"My turn!" The veins on Leo Akaba's forehead bulged uncontrollably.
He was furious.
Not only because he hadn't yet gathered the data from his four daughter clones, so his Pendulum wasn't complete.
More importantly, because Hikaru, with his daughter's support, had gained the power of the Pendulum!
Unforgivable! This power should have been his alone!
Back then, in that soul's oscillation, between giving the power to the world and keeping it for himself, he chose to keep the power of GOD for himself. As a result, his daughter and that duelist named Zarc saw through his actions, ultimately leading to everything falling apart.
And now, it was happening again before his eyes!
"Activate the Spell Card, Hand Destruction!" Leo Akaba decisively threw out the card he had just drawn.
"Both players send two cards from their hands to the Graveyard, then draw two cards. I send Raviel, Lord of Phantasms and Uria, Lord of Searing Flames to the Graveyard, then draw two cards!"
Hikaru exclaimed "Wow!" and raised an eyebrow, looking at the cards in his hand.
First of all, he definitely wouldn't discard the Super Polymerization he drew at the beginning, so...
"I send Edge Imp Chain and Gem-Knight Crystal to the Graveyard." Hikaru also drew two cards, then continued, "Edge Imp Chain's effect: if this card is sent from the hand or field to the Graveyard, I can add one Frightfur card from my Deck to my hand. I add Frightfur Patchwork to my hand."
"Oh, right, there's also Dreamland. Dreamland's effect: draw one card."
Hikaru looked at the Earthbound Prisoner and Vampire Frauelin he drew, and had a slight premonition.
"Spell Card, Forbidden Chalice. Your Divine Crystal gains 400 ATK, but its effects are negated."
Hikaru frowned, a little disappointed.
Leo Akaba remembered the effect of his monster very clearly.
"If you control no monsters, this card can be Special Summoned!"
"Come, Mother Spider Splitter!"
A spider with a ghostly face appeared on the field, hanging upside down, staring at Hikaru.
Mother Spider Splitter. Level 5, DARK, Insect, ATK 0.
Hikaru frowned deeply.
A spider!
"Activate the Spell Card: Card of Demise!"
???
Hikaru instantly looked up at Leo Akaba's card.
"This isn't Kaiba..."
"Heh, that's right. Both Pot of Greed and Card of Demise have stopped being manufactured in the Fusion Dimension, but with my skill, I can recreate them."
While others used Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity, Leo Akaba used a card of a higher caliber.
"Draw cards from your Deck until you have 5 cards in your hand. At the start of your 5th Standby Phase after this card's activation, send all cards in your hand to the Graveyard."
Hikaru watched him draw to a full hand.
"Then, activate the effect of Mother Spider Splitter on the field. Tribute this card, and Special Summon up to 3 Baby Spiders from my Deck. Monsters Special Summoned by this effect become Level 5, and cannot be used as Xyz Material for non-DARK Xyz Monsters. After this effect resolves, I cannot Special Summon non-Xyz Monsters from my Extra Deck for the rest of this turn."
Mother Spider Splitter's body trembled, and then three small spiders burst from its body.
"Xyz?"
"This is also part of the Professor's Fusion strategy, it doesn't matter!"
Some Fusion forces soldiers were still holding on.
They naturally knew that Numbers had nothing to do with Fusion.
But...
"Activate the effect of Baby Spider. Tribute one DARK monster on my field. All Baby Spiders on my field gain the Level of the Tributed monster.
The Baby Spiders are currently Level 5, so the remaining two Baby Spiders become Level 10!"
A strange green number flashed on his forehead.
"I overlay two Level 10 Spiders to build the Overlay Network!"
A black vortex rolled across the ground. Countless waves of darkness began to churn, and a suffocating, despairing feeling filled the air.
Hikaru sensed it. It felt as if something had seen him.
"Number 35: Ravenous Tarantula!"
Number 35: Ravenous Tarantula. Rank 10, DARK, Insect, ATK 0. Overlay Units: 2.
"Ravenous Tarantula's effect: all monsters I control gain ATK and DEF equal to the difference in Life Points between both players."
Number 35: Ravenous Tarantula, ATK: 0 → 2300.
"It's not over! I pay 2000 Life Points to activate the Spell Card, Dimension Fusion!" Leo Akaba finally played a card befitting his status, identity, and ambition. "Pay 2000 Life Points; each player Special Summons as many of their banished monsters as possible.
I Special Summon Earthbound Immortal Red Nova!"
"Then I'll Special Summon my Shaddoll."
Hikaru didn't hold back, Special Summoning the monster he had banished with Hyperlight Saint to the field.
"Hahahaha, what fresh air! Leo Akaba, do your best! If you win, I can give you everything else in this world!" Red Nova entered the field laughing maniacally.
Its desire to defeat the Red Dragon had become its obsession; everything else was insignificant.
Earthbound Immortal Red Nova. Level 12, DARK, Fiend, ATK 3500.
Leo Akaba LP: 3500 → 1500.
Number 35: Ravenous Tarantula, ATK: 2300 → 4300.
Red Nova, ATK: 3500 → 7800.
"Seven thousand eight hundred!?"
So this is the power of an Earthbound Immortal!" Some of the nobles had already begun exclaiming in awe at the god's might, but before they could finish, the Earthbound Immortal casually snatched up one of the nobles and swallowed him whole.
"Wha... AAAAAH!"
"This isn't what we agreed on!"
"Hahahaha, who cares about that!"
A scarlet Geoglyph spread across the sky. The nobles, finally realizing they were nothing more than food for the Earthbound Immortal, scrambled to flee. But these out-of-shape old fools, who had long neglected any physical training, had no chance of outrunning a god that towered above them!
And so, Hikaru got to watch a massive crimson serpentine figure gorging itself like it was at a buffet, swallowing one noble after another, occasionally even grabbing a Fusion forces soldier to eat. The nobles trampled over each other trying to escape, while the Fusion soldiers and elites screamed and cursed, accusing Leo Akaba of betraying their trust.
But.
Leo Akaba had never said he trusted them.
They had committed so many betrayals of dueling themselves. So why did they think Leo Akaba, who was even better at betrayal than they were, would spare them?
"Ravenous Tarantula's effect: each time you Special Summon, you take 600 damage!"
A strand of spider silk shot onto Hikaru, piercing through his body and making him double over.
Tch...
This feeling of "despair"...
The moment the damage pierced him, he felt an overwhelming sense that he was destined to lose, that he could never win.
The power of a god of despair?
It seemed that Leo Akaba, in his darkest moment, had been found by the goddess of despair.
The goddess of despair could appear before those in extreme anguish, granting them power.
Hikaru grumbled under his breath and brushed himself off.
This was nothing. What was there to despair about!
Hikaru LP: 5800 → 5200.
Because he'd lost Life Points, Ravenous Tarantula's effect bonus would decrease accordingly, lowering the ATK of monsters on Leo Akaba's field. But even so, the numbers were more than enough.
"Ravenous Tarantula's monster effect: detach one Overlay Unit to destroy all monsters my opponent controls with ATK less than or equal to it!"
The spider spat silk threads that wrapped around every monster, then opened its gaping maw, ready to feast.
But before it could, blue flames ignited first, burning several monsters to nothing.
"In that case, I activate Shaddoll Beast's effect to draw one card, and Shaddoll Core's effect to return Shaddoll Fusion from my Graveyard to my hand."
Hikaru watched his monsters go to the Graveyard, thought for a moment, then picked up Starving Venom Fusion Dragon.
When Starving Venom Fusion Dragon is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, its effect can be activated: it can be placed in the Pendulum Zone.
But...
His Duel Disk currently didn't have a Pendulum Zone.
Could he place it beside the Field Zone?
He tried.
No luck.
Then could he place it in the back row? All the way to the left...
Also no.
This...
"Unknown card detected. Calculating." The Duel Disk suddenly emitted a voice.
Whoa.
"New unknown Summoning method discovered. Analyzing. Constructing temporary zone. Please report to Kaiba Corporation after the duel. Please report to..." The Duel Disk began repeating the message on loop.
Hikaru let out another surprised exclamation as he finally managed to place the card beside the Monster Zone.
The Duel Disk had actually generated a new zone!
"Hmph... That Fusion Monster has a Pendulum Effect too? Not that you'd understand how to use it. Ravenous Tarantula, attack!"
"When a monster declares an attack, I activate this effect: Special Summon Vampire Fraulein!"
"Then just take the damage!"
Hikaru LP: 5200 → 4600.
Another strand of spider silk pierced through Hikaru's body.
"With this, it's all over, Hikaru! Red Nova, direct attack!"
Red Nova was thrilled. If it could seize Hikaru's power... No, no, no. Hikaru was clearly far stronger than this Leo Akaba. Better to take control of his mind and make him a servant.
Now that it had recovered its power, gained new strength, and devoured countless souls, it should choose a more capable vessel to help it become the one true god!
This time, it would definitely defeat that damned red serpent!
But just as they all thought victory was assured, a black dragon appeared before them, blocking the Earthbound Immortal's attack.
"While Starving Venom Fusion Dragon is in the Pendulum Zone, once per turn, it can reduce battle damage to 0."
"Damn it!" Leo Akaba roared.
"Oho, impressive indeed!" Red Nova remarked with admiration.
"I set one card... and end my turn. During the End Phase, Red Screen's effect: pay 1000 Life Points to maintain its existence."
Leo Akaba LP: 1500 → 500.
Hikaru rubbed his forehead.
"Those are some seriously powerful cards." Hikaru sighed in admiration.
The cards really were strong.
The player, though...
"My turn, draw! Normal Summon: Earthbound Prisoner Ground Keeper. I activate its effect to Special Summon Earthbound Prisoner Stone Sweeper from my Deck."
"Then you lose 600 Life Points!"
Hikaru LP: 4600 → 4000.
"No problem. I activate the Spell Card, Otherworld Resonance - Synchro Fusion." Hikaru held up a card. "This card can use a Tuner and non-Tuner monster on the field to simultaneously perform both a Fusion Summon and a Synchro Summon."
"I Fusion and Synchro Summon using the two monsters on my field!"
Hikaru raised his left hand. "I warned you, Leo Akaba!"
"I'm going to swing all of your arrogance and all of your power over to my side!"
"I Synchro Summon! Level 6, Earthbound Servant Geo Grasha! And Fusion Summon! Level 6, Earthbound Servant Geo Gremlina!"
Earthbound Servant Geo Grasha. Level 6, DARK, Fiend, ATK 2000. Earthbound Servant Geo Gremlina. Level 6, DARK, Fiend, ATK 2000.
Hikaru LP: 4000 → 3400.
"Geo Grasha's effect! I target Earthbound Immortal Red Nova on your field. You choose: either let me recover Life Points equal to its ATK, or destroy that monster!"
"Recover your Life Points." Leo Akaba sneered. "Don't forget, the higher your Life Points, the higher my monsters' ATK becomes."
Setting aside the fact that Red Nova was screaming beside him not to let itself be destroyed, even objectively, recovering Life Points was the obvious choice.
Hikaru LP: 3400 → 9800.
"Hmph, this way, my monsters' ATK will be even higher!"
"That's exactly why everything you've been doing is pointless, Leo Akaba."
Hikaru chuckled softly. Beside him, Tierra spoke up: "Hikaru, aren't you going to use that?"
"Not yet."
Hikaru replied casually. "Now, entering the Battle Phase. During battle, I activate Geo Grasha's effect! During either player's Battle Phase, I can banish monsters from my hand, field, or Graveyard to Fusion Summon one Earthbound Fusion Monster! I fuse the two monsters on my field!"
He pulled up his left sleeve with his right hand, revealing a canine Dark Sign on his left forearm, glowing with a blood-red light.
"I've been wondering this whole time: if you chose me as your Dark Signer, why have you never responded to me!
So this is where you were. You were all here!"
"The duel has reached this point now. You should all be able to see! You can see that I have what it takes to change everything. So let's fight back together! Rebel against the 'Divine Nobility' that has been oppressing you!"
AWOOOO...
Behind Hikaru, the massive orca that had been lounging around doing nothing suddenly swam out of thin air, letting out an enormous cry.
Alongside its call, the octopus and the gryphon raised their voices too.
In the distance, Crow, who had already wrapped things up on his end, suddenly felt something stir. He glanced behind him and saw the enormous bird-shaped Dark Sign blazing to life once more on his back.
A massive Earthbound Immortal appeared behind the smaller ones gathered around Hikaru, sheltering them like a parent protecting its young. Its enormous form was large enough to rival Red Nova itself.
"What? You... how dare you! Are you trying to rebel!?" Red Nova swung its arms, trying to grab those beings. But as Grasha appeared, even more "animals" materialized around them.
Hummingbird, monkey, spider...
The Earthbound Immortals had broken free of their shackles, finally returning to this world, free to act and choose for themselves.
And at the very end...
Crack...
The scarlet humanoid hound shattered its bonds, spread its wings, and took flight once more!
"Fusion Materials: one Earthbound Synchro Monster and one Earthbound Fusion Monster!
Fusion Summon! Level 10, Earthbound Servant Geo Grasha!"
"AWOOOO~~~~"
It howled in celebration, sighing with relief.
This place was absolutely no home for a god. It couldn't stand a single second more in this Synchro Dimension!
It wanted to leave this miserable place right now!
But...
The duel wasn't over yet.
Earthbound Servant Geo Grasha. Level 10, DARK, Fiend, ATK 3000.
And as this monster appeared, the other Earthbound Immortals each departed, leaving only Chacu Challhua behind to watch.
Hikaru LP: 9800 → 9200.
...
STONES PLZZ