Shutendoji, the mythological demon famed for his love of drink. Despite being called a child, the monster he summons is an ugly, red-faced, fanged ogre with wild hair, horns, and a huge sake gourd imprinted with the character for "sake."
In the manga, this was Bastion Misawa's monster from his youkai deck, built mostly from Japanese mythic creatures. Of course, in Kira's hands, it's been upgraded to a Zombie-type with its real-life effect.
Shutendoji took a gulp of fiery sake, then slammed his fist into the ground, creating a huge crater. The eerie Necroface, which should have disappeared from the game, suddenly flew back into Kira's deck, landing right on top.
Lyman's expression turned grave again.
That Necroface, again.
Like with the Golden Homunculus before, his Helios Trice Megistus was restrained by the Necroface—in fact, even more so. The Homunculus, even after its banished cards were shuffled back, at least had its base 1500 ATK left. But his Helios Trice Megistus's original ATK is "?". If its banished cards are emptied by Necroface, it goes from ace boss monster to an indestructible punching bag.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card 'Harpie's Feather Duster!'" Kira declared. "Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on your side of the field!"
Lyman's pupils shrank.
"Feather Duster? At this moment!?"
The Feather Duster appeared in mid-air, lightly sweeping. A storm of feathers rose, and the huge alchemical cauldron on Lyman's field collapsed with a bang.
Even the whole starry sky on the field seemed to tremble, stars falling, celestial bodies crumbling, the Milky Way shredded, until all of the cosmos dissolved into nothingness.
"With that, both the Chaos Distill and Macro Cosmos are destroyed." Kira smiled. "You can't banish new cards, professor."
"Ugh…"
Lyman gritted his teeth.
He'd prepared himself for a tough duel with Kira, but still couldn't help but marvel at the difficulty. He'd already defended against Imperial Iron Wall—a hard counter—yet here came Necroface, the ultimate anti-alchemy monster, and even Shutendoji to recycle banished cards! Clearly, Kira had accounted for Necroface being banished and would recover it.
Like many top duelists, Lyman's deck had two nearly independent engines: the Alchemy Beast engine, centered on the Chaos Distill, and the Helios engine, centered on Macro Cosmos.
But now, one Feather Duster swept both away. Next turn, if Necroface comes out and empties his banished pile, he'll be left with no resources and have to face a super-powerful Necroface—comeback will be near impossible.
"I set a card and end my turn," said Kira.
Lyman let out a long breath.
"You've really set me a difficult problem, Kira." He squinted again. "If Necroface reappears next turn, I'm finished. Looks like getting this Seven Key won't be so easy."
"Actually, I'm curious," Kira asked. "Why did you join the Shadow Riders, professor? How did you meet Chairman Kagemaru, and why are you willing to work for him?"
A flash of surprise crossed Lyman's eyes as he looked at Kira.
"You even know about the Chairman?"
Even most Shadow Riders executives only knew his true identity. Yet this supposed outsider, Kira, exposed it so casually.
"Yes, I know. But it doesn't help." Kira shrugged. "That old guy's been missing a long time. I can't find him."
Lyman gave a dry laugh, then broke into a fit of coughing, sounding like a dying old man. He coughed for a long while before recovering.
"Yeah… I don't know where the Chairman is, either. Nobody does. Lately, he's started… cough… not even trusting me."
"Sounds like you two had a special relationship," Kira said.
"We did." Lyman sighed. "Well, since you know so much, I suppose there's no harm in telling you.
Yes, I knew Chairman Kagemaru before the Shadow Riders even formed.
We were both gifted, both ambitious, determined to use our abilities to accomplish something great. We used different names, different identities, saved lives, fought demons, and battled evil lurking in the world's darkest corners—"
He looked up, eyes filled with memories.
"But things changed," Kira said. "Your relationship changed, too, right?"
"Yes… why was that? I suppose… it's death."
Lyman smiled.
"Yes, who truly fears nothing? After a lifetime, your once-passionate ambitions and naïve dreams seem laughable in hindsight.
He and I, in the end, just wanted to keep living."
He shook his head, looking at Kira again.
"But that's all in the past. If you win, maybe I'll tell you more. For now… it's my turn, draw!"
Lyman focused on the duel again, frowning slightly after his draw.
Kira's field only had a defending Shutendoji. Even if Helios Trice Megistus destroyed it, no damage would be done. Next turn, Kira could summon Necroface, and Helios Trice Megistus would immediately become a 0-ATK dud, easily finished off.
And he had no other monsters in hand to attack with…
No, most of his deck's monsters were Alchemy Beasts. With the Chaos Distill gone, even if he drew them, he couldn't summon them.
His only chance…
"I activate the Spell Card 'Advance Draw'!" Lyman declared. "Tribute a Level 8 or higher monster on your field to draw two cards.
I tribute my Level 8 'Helios Trice Megistus' and draw two cards!"
Helios Trice Megistus, with its 8000 ATK, burned away its last radiance as all three bodies melted in the searing light. Lyman drew two cards.
"Is that okay, giving up your ace card?" Kira smiled.
"An ace is useless if it can't break the deadlock." Lyman smiled. "Rather than cling to it and wait to die, I'd rather sacrifice it now and create a new chance.
An alchemist can't be bound by rigid rules. I think you know that too."
He glanced at his two new cards, then smiled again.
"Watch carefully—this is… cough… your professor's last lesson!"