Dark clouds billowed, thunder roared. Golden light pierced through the clouds like thousands of swords, as though invisible hands were tearing the clouds to pieces.
A golden sphere slowly descended from the top of the clouds. It was a sphere crafted as if from metal, entirely gleaming gold, dazzling like the sun and impossible to look at directly.
Marik crossed his arms and began chanting an incantation (cheat code).
The sphere slowly descended to Marik's side of the field, gradually starting to transform. First, the massive wings, followed by the head, hidden at the center, and then the iron-cast golden body.
The Winged Dragon of Ra, summon!
The golden divine bird roared downward, stirring up a scorching fury, leaving the audience shivering instinctively just from watching that divine bird!
"Hahahaha! The attack power of the Winged Dragon summoned through sacrifice is the sum of the sacrificed monsters' numbers!" Marik laughed with a wave.
Youyu narrowed his eyes.
The sacrificed monsters are Dark Magician, Reaper of the Cards, and Byser Shock, with attack powers of 2500, 1600, and 800, respectively, so the Winged Dragon's attack power is...
[The Winged Dragon of Ra, Attack Power 4900]
"An attack power of 4900 for the Winged Dragon!?" Jonouchi was stunned.
Even the usually stoic President Haima showed surprise: "An attack power of 4900 on Ra, even matching the God of Destruction—Obelisk."
"There's no method to defeat the gods!" Marik shouted, "Go, Ra! Turn Edgeman to ashes! Divine Power Flame Cannon!"
The golden giant bird opened its mouth, spewing a golden beam like it was from the sun itself!
The scorching torrent instantly pulverized Edgeman, the steel hero was powerless before the divine attack. The terrifying impact disintegrated the monster, cascading toward Youyu's position with a violent explosion.
The golden beam shot into the air, and the overwhelming impact sent Youyu tumbling uncontrollably. The searing flames pierced through his body, heating his blood to a boil, as if intending to incinerate every cell to ashes.
[Youyu, LP 3500 → LP 1200]
The pain left Youyu nearly paralyzed, as if half his body had been charred. He saw what looked like most of his body had disappeared—primarily his legs and torso.
Now he appeared to be missing a large chunk of his body, although it didn't impede his movement, standing up might make him look somewhat ghostly.
Dark Magician Girl was frightened: "Mas... Master..."
"...It's okay." Youyu staggered, took a deep breath, and barely stood up.
The Divine Power Flame Cannon indeed was no joke; this pain surpassed any Darkness Game Youyu had experienced so far.
And this was with Elemental Hero Edgeman acting as a buffer and shield for the damage, and with the power of spirits helping to defend. If he had taken this attack directly without any measures, honestly, Youyu wasn't sure if he could still be standing here.
...It seems Jonouchi truly is a real man.
"Hahahaha, good, it's only interesting if you can keep standing back up." Marik laughed, "If you fell so easily, I'd find it very dull!"
He waved a hand: "Set a card face-down, my turn ends!
Struggle in vain against the gods and die!"
"My turn." Youyu totally ignored him.
However, to summon Ra by the third turn really caught Youyu off guard, and to actually use a sacrificial summon.
In the anime, Marik's deck completely revolves around reviving the undead bird repeatedly with Monster Reborn, so this sudden sacrificial summon threw Youyu off guard.
The anime Egyptian God's resistance was quite formidable, and now with Ra's attack power reaching 5000, getting rid of it was rather challenging.
The only consolation was that Ra summoned in the regular way didn't have the "Diving Immortal Bird" quick attack capability. This means Marik couldn't pay life points to wipe out all Youyu's field monsters, nor could he convert his own LP into Ra's attack power.
Youyu's LP was down to 1200, and the situation on the field was quite dire. Youyu chose to deviate from procedure and go for a miracle draw.
Destiny Draw!
"Activate Pot of Greed!" Youyu went for the pot directly, "Draw two more cards from the deck."
Marik confidently folded his arms: "Hmph, whatever you draw will be useless."
Youyu still ignored him: "I summon 'Card Blocker,' in Defense Position."
[Card Blocker, Defense Power 400]
"Set three cards face-down, end my turn!"
"Though I don't know what you're planning, none of it will matter!" Marik said, "My turn, draw!"
He glanced at his hand and snorted, "Then I'll also use 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards from my deck."
He drew two more cards and then laughed loudly, "It looks like, even though I wanted to play with you a bit longer, your part in this ends here!
From my hand, I activate the Equip Magic Card - Big Bang Shot! The equipped monster's attack increases by 400, and when attacking a Defense Position Monster, if the attack exceeds its defense, inflict piercing damage!"
"Youyu is in trouble." Yugi's face grew grave in the audience, "With The Winged Dragon of Ra, within just one turn, it accepts the effects of Magic Cards. Marik wants to give Ra the effect of piercing through defenses in just one turn..."
"A monster with 5000 attack points piercing defense!?" Jonouchi's expression also changed abruptly.
"It's not a monster, it's a God!" Marik arrogantly corrected from the stage, "When 'Big Bang Shot' leaves the field, the equipped monster is banished from the game... Heh, of course, a God won't be excluded by such a negative effect."
He raised his hand and pointed at The Winged Dragon of Ra: "Equip The Winged Dragon of Ra with 'Big Bang Shot'!"
[The Winged Dragon of Ra, ATK 4900 → ATK 5300]
"This is the end!" Marik shouted, "Ra's piercing attack! Divine Power Flame Cannon!"
Ra opened its mouth again, brewing a roaring golden flame within!
The piercing damage was something Youyu hadn't expected. He thought Marik would first summon a small monster to take out the Card Blocker, then use Ra to deliver the final blow.
...But it doesn't matter!
Youyu waved his hand, "I activate the effect of Card Blocker! When this card is targeted for an attack, send up to three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, and for each card sent, this card's defense increases by 500 until the end phase.
I send two cards to the graveyard, increasing Card Blocker's defense by 1000 points!"
[Card Blocker, DEF 400 → DEF 1400]
"Ha! What's the point of an extra 1000 defense points?" Marik laughed, "Ra, continue to blast him away!"
Ra continued to gather energy, the Divine Power Flame Cannon roared out like the breath of the sun, aiming to tear through darkness and annihilate everything...
"Flip cover card, Trap Card activate!" Youyu continued to wave his hand.
Marik hastily interrupted, "All Traps are ineffective against a God!"
"I know, but this trap isn't aimed at the God, it's aimed at the piercing damage!"
Youyu silently prayed in his heart at this moment—
—Caesar-san, lend me your power!
"Trap Card activate!" Youyu waved his hand, "Power Wall!"
Yes, it's Power Wall! The trap most beloved by Yu-Gi-Oh! GX's crucial character Caesar Ryo in the later stages!
"It can only be activated when you take battle damage, and until the battle damage is reduced to 0, for every 500 points of damage, I send one card from the top of my deck to the graveyard!"
"What!?" Marik was stunned, "Using such a self-damaging method to ward off a God's attack?"
"The piercing damage I take is 3900 points." Youyu accurately drew eight cards from the top of his deck, "So I send eight cards to the graveyard!"
The cards flew from the deck, forming a shield. The sacred power transformed into a transparent barrier standing before Youyu. The Divine Power Flame fiercely collided with that shield, spreading fiercely in front of Youyu, but all its power was shared and blocked by those eight cards.
Marik chuckled lightly, "Not bad, not bad, now that's more like it. Struggle, resist with all your might, then sink into the abyss of despair!"
Youyu smiled, "The one who will sink into the abyss of despair... is you."
"What!?" Marik was shocked.
"You're really slow, I thought by now you would have noticed." Youyu said calmly, "The moment I sent eight cards to the grave with Power Wall, there are now sixteen cards in my graveyard."
Marik frowned, "Sixteen cards so what...
...!?"
Marik suddenly remembered a fact he had overlooked.
He recalled that during the quarterfinals, Youyu had defeated his sister Ishizu to progress, and had taken a rare card from her.
At that time, he hadn't paid any attention to what card Youyu had taken, because he believed 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' was invincible and couldn't be conquered.
But now he thought of a possibility he had ignored, which might directly lead to his defeat...
"At this moment, this trap has already been activated!" Youyu pointed to the Set Card right in the middle in front of him, "Now watch Marik! This is your sister... No, it's the resolve of the real Marik's sister, who would sacrifice anything to defeat you!
Flip cover card! Trap Card activate, Exchange of the Spirit!"