Chapter 153: Full of Determination
Yugi: "I end my turn."
[Yugi: 2900 LP, Hand: 0]
[Queen's Knight] [ATK 1500]
Looking at his own mere 1900 Life Points and Yugi, who had 1000 more than him, Chumley felt no pressure at all. Instead, his heart was filled with immense joy.
"Duel Monsters is so much fun." Placing his fingers on his Deck, Chumley drew a card. He glanced at the card he drew and smiled. "Infinite possibilities, and with them, limitless enjoyment."
"I activate the Spell Card, [Magical Mallet]! The cards in my Hand can't form an equation to defeat you right now, so Yugi, I'm going to change my Hand!" As he spoke, Chumley inserted the two [Ojama] Monsters, [Yata-Garasu], and [Magical Mallet] from his Hand back into his Deck, shuffled, and drew four new cards.
In Chumley's past life, the real-life card game also had [Magical Mallet]. Its effect was to return any number of cards from the Hand to the Deck, shuffle, and then draw the same number of cards. Although it could effectively prevent situations where you were stuck with unplayable cards, it wasn't considered particularly useful.
The card Chumley was using, however, was one with the anime effect that he'd pulled from a Card Pack bought at Grandpa Muto's card shop. Unlike the real-life card, when the anime version of [Magical Mallet] returned cards to the Deck, it wouldn't go to the Graveyard itself but would return to the Deck along with them, making it a considerably better card.
Drawing four new cards, Chumley thought for a moment, then picked one and activated it on the Field: "Spell Card, [Mirage of Nightmare]! During your Standby Phase, Yugi, I can draw cards from my Deck until I have four cards in my Hand."
"Then, I Set two cards and Normal Summon this monster." Having used up his entire Hand, Chumley played his last card. "Come forth, my card of bonds, the symbol of my will, my Soul!"
"[Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight]!!"
Before the Duel began, Chumley had considered it for a long time before finally making up his mind to add [Gaia]—whose card spirit had fallen dormant and lost its seamless connection—to the Deck he would use against Yugi.
Before [Gaia]'s dueling spirit awakened, it had always been in Chumley's Deck as his ace card. Although he had collected more and more powerful cards over time, diminishing [Gaia]'s importance and stripping it of its ace status.
But when facing Yugi, if he didn't include the [Gaia] card, Chumley would always feel like something was missing.
On the high platform, Pegasus's visible right eye narrowed slightly as he thought: *The seal the [Millennium Eye] placed on [Gaia] has actually been broken? Is it the power of the [Millennium Items] he possesses? Or is it just something as ethereal as the bonds with a Duel Monster?*
"It's actually [Gaia]?" Yugi was slightly surprised.
"The effect of [Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight] is that when it's the only monster in my Hand, it can be Normal Summoned without a Tribute." A smile spread across Chumley's face. "When I'm up against you, this is indeed the card I should be using."
"Go, [Gaia]! Show Yugi what you've become!" With a forward wave of his hand, Chumley ordered, "Attack [Queen's Knight]! With your lance, pierce the heavens!"
Astride his wind-swift steed, [Gaia]'s spirit was in a daze. For a very long time prior, he had been deep in slumber within a vast darkness, unable to awaken. He had struggled, he had tried, but everything was to no avail.
Gripping the lance in his hand, [Gaia]'s memory returned to just a moment ago. After sleeping for who knows how long, he had just heard Chumley's voice, heard Chumley calling his name. Then, a golden light, like the warmth of the sun, dispelled the darkness. When he came to his senses, he had reawakened and had already been Summoned to the Field by Chumley.
"Go, [Gaia]!"
"Yes, My Lord."
The taciturn [Gaia] remained silent as always, faithfully carrying out Chumley's command, thrusting his long lance at the [Queen's Knight] blocking his path. However, the sunlight he saw upon awakening was now etched into his heart, filling him with determination.
"Aargh~!"
[Queen's Knight], with 1500 Attack points, had no support from its allies and no cover from Set Cards. It was sent to the Graveyard by [Gaia]'s single lance strike.
[Yugi: 2900 → 2100 → 1800 LP]
His Life Points dropped from the battle damage, but as Yugi looked at the long-unseen [Gaia] on Chumley's Field, he smiled and said to him, "Congratulations, Chumley."
"Mm." Chumley returned the smile. He had also noticed that the card spirit of [Gaia], which had been gone for so long, had reawakened during this Duel—and he had realized it even earlier than Yugi.
When was it? It was probably when he was about to draw, feeling that long-lost, familiar sensation from the top of his Deck.
"I end my turn."
[Chumley: 1900 LP, Hand: 0]
[[Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight]] [ATK 2300]
[[Skull Invitation]] [[Abyssal Talisman]] [[Mirage of Nightmare]] [Set Card] [Set Card]
Yugi: "My turn. I draw."
"Then, during your Standby Phase, the effect of [Mirage of Nightmare] activates." Chumley spoke as Yugi drew his card. "I can replenish my Hand up to 4 cards. Then, during my Standby Phase, I have to Discard the same number of cards I drew."
"You really don't give an inch, do you, Chumley? But even though [Mirage of Nightmare] has that negative effect, I bet you've already prepared an [Emergency Provisions], right?"
Hearing Yugi's words, Chumley scratched his head in embarrassment. *Have I used this combo too many times? Has it become this well-known?* For Yugi to guess one of his Set Cards just from him playing [Mirage of Nightmare]...
Yugi continued, "But Chumley, did you know? Besides its own negative effect, [Mirage of Nightmare] actually has another weakness."
As he spoke, Yugi activated the card he had just drawn: "Spell Card, [Card of Sanctity]! Now that we've battled to this stage, why don't we both replenish our hands?"
Chumley drew two cards with a helpless look on his face, then watched as Yugi smugly drew a full six cards and even fanned them out in his hand. "Indeed, that's a pretty big weakness. The weakness of drawing too many cards, which means I can only get two free cards from your [Card of Sanctity]."
(end of chapter)