But suddenly, the two were caught off guard.
It wasn't the recently set Salamandra with Chain, but another card—
"Trap Card, Frightfur Reborn!"
Frightfur!
Seraph was taken aback.
It was a card from the previous round that hadn't been activated!
"The effect of Frightfur Reborn targets one Edge Imp or [Fluffal] in your Graveyard. Special Summon that Monster. When using this Special Summoned Monster as Fusion Material, it can be used as a [Frightfur] Monster.
I will revive Edge Imp Chain!"
"Ah! I see!" Manjome exclaimed from the side, "No wonder last turn, Tenjo didn't add the second Chain to his Hand Card with Frightfur Patchwork, because the card he set earlier was this one!"
"And—he's activated the Trap!"
"When the card effect is activated, I activate the effect of Magnum the Reliever!" Tenjo Hikari opens his Graveyard, slowly picking up [Polymerization], "Banish Polymerization from the Graveyard, destroy your on-field Darklord Desire!"
Tenjo Hikari pointed at Desire, calm and precise: "Professor, what do you say, are you going to activate the effect of The Sanctified Darklord in your Graveyard?"
This really is... being outsmarted.
Seraph surveyed the scene calmly, knowing he still had a countermeasure.
Red feathers spiraled in the air and then collapsed with a roar.
This time, the red-winged Angel was utterly defeated, unable to revive.
Yet, even faced with such a situation, Seraph remained composed, praising: "As expected of Duel Academy's chief representative, as expected of the GX Tournament Champion... You possess dueling talent beyond my imagination.
However... I also have follow-up methods."
He raised a card: "Spell Card, Pot of Avarice."
"Return the second Darklord Ixchel, Indulged Darklord, Darklord Ukoback, Darklord Amdusc, and Darklord Desire in the Graveyard to the Deck, shuffle, then draw two cards."
Black feathers rose from the Graveyard, merged into his Deck, followed by rapid shuffling, and finally, two cards were drawn.
He placed his hand upon them, suddenly sensing a flash of inspiration, something seemed to shimmer faintly in his mind as he glanced down at the cards, which seemed to radiate a subtle light.
[Apocalypse].
He drew two cards from the Deck, glanced down briefly, then slowly widened his eyes.
This card is—
A multitude of possibilities flashed through his mind, and then he smirked.
"Activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity, draw three cards from the Deck, then discard two of them..."
He leisurely drew three cards from the Deck, seemingly no longer tense, glanced at his Hand Card, and discarded two: "Discard Indulged Darklord and Darklord Uprising."
"Next—activate Ixchel's effect, pay 1000 Life Points, copy the effect of The Sanctified Darklord from the Graveyard."
"I guess nothing else can be done, trying to recover Life Points now?" Manjome sighed with relief. Although The Sanctified Darklord has a non-targeting effect, allowing unrestricted Life Point stealing, it's better than other aspects.
If so, it seems Tenjo can survive another turn.
Despite Tenjo Hikari having fewer Hand Cards and Monsters on the field, he managed to limit Professor Seraph's tactics, so... it should be fine.
Tenjo Hikari furrowed his brow.
What did Professor Seraph draw? Why suddenly activate this effect?
He should know that simply activating it is absolutely useless—but at this point, certainly won't let Professor Seraph use the effect without resistance.
So... it seems he must activate it? Although he can't prevent Professor Seraph from absorbing Life Points, he can cover the attacking Monster on Seraph's field to ensure Magnum the Reliever won't be destroyed by battle.
"Activate Trap Card, Salamandra with Chain, equip this card to the on-field Mirage Swordsman, increasing its ATK by 700 points. Afterward, select one Monster on the field to cover."
"Trap Card... can even cover Monsters, and serve as Fusion in the Graveyard. It's a key Trap in the Flame Swordsman series you favor. But there's a weakness to that card."
?
Tenjo Hikari raised an eyebrow.
"Afterwards, during our Duel, in our lives, in this world, we always face such problems."
Seraph gently tapped his halo, and at that moment, everyone was surprised to find the halo was actually tangible.
"Darklord Superbia can, upon special summoning from the Graveyard, Special Summon one Fairy-Type Monster from the Graveyard. But because its effect is [when], if using Darklord's effect to revive Darklord Contact's effect from the Graveyard, with cards returning to the Deck, it misses Superbia's special summoning opportunity.
Similarly, your Magnum the Reliever possesses potent destruction ability, yet must follow other card effects to activate."
Seraph closed his eyes, saying: "If I could notice things as they occur, if I could choose at critical moments, if I could skip the final chain and directly nullify the initial card effect, wouldn't that be great?"
"But... that's how dueling is." Manjome said in confusion.