"This turn, I'll defeat the Sacred Beast!"
Tragoedia drew a card from his hand.
"First, this card.
Continuous Spell — 'Ebon Sun'!"
A spell card appeared in his back row. A surge of dark energy gathered, forming a sun-like shape above him, but it burned with hellish black flames.
"As long as Ebon Sun is on the field, whenever one of my monsters is destroyed, I recover life points equal to that monster's attack."
Tragoedia spoke coldly, then played another card with a sweeping motion.
"Quick-Play Spell — 'Gravity Lash'!
Choose a face-up monster on the field. That monster's attack decreases by its defense until the end of the turn!"
He pointed to the huge monster on Kira's field.
"Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder's attack decreases by its own defense!"
It was as if a thousand-fold gravity pressed upon Hamon. An invisible mountain weighed down his back; Hamon's feet cracked the ground, almost unable to stand.
"Hamon's attack and defense are both 4000," Kira said calmly.
[Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, ATK 4000 → ATK 0]
"As expected, spells still work on Sacred Beasts," Tragoedia snorted.
He didn't understand the Sacred Beasts, but he knew a bit about the Divine Beasts. Even gods could be affected by spells for one turn.
His deduction was correct, but Sacred Beasts are actually immune to spells from previous turns, which is different from the Divine Beasts.
"Battle! Endless Decay, destroy the Sacred Beast!"
The mummy lunged forward, its bandaged fists about to strike. But before it could swing, a wave of gravity pushed back, forcing it to its knees, unable to move.
"What?" Tragoedia was shocked.
"Continuous Trap — 'Gravity Bind'," Kira indicated the face-up card, "All monsters of Level 4 or higher cannot attack.
Endless Decay is Level 5, so its attack is sealed."
Tragoedia's pupils shrank.
Gravity Bind, Level 4 or higher monsters...
Right. Sacred Beasts are Level 4+, but immune to traps, so this card forms a one-sided attack lock.
Thinking of this, his expression darkened further.
As expected of the tactics this guy would think of.
Even after suppressing the Sacred Beast's power, he could not attack. Tragoedia was frustrated, letting out a snort.
"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Treasures of the Dead'," Tragoedia said. "For each Spell or Trap in my graveyard, I gain 500 LP." (Manga Card)
A few cards from his graveyard appeared above his field.
"I have five Spells and Traps in my graveyard, so I recover 2500 LP."
[Tragoedia, LP 1000 → LP 3500]
"I set two cards and end my turn."
"Another two sets in the back row..." Chazz couldn't help but comment.
And in the first turn, he also just set two back row cards and ended.
Jaden understood what he meant: "Yeah, this guy might actually be the same type of duelist as Kira."
"End Phase, the Sacred Beast's power returns to normal," Kira said.
Gravity Lash only lasted one turn. The gravity faded, Hamon looked up and let out a thunderous roar, lightning gathering around him, crackling across his skeletal frame.
He's back in action.
"My turn, draw."
Kira glanced at the card he drew.
"Spell Card: 'Terraforming'. Add a Field Spell from deck to hand.
I add this card—"
He pulled out the automatically searched card from his deck.
"Field Spell 'Fallen Paradise' to my hand."
He placed it in the duel disk's extra field slot.
"Field Spell, Fallen Paradise, activate."
The scenery changed to a dark wasteland. Lord of Striking Thunder stood tall, letting out a roar, its presence even more formidable.
"Fallen Paradise is the exclusive field for Sacred Beasts," Kira said. "If you control a Sacred Beast, once per turn you can draw two cards from your deck."
A powerful field effect, and the printed card is even stronger: not only can you draw two each turn, but your three Sacred Beasts can't be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's effects.
Many people long believed the anime effect was to search any two cards from the deck, based on the original line, "Once per turn, add two cards from the deck to your hand."
But later, we never saw Kagemaru actually search; each time it looked like he was just drawing cards. So it's likely just an inconsistent description in the anime, and it really means "draw two cards".
Similarly, when Misawa summoned "Mathematician" in the anime, he said, "When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, add one card from your deck to your hand."
But when Mathematician was destroyed, Misawa simply drew a card and shouted "Draw!" So Fallen Paradise's case is probably similar: "add two cards" means draw.
Besides, if Kagemaru really could search any two cards each turn, it wouldn't make sense that he still lost to Jaden. Even the Philosopher's Stone can only search three, and he could search two every turn—if he fetched a few Typhoons, Jaden would've lost instantly. It doesn't fit with how the duel played out.
"With Lord of Striking Thunder on my field, I draw two cards."
Kira drew two cards.
"Then I Normal Summon Phantom Skyblaster."
[Phantom Skyblaster, ATK 1100]
Another low-level monster used by Yubel in the anime.
"Phantom Skyblaster's effect: when this card is summoned, you can Special Summon 'Brigadier Token' equal to the number of monsters you control."
"The number of monsters on the field."
Tragoedia frowned, looking at Hamon and Phantom Skyblaster on Kira's field.
"You have two monsters."
"Correct, so I Special Summon two Brigadier Token."
[Gunslinger Token, DEF 0]x2
"Three monsters summoned at once!" Jaden praised.
Tragoedia sneered, "Hmph, no matter how many weaklings you summon—"
But before he could finish, Kira smiled faintly.
"Then, I tribute the two Brigadier Token and Phantom Skyblaster!"
Tragoedia: "!"
A monster that requires three tributes?
Even Level 6 and up monsters only need two tributes; even Level 10 or 12 by the rules. Unless, like the gods, the card specifically says "requires three tributes to be summoned".
"This card cannot be Normal Summoned—only by tributing three monsters can it be Special Summoned."
Kira raised the card high.
"I now summon the Third Sacred Beast—
—Raviel, Lord of Phantasms!!!"