"I pay 1000 LP to activate The Winged Dragon of Ra's effect—destroy all monsters on your opponent's field."
[Joey, LP: 4000 → 3000]
Ra's golden flames swept across the field, wiping out Youmi's monsters. But since Youmi had already activated 'Hallowed Life Barrier', Ra's 5400 Attack meant nothing.
"At least this gets rid of the most troublesome one, 'Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle'. I Set two cards and end my turn!"
Turn 10.
"My field was wiped out that easily... Egyptian God Cards really are something else..." Youmi glanced at The Winged Dragon of Ra as it flaunted its power at her. "All I did was call you 'The Garbage Dragon of Ra' a few times, and now you're helping Joey gang up on me? Seriously?"
Drawing a card, Youmi Normal Summoned 'Ariane the Labrynth Servant', then activated the 'Labrynth Set-Up' she had added earlier.
"'Labrynth Set-Up': I target two 'Labrynth' Spell/Trap Cards in my Graveyard or that were banished—except 'Labrynth Set-Up' itself—and return them to the Deck.
"If I control a Fiend monster, I can then Set from my Deck the same number of Normal Traps that are not 'Labrynth' cards." Youmi retrieved 'Welcome Labrynth' and 'Labrynth Labyrinth' from her Graveyard and shuffled them back. "I Set 'Archfiend's Ghastly Glitch' and 'Dimension Wall'."
"Didn't fall for it, huh... Then next—" Seeing Joey unmoving in his backrow, Youmi continued, "I activate Ariane's effect. I send one Normal Trap from my hand or field to the Graveyard to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Fiend from my Deck in Defense Position. I Special Summon 'Holding Legs'~"
Originally, Youmi didn't recommend Marik use cards that only looked flashy, but this 'Holding Legs' turned out to be unexpectedly powerful—just like Yami Bakura's 'Dark Spirit's Mastery'.
And honestly, it was meant as one of Marik's countermeasures against Youmi.
"When 'Holding Legs' is Special Summoned, all face-down Spells and Traps on the field return to their owners' hands~"
Watching the creature fly toward him and latch onto him, even though it was only a visual projection and not the physical sensation of a Shadow Game, Joey still felt a chill.
"Huh?! My two set cards returned to my hand... You're seriously packing a card like that? Were you prepping to duel Yugi or something?"
Covering her smile behind a card, Youmi gave a playful hum, clearly proud: "Let me give you a little extra lesson, Joey-kun. Sure, the God Cards have overwhelming resistances and effects, but they're not absolutely invincible. Ra may be unaffected by Normal Spells and Traps… still, that's fine. I'll just target you with the effect instead, Joey~"
Flipping the card used to hide her expression, Youmi activated it.
"I activate the Normal Spell 'Share the Pain'. As its cost, I Tribute one monster on my field. And its effect is—" She pointed at Joey. "—you, Joey-kun, must Tribute one monster on your field! If I must suffer, you'll suffer right along with me~"
"Wha—!!! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴!!! Since Ra is unaffected by Normal Spells, you're making me do it instead?!"
Joey pointed at himself, staring at 'Share the Pain' projected on Youmi's field with a face like he'd swallowed something bitter. "I don't have any other monsters... and the set cards I could've used to prevent this are back in my hand..."
Joey looked at The Winged Dragon of Ra with deep reluctance. He thought… maybe Ra was trembling from anger? Angry at being removed by such a method? Angry that Joey, its Duelist, had failed to protect it?
Meanwhile, in reality—
"Ten Thousand Dragon's brat, how dare you do this to me?! My moment! I haven't even shown off my full power yet! At least let me attack something first!" Ra's voice echoed with deep resentment, furious that Youmi was kicking it off the field before it could shine.
"Hehe (^▽^)~"
Youmi responded with a wink~
"Don't 'hehe' me!!"
With no Spell/Trap negation available and no monsters he could Special Summon at this timing, Joey was forced to Tribute The Winged Dragon of Ra.
"So that's why Youmi didn't seize control of Ra... she had 'Share the Pain' in hand and wanted to teach Joey a lesson." Marik, watching from below, felt his evaluation of Youmi rise yet again.
Iblee tore open a new bag of chips. "She totally just forgot the chant, didn't she?"
Ib took a handful and nodded. "I think so too."
"Then let's bring this duel to its finale I activate the Normal Spell 'Monster Reborn' from my hand to revive the Winged Dragon of Ra from your Graveyard, Joey-kun"
As Youmi raised 'Monster Reborn', golden flames in the shape of a phoenix spiraled out from Joey's Graveyard slot and gathered beside her. "A Ra Special Summoned from the Graveyard can only remain on the field for one turn, but it enters immediately in its battle-ready Phoenix Mode. And if it were summoned on your turn, all of Ra's effects normally limited to your own turn could be used during the opponent's turn as well! But this is just my turn, so no special tricks."
Youmi beckoned to the resurrected Ra. "See? I'll give you a highlight moment after all. Now fight for me, 'Garbage Dragon of Ra.'"
With a sweep of her hand, Youmi reduced her LP to 1. Ra's Attack surged to 3999.
"This duel... Joey, your performance wasn't flawless. Nonetheless, the pursuit of perfection is a Duelist's duty. Even if you've already fought with everything you had, I cannot award you a perfect score." Youmi faced Joey, who braced himself for impact.
"But I… well... aside from hitting 'Mikanko Water Arabesque' at the wrong timing, I really did my best... and still couldn't beat you, Youmi?"
"Saying 'I did my best'—those are words meant to encourage others, not yourself!"
Cutting him off, Youmi finally spoke the line she'd wanted to deliver. She steadied her voice. "A Duelist's limits are defined by how far they can continue moving forward! Battle Phase—Ariane and The Winged Dragon of Ra, direct attack! 'Archfiend's Ghastly Glitch' and... GOD·BLAZE·CANNON!"
...
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