"Continuous Magic - Power of Four!" Youyu swung his arm, and a green card face flipped over in front of him.
Marik instinctively felt on guard: "Another card I've never seen before?"
"Power of Four is a Continuous Magic where if a player has more than four cards in their hand, they must discard down to four," Youyu chuckled.
Marik was completely stunned, his mouth forming an O shape, speechless for a while. (Although it couldn't be seen from his puppet's face.)
"What kind of card is this!?"
Youyu just smiled without speaking.
Didn't see that coming, did you! I even made a card specifically to counter yours!
"Your hand has eighteen cards, Marik!" Youyu pointed at Marik's hand cards, "Now, according to the effect of Power of Four, discard fourteen cards."
Marik gritted his teeth. He glanced down at the large number of cards in his hand and reluctantly chose fourteen cards to send to the graveyard.
The once mighty and arrogant Slifer the Sky Dragon's attack power dropped several times; even the dragon's body seemed to shrink, resembling someone who just completed an arduous task and entered a sage mode.....
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, Attack 18000 → Attack 4000]
Marik gritted his teeth: "...But even so, Slifer's attack is still higher! A divine being isn't something a monster like yours can defeat..."
Youyu smiled: "Well, that might not be certain."
Youyu felt that his fashion sense was about to burst through the roof from using this line for the nth time.
"Last turn, you seemed to think that the card I set was a life-saving trap, right?"
Marik was taken aback, his gaze quickly shifting to the set card at Youyu's feet.
Could it be that it wasn't a trap?
"Of course it's not a trap. This card was set simply because I had seven cards at the end of the last turn, and if I didn't play one on the field, I would have had to discard one."
Saying this, Youyu gently raised his arm.
"I'll show you what card you've been so wary of; it's also the card that will bring this duel to a close. Equip Magic activates, Beloved Hero!"
"Equip Magic!?"
The card in front of Youyu flipped open, revealing a Magic Card. The card image backdrop showed a brightly lit skyscraper, with a flame-winged man standing on top, his back to the moonlight, arms crossed.
"Beloved Hero is an Equip Magic that can only be equipped to a Hero of level 5 or higher. I will equip it to The Shining. Once this card is equipped, during the Battle Phase, I can activate a Field Magic Card from my deck."
As he spoke, Youyu had already drawn a Field Magic from his deck.
I've already said it's purely about heroes, so no need to say which Field Magic is going to be activated, right?
The Field Card zone of the Duel Disc popped out, and Youyu placed the card on it. The device then drew the card into the Duel Disc.
"Field Magic - Skyscraper, activate!"
The ground rumbled, and it seemed as though night had silently descended in the background. A towering steel and concrete building sprang up, like an iron jungle covering the entire field.
Marik gritted his teeth: "It's actually a Field Magic..."
"And when there's Field Magic on the field," Youyu continued, "the Hero Monster equipped with 'Beloved Hero' will have its attack power increased by its defense value!
The Shining's defense is 2100, so now The Shining's attack power is..."
[Elemental Hero The Shining, Attack 3000 → Attack 5100]
Marik was shocked to the core: "At...attack power 5100!?"
To summon a monster with 5100 attack in the face of Slifer's overwhelming suppression?
Is such a thing...really possible?
Marik's gaze towards this youth became increasingly astonished.
Every time he thought he had grasped the depth of this youth, the other seemed to always exceed his expectations, even the supposedly invincible Egyptian God couldn't do anything against him.
This guy...can he even strategize against a god?
[Elemental Hero The Shining, Attack 5100]
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, Attack 4000]
[Marik, LP 1100]
"This marks the finale." Youyu played his last card, "Using the Magic Card 'Quick Attack', the Fusion Monster summoned this turn gains the ability to attack.
The Shining, attack Slifer the Sky Dragon, strike down the god!"
The shining hero leapt forward, transforming into an afterimage, leaving a long trail of light behind him, a scorching path on the retina.
Slifer seemed outraged at being challenged by an inferior monster, roaring defiantly, opening up its mouth to spew forth another unrelenting barrage of superconductive wave shock.
But this time, The Shining easily evaded the shot, spinning nimbly out of the way. The gold beam swept across the ground, leaving behind a scorching, smoking trail.
At this moment, The Shining was already above Slifer's head, hovering high, arms spread wide, glowing with boundless golden light as though about to self-destruct, the glare blinding all who attempted to see...
Boom!!!
An earth-shattering explosion shook the heavens, resembling the sky's lament.
A column of light shot from the ground straight up into the sky, and following the dazzling brightness was a sky-high curtain of smoke, enveloping the entire field.
When the smoke cleared, the massive Egyptian God had vanished from the field, leaving only the radiant hero with crossed arms, descending slowly from the air.
[Marik, LP 1100 → LP 0]
...Won.
Marik Ishtar, Slifer the Sky Dragon, defeated!
The puppet controlled by Marik knelt on the ground, head lowered, and scattered cards in a mess as they fell from the Duel Disc.
With the battle concluded, the pressure of the Egyptian God also dissipated; the spirit, Dark Magician Girl, let out a sigh of relief, her mission of protecting her master at last complete.
She then clenched her little fists and turned to her master, her bright green eyes filled with stars.
"Master, you're really amazing!" she exclaimed, "To think you could defeat a terrifying opponent like the Egyptian God!"
As Youyu walked towards Marik's puppet, he coughed: "It's not exactly that impressive, saying that would be too arrogant. Let's just say moderately impressive, moderately..."
When Youyu approached, the puppet, which had its head bowed, suddenly lifted it, as if reviving one last time, but the golden eye on its forehead had already dimmed significantly.
"I underestimated you again," Marik spoke through the puppet's mouth.
His true body wasn't there, merely controlling the puppet for the duel, so losing had no effect on him personally.
"Since that's the case, Slifer the Sky Dragon will be left with you for now," Marik said, with a slight chuckle, "Of course, if you're capable of commanding it.
I've changed my plans concerning you; you've proven you have the capability to be part of my script, and I won't trouble you anymore...until the advancement stage. After all, I have many other matters to attend to.
I look forward to seeing you in the top eight - although I'm sure it's a given. At that time, we'll have the chance to settle things."
With that, the golden eye vanished, and the puppet fell to the ground with a thud.
Marik was gone.
No surprise really, considering he was acting arrogant before; in such cases, the villain is bound to say something tough to save face, right?
But this Slifer the Sky Dragon...to tell the truth, Youyu didn't really want it.
After all, he's not the Pharaoh, not a Priest, nor a Millennium Item holder; logically, even if he had a Divine Card, he couldn't use it.
Everyone understands the concept of "having a jewel invites trouble," holding such a powerful being without the ability to utilize it only invites unnecessary trouble.
In contrast, Youyu was actually more interested in the animated effects of Revival Jam and Card of Safe Return. He just wondered if the cards in the puppet's deck aside from Slifer the Sky Dragon were real or fake.
A directly garnered Egyptian God Card is likely unusable; if only the system could generously grant one, perhaps then it could be used...
"Ding!"
"System notification, the mission 'The Ghouls' Onslaught' is fully completed!
Hidden Achievement: Defeat the puppet controlled by Marik Ishtar, and destroy 'Slifer the Sky Dragon' during the duel.
Hidden Reward: One copy of Slifer the Sky Dragon. The prize has been sent to the deck; please check."
Youyu: "..."
"!?"
They actually gave it?
Did they just casually hand out something this incredible?