As the dust settled, everyone looked toward the old man still standing tall. The place where he stood was like a pillar rising from the depths of an abyss—there was nowhere else to go, yet his mere presence brought everyone a sense of calm.
His once pristine white robe was now speckled with dust, and his usually well-groomed beard had become disheveled.
Regardless, instead of weakening, the aura around the old man only grew stronger.
[Aleister, LP: 4000 → 2200]
[Invoked Purgatrio, ATK: 3700 → 3300]
"Hmph. No matter how defiant you sound, it doesn't change the fact that right now, you can't even attack!" Raviel said coldly, waving a hand. "Cherish this final turn, Aleister! We Sacred Beasts keep our word—when this duel ends, we'll depart as promised.
End turn!"
"Leave? Don't make me laugh!" Aleister narrowed his eyes, the killing intent within them blazing. "My turn! Draw!!"
He drew a card, glanced at it briefly, then raised his hand. "I Normal Summon once again—Aleister the Invoker!"
[Aleister the Invoker, ATK: 1000]
"Now, my avatar Raviel, Lord of Phantasms's effect activates!" Raviel's voice was cold. "When your opponent Normal, Flip, or Special Summons a monster, you can Special Summon the same number of Phantasm Tokens to your field!"
A small replica of Raviel appeared on the field.
[Phantasm Token, DEF: 1000]
Aleister arched a brow at the new arrival. "Then, according to Invoked Purgatrio's effect, its Attack increases by another 200!"
[Invoked Purgatrio, ATK: 3300 → 3500]
"Next, Aleister the Invoker's effect activates! When this card is Summoned, I can add one Invocation from my Deck to my hand!"
Seeing Aleister retrieve Invocation once again, Raviel's brow furrowed slightly.
Though he still had Cerulean Skyfire on the field—a card capable of negating Spell and Trap effects—it could only be used when Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, was in face-up Attack Position.
Right now, Hamon was still face-down in Defense Position, meaning Raviel couldn't stop the effect of Invocation. And there were several Invoked monsters whose appearance could be quite troublesome for him.
Meanwhile, after adding Invocation to his hand, Aleister played another card that surprised some of the onlookers.
"Next, I activate the Spellbook of Knowledge! I send one Spellbook card other than this one, or one Spellcaster monster from my hand or field to the Graveyard, to draw two cards from my Deck.
"I send Aleister the Invoker from my field to the Graveyard to draw two cards!"
A red-and-blue tome appeared on the field, swallowing Aleister the Invoker before vanishing. Then Aleister drew two new cards.
Yuui, watching from the sidelines, raised an eyebrow. "The Aleister archetype, the Kaiju archetype, the Elemental HERO archetype... and now the Spellbook archetype too. This deck's a total hybrid!
"That said, it's normal at this level of play. A Duelist's deck is part of themselves—sometimes, the more varied it is, the stronger it becomes."
On the field, Aleister drew his two new cards, then slid one into his Duel Disk. "I activate the Spell Card Triple Tactics Talent! Since you activated a monster effect during my Main Phase, I can choose one of three effects: draw two cards, take control of one monster you control until the End Phase, or look at your hand and shuffle one card back into your Deck.
"I choose the first effect—draw two cards!"
After drawing again, Aleister's lips curved into a faint smile as he looked at Raviel across the field.
"Speaking of which, the flavor of your brother Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, wasn't bad at all. I wonder how you two compare!"
Such a statement could easily be taken the wrong way, and Raviel's face darkened instantly, while the students of Saint Fusion Academy once again broke into excited laughter.
Aleister ignored them and raised his hand. "I activate the Spell Card Monster Reincarnation! By discarding one card, I can target one monster in my Graveyard and add it to my hand.
"I discard one card to return Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju from my Graveyard to my hand!"
The translucent, blue-gray form of a massive sea turtle roared behind Aleister, earning cheers from the watching crowd.
By now, everyone knew just how powerful this deceptively cute creature was—it could completely turn the tide of battle in an instant.
All that remained was to see which Sacred Beast their Headmaster would choose to feed to Gameciel this time.
"Yuui-san, who do you think the Headmaster will feed to Gameciel?" Alicia's flushed face betrayed her excitement, though she tried to steady her voice.
Yuui glanced at the field and replied softly, "The best choice would be the face-down Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder. That Continuous Spell, Cerulean Skyfire, has another effect: when any of the Three Sacred Beasts are sent from face-up position to the Graveyard, their controller takes no damage for the rest of that turn."
"Wha—Σ(ﾟдﾟlll) That card has another effect like that?!"
Alicia stared in disbelief at Cerulean Skyfire, which had only activated once so far. She'd thought its ability to negate Spell and Trap effects once per turn was already broken—she never imagined it could also make its controller immune to damage.
"That's totally overpowered!"
Yuui patted her on the head. "Never underestimate the Sacred Beasts. Both Hyper Blaze and Cerulean Skyfire are fragments of their power. Without such might, they'd never be compared to the Egyptian Gods."
"I'm not underestimating them!" Alicia muttered under her breath.
Just as Yuui predicted, Aleister made his move on the field.
"I tribute your face-down Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, to Special Summon Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju in Attack Position on your field!"
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going!
[Patreon.com/RedZTL]