"Slifer? Dark Dragon? Sorry, but from here on... gods are not permitted to pass. I activate my Quick-Play Spell—World's End White!"[World's End White – Quick-Play Spell Effect: When your opponent Special Summons a monster: You can activate 1 Field Spell directly from your Deck.]
The Duel Disks of both players roared to life as a new Field Spell physically manifested on the battlefield—a land of golden sand, roaring beasts, and a bulwark representing the last hope of humanity.
"According to World's End White's effect, I activate the Field Spell Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia from my Deck!"
The scene replayed an era when humanity and gods had parted ways—the age of the divine. As the Field Spell activated, massive, indescribable walls projected onto the field, blocking all of the king's monsters from advancing.
"Well said, mongrel! My Uruk shall not allow such beasts and gods to step foot here!"
Standing atop the walls, holding a clay tablet in one hand, Gilgamesh, with a slightly amused expression, gazed at the monsters shackled by the Chains of Heaven and said:
"As expected of my friend—your chains are still just as precise and polished!"
"It's been a while since we fought side by side, Gil. Of course I want to put on a good show."
Standing beside King Gilgamesh atop the wall, Enkidu raised his right arm and unleashed a storm of chains, creating a divine suppression so intense that not even gods could move through it.
"I activate the effect of the Field Spell Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia —"[Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia – Field Spell Effect: While this card is face-up on the field, when your opponent declares a direct attack, you can Special Summon 1 "Heroic Spirit – Sage-King Gilgamesh" from your Deck.
Then, if your opponent controls 3 or more face-up monsters, you can also Special Summon 1 "Heroic Spirit – Enkidu" from your Deck.]
"As Babylonia activates, I simultaneously Special Summon Heroic Spirit – Sage-King Gilgamesh and Heroic Spirit – Chains of Heaven, Enkidu!"
[Heroic Spirit – Sage-King Gilgamesh ★★★★★★★★★ (Level 9)] [EARTH] [Spellcaster/Effect] [ATK 2400 / DEF 3000][Heroic Spirit – Chains of Heaven, Enkidu ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)] [EARTH] [Rock/Effect] [ATK 2900 / DEF 2600]
Yugi raised his hand and commanded:
"Now that monsters have been summoned—Slifer, fire your Thunderforce!"
"I already told you—gods are forbidden from advancing any further! As long as Babylonia remains on the field, all 'Heroic Spirit' monsters are unaffected by your monsters' effects!"
Slifer fired its twin Thunderforce blasts at Gilgamesh and Enkidu, but the massive wall absorbed the attack, leaving only scorch marks where the energy had dissipated.
"And now, Enkidu's effect activates—while this card is face-up in the Monster Zone, if your opponent controls more monsters than you do, they cannot declare an attack!"
Yugi, conflicted and mere inches away from victory, now found himself shackled by the Chains of Heaven—unable to move.
"Chains of Heaven... such a troublesome effect."
Back in Battle City, even the combined might of Slifer and Obelisk had fallen short against this effect when Yugi and Kaiba last faced it.
"But I'm not the only one who's grown stronger, Hoshino! I won't fall for the same move twice. Thanks to Spell Sanctuary, Normal Spells can be used as Quick-Play Spells.
Go—Dark Burning Attack!"
[Dark Burning Attack – Spell Card Effect: If you control a "Dark Magician Girl" monster: Destroy all face-up monsters your opponent controls.]Unlike the ultimate spell cast jointly by teacher and student, this version was powered solely by the explosive magical energy of Dark Magician Girl—and it was enough to wipe out every opposing monster on the field.
"If I destroy Enkidu, then my monsters will be able to attack again!"
Even while seductively bound by the Chains of Heaven, Dark Magician Girl gathered devastating energy into her staff.
"—But if that's all you've got, it won't be enough to break through my friend! Behold the King's magic!"
Gilgamesh raised his hand and dispelled the magic in Dark Magician Girl's staff, negating Dark Burning Attack entirely.
Hoshino grinned at the field.
"Sorry, Yugi—but if one trick doesn't work, I'll just spice it up a bit! I activate Gilgamesh's ability!"
[Effect: Once per turn, when your opponent activates a Spell Card effect: You can negate the activation, and if you do, banish it.]
After flawlessly nullifying Yugi's magic, Gilgamesh burst out laughing:
"Hahahaha! Choosing to fight with nothing but magic—such self-restraint is fitting for a king!"
"Gil in this form isn't much of a fighter, but I guess he's okay for support..."
Enkidu's sharp remark instantly exposed C-rank Gilgamesh's lack of combat power.
With Dark Burning Attack negated and destroyed, Yugi's offensive came to a grinding halt.
"Don't forget—the Formal Dress Sherlock Holmes that was just sent to the Graveyard can activate its effect—"
[Effect: If this card is sent from the field to the GY: You can add 1 "Heroic Spirit – Sherlock Holmes" from your Deck or GY to your hand. Then, you can add 1 Equip Spell that lists "Heroic Spirit" in its text from your Deck to your hand.]
The intense pace of battle had pushed everything else aside, but now with a moment to breathe, Hoshino activated Holmes' effect and searched his Deck.
"—I add the Equip Spell Key of the King's Law to my hand!"
Reluctantly, Yugi ended his turn and set his last card.
"I set one card and end my turn. And since divine monsters are only affected by card effects for one turn, Slifer returns to the Graveyard at the End Phase."
[Yugi's: 0 Hand Cards | 2 Set Cards]
As Yugi's turn ended, Slifer—still bound and unable to move—vanished from the field.
Enkidu retracted the Chains of Heaven with a sigh:
"So it escaped. I thought we could use that god as a foothold."
With Slifer's attack sealed and Yugi left with no cards in hand, perhaps retreating to the Graveyard was safer than staying on the field.
"If there's no opening, we'll just make one ourselves! Let's counterattack now, Enkidu! Goldie!"
"My turn, draw! Then I activate Enkidu's effect—once per turn, this card can be treated as an Equip Spell Card and equipped to my 'Gilgamesh' monster!"
"It's been a while since we fought side by side. Let's show them our power, Gil!"
Transforming into his Chains of Heaven form, Enkidu wraps himself around Gilgamesh's arm.
"When Enkidu is equipped to Gilgamesh as an Equip Card, his ATK increases by 400, and I can target 1 monster on my opponent's field—its effects are negated!"
[Sage-King Gilgamesh ATK 2400 → 2800]
"The power of my friend now resides in me—bow your head before your king!"
The Chains of Heaven danced through the air, binding the Magician of Chaos on the opposing field.
Jonouchi suddenly realized:
"She's specifically using the effect to seal off Magician of Chaos. That way, Hoshino can activate Spell and Trap Cards without worry."
Magician of Chaos can destroy 1 card on the opponent's field whenever a Spell or Trap is activated.
If Hoshino wanted to proceed with her setup and ensure the Field Spell Babylonia remained intact, disabling Magician of Chaos's effect was the top priority.
"With Magician of Chaos's effect sealed, I activate the Equip Spell I just searched—Key of the King's Law!"
[Key of the King's Law – Equip Spell Card Effect: Equip only to a "Heroic Spirit - Gilgamesh" monster. The equipped monster gains 500 ATK/DEF for each Equip Spell Card on your field and in your GY.]
"Currently, I have Key of the King's Law on the field and Enkidu treated as an Equip Spell—so Gilgamesh gains 1000 ATK!"
(Note: Beyond the Aeons in the Graveyard doesn't count since it wasn't a Equip Card—it was a Monster Card.)
[Gilgamesh ATK 2800 → 3800]
Holding the Key of the King's Law in his hand, Gilgamesh spoke solemnly:
"The key to my treasury… just in time. It's about time we showed them the resolve of Uruk that lies behind it. But before that..."
Hoshino flipped over the top 5 cards of her deck:
"I activate the effect of Key of the King's Law—with the all-knowing, all-seeing stars, I peer into the path of victory!"
[Once per turn: Discard 1 card from your hand. Look at the top 5 cards of your deck or your opponent's, rearrange them in any order, and if you looked at your own, you may add 1 of them to your hand.]
"I discard the 'Heroic Spirit – Sherlock Holmes' I just searched. Then I rearrange the top 5 cards of my deck and add 1 to my hand!"
Hoshino's personal, officially-endorsed, non-shuffle strategy.
Cheating? A hack? That's for third-raters.
Every card she draws is dictated by her own fate.
That's how a Sumerian duels.
"The card I add is this Equip Spell—Fou of the Sun!"
As she added the chosen card to her hand, Hoshino raised her arm, igniting the fighting spirit of the countless soldiers atop the fortress wall.
"Now, let them feel the power that erupts from humanity's final bastion of hope! I activate the final effect of the Field Spell—Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia!"
[Once while this card is face-up on the field: If you control "Heroic Spirit – Sage-King Gilgamesh", you can send 1 "Heroic Spirit" Equip Spell from your field and 1 "Heroic Spirit" Equip Spell from your hand to the GY; destroy all monsters your opponent controls.]
"I send the Fou of the Sun I just added and Key of the King's Law on the field to the Graveyard!—Go, Gilgamesh!"
In the Age of Gods, when humans were still bound by divinity, the king gathered every treasure in existence and sealed them away in his vault.
The key to that vault was his alone—thus, all treasure within belonged only to him.
But this moment was different...
[Gilgamesh ATK 3800 → 2800]
"—Archers, ready! Your king gives the order!!"
Not only Gilgamesh, but the full might of Uruk's people joined together in a devastating bombardment.
"Let this treasure show them the defense of Uruk! The resolve I, your king, have sown across this land!!"
With heartbreaking resolve, Gilgamesh loaded his treasured items into ballistae, entrusting them to his soldiers.
Unlike King of Heroes Gilgamesh, this was Sage-King Gilgamesh's military strategy.
"Fire!!! —Melammu Dingir!!"
"OHHHHHH!!"
With thunderous roars, the soldiers on the walls launched their Noble Phantasms forward like golden bolts.
A rain of shining treasures carved through the sky—bursting with the indomitable will of Uruk's people—annihilating all monsters on the enemy's field.
"Hahaha!! I was doing this 4000 years ago!"
It felt like a real battlefield. Even Kaiba, the developer of the Duel Disk's holographic projection system, could hardly believe this was merely a simulation.
Had this been during the earlier stages of Duel Disk development—when satellite supercomputers weren't as plentiful—the system likely would've crashed again.
But what shocked Kaiba the most wasn't the spectacle...
"In just one turn... she flipped a situation that everyone thought was already decided. Hoshino—a duelist with power as vast as the sky.
Still... someday, I will shatter that sky!"
[Dark Magician Girl – Destroyed]
[Van'Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord – Destroyed]
"Babylonia—the miraculous power unleashed from the Sumerian civilization, even older than Egypt."
Taking the brunt of the King's Melammu Dingir like a torrential downpour, the shock felt by the enemy surpassed even that of the stunned audience.
"But in the rise and fall of civilizations, only those who endure to the end are true victors! I activate my Trap Card—Black Illusion!"
Shrouded in a black phantom, the Magician of Chaos stood untouched—despite being pierced by the rain of Noble Phantasms.
[Black Illusion – Trap Card Effect: Dark Spellcaster-type monsters you control with 2000+ ATK cannot be destroyed by battle until the end of the turn; their effects are negated, and they are unaffected by your opponent's card effects.]
"Thanks to Black Illusion, your Field Spell effect can't destroy my Magician of Chaos!"
"Even if it can't be destroyed, battle damage is still calculated. So next—I'll break through with brute force!
I activate the effect of Key of the King's Law, which I just sent to the Graveyard—when this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, I draw 1 card!"
With her deck already stacked from the earlier effect, Hoshino drew the second card in her victory path, her fighting spirit blazing.
"I banish 3 Heroic Spirit monsters from my Graveyard to Special Summon from my hand—Heroic Spirit – Karna!"
(*****)
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