On the other side, the Three Sacred Beasts within Instructor Claire's body felt the magical power radiating from the Dean. They remained silent for a long while before the leader of the Three Sacred Beasts—Raviel—spoke in a harsh tone: "Hmph, anyone can talk big, but in the end, a Duel is all about strength!"
"Hehe, very well!" Alester chuckled twice, then waved his hand with a stern face. "Let's do this!"
"DUEL!!" x2
[Three Sacred Beasts, LP: 4000]
[Alester, LP: 4000]
As the two finished speaking, the Duel Disks' display crystals began flashing the words "First Turn." Perhaps fate had given the Three Sacred Beasts one more chance—this time, they had drawn the first move.
Seeing the words "First Turn" and glancing at the five cards in hand, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, took over Claire's body in place of Raviel. Waving his hand, he declared, "My turn, draw!!"
As the card was drawn, it seemed to trace a crimson flame through the air.
At the same time, behind Instructor Claire, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, let out a sky-shaking roar.
Immediately after, Uria barked, "First, I activate the Spell Card Take Over Five! I send the top five cards of my Deck to the Graveyard."
Five cards were drawn and, after a brief glance, Uria sent them all to the Graveyard.
Then he took four cards from his hand and inserted them into the Duel Disk, shouting, "First, I activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed to draw two cards. Then, I Set three Trap Cards on the field!"
Upon hearing that, Alester slightly raised an eyebrow, while outside the arena, Yuui furrowed his brows and muttered, "So he drew it right from the start, huh? Well, makes sense… if they can't even draw themselves in their own Duel, what kind of spirits would they be?"
Meanwhile, inside the academy building on the second floor, Kexi looked puzzled.
"Why would he deliberately mention that he's setting Trap Cards? Is there some kind of condition?"
Beside him, a second-year student who was also his rival frowned and said, "My family has records about the Three Sacred Beasts. It mentions that the fiery demon among them has something to do with Traps. Could it be that the one controlling Instructor Claire right now is that fiery demon?"
Not only Kexi and that student, but everyone watching was wondering what the Sacred Beast controlling Claire intended to do.
Apart from Alicia, Yuui, and Dean Crowley Alester himself, no one understood what Uria's earlier moves signified.
Even so, that was fine—they would understand soon enough!
Uria drew another card, held it high, and roared, "Watch carefully, Alester! This is my power! I send the three Trap Cards on my field to the Graveyard as Tributes to Special Summon!
"With the flames of Purgatory that burn all creation, come forth—the Fiery Sacred Beast who rules infinite Traps! My avatar—Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!!!"
As the card struck the Duel Disk, the temperature of the entire area suddenly rose. The ground split apart, and crimson fire erupted from the depths of hell itself.
Flames spread in all directions, scorching the ground into charred earth before converging in front of the Three Sacred Beasts, forming a massive, sinister crimson dragon.
This dragon exhaled blazing fire, its body radiating destruction and malice, as though it had crawled straight out of hell to burn the world to ash.
One of the Three Sacred Beasts—Uria, Lord of Searing Flames—descended!
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames] Level 10│FIRE│Pyro│0 ATK
"It can use Trap Cards as Tribute material for its summon, and its Attack is 0? How's that possible!?"
On the academy's first floor, the first-year student Chuck stared in disbelief at the awe-inspiring crimson dragon. A Monster with that kind of presence, yet only 0 Attack?
"If its Attack is only 0, then that must mean it has some sort of overwhelming effect—otherwise, it wouldn't have such terrifying power!"
Right then, Autrys Bredt, the third prince of the Kingdom, arrived with his now self-proclaimed confidant, Carl Owens. Seeing them, Chuck grew tense.
Strangely enough, the pressure these two gave him felt even greater than the Three Sacred Beasts outside, who could kill him at any second.
Though Autrys noticed Chuck's nervousness, he didn't bother to address it. Instead, he spoke quickly: "No matter how this Duel ends, as members of Saint Fusion Academy, we can't just let those so-called Three Sacred Beasts escape and destroy the academy. So I'm gathering people to help.
"Chuck Jed, can I borrow your strength?"
As he spoke, Autrys extended his right hand. Chuck, an ordinary commoner student, hesitated as he looked at that hand.
Meanwhile, on the Duel field outside, Uria roared, "My avatar's effect—my avatar cannot be Normal Summoned. It must be Special Summoned by sending three Trap Cards on my field to the Graveyard! Then, its Attack and Defense become equal to the number of Trap Cards in my Graveyard × 1000!
Including the three I just sent as Tribute, there are now five Trap Cards in my Graveyard, so my avatar's Attack and Defense become 5000!!"
ROARRR!
The crimson dragon on the field let out a thunderous roar, breathing searing flames that turned into blazing clouds covering the arena. Its already fearsome aura grew even more terrifying. The scorched earth beneath it began melting into molten lava from the immense heat radiating off its body.
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, ATK: 0 → 5000│DEF: 0 → 5000]
Outside the arena, Alicia wiped the sweat from her forehead as the Duel field transformed and whispered in her heart toward Yuui.
Alicia: "Yuui-san, is this what you called ordinary power? This is way too much! 5000 Attack and Defense… I've never even heard of such a thing!"
Yuui sighed helplessly. "I told you, back then, their power really did seem average to me. Aside from that one battle, I never even used them.
"At that time, they hadn't yet become true Duel Monster Spirits. To me, their power was practically irrelevant!
"That said, to think that after thousands of years, they've reached this level now.
"Still, if I'm not mistaken, even though they've become real Duel Monster Spirits, their power right now must be very weak. They probably can't use their unique Spells, Traps, or Monsters.
"That being the case, I imagine that former Great Sage shouldn't have much trouble defeating them."
"Really?"
"Not sure. Let's keep watching."
"(￣—￣) stare…"
"Watch the Duel! Stop staring at me!"
Inside the academy, the teachers and students still standing all swallowed hard as they gazed at Uria. During their earlier battle, they couldn't truly feel it, but now, with the Sacred Beast manifesting as a Duel Monster, they finally understood the terror of its presence.
5000 Attack and Defense!
Other than the legendary Five-Headed Dragon, they had never heard of any Monster possessing power on this level. And judging by the effect just mentioned, it was clear that this outrageous number could continue to rise even further.
It was an effect so terrifying that it was difficult to even imagine.
On the first floor of the academy building, Chuck trembled uncontrollably as he felt the overwhelming pressure radiating from Uria.
Nevertheless, in the end, he forcibly suppressed his fear, looked at his still-raised right hand, and grasped it tightly. "I don't know what I can do, but if it's to protect everyone, then I'm willing to give my strength!"
His palm was drenched in sweat, yet Autrys didn't mind in the slightest—he only gripped the boy's hand tighter.
Because from that hand, he could feel the boy's extraordinary courage and unwavering will.
As Autrys looked into the eyes of this boy named Chuck, an inexplicable thought crossed his mind… that perhaps this boy was even more suited to the HERO Deck than that girl he had found so interesting before.
Regardless, now was not the time for such thoughts. After holding Chuck's hand for a moment, Autrys released it and continued, "Then come with me! We need to rally all the teachers and students who are still conscious and able to fight, so that when those three evil Spirits lose, they can't retaliate."
Hearing this, Chuck suddenly blurted out without thinking, "Uh, but… what if the Dean loses?"
Autrys froze for a moment at that question, while Carl's face beside him instantly darkened.
Chuck at once realized what he had just said and hurried to explain himself.
"Um… Your Highness, I just…"
"It's fine. It's normal to have doubts like that. However—"
Before Chuck could finish his explanation, Autrys turned toward the Duel field outside, looking at the elderly man standing firmly before the great dragon, and said softly, "My great-grandfather has never lost."
On the field, Alester looked at the Uria whose mouth spewed crimson flames and malevolent energy—its sheer body heat already altering the terrain itself—and inevitably revealed a murky, strange smile.
He murmured under his breath, "Summoned its true form on the very first turn, huh? And with 5000 Attack and Defense... this will make for some excellent feed."
...
PS: In this novel, the Three Sacred Beasts are not of the Pyro, Thunder, or Fiend Types. In my setting, they belong to the "Phantasm Beast" Type, a category that can rival the "Divine-Beast" Type.
Generally speaking, Phantasm Beasts possess the same resistance to Spells and Traps as Divine-Beasts. However, their resistance to Monster effects comes from their Attribute. The Egyptian Gods, possessing the Divine Attribute, are immune to the effects of Monsters below Level 10. The Three Sacred Beasts, on the other hand, only have normal Attributes, so they cannot negate Monster effects.
...
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