"NANDATO (what did you say)?!"
The pharaoh's face changed. Looking again at the android, he couldn't help but suck in a breath.
A monster that completely seals Traps?
He seemed to realize at once how serious this was.
It wasn't just a matter of locking his Mirror Force. His Continuous Trap "The First Sarcophagus" couldn't activate either—meaning the Second and Third couldn't hit the field, and there'd be no summoning his ace, "Spirit of the Pharaoh."
His three-thousand-year, three-axe combo—this might be the first time in the so-called God of Dueling's life that before the fight even began, his Spirit of the Pharaoh was nailed under the coffin lid, sentenced to death before it could appear.
"Jinzo continues its attack," Kira said. "Psychic wave."
Maybe because it so rarely gets the spotlight, Jinzo finally got to puff its chest out. It thrust a palm; the telekinetic blast wrapped in lightning ripped into the set monster.
The raging wave flipped the card: a two-winged angel with a halo, arms crossed defensively before it.
"The destroyed monster is 'Shining Angel,'" the pharaoh said gravely. "When Shining Angel is destroyed by battle, Special Summon from the Deck a LIGHT monster with 1500 or less ATK in Attack Position.
I Special Summon a second Shining Angel!"
[Shining Angel, ATK 1400]
"A floater," Kira nodded.
"I activate the Equip Spell 'Amplifier,' equipping it to 'Jinzo.' While this card is equipped, my own Trap restriction is lifted—Jinzo's Trap lock applies only to you."
The pharaoh: "…"
Kira slowly fanned out three more cards.
"Then I set three. Turn end."
Staring at Jinzo's domineering, Trap-suppressing field, the pharaoh brooded.
The gall—locking down my Traps.
But once the Traps were sealed, his three-axe routine was dead. Under the golden mask, the God of Dueling's eyes grew heavy; facing Jinzo, he felt he'd never encountered such danger.
If this draw didn't open things up, he might actually get crushed under a single card. For a man dubbed the God of Dueling, that'd be a joke of a death.
"My turn. Draw!"
He drew—and a sharp light flashed in his eyes.
There it is.
"I activate the Spell Card 'Tribute to the Doomed,'" the pharaoh declared. "Discard 1 card; destroy 1 monster on the field!
Vanish—Jinzo!"
He pitched a card; spectral bindings shot from the Spell, wrapping Jinzo head to toe, mummifying it—then boom, it burst apart.
Jinzo: "…"
Couldn't escape being cannon fodder after all.
As the dejected Jinzo faded out, his buddy Caius drifted up behind, needling him: "Yo, back so soon?"
Jinzo: "Urusai~!."
"With that, the Trap lock is gone!" the pharaoh clenched a fist. "That monster gave me some trouble—I will commend you for that—but if you think that alone can halt my duel, you are naïve!
I activate the Continuous Trap 'The First Sarcophagus'—"
Then he felt the hitch.
The First Sarcophagus still didn't activate.
"Why?!"
He stared at his field.
The Trap-sealing Jinzo was definitely gone—so why can't I—hm?
He noticed faint, transparent phantasms hovering over his two set cards—like pot lids sealing them shut, pinning them in place so they couldn't move.
"Oh—chaining to Pharaoh's 'Tribute to the Doomed,' I activated this," Kira said, pointing at his back row. "The Continuous Trap 'Xing Zhen Hu.'
While it remains on the field, I select two face-down Spell/Trap cards on the field; those two cannot be activated."
The pharaoh: "…"
So, having just wriggled free of Jinzo's seal, the First Sarcophagus was sealed again by this jar.
From one lock to another—seamless handoff.
"You," the pharaoh said coldly, "refuse to fight me head-on, and instead seal my coffins?"
"Rather than fight your ace head-on, it's more efficient to make sure you never summon it," Kira said earnestly. "That's modern dueling. Times have changed, sir."
Tania was silent.
I don't duel that much, but don't lie to me—modern dueling is really like this?
Hustling a three-thousand-year-old, are we?
But the pharaoh actually sank into thought.
"So this is what dueling has become," he murmured.
"Yep," Kira nodded briskly.
Dueling has always been like this.
"I see… then it seems my understanding is outdated. But if you think this is enough to bind me, you underestimate me."
He spoke evenly.
"I Normal Summon 'Qardan the Clear-Sighted.'"
[Qardan the Clear-Sighted, ATK 1400]
"Qardan the Clear-Sighted—effect activates. When this card is Normal Summoned, set 1 Continuous Trap from your hand or your GY to your field."
Kira guessed it quickly: "You discarded a card for 'Tribute to the Doomed'…"
"Correct," said the pharaoh. "What I discarded was my second 'The First Sarcophagus'!
Therefore, I set another 'The First Sarcophagus' from my GY!"
He swept his arm; a Trap slid from the GY and set itself.
"And a Trap set by this effect can be activated the turn it's set," the pharaoh declared. "Activate!
Continuous Trap—The First Sarcophagus!"
An opulent golden coffin slowly rose from the ground in his back row.
Thwarted and sealed and thwarted again—yet he still forced the coffin open. Whatever his overall strength, at least his devotion to that coffin lid was palpable.
Frankly, in all his life, Abidos the Third had never found opening his coffin so satisfying—it had never been this hard.
He even felt his spine straighten a little.
"And your field is empty," the pharaoh said. "Shining Angel, Qardan the Clear-Sighted—direct attacks!"
Per his command, the angel went first, wings beating as it dove straight for Kira—
"As expected of the God of Dueling—to pull off a coffin activation through all that and even swing in. Strong. Taking both hits wouldn't be great."
Kira was unruffled.
"I activate the Trap 'Quaking Mirror Force.'
When an opponent's monster declares an attack: change all monsters your opponent controls to face-down Defense Position. Monsters changed to face-down by this effect cannot change their battle position."
The pharaoh's pupils tightened again.
What did you just say?!
PS: Bonus chapters at 1000 PS