"Come forth!"
"The dragon that dwells in the heart of the Evil Knight!"
"[Serpent Night Dragon]!"
A shadowy, semi-ethereal black dragon descended.
[Serpent Night Dragon] Level 7│DARK│Dragon│2350 ATK
The crowd erupted in cheers at the monster's appearance.
"Big bro's ace card is here!"
"This is in the bag!"
Kai covered his face. He hadn't expected a vanilla beater to come with a summoning chant.
Then again, Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes had them too… never mind.
The skeleton's tone remained unchanged despite his plan falling through.
"[Wightprince] has more than one unique ability."
"I activate its other effect."
[When this card is sent to the Graveyard: send 1 [Skull Servant] and 1 [The Lady in Wight] from your hand and/or Deck to the Graveyard.]
"I send [Skull Servant] from my hand and [The Lady in Wight] from my Deck to the Graveyard."
Kai narrowed his eyes. He knew a bit about the Wight archetype. Though it didn't have flashy combos, it had serious OTK potential. One well-placed graveyard dump and bam—8000 gone.
"I Normal Summon [Bazoo the Soul-Eater] from my hand."
A hulking purple-furred baboon appeared.
[Bazoo the Soul-Eater] Level 4│EARTH│Beast│1600 ATK
Kai let out a breath of relief. It wasn't that card. If it had been, it could've easily hit 4000 ATK—[Serpent Night Dragon]'s 2350 wouldn't have stood a chance.
Still, this one might be enough to take it down.
"Next, I equip [Beast Fangs], an Equip Spell, boosting [Bazoo the Soul-Eater]'s ATK by 300."
[Bazoo the Soul-Eater, ATK: 1600 → 1900]
Even so, it still wasn't enough. The tall man stayed confident.
"Then I activate [Bazoo the Soul-Eater]'s effect."
"Once per turn: I can banish up to 3 monsters from my Graveyard. For each one, this card gains 300 ATK."
"I banish [Wightprince], and two copies of [Skull Servant]."
[Bazoo the Soul-Eater, ATK: 1900 → 2800]
The purple-furred beast grew massive.
"What?!"
The tall man panicked. '2800 ATK?!'
That was nearly on par with the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
The skeleton gave no response and simply ordered:
"[Bazoo the Soul-Eater], attack [Serpent Night Dragon]!"
The towering baboon leaped high, slamming its fist into the dark dragon, shattering it.
[The tall man, LP: 8000 → 7550]
It was over.
The tall man's expression turned grim with despair.
It wasn't just about the lost Life Points. His ace was gone. And his Deck had nothing capable of beating a 2800 ATK monster.
"Don't worry, that effect only lasts one turn!"
The group turned toward Kai.
"You know that monster's effect?"
"Yeah. I've seen it before."
Marina looked surprised. She hadn't expected Kai to know the effect of such an obscure card. Even as a top student, she didn't know it well.
"I end my turn."
The grating sound returned as [Bazoo the Soul-Eater]'s ATK fell back to 1900.
"Whew~"
The tall man took a deep breath, steadying himself. 1900 ATK… that was within his range.
But now he had no monsters in hand. Everything rested on his draw!
"My turn. Draw!"
'Yes!'
He clenched his fist and slammed the drawn card into the Duel Disk.
"I activate the Equip Spell [Premature Burial]!"
"I pay 800 LP to Special Summon [Serpent Night Dragon] from my Graveyard!"
[The tall man, LP: 7550 → 6750]
"Then I activate the Spell Card [Riryoku]!"
"Target 2 face-up monsters. Until the End Phase, one of them halves its ATK, and the other gains that same amount."
"I halve your [Bazoo the Soul-Eater]'s ATK and add it to [Serpent Night Dragon]!"
[Bazoo the Soul-Eater, ATK: 1900 → 950]
[Serpent Night Dragon, ATK: 2350 → 3300]
"Battle!"
"[Serpent Night Dragon], attack [Bazoo the Soul-Eater]!"
The shadowy dragon lunged and tore through the purple beast—crushing the skeleton behind it as well.
[Victory!]
The barrier surrounding the field slowly faded. Three cards floated up from where the skeleton had stood. The tall man picked them up and handed them to Marina.
She waved him off.
"They're your spoils. Keep them."
Without any further words, he pocketed them, then turned to Kai with a word of thanks.
"You beat him yourself. I didn't do anything."
"No, it's not the same."
The tall man clapped Kai on the shoulder seriously. The others looked at Kai with respect, leaving him baffled.
"Let's keep moving."
Marina gave the command.
With her in the lead, the group moved swiftly toward the center. Along the way, they encountered eight or nine minor enemies.
But Marina didn't bother wasting time. One move, one kill.
Only then did Kai realize she was using a Blue-Eyes deck. However, the enemies were so weak that he couldn't tell which era of Blue-Eyes it was.
He subtly asked her a few things about [Primite Drillbeam], but she shook her head—unfamiliar.
Which confirmed it for Kai—not from the Original Stone Blue-Eyes era. Thank goodness.
During their march, Kai also learned why the tall man thanked him.
Apparently, the card you draw is linked to your spirit. If you believe in your Deck, it will respond.
The tall man had indeed been in despair, but Kai's words helped him regain hope, and he drew exactly what he needed.
When the noble Blue-Eyes incinerated another skeleton with its white ray, a mechanical voice rang out overhead:
[Objective Complete!]
[Hidden Trial Unlocked!]
All the surrounding bones fused into a massive cage, trapping the group inside.
Marina narrowed her eyes.
Her true target had finally appeared!
...
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