No one knew who had decided it, but duelists in the underworld all seemed to carry Card of Demise as a powerful means of replenishing their hand.
But when one considered the setting carefully, it was not entirely unreasonable.
After all, there seemed to be only two ways to obtain cards in this hellhole of an underworld:
One was modern independent development:
Representative figure: Noah Kaiba.
Representative works: Mecha Force, Gears.
Although Yu Ming still had no idea how he had managed to build an entire mechanical army from nothing, the results were right there.
The other was the traditional school:
Representative figure: Hades.
Representative work: Demon Deck.
Unlike Noah Kaiba, who built a modern city in a fantasy world, Hades had once been Pluto. Not only was the origin of his deck clear, it was also relatively easy to understand.
For example, his monsters were his army, his subordinates. Their setting appeared to be based on summoning magic, while those Spell Cards and Trap Cards were other spells he had mastered.
After all, in a worldview like this, compared with the serendipity of "gifts from heaven" and the uncontrollable nature of "fate," the meaning of "demise" seemed far more straightforward.
"I offer up my future magical power, along with my ability to use spells, in exchange for the power to cast large quantities of magic right now!"
And so, a card that should have been one of Seto Kaiba's signature cards in the original work had somehow become ridiculously commonplace. After all, this world did not have that many fancy ways to swarm monsters onto the field.
However, this was actually one of the few advantages of this place.
At the very least, in this environment, the virus's effect could be maximized!
"By the effect of Crush Card Virus, I'll inspect your hand."
Purplish-red liquid flowed forth, covering the flames pouring from the guillotine and outlining the contents of the four cards he had drawn.
"Infernal Queen Demon"
"Dark Bishop Demon"
"Sudden Return"
"Foolish Burial"
The virus swept over them, yet did not take a single card away.
When the crimson wind dispersed, Yu Ming saw Hades's smug old face.
"A spell that overdrafts one's life and sacrifices even the future will not be so easily broken by you."
"So you're blaming me for bringing Chess Demons because they're weak?"
"I now activate the burial spell, sending the waiting Demon General Star to the Graveyard. Next, I activate the Fusion spell I set earlier!"
With a sweep of Hades's hand, the Hell Soldier Demon on the field jumped into the vortex without hesitation.
Then, the fifth card in his hand, which had never been revealed, finally showed itself.
"Trick Demon, huh?"
"The demon guided by the humiliation of being devoured by the virus shall awaken the slumbering devil—Necro Duke!"
"Necro Duke (lv6)" "Attribute/Dark" "Type/Fiend" "atk/2000 def/1700"
Well, although it looked like a zombie, it was actually a Fiend Type monster, and a very old-school one at that. Bakura had used this card in the anime, after all.
However, it was not the focus right now.
"When Trick Demon is sent into the abyss, it can cast a spell and bring one Demon to my hand!"
"The third one..."
"And Necro Duke can only show its true value in the Graveyard, so I will strip away its flesh."
And the card capable of doing that was...
"Sudden Return—through this spell, I send Necro Duke into the netherworld and shape its flesh into Summoned Skull!"
"Summoned Skull (lv6)" "Attribute/Dark" "Type/Fiend" "atk/2500 def/1200"
"Necro Duke opens a path in the Graveyard, paying itself as the price by banishing itself, to bring a demon that would normally require a tribute to summon—one Level 4 or above—to my hand."
Naturally, for further plays, he had only one choice:
"Come forth, Demon General Star! Join my forces, then destroy that fragile comrade of yours on the field!"
"Demon General Star (lv6)" "Attribute/Dark" "Type/Fiend" "atk/2500 def/1200"
Bang!
An almost identical demon returned from the grave and appeared on the field, casually destroying its predecessor before stuffing the remains onto the altar of Pandemonium.
"Then, I reshape the remains of Demon General Star in my hand into Shadow Knight Demon."
"Four... no, that makes five already."
Demon General Star stood tall upon the field.
When Yu Ming snapped out of his carefree little game of counting demons, he saw one phantom after another appear behind the powerful demon.
"Shadow Knight Demon, Infernal Queen Demon, Dark Bishop Demon, and Hell Soldier Demon. I now have all four of these cards in my hand."
Hades displayed the cards in his hand one after another.
"I suppose you must be very curious why I had to gather them all."
"No, I'm not curious at all..."
"This is the magic research I have pursued all along, the supreme masterpiece that I was only able to complete after my revival."
Speaking as though no one else were present, Hades took a deep breath.
"I had originally intended to use it to challenge that Holy Knight's rule, and you are the first person to witness its form."
"I've actually seen it already..."
"Now that the ritual preparations are complete, it is time to unveil the trump card I have kept hidden since the beginning."
"Forget it..."
Seeing Hades's obvious excitement, Yu Ming sighed.
No matter what, they had finally reached this point.
"The spell I set at the beginning was—Pre-Preparation of Rites. Now that everything is ready, I shall use it to perform the Evil Dragon Resurrection Ritual!"
Flames burst outward as pale blue fire gradually gathered before Pluto, forming a pentagram.
"Shadow Knight, your life shall become a raging wind!"
Whoosh!
"Infernal Queen, your life shall ignite into blazing fire!"
Boom!
"Dark Bishop, Hell Soldier, your power shall bring me water and earth!"
Before anyone noticed, the four demons had already occupied four points of the pentagram.
Now, only the last one remained...
"Demon General Star, your Dark Power shall guide forth true destruction!"
Boom!
The five elements converged, and an enraged howl rose from the center of the altar.
The violent tremors kicked up a fierce gale, and the swirling sand made Yu Ming rub his eyes.
Clearly, this was a powerful monster. At the very least, it looked incredibly imposing so far.
"O evil dragon that once destroyed the world, cross the five elements and appear upon this battlefield."
So the question was, did Yu-Gi-Oh! have a Ritual Monster with such an absurdly cumbersome summoning process, one that required a five-for-one exchange?
It actually did. At least in the anime, not only did it exist, its name was quite familiar.
"F..."
Staring at the ghostly blue light emerging from the pentagram, Yu Ming narrowed his eyes.
"Five-Headed Dragon!!"
What I've been writing lately really has felt a little off. I had relatives to entertain a few days ago, so I did not have much time to write.
As a result, I was basically writing whatever came to mind. There were quite a few flaws in the structure and details, and as everyone said, the pacing was too dragged out.
I'm already doing my best to adjust my condition, and I'll try to speed things up.
PS: I won't write the Demon archetype again. This damn thing not only has no anime material to reference, it's also painfully boring.
Before you continue