Summon the Second Pole God here to the field!
Brever had already made up his mind.
Of course, doing this was also very dangerous. After all, even though it was a god, in essence it was still a Synchro Monster. If he summoned his own god, next turn there would likewise be the risk of it being absorbed.
But even so, doing nothing would never lead to victory. Their Twilight of the Gods Team had always fought side by side with their respective gods... no, saying "side by side" was even a bit too understated.
You could say their Card Decks were purely specialized around the Three Pole Gods; all the combat power of their decks was concentrated entirely on the Three Pole Gods. Every card invested into the construction of their main deck had only two functions: either to pave the way for summoning gods, or to support the gods after they appeared.
So if they abandoned the tactic of summoning gods, it was basically equivalent to abandoning the Duel itself; they simply wouldn't even be able to continue fighting.
Even facing an opponent like the Mechanical Emperor, there was no room to back down here. Summoning the Extreme Gods to decide the match head-on, then crushing the opponent—that was the correct answer.
"First I activate the Covering Card Dragan left me, the Trap Card 'Needle Insect's Nest'." Brever said. "I send the top five cards of my Card Deck to the Graveyard."
The top five cards of Brever's Card Deck slid down into the Graveyard in a rustling cascade.
"Then I activate the Magic Card 'Demon's Sanctuary' from my hand to Special Summon a Metal Demon Derivative to the field."
Brever's Magic activated. An Array for summoning unfolded on one side of his D-Wheel, a burst of silver light bloomed, and a small humanoid doll of silver metal appeared on the field.
[Metal Demon Derivative, Attack Power 0]
Brever: "Next I Normal Summon 'Pole Star Spirit - Light Elf' from my hand!"
Brever summoned another Monster. This time, a mass of radiant Starlight emerged from the summoning vortex, the sacred-tinged light gathering into a humanoid shape, molding into an adorable little Elf. This was a Light Elf of Alfheim, the beings of light from Nordic Mythology.
"The effect of 'Pole Star Spirit - Light Elf' activates." Brever said. "When Light Elf is successfully Summoned, I choose 1 Monster other than this card that is face-up on my field.
Then I Special Summon from my hand 1 Monster whose Level is equal to the total of this card's Level and the chosen Monster's Level!" (Original effect)
In the Physical Card, it had been changed to only allow the Special Summon of a Monster from the hand whose Level is lower than or equal to the chosen Monster's Level.
"On your field, other than Light Elf, you only have 'Metal Demon Derivative'." Yugen said. "So the 1-Level Metal Demon Derivative, plus the 4-Level Pole Star Spirit - Light Elf itself, gives a total Level of five."
"Correct." Brever said. "Therefore I can Special Summon a Level Five Monster from my hand.
Come forth, Adjusted Monster 'Pole Star Spirit - Dark Elf'!"
This time it was a red Elf, but compared to Light Elf it didn't look nearly as cute. In myth, Light Elf and Dark Elf both originated from the Ancestral Giant 'Ymir', born respectively from the bright side and the shadowed side. Clearly, in a Pole Star Card Deck, these two sides of the same being—Light and Dark—just happened to function in a mutually supportive relationship.
[Pole Star Spirit - Dark Elf, Attack Power 1400]
"Level Five, Adjusted Monster 'Pole Star Spirit - Dark Elf'; Level Four 'Pole Star Spirit - Light Elf' plus Level One 'Metal Demon Derivative', Star-Tuning!"
[5+4+1=10]
"Capricious god born from the Star Realm, display absolute power before me and sneer at the world! Synchro Summon! Descend, Extreme Divine Emperor Loki!"
The firmament suddenly rang with the brittle crack of shattering glass, and a winding purple fissure appeared out of thin air. First, a strange green mist seeped from the crack, then two enormous hands thrust out. With a ripping sound like fabric being torn—"shraaaap"—the fissure was violently torn open.
Extreme Divine Emperor Loki wriggled out, curled up like a baby struggling free of swaddling. When he fully stretched himself, the shadow he cast directly covered half the battlefield. A godly body a full fifty meters tall was draped in flowing divine robes. The most unsettling part was his grin that stretched all the way to his ears, his mouth curved in a clown-like arc, yet carrying a hint of a schemer's viciousness.
[Extreme Divine Emperor Loki, Attack Power 3300]
Divine might descended once more, and the audience boiled over again. The pompadour-headed commentator's voice rose with excitement: "The Second Pole God! The second god has taken the field!
Even facing the Mechanical Emperor capable of absorbing Synchro power, Brever of the Twilight of the Gods Team still chose not to retreat, persisting in summoning the Extreme Gods to launch a challenge!
But Loki's Attack Power still falls far short of the Mechanical Emperor's. Could it be that Duelist Brever already has a countermeasure ready?"
Brever suddenly shouted: "Battle! Extreme Divine Emperor Loki, attack Machine Emperor Divine Wisdom ∞!"
A dangerous rainbow glint flashed across Loki's right eye. He gracefully lifted his right hand, thumb and index finger extended into a gun shape. At his fingertips, viscous Darkness began to condense, like spilled black ink swirling and compressing in the Void, gradually forming a walnut-sized sphere of absolute black.
Inky Lightning constantly burst from the surface of the sphere, but those bolts did not travel in straight lines; wherever the Lightning passed, space itself was left marred with fracture-like patterns, as if glass had shattered. When the energy reached its critical point, Loki suddenly whistled, and the black sphere shot out in response, carving a spiral vacuum tunnel through the air.
"He's actually taking the initiative to attack with the Extreme God that has the lower Attack Power!" the pompadour-headed commentator said. "As expected, did Duelist Brever have a plan all along?"
"At this moment, I activate the Speed Attack Magic 'Concentration Socket' from my hand!"
Sure enough, Brever revealed his trump card.
"Concentration Socket lets me choose 1 Monster on my field, and at the cost of making all my other Monsters unable to attack this turn, until the end of the turn that Monster's Attack Power increases by its own Defense Power!
And the Monster I choose, of course, is Extreme Divine Emperor Loki!"
[Extreme Divine Emperor Loki, Attack Power 3300 → Attack Power 6300]
"Excellent!" Dragan on the sidelines couldn't help cheering for his teammate. "If we take down Machine Emperor's Divine Wisdom, then next turn Thor will automatically revive, which means my god will be taken back!"
"And that Machine Emperor is probably already that guy's trump card." Harald chuckled softly. "It's indeed a terrifying Monster, but gods aren't so easily defeated."
Loki's bullet of Void tore through the air and struck Divine Wisdom. At the instant of impact, it collapsed into a pinprick of black, then burst outward in concentric waves of spatial ripples. All matter looked as if erased by a rubber, like pencil marks being wiped away, leaving unnatural blanks and fractures.
However, when the Black Hole dissipated and the spatial fluctuations returned to normal, everyone was shocked to see that the white-colored Divine Wisdom still hovered there calmly.
[Yugen, LP5700 → LP5400]
Brever's face changed drastically: "Why?"
"At the moment of that battle, I banished 'Shield Warrior' from my Graveyard." Yugen said. "When Shield Warrior is removed from the Game from the Graveyard, once per use it can prevent a Monster on my field from being destroyed by battle."
Brever's expression froze, and he clenched his teeth. "So you had this as well..."
This was bad.
"What a pity. You couldn't destroy the Mechanical Emperor. So next turn, I'll be taking your god as well." Yugen said with a squinting smile. "Well then, ending your turn?"