"You've actually broken the World Lock, impressive. It seems your destiny isn't just a paper tiger after all."
Yugen said.
"Well then, it's going to be trouble for me if you attack next turn.
So I shall use the Magic Card 'Offering to the Dead'. By discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy any monster on the field."
Yugen sent a card from his hand to the graveyard and showcased the Magic Card. Golden light burst forth from the card, white bandages extended like tendrils from the card and tightly bound the demon on Saio's field.
"Destroy 'Secret Ceremony Power 15 - Demon'."
The demon was instantly mummified, letting out a strange cry, and then exploded into a fireball, disappearing from the field.
Saio looked at the blasted fragments in front of him and mumbled something indistinctly, though it seemed to be cursing, probably not saying anything good.
"Although during the end phase I could special summon 'Sacrificial Lotus' from the graveyard, summoning it in attack position through its effect would be silly.
So I will not activate 'Sacrificial Lotus's effect, keeping 'Yellow Springs Frog' in defense position, and finally, I set a Covering Card to end the turn."
"My turn, draw card."
Saio drew a card, then glanced at the Fool on his field, gritting his teeth, seemingly finding it more and more of an eyesore.
This cursed thing, 0 attack and can't be battle destroyed nor switch to defense. Although he managed to break the World Lock, the cost was his Life Points dwindled.
Which means now the opponent can just bring out a monster with 900 or more attack power, ignoring all other monsters and setups on the field, attack the Fool just once, and his fate would be sealed.
Dying like this would be too dumb.
Saio clenched his teeth.
But after all, it's his Secret Ceremony Power, his monster, he has to accept it even grudgingly.
"Activate the Magic Card 'Celestial Treasure Scroll'. Both players draw until each has six cards in hand." (Original effect)
Saio replenished his hand to six cards.
He hopes that the drawn cards can provide a chance to break free from this predicament.
However, the duel has already reached this level, as the Destiny Warrior, as long as there's a chance to draw cards, there is a way out. Saio's draw didn't disappoint him, his lips curling into a smile immediately afterward.
"Hehe...hahaha, the goddess of fate is indeed on my side."
Saio raised his head, the field zone on the one side of the Duel Disc opened up.
"Now I'll activate the field of light, releasing its full power—
—Field Spell 'Light Barrier' activates!"
A beam of white light shot upwards, quickly expanding until it covered the entire field. The endless white light formed a transparent barrier, even the background and sky seemed dyed pure white, filled with dazzling light without the slightest flaw.
"In the field of Light Barrier, all monsters with 'Secret Ceremony Power' in their names summoned onto the field can freely choose their position without rotating the card!"
Although at first glance, this effect seems redundant for Saio, because he originally seems able to freely choose all card positions, the existence of this field actually is his proof of confidence in his destiny.
In fact, it was indeed so. Although in the animation, Saio previously in duels against Chazz, Ed, and even pre-play against Judai, consistent effects were freely chosen, during the last pivotal card spin in the duel against Judai, he faltered.
This proves that Saio's so-called destiny can still have accidents. Even if choosing card positions is his superpower, when facing opponents with exceptionally strong Destiny Powers, like Yuki Judai, there's still a small chance of mistakes.
In expert matches, even a single mistake can result in losing the entire match. Light Barrier exists to completely block that possibility.
"Next, activate the Magic Card 'Revive the Dead', resurrecting a monster from the graveyard."
A huge revive symbol floated above Saio's field, and then even the revive mark seemed assimilated into the background light, turning pure white.
From it appeared a sinister demon wielding scythe-tipped tendrils, its twisted form with three eyes filled with malice.
"Secret Ceremony Power 15 - Demon, Revive from the graveyard!"
[Secret Ceremony Power 15 - Demon, Attack Power 2500]
"Originally, Secret Ceremony Power required spinning the card to determine the effect when summoned, but with Light Barrier's effect, it's unnecessary, and I can freely choose the effect position.
The effect I'm choosing, of course, is the demon's correct position effect!"
The demon's card directly stopped at the correct position.
"Although the Fool is on my field, the Fool's effect is 'when the opponent activates a coin flip effect, the position is chosen freely by the opponent'.
In other words, you can only decide the position when dealing with coin flip effects, but you can't interfere with my Secret Ceremony effects."
Saio said.
Yugen nodded. "I know."
"Then it's time for battle! With 'Secret Ceremony Power 15 - Demon', attack 'Yellow Springs Frog'!"
The demon's tendrils swung, once again honing straight towards Yugen's location.
"The demon's correct position effect when attacking allows choosing a monster on the field to destroy." Saio said. "Destroy your 'Yellow Springs Frog'!"
With a boom, the Yellow Springs Frog exploded into pieces.
"Now that there's no defense on your field, direct attack with the demon!"
The scythe-tipped tendrils slashed out. Yugen raised his hand, a Cover Card flipped over in his backfield.
"Then activating the Cover Card, Trap Card 'Security Ball'. When the opponent declares an attack, change the monster's position.
Secret Ceremony Power 15 - Demon changes to defense position."
[Secret Ceremony Power 15 - Demon, Attack Power 2500→Defense Power 2500]
The demon's swinging scythe froze, its attack halted abruptly, forced into a defensive posture.
"Tch, blocked by such a little trick again."
Saio grumbled.
"No matter, it'll let you survive another turn."
Saying this, he drew three cards from his hand.
"Set three Covering Cards to the backfield, ending the turn."
"Three Cover Cards..."
Mizuchi glanced at the three covered cards in the backfield, along with Saio's confident demeanor, thoughts racing.
With only 900 Life Points and the Fool unable to change to defense, basically dying at the slightest touch, logically, dragging another turn makes him more dangerous. Yet he now seems incredibly confident.
So, there must be strategies to counter his setup.
Mizuchi looked at Yugen again, remained silent, only praying in her heart, placing all hopes on him.
```