"Continuous Spell 'Court of Justice'!" Momono said. "This card can only be activated during your Main Phase. When you control a Level 1 Fairy-type monster, you can Special Summon an Fairy-type monster from your hand!"
Just as Kira anticipated—a card that requires a Level 1 Fairy-type to activate could only be Court of Justice.
The question was, what Fairy-type was Momono planning to summon?
Momono didn't immediately act, but narrowed his eyes at the three Hand-Holding Genies on Kira's field.
"Hand-Holding Genie looks like a weak little fiend, but actually it hides a troublesome ability," he sneered. "While Hand-Holding Genie is on the field, your opponent can't select other monsters as attack targets.
And with three Genies on the field, each one demands 'attack only me,' so with all three in play, I can't target any of them for an attack!"
"Heh?" Kira smiled. "As expected of the Store Breakers who built a hundred-counter deck library—your knowledge is impressive."
But Hand-Holding Genie isn't a rare card, so it's not surprising he knows.
"Haha, that was all in the past. Just a name I made for myself when I was young and reckless."
Momono narrowed his eyes.
"Not only that, Hand-Holding Genie's DEF increases by the original DEF of all other monsters in defense position on the field.
Now, with two other Genies in defense position, their DEFs stack up."
[Hand-Holding Genie, DEF 3200]x2
"Over 3000 DEF is hard to crack," Momono said calmly. "In other words, even if I break through your monster effect defense, I still have to crack over 3000 DEF."
He paused but didn't continue.
Well, this is just what you'd expect from the Duel King's tactics. Right from the start, it's a fortress of defense.
But...
He smirked slightly.
He had a countermeasure.
"The one I'm going to summon is this guy—"
Momono's lips curled as he raised his card high. The card seemed to emit a white light bright enough to pierce the darkness.
"Absolute ruler of light, angel who banishes darkness—
—Tualatin!!!"
Countless lights gathered, forming silvery-white armor. A dazzling angel, its face nearly obscured by its brilliance, descended. The entire gloomy forest seemed to turn as bright as day.
[Tualatin, ATK 2800]
"Tualatin?" Kira frowned.
He remembered this one—a powerful lockdown monster, but unless it's summoned by a specific effect, it was just a vanilla in the manga.
"Tualatin is the absolute ruler of light—no darkness is permitted on the field!"
Momono declared sternly.
"Absolute Light Annihilation!"
As he spoke, Tualatin erupted in endless radiance, like a white-hot sun exploding overhead!
Even the shadows in the forest seemed to evaporate instantly; the burning light swept the field. Kira's three Hand-Holding Genies, their joined hands forming a defense, were instantly annihilated, reduced to ashes in an instant.
Kira's brow furrowed slightly.
"I see..." he muttered to himself. "So there's a difference in effect from the real-life card again."
Momono burst out laughing, explaining: "As long as Tualatin, the absolute ruler of light, is on the field, all DARK monsters are destroyed, and DARK monsters cannot exist on the field!"
In the manga, the original text just says, "DARK monsters cannot exist on the field," which is vague and ambiguous—does that mean they can't be summoned, or are destroyed immediately upon being summoned? In practice, it makes a big difference.
But in the real card, the effect is more formally stated: when Tualatin is summoned, all monsters of the declared attribute are destroyed, and afterwards, monsters of that attribute can't be summoned.
And the real card's effect is even stronger.
In the manga, Tualatin was used by the Store Breakers to target Yugi—after analyzing his matches, they noticed Yugi's main deck was mostly DARK monsters, so they used this card as a counter.
But the real card can declare any attribute, not just DARK. Upon being summoned, the duelist can declare any attribute, and as long as Tualatin is on the field, monsters of that attribute are locked out.
Sounds OP, but in practice it's not so easy to use. In the real card, it can only be Special Summoned by having two of your monsters destroyed in one battle phase, and only when summoned this way does it get the lockout effect.
But in the manga, although it can only target DARK, there's no such activation restriction—it works as soon as it hits the field, no special summoning required.
However...
Kira's eyes began to shine dangerously as he examined the high-level angel on the other side.
This is also a pretty rare card. The ability to declare and lock out any attribute is powerful—feels like there's potential to explore.
Not bad, not bad. Not bad at all. Momono really went to great lengths to bring this card to the island—Kira felt grateful.
"Now, your Genie wall is broken!" Momono crowed. "They always say the Duel King is a specialist in lockdowns, that his defenses are impenetrable. But now, it seems that's all just because his previous opponents were scrubs!"
Kira shrugged, not bothering to argue.
"And I haven't used my normal summon yet this turn," Momono shouted. "Let me finish this in one go—
—I tribute 'Watapon' to tribute summon!
Come forth! Airknight Parshath!"
The Watapon vanished in a burst of light, which reformed into a glowing summoning circle. A holy white knight emerged from the circle, landing with dignity.
[Airknight Parshath, ATK 1900]
"Sorry, Duel King. Though our clash is brief, let me finish this right now!"
Momono shouted.
"First up, Tualatin, direct attack!"
A massive sphere of white light formed in front of Tualatin, swirling like a white-hot sun, roaring straight at Kira!