"It's my turn! Draw!"
Jaden drew a card.
There were only two letters left for Destiny Board—meaning he only had two turns left to act.
But in this turn, because of "One Day of Peace," he couldn't inflict any damage, in any form. So in reality, he only had one actual turn left to do anything meaningful.
With that in mind, Jaden quickly glanced at his hand.
Then, a thought struck him.
No, maybe it wasn't that he couldn't do anything at all.
Even if he couldn't deal damage, that wasn't his only option. Destiny Board was a continuous trap; each turn, a continuous spell representing a letter of "DEATH" would appear from the deck.
Only when all five traps and spells were on the field would victory by effect be declared.
So perhaps…
Jaden had an idea. He resolved himself and revealed a card in his hand: "Activate Spell Card, 'Hero's Legacy'! If you have at least two Level 4 or higher 'HERO' monsters in your Graveyard, draw three cards from your deck!" (Manga effect.)
Jaden drew three cards.
"Here it comes!"
His eyes lit up as he played another card from his hand.
"Spell Card, 'E - Emergency Call'! I can add any 'Elemental HERO' from my deck to my hand!"
Jaden pulled a card from his deck.
"I add 'Elemental HERO Avian' to my hand! Then, I activate the Spell Card 'Polymerization'!"
A fusion vortex appeared. Avian's figure materialized on the field and, along with Wildheart, was enveloped in golden light and sucked into the vortex. Two rays of light intertwined; a transparent storm erupted, and feathers drifted down like snow.
"Elemental HERO Wild Wingman, Fusion Summon!"
[Elemental HERO Wild Wingman, ATK 1900]
"Wild Wingman's effect: I can discard a card to destroy any Spell or Trap on the field!"
Jaden discarded a card to the Graveyard.
"Destroy the continuous trap, 'Destiny Board'!"
"So that's your plan—to target my back row since you can't deal damage this turn," the Necromancer realized. "If Destiny Board is destroyed, all the 'Death Message' cards disappear. And if you also destroy 'Gravity Bind' next, my attack lockdown will be gone too."
If that happened, the duel would turn around instantly. The Necromancer's slow, turtle-like defensive tactics were all based on Destiny Board's countdown to victory.
Once Destiny Board was gone, he'd lose his win condition and would be in real danger if Jaden went on the offensive.
"Destiny Board and the Death Messages may result in a rules victory, but they're just spells and traps—destroy them and it all collapses. Heh, did you really think I wouldn't prepare for such an obvious weakness?"
The Necromancer laughed loudly.
"I activate my set card, Counter Trap 'Divine Wrath'!"
"Huh?" Jaden was stunned.
The trap flipped up, and a golden bolt of lightning struck Wild Wingman. In an instant, Wild Wingman was blasted to pieces.
"Divine Wrath! By discarding a card, I can negate a monster's effect and destroy it," the Necromancer boasted. "Too bad. Wild Wingman could destroy back row by discarding cards—you could have cleared my entire back row in one turn if you had enough ammo. He was the perfect hero to break this situation, and summoning him now was impressive. But this is where it ends; my dueling is just a step ahead."
His eyes narrowed as if savoring the sight of his prey's struggle.
"Struggle with all your might. The more desperate the struggle, the more beautiful defeat—and death—become. Kekeke…"
"So even Wild Wingman couldn't break through… I'll set one card face-down and end my turn," Jaden said, slightly disappointed.
"Not bad. But death's footsteps won't stop," the Necromancer said, his smile chilling.
"At the end of this turn, Destiny Board's effect continues. Come forth—the penultimate Death Message!"
Yet another ghostly spirit appeared, carrying a new letter.
The letter T.
Now, "DEAT" had assembled on the field—just one letter, "H," remained. When Jaden's next turn ended, the final letter would appear, and everything would truly be over.
"Eh?"
Jaden suddenly noticed something odd.
"Wait a second… Destiny Board and three Death Messages occupy four Spell/Trap zones. And you still have 'Gravity Bind' and a set card back there…"
Everyone knows there are only five Spell/Trap zones. The Necromancer's back row should already be full. This was another weakness of the Destiny Board system: to assemble all five Death Messages, you had to fill your whole back row, which could clog your own field.
"Heh, only now do you notice? Normally, yes. But for us, the chosen ones, this duel is beyond the bounds of common sense."
The Necromancer raised his voice.
"'Seal of Orichalcos' has another effect—the controller can use their Monster and Spell/Trap zones interchangeably! I can summon monsters in Spell/Trap zones, and activate spells and traps in Monster zones!"
"Ooh, so that's what it does," Jaden said, surprised. "Wow, that's awesome! You could summon ten monsters, or set ten spells and traps that way."
"Feel the pain, struggle, and then despair! Be consumed by power! Hahahaha—!"
The Necromancer laughed loudly.
"And now, it's my turn. Draw!"
The Necromancer drew, then smirked.
"First, I activate my set card: Continuous Trap—Safe Zone! This card can only be equipped to an Attack Position monster, so I equip it to my 'Marshmallon' in Attack Position!"
A golden barrier shielded Marshmallon.
"While protected by Safe Zone, this monster cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, and it cannot be targeted by card effects!"
"Can't be destroyed or targeted by any effect, huh," Jaden said. "That's as solid as a wall—impressive."
"Exactly. Now, I switch Marshmallon to Defense Position. It's now my ultimate shield," the Necromancer sneered. "It can't be targeted or destroyed. To defeat me, you must first break through this absolute defense."
He glanced at his hand.
"Well, even though I'm pretty much invincible now, I'll play it safe."
He set another card and ended his turn.