Sartorius narrowed his eyes.
The Chaos Core—who would've thought it would cough up a monster related to the Sacred Beasts? And judging from its effect, this monster was indeed a pretty powerful shield.
After sending three Sacred Beasts to the Graveyard, it can have up to three destructions negated, and all battle damage becomes 0. Its protection applies to both battle and effect destruction—definitely not easy to break through.
But that's fine. He had more than enough attack counts on his side—and not to mention the World's turn-skip trump card. That was more than enough to strip all three destruction shields and finish the kill in the same breath.
Thinking of that, the corner of his mouth curled up again.
"It's just delaying the inevitable," Sartorius barked. "Arcana Force XV - The Fiend, attack 'Chaos Core' again!"
He paused, then added:
"The Fiend's effect—upon declaring an attack, destroy one monster on the field! Destroy 'Chaos Core'!"
The Fiend's effect would cancel one destruction shield. The Fiend's attack would knock off another. That way all three of Chaos Core's extra lives would be spent.
Then he'd activate The World's time leap, jump to his next turn, all monsters would have their attack counts reset, he'd launch a full assault and win.
The more Sartorius thought, the more excited he became, his grin stretching wider.
But before he could put any of it into action—
"Activate set card," Kira snapped his fingers. "Trap Card: 'Malevolent Catastrophe.' Activate when the opponent declares an attack; destroy all monsters on the field." (Anime effect)
Sartorius: "!"
Another trap?
"Of course. Chaos Core's effect—remove a Sacred Beast Counter to prevent that destruction," Kira said coolly. "So the only thing leaving the field is your Arcana Force."
As if the power of an evil god erupted, a vortex of destruction swallowed the entire field. The World, The Light Ruler, and The Fiend on Sartorius's field were all shredded to bits in that maelstrom, vanishing without a trace.
Only The Fool—that firmest Fool—stood unaffected amidst the vortex, untouched by any effects from the opponent's cards.
"Ahhhhh I'll kill you!"
Sartorius—or rather, the Light of Destruction—continued rampaging.
"Feel free to try," Kira only chuckled.
Sartorius calmed himself, scowling as he continued: "Ugh… Then I activate the Equip Spell 'Reverse Reborn,' which can revive an Arcana Force monster from the Graveyard. But the revived monster only gains the Tails effect." (Anime card)
"Tails, huh," Kira said. "Not many options then."
Most Arcana Force cards have drawbacks on their Tails sides.
But there are exceptions.
"Revive, incarnation of fate, the ultimate Arcana—
—Arcana Force EX - The Light Ruler!"
[Arcana Force EX - The Light Ruler, ATK 4000]
The card overhead spun and landed on Tails.
"The Light Ruler's Tails effect: when a monster effect, Spell, or Trap that targets this card is activated, negate and destroy it. But each time an effect is negated, this card's ATK decreases by 1000."
Sarina: "It gains effect resistance by losing ATK—whether Heads or Tails, it's still positive. Is this the power of the ultimate Arcana of an evil persona…"
Kira: "My turn, draw."
He also retrieved a card that had left the Graveyard.
"During the Standby Phase, the effect of 'Treeborn Frog' in the Graveyard activates again. I have no Spells/Traps in my back row, so Special Summon 'Treeborn Frog.'"
[Treeborn Frog, DEF 100]
"Next, I activate the Spell Card 'Cost Down.' Discard a card; this turn, all monsters in my hand have their Levels reduced by 2."
Kira discarded a card to the Graveyard.
"But the card I discarded was the Spell 'Card of Compensation.' When this card is sent from the hand to the Graveyard, draw two cards from the Deck."
"Then I activate the Spell 'Card of Burial Magic,' banish three Spells from my Graveyard; draw two cards from the Deck."
Kira then placed a monster.
"The original Level 5 'Dark Summoning Beast' becomes Level 3 due to Cost Down, so I can Normal Summon it directly.
Therefore I Normal Summon 'Dark Summoning Beast.'"
[Dark Summoning Beast, ATK 0]
Sartorius frowned.
Another ATK 0 monster…
For some reason, seeing a 0-ATK monster made him uneasy.
"Then tribute Dark Summoning Beast; activate its effect!"
Kira raised his arm.
"By tributing Dark Summoning Beast, ignoring Summoning conditions and revival restrictions, Special Summon from the Graveyard: 'Uria, Lord of Searing Flames,' 'Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder,' and 'Raviel, Lord of Phantasms!'" (anime effect)
Sartorius: "!?"
All three Sacred Beasts at once???
Red, gold, and blue energies surged from Kira's Duel Disk, erupting in a tidal wave. The energy manifested into the three Sacred Beasts, baring fangs and claws, looking down with contempt upon the small figure of the man of light.
Uria, Hamon, Raviel—summoned!
Of course, the anime's ignore-revival-restrictions is unfit for real cards, so in the TCG this card was changed to pull a Sacred Beast from the Deck instead of the Graveyard. The range is broader, but it only summons one instead of three.
"But the turn I use Dark Summoning Beast's effect, I can't enter the Battle Phase," Kira said.
Before Sartorius could even relax, Kira continued:
"But I can still use this card—
—Spell Card 'Dimension Fusion Destruction!'
Banish one each of the three Sacred Beasts I control to conduct their ultimate fusion!" (Anime effect)
In the TCG, you can fuse from hand/field/Graveyard; in the anime, all three had to be on-field.
"Across endless eras, unleash the forgotten power of chaos—
—Summon Chaos Phantasm Armityle!!!"
Thunder roared; the three Sacred Beasts merged in a blaze of lightning into a towering form. Before the fused phantasm, even the massive Light Ruler looked tiny; the so-called embodiment of light, ultimate Arcana—suddenly seemed insignificant.
[Chaos Phantasm Armityle, ATK 0]
"So this is the ultimate Sacred Beast…"
Sarina stared blankly at the looming shadow, a shiver seizing her body.
Her ability could also sense the ominous, powerful force within that giant being—far stronger than the Light Ruler opposite, and much more saturated with chaos and evil.
If one didn't know the backstory and just looked at the current standoff, by comparison the evil aura on Armityle's side seemed even stronger than the other.
Even Kira himself, who commanded the demon, seemed to blend with the overwhelming pressure of that godlike fiend, as if he had become part of the chaotic darkness itself.
You couldn't even tell who was the villain.
"So this is the final form of the Sacred Beasts of human legend."
Sartorius gritted his teeth, still being stubborn.
"But its ATK is only 0…"
"Chaos Phantasm Armityle—once per turn, deal 10,000 battle damage to a single opposing monster," Kira said.
Sartorius's expression shifted; even he was shocked by this ridiculous effect.
A monster that can deal damage without a Battle Phase?
That meant even if Kira couldn't enter the Battle Phase due to Dark Summoning Beast's restriction, Armityle didn't need it anyway. Dealing battle damage in Main Phase—this was already breaking the rules; incredibly unscientific.
But he quickly steadied himself.
"Even so, I still have The Fool and 'Spirit Barrier.' As long as I control a monster, all battle damage I would take becomes 0."
Sartorius declared.
"Even if Armityle can deal damage without battling, as long as it's battle damage, Spirit Barrier negates it…"
"True."
Kira nodded.
"In that case, I'll activate the Spell 'Monster Reborn,' to revive a monster from the Graveyard. The one I'll revive is… that guy of yours."
Kira pointed at Sartorius.
"Revive 'Arcana Force XXI - The World' from your Graveyard!"
A muscle on Sartorius's face twitched.
Stealing my World again?
How obsessed are you with my World?
[Arcana Force XXI - The World, ATK 3100]
"Of course, due to 'Arcana Force 0 - The Fool.' When The Fool is on the field, whenever the opponent activates a coin flip effect, they can freely choose heads or tails."
Kira said.
"So I won't even spin the card; I'll directly take The World's Heads effect. At the end of the turn, by sending two monsters to the Graveyard, skip your next turn."
Sartorius gritted his teeth: "Skip as many turns as you want, the result won't change. The Fool is invincible—absolutely impossible to defeat!"
"Is that so?"
Kira smiled faintly.
"If I remember, The Fool's effect is… if Heads, it can't be targeted by your own card effects, and isn't affected by your own effects.
If Tails, it can't be targeted by opponent's effects, and isn't affected by opponent's effects."
"What are you trying to say?" Sartorius frowned.
"Nothing much."
Kira smiled.
"Why not look at your field."
"My field… Nani!???"
Seeing "Chaos Phantasm Armityle" somehow standing on his own field, Sartorius's eyes nearly popped out.
Yes, that's right.
Armityle—the ultimate Sacred Beast—was now, for some reason, on Sartorius's field.
"To make Armityle use this hidden power—you should feel honored," Kira said cheerfully.
"What?" Sartorius was dumbfounded.
A hidden ability? Sending itself to the opponent? What kind of nonsense is that?
Is it born a double agent?
"Chaos Phantasm Armityle—once per turn during the Main Phase, you can give control of this card to your opponent," Kira explained with a smile. "And during the End Phase of the turn this effect is activated, banish all monsters on the controller's field except this card!"
Sartorius: "?????"
Huh?
What the heck is that?
Kira snapped his fingers.
"Oblivion Roaring Life!"
Then Sartorius watched, aghast, as Armityle, now on his field, opened its jaws wide and unleashed a terrifying energy that engulfed his Light Ruler—and even The Fool—sucking them into an interdimensional vortex, gone reduced to atoms.
Yes, even the invincible Fool.
The Fool cannot be destroyed by battle; when Tails, it cannot be targeted by the opponent's effects nor affected by them. At first glance, it's invincible.
But Armityle's effect is to first give control to the opponent, then "banish all monsters on the controller's field."
When this resolves, Armityle is under Sartorius's control. So from The Fool's perspective, this is a friendly effect, not an opponent's effect.
The Fool only resists friendly effects when Heads, so even The Fool can't withstand Armityle's finisher and is banished into the void, gone.
This ridiculously unscientific effect was naturally removed when Armityle became a real card. But years later, the official game printed a new variant: "Armityle the Chaos Phantasm - Phantom of Fury" - reproducing the anime's broken effect one-to-one.
That real card really can hand itself to the opponent and then banish all monsters on its controller's field.
This infiltrate-then-friendly-fire tactic is extremely insidious; many "unaffected by opponent's effects" towers like The Fool can't handle it. In the anime, Adrian Gecko's "unaffected by opponent's effects" boss and even "Exodia the Forbidden One" got cheesed by this, dying with grievances.
Just like Sartorius now.
He looked about to go insane.
"Impossible! Impossible!"
Sartorius raged on.
"My Light Ruler commands all the light of the universe!"
"My Fool is the strongest, invincible shield!"
"My destiny is absolute!"
"This is impossible! It's all fake! All fake…"
Sarina: "…"
"Of course, Armityle only returns at the end of the turn, and I also can't deal you battle damage this turn… but that's fine. There's still your The World."
Kira went on, beaming.
"End Phase—first resolve the effect of 'Samsara Lotus' in the Graveyard, Special Summon 'Samsara Lotus' from the Graveyard."
[Samsara Lotus, ATK 0]
"Then resolve 'Chaos Phantasm Armityle.' During the End Phase, control returns to the original owner.
Come back, Armityle."
Armityle grunted, having eaten its fill clearing the opponent's field, then patted its butt and flew back to Kira's side.
Sartorius: "…"
"Lastly, your monster—'Arcana Force XXI - The World.' Tribute 'Treeborn Frog' and 'Samsara Lotus' to skip your next turn."
Kira swung his arm.
"Za Warudo!"
Time froze; dials spun, and in an instant, it was Kira's turn again.
"Alright, your turn is skipped—still my turn.
My turn, draw."
Kira waved a hand.
"A good duel, but this is about where it ends.
Chaos Phantasm Armityle's effect—once per turn, if the opponent controls no monsters, inflict 10,000 battle damage directly to the opponent!
Chaos Annihilation!"
The final blow of the Chaos Phantasm descended like a demon god's world-ending strike.
Sartorius looked up at Armityle's blast and seemed to feel a power capable of destroying the universe itself.
As if in that moment, his universe, his destiny, were shattered by the phantasm's strike.
[Sartorius, LP 900 → LP 0]
...
2 Bonus chapters at 500 PS