Seeing Youyu retrieve that troublesome "Prohibition" card back into his hand, Dartz couldn't help but twitch slightly.
MD, why is it this thing again?
But we're the boss, we can't get angry...
"My turn, the final turn!"
The turn was back to Dartz, the mastermind was full of confidence, seemingly assured he could clinch victory this turn.
LP was down to just 600, while Dartz's side had a full life back and more... To say Youyu felt no pressure would be impossible.
As mentioned before, facing a Duelist of high level or possessing dark powers brings excessive pressure to the opponent.
Just like how more and more people feel the invisible "presence of the Duel King" when facing Youyu, it's due to his steadily rising duelist level and the suppressive aura from his presence. It creates psychological pressure during a match.
An opponent of Dartz's caliber must be at least level ten, possibly higher. In the animation, Dark Yugi and Kaiba were slightly pressured in the first turn of facing Dartz, demonstrating his terrifying strength as a duelist, at least no weaker than Yugi or Kaiba at their current stage.
But thinking about it again, reviewing Dartz's performance so far in this match, Youyu suddenly felt something was off...
But he didn't have time to mull it over; Dartz's words quickly brought his thoughts back to the duel.
"Still because of the side effect of Orichalcos Malevolence, as long as it's on the field, I can't normally draw a card." Dartz said nonchalantly while drawing a card from his hand, "But I don't need to, the components I need are already in hand.
Activating Magic Card - Terraforming from my hand!"
The Magic Card appeared in front of Dartz, depicting a brown planet in the endless cosmos, with the central area undergoing terrain transformation under a spreading blue wave.
"This card lets me choose a Field Magic from my deck to add to my hand." Dartz said with a slight smile, "But it should be unnecessary to say which card I'm going to take, right?"
Indeed, Dartz's goal was still to activate "The Seal of Orichalcos."
Prohibition can only ban cards that haven't been activated. Once The Seal of Orichalcos is on the field, using Prohibition won't stop it.
This Field Magic is crucial for Dartz's entire deck. After his tactics unfold, the other two powerful Field Magic Cards that follow, "Second Barrier of Orichalcos" and "Third Layer of Orichalcos," require the first seal to be on the field to activate.
The first seal itself is a mass-produced Magic Card within Doma, with middle and senior disciples each having one. There's no reason for Dartz not to max this card in his deck.
Additionally, it's needless to say that Dartz would have "Terraforming" in his deck. This Magic Card can search any Field Magic, a must-have Divine Artifact in decks relying on Field Magic.
Now, one "The Seal of Orichalcos" from Dartz's deck was sent to the graveyard by Youyu's Mind Crush, and another pinned on the wall by the Lightforce Sword, leaving only the last seal in his thick deck.
The one he was searching for now was naturally that last seal.
Dartz drew from his deck: "Based on Terraforming's effect, I add the last 'The Seal of Orichalcos' to my hand."
Finally! This time it's really happening!
Dartz pretended to be calm and in control, but inside he was quite frustrated.
He never imagined this duel would be so stifling. Mighty me, the duel is almost over, and he hasn't even gotten down the first seal yet!
Because The Seal of Orichalcos, being key to the deck, has absolute resistance once activated, he almost never considered the possibility of the seal not being on the field.
Yet what he hadn't anticipated was that the entire duel passed without even a chance to activate the seal...
... but now, it's over!
Could it be, heck, give me another pitfall?
Youyu couldn't telepathically hear Dartz's strange request, yet naturally, he wasn't fazed.
Bring it on!
"Activate the Set card, Trap Card activate!" Youyu waved his arm again, one of the Set cards at his side immediately flipped, "Counter Trap - Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell!
This card lets me negate and destroy the opponent's Magic Card activation by discarding a Magic Card from my hand!
Additionally! Until this duel ends, the opponent cannot activate the negated Magic Card or any cards with the same name again!"
Dartz's eyelid twitched, his action of drawing from the deck to find a Field Magic halted.
A swirl of dark chaotic power enveloped the "Terraforming" that Dartz had just activated, eroding and crushing the Magic Card's magic, until the card face dissolved into golden dust and dissipated.
Dartz: "..."
Glancing at another "Terraforming" in his hand, the last king of Atlantis, representative of the Orichalcos God, and the mastermind behind the super organization Doma, Dartz fell into deep contemplation.
Maybe...
... should I consider just going up there and beating him up?
It was indeed a very tempting thought, but Dartz finally restrained himself.
He wasn't like the Ghouls who had principles and integrity as villains; he's done disgraceful things like taking hostages mid-duel in the original animation. If beating someone up could solve the problem, he wouldn't be playing cards honestly.
Although Youyu himself isn't very strong, he has many powerful spirits now. Plus, the Three Egyptian God are all under his control — though normally the Egyptian God do not obey a mortal master's command, Dartz knew that if he really used force, the spirits of the Egyptian God surely wouldn't stand by.
Anyway, playing cards was still the best solution.
So even though he felt cheated and aggrieved, he still temporarily suppressed his impulse and continued to duel honestly...
"Humph." Dartz snorted unhappily, yet he still maintained the demeanor of a king, "A final struggle? But even so, it won't change anything.
I said, this turn is the last one!"
Although in the end he couldn't set up the field he wanted or execute the expected strategy, and thus couldn't summon even a single ace monster, he still had a countermeasure.
After all, Youyu only had a mere 600 LP left, which could be easily taken out with a single strike!
"I summon 'Orichalcos Malevolence', in attack position!"
A demon covered in scorching lava appeared on Dartz's field, its wings shining with a fiery golden glow, its body adorned with searing hot rocks.
[Orichalcos Malevolence, ATK 1500]
"And this card will deal the final blow to you!" Dartz waved his arm, inserting the card into the Duel Disc, "Magic Card - Thunder Crash, activate! Destroy all monsters on my field, and for each one destroyed, inflict 300 points of damage to the opponent!"
Golden lightning descended from the sky, piercing through both Orichalcos Malevolence and Kyhau Golem like sharp arrows, turning the two monsters into smoldering charcoal.
"A total of two monsters were destroyed," Dartz sneered, "so that's 600 points of damage in total!"
[Youyu, LP 600]
The fierce lightning, having penetrated the two monsters, continued its charge straight at Youyu, like an arrow piercing through the world!
"If you take this damage... Master!"
In an instinctive move, the Dark Magician Girl jumped in front of Youyu, as if trying to use her petite body to shield him from the blow.
Youyu waved his arm: "Trap Card - Damage Diet! After this card is activated, all damage received this turn is halved!"
The fierce lightning struck down, exploding violently on Youyu's field.
The Dark Magician Girl, having materialized, shared part of the impact for her master, both of them being blasted onto the ground.
Sitting awkwardly on the ground with her legs bent, the girl stroked her head and adjusted her wide hat before turning back in a hurry: "Master, are you okay?"
"...I'm fine." Youyu took a deep breath, "Still have some Life Points left, no big deal."
[Youyu, LP 600→ LP 300]
That being said, however, this level of impact from a Dark Duel is no joke.
It was already a bit overwhelming to withstand the pressure from Dartz, and with his LP reduced to just 300, if it weren't for the spirits helping share the burden, Youyu felt that even with his current stamina, he might not have been able to endure.
"It's a wonder you could withstand that hit." Dartz chuckled softly, "But you haven't forgotten the effect of 'Kyhau Golem', have you?"
Youyu furrowed his brows tightly.
"Kyhau Golem will return from Hell no matter how many times it's destroyed, and it will come back stronger!" Dartz declared, "The Kyhau Golem destroyed by the effect of 'Thunder Crash' is revived from the graveyard!"
The giant spirit with crimson eyes returned to the field, its muscles seemingly swelling larger, shrouded by a faint black mist.
[Orichalcos Kyhau Golem, ATK 2900 → ATK 3400]
"With the effect of Card of Safe Return, I draw three more cards." Dartz said lightly, "And of course, the same goes for you."
Youyu silently drew three cards as well.
"But of course, it doesn't make any difference now." Dartz continued, "To be honest, I'm quite surprised you made it this far. And I'm a bit curious about how you could be so familiar with my card deck...
...But Duel King Youyu, your journey ends here. Compared to uncovering your secrets, I'd prefer to eliminate you altogether.
Battle! Orichalcos Kyhau Golem, attack the Dark Magician of Chaos! Let this battle reach its finale!
[Orichalcos Kyhau Golem, ATK 3400]
[Dark Magician of Chaos, ATK 2800]
[Youyu, LP 300]
The giant spirit, its eyes glowing crimson, swung its massive chain, launching a deadly charge toward the Magician!
"Oh no... If this hits, my Life Points will..." The Dark Magician Girl panicked, jumping up to try to intercept the blow in front of her master, "Master!"
"Activate Set Card!" Youyu flipped open another trap in front of him, "Quick-Play Magic - Command Silencer! It can cancel an opponent's attack declaration and draw a card from the deck!" (Animated Card)
Yes, that's right, it's the same animated card as President Haima's!
With Youyu's current position at Kaiba Company, as long as it's not a card uniquely designated as President's exclusive like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, he can easily obtain anything President has.
The command was silenced, forcing the giant spirit's attack to cease abruptly. The massive chain was repelled by the invisible sound waves released by the silencing device, sending the giant spirit back to Dartz's field disheveled.
Dartz frowned deeply, seemingly at a temporary loss for the next move.
Youyu smiled: "You said you'd finish me this turn, but it doesn't seem so easy, does it?"
"You're quite the persistent nuisance." Dartz said blandly, "Turn ends. During the End Phase, discard the excess of six cards from the hand."