"Appear! Lava Golem!!!"
Scorching lava appeared at Marik's feet, the image materialized and emitted an extremely high temperature, the light being refracted in the hot air made the space seem distorted.
The ground made a low "hiss," and faint white smoke rose.
A burning giant hand reached out from the churning lava and slammed onto the ground. The giant, ablaze, emerged with a rumble from the depths of the earth, roaring lowly from his throat, caged by the scorched iron bars, with Marik trapped in the center as the controller.
[Lava Golem, Defense 2500]
Dartz: "..."
Sure enough, during times like these, one should say it's worthy of being a behind-the-scenes boss living for ten thousand years; the aura and composure are still in place.
Even though his two key Monster cards were sacrificed in one breath to become an ugly and trashy big baby, he still maintained an attitude of everything being under control, as if this was all part of his plan.
If it were a silly player here, they might have already given up playing cards and directly summoned their fist to attack the opponent.
"My turn continues," Youyu coughed, "During the turn when the Lava Golem is Special Summoned, I cannot conduct a Normal Summon, but I can still perform a Special Summon.
Activate the Magic Card - Polymerization from my hand. Fuse the Elemental Hero Liquidman in my hand with the Fire Attribute Elemental Hero Blazewoman!
The fusion condition is an Elemental Hero plus any Fire Attribute Monster!
Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Nova Master!"
The heroes of water and fire appeared simultaneously, blue and red beams interlaced and soared into the air, merging into a pillar of flames that descended from the sky.
The red-gold-armored Elemental Hero landed with a boom, his cape fluttering in the hot air current.
[Elemental Hero Nova Master, Attack 2600]
"At this moment, the effect of 'Elemental Hero Liquidman' is activated!"
Liquidman, already entered into the graveyard area, appeared as a phantom on the field, releasing its residual power.
"When Liquidman enters the graveyard as Fusion Material for a Hero Fusion Monster, I can draw two cards and then discard one card from my hand."
Youyu drew cards, then picked one to discard to the graveyard, then waved his hand: "Enter the battle! Elemental Hero Nova Master, attack Lava Golem!"
The red-gold hero shouted, striking out a spiral flame in the air. The pillar of fire pierced through the large body of the Lava Golem, which groaned deep and low, collapsing with a rumble into a phantom and fading away.
As it was in Defense Mode, it certainly wouldn't cause LP damage. But in this way, Marik's field turned into an empty space.
"And at this moment, Nova Master's effect activates." Youyu drew another card, "When I destroy an opponent's Monster in battle, I can draw one more card."
Continuously drawing cards in the first round, Youyu's eyes subtly moved and finally saw the inexplicable thing he had put into his deck before the battle.
Marik's deck was different from those of his many subordinates.
Though many people in the Doma Organization relied heavily on the convenient effect brought by The Seal of Orichalcos, this seal was merely a cherry on top for most of them. Even without it, their decks could still operate completely, unaffected in terms of strength.
But Marik was different. As the leader of Doma, a proxy of Orichalcos, his entire deck revolved around The Seal of Orichalcos. Losing this key card would undoubtedly weaken his battle power significantly.
For such tactics extremely reliant on a Key Card, there's a dedicated solution we generally use...
"My Battle Phase is over, but this turn is not yet finished."
Youyu slowly pulled out the card he had just drawn, smiled mysteriously at Marik.
The latter suddenly felt an ominous premonition...
"Continuous Magic Card - Prohibition activates!"
An iconic old card, renowned in the Yu-Gi-Oh world, floated before Youyu.
"This card requires a declared card name to activate! As long as this card exists on the field, the declared card cannot be used in this duel!
The card I want to declare is, of course..."
Youyu smiled and pointed at Marik's deck.
"The Seal of Orichalcos!"
Marik: "?????"
Even an old dog hiding for thousands of years almost couldn't help but curse.
What the hell are you carrying in your deck!?
Youyu smiled: "Once The Seal of Orichalcos is activated, it cannot be stopped. Its effect cannot be negated, nor can it leave the field in any form, making it nearly invincible as the Key Card of the deck with almost indestructible resistance.
But a card declared by Prohibition cannot be activated. Which means no matter how powerful the resistance of The Seal of Orichalcos is, it doesn't matter because it never has the chance to appear on the field."
Marik's previously calm attitude disappeared, replaced by a terrifyingly gloomy expression as if he was getting ready to strike.
For a moment, Youyu almost thought it would fast-forward to skipping cards and directly engaging in a real fight...
"My turn is over," Youyu said.
"My turn," Marik drew a card with a dark expression.
After all, being a leader-level figure, even when being targeted so aggressively that it's humiliatingly restrictive, he still doesn't get angry. At most, he might be contemplating whether to stew Youyu after winning this card duel or make him into kebabs for the Evil God boss to enjoy...
"Continuous Magic - Card of Safe Return activates." The legendary card appeared before Marik, "Whenever a Monster is revived from the graveyard, draw three cards from the deck.
Then, Magic Card - Monster Reborn, let me revive 'Orichalcos Kyogasu' from the grave!"
The Rune of Life of the Resurrection flared up, summoning back the ugly creature from the chaos representing the Netherworld. The latter, dragging a heavy iron chain on its arm, returned to the field viciously.
[Orichalcos Kyogasu, Attack 400]
"At this moment, the effect of Card of Safe Return activates, I draw three cards from the deck." Marik drew cards, then pointed downward, "Then flip the Set Card, Trap Card - Fiendish Hole Trap!
This card can be activated when there are no Trap Cards in one's graveyard; destroy two Monsters on the field!
The ones I want to destroy are Orichalcos Kyogasu and Elemental Hero Nova Master!"
Two pits appeared under Marik's and Youyu's Monsters simultaneously, and both Monsters unexpectedly fell into the depths of the pits and exploded.
However, Orichalcos Kyogasu of course did not die. With a wail as if from the depths of Hell, Kyogasu returned to the field covered in an invisible powerful aura.
[Orichalcos Kyogasu, Attack 400 → Attack 900]
"Card of Safe Return, effect activates again." Marik said, "I draw three more cards from the deck."
Watching Marik's crazy card draws, Youyu couldn't help but frown.
This "Card of Safe Return" and Marik's infinitely revivable Kyogasu are truly a perfect match.
Besides its infinite revival empowerment, Kyogasu also has a huge side effect that its controller must skip their card draw phase while it exists on the field.
However, "Card of Safe Return" perfectly compensates for Marik's inability to replenish his hand. As long as Kyogasu keeps reviving, he can keep drawing cards.
Moreover, Youyu can't even do a classic reversal here, like using the opponent's infinite revival to deplete their deck just as he did against Marik.
Because unlike Revival Jam, Kyogasu's attack increases each time it revives. Even using something like "Elemental Hero Wildedge" with added attack capabilities won't be able to hit it once its attack power is sufficiently high after many revivals.
"Orichalcos Kyogasu, direct attack to the player!"
Kyogasu flew out, swinging its heavy iron chain fiercely upon Youyu. Although the damage wasn't high, the impact made real by the Orichalcos power still caused Youyu to stagger back a half step.
[Youyu, LP 4000→ LP 3100]
"Set a card face-down, my turn is over," Marik said indifferently, "Then, during the end phase of the turn, I discard the part of my hand exceeding six cards to the graveyard."
"My turn, draw."
With "Card of Safe Return," every time Kyogasu revives, Marik's hand grows larger. The card advantage between the two keeps widening, and the gap in resource volume increases accordingly.
Even with Prohibition banning The Seal of Orichalcos and eliminating most of Marik's battle strength, the outcome of this match is still uncertain.
But it doesn't matter.
Among us players, there's an old saying: if you can't beat it, join it.
"Let's begin, Marik!" Youyu drew out a card from his hand, "I also activate Continuous Magic Card - Card of Safe Return from my hand!"