"My turn, draw."
Pegasus stood up straight; his expression showed he was completely serious now.
"I activate the Spell Card 'Card of Sanctity'."
Pegasus revealed the card he drew.
"Both players draw until they have six cards in their hands." (Anime Effect)
Both players drew from their Decks.
"Next, I activate the Ritual Spell 'Pre-Preparation of Rites'!" Pegasus said. "Add 1 Ritual Spell from your Deck to your hand, then add 1 Ritual Monster listed on that Ritual Spell from your Deck or GY."
"Rituals?" Joey quickly made a connection. "Masaka (don't tell me)…"
"Precisely that 'Masaka.'"
Pegasus chuckled, pulled out his Deck from the Duel Disk, fanned it in his hand, and quickly picked out a card to add to his hand.
Yes, indeed: as the father of Duel Monsters and President of Industrial Illusions, Pegasus still used an old-style Duel Disk without KaibaCorp's new auto-search and auto-shuffle features.
But Pegasus was always a nostalgic man. In fact, back in the Pyramid of Light movie era, when Duel Disks were already widespread, Pegasus refused to use one and stuck with his old bulky duel field device—earning him Kaiba's "old fossil" jab.
Even his current Duel Disk was something he only recently started using.
"From my Deck, I add the Ritual Spell 'Black Illusion Ritual' and the Ritual Monster 'Relinquished' listed on it to my hand."
"So it's coming… Relinquished?" Joey went on alert.
Relinquished—of course he hadn't forgotten. Back then, it even forced Yugi into a corner and left deep psychological shadows on the young crew—an early NTR demon.
He knew this was Pegasus's ace among aces—something he brought out only against opponents he felt even his Toons could not handle.
"I activate the Ritual Spell 'Black Illusion Ritual'!" Pegasus said. "By tributing monsters from my hand or field with a total Level of 1 or more, I Ritual Summon 'Relinquished' from my hand!
I tribute 'Toon Dark Magician Girl' on my field!"
The Toon spellcaster girl covered her eyes in fear, then was swallowed by roiling darkness.
Green light lanced from the mist of darkness; a colossal, mysterious altar seemed to rise in the void. Sharp claws like blades from the abyss, a massive body set with a single green-glowing eye, like a gaze from another dimension, exuding unspeakable dread.
[Relinquished, ATK 0]
"There it is—Relinquished." Joey grit his teeth. "The monster that once even left Yugi helpless…"
"Hahaha, good—you still remember that fear," Pegasus smiled. "Let me refresh your memory!
Relinquished's effect: once per turn, it can absorb 1 monster your opponent controls as an Equip Card, and gain that monster's ATK and DEF!"
Pegasus swept his hand proudly.
"The crystallization of your friendship—Archfiend Black Skull Dragon—will be mine!"
Relinquished's green eye slowly opened. Then surged an overwhelming darkness, an intangible black fog. Even a monster as strong as Archfiend Black Skull Dragon couldn't resist. Even its inextinguishable flames seemed to dissipate into the dark, until it was completely swallowed and vanished.
When the flames rekindled, they were on the other side of the field.
Archfiend Black Skull Dragon had been absorbed into Relinquished.
[Relinquished, ATK 0 → ATK 3200]
"Oh, look—what a beautiful figure!" Pegasus taunted from on high. "The crystallization of your friendship is impressive indeed."
Joey's mouth twitched.
"Damn you, Pegasus…"
Just you wait—I'll kill you for this.
"Battle." Pegasus smiled. "To die at the hands of your friendship incarnate—consider it a worthy end, Joey Boy.
Relinquished—attack Joey Boy directly!"
Relinquished released another wave of black fog, like invisible strings that manipulated the bound Black Skull Dragon. The dragon, a puppet on strings, mechanically swung its claws; a burning fireball shot straight at Joey.
"But Relinquished only absorbs ATK—it doesn't get monster effects!"
As the fireball was about to hit, flames were reflected clearly in Joey's pupils. At the last split second, he slammed the button for his set backrow.
"I activate my set Trap, 'Nutrient Z'!
When you would take 2000 or more battle damage, during damage calculation: gain 4000 LP!"
[Joey, LP 2000 → 6000]
The erupting flames hit. The quasi-real damage practically blew Joey into the air; he spun several times midair, his body smoking, before crashing to the ground in a heap.
[Joey, LP 6000 → 2800]
With such exaggerated knockback, a normal person would be crippled if not dead.
But as everyone knows, long-time duelists have physiques beyond common sense—let alone a super-soldier like Joey, who once fought barehanded in the Orichalcos debacle against armored Valon.
Blown into a midair spin, he was down for only three seconds before pushing himself up again, even wiping the corner of his mouth.
"Damn you, Pegasus—that really hurt…"
"Good spirit, Joey Boy."
Pegasus smirked playfully.
"You may have improved a lot, but unfortunately, that changes nothing."
Joey frowned.
"What are you getting at?"
"I mean: you're called a legendary duelist, but in truth, you're insignificant."
Pegasus spoke calmly.
"People call you a legend, but when they talk about you, what they really mention is merely 'the first Duel King's closest friend.'"
"But if you strip away that filter, you know very well that you're just a mortal."
Half of Pegasus's face was hidden under his long hair; the other half was shadowed, making him look rather eerie.
"You're an insignificant mortal, repeatedly dragged into the world of the extraordinary by coincidences. But even so, that doesn't make you one of them."
"You've survived battles among gods and demons time and again, but what you relied on was luck. Luck runs out someday. When that day comes, what will you do?"
...
2 Bonus chapters at 1000 PS