Chapter 310: I'm Going to Fuse and Release Your God!
"Synchro Summon! The supreme god who governs heaven, earth, and all divinity!"
"Odin, Father of the Aesir!"
[Odin, Father of the Aesir] [Level 10 / Divine]
[Phantom Divine-Beast / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 4000] [DEF: 3500]
[1 Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters]
On the very first turn of the Riding Duel, with first move in hand, the Emperor had already Synchro Summoned Odin, king of the gods and supreme ruler of Norse mythology, onto his field.
The majestic, divine body of the god-king looked like a towering, sky-scraping idol, nearly filling the entire Riding Duel arena on its own.
Unlike his Light Attribute, Fairy-Type form once turned into a physical card, inside Eden, the three polar gods carried the same treatment they'd had in the anime: Divine Attribute, Phantom Divine-Beast Type, just like the three Egyptian Gods.
Kaiba Chiaki said, startled, "A god with ATK rivaling Obelisk the Tormentor, and it just got Summoned that easily?"
As a loyal Fusion player, Kaiba Chiaki naturally had little experience with Riding Duels built around a Synchro-focused strategy.
But Chiaki's analysis wasn't wrong either. For a god card at that same 4000 ATK level, Summoning one of the three Egyptian Gods required not just drawing the god card itself from the Deck, but also gathering three Tributes and holding onto a Tribute Summon for it.
By comparison, the three polar gods, sitting in the Extra Deck the whole time, were much simpler to Summon, given how freely an Extra Deck could be drawn on at any moment.
Especially with a Deck built specifically around the three polar gods, like the Emperor's, where all he needed was to draw that one card, Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant, to satisfy the conditions for a Synchro Summon of a god.
On a turn where most Riding Duelists, thanks to the rules, couldn't even fully unfold their opening play yet, the Emperor had already managed to Synchro Summon a god card.
This man hadn't ruled the Riding Duel scene for all these years without good reason.
"It's not over yet!" Riding out in front, the Emperor swung his arm out with rising intensity. "The instant the god-king descends, let the horn sound, heralding the end!"
A deep, resonant horn blast, echoing throughout the entire Riding Duel arena, burst out from the Graveyard Zone of the Emperor's D-Wheel Duel Disk.
It came from one of the two cards he'd discarded from his hand as the cost for Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant's effect.
"I activate the effect of the Continuous Trap Card Gjallarhorn from my Graveyard!"
[Gjallarhorn] [Continuous Trap: When a Phantom Divine-Beast monster is successfully Special Summoned, activate by placing this card from your Graveyard face-up in your Spell and Trap Zone. During this turn, the Special Summon of a Phantom Divine-Beast monster cannot be negated.]
The Emperor reached out and pulled the Continuous Trap Card back out of his Graveyard, flinging it down onto his D-Wheel. The horn's blast rang out even more clearly now, like a warning bell tolling before the coming of Ragnarok.
Fiore's voice came through the earpiece. "Sounding the horn on turn one already. Feels like the Emperor's especially fired up today. Be careful, Amano."
Fired up. Surely not because of that trash talk he'd thrown out before the duel started, right?
Was the mighty Riding Emperor, a married man no less, really that deeply in love?
Fiore continued, "If you don't find a way around it, three turns after the horn sounds, this duel is over."
[Gjallarhorn] [During the End Phase of your 3rd turn after this card's activation, banish every monster on your field along with this card, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the combined ATK of those monsters.]
An effect that could banish your own monsters to deal direct damage to your opponent.
And under this duel's 4000-point-level rules, banishing just one 4000-ATK Odin alone would be more than enough to end the duel outright.
"Next, I activate the effect of Nordic Smith Ivaldi from my hand!"
[Activate only while you control a "Polar God" or "Nordic" monster. Special Summon this card from your hand.]
"I Special Summon Ivaldi in Defense Position!"
[Nordic Smith Ivaldi] [Level 4 / EARTH]
[Warrior / Effect]
[ATK: 1500] [DEF: 700]
Ivaldi, the ancestor of the dwarves in Norse mythology, charged along the Riding Duel track, hauling a massive iron hammer.
"When Nordic Smith Ivaldi is successfully Special Summoned, I can choose 1 'Nordic Relic' card from my Deck to add to my hand!"
Special Summoned straight from the hand, and then able to search another card from the Deck right after being Special Summoned.
This was the textbook definition of a perfect extender.
On the very first turn of the Riding Duel, the Emperor hadn't just Synchro Summoned Odin, Father of the Aesir, he'd even squeezed in an extra combo piece on top of it. Compared to everyone else's opening plays, this was operating on a whole different level.
"Finally, I set 2 cards. Turn end!"
The Emperor's god-Summoning opening turn had finally come to an end.
And the instant the Emperor declared his turn over, the countdown marker on Continuous Trap Card Gjallarhorn, representing the ticking clock toward the end, shifted from "3" to "2".
"My turn, draw!"
Speed Counters: 0 to 1
Both players' Speed Counters rose to 1 point at the same time, though 1 Speed Counter wasn't enough to meet the activation condition for most Speed Spells, nor enough to remove 2 Speed Counters to activate a regular Spell Card.
This counted as the disadvantage of having lost the first-move advantage in this Riding Duel.
As Amano Rei's turn began, Fiore's voice came back through the earpiece, dutifully offering up another reminder.
"Amano, the god-king Odin grants all three polar gods resistance to Spell and Trap effects. And their shared trait is that at the End Phase of the turn they're destroyed, they can revive unconditionally straight from the Graveyard. So simply destroying a god accomplishes nothing. Keep that in mind!"
Reviving one of the physical three polar gods required banishing the corresponding "Polar" monster from the Graveyard. But in the anime, no such cost was needed; the original three polar gods just revived directly, free of charge.
Unlike the three Egyptian Gods, which focused on single-card dominance and explosive power, the three polar gods were built for exactly the kind of ultra-long grinding warfare you'd see in a team Riding Duel.
The longer a turn dragged on, the more it favored the endlessly-reviving polar gods.
"Let's see it, Amano Rei!" The Emperor's voice, riding out ahead, carried over. "How are you going to fight against an undying god?"
There was, in fact, a way around it.
If destroying it just let it revive unconditionally, then all he had to do was get rid of it some other way, without destroying it.
Starting his turn, Amano Rei flung a card toward his Duel Disk's Monster Zone.
"When my opponent controls more monsters than I do, I can Special Summon Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous from my hand!"
[Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous] [Level 4 / LIGHT]
[Spellcaster / Effect]
[ATK: 1500] [DEF: 1500]
The hammer-wielding, food-loving saintess materialized and touched down on the Riding Duel track, legs crossing rapidly as she raced along in front of the towering god.
Ecclesia said, "You want me to go up against a god? That seems like kind of a lot to ask."
Amano Rei said, "No, you're just here to lead the way. Time to use that combo I've been holding back until now!"
The instant Amano Rei Summoned Ecclesia mid-ride, he immediately declared her effect.
[Activate during either player's Main Phase by Tributing this card. Special Summon 1 "Sword Spirit" monster or "Fallen of Albaz" from your hand or Deck.]
Ecclesia had never gotten to show off her true potential before now, simply because Amano Rei's Deck had never included Albaz.
But now, he could finally use the Brave Squad's own signature combo!
"I Tribute Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous to Special Summon Fallen of Albaz from my Deck!"
Racing at full speed, Ecclesia dropped the hammer in her hands, pressing her palms together in prayer, the mark on her forehead flaring with light.
The next instant, Fallen of Albaz slid into place on the track, taking over from the now-vanished Ecclesia.
[Fallen of Albaz] [Level 4 / DARK]
[Dragon / Effect]
[ATK: 1800] [DEF: 0]
Descending onto the field, Fallen of Albaz whipped up a storm of ultimate Fusion power, sweeping across the Riding Duel track, closing in relentlessly on the Emperor's own massive image of the god-king.
"When it's successfully Special Summoned, Fallen of Albaz's effect activates!"
[Activate this effect only when this card is Normal or Special Summoned by discarding 1 card from your hand. Include this card among monsters on your field and/or your opponent's field as Fusion Material, and Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster. At this time, you cannot use any other monster on your own field as Fusion Material.]
"Feel the power of ultimate Fusion, Emperor!"
Riding through the Fusion storm at full speed, Amano Rei raised a hand, pointing up at the massive holographic image of the god-king Odin looming in the sky.
"I'm fusing Fallen of Albaz with Odin, Father of the Aesir!"
If destroying the three polar gods just let them come back from the dead endlessly, then he'd clear the field some other way instead.
Fuse your god!
Sending a monster to the Graveyard as Fusion Material didn't count as being destroyed, which meant, of course, there was no reviving from it either.
"What kind of power is this?"
Watching the ultimate Fusion storm bearing down on the god-king, even the Emperor looked genuinely startled.
He could feel it clearly: Amano Rei genuinely meant to Fuse his god away.
"I won't let you get away with this!" The Emperor flipped up his set card in the back row. "I chain to Fallen of Albaz's effect by activating a Trap Card!"
Unlike the true ultimate power of Super Polymerization, which couldn't be chained to, poor Fallen of Albaz, defeated time and time again, once again found itself getting chained.
"Trap Card, Destructive Remedy, activate!"
[Destructive Remedy] [Trap Card: Activate by selecting 1 monster you control. Destroy the selected monster. Gain Life Points equal to the destroyed monster's ATK.]
Similar in effect to that well-known Quick-Play Spell, Mystical Wok, Destructive Remedy, being a Trap Card instead, was much more convenient to use inside a Riding Duel.
Most importantly, Mystical Wok worked by Tributing your own monster, while Destructive Remedy instead worked by "destroying" it.
"I destroy Odin, Father of the Aesir on my field!"
In the anime, the three polar gods, whether destroyed by their own controller or by their opponent, could revive without any cost at all. Which was exactly why the Emperor chose to destroy his own Odin proactively, right before the Fusion could go through.
[Odin, Father of the Aesir, destroyed]
Emperor LP: 4000 to 8000
With Odin destroyed, the Emperor's Life Points immediately shot up to double their original amount.
And Albaz's Fusion storm ground to a halt right then and there.
With Odin, Father of the Aesir gone from the field, only Fallen of Albaz and Nordic Smith Ivaldi remained.
A Level 4 EARTH Warrior-Type monster with 1500 ATK; neither one satisfied Fallen of Albaz's Fusion requirements at all.
Ecclesia said, "Poor Albaz, whiffed again."
I imagine he's used to it by now.
Fiore said with regret, "So close, what a shame!"
Amano Rei kept flinging cards down onto his D-Wheel's Monster Zone. "Since Incredible Ecclesia was Special Summoned, I haven't used my Normal Summon this turn yet. I Normal Summon Shiranui Spectralsword!"
[Shiranui Spectralsword] [Level 2 / FIRE]
[Zombie / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK: 800] [DEF: 0]
The cursed blade Tuner, wreathed in a burning sword-soul, burst instantly into a double ring of Synchro light the moment it touched down on the field.
"I tune Level 2 Tuner Shiranui Spectralsword with Level 4 Fallen of Albaz!"
2 plus 4 equals 6!
"O radiant wings that summon a rain of stars, let the soul ride the wind and journey across the world!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 6, Stardust Charge Warrior!"
[Stardust Charge Warrior] [Level 6 / LIGHT]
[Warrior / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 2000] [DEF: 1300]
[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters]
Rin Seiya's eyes lit up with excitement. "So underclassman has that card too!"
Thanks to his Longing to be Yusei Fudo skill, Amano Rei could freely call on any "Stardust" Synchro Monster from his Extra Deck.
Bearing a pair of blade-shaped wings, the Stardust warrior burst out of a Synchro pillar of blazing flame woven together with stardust, taking flight and charging onto the Speed World track.
"When Stardust Charge Warrior is successfully Synchro Summoned, I can draw 1 more card from my Deck!"
Having refilled his hand thanks to the draw-warrior's effect, Amano Rei declared he was entering this turn's Battle Phase.
"Attacking Nordic Smith Ivaldi with Stardust Charge Warrior!"
"Nebula Vortex Slash!"
Bursting into high-speed combat form mid-Riding Duel, Stardust Charge Warrior's silver blade effortlessly cleaved through Ivaldi, sitting in Defense Position.
[Nordic Smith Ivaldi, destroyed]
"Finally, I set 2 cards. Turn end!"
The instant Amano Rei declared his turn over, radiant light burst forth once more from the Emperor's Graveyard, the god-king's glow surging up toward the sky.
"During the End Phase of the turn it was destroyed, Odin, Father of the Aesir Special Summons itself from my Graveyard, and its effect activates, letting me draw 1 card from my Deck!"
[If this card that exists face-up on the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon it from your Graveyard during the End Phase. When this effect Special Summons this card, you can draw 1 card from your Deck.]
[Odin, Father of the Aesir] [ATK: 4000]
Odin, deliberately destroyed by the Emperor himself, reappeared once again on the Riding Duel track, its towering, dignified god-idol form manifesting anew.
"My turn, draw!"
Speed Counters: 1 to 2
"With 2 or more Speed Counters, I can activate Speed Spell - Angel's Scepter, drawing 2 cards from my Deck, then discarding 1 card."
Having filtered his hand with a little angelic generosity, the Emperor immediately flipped up the Trap Card set in his back row.
"Trap Card, Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir, activate!"
[Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir] [Trap Card: Add 1 monster with "Nordic" in its name from your Deck to your hand.]
A golden pillar of light shot straight up from the ground, illuminating the Emperor's D-Wheel's Deck and guiding out the searched Nordic card.
"I add Nordic Beast Gullinbursti to my hand and Summon it right away!"
[Nordic Beast Gullinbursti] [Level 3 / LIGHT]
[Beast / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK: 300] [DEF: 100]
The golden boar spirit of Norse mythology, tasked with pulling the chief god's chariot, materialized and charged on all fours along the Riding Duel track.
"When Nordic Beast Gullinbursti is successfully Summoned, its effect activates. I can Special Summon 1 more 'Nordic' monster from my hand. I Special Summon Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts!"
[Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts] [Level 3 / EARTH]
[Beast / Effect]
[ATK: 1200] [DEF: 800]
Another divine beast from the myths, also tasked with pulling a chariot, the white goat materialized and charged alongside the golden boar, racing in tandem down the Riding Duel track.
"Next, I activate the effect of Nordic Beast Gullinbursti again. I can add 1 'Nordic' monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I choose to recover Nordic Smith Ivaldi, which was just destroyed, then Special Summon it!"
With a Nordic or Polar God monster on the field, the extender that could Special Summon itself was brought back onto the Emperor's field once more.
[Nordic Smith Ivaldi] [Level 4 / EARTH]
"When Ivaldi is Special Summoned, I search 1 more 'Nordic Relic' card from my Deck into my hand! Now, let my 3 Nordic monsters on the field tune together!"
The golden boar, charging across the track on all fours, let out a roar and leapt high into the air, transforming into a triple ring of divine Synchro light, passing through the bodies of the other two monsters.
"I tune Level 3 Tuner Nordic Beast Gullinbursti with Level 3 Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts and Level 4 Nordic Smith Ivaldi!"
3 plus 3 plus 4 equals 10!
Reaching a divine Level 10, the Emperor's field awakened a second Norse mythology polar god.
"Wayward god born from the starry realm, show us your absolute power, and mock the world before you!"
"Synchro Summon, descend!"
"Loki, Lord of the Aesir!"
[Loki, Lord of the Aesir] [Level 10 / Divine]
[Phantom Divine-Beast / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 3300] [DEF: 3000]
[1 Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters]
Loki, the Norse god of deception and fire, descended onto the track hanging upside down, his massive, phantasmal divine form settling in beside the main god, Odin.
Rin Seiya nudged Kaiba Chiaki in the small of the back with her elbow. "Kaiba, notice a pattern yet?"
Kaiba Chiaki asked, confused, "What pattern?"
Rin Seiya said, "Literally any one of these gods has higher ATK than Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
Kaiba Chiaki shot back, dead serious, "But even all three polar gods combined still end up getting wiped out by True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon."
"What good does that do, though? Even if your Ultimate Dragon wipes them all out in one turn, the three polar gods just revive again by the End Phase anyway."
Kaiba Chiaki said, "Rin Seiya, if you're going to pick a fight with me, you don't need to build up to it first. You're getting more annoying by the day."
Even though the order was the exact reverse of how the gods appeared in the anime, the Emperor was expanding his board at a blistering pace, Synchro Summoning one polar god per turn.
That was far faster than the pace at which Team Ragnarok's own Riding Duel unfolded its gods in the anime.
Having successfully Summoned two polar gods, the Emperor was just about to declare he was entering this turn's Battle Phase.
In his helmet earpiece, Fiore's urgent voice cut in immediately. "Amano, Loki, Lord of the Aesir's effect lets him negate Spell and Trap Cards your opponent activates during the Battle Phase! So if you want to use a set card, make sure you activate it before the battle starts!"
"Yeah, got it!" Amano Rei raised a hand in time, cutting off the Emperor just as he was about to declare entering the Battle Phase. "Before you enter the Battle Phase, I activate my set Trap Card, Emissary of Peace!"
[Emissary of Peace] [Trap Card: During this turn, your monsters cannot be destroyed by battle, and battle damage you take becomes 0.]
This card didn't target the opposing god at all, so it wouldn't get negated by Odin's effect, and activating it before the Battle Phase also avoided any interference from Loki's effect.
Amano Rei's precise anticipation and response genuinely caught the Emperor off guard.
"Amano Rei, seems like you've studied the three polar gods' battle patterns pretty thoroughly."
Amano Rei just smiled and tapped a finger against the side of his helmet, right where the earpiece sat. "Emperor, who do you think's been giving me Riding support here?"
"Don't tell me... Fiore!"
"Correct answer, no prize though."
"You little..."
Amano Rei had a decent memory of the three polar gods' effects from the anime himself, so even without Fiore's supporting reminders, he probably wouldn't have fallen for it anyway.
But he just wanted to see this particular expression on the Emperor's face, that pained, jealous look he couldn't fully let himself express.
If you show it too obviously, your wife from the Nidhogg family might not be too pleased about it.
Nanami Misaki said, "Didn't expect Amano to have a bit of a mean streak in him. Isn't this going a little far, though? Fiore, maybe you should tell him to dial it back a little."
After all, Fiore didn't actually have any particular relationship with Amano Rei, and going too far here could end up hurting Fiore's own reputation instead.
"No, this is exactly what I want!" Fiore said, gritting her teeth, clearly thrilled. "This is exactly what I wanted to see!"
Nanami Misaki's eyes flickered slightly.
Uh oh. Turns out these two were birds of a feather after all.
Two peas in a shady little pod, apparently.
If you really want to use this to get back at your ex-boyfriend this badly, why not just go find a new one already? With looks like Fiore's, finding a boyfriend definitely wouldn't be hard. No need to go dragging someone else's underclassman into it.
Since Amano Rei had activated his Trap Card, Emissary of Peace, before the battle even started, the Emperor simply chose not to declare entering the Battle Phase this turn at all; attacking wouldn't accomplish anything anyway, since it couldn't destroy anything or deal any battle damage.
Not entering the Battle Phase this turn didn't mean the Emperor was just going to swallow this quietly, though.
"I will absolutely not let you win, Amano Rei!"
The Emperor immediately removed the 2 Speed Counters he'd built up, raising the Spell Card in his hand high to activate it.
"I remove 2 Speed Counters to activate the Spell Card Dark Hole, destroying every monster on the field!"
Emperor - Speed Counters: 2 to 0
Dark Hole, representing absolute, indiscriminate destruction, erupted with gravitational force, swallowing the entire field, crushing and destroying Stardust Charge Warrior on Amano Rei's side, along with both of the Emperor's own polar gods.
Having destroyed every monster on the field with a Spell Card's effect, the Emperor then picked out another card from his hand and flung it into his back row.
"I set 1 card. Turn end. And at the End Phase, the destroyed Odin and Loki will both revive from the Graveyard."
Activating Dark Hole to destroy the whole field only actually hurt Amano Rei's own board.
The Emperor's side, by contrast, not only lost nothing at all, but also got to trigger the bonus effects that came with reviving the polar gods from the Graveyard.
"When Odin, Father of the Aesir is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, I draw 1 card from my Deck!"
"When Loki, Lord of the Aesir is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, I can choose 1 Trap Card from my Graveyard and set it again!"
Having enjoyed the effects that came with reviving both gods, at the End Phase, the countdown on the Continuous Trap Card Gjallarhorn in the Emperor's back row shifted from "2" to "1".
Fiore said, "This is really troublesome. Getting your board locked down is bad enough, but now there's only one more turn before the horn goes off."
If the Emperor let the horn activate with both gods still standing on his field, it would deal 7300 points of damage to Amano Rei.
Fiore said, "Amano, you have to find a way to deal with at least one of the polar gods this turn. At minimum, you need to take out Odin."
If he could keep Odin from reviving after it left the field, then Gjallarhorn would only be banishing Loki, and 3300 points of damage was still within a manageable range.
"I'll take care of both gods at once."
Amano Rei raised the card in his hand, a surging tide of flame spreading out from his fingertips, flowing across the Emperor's stretch of the Riding Duel track.
"What kind of flame is this?" The Emperor was stunned to discover that the two polar god cards on his own Duel Disk had somehow caught fire, wrapped in this crimson blaze.
"This is mine! A god's own flame!"
"A god's flame?" Celestia asked, puzzled. "There's a flame belonging to a god besides the sun god?"
Amano Rei, riding at full speed straight toward the Emperor ahead of him, flung the card in his hand forward.
"I'm giving you this monster, this powerhouse of a card!"
"I Tribute your own Odin, Father of the Aesir and Loki, Lord of the Aesir on your field, and Special Summon this card onto your side of the field instead!"
"Molten Demon God!"
Well, by the Chosen of the Gods Alliance's own membership standards, a Molten "Behemoth" technically did have "god" written right there in its name too.
[Molten Demon God] [Level 8 / FIRE]
[Fiend / Effect]
[ATK: 3000] [DEF: 2500]
On the Riding Duel track, the two polar gods' towering, massive divine images burned away entirely in a blaze of superheated molten flame.
In their place stood a monster with ATK rivaling Blue-Eyes White Dragon's own.
Beneath Molten Demon God, a massive iron cage snapped shut around the Emperor's speeding D-Wheel in an instant.
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