mountains, descended once more onto Amano's field.
"Since it was Special Summoned during the Battle Phase, it gets to attack too. Direct attack, Progenitor Dragon - Ancient Dragon!"
"Primordial Dragon's Breath!"
This direct attack finally landed for real on Celestia, standing on an empty field.
Celestia LP: 8500 to 5800
Celestia bit down lightly on her tan lip, struggling to keep her D-Wheel balanced under the impact.
"Finally, I set one card. Turn end!"
With that set card, Amano kept his remaining hand at exactly 5 cards.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [ATK: 5000]
He needed the Sky Dragon to hold at 5000 ATK off 5 cards in hand, since if Celestia Summoned the Winged Dragon again, its ATK would reach at least 5799, and even one card short, Amano's Life Points wouldn't survive it.
But some spectators found themselves confused: if Celestia chose not to clash head-on with the Sky Dragon and instead attacked the Ancient Dragon, wouldn't Amano's Life Points hold up even worse?
That called for a quick note on Infiltration Fusion's extra effect.
[A monster Special Summoned by this effect gains the following effect: During your turn or your opponent's turn, you can Tribute this card, targeting 1 face-up monster you control; that monster's ATK increases by 500.]
Progenitor Dragon - Ancient Dragon, Fusion Summoned by Infiltration Fusion, could Tribute itself off the field at any time to give the Sky Dragon a 500-point ATK boost.
"My turn, draw!"
Celestia - Speed Counters: 6 to 7
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 3 to 4
The Sky Dragon's lockdown power held firm. Even with a comfortable hand, Celestia couldn't Summon any lower-Level monster without it becoming yet another pointless casualty of the punishing effect.
"Well then, time to move into phase two of the war of gods!"
Celestia's mouth curved upward, a wild grin on her face as she flung a Spell Card at her D-Wheel.
"I spend 2 Speed Counters to activate the Spell Card Monster Reborn!"
Celestia - Speed Counters: 7 to 5
"I'm reviving Winged Dragon of Ra from my Graveyard in its phoenix form! Witness the Sun God's strongest form!"
Monster Reborn's holy light shone down into the Graveyard, reigniting the pillar of divine flame straight up into the sky, letting out a cry even more piercing than when it had first descended.
The Winged Dragon revived from the Graveyard, its radiant golden mechanical body now completely wrapped in raging flame, looked exactly like a phoenix reborn from fire.
[Winged Dragon of Ra] [ATK: 0]
"Immortal Phoenix!"
Celestia slammed the God Card back down onto her Duel Disk.
The instant a monster was Special Summoned, the Sky Dragon's punishing effect triggered automatically.
But the thunder that should have cut 2000 ATK detonated against the Immortal Phoenix and did absolutely nothing.
"It's no use, Amano boy! A Winged Dragon revived from the Graveyard transforms into its strongest form, the Immortal Phoenix, immune to every card effect out there! And now, paying 1000 Life Points to activate its effect:"
[This card, Special Summoned from the Graveyard, is unaffected by other cards' effects. You can activate this effect by paying 1000 Life Points: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls by card effect, ignoring their effects. This card is sent to the Graveyard at the End Phase.]
Celestia LP: 5800 to 4800
"Burn away, soul and all!"
"Sun God's effect, activate!"
"Immortal Phoenix Impact!"
The divine bird, ablaze and reborn in the sky, beat wings scorching hot enough to seem to split the heavens apart, its flame-wreathed body slamming bodily into Amano's field.
The divine bird's flames detonated across the Speed World track, sweeping up and swallowing the entire field. Even Amano's D-Wheel, still racing at full speed, was engulfed. Rolling waves of heat rolled all the way up into the stands, forcing the bloodthirsty crowd to squint against it.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, destroyed]
[Progenitor Dragon - Ancient Dragon, destroyed]
Even Progenitor Dragon - Ancient Dragon, immune to monster effects, was destroyed by the Immortal Phoenix. The anime version's Immortal Phoenix, revived from the Winged Dragon of Ra, hit harder than the real card's own phoenix-effect destruction; this was already destruction by rule, not merely by effect.
Destroying even a monster with total immunity, no wonder Celestia had sworn so confidently before the duel that a true sun would never lose to a mere black one.
If he'd rashly Summoned Wicked Avatar instead, it would have actually been countered hard by the Immortal Phoenix.
"Finally got rid of that troublesome Sky Dragon! I Normal Summon Yashi Sunahebi in Attack Position!"
[Yashi Sunahebi] [Level 4 / WATER]
[Reptile / Effect]
[ATK: 500] [DEF: 600]
A massive serpent at 500 ATK materialized, slithering at high speed along the track.
If the Sky Dragon had still been on the field, with its punishing-effect lockdown, none of the monsters in Celestia's hand could ever have been Summoned at all.
"Next, I activate the effect of Shadow Lizard in my hand!"
[Activate only when you successfully Summon a Level 4 monster. Special Summon this card from your hand.]
[Shadow Lizard] [Level 4 / DARK]
[Reptile / Special Summon / Effect]
[ATK: 1100] [DEF: 1500]
Unexpectedly, aside from her god, Celestia was actually running a Deck built around Reptile-Type monsters, an obscure choice of all things.
That actually reminded Amano of the first time he'd met Celestia, back when they'd been face-to-face up close. He'd noticed her golden eyes had oval, vertically slit pupils that really did give off a subtle, snake-like impression.
"Now I've got 2 Level 4 monsters on the field! I overlay Yashi Sunahebi and Shadow Lizard, Xyz Summon!"
Not only was she running a Reptile-Type Deck, she was Xyz Summoning off it too.
"Manifest from the overlay network! Rank 4! King of the Feral Imps!"
[King of the Feral Imps] [Rank 4 / DARK]
[Reptile / Xyz / Effect]
[ATK: 2300] [DEF: 2000]
[2 Level 4 monsters]
"I activate King of the Feral Imps's effect, detaching 1 Xyz Material to add a Reptile-Type monster to my hand! And finally, I bind my soul to the Immortal Phoenix!"
[During your Main Phase or your opponent's, you can activate this effect by paying your Life Points down to 1. This card's ATK/DEF increases by the amount paid.]
Celestia LP: 4800 to 1
[Winged Dragon of Ra] [ATK: 0 to 4799]
Divine flame wreathed her dark, sultry frame once more, and Celestia's smile grew even more vibrant.
"Yeah, this state is always the best. If my Life Points are any higher than 1, I just don't feel like myself!"
"Battle!"
"Immortal Phoenix, with its total immunity, direct attack! This ends now, Amano boy!"
The Phoenix Impact struck for a second time, its blistering heat clearly felt even by the surrounding crowd. This time, the target wasn't Amano's field, but Amano himself, standing on an empty board.
"I activate the effect of the Trap Card Revival of the Sky God from my Graveyard!"
[Banish this card from your Graveyard to activate this effect. Select 1 "Monster Reborn" from your Deck or Graveyard and place it on top of your Deck. If a Phantom Divine-Beast monster exists in your Graveyard, you can also draw 1 card from your Deck.]
"I banish this card from my Graveyard, placing Monster Reborn on top of my Deck. And since a Phantom Divine-Beast, the Sky Dragon, is asleep in my Graveyard, I get to draw 1 more card!"
With Monster Reborn placed on top of his Deck, drawing 1 more card meant that card could only ever be Monster Reborn itself.
"Drawing Monster Reborn now is already too late!"
The Phoenix's flames from Celestia's direct attack were already right on top of him.
"Not too late at all. I activate my set Trap Card, High-Speed Incantation, discarding Monster Reborn from my hand to activate its effect!"
"Revive, Slifer the Sky Dragon!"
Thunder rolled down for the third time as Slifer the Sky Dragon, revived once again from the Graveyard zone on Amano's Duel Disk, planted itself in Defense Position, standing right in front of the Immortal Phoenix.
Even after spending the Monster Reborn from that extra draw, Amano's hand still held exactly 5 cards.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon] [DEF: 5000]
5000 DEF was just enough to shut out the Immortal Phoenix's 4799 ATK.
The reason he'd only dared revive the Sky Dragon during the Battle Phase was that the Immortal Phoenix's card-destroying effect wasn't limited to once per turn.
If he'd revived it earlier during the Main Phase, Celestia could have simply paid another 1000 Life Points to blow it away. But the Phoenix's Speed 1 effect couldn't be activated during the Battle Phase.
Blocked from victory by the Sky Dragon, Celestia gritted her teeth in annoyance. "What a stubborn god!"
Facing down the fully-immune Immortal Phoenix in the sky, sweat beaded at Amano's temple. "Right back at you."
"Well then, I set one more card. Turn end!"
The instant Celestia declared her turn over, both Phantom Gods on the Speed World track, the Winged Dragon and the Sky Dragon, vanished from the field at the same time, their effects from Monster Reborn only lasting the one turn.
Thunder and divine flame both vanished at once, and the sudden quiet on the track left the crowd, still lost in the war of gods, struggling to adjust.
All that remained on the field now was Celestia's lone Xyz Monster.
"My turn, draw!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 4 to 5
Celestia - Speed Counters: 5 to 6
The war of Phantom Gods had ended in something close to mutual destruction. Getting Slifer the Sky Dragon this far against the highest-ranked Winged Dragon of Ra was already something Amano was satisfied with.
The advantage was on his side now!
No longer needing to hoard cards in hand for the Sky Dragon's ATK, it was time to go all in on speed.
"I spend 2 Speed Counters to activate the Spell Card Dragon's Mirror!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 5 to 3
"I banish Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Progenitor Dragon - Ancient Dragon from my Graveyard as Fusion Material!"
"The legendary dragon's Fusion form! Take flight, Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon!"
[Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon] [Level 8 / LIGHT]
[Dragon / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 3400] [DEF: 2900]
["Blue-Eyes White Dragon" + Dragon-Type monster]
Wings of tyranny spread wide after the Fusion Summon, their radiant light blotting out the arena's sky. Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon's ATK immediately surpassed Celestia's Xyz Monster.
"Then I activate the Equip Spell Different Dimension Reincarnation, discarding 1 card from my hand to activate it, Special Summoning Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my banished zone!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 3 to 1
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon] [ATK: 3000]
With two dragons now reigning over the field, even with Soul Barrier's protection keeping her immune to battle damage as long as she had a monster, Celestia couldn't hold back a Blue-Eyes double strike.
"Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon, attack King of the Feral Imps!"
"Ruinous Tyrant's Gale Blast!"
The tyrant's blast came down from above, detonating on Celestia's field and destroying her last remaining monster.
But the instant Celestia's monster was destroyed, a chilling, immense malice surged out from her hand.
"Amano Rei, you think the war of gods is already over? I'll hand that exact same line right back to you!"
Right now, the snake-like, vertical slit in Celestia's golden eyes stood out more distinctly than ever before.
"I never once said my Deck only had one god in it! When a card on my field is destroyed, I can Special Summon from my hand!"
"Let's bring the curtain down on this war of gods with this exact card! Divine Serpent Geh!"
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