"The final strike!" Youyu declared, "Masked Hero Anki, direct attack!"
Tenma Gekko's LP remains at 1600, Anki's attack power is 2800. This strike could decisively seal the victory!
But Tenma Gekko is referred to by Pegasus as the "Perfect Duelist," and taking him down so easily would be too demeaning.
"Set Card activate!" The last card in front of Gekko flipped over, "Trap Card - Confusion Chaff! This card can only be activated when the opponent's monster makes a second direct attack in the same Battle Phase.
The attacking monster for the second attack will battle the monster that made the first direct attack instead!"
"My first direct attacking monster was Masked Hero: Mist Water..."
"Exactly," Tenma Gekko said, "So Anki will battle Masked Hero: Mist Water!"
The Trap Card emitted some kind of invisible wave, interfering with the airborne dark hero. Anki stopped his dive, clutching his head as if in pain, and suddenly turned, charging towards Masked Hero: Mist Water behind him without warning.
Mist Water was taken aback, looking as though he wanted to ask, "Anki-senpai, have you betrayed me too?" Unfortunately, he didn't manage to ask the question before he was struck in the chest by Anki's Knight Kick, exploding on the spot.
[Youyu, LP 4000 → LP 3600]
Mokuba turned from the spectator seat: "Gekko took Youyu's attack, brother!"
"Hm." Kaiba said indifferently, "Ending it so quickly would be too boring."
He didn't say more, but his gaze towards Tenma Gekko carried a slight expectation.
"Tenma Gekko, even if it's unlikely he can win, as a guinea pig he still piques my interest." Kaiba squinted, glancing at Youyu, "Let me see how strong that guy is now."
"Then my Battle Phase is over." Youyu drew another card, "Next, activate Continuous Magic - Mirage of Nightmare.
As long as this card exists, I can draw cards from my deck during the opponent's Standby Phase until I have four cards in my hand, but during my next turn, I must randomly discard the same number of cards drawn."
"I'll set two more cards, turn end."
"My turn, draw."
After drawing this time, Tenma Gekko's expression seemed to change slightly. Youyu instinctively sensed from these subtle changes that the opponent might be about to enter an offensive moment.
Youyu pointed to the Magic Card beside him: "At this moment, the effect of Continuous Magic Card - Mirage of Nightmare activates. My hand refills to four cards."
Tenma Gekko remained unmoved, continuing his operations: "Activate Magic Card - Pot of Greed, draw two cards. Then from my hand, activate Magic Card - Card Destruction. Both players discard all cards in their hands to the graveyard, then draw the same number of cards from their deck."
"Next, the special effect of 'Watapon' in my hand activates." After drawing, he revealed a card in his hand, "When Watapon is added to the hand from the deck by a card effect, it can be directly Special Summoned."
A flash of light, a fluffy and cute white little ball appeared on Gekko's field, with its big eyes blinking adorably.
[Watapon, Defense 300]
He looked up at Youyu.
"Two Fairy-Type were defeated by you before, and two more Fairy-Type cards were sent to the graveyard just now through 'Card Destruction'... With this, the preparation is finally complete."
Youyu's eyelids twitched.
These prerequisites... Could it be!?
No way!?
Tenma Gekko drew a card from his hand slowly and solemnly.
"With this, the summon condition for this card is finally met. Watch closely, Youyu-san, my ace—
—Archlord Kristya, Special Summon!"
As the card was placed onto the Duel Disc, a holy light descended from the sky that was too divine to look at directly. The radiant light enveloped the land, and a white silhouette emerged from the glow. Fiery red wings unfolded, the Archlord descended surrounded by a holy halo.
[Archlord Kristya, Attack 2800]
Youyu looked at the sacred angel descending with the divine decree, its infinite might covering the field, feeling as if he'd been screwed...
...WTF, why had nobody mentioned before that Tenma Gekko had this thing?
Archlord Kristya, veteran players of Yugi are mostly familiar with this guy. Years ago, it held a place in the competitive environment, and at times caused many competitive mainstream decks to suffer.
As for the reason why...
"Archlord Kristya can be Special Summoned directly from the hand when there are 4 Fairy-Type monsters in the graveyard."
Tenma Gekko calmly explained the effect: "Moreover, when Kristya is on the field, both players... cannot Special Summon monsters!"
Youyu frowned.
Archlord Kristya, just this restriction of 'cannot Special Summon' alone was nearly a nightmare for all mainstream decks back then. Its own attack power of 2800 points made it almost impossible for most mainstream decks to summon monsters with over 2800 attack without relying on Special Summons.
With the Archlord's locking effect, this meant Youyu couldn't use Fusion Summons or Mask Change at all. If he didn't quickly find a way to deal with this monster, this duel might instantly become overwhelmingly unfavorable for Youyu.
"The other effect of Archlord Kristya," Tenma Gekko continued, "When this card is successfully Special Summoned using its own method, one Fairy-Type monster in the graveyard is added back to the hand."
A golden light gleamed from his graveyard, ejecting a card back into his hand.
"I'll add 'Angel O7,' which was thrown in by Card Destruction, back to my hand."
Gekko added the monster to his hand, and immediately revealed another Magic Card.
"Equip Magic - Tribute Burial, equips to 'Watapon' on the field. When an equipped monster is used as a Tribute for a Tribute Summon, this Equip Magic can substitute for a Tribute." (Manga Card)
"Then I'll use Watapon and the 'Tribute Burial' equipped on Watapon as Tributes..." Tenma Gekko raised another card he had just retrieved from the graveyard in his hand, "Tribute Summon! Come forth, my other ace—
—Angel O7!"
Holy light poured down again, like an incandescent waterfall descending from the sky. Emerging from the light was an angel in pure white armor, its sacred light scattering like stars.
[Angel O7, Attack 2500]
Tenma Gekko, expressionless, explained as the sacred angel descended: "The special effect of Angel O7 is that as long as it exists on the field, no Effect Monster can activate its effect."
After a pause, he smiled: "Of course, the effect of 'no Special Summoning for both players' from Archlord Kristya is a Continuous Effect and doesn't require activation, so it isn't affected by Angel O7."
"No Special Summoning of monsters, and no activation of monster effects... that's what you mean." Youyu frowned.
"That's right," Gekko replied.
This setup is indeed frightening. No Special Summoning or monster effects activating, even in today's real card environment, this represents considerable locking interference ability.
At this point, even Kaiba had to regard Tenma Gekko with more attention.
"The cross interference of two angel monsters, the locking of monster abilities and Special Summoning, this combination is indeed terrifying." He frowned, "This means neither Youyu's favored Fusion Summoning nor quick attacks through Mask Change will work. Tenma Gekko... indeed has a chasm of difference with those third-rate duelists."
"Huh?" Mokuba started to worry, "Then... then is Youyu going to lose?"
"Lose?" Kaiba chuckled, "How could he? Just watch closely."
Had Youyu heard Kaiba talking now, he would've been exasperated—
—Facing both the Archlord and Angel O7, I'm seriously feeling anxious, why is the president so confident in me?