"Directly enter the battle phase."
Yugen ordered directly.
"'True Silent Magician,' attack the covered monster!"
The Silent Magician's magic staff twirled lightly twice, and a white magic array spread beneath her feet. The flowing white light gathered into her hand, transforming into a torrent rushing towards the opponent's field.
The covered monster flipped open, and crouching in defensive position was a giant tomato with a grotesque grin.
[Killer Tomato, Defense Power 1100]
The big tomato certainly couldn't withstand the might of the Silent Magician, and a mighty stream of light shattered the tomato into dust on the spot.
"Ha, you've fallen for it!" Thief Keith shouted, "At this moment, my cover card is also activated!"
The cover card in the back field flipped over with a clatter, and the projection of a Trap Card sprang up.
"Trap Card - Companions! When a monster is sent to one's graveyard, you can destroy one monster on the field!"
Keith smirked coldly and pointed at Yugen's field.
"The troublesome Magician, leave the stage here! Destroy the 'Silent Magician'!"
Golden light burst from the Trap Card, and the destroyed Killer Tomato seemed to shoot out from the card in spirit form, like some kind of wailing wraith, intending to drag the Silent Magician into the abyss.
"Then I activate the Speed Attack Magic 'I am the Shield' from my hand!"
With a swing of Yugen's arm, a stream of data rolled and transformed into the image of a Magic Card before him.
"When an opponent activates an effect that includes 'destroy a monster on the field', pay 1500 Life Points to negate its activation and destroy it!"
The magic took effect, and the wraith of the tomato instantly changed course, bypassing the Silent Magician and directly hitting Yugen. Yugen staggered back in pain, biting his lip.
[Yugen, LP 4000 → LP 2500]
"Indeed, it's a Dark Duel, the sensation feels real..."
Seeing his master actually take the blow for her, the Silent Magician showed an expression of astonishment, holding her staff and looking at him with some concern and a bit of helplessness on her face.
"Oh? A duelist actually takes damage for his monster?" Thief Keith mocked coldly, "Ultimately, cards are just weapons, tools at best. A true strong duelist is someone who knows how to utilize every piece."
He paused with a grin and snorted.
"The strong enslave the weak, that's an unchanging truth. A duelist is a warrior who can enslave the strongest creatures. Victory is worth any price, anything besides the commander's king can be discarded!"
Yugen squinted at him, thinking, buddy, is something wrong with you?
Such nonsense. In this situation, if I don't take the hit for the Silent, will I let you have an open field to attack next turn?
But then he thought about it and suddenly realized it was a great opportunity to build bonds. Suddenly realizing this, Yugen immediately put on a very painful and struggling look, gritting his teeth, "You're wrong, the so-called duelist is someone who believes in their monsters and their deck!
Every card in a duelist's deck is a meticulously chosen, irreplaceable partner that resonates with one's soul. If you don't understand this, no matter how powerful you become, you're not fit to be called a duelist!"
Yugen thought that although he had been terrible at essays and always chased by his language teacher, he never missed a generation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! animation. Every protagonist has a long speech about bonds and believing in their deck, and after listening for so many years, isn't it easy to mimic and come up with something on the spot?
Sure enough, this speech seemed effective. When the Silent looked at him again, her icy little face was full of emotion. Yugen guessed that if he could see the affection score, a [Affinity +99] might have popped up above the silver-haired girl's head, maybe he could build a bond this way?
If the bonds are strong enough, perhaps even Divine Draws can become more accurate.
Yugen was quite satisfied, even feeling a bit grateful to Thief Keith for sending a rocket...
"Annoying."
Thief Keith grumbled darkly with a cold face.
"This and that, you're just like those irritating guys. What dignity of a duelist, what heart of trusting in your cards...
Shut up, it's precisely people like you who are the most detestable."
Yugen guessed that the guys he referred to were probably Yugi and Joey.
After losing to Beckas, Thief Keith went downhill, willing to do anything to win. Before the Duel Kingdom competition, he even tried to steal Joey's qualification card to make him lose without a fight, and during the duel, he resorted to "Sleeve Concealment Card," a typical unscrupulous type for victory.
"Then let me bury your naïve ideas along with your so-called 'companions'!"
Thief Keith raised his voice in a roar.
"At the moment when Killer Tomato was destroyed, its effect had already activated! When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, you can Special Summon a Dark Attribute monster with 1500 attack or less from your deck in face-up attack position."
"I Special Summon 'Stealth Sniper'!"
[Stealth Sniper, Attack Power 1500]
"Then I cover a card on the field, and end my turn."
[True Silent Magician, Attack Power 3000]
"My turn, draw!"
After drawing, Thief Keith noticeably paused in his movements.
A brief silence, followed by his facial muscles starting to contort, the corners of his mouth seemingly unable to suppress a grin.
"Heh heh... heh heh heh... hahahahaha—!"
This reaction made Yugen instantly feel wary.
Judging by this stance, did he draw something extraordinary?
"Heh, the game's over, kid." Thief Keith laughed loudly, "I've drawn 'this card', the ultimate manifestation of god-given power!
Watch closely, I'm going to use this card to awaken the darkness within my heart. All my years of hatred, my fury, a darkness that will swallow the world!"
The slot on the side of the duel disc clicked open. Keith raised his right hand high, like a devout believer, lifting the card in his hand, which emitted a brilliant green light.
"Field Spell—
—Orichalcos Barrier!"
Yugen: "!?"
Upon hearing this, his first thought was that he had misheard.
Wait, what the hell?
Wasn't Orichalcos from the DM chapter? Isn't that ancient history in this world, nearly ten years old?
Didn't your boss Dazi get stylishly talked to death by the Ousama? And wasn't that so-called Orichalcos Evil God defeated by the Three Phantom Gods? How is this thing still here?
But when the card, along with the field area, was absorbed into the duel disc, Yugen was certain he hadn't misheard.
Visible was Keith's duel disc immediately crackling with green lightning. The abundant energy filled his entire body, his clothes swirling in the emerald whirlwind. He threw back his head and shouted, like a Super Saiyan powering up, "Aaaah," his whole body erupting in green flames.
Ultimately, the green light condensed on his forehead, swirling into a hexagram mark, emitting a ghostly green glow.
"Ah~ the power, I can feel it... the power!"
Thief Keith shouted, the green light exploding from within him. Meanwhile, both sides of the duel field beneath them were marked by the green hexagram, its light shooting into the sky, forming an indestructible barrier.
The Orichalcos Barrier, once activated in the animation, couldn't be stopped, couldn't be nullified, and couldn't leave the field in any form. The soul of the defeated duelist would become nourishment for the Evil God, and no one could leave unless one person fell.
Of course, in the animation, it was also known as the "whoever uses it dies barrier", because everyone who activated it lost, and this invincible curse even contributed to one of the rare defeats of the invincible Pharaoh...
So, after all this, that so-called "Evil God" turns out to be the God of Orichalcos again?
"But didn't your so-called evil god die at the hands of the Three Phantom Gods?" Yugen couldn't help but ask.
"Foolish." Keith shouted, "The God of Orichalcos embodies the dark side of the human heart, the dark will of this planet! No matter how many times it's defeated, it will always rise again!"
Yugen then recalled that the boss of the Doma chapter in DM, Dazi, did indeed say that.
"As long as humanity and this planet exist, the God of Orichalcos will never perish."
So even though the Three Phantom Gods defeated it, it seemed to be temporarily vanquished, but in reality, it was merely sealed, and its ambition did not disappear.
No, or perhaps it has become even more rampant today.
Yugen tried to put himself in the shoes of the God of Orichalcos. If this entity were to awaken and peek into the world now, it would likely be overjoyed.
The Pharaoh has departed, and with the Three Phantom Gods gone, wouldn't the world belong to the God of Orichalcos?
Yugen suddenly felt a headache coming on.
This isn't a trivial issue that could be ignored. Who said the world of card games is safe? I just landed and haven't even steadied myself yet, and it's already doomsday again...
However, he felt that the world probably won't end. Although the new protagonist, Yuki Judai, has yet to mature, this era at least still has Seto Kaiba. President Kaiba has been researching the new iterations of the White Dragon for so many years, and facing the old boss from back then now might not lead to a defeat.
Not to mention that even if it gets past Kaiba, there's the real final boss, Tabletop Game. Even the Pharaoh was sent away by him back in the day, and no one knows how strong Tabletop Game has become eight years later.
Taking one more step back, even if it performs beyond expectations and manages to subdue the game as well, the Pharaoh would at least showcase a sit-up in the coffin...
Seriously, does anyone really think that the Pharaoh went to the Netherworld and got permanently benched?
So doomsday isn't upon us, nor is it something Yugen has to think about now. What he needs to focus on now is winning this duel and saving his own life.
Although, in the outcome, the Barrier in the animation meant whoever used it died, the instant the card was placed, Yugen could clearly feel a change in his opponent's atmosphere. Thief Keith's figure morphing in Yugen's eyes as if he had grown taller, accompanied by a certain intangible pressure.
It was easy to guess that Keith's "Destiny Power" as a duelist must have increased significantly.
The Orichalcos Barrier in the animation was basically a kind of cheat-like Divine Artifact, a Dark Divine Artifact that could borrow part of the God of Orichalcos's power. Once played in a duel, even a regular person could temporarily obtain the Destiny Power to rival a strong opponent.
From the anime's portrayal, it's evident that this barrier is powerful enough to grant an ordinary extra character the forced ability to wield the power of Obelisk's Giant Divine Soldiers. Even when Atom attempted to use the power of the Millennium Puzzle to break the barrier, he failed.
So, making the worst assumption, this barrier's enhancement of the user's Destiny Power isn't to be underestimated either.
"Ah~ kimoji (nice), indeed having power feels differently..."
Thief Keith's eyes gleamed green as he sneered.
"Now, are you ready to meet your end?"