Only then did the Masked Sorcerer let out a breath. Thankfully, he had spotted the back row in time.
"So much talk, but in the end you just used your monster as a wall," the Masked Sorcerer sneered.
Yugen did not respond. On his field, where Silent Magician had vanished, a white magic circle opened again in empty space. Waves of magical power burst out like a storm and spiraled straight into the sky.
"Nani?!?" the Masked Sorcerer exclaimed again. "Was she not already defeated?"
"No. What you did was simply release her true power. When Silent Magician is destroyed by battle or by an opponent's effect, I can Special Summon one 'Silent Magician' monster other than herself from my hand or Deck, ignoring its summoning conditions.
From the meeting point of chaos and order, silent light blooms. Magician of Light, descend here.
Silent Magician LV8!"
A transparent magical storm rose up, white robes fluttering as the mage who had just left the field returned once more. The magical aura around her was even stronger than before.
Silent Magician LV8, summon.
"ATK is actually thirty-five hundred!?"
Masked Sorcerer stared in shock. When the hall master first revealed Silent Magician, he had hinted at the LV LV Series system in a very deliberate way, so of course LV4 and LV8 versions existed. It was just that Yugen had not used them much before.
"Tch, I see how it is. The power of this Spirit is actually stronger than my strongest form, the Death Guardian Mage. Is this your trump card?" the sorcerer snorted.
But there was still a chance.
He looked down at the last card in his hand. It was a Trap Card called Covering Fire, whose effect would raise the attacked monster's ATK by the ATK of another face-up monster on his field. With practiced calm, he set the card face-down.
"I set one card. Turn end."
On the next turn, the opponent would certainly attack with Silent Magician. At that moment, Covering Fire would activate, adding Holy Night Dragon's ATK to The Masked Beast. The Masked Beast's ATK would jump straight to six thousand six hundred.
Silent Magician's attack would rebound, dealing 3100 damage in one blow. With the opponent's Life Points hanging at a fragile 2700, the duel would be decided instantly.
This was his reversal move. This Duel was already in his hands, or so Masked Sorcerer believed. He laughed coldly inside, though the frozen mask hid any sign of it.
"My Turn!, Card Draw."
Yugen drew a card, then calmly selected one from his hand and removed the "Trick Sorcerer" from his Duel Disk. He held it up with steady fingers.
"I tribute 'Trick Sorcerer.'"
"Hm?" The sorcerer frowned beneath his mask.
A Tribute Summon? With one tribute, that only meant a Level five or six monster. Against three monsters with over three thousand ATK on the field, that kind of creature should not matter at all.
Nani?!!?
As the Trick Sorcerer dissolved into light, a mechanical body emerged from the summoning circle. Sparks of electricity spilled across its frame, and red mechanical eyes lit up in the haze. The sorcerer's eyes went wide.
Jinzo!?
"Jinzo, the trap-locking monster…" The sorcerer's voice twisted as he glared at his back row.
An absolute nemesis of traps, feared even in the Spirit World, this red mechanical executioner rewrote the battlefield the moment it appeared. His carefully prepared reversal had become a useless card.
"How is this possible? Did you see through my strategy!?" the sorcerer shouted.
"Who knows?" Yugen shrugged.
In another life, he would have laughed and said it was just bad luck and a lucky draw. But this was the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!. He had not deliberately aimed for Jinzo, since calling cards at will was Yami Yugi's specialty, not something an ordinary Duelist could do.
Still, before drawing, he had paid extra attention to that back row card and briefly wondered if something disruptive might come. He did not draw removal, but he drew this instead. It was not true control over fate, but with the help of Spirit, he could nudge the flow of a Duel in subtle ways.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card 'Force.'" Yugen continued. "I choose two face-up monsters on the field. Until the end of the turn, one monster's ATK is halved, and the other gains that same amount."
He pointed forward as he spoke. "I halve the ATK of your 'The Masked Beast-Death Guardian Mage,' and add that value to 'Silent Magician.'"
The numbers shifted in the air as power moved. The Masked Beast-Death Guardian Mage dropped from 3300 to 1650, while Silent Magician LV8 surged from 3500 to 5150.
"ATK five thousand one hundred and fifty!?"
The goblin lackeys watching nearly collapsed where they stood. This was not a virtual projection, but a real battle between Spirit with physical bodies. Every increase in power was real, and the magic radiating from Silent Magician LV8 alone was enough to terrify the weaker goblins into trembling silence.
"I'm not done yet. I activate the Spell Card 'Diffusion Wave.'" Yugen swept his hand forward. "While your opponent controls monsters, pay 1000 Life Points and choose one Level seven or higher Spellcaster Type monster you control. This turn, that monster must attack all monsters your opponent controls, once each."
This was a card exclusive to Spellcaster Type, and one of Atem (Yami Yugi)'s favorite finishing moves. In Battle City, it had once wiped out a full lineup of Blue-Eyes White Dragon to decide a duel in a single turn.
Yugen's Life Points fell from 2700 to 1700.
Masked Sorcerer froze in disbelief. Five thousand plus ATK with area attacks was beyond reason. Some goblins even turned and tried to flee.
"Battle."
Yugen entered the Battle Phase without hesitation and pointed directly at the sorcerer's manifested avatar, his so-called ultimate evolved form.
"Silent Magician LV8, attack 'The Masked Beast-Death Guardian Mage.'"
Silent Magician rose into the air, spinning as white light surged and gathered at the tip of her staff. The beam struck like a crashing wave, piercing the demon's chest as it screamed and shattered into golden fragments.
"Gah!"
Linked to his avatar, Masked Sorcerer screamed as well. The backlash hurled him backward, and cracks spread across the surface of his mask.
His Life Points plunged from 4000 to 500.
Yet even in agony, he burst into wild laughter as he spun in the storm of magic.
"You fell for it, brat! This was my real backup plan!" he roared. "When 'The Masked Beast-Death Guardian Mage' is destroyed, its hidden effect activates. I equip the Spell Card 'Mask of Last Words' from my Deck to one monster on your field!"
A beam of light shot from the Deck, forming into a hideous mask that flew straight toward Silent Magician.
"'Mask of Last Words' only shows its true power when equipped by 'The Masked Beast-Death Guardian Mage'!" the sorcerer shrieked. "As its final will, I gain control of the equipped monster. Come on, hand over your Silent Magician!"
"Nope."
Yugen spoke calmly. The mask shattered against an invisible white magic circle before it could even reach its target.
"Nani?!!?" the sorcerer screamed.
"The other effect of 'Diffusion Wave'," Yugen replied evenly. "Any monster destroyed by the chosen Spellcaster in battle cannot activate its effects. And even before that, LV8 Silent Magician is a supreme mage who resists all opposing Spell effects."
"How can this be…" The sorcerer's face twisted beneath the broken mask.