Chapter 789 - 789

Not only could the Bunilla not stop Dark Gaia, but because Evil HERO Dark Gaia had been summoned by Dark Fusion, it could not be destroyed by card effects during the turn it was summoned. As a result, Akasha's Sakuretsu Armor in the back row could not stop it either.

A Sakuretsu Armor that was destined to fail would be a complete waste even if it were activated.

"During damage calculation, the effect of the Field Spell Supreme King's Castle activates!"

[Once per turn, during damage calculation, when your Fiend monster battles an opponent's monster, you can send 1 'Evil HERO' monster from your Deck or Extra Deck to the Graveyard; the attacking monster gains ATK equal to the Level of the monster sent to the Graveyard × 200, until the end of this turn.]

"I send the Level 8 monster Evil HERO Malicious Bane from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard, increasing Dark Gaia's ATK by 1600 until the end of this turn!"

[Evil HERO Dark Gaia ATK 5000 → 6600]

"— Take this! Dark Calamity!"

The difference in power was overwhelming.

The HERO, which shattered the earth with its attack, easily destroyed the Little White Rabbit in Attack Position.

[Bunilla] destroyed.

[Akasha & Minazuki LP 8000 → 1550]

After painstakingly hanging on for so many turns, Akasha and Minazuki had nearly had their Life Points wiped out by a single attack from Supreme King.

"It's over. Don't forget that because Evil HERO Infernal Gainer was sacrificed, Evil HERO Dark Gaia can attack twice this turn!"

The second explosive Dark Calamity once again targeted the Bunilla in Attack Position.

Minazuki desperately called for help:

"We're going to lose at this rate, Akasha! Hurry up and think of something with your invincible Trap Cards!"

"I know!"

Akasha flipped up the Set card at her feet and declared:

"When Dark Gaia attacks, I activate the Set Trap!"

"Hmph. If it's Sakuretsu Armor, it won't work."

"It's not that thing! — Trap Card, Defense Draw!"

[During your opponent's turn, when you take battle damage during damage calculation: You can activate this card; the battle damage you would take from that battle becomes 0, then draw 1 card.]

Although the second Bunilla was still destroyed, the hastily activated Defense Draw helped Akasha and Minazuki block the potentially fatal battle damage.

"Then because of Defense Draw's effect, I can draw 1 more card from my Deck!"

Akasha drew the card she had earned after barely surviving this long.

As she glanced at its face, her eyes immediately flashed with unmistakable excitement.

"I got it, Minazuki! After holding on for so long, I'm finally ready!"

Minazuki glanced at the Set card beneath their feet and immediately understood.

He smiled as well.

"I'm ready too! Now let's give that idiot Supreme King a real scare, Akasha~"

Ending the Battle Phase, Supreme King placed the last two cards in his hand onto his Duel Disk.

"No matter what you two are planning, there is absolutely no way you can defeat me! I Set two cards and end my turn!"

[Supreme King: Hand Card 0 | Set Cards: 2]

"It's my turn, Supreme King! This turn, I'll show you what I'm made of!"

Starting his turn, Minazuki drew his card and immediately threw a Spell Card onto his Duel Disk.

"— Spell Card, One for One!"

[Send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard to activate this card; Special Summon 1 Level 1 monster from your hand or Deck.]

"Akasha, I'll leave the cost to you!"

"Sure thing!"

Akasha selected the card she had just drawn from her hand and sent it to the Graveyard.

"By the activation requirement of One for One, I send Raviel, Lord of Phantasms from my hand to the Graveyard!"

"Raviel?"

The sudden mention of one of the Three Sacred Beasts caught Supreme King's attention.

He vaguely remembered that this was not the first Sacred Beast card Akasha had sent to the Graveyard during this duel.

"One for One activates! I Special Summon the Level 1 monster Mokey Mokey from my Deck!"

[Mokey Mokey ★(Level 1)][LIGHT][Fairy][ATK 300 / DEF 100]

A white block of tofu with a question mark on its head and an adorably vacant expression, as if it had seen through everything in existence.

Even among Level 1 Normal Monsters, it was the kind of monster with practically zero combat ability.

"And when Mokey Mokey is Special Summoned, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card in my hand — Inferno Reckless Summon!"

[Quick-Play Spell Effect: When a monster with 1500 or less ATK is Special Summoned to your field while your opponent controls a face-up monster: Special Summon as many monsters with the same name as that Special Summoned monster from your hand, Deck, and Graveyard as possible, all in Attack Position.]

A continuous torrent of Summoning light descended, and two more Mokey Mokey jumped out of Minazuki's Deck, floating onto the field in Attack Position.

"Summoning this kind of trash monster in Attack Position? Then I activate the Set Trap!"

Supreme King immediately flipped up the Set card in his back row.

[Taunt — Trap Card Effect: During your opponent's Main Phase 1, select 1 monster you control to activate this card. While the selected monster remains on the field, if your opponent attacks this turn, they must select the selected monster as the attack target.]

"After Taunt is activated, every monster on the field this turn must attack Evil HERO Dark Gaia!"

"Even trash monsters have their own way of fighting! There are four Level 1 monsters on the field. Here we go — Summon of the God of Despair! Dystopia the Despondent!"

[Dystopia the Despondent ★★★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 12)][DARK][Fiend/Effect][ATK 5000 / DEF 5000]

[This card cannot be Normal Summoned. It can only be Special Summoned from your hand or Graveyard by sending 4 face-up Level 1 monsters you control to the Graveyard.]

With the same 5000 ATK as Dark Gaia, the pitch-black God of Despair, born from a collection of seemingly useless cards, now stood proudly upon the field.

Supreme King sneered.

"As expected, Dystopia the Despondent? Minazuki, you really are still stuck at this level. A Dystopia the Despondent with 5000 ATK cannot defeat Dark Gaia under the effects of Supreme King's Castle!"

Thanks to the ATK boost provided by Supreme King's Castle, Dark Gaia could easily surpass 5000 ATK.

"Then how about this card?!"

Akasha pointed toward the Set card on her field and signaled to Minazuki.

"The activation requirements have been met. Flip that Spell Card, Minazuki!"

"Yoshi! — Spell Card, Dimension Fusion Destruction!"

[Banish from your hand, field, and/or Graveyard the Fusion Materials listed for a 'Phantasm' Fusion Monster, then Special Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions. You take no battle damage from attacks involving the monster Special Summoned by this effect.]

The dedicated Fusion Spell for the Three Sacred Beasts that Akasha had Set on the field from the beginning had finally come into play.

When she drew a card through Defense Draw during the previous turn, she had finally assembled all the Fusion Materials needed for the Three Sacred Beasts.

"I banish Uria, Lord of Searing Flames and Raviel, Lord of Phantasms from my Graveyard, along with Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder from my hand, as Fusion Materials! — Descend, the strongest Sacred Beast! Armityle the Chaos Phantom!"

[Armityle the Chaos Phantom ★★★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 12)][DARK][Fiend/Fusion/Effect][ATK 0 DEF 0]

["Uria, Lord of Searing Flames" + "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder" + "Raviel, Lord of Phantasms"]

The Darkness of the Universe trembled violently.

Even Hoshino, on the other side of the space, could feel the impact caused by the arrival of the strongest Sacred Beast — the same monster that had once forced her into a grueling battle.

"So it's Taunt, huh?"

"Armityle the Chaos Phantasm will gain an enormous amount of ATK during battle. If you want to surpass it using the effect of Supreme King's Castle, Jaden, you'd need a Level 25 'Evil HERO' in your Deck!"

Over the previous few turns, Akasha and Minazuki had survived by desperately clinging to life with an army of weak, low-Level monsters.

But this turn, as though the heavens and earth had suddenly been overturned, two monstrously powerful top-tier monsters had appeared on the field.

Their Deck was composed entirely of extremes: monsters that were either Level 1 or Level 12, thoroughly demonstrating what an "extreme" style of dueling looked like.

"Are you ready, Jaden?"

"This is the final Battle Phase your precious friends have activated to beat some sense back into you!"

Minazuki declared the start of the Battle Phase, and as the battle began, Akasha simultaneously activated the effect of the strongest Sacred Beast.

"Armityle the Chaos Phantasm's effect! Send its ATK skyrocketing and smash it into Evil HERO Dark Gaia!"

Pointing toward the field, Supreme King immediately declared his counter-effect.

"During battle, I activate the effect of the Field Spell Supreme King's Castle! I send the Level 8 Evil HERO Malicious Bane from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard, raising Dark Gaia's ATK by 1600 until the end of the turn!"

[Evil HERO Dark Gaia ATK 5000 → 6600]

"Even with another 1600 ATK, it still can't stand against the Chaos Phantasm's 10,000 ATK!"

The chaotic darkness condensed from the bodies of the three Sacred Beasts blasted across the entire field.

In an instant, it engulfed Supreme King's monster and castle.

[Supreme King LP 8000 → 4600]

Under the impact of the Sacred Beast, even the cape behind Supreme King was torn apart by the force of the blast.

"Even if I can't match the Chaos Phantasm's ATK, that doesn't matter! Continuous Trap Card — Dimension Guardian!"

[Dimension Guardian — Continuous Trap Card Effect: Target 1 face-up Attack Position monster you control to activate this card. ①: While this card remains in the Spell & Trap Zone, that monster cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects.]

After forcibly withstanding the full-power impact of Armityle the Chaos Phantasm, the rock-covered armor coating Dark Gaia's body began to crack and break apart.

Although it looked terrible, Dark Gaia was not destroyed by battle because of Dimension Guardian.

"You thought you could empty my Life Points with the final attack of Dystopia the Despondent? Minazuki, Akasha, you miscalculated!"

The situation on the field instantly reversed.

If Dark Gaia were destroyed, Dystopia the Despondent's 5000 ATK direct attack would immediately reduce Supreme King's remaining 4600 Life Points to zero.

But conversely, if Dark Gaia remained on the field, because of Taunt's effect, Dystopia the Despondent would be forced to attack it.

With 5000 ATK attacking Dark Gaia's 6600 ATK, the resulting 1600 points of reflected battle damage would instead immediately reduce Akasha and Minazuki's 1550 Life Points to zero.

The decisive factor that would determine the final victor had completely changed because Supreme King had managed to withstand that attack from Armityle the Chaos Phantasm.

"This is the difference between us."

Supreme King spoke coldly.

"Dystopia the Despondent. Armityle the Chaos Phantasm. Don't look down on me. Duelists who remain stuck in the past can never defeat me. And I refuse to let my past experiences bind my steps forward!"

Having secured what he believed was victory, Supreme King released the darkness beneath his feet, and the black energy spread toward Jaden Yuki.

"I don't need you anymore. Goodbye, my friend… and my cowardice…"

"Activate the Set Trap Card!"

Akasha's shout as she activated her final Set card interrupted the Supreme King's movement, her voice piercing through the endlessly expanding Darkness of the Universe.

"The battle isn't over yet, Supreme King. A Duelist who remains stuck in the past? Aren't you the one looking down on people?!"

On Akasha and Minazuki's field, the only two Duel Monsters standing at the pinnacle of darkness suddenly radiated an evolutionary brilliance that illuminated the Darkness of the Universe after the Trap Card was activated.

"This is our final Trap! Our final evolution has transcended everything! — Trap Card, Wonder Xyz!"

[Xyz Summon 1 Xyz Monster using monsters you control as Xyz Materials.]

"An Xyz Summon using monsters on the field?!"

The Supreme King was astonished.

On Akasha and Minazuki's field were their only two monsters: Dystopia the Despondent, a Level 12 monster, and Armityle the Chaos Phantasm, also Level 12.

"Stack Dystopia the Despondent and Armityle the Chaos Phantasm together and construct the Overlay Network!"

Akasha and Minazuki simultaneously picked up the strongest Monster Card on their Duel Disks.

The intertwined Overlay Network was constructed into an existence belonging to the highest Xyz class, far surpassing anything that had appeared in any of their previous duels.

Minazuki said:

"To bring our friend trapped in darkness back, we'll use a Rank 12 Xyz Summon to stack the light that leads toward the future!"

Akasha flicked the card from her fingertips, the card radiating dazzling evolutionary light.

"Become the strongest convergence and turn into the hope that illuminates this dark universe!"

Minazuki & Akasha:

"— Ultimate Xyz Summon! Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder!"

[Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (Rank 12)][LIGHT][Machine/Xyz/Effect][ATK: 3000 / DEF: 3000]

[2 Level 12 monsters]

At the end point of this evolutionary radiance, the enormous shining machine Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder stood within the dark universe. As a Rank 12 Xyz Monster standing at the pinnacle, it pierced through the battlefield in a single attack.

"Activate the effect of Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder —"

[You can detach 2 Xyz Materials from this card; send all other cards on the field to the Graveyard. This effect can also be activated during your opponent's turn].

Akasha:

"I detach Dystopia the Despondent and Armityle the Chaos Phantasm that were stacked as Xyz Materials to activate its effect… Cover this darkness in light, Zeus!"

Minazuki:

"— God-King Thunderclap — Termination!"

The effect of Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder, which bombarded the entire field, did not destroy the cards.

Instead, it simply sent every other card directly to the Graveyard.

Supreme King's Castle, collapsing beneath the thunderous light, and even Evil HERO Dark Gaia, protected by Dimension Guardian, were both unable to withstand Zeus's effect.

The battlefield was overturned and swept away by the power of a single card.

Within the endless universe, only Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder remained.

Akasha waved her hand and declared the attack:

"This is the final direct attack! Go, Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder!"

Supreme King retorted:

"Zeus without enough ATK still can't end this duel!"

"Stop struggling!"

Minazuki threw the final Quick-Play Spell Card from his hand onto his Duel Disk and roared:

"Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder, activate Ultimate Mode! Go all out with absolutely nothing held back! — Quick-Play Spell Card, Limiter Removal!"

[Double the ATK of all Machine monsters you currently control until the end of this turn. During the End Phase, destroy the monsters affected by this effect.]

[Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder ATK 3000 → 6000]

The ultimate support Spell for Machines removed the restraints on its armored body.

With its ATK doubled, Zeus grasped a colossal sword of radiant thunder, its brilliance extending infinitely, and cleaved apart this entire universe.

Akasha:

"Take this, Jaden! Space-Time Severing Slash — 'Azure Radiant Galaxy Is the Universe'!!"

At the center of the collapsing space, Supreme King Jaden, whose entire field had already been devastated by Zeus's bombardment, had no means of resisting and took the attack head-on.

Minazuki:

"Blast him to hell—!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

[Supreme King LP 4600 → 0]

Duel Over — Winner: Akasha & Minazuki