The moment Kira placed the monster card on the duel disk, the pitch-black night sky seemed to flicker.
The rolling clouds were as if stirred by an invisible hand, brewing an unprecedented storm. Thunder rumbled, at first like the distant echo of ancient war drums, then quickly gathering into an irresistible force, booming across the land.
It was as if chaos and order interwove, splitting the sky with a dazzling silver crack. From within, something descended—not ordinary lightning, but a physical embodiment of pure thunder.
A golden body formed from lightning itself, armored like skeletal remains over a massive demon. Its eyes burned like twin thunder-fires, surrounded by countless crackling sparks, making sharp, sizzling sounds.
One of the Three Sacred Beasts—Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder—was summoned!!!
[Hamon, ATK 4000]
"The Sacred Beast Hamon!?"
Even Tragoedia couldn't help but twitch.
"You… you actually summoned a Sacred Beast on your first turn!?"
Jaden and Chazz stared up at the mighty monster, feeling its overwhelming pressure.
"So this is a Sacred Beast…" Jaden murmured.
"What a presence… No wonder so many people want these cards," Chazz was dazed.
Truly a terrifying monster beyond ordinary understanding.
The Triangle Force spell Kira just used had no other effect but to bring out more copies, seemingly just taking up spell/trap zones. But if used for Hamon's summoning cost, it allowed for a one-card direct summon.
This was the same card Yubel used in the anime to summon Hamon, a perfect match.
"Battle Phase, then."
Kira smiled.
"Alright, let's see if your back row can really stop a Sacred Beast's attack.
Go, Hamon—Direct Attack!
Blitz of Despair!"
Hamon spread its wings.
As if guided by the heavens, the earth trembled with thunder. Lightning shot from Hamon's eyes, its killing intent forming a solid bolt that pierced the clouds.
The clouds surged, gathering into a massive storm vortex! In its center, lightning raged like an angry dragon, each collision sparking blinding light and deafening thunder, as if shaking the heavens!
"Activate Trap!"
Naturally, Tragoedia had defenses.
"Trap Card 'Blazing Mirror Force'! When your opponent declares an attack, destroy all your opponent's Attack Position monsters and inflict half their combined original ATK as damage to yourself.
Then, inflict the same amount of damage to your opponent!"
A shield of fire formed before him, ready to explode. The most aggressive shield—meant to burn both sides.
By this effect, Hamon would self-destruct and both sides would take 2000 damage (half Hamon's ATK).
Of course, that wasn't enough.
"Muda," Kira said calmly. "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, is unaffected by Trap Cards."
The Three Sacred Beasts are immune to Trap effects and only accept Spell effects activated in the current turn.
The Sacred Beasts had only appeared once in the real world so far, when Kira fought Kagemaru. Tragoedia had never seen them and didn't know about their immunity, so he was shocked.
Sacred Beasts… Do they really have the same immunity as the Gods!?
Actually, their immunity is weaker than the Egyptian Gods, but outsiders didn't know.
"Nice!" Chazz cheered, "If traps don't work, this attack is enough to finish him off!"
He was amazed by the Sacred Beast's power. With just one, they could so easily defeat such an opponent…
But, of course, it wouldn't be so simple.
"Quick-Play Spell 'Emergency Provisions'!" Tragoedia said coldly. "Send Spells/Traps from your field to the Graveyard and gain 1000 LP for each.
I send the activated 'Blazing Mirror Force' to the Graveyard to gain 1000 LP!"
Hamon's thunder struck down.
The impact of the Shadow Game, mixed with Hamon's divine power, made Principal Mackenzie's body shudder, black mist blasting from within, briefly forming a twisted face that let out a silent scream before being sucked back in.
[Tragoedia, LP 4000 → 5000 → 1000]
"Blocked it, huh." Kira nodded, "Then I set a card and end my turn."
Tragoedia's face was dark, black smoke rising from his body.
"Starting off with a Sacred Beast… I underestimated you."
He stood up, icy cold.
"But that won't happen again!
My turn, draw!"
He immediately played the card he drew.
"Spell Card 'Graceful Charity.' Draw three, discard two."
He drew two, then discarded two. One card glowed gold as it appeared on the field.
"Spell Card 'Card of Compensation'—when sent to the Graveyard, draw two cards."
Drawing two more, he selected another card from his hand.
"I Special Summon this one—
Endless Decay!"
On Tragoedia's field appeared a terrifying mummy wrapped in white bandages, fists unusually large like sledgehammers.
[Endless Decay, ATK ?]
"Special Summon?" Chazz muttered.
"When my LP is below 1000, I can Special Summon Endless Decay from my hand. Its ATK becomes 100 less than my opponent's LP."
This was a monster Tragoedia used in the manga. When made into a real card, its effect was adjusted for the actual card game.
The real card's effect: When your LP is below 2000, you can Special Summon it; its ATK becomes half your opponent's LP.
Since real-life duels have 8000 LP, the original effect would be overpowered.
[Endless Decay, ATK 3900]
"So easily summoning a monster with such high ATK…" Chazz muttered.
Jaden: "But it's still weaker than the Sacred Beast."
Tragoedia just snorted.
"Is it really? Good—this turn, I'll take down your Sacred Beast!"