Chapter 213

“Tremble before the power of the Sacred Beasts! I offer the three Spell Cards I just Set on my field as the Tribute, and Special Summon Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, from my hand!”

Inside the life-support machine, Kagemaru guided the mechanical arm to place one of his last two cards onto his Duel Disk.

A tremendous surge of energy erupted at once, pressing outward against everything around it.

“Come forth, the second Sacred Beast! Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!”

“ROOOAR!!”

In almost the same instant, the giant projections of the three Spell Cards Kagemaru had just Set were all flipped open by the force of the energy wind.

Then, one after another, they froze over as though turned to ice, shattering into white crystals that scattered across the barren, blackened valley floor.

A colossal blue bolt of lightning surged up from that spot, linking the ground to the pitch-black clouds above.

Within that vast blue glare, a giant, savage skeletal monster with demonic double wings and a sallow, earthen-yellow body rose into view.

It hung in the air above the field in front of Kagemaru!

[Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder] [Level: 10] [Attribute: LIGHT] [ATK: 4000] [DEF: 4000]

“So this is… the second Sacred Beast, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder?!”

Chancellor Sheppard, Zane Truesdale, Jaden Yuki, and the others broke out in a cold sweat as they stared across the field at that huge, savage, earthen-yellow skeletal monster.

The pressure of the energy they could feel this time was clearly stronger than anything Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, had given off.

“And Rowan’s Relinquished still has 0 ATK even after absorbing Uria, Lord of Searing Flames! If Hamon, with 4000 ATK, attacks it…!”

Alexis Rhodes, who had been watching Rowan’s side of the field more closely than anyone, cried out in alarm.

The others immediately saw how dangerous that was too.

“But Rowan still has three Set cards on his field. With the kind of Traps that guy has been using, they should be enough to hold Hamon back…”

On the other side, Bastion saw the same thing and spoke gravely.

As a seasoned victim, he certainly had some authority on the subject!

“Hmph, how naive! As one of the Sacred Beasts, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, has the exact same common effects as Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!”

Across the Duel Field, the old man Kagemaru had clearly overheard Bastion and the others. He answered with obvious satisfaction.

“Namely, the Sacred Beasts are unaffected by Trap Cards, and Spell Cards only have an effect on them for one turn!”

“Traps that need to select a target, like Nightmare Wheel or Magic Cylinder, cannot work on my Sacred Beast!”

As he spoke, Kagemaru ordered Hamon into action!

“Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, attack that eyesore of a scrub monster, Relinquished!”

“ROOOAR!!”

As Kagemaru’s voice fell, the giant, earthen-yellow skeletal monster hovering in the air above his field let out a roar. Its jaws opened, and a blue bolt of lightning shot up into the black clouds overhead.

“CRACK!!”

From within the swirling vortex of clouds came a colossal thunderclap, and a huge blue bolt came crashing down, striking toward the dark green figure of Relinquished on the field in front of Rowan.

“You really did dare to attack, huh.”

Rowan looked at Kagemaru with a subtle expression, taken aback by the sheer nerve of ordering Hamon to attack like that.

“Relinquished’s second effect! When it would be destroyed by battle, the equipped card is destroyed in its place, and my opponent takes the same battle damage that I do!”

“What?!”

Kagemaru’s face changed at once as the words left Rowan’s mouth.

He had never imagined that Relinquished had a second effect like that!

If his Sacred Beast Hamon’s attack actually went through…

Wouldn’t he end up going down with Rowan?!

And then both of them would suffer the enormous penalty of losing a Shadow Duel!

For a moment, the old man Kagemaru was seized by fear and regret.

“But I have no intention of going down with you…!”

While the old man was drowning in his regret, the huge blue arc of lightning was about to slam into the dark green figure of Relinquished in front of Rowan.

Rowan let him stew a moment longer, then calmly waved a hand toward one of the three Set cards on his field.

“Open Set card! Continuous Trap, Astral Barrier!”

A Trap Card with an image of a phantom figure shielding a Warrior monster from an attack flipped face-up!

“With this card’s effect, when my opponent’s monster attacks one of my monsters, I can take that attack myself instead!”

“What?! You would willingly take Hamon’s attack?!”

At Rowan’s words, everyone reacted with shock and disbelief.

The old man Kagemaru, Rowan’s opponent far across the field, wore it plainly on his face. So did Alexis Rhodes, Chancellor Sheppard, Jaden Yuki, and the rest.

That was an attack from a Sacred Beast with 4000 ATK!

Never mind whether it could wipe out his Life Points outright. Damage dealt in a Shadow Duel was probably more than any human could endure!

Yet none of them believed that Rowan would do something as reckless as courting his own death!

“Second Set card! Continuous Trap, Spirit Barrier!”

Almost at the very moment the giant blue bolt was drawn toward the power rising from Astral Barrier and swerved to strike Rowan himself, he raised his hand again, and another of his two remaining Set cards flipped up.

It revealed a Continuous Trap with a familiar brown barrier on its face!

“HUMMM!!”

Almost instantly, a burst of energy light shot out from the card and formed a brown protective barrier around Rowan.

It blocked Hamon’s giant blue lightning attack completely!