"Armageddon Knight, Summon!"
A red-masked swordsman in armor appeared on his field, twirling his sword skillfully as he landed.
[Armageddon Knight, ATK 1400]
"Armageddon Knight's effect: when summoned, I can send any DARK monster from my deck to the Graveyard!"
Dark Atticus reached for his deck.
It's a direct, powerful effect—an enduring staple in DARK decks. And the Red-Eyes family is all DARK, a perfect fit.
But—
"Hold it."
Kira interrupted Dark Atticus's search, calmly flipping a set card and pointing at his backrow.
"I activate the Continuous Trap 'Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror.' As long as it's face-up, all effects of DARK monsters activated on the field or in the Graveyard are negated."
Dark Atticus froze, then looked up at Kira's trap.
A huge magic mirror appeared, reflecting the knight's image. Dark energy was sucked from the knight into the mirror, sapping his strength. Armageddon Knight dropped to one knee, powerless.
Dark Atticus: "..."
—Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror is basically the DARK version of 'Light-Imprisoning Mirror.' Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Dragon are the light and dark dragon icons. If Light-Imprisoning Mirror means "White Dragon must die," then this one is "Black Dragon must die."
His search action stalled. He looked at his now-useless knight, then at his all-DARK deck.
His mouth twitched.
He felt like this duel was unwinnable.
"What's wrong?" Kira squinted. "Surely the mighty Mr. Nightshroud can handle a single trap card?"
Surely your whole deck isn't dead to just one card, is it?
Dark Atticus gritted his teeth. "Battle. 'Armageddon Knight' attacks 'Gravekeeper's Guard'!"
Though its effect was negated, the knight's stats remained. The guard tried to block, but the knight nimbly pierced his throat.
[Kira, LP: 4000 → 3600]
"End turn," Dark Atticus said gruffly.
"My turn, draw."
Kira swept his hand.
"I activate both set 'Good Goblin Housekeeping' Traps. Each lets me draw cards from my deck equal to the number of 'Good Goblin Housekeeping' in my grave plus one, then return a card from my hand to the bottom of the deck."
"You've got no Good Goblin Housekeeping in your grave," Atticus said.
"True, so I activate Quick-Play Spell 'Emergency Provisions' from my hand," Kira replied. "I send both face-up Good Goblin Housekeeping to the grave, gaining 2000 LP."
Now, with both traps in the grave, he could draw six cards in total, and return two to the bottom of his deck.
[Kira, LP: 3600 → 5600]
With his LP replenished, Kira drew cards and returned two.
"Next, I activate the Continuous Trap 'Call of the Haunted'!" Kira said. "Revive a monster from my grave in attack position. I revive 'Guardian Sphinx'!"
[Guardian Sphinx, ATK 1700]
"Sphinx attacks 'Armageddon Knight'!"
The knight was destroyed, Dark Atticus's black coat billowing in the wind.
[Dark Atticus, LP: 3000 → 2700]
"In Main Phase 2, I use Guardian Sphinx's effect to set it face-down."
The Sphinx hid again.
"And I set another monster. Turn end."
Dark Atticus bit his lip.
The confidence he'd had at the start was gone; now he faced an unprecedentedly tough situation.
The annoying Sphinx could reset itself every turn, and on flip, could bounce all his monsters. Even if he tried to break through, the opponent's backrow still included that cursed mirror...
He was running out of options.
"Not drawing, Mr. Nightshroud?" Kira smiled. "Or, if you want to surrender now, it's not too late. I hate to see people suffer, I'm really quite reasonable."
Dark Atticus realized Kira was now using his own earlier taunts against him.
"Don't get cocky."
Dark Atticus clenched his teeth.
Are you kidding?
He was Nightshroud, destined to engulf the world in darkness—when had he ever suffered such humiliation?
"My turn, draw!" Dark Atticus declared. "I activate the Spell 'Spell Books from the Pot': both players draw three cards!" (Manga card)
He quickly drew, then paused on a certain card.
There were still ways to bypass the effect of the mirror and attack.
"First, I activate my set Trap 'Sixth Sense'!" Dark Atticus announced. "I call 5 and 6, then my opponent rolls a die. If it lands on either, I draw that many cards. If not, I send that many cards from the top of my deck to the grave."
"Rolling dice, huh?" Kira said.
But it seemed Atticus inherited Joey's ace monster and looks, but not his luck—the die landed on 3.
Unfazed, Atticus sent three cards to the grave.
Then he flipped another set card.
"I activate the Trap 'Red-Eyes Spirit'! I Special Summon a 'Red-Eyes' monster from my grave. Revive, my soul, my flesh—Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Lava formed into a soaring fire dragon, which landed in a blaze of transparent flames, taking the form of the black dragon king.
Red-Eyes Black Dragon, revived!
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon, ATK 2400]
"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Inferno Fire Blast'!" Dark Atticus shouted. "If I control 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon,' I inflict damage to you equal to its original ATK!"