Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, revived!
The bishop frowned. "What's going on?"
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's monster effect. If this card is in the Graveyard, you can send 1 Trap from your hand to the Graveyard; Special Summon this card from the Graveyard." (Anime effect)
Kira gestured at his Duel Disk, indicating that he had just sent a Trap to the Graveyard.
"And since the number of Traps in the Graveyard has increased, the Lord of Searing Flames's ATK naturally increases as well."
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, ATK 3000 → ATK 4000]
"So it revived, and its power increased too…" the bishop said in a low voice.
Effect resistance second only to the Egyptian Gods, the ability to destroy Traps, ATK that could be stacked by piling Traps into the Graveyard—and now, on top of that, an undead ability that only got stronger the more it was beaten down…
"It seems the rumors about the Sacred Beast weren't entirely exaggerated," the bishop said blandly.
"Next, I activate the Field Spell Fallen Paradise. Since there's a Sacred Beast on the field, once per turn I can draw two cards from my Deck."
Kira drew two more cards.
"Of course, even a Sacred Beast's revival ability has restrictions," Kira said. "If Uria, Lord of Searing Flames is revived using its own monster effect, then as long as I still control any other monsters this turn, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames cannot attack."
"Oh? A Sacred Beast finally comes back, and it can't even attack? What a shame," the bishop sneered.
"Yeah. A bit of a shame," Kira replied calmly. "But even if it can't attack, its monster effect can still be activated."
He raised his hand and gave the command again, voice ringing out.
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames—Trap Destruction!"
Uria let out an excited roar. Transparent shockwaves burst from the divine dragon's mouth. The bishop's face-down backrow shook violently, as if it could be pulverized into dust at any moment.
"Then before it's destroyed by that Sacred Beast's effect," the bishop said, "my set card chains!"
Kira's eyebrows twitched slightly.
If this were the real-life card version of Uria, then when it activated Trap Destruction, the opponent wouldn't be able to respond by activating Spell/Trap Cards.
But on the other hand, the real card version of Uria can only destroy one set card once per turn—unlike the anime Uria, which can sweep all Traps.
What truly surprised Kira, however, was the Trap being activated.
"Continuous Trap—Call of the Haunted!" the bishop said coldly. "Target 1 monster in my Graveyard; Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position!"
Call of the Haunted?
Kira frowned.
Chaining something like that to Uria's effect—what was the point?
After all, Call of the Haunted had the restriction: When this card leaves the field, destroy that monster. When that monster is destroyed, destroy this card.
In other words, even if the bishop chained Uria's effect to revive any monster from the Graveyard, Uria's effect would then resolve and destroy Call of the Haunted—and the monster bound to it would be destroyed as well. That would make the revival meaningless.
Unless—
The bishop suddenly threw his head back and laughed madly. Or rather, the thing attached to his body was no longer even trying to hide itself; it burst from his mouth and nose, rising into the air, laughing wildly at the sky.
"At last… the moment has come!
Break the curse of the seal—let darkness descend once more upon this filthy world!
Devour heaven and earth, erase all things, return everything to nothingness—the God of Destruction—
—The Wicked Eraser, DESCEND!!"
The once-peaceful Fallen Paradise suddenly grew oppressively heavy, as if even starlight were being swallowed by an unseen force. Only suffocating dread spread unchecked.
Then pitch-black lightning exploded from the void—like demonic claws from the abyss, bringing bottomless darkness and indescribable evil, tearing apart the night's stillness.
A concept beyond human understanding condensed within that annihilating thunder, like the most primal and pure malice born at the world's beginning. That ultimate darkness gathered into a colossal shadow—like a moving mass of night—gradually shaping into claws of oblivion: a terrifying demon god beyond description.
The Wicked Eraser, descend!
The entire arena trembled in an instant.
All the cultists fell to their knees in reverent terror, heads bowed, murmuring prayers that no one could make out.
A gale howled. Lightning roared. Even the sky seemed on the verge of collapsing—everything in the world losing color and meaning before the evil god.
Kira looked up, staring straight into the storm and that towering silhouette, and murmured:
"The Wicked Eraser… I see. So this is your true form."
Silent Magician guarded him tensely. Even the usually unseen Black Luster Soldier drifted out to the side, hand on his sword hilt, and said in a deep voice, "Be careful. This opponent is different."
"Yeah. I know," Kira said.
The bishop—or rather, the Eraser now manifest—let out a heavy, muffled laugh.
"That's right. It is I."
"So the Advent Church was your work… no, or your 'brothers' had a hand in it too?" Kira said.
The Wicked Eraser were cards Pegasus had personally completed while seemingly under the Wicked Gods' influence—one of the three Wicked God cards.
Pegasus called the three Wicked Gods counterparts to the three Egyptian Gods—existences that even surpassed the Gods in power, but far darker and more evil. Each Wicked God corresponded to one Egyptian God, equal in divinity and rank.
Eraser was the first of the three, corresponding to Slifer the Sky Dragon.
Just as Slifer was the youngest of the three Egyptian Gods, Eraser was also the youngest among the three Wicked Gods.
But even so—he was a real god.
[The Wicked Eraser, ATK ?]
"Of course, I was Special Summoned by the effect of the Trap Call of the Haunted," Eraser said in a low voice. "Now, we resolve Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's monster effect.
Call of the Haunted is destroyed by Uria's Trap Destruction effect."
As his words fell, Uria's shockwave swept through the bishop's backrow. Call of the Haunted shattered instantly.
"Normally, if Call of the Haunted is destroyed, the monster it summoned is destroyed as well," Eraser sneered. "But will that really happen?"
Kira didn't respond.
Eraser didn't care, laughing as he continued. "No. It won't!
Because I, The Wicked Eraser, am a god! A god is unaffected by any Trap Card effects—so even if Call of the Haunted is destroyed, I will not disappear!"
Before an Egyptian God or Wicked God is summoned, it's treated as just an ordinary card; none of its resistances apply. That's why it can be revived from the Graveyard by a Trap Card in the first place.
But once it's summoned, it changes from "a card" into "a god." A god does not accept the influence of Trap effects, and thus won't leave the field due to a Trap's drawbacks.
There were similar official rulings in the real card game—like Return from the Different Dimension and Elemental HERO Wildheart.
Return from the Different Dimension can summon banished monsters back to the field, and Wildheart can be summoned by that effect.
But the drawback of Return is that, during the End Phase, monsters summoned by its effect are banished again. Since Wildheart is unaffected by Trap effects, once it's summoned back, it won't be banished.
The same logic applied to Eraser's resistance.
The believers below were fully prostrated.
"Lord Evil God! It's the true Evil God!"
"This is the Wicked God's might! Traps are completely meaningless!"
Uria let out an aggrieved howl, as if protesting: Hey, I ignore Traps too—why is nobody praising me…
…
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