"My turn." Paradox said, "At this moment, I activate the effect of Field Magic - Sin World again. Instead of the usual draw, I add a random 'Malefic' monster from the deck to my hand."
His deck shuffled with a swift "swish" sound, and after shuffling, a card popped out from the top. Paradox took the card in his hand, glanced at it, and suddenly smiled eerily.
Then he cast a meaningful glance at Yusei.
"I activate the effect of Malefic Stardust Dragon in my hand." He said with a cold smile, "Send 'Stardust Dragon' from the Extra Deck to the graveyard, this card can be Special Summoned directly from the hand!
Soar in the world of Sin! Malefic Stardust Dragon!"
As the Stardust Dragon card was sent to the graveyard, a stream of starlight soared into the sky. A sacred white dragon swirled out, encased in wings, high up in the air it unfurled wings now dyed in pitch black.
Starlight gently fell like countless raindrops from its outspread wings. In its Malefic form, the Stardust Dragon raised its head, seemingly letting out a sharp cry towards Yusei, as if shouting—
—Boss, save me QAQ!
[Malefic Stardust Dragon, Attack 2500]
"Star...Stardust..." Yusei was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Don't worry, Yusei." Youyu comforted him, "We'll take back your Stardust Dragon."
...and also Paradox's Duel Disc.
Of course, Youyu didn't say the latter half of the sentence.
Yusei was grateful: "Mr. Youyu..."
"Next, I Normal Summon from my hand, Tuner Monster, Malefic Parallel Gear."
A small, level two, golden gear appeared on Paradox's field, emitting blue starlight as it came into play. It was evidently a "Tuner" monster, with the potential to manipulate star levels.
[Malefic Parallel Gear, Attack 0]
"Level two Malefic Parallel Gear, combined with level eight Malefic Stardust Dragon for Tuning." Paradox smirked at Yusei, "Synchro Summoning isn't exclusive to you."
The golden gear transformed into two bright stars, drawing a circle in mid-air, surrounding Stardust. Under its influence, the Malefic Stardust Dragon gradually dissipated, leaving only eight stars behind. The ten stars aligned naturally, tracing a radiant path.
[2+8=10]
"Synchro Summon!" Paradox raised his hand, "Level ten, Malefic Paradox Dragon!"
Guided by starlight, the summoned dragon had a long, pitch-black neck, a huge skeleton supporting its black body, and expansive wings as hard as iron, creating an enormous pressure.
[Malefic Paradox Dragon, Attack 4000]
Yusei shielded his face with his arm, barely opening his eyes against the gale whipped up by the dragon's wings: "Such a powerful monster..."
"Not only that, the effect of Malefic Paradox Dragon activates." Paradox chuckled lightly, "Upon a successful Synchro Summon, Special Summon Synchro Monsters from your graveyard, ignoring summoning conditions."
He raised his finger toward the sky.
"Return to my field, soar — Stardust Dragon!!!"
This time it wasn't the form bound by Sin, but the true Stardust Dragon — with dazzling radiance releasing countless crystal lights. White light rushed skyward, stirring up a pure white storm. The noble dragon's body swirled, and as it flapped its wings, starlight scattered like water droplets.
[Stardust Dragon, Attack 2500]
"Hahahaha, Yusei, your dragon will be the key to your defeat!" Paradox waved his hand, "The effect of Malefic Paradox Dragon! As long as the Synchro monster Special Summoned by its effect is on the field, all opposing monsters will lose attack points equal to that monster's attack points! (Animation effect)
In other words, all your monsters' attack points will decrease by Stardust Dragon's attack, which is 2500 points!"
It's here that we see the stark differences between the animation and physical cards of the Malefic series.
In the early Synchro era, having a Malefic deck capable of intuitively summoning powerful monsters without cost was quite top-tier.
Especially since the animation's Malefic series and the physical cards differ significantly. In the animation, Malefic monsters did not have the drawbacks of not allowing other monsters to attack or limited field presence, unlike the physical cards with inherent negative effects.
If one could resolve the Malefic deck's dependency on Field Magic, Paradox, as a movie villain, was quite formidable at that time. No wonder he had the confidence in the animation to simultaneously challenge three generations of protagonists.
...just a pity he encountered three card printing machines...
"According to the effect of Paradox Dragon, Flare Neos's attack will decrease by 2500 points."
The body of Flare Neos was enveloped in dark red energy, seemingly under immense pressure, kneeling down, his breath becoming heavy.
Youyu even imagined the "ding-dong ding-dong" image of the round crystal on Flare Neos's chest flickering on and off...
[Elemental Hero Flare Neos, Attack 4900 → Attack 2400]
"Let's battle." Paradox shouted, "Malefic Paradox Dragon, crush that eyesore, Flare Neos!"
The black dragon opened its mouth, a chaotic dark blast roared out like a cannon shot!
The debilitated Flare Neos could only barely raise his hand to conjure a flame barrier as a defense, yet it was utterly futile. The tyrannical blast shattered the barrier instantly, grinding Flare Neos's armor to dust, his body exploding into fragments on the field with a miserable groan.
[Judai, LP 2300 → LP 700]
The physical manifestation of the tempest made Judai stagger back two steps, smoke rising all around him on the field.
"Judai!" Youyu turned his head.
"...It's fine, Teacher Youyu." Judai smiled, giving him a thumbs-up gesture.
"Hmph, still putting on a brave face, I see?" Paradox sneered, "But you have no next turn. This will be the final attack.
Stardust Dragon, give the Duel Kings their final blow!"
Stardust Dragon let out a cry of lament, as if mourning for having to strike his master with the final blow. Reluctantly, it opened its mouth, starlight converging to form a silvery vortex.
Shooting Sonic!
"Senior Judai!" Yusei could not help but call out.
Judai shouted, "Open the Set Card, Quick-Play Magic - The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! Special Summon 'Winged Kuriboh' from the deck!"
A card swiftly flew out from his Duel Disc, transforming into the image of Winged Kuriboh, appearing on the field. The small creature with snow-white wings cried out "Kuri Kuri" twice — perhaps because it had abruptly been called onto the scene and couldn't quite understand the situation. Yet the next second, it met the incoming blow from Stardust Dragon face-on and beat a hasty retreat.
Winged Kuriboh: ...
"That was close, that was close." Judai chuckled, "But we're not that easy to take down. After Winged Kuriboh is destroyed by battle, all battle damage to us this turn becomes 0."
Paradox clicked his tongue, "Tsk, in that case, I set a card, and end my turn."