The strength of the 'Aleister' engine is something the Three Sacred Beasts, once part of Yuui's card arsenal, naturally know well.
So when Hamon saw Aleister add Invocation to his hand again, his gaze darkened slightly. "A troublesome card. However, even if you activate Invocation again, there are no monsters left in my Graveyard you can use for Fusion!"
"Who told you I'm going to Fusion Summon right now?" Aleister flashed a sly smile and waved his hand. "I activate my Set Trap—Nightmare Archfiends!!
"I Tribute 1 monster I control to Special Summon 3 'Nightmare Archfiends Tokens' to your field in Attack Position.
"I Tribute my avatar, 'Aleister the Invoker,' and Special Summon three 'Nightmare Archfiends Tokens' to your field in Attack Position."
"What!?"
Under Hamon's startled gaze, Aleister's avatar dissolved into motes of light, and three little demons wreathed in emerald-green flames appeared on Hamon's field, cackling shrilly.
[Nightmare Archfiends Token, 2000 ATK] x3
The three screeching fiends danced merrily on Hamon's field, utterly ignoring the deathly glare of the one who commanded it—Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, the 'Phantasm of Ice and Thunder.'
It wasn't that they didn't know whose field they were on, but precisely because he was an archdemon, chaos-loving fiends like them only danced happier… never mind that they'd be destroyed soon.
"The effect of 'Invoked Purgatrio'—it gains 200 Attack for each card on your field! You currently have seven cards, so it gains 1400 Attack!"
[Invoked Purgatrio, ATK: 2300 → 3700]
As Aleister's grating voice sounded, Hamon glanced over only to see the old man smiling back. "And Purgatrio has another effect: it can attack each of your monsters once. Also, each 'Nightmare Archfiends Token' Special Summoned by that Trap inflicts 800 effect damage to you when destroyed!"
"Sigh… in that case, destroying the first Token deals 1700 plus 800—that's 2500 damage. The second is 1500 plus 800—2300 damage! Together that's 4800 damage—enough to defeat them!"
Alicia counted on her fingers and looked up at the old man in surprise. She hadn't expected the Dean to go straight for game the moment he moved… amazing!
Those in the academy building reached the same conclusion, and joy lit their faces at once.
"Who'd have thought the Dean could do this much with just one 'Invoked'... so strong!"
"See, Sacred Beasts? This is Saint Fusion Academy's power—strength far beyond you wretched fiends!"
"Going for an OTK the instant he acts… worthy of the Dean!"
However, while everyone was smiling, neither Yuui beside Alicia nor Aleister on the field shared their joy. At the same time, Hamon cast a cold glance at the cheering students and teachers.
"Hmph, ignorant humans! Allow me to show you my might! One of my avatar's effects—'Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder': while it's in Defense Position on the field, your monsters cannot choose any target for attacks other than this card."
ROAR!!
Hamon bellowed, and all three fire-wreathed demons on Aleister's field fixed their murderous gazes upon him.
"And when my avatar is in Defense Position, during any turn it is destroyed, all damage I would take becomes 0." Hamon turned to Aleister and said coldly, "So no matter how high your monster's Attack becomes, you cannot break my defense. You won't deal me a single point of damage!"
His words doused the onlookers like a bucket of ice water; their smiles faded again.
Alicia instantly looked to Yuui. He nodded grimly.
Indeed, among the Three Sacred Beasts, Hamon excelled most at defense—negating Spells and Traps, nullifying battle damage, nullifying effect damage; all were part of his bulwark.
In such a state, trying to damage a defending Hamon was nothing short of a pipe dream.
Still, as long as a Duel Monster's effect exists, there's always a way around it.
Thus, when Hamon declared his effects, Aleister didn't grow despondent like the spectators. He kept smiling. "It's certainly strong. But… it isn't without a loophole!"
"What!?" Hamon's brow furrowed, a hint of anger in his voice. "If you think you can break my defense, show me your power, Aleister!!"
"Gladly! I'll show you just how fragile your power is!" Aleister played the key card of his Deck once more—Invocation!
"I activate the Spell Card 'Invocation'!!"
A pale-blue magic array unfolded in the sky. Seeing it, Yuui narrowed his eyes, then widened them in surprise. ''Could it be he intends to summon 'Raidjin'?''
Alicia glanced at Yuui, puzzled. "Yuui-san, what is 'Raidjin'?"
"It's another Invoked… and the monster that can break the deadlock right now." Yuui watched Aleister's back and murmured, "This guy really isn't simple… he found the solution so quickly."
Aleister's lips curled. "Invocation's effect—when Fusion Summoning an 'Invoked' monster, I can banish monsters from my field or from either Graveyard as material.
"I banish 'Aleister the Invoker' and 'Elementsaber Makani' from the Graveyard to Fusion Summon! Fusion materials: 'Aleister the Invoker' plus 1 WIND monster!!"
Hearing those materials, Yuui thought, 'As expected.'
To bypass Hamon's effect and still push for game this turn, Hamon's effects had to be made inapplicable. But since Hamon's "damage to 0 when destroyed in Defense" triggers upon being destroyed and couldn't be preempted here—and Aleister had no monster to negate it—there remained only one method still valid when Spells/Traps couldn't affect Hamon.
Cover him up.
At Aleister's command, the young 'Aleister' and a purple-haired girl in gold-and-green armor wielding a single-edged short sword rose as streaks of light from the Graveyard and flew into the array.
Gales howled, clouds pressed low, and golden lightning flickered in the heavens.
"O knight who bears the sword of thunder, heed the wind-maiden's call—descend! Fusion Summon—appear, Invoked Raidjin!!"
BOOM!!
Thunder roared. Amid peals so loud they made everyone cover their ears, golden lightning crashed onto Aleister's field.
When the light faded, a golden short sword stood planted in the ground. A warrior clad in lavish silver-white armor—with the 'Invoked' sigil upon his right arm—appeared and drew it forth.
Dazzling golden electricity erupted from the blade, weaving an indomitable edge that made all monsters tremble before it.
Invoked Raidjin—descends!!
[Invoked Raidjin, ATK: 2200]
Seeing a new Invoked appear, Hamon scowled. He didn't believe Aleister would act pointlessly; this monster had to possess a special power—one that could overturn the current situation.
Inside the academy, no one cheered this time. After so many reversals, they understood that a Duel at this level was beyond their judgment.
Outside, Yuui's eyes shifted to the final Set in Hamon's back row. Would that card let him escape?
The silver-armored knight stood resolute beside the three fire demons. The smiling one among them waved; the knight nodded back.
Then everyone finally learned what power this knight commanded.
Aleister raised his hand. "Invoked Raidjin's effect—once per turn, target 1 face-up monster on the field; change it to face-down Defense Position.
"I target your 'Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder'—turn it face-down! Judgment Blade!!"
"Tch. So he really found a way."
Hamon clicked his tongue. He knew his own weakness… he just hadn't expected Aleister to find it so fast.
Raidjin lifted his thunderblade; a golden bolt lanced into the clouds, and seven lightning-forged swords rained down upon Hamon.
As the Phantasm ruling over Ice and Thunder, Hamon raged at a mere monster daring to wield lightning against him. But the difference between the Sacred Beasts and the Egyptian Gods was their lack of resistance to monster effects—so even a Level 5 monster could affect a Level 10 apex Duel Monster like him.
The seven blades pinned Hamon, and in an instant he was forced face-down into Defense Position.
[Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder → Face-down Defense | DEF: 4000]
With Hamon face-down, his taunt-like restriction vanished, and Aleister's monsters could finally choose other targets.
"In that case, Hamon's effect no longer applies!" Aleister swept his hand. "Finish it—Purgatrio, attack all three 'Nightmare Archfiends Tokens'! Infernal Purgatory Dance!!"
As the three demons lunged, everyone thought the Duel would end—until Hamon's cold laugh cut through the air.
"Hmph. You certainly prepared a lot for this attack."
A crushing gravity net blanketed the field. Every monster, Aleister's and Hamon's alike, was slammed to the ground, unable to move.
Shock rippled through the crowd as their eyes fell to Hamon's last card in the back row.
"Continuous Trap—Gravity Bind. While it's face-up, Level 4 or higher monsters cannot attack!"
From on high, Hamon looked down upon the kneeling monsters, unable to rise.
"I told you—my defense is absolute! Trash like you won't so much as scratch me! Now, Aleister, do you still think you can break through my defense?"
Aleister stared at Hamon in silence for a long time.
He hadn't expected that even with such caution, Hamon would flip the situation with a single card.
Truly worthy of the 'Three Sacred Beasts.'
Even so weakened, their skill as Duelists remained at the pinnacle of the world.
"Sigh… you really are a headache for an old man."
Aleister raked a hand through his gray-white hair, eyes turning feral. "To think you'd force me to get serious in this state… Now I'm getting irritated."
...
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