Slifer the Sky Dragon opened its lower mouth, gathered lightning, then spat a bolt of lightning that engulfed Silent Magician.
An explosion rang out, kicking up a cloud of smoke.
[Yugi Muto: LP 4000→1500]
"Hehehehe, now your ace monster is gone."
"I'll set one final card and end my turn."
Marik said with satisfaction.
[Marik Ishtar's hand: 6→5]
The smoke cleared, revealing Yugi's figure.
"Wha..."
Marik saw the strange smile on Yugi's face.
"During your End Phase, I have something to do. I activate my set card, the Trap Card [Dust Tornado]!"
Activate by targeting 1 Spell/Trap Card on your opponent's field. Destroy that opponent's card. Then, you can set 1 Spell/Trap Card.
"Of course, I'm destroying the card you just set."
Yugi pointed at the set card and shouted as it flipped over.
—[Mirror Force].
A whirlwind then shredded the set card.
Chaos Phantom
"What's so funny?"
Marik asked unhappily as he looked at the smiling Yugi.
"Nothing. I'm just excited because you helped me assemble the combination that can defeat a god."
Yugi spoke confidently.
"Nani!? You said a combination that can defeat a god!?"
Marik froze.
"My turn, draw!"
[Yugi Muto's hand: 6→7]
Yugi put away the card he had just drawn, then pulled out another card from his hand and slapped it onto his Duel Disk.
"First, I summon [Chaos Phantom] from my hand."
A mass of black mist appeared on Yugi's field.
[Chaos Phantom: ATK 0]
Image available here after updating to the latest version.
[Yugi Muto's hand: 7→6]
"Hehehehe, I thought you had some kind of trick, but you only summoned a trash monster with zero attack points."
Marik immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then at this moment, [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s special effect activates: Thunder Force!"
When the opponent Normal Summons, Flip Summons, or Special Summons a monster: reduce that monster's ATK/DEF by 2000 points according to its battle position. If this effect reduces its ATK/DEF to 0, destroy it.
At that moment, Slifer's upper mouth behind Marik fired a sphere of lightning that struck the black mist, scattering it at once.
"Under [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s special ability, no weak monster can exist before me! Hahahaha!"
Marik threw back his head and laughed.
"The power of a God Card really is too strong, AIBO, you..."
The King turned to look at Yugi halfway through his sentence, only to see that he was still smiling calmly.
"Don't worry, Other Me. This was all within my expectations."
Yugi said with great confidence.
"This was all within your expectations!? Were you scared stupid, Yugi? Your monster has already been destroyed. No matter what scheme you have, it's useless."
Marik said disdainfully.
"That's where you're wrong!"
Yugi immediately retorted.
"Nani!?"
Just as Marik was about to say something else, he suddenly saw an unbelievable sight.
The scattered black mist gathered together again.
"Nanda!? Why wasn't [Chaos Phantom] destroyed?"
Marik shouted in confusion.
"Didn't you just say it!? [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s effect destroys monsters after reducing their attack points to zero. But a monster whose original attack is already zero did not have its attack reduced to zero by the god's effect, so it won't be destroyed because of that!"
Yugi explained calmly.
"I see. This is the biggest loophole in [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s effect."
The King understood at once.
"Next comes my counterattack. I activate [Chaos Phantom]'s special effect!"
Once per turn: You can target 1 Effect Monster in your Graveyard; banish that monster, and until the End Phase, this card's name becomes that monster's name, and it gains that monster's original ATK and effects.
"Of course, I'll banish [Silent Magician LV8]."
Yugi took a card from his Graveyard and slipped it into his pocket.
The black mist then transformed into the shape of Silent Magician.
[Chaos Phantom: ATK 0→3500]
"It's not over yet. I activate the Equip Spell [Big Benkei] from my hand and equip it to [Chaos Phantom]."
If your LP are lower than your opponent's, the equipped monster's ATK becomes double its original ATK. If your LP are higher than your opponent's, the equipped monster's ATK becomes half its original ATK.
[Yugi Muto's hand: 6→5]
"Because of [Chaos Phantom]'s own effect, this card's original attack is 3500 points, so this card's attack becomes..."
[Chaos Phantom: ATK 3500→7000]
"Attack... seven thousand..."
Marik was dumbfounded. The trash monster in his eyes had actually soared to 7000 attack points.
"Battle! [Chaos Phantom], attack [Slifer the Sky Dragon]!"
The phantom in Silent Magician's form swung its staff, firing a massive orb of light at Slifer.
Boom—!!
With a violent explosion, Slifer was destroyed outright.
"Battle damage inflicted by [Chaos Phantom] becomes zero, so you didn't take the excess two thousand points of damage."
Yugi said calmly.
"Damn you, Yugi. My invincible god was defeated so easily..."
Marik said unwillingly.
Yugi inserted a card from his hand into his Duel Disk.
"Finally, I'll set two cards and end my turn."
Yugi's back row was suddenly filled.
[Yugi Muto's hand: 5→3]
"Then, during my End Phase, [Chaos Phantom]'s effect ends, and this card's attack returns to normal."
The Silent Magician-shaped phantom turned back into a mass of black mist.
[Chaos Phantom: ATK 7000→0]
Playing with Slifer the Sky Dragon
"My turn, draw!"
[Marik Ishtar's hand: 5→6]
After glancing at the card he had drawn, Marik's heavy mood suddenly improved.
"Hehehehe, although it was beyond my expectations that you could defeat a god, Yugi, your monster's attack has now become zero. I only need one strike to defeat you."
Marik said with a smile, then pulled another card from his hand.
"First, I activate the Continuous Spell [Graceful Charity]!"
Whenever a monster in either player's Graveyard is successfully Special Summoned, draw 3 cards from your Deck.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card [Monster Reborn]."
"Return to life, [Slifer the Sky Dragon]!"
[Marik Ishtar's hand: 6→4]
A pillar of light then shot into the sky from Marik's field, and Slifer's enormous form appeared once more.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon: ATK 4000]
"At this moment, I activate [Graceful Charity]'s effect and draw three cards from my Deck!"
[Marik Ishtar's hand: 4→7] [Slifer the Sky Dragon: ATK 4000→7000]
Yugi pressed a button, flipping over one of his set cards.
"At this moment, I activate the Trap Card [Gathering of Strength]!"
Activate by selecting 1 face-up monster on the field. Equip all Equip Cards on the field to the selected monster. Destroy any Equip Cards with invalid targets.
Image available here after updating to the latest version.
"I equip [Big Benkei] to [Slifer the Sky Dragon], doubling its original attack."
Big Benkei was immediately equipped to Slifer.
"Hehehehe, foolish! Yugi, did you think [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s attack was zero, and that you could use this card to reduce a god's attack to zero...? You're far too naive. The god's true effect is..."
This card's original ATK and DEF become equal to the number of cards in its controller's hand × 1000.
"Therefore, [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s attack is..."
[Slifer the Sky Dragon: ATK 7000→14000]
"Oh no!!"
The King immediately became worried.
"This is the end! Battle! [Slifer the Sky Dragon], attack [Chaos Phantom]! Galactic Spiral Blast!"
Slifer's lower mouth gathered lightning again.
"This is exactly the moment I was waiting for! I activate my set card, the Trap Card [Holy Lance]!"
Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack. Gain LP equal to that attacking monster's ATK.
Image available here after updating to the latest version.
"Since this Trap Card doesn't affect the god, my Trap Card works!"
[Yugi Muto: LP 1500→15500]
"Tch, always playing petty tricks! But this can only let you survive one attack..."
Marik couldn't help clicking his tongue.
Before you continue