So, the Boss Monster Can't Have Zero Resistance

Underneath the roars and rumbling that echoed back and forth, shadows completely enveloped Pandemonium.

Beneath the shadows, which seemed impenetrable even to the lightning of the demonic descent, the Evil Dragon lowered its head.

"Five-Headed Dragon (LV12)"

"Attribute: DARK"

"Type: Dragon"

"ATK/5000 DEF/5000"

While it looked impressive, in reality, due to various reasons, no one would ever use it as a main monster.

After all, from today's perspective, even the OCG version, which requires the Fusion of five Dragon-Type monsters, already comes at a considerable cost, let alone this early Ritual version.

When it first debuted, the Five-Headed Dragon not only required a specific Ritual Spell Card to tribute five monsters, but also demanded that the Tributes have different Attributes. Its activation conditions were even stricter than those of "Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan."

In the original story, the Big Five were able to gather the Tributes only by abusing a house rule.

As for now…

"Zero backrow, zero hand cards."

Hades completely cleared all the resources he had gained from his life-shaving strategy, only to bring out this monster that merely looked intimidating.

In a way, this might be an even more significant 'five-for-one' than what Mr. Jaden, the pioneer of Fusion, would do.

But what could be said?

"Witness the might of the Evil Dragon!"

If the person involved thought it was fine, then it must be fine!

"The Five-Headed Dragon is an Evil Dragon summoned by five elements. The balance of the elements prevents it from being destroyed when battling monsters of those five Attributes, and when the Five-Headed Dragon descends, it will unleash an Elemental Burst!"

Elemental Burst

There was indeed such a card, and its normal activation conditions were also extremely strict.

However, if it could truly be activated, its effect was not weak.

It was simply a very direct and crude statement:

"Everything on your field will be destroyed!"

"But I only have one monster and one Set Card on my field…"

"Everything destroyed!"

Under Hades's loud roar, the Evil Dragon flapped its wings.

Its central dark head rose high:

"Yu Ming…"

As the indistinct roar echoed, the surrounding dragon heads accumulated various streams of light.

Ferocious and terrifying, as if it would devour everything.

However, such a catastrophe was not unavoidable.

In fact, it was very simple, requiring only a simple command and action.

"Open Set Card!"

Almost at the very moment the elemental bombardment fell, the prepared Warrior charged forward, the twin blades in his hands seemingly possessing immense power, forcefully tearing through the elemental blast.

"What?!"

Under Hades's astonished gaze, the Warrior of Darkworld wielded his twin blades, plunging them into the very center of the Evil Dragon's main head.

Amidst a roaring wail, the elements began to split and disintegrate, and the shadows over Pandemonium were completely dispelled.

"This… impossible. That Warrior is merely a mercenary from Darkworld. How could he possess such… such power?"

Eventually, his initial shock gradually turned into silence, as he realized his thinking might have been flawed.

In front of him, the Warrior of Darkworld was also on the verge of collapse.

Even though he still stood proudly, the cracks covering his black armor made him disappear from the battlefield.

"Trap Card – 'Crude Man's Counter-Stab'."

Behind him, the Duelist, who had manipulated everything, spoke calmly.

"This card allows me to Tribute one Warrior-Type monster from my field to destroy one card on the field, and when that card is destroyed, I draw one card from my Deck."

"You sacrificed your subordinate's life to take down the Evil Dragon with you, huh…"

"I wouldn't want you to say that. Your Demons aren't exactly free to send, are they?"

At this, Yu Ming scoffed.

"Rather, the reason for this outcome is precisely because the boss monster you chose had no resistance."

"But how could you have such a card at this critical moment?"

"Yeah, I'd like to ask that too. Why indeed?"

In a way, this is a common issue in anime.

Take Seto Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon or the Pharaoh's Dark Magician, for example—these two characters faced virtually no resistance.

What's interesting, though, is that even if there were plenty of cards at the time that could counter them, they rarely showed up when actually dueling these two. The only exception might be Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which occasionally got NTR'd due to some special preferences.

But Hades clearly hadn't reached that level yet. And if you consider the anime's theory of "drawing cards equals destiny"...

"It just means you're not good enough at drawing cards."

"Impossible! I've clearly mastered my own destiny!" Hades roared. "Even though I just awakened on the field, I made no mistakes in casting my spells. Everything is developing exactly as I intended!"

Alright, this guy's going crazy again.

Yu Ming rolled his eyes and placed his hand on his deck. "You have no hand, and your Field Spell Card on the field has no effect that can be activated. You can't make any moves... so it's directly my turn. Any objections?"

"No..."

Buzz

Although Hades might have wanted to object, the indicator light on his Duel Disk had already lit up.

"My turn, draw... Oh, well."

After staring at the card he drew for a long time, he couldn't help but sigh. "You were over there screaming about destiny, and it actually came true."

"What did you say...?"

"I activate the Spell Card—Noble Ritual Art."

A green radiance spread, emitting a towering green light. "I can tribute Normal Monsters from my hand whose combined Levels equal the Level of the monster I Ritual Summon, and Ritual Summon from my Deck."

Immediately, a fierce figure began to materialize.

"I tribute Slaughtering Giant from my hand, a Level 4 monster, and summon this guy from my Deck!"

"From... your Deck?" Hades's eyes widened, as if he'd never heard of such a thing.

But just as he was about to say something, the figure reflected in his crimson eyes almost made him lose the ability to speak.

"Paladin..."

A black knight slowly stepped out, raising his dark cloak.

"Paladin of Dark Dragon!"

Paladin of Dark Dragon (Lv4)
Attribute/Dark
Type/Dragon
ATK/1900 DEF/1200

"Impossible! Why is he here?!" Hades couldn't help but shout when he saw the dark figure. "Besides him, who else could wield the power of the Evil Dragon?!"

He stared intently forward, as if trying to discern something from the knight's face. But hidden behind the visor, only a red glow emanated from the knight's eyes.

"Battle Phase, direct attack."

"Guh..."

Hades LP: 3500 → 1600

The blade, wreathed in black flames, tore through his body, even ripping open the concealing cloak. Only then was the Great Demon's previously hidden form fully exposed. Beneath the seemingly bulky robes, his limbs were shriveled, his horns were long broken, and his chest was covered in cracks.

Though Yu Ming didn't understand all the intricate details, the information conveyed by this appearance was easy to grasp.

"A zombie?"