"I banish the three 'Heroic Spirit' monsters in my Graveyard—Ideal King of Knight – Artoria Pendragon Lily (Level 9), Artoria Pendragon (Level 8), and Lancelot (Level 7)—from play! Total Level: 24! I Special Summon from my hand—Heroic Spirit – Karna!"
The flames erupting around Hoshino's field were different from Nobu's murderous aura. These flames were more like the sun—gently illuminating the world, yet containing the power to destroy it all.
[Heroic Spirit – Karna ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][FIRE][Warrior/Effect][ATK 2800 / DEF 2500]
[You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by banishing 3 "Heroic Spirit" monsters from your GY.]
"Karna's special effect activates! His ATK increases by 100 for each combined Level of the banished Heroic Spirits!"
Emerging from the fire, Karna appeared clad in golden armor, his spear radiating the power of Heroic Spirits transcending time.
[Karna ATK 2800 → 5200]
"Then I activate the Equip Spell from my hand—O Sun, Abide by Death (Vasavi Shakti)! Equip it to Karna on the field!"
The spear of certain destruction, born of divine lightning—strong enough to slay even gods—appeared in exchange for his golden armor. Overwhelming defense was now traded for absolute offensive might.
[O Sun, Abide by Death (Vasavi Shakti) – Equip Spell Effect: Equip only to "Heroic Spirit – Karna". The equipped monster gains ATK equal to its DEF, and its DEF becomes 0.]
"If this is Master's command—if this is Master's wish—then I absolutely will not let you down!"
With a roar, Karna shed his golden armor and drew forth his divine spear. Floating above the walls of Uruk, flames rose behind him like the dawning sun—a symbol of annihilation, and a glimmer of hope.
[Karna DEF 2500 → 0 / ATK 5200 → 7700]
Rebecca panicked.
"7700 ATK?! Even if Magician of Chaos can't be destroyed, that attack would wipe out the rest of the Life Points in one blow...!"
Jonouchi stared in awe.
"So that's what Hoshino meant by 'breaking through with brute force'... That's insane."
"—Feel the mercy of the King of the Gods: destruction is kindness!"
Hoshino chanted her final prayer. The terrifying flames converged at the tip of Karna's spear, ready to be unleashed.
"Now—pierce through them, Karna—!"
"Before you declare your attack, I activate my set Trap Card!"
Just before Hoshino could announce her attack, Yugi revealed the final face-down card in his back row, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.
"I'll use this card to turn the tide! Trap Card—Magical Hats!"
The reason he activated Magical Hats before the attack declaration, rather than after, was because the Equip Spell Vasavi Shakti prevents Trap Cards from being activated when Karna attacks. Had Yugi waited, he would've lost his chance.
In an instant, Magician of Chaos was concealed inside one of four rapidly spinning hats. The trick completely disrupted Hoshino's aim.
"Pick one, Hoshino. Only one of these hats contains Magician of Chaos. The other three? They're Spells and Traps treated as monsters. In other words... they're traps, heh~"
Yugi couldn't even hold back his laugh as he explained the setup.
"=_=? Yugi, what's with that laugh? You think there's no way I'll guess right?"
Akasha, empathizing, crossed her arms with a sigh.
"This Magical Hats is like Hoshino's kryptonite. Yugi basically planted three landmines on the field~"
"This Trap Card's really that troublesome?" Jonouchi asked, clearly unbothered.
"All Hoshino has to do is hit the right hat. If it's Magician of Chaos, the rest vanish, right?"
Since Magician of Chaos had been turned face-down by Magical Hats, it lost the protection granted by Black Illusion, which made it immune to battle and effect destruction.
In other words, Hoshino still had a winning shot: use Sage-King Gilgamesh to strike the hidden Magician of Chaos, then follow up with Karna for a direct attack and victory.
"Come to think of it, the odds aren't that bad... One in four."
With the blood of an unlucky soul coursing through her veins, Hoshino forced a weak smile at the near-zero probability.
"But maybe, just maybe, Jonouchi's luck will bless me today. One shot, one hit! Attack, Gilgamesh!"
"Huh? My luck?"
Jonouchi pointed at himself with a dumbfounded look.
Hoshino, having made her choice, issued the command.
"Aim for the leftmost hat! I have a feeling it's hiding Magician of Chaos! Reveal yourself!!"
However, Gilgamesh opened his clay tablet and fired a beam of golden light...
at the rightmost hat, completely ignoring Hoshino's call.
"=_=? I said the leftmost one, Gilgamesh! Don't tell me your ears are going bad in your old age?"
Don't be fooled by Sage-King Gilgamesh's appearance—despite looking the same, historically speaking, he's already in his later years, over a hundred years old… Though for a Heroic Spirit, age hardly matters.
After destroying the rightmost Magical Hat, Gilgamesh stated calmly:
"The leftmost one definitely has a trap under it. There's no need to doubt that."
"Oh, that's right! You have Clairvoyance, Gilgamesh!"
Hoshino suddenly lit up in realization.
"That's how you knew I picked the wrong one! So the rightmost hat you destroyed had to be hiding Magician of Chaos!"
"No. Judging by your misfortune as a mongrel, eliminating one wrong choice doesn't require Clairvoyance at all."
In other words, Hoshino's "contribution" had merely narrowed the odds by one.
Closing his clay tablet with a smirk, Gilgamesh added:
"Besides, in a duel like this, I wouldn't stoop so low as to rely on Clairvoyance. I simply picked a random target. If you want to win, fight for it yourself, mongrel."
Sure enough, Magician of Chaos didn't appear beneath the hat Gilgamesh attacked—nor did any trap effect activate.
"What a shame. You picked the wrong one~"
Truthfully, when Gilgamesh ignored Hoshino's command and chose his own target, even Yugi had felt a twinge of anxiety. But luck was on his side—the one-in-four gamble had paid off.
"The card destroyed under that Magical Hat was the face-down Rebound. When this Set card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by an opponent's effect, I can draw 1 card from my Deck."
[Yugi's: 1 Hand Card]
Anzu let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew… Now Yugi won't take a direct hit this turn."
Now, only Karna's final attack remained. With three Magical Hats still on the field, Hoshino had little chance of striking true—and even less of finishing the duel. If her luck faltered again, she might miss Magician of Chaos entirely.
"This turn's out of your hands, Hoshino."
"Opportunities… are meant to be created, Yugi!"
Sliding a card into her Duel Disk, Karna, still hovering mid-air, let out a roar as blazing energy radiated around him.
"Thanks to Spell Sanctuary, I can activate this as a Quick-Play Spell during the Battle Phase—Crane Wings Triple Attack! Karna's original ATK (2800) is halved, and he can attack three times this Battle Phase!"
[Karna ATK 7700 → 6300]
"Know the mercy of the King of Gods. Indra, open your eyes. This single strike is extinction itself! Burn it all—Vasavi Shakti!!!"
Karna's Noble Phantasm was unleashed. A crimson inferno exploded from the tip of his spear, surging toward Yugi's field. All three remaining Magical Hats were swallowed in a single fiery wave.
"Now the odds are down to two out of three, Yugi! If Magician of Chaos is in either of the first two, Karna's last attack ends this duel! This is the opportunity I created!"
The first hat, dead center, was incinerated. Nothing was inside—no monster, no trap. A blank.
Then came the second: the leftmost hat—the very one Hoshino originally selected, which Gilgamesh had confidently dismissed.
"I refuse to believe my luck is that bad! If Magician of Chaos is under this one, I'm mocking you for a full year, Goldie!"
"Hmph. Stupid mongrel."
But something did react beneath the flames this time.
A sudden gust erupted into a fiery tornado from within the hat.
Yugi revealed the card hidden beneath the leftmost hat:
"The Trap Card under the leftmost Magical Hat—Wild Tornado!"[Wild Tornado – Trap Card Effect: If this face-down card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: Target 1 face-up card on the field; destroy that target.]
"No way—it was actually a trap?! Now the whole world knows I've got the worst luck..."
With her pride scorched to ashes, Hoshino could only watch as the whirlwind barreled toward her side of the field. Missing all three Magical Hats in a row… was this even possible?
"The target of Wild Tornado—I destroy Sage-King Gilgamesh!"
Rather than targeting the higher-ATK Karna, Yugi went for Gilgamesh. With his ability to negate Spell effects and suppress monsters when equipped with Enkidu, Gilgamesh posed a greater long-term threat than Karna's brute force.
The firestorm howled across the field and struck Gilgamesh, still standing atop the fortress walls.
Clutching his wound, Gilgamesh growled:
"Hmph. A mere wound… Do you think I'd actually say that, mongrel?! You defy your king—fine. But don't expect me to die from overwork again!"
[Sage-King Gilgamesh's Special Effect: If this card is sent to the Graveyard by your opponent, you can Special Summon it during your next Standby Phase.]
As she sent Gilgamesh to the Graveyard, Hoshino gave the final order:
"Gilgamesh has made the ultimate sacrifice! Karna, inherit his will—at least destroy Magician of Chaos!"
[Can that even be called an "ultimate" sacrifice? You literally killed him…]
With a thunderous cry, Karna's final strike tore through the last Magical Hat, finally hitting its mark—Magician of Chaos.
[Magician of Chaos Destroyed]
Watching her spear pierce through the dark magician, Hoshino felt a rush of catharsis.
"Finally took down your ace, Yugi! Though I missed lethal thanks to a minor detour (hello, Unlucky bloodline), this duel's finally entering its endgame!"
"Endgame, huh?"
Yugi replied cryptically, as a familiar dark radiance swept over the field once again.
"You may have defeated my Magician of Chaos, but I never said he was my only chaotic ace."
To Hoshino's shock, Yugi slammed down his final card—despite it still being her turn.
"I activate the effect of the just-destroyed Magician of Chaos!"
[Magician of Chaos's Effect: If this Ritual Summoned card is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 1 'Chaos' or 'Black Luster Soldier' Ritual Monster from your hand, except 'Magician of Chaos', ignoring its Summoning conditions.]
"Through the legacy of chaos—the ultimate sorcerer descends! Using Magician of Chaos's effect, I Special Summon Magician of Black Chaos MAX from my hand!"
[Magician of Black Chaos MAX ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][DARK][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 2800 / DEF 2600]The Chaos Space shattered—then reformed. Magician of Black Chaos MAX descended, inheriting the will of his predecessor. With a spellblade in hand, he stood firm as Yugi's final defense.
"This is the ultimate Magician of Chaos! Magician of Black Chaos MAX—the monster that brings down the curtain on this duel!"
(*****)
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