"My turn. Draw."
Kira glanced at the draw and revealed it at once.
"Activate Spell 'Card of Adversity.' If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, draw two cards." (Anime card)
Kira drew two.
The D. masked his expression and watched cautiously.
Last turn's offense hadn't yielded all he wanted; the damage was modest, but the advantage remained his. The opponent had indeed swarmed high-level monsters in one turn to apply pressure, but The D. had defused it flawlessly.
He glanced at his hand, unconsciously clenching his fist, as if to feel the power surging within him now.
He now possessed the ultimate strength he once could not even imagine. Thanks to the man he'd met days ago—the man in a white suit with a cane—that encounter had freed him from years of shackles and let him embrace his true, perfect self.
Now, he was truly unbeatable.
"Activate Spell 'Trade-In,'" Kira said. "Discard a Level 8 monster from the hand; draw two cards from the Deck.
I discard the Level 8 'Black Luster Soldier' and draw two."
"Black Luster Soldier," The D. narrowed his eyes, then smiled with interest. "The strongest warrior in the Duel King's legend. Interesting… heh heh, the strongest warrior versus the ultimate hero—who's stronger, I wonder?"
"Well, I don't know," Kira smiled faintly. "But I imagine the duelist who pilots them better will be the stronger."
The D. laughed.
"On that point, I must agree," he said, feral. "And that duelist will be me."
Kira said nothing further and slid another Spell into his Disk.
"Ritual Spell—'Super Soldier Synthesis.'
Send from your hand a LIGHT or DARK monster, and from your Deck one monster of the opposite attribute, totaling up to Level 8, to the GY as Ritual materials; Ritual Summon 'Black Luster Soldier' from your hand or GY!"
"The Black Luster Soldier Ritual, is it?" The D. cackled. "Good. Do it! Summon the legendary warrior—only the strongest power will make this meaningful!"
Kira revealed the two dedicated Ritual pieces.
"From hand and Deck, send the LIGHT 'Beginning Knight' and DARK 'Evening Twilight Knight' to the GY as materials!"
A black and a white young knight appeared, both but boys, their faces like mirror images.
Each swung his sword; one became light, the other dark. Two beams intertwined and spiraled into a deep vortex. A storm of chaos burst across the field, as though a heavy door in the void was blown open.
"One soul guides light, one soul guides darkness—the gate of chaos opens! Ritual Summon—
—Black Luster Soldier!"
The chaos was cleaved by sword aura; the swordsman seemed to stride across the river of time, descending with overwhelming presence.
"When Ritual Summoned using Beginning Knight and Evening Twilight Knight, Black Luster Soldier gains special abilities from each," Kira said.
"Each material grants him 'once per turn, banish one monster on your opponent's field.'
Thus, with both materials, BLS can banish up to two of your opponent's monsters per turn."
"A frightening ability,"
The D. pushed his glasses again.
"I have heard of BLS's signature 'Dimension Slash'—sealing any foe in dimensional fissures. However…"
He paused, then grinned broadly.
"Too bad, 'Chaos Hunter' is the worst matchup for that!
Chaos Hunter's effect: while she's on the field, your opponent cannot banish cards by any means!"
Chaos Hunter flicked her whip; an invisible field blanketed the arena like an unseen cage. Any dimension-related skills were taboo within it—even BLS couldn't break through.
"I know. But BLS's repertoire is not limited to Dimension Slash."
Kira raised his hand.
"Black Luster Soldier, attack 'Van'Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord'!"
The legendary warrior's blade flashed; the black dragon was cleaved from crown to keel, a long scar appearing before it split in two with a muffled death-cry and left the field.
[The D., LP 2000 → LP 1800]
"At this moment, the other effect BLS inherits from Beginning Knight activates," Kira said. "If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the GY, it can make a second attack this turn."
He turned his sights on the second monster.
"Attack 'Chaos Hunter'!"
BLS swung again; sword-light shattered into a storm of blades that rained upon the Hunter. She cried out and cracked her whip desperately, but the barrage was too dense. Most slipped through her guard—ten thousand blades through the heart. She shattered and left the field as well.
[The D., LP 1800 → LP 1300]
"With Chaos Hunter defeated, the banish lock is gone," Kira said. "Now I activate the other effect BLS gains from Evening Twilight Knight.
Once per turn, during my Main Phase, randomly banish one card from your hand face-down until the end of your next End Phase."
The young Evening Knight's phantom flickered and seemed to flow into BLS's blade. The thrusting sword-light pierced one of The D.'s hand cards; a dimensional vortex opened and sucked the card away.
"Wiping my monsters and even sniping my hand… tch, what a bastard of a knight."
The D. muttered.
"Lastly, I set one card and end my turn."
"My turn. Draw.
Activate 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards."
The D. drew slowly and stared at his hand for a long time,
then slowly raised his head.
Behind the lenses, his pupils had somehow turned dark red, as if dyed in blood.
"Good. Very good… A legendary warrior, is it? Then perfect. This turn—the power of the Ultimate Hero will be unleashed!"
...
2 Bonus chapter at 1000 PS