"Tch, it's only delaying things by one turn. My advantage hasn't changed..."
Noah had yet to realize the seriousness of the situation.
"Noah, have you forgotten what cards I have in my hand?"
At that moment, Yugi pinched a card between the fingers of his right hand.
"My hand... Ah, right! After a Counter Trap negates an opponent's card, [Pluto Dragon Judgment God] can be Special Summoned from the hand..."
Only after being reminded did Noah recall that Yugi still had a troublesome monster in hand.
By then, Yugi had already placed the card onto his Duel Disk. "By [Pluto Dragon Judgment God]'s own effect, I Special Summon it from my hand once again."
Light burst from the card as the crimson demonic dragon was projected onto the field once more.
[Pluto Dragon Judgment God: ATK 2800]
[Yugi Muto's hand: 1→0]
"And since the card negated this time was a Trap Card, [Pluto Dragon Judgment God] has unlocked a new ability."
Noah was immediately startled when he heard that.
"A new ability!?"
Unease seized Noah for a moment.
Yugi pointed at the angel and replied, "That's right. It doesn't matter which Trap Card was negated, but after negating a Trap Card, [Pluto Dragon Judgment God]'s corresponding effect is triggered. I can destroy one card on your field, and naturally, I choose your Deck Master, [Heavenly King Shina-do]!"
The moment Yugi finished speaking, Pluto Dragon unleashed lightning toward Shina-do.
"Not good!!"
The lightning quickly struck "Noah," causing an explosion.
"Yes! Once his Deck Master is destroyed, that brat will lose unconditionally!"
Seeing that the duel was about to end, everyone grew excited.
"Hmph, don't celebrate too soon. The duel isn't over yet."
At that moment, the President poured cold water over them.
Because he could see that Shina-do's silhouette had not disappeared from within the smoke.
Yugi and the King saw it as well.
Before long, the smoke dispersed, revealing Shina-do standing before everyone completely unharmed.
"That's impossible! [Heavenly King Shina-do] should have been destroyed..."
Jonouchi could not believe what he was seeing.
Of course, something had changed. Yugi and the King had already noticed Noah kneeling at Shina-do's feet.
Yugi then said to Noah, "Your body has separated from [Heavenly King Shina-do]. In other words, [Heavenly King Shina-do] no longer exists as a monster card on the field, correct?"
By then, Noah had already risen to his feet again.
"Tch, you saw through it. As expected of you..."
He admitted Yugi's guess.
He continued, "I was too careless, Yugi. I never thought I would be forced to use even my Deck Master's ultimate ability."
"[Heavenly King Shina-do]'s ultimate ability, 'Cycle of Reincarnation,' applies to a Deck Master that has appeared on the field. When it is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, that destruction can be negated. It then leaves its summoned state and returns to being a Deck Master used outside the field."
"Of course, this effect isn't without a cost. It can no longer be summoned onto the field as a monster."
At this point, all six effects of Noah's Deck Master had been exposed.
"You really are difficult to deal with, Noah."
Even after all that, Noah still had not been defeated. Yugi rarely found himself feeling so troubled.
"That's way too unfair. So many effects... If Yugi hadn't stepped in, we probably wouldn't even know what effects it had."
"Exactly!"
Everyone could not help complaining.
Sure enough, Noah had designed the Deck Master rules purely for his own convenience.
Without those rules, Yugi would probably have won long ago. The battle would not have dragged on until now.
"Finally, I'll Set one monster and Set one card. End turn."
Noah Set one card in his monster zone and one in his back row before ending his turn.
[Noah Kaiba's hand: 2→0]
This time, he did not summon a monster in face-up position. It seemed he also knew that leaving the field empty would be dangerous.
A Boy Lost His Dream
"My turn, draw!"
[Yugi Muto's hand: 0→1]
Yugi directly inserted the card he had drawn into his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card [Curtain of Black Magic]. I pay half my Life Points and Special Summon [Dark Magician] from my Deck!"
[Yugi Muto's hand: 1→0]
[Yugi Muto: LP 1600→800]
A skull draped in a curtain appeared on Yugi's field, and a purple figure then flew out from behind the curtain.
[Dark Magician: ATK 2500]
"To summon [Dark Magician] at a time like this... What a terrifying duelist..."
Seeing the three high-level monsters standing on Yugi's field, Noah's scalp tingled.
After switching Gaia to Attack Position, Yugi entered the Battle Phase without hesitation.
"Battle! I attack your Set card with [Dark Knight Gaia the Fierce Wind]! Spiral Spear Strike!"
Gaia charged forward and pierced Noah's Set card with his spear. The destroyed monster was, naturally, Mermaid Princess.
"At this moment, when [Mermaid Princess] is flipped, I can change the battle position of one face-up monster on your field. I change [Pluto Dragon Judgment God] to Defense Position."
Pluto Dragon was forced into a defensive stance.
[Pluto Dragon Judgment God: DEF 2500]
"But I still have [Dark Magician] to attack you directly. Go, Dark Magic Attack!"
Following Yugi's attack command, Dark Magician fired a magic blast at Noah.
Bang—!!
"Ghn—!"
With an empty field, Noah could only take the attack head-on.
[Noah Kaiba: LP 5700→3200]
"That ends my turn."
Yugi's turn ended once again.
Noah impatiently drew another card.
"My turn!"
[Noah Kaiba's hand: 0→1]
"Hmph..."
This card made the corner of Noah's mouth curl upward.
"I'll use this card to bury your monsters, Yugi Muto!"
As he spoke, he inserted the card into his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card [Deep Impact] from my hand! Destroy all monsters on the field, then halve both players' Life Points!"
[Noah Kaiba's hand: 1→0]
"What!?"
Everyone was shocked by the absurd effect. Why had Noah included so many field-clearing cards?
As Noah activated the card, the sky instantly turned the color of dusk, and countless meteors fell from above.
Bang bang bang—!!!
The continuous explosions blew away every monster on Yugi's field.
[Yugi Muto: LP 800→400]
[Noah Kaiba: LP 3200→1600]
"But that means Noah has no monsters left. As long as you draw a monster with more than 1600 ATK, AIBO, you can..."
The King's words were interrupted halfway by Noah.
"Next, I activate the Trap Card [Earthbound Ritual]. I choose one Spirit monster in my Graveyard and add it to my hand."
"I add [Mermaid Princess] from my Graveyard to my hand and Set it."
Mermaid Princess was Set on Noah's field once more.
King: Forget I said anything...
"My turn ends."
As Noah's turn ended, Swords of Revealing Light disappeared as well.
"My turn, draw!"
[Yugi Muto's hand: 0→1]
Yugi had once again drawn a Spell Card, so he inserted it into his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card [Warrior's Rebirth]."
This card could only be activated by targeting one Warrior-type monster in his Graveyard. Add that Warrior-type monster to his hand.
[Yugi Muto's hand: 1→0]
"Again!?"
Of course Noah knew which monster Yugi was about to retrieve.
"I add [Dark Knight Gaia the Fierce Wind] from my Graveyard to my hand and summon it."
The invincible Gaia took the field once again.
[Dark Knight Gaia the Fierce Wind: ATK 2300]
Noah: How many times has this been? Why is this bastard still haunting me?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Thus, Mermaid Princess was destroyed by Gaia once again. This time, aside from that Continuous Spell, Noah had no cards in hand and no cards on the field. He had truly reached the end of the road, with only the luck of the draw left to rely on.
"My turn ends."
Yugi and Noah had now reached the point where everything came down purely to luck.
"My turn!"
[Noah Kaiba's hand: 0→1]
"Heh heh heh, hahahahaha..."
This card made Noah laugh excitedly.
Yugi and the King grew curious, while their companions began to worry.
"The goddess of victory truly is still on my side..."
Noah slapped the card onto his Duel Disk and said, "I summon the Spirit monster [Inaba White Rabbit] from my hand."
After a flash of light, a white rabbit carrying a mechanical pestle appeared on Noah's field.
[Inaba White Rabbit: ATK 700]
Before you continue