Chapter 311: Taking On All Three Polar Gods Solo! The Dignity of the Phantom Gods
"So this counts as a god's flame too?" Celestia looked over at the writhing magma on the track and couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. "Ha ha, that's my fiance for you, always good for a laugh."
"Watch your wording. Ex-fiance," Kaiba Chiaki corrected. "The engagement between you two is already void. All that's left now is a debtor and a creditor."
And Celestia wasn't even planning to actually pay off that debt; at best, she was just a big-chested deadbeat.
Rin Seiya said, "A measly 3000-ATK monster, and you're calling that a god?"
Fiore's excited voice came pouring through the earpiece. "Sure, it's only 3000 ATK, but that monster actually pulled it off! It completely took out both polar gods, in one single move!"
Since it wasn't destruction, but Tribute release instead, even the three polar gods had no way of reviving from this.
Two endlessly-reviving polar gods, both reduced to a single 3000-ATK Molten Demon God.
Beneath his helmet, the color visibly drained from the Emperor's face.
Of course, part of that pale expression was also thanks to Amano Rei's little "psychological warfare" tactic.
Just last turn, he'd riled up the Emperor over Fiore, and this turn, he'd used Molten Demon God to swallow up the Emperor's three polar gods and locked him inside a cage on top of it.
The iron cage projected by Molten Demon God was originally meant as a visual representation of a fixed, per-turn damage effect, forcibly draining the opponent's Life Points.
But that was how it worked in a standing duel. In a Riding Duel, this projected cage actually moved in perfect sync with the D-Wheel's own high speed, making it look for all the world like the Emperor was riding along with a cage strapped right on top of him.
The only catch was that, on the turn Molten Demon God was Special Summoned this way, no Normal Summon could be performed.
With his field still completely empty, Amano Rei had to find some other way to develop his board. Otherwise, sitting on an empty field against ATK on par with Blue-Eyes White Dragon wasn't exactly something to laugh off.
"I remove 2 Speed Counters, activating the Spell Card Magic Fitting Room!"
The core Special Summon engine of Amano Rei's Normal Monster Deck; it was precisely for this card that he'd kept his Deck packed with low-tier filler cards all along.
[Magic Fitting Room] [Spell Card: Pay 800 Life Points. Flip the top 4 cards of your Deck face-up. Among them, Special Summon any Level 3 or lower Normal Monsters. Return the rest to the Deck and shuffle.]
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 3 to 1
Amano Rei LP: 4000 to 3200
Riding at full speed, Amano Rei flipped four cards face-up with one hand in a single motion.
[Elemental HERO Avian]
[Elemental HERO Burstinatrix]
[Elemental HERO Sparkman]
[Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice]
Most of the time, thanks to Amano Rei's incredible luck, he could usually flip up two Special-Summonable filler monsters at once.
This time, his luck was clearly even better. Aside from the Level 4 Sparkman, which couldn't be Special Summoned this way, all three of the other monsters met the condition.
Trading one card for three, Amano Rei pinched all three cards between the fingers of his right hand at once, laying them all out flat across his D-Wheel's Duel Disk in a single motion.
"I Special Summon Avian, Burstinatrix, and Eve!"
Three beams of Summoning light flashed simultaneously beside Amano Rei's D-Wheel, all three monsters materializing and taking flight down the Riding Duel track at once.
[Elemental HERO Avian] [Level 3 / WIND] [ATK: 1000]
[Elemental HERO Burstinatrix] [Level 3 / FIRE] [ATK: 1200]
[Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice] [Level 2 / WATER] [DEF: 2100]
Eve said, "A hero has arrived!"
Did she really think Special Summoning herself sandwiched between two actual HEROes let her claim the title too?
"A hero, huh?" The Emperor, having watched a few of Amano Rei's duels already, was well aware that HERO Fusion counted as one of the mainstay strategies in Amano Rei's Deck. "Too bad. HEROes don't really mesh all that well with Riding Duels."
To actually put a HERO's combat strength to use, there was no getting around Fusion Summoning. And right now, Amano Rei only had 1 Speed Counter left, nowhere near enough to activate a Fusion Spell Card.
"HEROes have this fighting style too. Watch closely, Emperor!"
Of the three monsters he'd just Special Summoned, only Eve didn't actually carry the HERO name. And yet, without question, Eve was the centerpiece of this turn's entire play.
Amano Rei swept his arm out to the side, his fingertips tracing across the monster cards on his D-Wheel's Duel Disk, lighting up an unmistakable burst of Synchro starlight.
"Synchro? How's that possible?" Through the bars of his cage, the Emperor stared at Amano Rei's field in disbelief.
There wasn't a single Tuner monster on the field, and yet somehow, this dazzling Synchro starlight had just burst out anyway.
Could this be that legendary form of Synchro Summoning that supposedly didn't need a Tuner at all?
"I use Level 2 Priestess Who Receives the Star Chalice as a Tuner, tuning it with Level 3 Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!"
The flat-chested girl flying along the Riding Duel track transformed into a double ring of starlight, passing through Burstinatrix's curvy, well-endowed body.
"In the name of the divine child, tune the radiance of the stars!"
"Crossing the boundary of Tuning, connecting the light of hope, become a newborn, shining star!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 5, Star Chalice Divine Child Eve!"
[Star Chalice Divine Child Eve] [Level 5 / WATER]
[Spellcaster / Synchro / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK: 1800] [DEF: 2100]
[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters]
[When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can treat 1 "Star Chalice" Normal Monster you control as a Tuner.]
Bathed in the sacred, tuning radiance of the Star Chalice as she descended, the divine child Eve spread the crystalline light-wings on her back, swooping low to fly alongside Amano Rei's D-Wheel.
"When Star Chalice Divine Child Eve is successfully Synchro Summoned, I can add 1 Star Relic - Star Shield from my Deck to my hand!"
Eve said, "Why is it that even after Synchro-ing with Burstinatrix, my chest didn't get any bigger?"
Even if you Synchro-ed with Celestia herself, I doubt your front-mounted armor would change one bit.
Synchro Summoning could awaken miracles, sure, but not that particular kind.
"Star Chalice Divine Child Eve, is it? Now I remember." The Emperor looked over at the unusually brilliant Synchro starlight on Amano Rei's field.
"I've watched a few of your duels, Amano Rei. That monster seems to show up an awful lot. I take it that's the ace card you put your trust in?"
"An ace? Yeah. Well, not entirely, either."
Eve's significance to Amano Rei's Deck went far beyond something as simple as an ace card. She was the light of hope that had once shone down into the darkness at the bottom of District 32, all those years ago.
She was the one soul card that, no matter how the rest of his Deck changed over time, would never, ever be removed from it.
"Heh. Just as I thought, the young are still hopelessly naive." The Emperor laughed. "Pinning the outcome of a duel on a single, thoroughly average card. That really is the kind of naive thing only a young person would do."
Eve said, "Who's this guy calling average?"
To be fair, Eve's raw strength didn't even reach the level of "average"; at her core, she was just a big-bottomed Normal Monster with no effect whatsoever.
"The battlefield of professional dueling is a cruel place. Against ever-rising levels of dueling strength, the only thing that can actually carry you to victory is a card with real, powerful numbers behind it, not naive faith!"
"Oh? Is that the reason you betrayed your own teammates and married into another family, all just to get your hands on the three polar gods?"
"Fiore told you that? She actually told you something like that?"
"If you don't want people talking about something you've done, maybe don't do it in the first place."
"Fine, I'll admit it. That was the path I once chose in pursuit of power! And that's exactly why I've become the strongest there is now!"
"Then your reign as the strongest ends today, Riding Emperor!"
Amano Rei's fingertips swept across his D-Wheel's Duel Disk's Monster Zone once more, further building and spreading the Synchro starlight born of the Star Chalice.
Star Chalice Divine Child Eve was a Synchro Monster in her own right, but she also carried the "Tuner" property.
"I tune Level 5 Synchro Tuner Star Chalice Divine Child Eve with Level 3 Elemental HERO Avian!"
The five-fold ring of Synchro starlight, sung into being by the divine child's rapid chant, passed through Avian as he soared along the track.
5 plus 3 equals 8!
A Level 8 Synchro Summon, right in Amano Rei's most familiar territory.
If the Emperor were still sitting at a full, untouched 4000 Life Points, Amano Rei would have absolutely gone straight for a Right Crimson Mark Synchro, trying to force a direct kill.
But unfortunately, the Emperor was currently sitting at a doubled 8000 Life Points, so even Synchro Summoning Right Crimson Mark wouldn't accomplish much.
Right now, Amano Rei's most urgent task was simply surviving until Gjallarhorn went off next turn.
"Gathered prayers shall become a newborn shining star of speed, become a road shining with light!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 8, Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon!"
[Shooting Star Dragon] [Level 8 / WIND]
[Dragon / Synchro / Effect]
[ATK: 2500] [DEF: 2000]
[1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters]
Its silver-gleaming dragon body wreathed in wind of acceleration, Shooting Star Dragon materialized and charged onto the track.
"When Shooting Star Dragon is successfully Synchro Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower Tuner monster from my Graveyard. I Special Summon Shiranui Spectralsword!"
[Shiranui Spectralsword] [Level 2 / FIRE / Tuner] [DEF: 0]
As the Tuner cursed blade reappeared on the Riding Duel track once more, light from the Star Chalice in the Graveyard shone toward the Deck slot on Amano Rei's D-Wheel Duel Disk.
"When Synchro Summoned Star Chalice Divine Child Eve goes to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon 1 more 'Star Chalice' monster from my Deck!"
Amano Rei caught the monster card that popped out of his Deck with practiced precision.
"I Special Summon One Drawn In by the Star Chalice, in Attack Position!"
[One Drawn In by the Star Chalice] [Level 4 / EARTH]
[Warrior / Normal]
[ATK: 1800] [DEF: 0]
The spear-wielding wanderer, drawn in by the Star Chalice, materialized and charged down the Riding Duel track.
Even though the combined ATK of all these monsters still didn't add up to Molten Demon God's own 3000 ATK, Amano Rei decided this formation would be what greeted Ragnarok, coming next turn.
"I set 1 more card. Turn end!"
"Is this your last stand, Amano Rei? Then let me bring down the final judgment of the gods on you, using the very monster you handed me."
The turn passed over, and the Emperor drew his card for the turn.
"My turn, draw!"
Speed Counters: 1 to 2
"Before I pass judgment on you, you'll take the damage from Molten Demon God's effect first!"
[Activate during your Standby Phase. You take 1000 damage.]
A mandatory effect during the Standby Phase; the "you" in this effect's text, of course, referred to whichever player controlled Molten Demon God, in this case, the Emperor himself.
Why else would he have locked himself inside that cage?
Scorching magma dripped down from Molten Demon God's massive, writhing body, seeping into the cage around the Emperor's speeding D-Wheel.
Emperor LP: 8000 to 7000
"A minor scratch, nothing more. This turn, the sounding of Gjallarhorn will be this duel's swan song."
At the End Phase of the Emperor's turn this turn, Gjallarhorn's effect would activate, banishing every monster on the Emperor's field and dealing Amano Rei damage equal to their combined ATK.
Originally, the horn's effect was meant to banish Odin, the polar god sitting at 4000 ATK, for the most reliable one-turn kill possible.
The drawback, though, was that any polar god banished this way could no longer revive from the Graveyard.
Back in the 5D's anime, it was exactly this "inside man" quality of Gjallarhorn's effect that had ended up banishing all three otherwise-unkillable, undying polar gods, letting Yusei Fudo pull off his miraculous last-second comeback.
Clearly, the Emperor, the only person who'd ever held all three polar gods himself, had far more experience with this than most. He wasn't about to gamble his entire board of all three polar gods on a double-edged damage effect like that.
In fact, sometimes he wouldn't even need to banish the polar gods at all.
Since Molten Demon God had been Special Summoned by Tribute-releasing the polar gods onto his own field, he might as well use Molten Demon God as his ammunition instead.
"But before that, I'll enter this turn's Battle Phase first!"
With a 3000-ATK advantage sitting right there, why let it go to waste? The Emperor did nothing else, simply declaring he was entering battle.
"Before you enter the Battle Phase, I'm activating Shooting Star Dragon's effect! I release this card, Synchro Summoning Stardust Dragon from my Deck, then performing one more Synchro Summon with the monsters on my field!"
[Stardust Dragon] [DEF: 2000]
The wind of acceleration released and unleashed, the original Stardust Dragon took Shooting Star Dragon's place, flying along the Riding Duel track. At the same time, Amano Rei's Shiranui Spectralsword and One Drawn In by the Star Chalice unfolded into an Accel Synchro during his opponent's own turn.
2 plus 4 equals 6!
"Bathed in the raging surge of Synchro starlight, cleave through the ripples!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 6, Coral Dragon!"
[Coral Dragon] [Level 6 / WATER]
[Dragon / Synchro / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK: 2400] [DEF: 500]
A Synchro dragon of surging water and waves, Coral Dragon materialized in an instant of acceleration on Amano Rei's stretch of the track.
"Because of Shooting Star Dragon's effect, my Stardust Dragon and Coral Dragon on the field won't be affected by any effect my opponent activates this turn!"
"Even without being affected by effects, I can still destroy them through battle!"
The Emperor still insisted on pushing straight into this turn's Battle Phase, immediately ordering Molten Demon God to attack.
"Attacking Coral Dragon, Molten Demon God!"
Compared to Stardust Dragon, which only carried a single negation effect, the Emperor clearly judged Coral Dragon, with its combined Synchro and Tuner properties and its own card-destroying effect, to be the bigger threat, and chose to strike it down first.
The Emperor's raised arm hesitated for just a moment. "What's the name of this attack, anyway?"
Amano Rei: "Joey Wheeler Flame."
The Emperor: "Fire! Joey Wheeler Flame!"
Fiore: "He actually believed that... what an idiot."
Rivaling a strike from Blue-Eyes White Dragon itself, Joey Wheeler Flame erupted from Molten Demon God's massive, writhing, burning body, incinerating Coral Dragon, sitting in Defense Position, on Amano Rei's field.
[Coral Dragon, destroyed]
"When Coral Dragon is sent to the Graveyard, I can draw 1 card from my Deck!"
"Once the Battle Phase ends, I activate last turn's effect from Loki, re-Setting the Trap Card Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir from my Graveyard!"
[Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir] [Trap Card: Add 1 monster with "Nordic" in its name from your Deck to your hand.]
"I add Nordic Beast Gullinbursti from my Deck to my hand, and Normal Summon it right away!"
Gjallarhorn's effect would banish every monster on the Emperor's field at the End Phase, dealing Amano Rei damage equal to their combined ATK.
Molten Demon God's own ATK was 3000, and Amano Rei's remaining Life Points sat at 3200; even if the horn sounded off right now as-is, it wouldn't be quite enough for a direct kill.
Which meant this freshly re-Summoned, charging golden boar was exactly the last piece the Emperor needed to close that gap in ATK.
[Nordic Beast Gullinbursti] [ATK: 300]
Now the combined ATK of every monster on the Emperor's field sat at 3300, already exceeding Amano Rei's remaining Life Points.
"Finally, I activate Nordic Beast Gullinbursti's effect, adding 1 Nordic monster from my Graveyard to my hand, then setting 1 more card."
Even with the numbers already stacked overwhelmingly in his favor, the Emperor still made sure to prepare thoroughly, only turning at the very end toward his own back row, toward Gjallarhorn, flipped face-up and counting down its third and final turn.
"My turn end!"
Fiore said, tense. "Here it comes, Amano!"
The Emperor pointed a single hand skyward. "Sound, Gjallarhorn! Welcome the final hour of Ragnarok, and banish every monster on my field!"
A deep, resonant horn blast, echoing throughout the entire Riding Duel arena, and from the sky above, a massive fireball descended, as if heralding the true end of all things.
[Molten Demon God, banished]
[Nordic Beast Gullinbursti, banished]
"By Gjallarhorn's effect, you take effect damage equal to the combined ATK of 3300!"
"It's over, Amano Rei!"
"Ragnarok, Heaven-Ending Annihilation Flame!"
Amano Rei looked up at the massive fireball plummeting down from the highest point of the sky, symbolizing the ultimate end of the gods, and raised his right hand, flipping up the card set beside his D-Wheel.
"I've been waiting for exactly this, your Ragnarok strike, Emperor!"
"My set Trap Card, activate!"
"Dead Soul Fusion!"
A Trap Card that performed a Fusion Summon by banishing Fusion Materials straight from the Graveyard.
To counter Gjallarhorn's lethal damage, Amano Rei had already made sure to stock his Graveyard in advance with exactly the Fusion Material he'd need to turn Ragnarok back around.
"I banish Shooting Star Dragon and One Drawn In by the Star Chalice from my Graveyard as Fusion Material!"
The Dragon-Type Synchro Monster and the Star Chalice Warrior-Type monster both burst out of the Graveyard Zone on Amano Rei's Duel Disk, crossing paths in flight as they streaked toward the descending flame effect of Ragnarok in the sky above.
"Gathered prayers shall awaken a newborn-wave dragon knight!"
"Taking the form of Fusion, expanding the infinite possibilities of Synchro!"
"Fusion Summon! Wave Dragon Knight!"
[Wave Dragon Knight] [Level 10 / WIND]
[Dragon / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 3200] [DEF: 2000]
[Dragon-Type Synchro Monster + Warrior-Type monster]
Carrying a silver lance across his shoulder, Wave Dragon Knight burst forth from the crossing Fusion of the Stardust dragon and the Star Chalice warrior, spiraling upward to meet the descending fireball of Ragnarok overhead.
"You think this is Ragnarok? Watch me send it right back with Wave Dragon Knight's effect!"
Amano Rei's Fusion trump card, held in reserve against Gjallarhorn's damage effect, wasn't just about weathering the effect damage; he needed to turn the opponent's own damage effect back around and hit the Emperor with a big one of his own.
Recognizing that familiar silhouette from the 5D's anime, Rin Seiya couldn't hold back her excitement. "It's Wave Dragon Knight! So that's how it works, that's the trick! The Emperor's in trouble now!"
Amano Rei raised his arm, pointing skyward, declaring the effect. "This is Wave Dragon Knight's effect!"
[As long as this card exists face-up on the field in Attack Position, any effect damage that would be dealt to you by an opponent's card's effect is instead dealt to your opponent.]
A Continuous Effect that didn't even need to be activated; it simply took hold the moment Wave Dragon Knight took the field.
The Synchro-Fusion dragon, spreading its deep blue wings, alone blocked the massive fireball of Ragnarok, thrusting its lance forward with everything it had, reversing the very cause and effect of victory and defeat in that one strike.
"Take Gjallarhorn's 3300 points of damage yourself, Emperor!"
Ragnarok's fireball was pierced clean through by Wave Dragon Knight's lance, and the resulting shower of scattered, burning starlight rained down entirely onto the Emperor's own field instead.
Emperor LP: 7000 to 3700
Fiore said, "I believed you could survive that, but I never expected you to pull off something on this level!"
Amano Rei had turned Gjallarhorn's own effect back around, dealing the Emperor a massive chunk of damage.
If the Emperor hadn't been greedy about stacking on that extra damage, and if the combined field ATK he'd gathered had ended up even a little higher, he would have been the one to die from it instead.
That single lance thrust, reversing the very end of the world, had the surrounding crowd in the stands nearly leaping to their feet with excitement.
"Th-that's one incredible kid!"
"He actually managed to overpower the Riding Emperor himself."
"Did you notice? That kid's used Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summoning all in this one Riding Duel!"
"Don't forget, he can do Link Summoning too."
"Just what level of monster is this guy?"
Having won his way through the entire New Riding Duel Invitational, Amano Rei's raw skill had already left a deep, unmistakable impression on the tens of thousands of spectators watching.
Holding his own completely against the Emperor himself, without giving an inch.
"My turn, draw!"
The turn passed over, and Amano Rei, still riding at full speed, drew his card.
Speed Counters: 2 to 3
Right now, Amano Rei's field held both Wave Dragon Knight and Stardust Dragon; their combined ATK had already exceeded the Emperor's remaining Life Points.
But the Emperor still had 2 set cards in reserve.
"I activate Wave Dragon Knight's effect!"
[Once per turn, you can banish 1 Dragon-Type Synchro Monster from your Graveyard until the End Phase, treating it as if it were a card with the same name as that monster, gaining the same effect.]
"I banish Coral Dragon from my Graveyard, gaining and activating its same effect!"
[Once per turn, activate by discarding 1 card from your hand and targeting 1 card on your opponent's field. Destroy that card.]
"I discard Star Relic - Star Shield from my hand, destroying the set card farthest to your left!"
Having absorbed Coral Dragon's destruction effect, Wave Dragon Knight thrust his lance toward the unknown card beside the Emperor's D-Wheel.
"I chain to that destruction effect by activating a card!" The Emperor raised a hand, activating his effect. "Continuous Trap Card, Call of the Living Dead!"
[Call of the Living Dead] [Continuous Trap Card: Activate by targeting 1 monster in your Graveyard. Special Summon that monster in Attack Position. When this card leaves the field, destroy that monster. When that monster is destroyed, destroy this card.]
Chaining Call of the Living Dead into activation this way to dodge the destruction effect did, technically, let him Special Summon a monster.
But since Call of the Living Dead would immediately get destroyed right after, its own side effect would end up destroying the revived monster instantly as well.
[Loki, Lord of the Aesir, Special Summoned]
[Loki, Lord of the Aesir, destroyed]
Finesse scratched her head. "Did something just flash by really fast a second ago?"
Kaiba Chiaki frowned. "Damn it. That let a polar god get destroyed once."
Even though the revived monster got destroyed again almost immediately after, the two outcomes were fundamentally different.
Loki, Lord of the Aesir hadn't been sent to the Graveyard by being Tribute-released for Molten Demon God this time; it had been sent to the Graveyard by being destroyed through Call of the Living Dead's own effect.
Being destroyed and sent to the Graveyard meant Loki, Lord of the Aesir would revive on its own, at no cost, at the End Phase of this turn, through its own effect.
"But big brother hasn't attacked yet this turn!" Amano Shio pumped her fist. "If we kill him this turn, there's no reviving after that!"
Crude, but not wrong. A dead man (duelist) couldn't revive a monster.
"Battle!"
Racing along on either side of Amano Rei's high-speed D-Wheel, the two dragons, Stardust Dragon and Wave Dragon Knight, both charged forward together, attacking the Emperor's D-Wheel ahead.
"Set card, activate!"
The Emperor flipped his second set card, and the achingly familiar card face brought the crowd's excited battle cries to an abrupt halt.
Continuous Trap Card, Call of the Living Dead.
"By this effect, I Special Summon Odin, Father of the Aesir in Attack Position!"
[Odin, Father of the Aesir] [ATK: 4000]
The massive, phantom form of the god-king Odin, gripping his divine spear, stood once more on the Riding Duel track. With a 4000-ATK wall, he shut out both Stardust Dragon and Wave Dragon Knight's attacks this turn entirely.
Just as Celestia's Winged Dragon of Ra-focused Deck ran a full three copies of Monster Reborn, why would the Emperor's own three-polar-god Deck ever go without a way to revive a god?
Not only did the Emperor have ways to revive a god from the Graveyard, he naturally wasn't lacking in ways to Special Summon one straight out of the banished zone either.
Only through means like that could the three polar gods truly become unkillable, undying gods in the fullest sense.
"I end this turn's Battle Phase."
With his current field ATK, Amano Rei still couldn't break through the god-king Odin's 4000 ATK.
But looking over the cards left in his hand, and the set card he'd left unused last turn, Amano Rei had another idea forming.
Now that Loki was destroyed, and the Emperor would want to recover his Trap Card, next turn, the Emperor would almost certainly gather all three polar gods together onto the field at once. That would be the perfect opportunity.
"I end my turn!"
"Well then, at the End Phase of your turn, Loki, Lord of the Aesir, destroyed this turn, Special Summons itself from my Graveyard, and I can re-Set 1 Trap Card from my Graveyard."
[Loki, Lord of the Aesir] [ATK: 3300]
"My turn, draw!"
With both gods, Tribute-released for Molten Demon God, now returned to the field, the Emperor began his turn, drawing his card.
Speed Counters: 3 to 4
"I activate the effect of Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir, re-Set through Loki's own effect, adding Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant from my Deck to my hand, then Summoning it right away!"
[Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant] [Level 2 / LIGHT / Tuner] [DEF: 800]
The very Nordic monster that had first guided Odin's descent at the start of the duel had now been Summoned back onto the Emperor's field once more.
Thanks to the polar gods' endless cycle of reviving and recovering resources, the Emperor's hand seemed like it would simply never run dry; that abundant resource pool was the three polar gods' single greatest advantage in a long, drawn-out war of attrition.
"I activate Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant's effect, sending 2 cards from my hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon 2 Level 4 Einherjar Tokens onto my field!"
In the span of a single instant, the Level 10 worth of Synchro Material he needed was gathered, the Valkyrie and her two Einherjar spreading their wings toward the domain of the final polar god's Synchro Summon.
"It's time to bring the final, crushing hammer down on you, Amano Rei!"
2 plus 4 plus 4 equals 10!
"When the gate to the starry realm opens, let the ancient war god raise his hammer, and appear amid thunder that shakes the very earth!"
"Synchro Summon, descend! Thor, Lord of the Aesir!"
[Thor, Lord of the Aesir] [Level 10 / Divine]
[Phantom Divine-Beast / Effect]
[ATK: 3500] [DEF: 2800]
[2 or more non-Tuner monsters]
Amid thunder that even the other gods themselves feared, Thor, the hammer-wielding thunder god of legend, descended onto the field. At last, all three gods stood united on the Emperor's side.
The three towering, colossal phantom images representing the three polar gods completely filled the Riding Duel track from end to end; even from outside the arena itself, you could look up and clearly make out the three gods' silhouettes against the sky.
The bloodthirsty crowd in the surrounding stands roared with excitement.
"It's been so long since we've seen the Emperor Summon all three polar gods at once!"
"This is the strongest sight this arena has seen in years!"
"Crush him with all three gods, Emperor!"
Rin Seiya: "3500 ATK!"
Kaiba Chiaki: "Quiet!"
Fiore said, "Thor's effect absorbs the opponent's monster effects, and when it revives, it deals 800 damage to the opponent. Well, doesn't look like that's going to come into play now."
With all three polar gods standing on the field, and Amano Rei down to just 1 set card, the board was, once again, firmly back under the Emperor's control.
And on top of that, with Odin on the field granting the three polar gods immunity to Spell and Trap effects, no matter how Amano Rei looked at it, there was no realistic way a single set card alone could carry him through this turn's battle.
"It's over, Amano Rei!"
Racing amid the thunderous, overlapping roars of all three gods, the Emperor commanded all three polar gods at once, shouting out his declaration of victory.
"This turn, the three polar gods' attack will bring me my final victory! I declare I'm entering this turn's battle..."
"Too soon, Emperor! I won't let you enter the Battle Phase this turn!"
"You won't let me?!"
"Now it's my god's turn to take the field."
"Your god?"
But this was his own turn. The Emperor's gaze immediately snapped down to Amano Rei's last remaining set card.
With Odin on the field, the three polar gods were immune to Spell and Trap effects, something Fiore had surely already warned Amano Rei about ahead of time.
And once the Battle Phase began, Loki's effect could negate and destroy the activation of any Spell or Trap Card.
Which meant, the only window Amano Rei actually had to activate that set card at all was right now, before the Battle Phase started.
"So that set card really is meant to Summon a god, is it?" The Emperor took all of half a second to work out the answer, seeing straight through Amano Rei's intent.
But it wouldn't matter. The Emperor had already seen both of the gods in Amano Rei's Deck firsthand.
If Amano Rei Summoned Slifer the Sky Dragon, all it would take was Thor, Lord of the Aesir's effect absorbing the Sky Dragon's own effect, and the Sky Dragon would lose its ATK entirely.
If he Summoned Wicked God - Avatar of the God, that would admittedly be a little trickier.
But even against the Wicked God's perpetually-one-point-higher ATK, all the three polar gods needed to do was keep smashing into it and self-destructing over and over, reviving from the Graveyard to trigger their effects each time; the damage alone from Thor's revival effect would be more than enough to finish Amano Rei off.
Both of Amano Rei's gods were countered hard by the three polar gods, and that left the Emperor without the slightest hint of worry.
"Then come on, Amano Rei!"
As the reigning ruler of the entire Riding Duel scene, the Emperor extended the invitation to this final showdown without a shred of hesitation.
"Let me see exactly what kind of divine power you're carrying!"
"You asked for it!"
The corner of Amano Rei's mouth curved into a grin as he flipped up the one and only set card left in his back row.
"I remove 2 Speed Counters, activating a Quick-Play Spell Card!"
Amano Rei - Speed Counters: 4 to 2
"Crossing Souls, activate!"
[Crossing Souls] [Quick-Play Spell Card: Activate only during either player's Main Phase. Perform an Advance Summon of 1 Phantom Divine-Beast monster.]
A support card tied to Celestia's Heir to the Sun God skill, granting access to Egyptian God support.
"An Advance Summon of a Phantom Divine-Beast?" the Emperor said. "The god in your hand needs three Tributes to descend. You don't have enough monsters on your field right now."
Amano Rei's field held only two monsters: Stardust Dragon and Wave Dragon Knight.
"That's plenty!" Amano Rei raised his arm, pointing up at the sky above the Riding Duel arena, at the three towering, dignified, colossal phantom images looming there. "You've got three of your own right there, don't you!"
"This is Crossing Souls's effect!"
[At that time, you can also release monsters your opponent controls in place of monsters you control.]
An Advance Summon of one of the three Egyptian Gods in his hand, performed by releasing monsters straight off the opponent's own field.
Since this counted as a release performed in place of a Tribute for an Advance Summon, even the three polar gods, normally immune to Spell and Trap Card effects, had no way to resist it.
The Emperor: "Again?!"
"I release Odin, Thor, and Loki as the sacrificial Tributes for my god's Advance Summon!"
Surpassing even the thunder that had heralded Thor's own descent, beneath the darkening sky, black storm clouds representing a god's fury churned and boiled in an instant.
Still riding at full speed, Amano Rei raised the crimson god card high amid the raging thunder, channeling the sacrificial power of all three polar gods into it.
Taking on all three polar gods solo, and completing the triple kill! Once released this way, there was no way left to trigger their revival effect!
"With the three polar gods as my Tribute, descend!"
"Camino Summon!"
"Slifer the Sky Dragon!"
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