Summoned Skull stared at the [Skull Archfiend of Lightning] in its hand, in a thoroughly foul mood.
Last turn, its opening hand had been practically perfect.
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, a Ritual Spell, a Ritual Monster, and a Graceful Charity to go with them.
If its plays had gone smoothly, the demonic ritual should already have filled half the sky.
Now, Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands was gone, the Ritual Spell had been shoved back into its Deck, Graceful Charity was in the Graveyard, and even the [Summoned Skull] depicting its own true form had been torn apart by two little devils right in front of it.
All it had left in its hand was one Ritual Monster.
To put it nicely, Ritual Monsters required a solemn ritual to descend. To put it bluntly, without a Ritual Spell, they were just high-grade bricks.
Summoned Skull glanced at Yūki's two set cards, then at Silent Magician standing in front of him.
It had originally wanted to turn things around this turn.
Now, it had lowered its expectations to simply being able to play a card normally.
"My turn..."
Summoned Skull pressed its claw against the top of its Deck without drawing right away.
Purple lightning crawled along the Bone Duel Disk, and the wings on its back spread inch by inch.
Thick black mist surged from beneath its feet, carrying an aura of despair that made chests tighten.
Yūki narrowed his eyes.
That power shared the same source as the Puppeteer Who Controls the Dead's, but it was considerably stronger.
Apparently, Antihop was slow to pay his subordinates their wages, but quite generous when handing out dark power.
Summoned Skull abruptly raised its head, the purple flames in its eye sockets trailing two bright streaks.
"Power of the