"Mr. Kira!"
Sarina couldn't help looking at Kira with worry.
Her big brother was no longer her brother at all—he'd become the persona of Light of Destruction—and even she didn't know how strong he truly was now. But she still hadn't expected him to open with a summon lock right off the bat.
And as far as she knew, the current Sartorius did indeed have some degree of power to manipulate destiny—or to be more precise, to control the head/tail positions of all cards related to the "Arcana Force."
Arcana Force wasn't originally Sartorius's exclusive deck, since before the advent of Light of Destruction, Sartorius's original self had used Arcana Force too. It's a deck readily available on the market, not particularly rare.
It's just that the Arcana Force Sartorius uses now is different. Those are cards infused with his special energy, and they've even given rise to some exclusive cards that don't exist externally yet—just like how each protagonist in Yu-Gi-Oh ends up "printing cards."
For example, the final ace of the Light of Destruction persona, the Arcana Force EX - The Light Ruler—just one look and you can tell it's his exclusive Arcana, the embodiment of Light of Destruction's power, essentially a hot-off-the-press card.
So Sartorius's control over Arcana Force head/tail positions isn't just because his "fate power" is strong; it's his special ability. As long as he's using this deck infused with his power, he can manipulate head/tail results even against opponents whose destiny power far exceeds his own.
"Opening with a summon lock—really knows how to make it tough," Kira shrugged.
Granted, "Tour of Doom" has to re-spin every turn, and in theory if it lands tail, it would backfire and make it so Sartorius's side can't perform any kind of summon for a whole turn.
So at first glance the card's suppression seems over-tuned, but in fact it's balanced. It's a double-edged sword—who it stabs is completely random.
But with Sartorius's cheat-like fate manipulation, it becomes broken. He can fix it to head every turn, which means Kira can never summon monsters.
"However, this card only says you can't perform any form of monster summoning—it doesn't say you can't set monsters face-down."
Kira said as he drew a card from his hand.
"Then I'll set a monster in face-down Defense Position."
He drew another card and slid it into the rear slot of his Duel Disk.
"I'll also set a card to my back row. Turn end."
Sartorius chuckled lightly.
"Worthy of the Duel King. Even faced with such a card, you don't panic in the slightest, and immediately spot the only 'flaw' in Tour of Doom—not that it even counts as a flaw.
All you can do is set monsters to shore up your defenses, just like how most people in the world know that the end of fate is death, yet can only watch helplessly as that unstoppable destiny draws closer step by step.
My turn—draw!"
Sartorius's arm swept wide in an exaggerated card draw.
"I'll Normal Summon Arcana Force IV - The Emperor!"
Another black Arcana Force, like a mechanical construct, brandishing golden tendrils with imperial majesty.
[Arcana Force IV - The Emperor, ATK 1400]
"As with all Arcana Forces, the Emperor rotates on summon to determine head or tail."
Sartorius paused, then burst out laughing.
"Of course, 'random' only applies to those who cannot see the course of destiny. To me, fate is only inevitability! STOP!"
The Emperor's rotation stopped—head again.
"Head effect: All face-up 'Arcana Force' monsters you control gain 500 ATK!"
[Arcana Force IV - The Emperor, ATK 1400 → 1900]
[Arcana Force VII - The Chariot, ATK 1700 → 2200]
"Also, allow me to reveal the hidden head effect of The Chariot!"
Sartorius swept a grand arm.
"Arcana Force VII - The Chariot, attack! Crush the ignorant who would pit mantis arms against a chariot beneath the wheels of fate!"
The Chariot's tendrils rose, twin cannons firing in unison. The shellfire blasted Kira's face-down monster to pieces.
The monster flipped—it was a resplendently dressed creature in golden garb, a cloak of gold like wings behind it, crouching with crossed arms to guard Kira.
"The Chariot's effect: When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can Special Summon that monster to your side of the field!"
Sartorius laughed loudly again.
"Your monster is coming with me!"
In just two turns, Sarina's heart had already sunk halfway to ice.
With all forms of summoning completely sealed, all Kira could do was set monsters. And now even his set monsters were being stolen. As expected, her elder brother empowered by the force of cosmic destruction was terrifyingly strong.
She hadn't realized Sartorius had become this powerful—not just strong, but with a battle style eerily similar to the Duel King.
Self-lock.
Opening with a total lock plus NTR—if you told her this was Kira's signature tactic, she'd believe it.
Faced with this, even a King—could he really break through?
Sartorius continued gloating: "I said it already—in the face of the colossal beast called fate, so-called kings are at best bigger ants. Surrender while you can. If you give up, you can receive the baptism of the Light."
"Don't rush. The duel's only just begun. More importantly..."
Kira smiled.
"Aren't you going to check what prize you just stole from my field?"
Sartorius: "?"
He'd been too busy gloating and taunting, and only now paid attention to the monster he'd just stolen.
[Ra's Disciple, ATK 1100]
Sartorius: "!"
Ra? Could it be that one!?
He immediately thought of the legend of the Duel King summoning The Winged Dragon of Ra during Battle City, and looking at the "Ra's Disciple," he indeed felt the monster's attire was a bit like cosplay of Ra.
A card connected to the Egyptian Gods?
For a moment, Sartorius's boundless confidence wavered.
But he quickly steadied himself. "A messenger of the gods, is it? Whatever its power, it's mine now."
"Yeah, yeah, it's yours," Kira said cheerfully. "Since you stole the monster, aren't you going to read its effect?"
He didn't need to say it—Sartorius was going to do that anyway. But Kira's tone made him uneasy.
Sartorius picked up the monster card now in his Duel Disk and skimmed quickly.
Let me see what it does.
"When this card is Normal, Flip, or Special Summoned: You can Special Summon up to 2 'Ra's Disciple' from your hand and/or Deck."
I see. Since the Gods require three tributes to Summon, it lets you bring out three bodies at once. Strong effect.
He read the next line.
"As long as this card remains on the field, you cannot Special Summon monsters."
Sartorius: "?"