"That's two Servant Cards in total, so you'll lose a total of 400 Life Points!" Kiyohime spewed flames, scorching Goetia's body.
Goetia LP 4000 → LP 3600
Flames of this level were no different from a heater to Goetia, yet he took actual damage. This made him incredibly displeased, but he still had to maintain his composure on the outside: "A mere scratch."
"I activate the effect of [ Chaldea ] again. It can be activated once per turn by choosing one card in the Graveyard. I send one card from my hand to the Graveyard, and then I add the chosen card to my hand."
"The card I'm sending to the Graveyard is my own [ The Last Human Master · Fujimaru Ritsuka ]!" Gudako revealed the card in her hand, and the figure printed on it was none other than herself.
"Sending yourself to the Graveyard?" Goetia burst out laughing. If it were based on the original generation effect, an ordinary human like Gudako would be no different from a card with no effects at all. "Have you finally realized you're a useless piece of trash?"
"Of course not!" Gudako's current deck was a Special Decisive Battle Edition, which could be considered an upgraded version. "How could my journey end like this! My own effect activates when this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: Special Summon this card from the Graveyard!"
Gudako's soul after death had already been reserved by various Underworld-related Servants (original plot), and death for her was merely a battlefield of jealous lovers. More likely, she would be rescued by a Servant with the ability to bring souls back from the dead. In any case, staying in the Graveyard was highly unlikely.
[ Fujimaru Ritsuka ] 1 Star Attack Power 0
"What use is zero Attack Power..." Being new to dueling, Goetia of course didn't realize this was the mark of a powerful being.
"Then I use my own effect. When this card is Special Summoned, I can Summon a Servant from my Deck or Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions! The Servant summoned this way cannot attack this turn! But since it's the first turn, it doesn't matter!" The upgraded Gudako's effect to forcefully Summon Servants had also been improved. "The one I'm Summoning is..."
Gudako looked at her thick deck, realizing she actually didn't know which Servants she had. After scanning through them, she finally settled on a card she knew was incredibly powerful. "[ Old Man of the Mountain ]!"
Aside from Merlin, who had yet to officially obtain his Grand title, this was the strongest Servant Gudako had ever encountered. Because of Jiang You's appearance, she hadn't been able to forge a sufficient bond with him, but Gramps had still chased after her in card form.
"That guy? Indeed, he's a bit troublesome." Goetia understood the strength of the Founder Hassan. This man had an indescribable relationship with the Angel of Death, and in terms of both background and power, he wasn't necessarily weaker than Solomon. The only drawback was that as long as the opponent still descended via Spirit Origin, he had the ability to stuff them back in. "Since that guy wants to help you, then I must stop you. I activate the Trap Card [ Incinerated Future ]! This card can be activated directly from the hand when the opponent has a Servant activating an effect on the field, while my side of the field has no Servants! It negates the effects of all face-up cards on the opponent's field and then banishes them all! Struggling is impossible, you cannot respond to the activation of this card!"
In an instant, the three cards [ Kiyohime ], [ Fujimaru Ritsuka ], and [ Chaldea ] were all devoured by sparks like burning scraps of paper.
"Not only that, for each card banished, the opponent must send the top card of their Deck to the Graveyard!" Goetia waved his hand, and another three cards were sent from Gudako's Deck to the Graveyard.
"So, are you ready to surrender?" Goetia taunted. He was an opponent with a noble hand trap. Unlike those who would just watch helplessly as the opponent built an explosive board after losing the first turn, he would have waited until Gudako had fully set up her field before activating this if he didn't know [ Old Man of the Mountain ] wouldn't be dealt with so easily. "Unfortunately, it's too late now!"
"On the contrary, I should be thanking you!" With the thickness of Gudako's Deck, helping her mill cards was actually a benefit. But her opponent was Goetia, and Jiang You didn't believe this man would be so kind.
"Don't forget! I haven't even performed my Normal Summon yet!" Gudako revealed the card she had just swapped out from her Graveyard. "I Normal Summon [ Flower of Rome, Nero Claudius ]!"
Rose petals drifted down silently. As the spotlight focused on the stage, the swordswoman wielding a burning, twisted blade made her brilliant entrance before everyone's eyes.
"It is time for my performance!" Nero entered the battlefield, her speech punctuated by her signature "Umu."
[ Nero ] 4-Star Saber Attack Power 1800
"[ Nero ]'s effect: When this card is summoned, you can search the Deck for a [ Rome ]-related Spell Card and add it to your Hand!" She had been upgraded from only being able to search for Golden Theater, aligning better with the Roman Deck's keyword and expanding its usability. "I add [ Impeachment of the Senate ] to my Hand!"
"Those annoying bastards again!" The interests of the Roman Emperor and the Senate were not completely aligned, so conflicts were inevitable, especially with an emperor of Nero's personality. "And is my effect different from before? Praetor, searching for Golden Theater is what is proper."
Now was no time to play around, Gudako ignored Nero and activated the Spell Card. "The effect of [ Impeachment of the Senate ]! Destroy one [ Roman Emperor ] Servant on the field, and Special Summon another [ Roman Emperor ] from the Deck in Attack Position! I Special Summon [ Great Emperor Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar ]!"
"Even if it's Caesar, I won't accept it! Praetor, you actually dare to impeach me... I absolutely will not accept this!" Seeing the shadow with the concept of an "assassin" pounce on her, Nero revealed a reluctant expression.
"Of course not! [ Nero ]'s effect: When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, it can Special Summon itself from the Graveyard in Attack Position. Of course, this effect can only be activated three times per Duel." Being assassinated was a common occurrence for Roman emperors, and of course, it wasn't necessarily the Senate's doing; this Spell Card just consolidated it. "Return, Your Majesty Nero!"
When Nero returned to the field, she turned her head away in a huff.
[ Caesar ] 4-Star Saber Attack Power 1600
"Summoning me this way gives me some bad memories." Caesar, still in his fat form, complained about the Spell Card's effect. Having died from assassination, he naturally had bad memories of this summoning method.
"Next up is the Graveyard setup provided by Mr. Goetia! Activate [ Caligula ]'s effect from the Graveyard: When a [ Roman Emperor ] is on the field, this card can Special Summon itself from the Graveyard!"
It had to be Gudako; even with her Deck in such a mess, she could still directly assemble the Roman axis.