His "Scrubbed Raid" went up in smoke. Antinomy shielded himself from the impact, his heart pounding.
"Its synergy with traps—blocking the opponent with a wall of traps, drawing strength from your own traps, while simultaneously being able to completely forbid the opponent from using their traps..."
He muttered to himself.
"What is this kind of monster?"
Kira grinned. "It's not a monster—it's a Sacred Beast!"
Even though it wasn't technically a "God" card, saying the line still had an unforgettable impact.
Uria, evidently rather proud, let out a majestic cry.
What does it mean to be called a "Sacred Beast"?
The name "Uria" comes from "Uriel," one of Christianity's four highest archangels. The name "Uria" means "God's light," or "God's fire"—and its standing among the Sacred Beasts is not low either.
Antinomy still didn't know that Uria not only dominates enemy traps, but possesses the generic Sacred Beast ability of absolute trap immunity—it is totally unaffected by any trap effect, period.
Essentially—"I can trap you, but you can't trap me." The perfect anti-meta Sacred Beast.
That's why, between the three Sacred Beasts, Kira prefers Uria over Hamon or Raviel.
Uria's fiery core ignited—energy pulsing from its throat to its jaws, each scale glowing as all liquid fire within its body surged up toward its head.
The instant its jaws opened, hurricane flames coiled outwards, warping even gravity along their path.
Antinomy gritted his teeth. "At this moment, I discard 'D.D. Crow' from my hand! Its effect: banish one card from your graveyard, even during your opponent's turn.
I banish one of your six trap cards from your graveyard!"
A crow swooped from Kira's graveyard, snatching a trap card and flapping away into the rift of another dimension.
"Uria loses 1000 ATK!"
[Uria, ATK 6000 → 5000]
Kira raised an eyebrow but continued, "But Uria still has more attack than you—attack, continue!"
Tech Genus Blade Blaster immediately threw up a quantum shield—hexagonal honeycomb barriers came up in thousandths of a second. But Uria's flames melted the defense instantly—the shield crumbling, the armor and skeleton of Blade Blaster melted into streams of liquid metal, then vanished as blazing ashes.
"UURRRAAAGHH!"
[Antinomy LP: 3200 → 1500]
His delta eagle shuddered from the impact—Antinomy almost losing control for a moment. His Speed Counter, which had been at 8, dropped to 7 after losing over 2000 damage.
Kira reflected internally, "He used Crow to reduce damage by 1000."
But maybe it wasn't the 1000 LP that mattered, but saving that extra Speed Counter. After all, in Riding Duels of the Speed World 1 era, if Antinomy had taken over 1000 more damage, his Speed would have dropped by another counter.
Antinomy gasped, "So this is Sacred Beast power…"
The Three Egyptian Gods, the Three Wicked Gods, the Three Sacred Beasts—for sure, all the legendary monsters of dueling history possess terrifying power.
But—
Antinomy: "At this moment, Tech Genus Blade Blaster's further effect activates!
When destroyed in battle, if its synchro materials used for its summoning exist in the graveyard, I can Special Summon them back to the field!"
Twin beams shot from the grave to either side of his Duel Runner.
"Special Summon from the graveyard: 'T.G. Hyper Librarian'!
'T.G. Wonder Magician'!"
[T.G. Hyper Librarian, ATK 2400]
[T.G. Wonder Magician, ATK 1900]
Kira: "Even after being beaten, you can call back your synchro materials? So this is the original Blade Blaster, huh?"
He'd played T.G.s in the past—always found the anime Blade Blaster, with its ability to nullify any traps & spells affecting itself, banish, and trigger effects upon destruction, just too envy-inducing.
Kira laughed, "A pity—since you've summoned back your synchros, my Marshmallon finishing blow plan doesn't work anymore!"
Marshmallon drooped sadly, as if lamenting a missed opportunity.
Antinomy: "…"
To be honest, given Marshmallon's 300 ATK, a slap from it would surely be more humiliating than damaging.
Kira shrugged, "No more attacks then. I switch 'Marshmallon' from Attack to Defense position. End turn."
[Marshmallon, ATK 300 → DEF 500]
Strictly speaking, even keeping it in Attack would probably have been fine. Thanks to his continuous trap "Spirit Barrier," Kira could not take battle damage so long as a monster remains on his field.
Still, for security, with Marshmallon unable to land a slap, he switched it to defense. If the Spirit Barrier got destroyed, at least Marshmallon wouldn't become a fatal flaw.
Antinomy let out a long breath.
The instant Kira ended his turn, he unconsciously relaxed.
As soon as he realized this, Antinomy's heart stirred.
Am I afraid?
Am I actually feeling pressured—afraid of my opponent? Of that Sacred Beast?
He pondered deeply.
This was a newfound feeling. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this kind of pressure in a duel.
"Z-ONE was right."
Antinomy murmured.
Maybe… this match, this opponent, might actually be his opportunity to achieve a new transformation.
He had stepped into the King's realm, yes, but had been stuck for a long time. Or, to be precise, his original self—before being copied into a machine.
Back then, Antinomy had reached the doorstep of Duel King; later, after a lifetime of battles, never broke through. He died, his consciousness uploaded to the machine, and still, no progress.
But that's not enough.
Even with King-level power, he'd never been able to help Z-ONE save the world—nor to heal Z-ONE's devastated heart.
If only he could be stronger…
"I have to become stronger. I must keep speeding forward—
Faster than anyone, to the farthest horizon!"
Antinomy thundered.
"My turn! Draw!"
Kira muttered to himself.
Hmm, what's with this sudden "friendship! bonds!" outburst—do all Duelists in this world have cheat skills and plot armor? It's tough being the Demon Lord with opponents like these...
Antinomy: "I Special Summon 'T.G. Gear Zombie'!"
[T.G. Gear Zombie, ATK 600]
"Gear Zombie can be Special Summoned by lowering the ATK of a T.G. on my field by 1000," Antinomy explained. "I lower 'T.G. Wonder Magician' from 1900 to 900 to Special Summon Gear Zombie!"
[T.G. Wonder Magician, ATK 1900 → 900]
Antinomy declared, "Now, Kira, watch closely! This is the true ultimate form of Synchro!"
…