Lightning erupted from its ferocious maw, shattering the Bottomless Trap Hole in Yugi's back row. Seeing this, Weevil let out a sinister laugh: "Geeheeheehee, so it was a Bottomless Trap Hole? What a shame, Yugi. Still, it doesn't matter if Uria, Lord of Searing Flames didn't destroy your Set card, because Traps are negated for him anyway!"
"I Set one card, then enter my Battle Phase!"
Weevil's eyes swept across Yugi's field, glancing at Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast and Dark Magician Girl. He made a slight choice and a smug smile appeared on his face: "It wouldn't be good to end this revenge match too quickly. I'll let your Dark Magician Girl survive for a little while longer."
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, attack Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast! Super Searing Flame!"
Following the lightning that destroyed the Trap Card, a thick column of fire engulfed Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast on Yugi's field. And because it was in Attack Position, Yugi also took overflowing battle damage.
"Ugh!" Just like when the Centipede attacked before, the second time Yugi took damage, he finally became certain of one thing—this duel had unknowingly been turned into a Shadow Game by Weevil?
Flames enveloped his body; the previous stinging pain had not completely dissipated, and suffocating heat assailed him.
[Yugi: 5200 → 4300 LP]
"If Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon one of its two Fusion Materials—Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts or Berfomet—from my Graveyard to my field." Yugi sent the Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast card to the Graveyard and instead took out another card.
"I Special Summon Berfomet in Defense Position."
[Berfomet] [Level 5 / DARK]
[Fiend/Effect]
[ATK 1400 / DEF 1800]
"What tenacious life force you have, Yugi! The more you struggle, the more interesting this duel becomes to me." Weevil said, looking arrogantly at Yugi, "I'll return all the humiliation I suffered at your hands, bit by bit!"
"I end my turn."
[Weevil: 4000 LP, Hand: 0]
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames: ATK 3000]
[Set Card]
"Even now, do you still believe yourself innocent?" Yugi's voice was stern. For some reason, facing Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, a surge of anger burned within him, as if something intangible had offended him. "Though I don't know what you've truly suffered, your fate is nothing but well-deserved!"
"My turn, draw!" Yugi glanced at the card he drew. "I Summon a monster in face-down Defense Position, then change my Dark Magician Girl on the field to Defense Position."
Setting the card he had just drawn onto the field, Yugi's gaze was sharp: "Unlike you, who couldn't defeat others and resorted to dirty tricks, even tearing up my Exodia, I will defeat you. Even if you use a monster as powerful as Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, I will defeat you fair and square!"
"I end my turn! If you're brave enough, then attack, Weevil!"
[Yugi: 4300 LP, Hand: 0]
[Dark Magician Girl: DEF 1700]
[Berfomet: DEF 1800]
[Face-down Defense Position Monster]
"How dare you provoke me like this, me, a former National Champion!" Weevil's expression twisted in anger. "Since you're so eager to be defeated by me, I'll gladly oblige. Draw!"
"I activate the Set Trap Card on my field, Reckless Greed! I can draw two cards from my Deck, then skip my next two Draw Phases." His hand size became three. As Weevil sent Reckless Greed to the Graveyard, he declared, "Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's ATK changes with the number of Trap Cards in the Graveyard. Because Reckless Greed was sent to the Graveyard—"
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's ATK will rise again!"
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames: ATK 3000 → 4000]
As its ATK increased once more, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames let out a loud dragon roar towards the sky, its power surging. Simultaneously, Weevil continued to Summon monsters.
"I activate the effect of Drill Bug from my hand! This monster cannot be Normal Summoned, but it can be Special Summoned from my hand by banishing two Insect-Type monsters from my Graveyard!" Weevil said, banishing the Centipede and Kwagar Hercules that Yugi's Dark Burning Magic had previously destroyed.
[Drill Bug] [Level 8 / EARTH]
[Insect/Special Summon/Effect]
[ATK 2800 / DEF 2600]
"Appear, Drill Bug! Unleash my fury upon Yugi!" Weevil pointed his hand towards Berfomet on Yugi's field. "First, let's get rid of this monster that refuses to die obediently!"
Resembling the Centipede, but significantly larger, Drill Bug roared, charging like a steamroller towards Berfomet on Yugi's field. Even with Berfomet's respectable DEF of 1800, Drill Bug's ATK of 2800 easily crushed it, sending it to the Graveyard.
Weevil watched Drill Bug return to his field with satisfaction: "Hmph hmph, next is Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's attack. Attack Dark Magician Girl! Super Searing Flame!"
After Berfomet, Dark Magician Girl was also destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. Yugi noticed Dark Magician Girl looking at him with a pitiful gaze just before she was destroyed. Ignoring the scorching air around him from Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's attack, he glared intensely at Weevil.
Since both monsters were in Defense Position, even though they were destroyed by attack, Yugi's Life Points took no damage.
"With this, you only have that hidden fodder monster left on your field, don't you?" Weevil looked at the sole face-down Defense Position monster remaining on Yugi's field. "Next turn, it'll be Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's direct attack. Begin your final turn, Yugi, in fear of being engulfed by flames!"
"I end my turn."
[Weevil: 4000 LP, Hand: 1]
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames: ATK 4000]
[Drill Bug: ATK 2800]
"My turn, draw." Facing Weevil's taunts, Yugi calmly drew the top card of his Deck.
Yugi: "The duel has reached a point where our resources are almost depleted, haven't they? In that case, I activate the Spell Card, Card of Sanctity!"
As Weevil's face turned ugly, Yugi, who previously only had one card in his hand, instantly drew six cards: "But I can also draw five cards."
"What if you draw powerful cards?" Weevil said, looking displeased at Yugi's joyful expression. "I have Uria, Lord of Searing Flames and Drill Bug, two powerful monsters, on my field! You couldn't possibly pull out a second Dark Magician Girl and Dark Burning Magic, could you?"
"In your eyes, is this all I can do, Weevil?" Yugi said with a confident smile, pointing to the face-down monster on his field. "Actually, I just deliberately granted your wish and gave you a chance to get revenge on Hayato. Because this face-down monster on my field is a gift from Hayato."
"A card from that Hayato guy?" Weevil frowned and said scornfully, "Hmph, anyway, that guy's monsters are just some Warrior-Types or Ojama monsters that rely on Equip Spell Cards, aren't they?"
Yugi extended his hand and Flip Summoned the face-down monster on his field: "Let me show you the bond between Hayato and me! I Flip Summon Man-Eater Bug! When it is Flip Summoned, I can target one monster on the field and destroy it!"
"What?!" Weevil watched the Insect jump out from the card revealed on Yugi's field and land on Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's head on his own field. "Why does that guy have this card?! Isn't it an Insect-Type monster?!"
"Though it has resistance to Traps, Man-Eater Bug isn't a Trap. Fall now, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!"
Yugi waved his hand forward. With his gesture, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, with its 4000 ATK, was destroyed by the weak Man-Eater Bug and sent to the Graveyard. Then, Yugi activated a card from his hand: "Spell Card, Star Blast! I pay 500 Life Points to reduce the Level of one monster in my hand by 1."
"Then, I Tribute Man-Eater Bug to Special Summon the most powerful Spellcaster and my most loyal servant!"
"Dark Magician!"
[Yugi: 4300 → 3800 LP]
While Yugi wasn't looking, Man-Eater Bug, after greedily devouring Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's eyeballs, was then Tributed with a satisfied expression to Tribute Summon. In its place appeared Yugi's ace monster from his Deck—Dark Magician!
[Dark Magician] [Level 7 → 6] [ATK 2500]
"After reducing its Level by 1, a Level 6 Dark Magician only needs one Tribute to be Summoned? But my Drill Bug's ATK is still higher!"
Yugi smiled confidently: "You never know. As I said before, what makes Spellcasters truly powerful isn't the amount of magical energy they possess; it's the refined magic they wield!"
"Before that, however, even the most powerful Spellcaster needs an assistant to cast powerful magic."
Yugi placed a card in the Spell & Trap Zone: "I activate the Spell Card, Bond Between Teacher and Student! If Dark Magician is on my field, I can Special Summon one Dark Magician Girl from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard."
"Phew, I almost didn't make it back." A magic circle appeared beside Dark Magician, and Dark Magician Girl's figure stumbled out, panting and leaning on Dark Magician. Dark Magician glanced at the open magic circle, snapped his fingers, and the closing magic circle severed the hand of a monster reaching out from within it.
Dark Magician Girl was startled by this, but quickly turned to Dark Magician with a playful grin and said, "You're the best, Master, thank you~"
Glancing at Weevil, who now only had Drill Bug left on his field, Dark Magician Girl, emboldened by her Master's backing, suddenly puffed out her chest: "Hmph hmph, that annoying spectacled brat actually destroyed me. Master, you absolutely must get revenge for me!"
Although Weevil saw Dark Magician Girl's appearance, he couldn't see the abilities of Duel Monster Spirits, so he naturally didn't know that Dark Magician Girl was currently complaining to Dark Magician: "You actually revived Dark Magician Girl, hmph hmph. But this won't actually increase Dark Magician's ATK, will it?"
"Don't be so impatient, the effect of Bond Between Teacher and Student isn't over yet," Yugi said, beginning to search his Deck. He selected and revealed Dark Burning Attack: "After Dark Magician Girl is Special Summoned to my field, I can Set one card from my Deck—Dark Magic Attack, Dark Burning Magic, Dark Burning Attack, or Dark Magic Twin Burst—directly to my field."
"Because Dark Burning Attack is a Quick-Play Spell, this card cannot be activated this turn. However, the magic I'm using to destroy your Drill Bug isn't this one."
Setting the revealed Dark Burning Attack in the Spell & Trap Zone, Yugi drew a card from his hand: "The card I'm activating is this one!"
"Dark Magic Twin Burst?" Weevil read the name of the projected card, then recited its effect word for word: "Target one Dark Magician on your field. Until the End Phase, its ATK increases by the combined ATK of all Dark Magician Girl monsters in both players' Graveyards and on the field?!"
"I have one Dark Magician Girl with 2000 ATK on my field. Therefore, Dark Magician's ATK will increase by 2000 points!" Yugi pointed his hand forward. "Go, Dark Magician, destroy Drill Bug!"
"Dark Magic Twin Burst!"
Under Weevil's gaze, a dark purple orb of magical energy gathered at the tip of Dark Magician Girl's staff. Once it had mostly formed, she flicked her wrist, sending it towards Dark Magician. Dark Magician also had a similar orb of magical energy at one end of his staff, which he gently caught with the other end, where there was no orb.
He twirled his staff in a full circle. With Dark Magician's movement, his emerald green staff became enveloped in dark purple magical lightning. Holding his staff, Dark Magician instantly teleported behind Drill Bug's blind spot before it could react, and forcefully brought the staff down from above his head!
[Dark Magician: ATK 2500 → 4500]
[Weevil: 4000 → 2300 LP]
"And now, Dark Magician Girl's direct attack!" Yugi glanced at the eager Dark Magician Girl and nodded, signaling that she could go.
"He said you can go!" After receiving Yugi's permission, Dark Magician Girl eagerly rushed forward, mimicking Dark Magician by gathering magical energy in her staff, then forcefully smashed it into Weevil's face!
"Woohoo! Take that!"
[Weevil: 2300 → 300 LP]
"Ugh ahhhhhh!"
Yugi had previously suffered greatly from mere 300 points of damage. Now, after being consecutively attacked by Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl with their "powerful magic," Weevil finally experienced the agony of a Shadow Game. After being smacked in the face by Dark Magician Girl's "magic," he flew backward, collapsing onto the ground, snot and tears streaming down his face, wailing miserably.
Ignoring Weevil's disgraceful state, Yugi gave Dark Magician a reproachful look for corrupting his apprentice, then Set a card from his hand: "I end my turn."
[Yugi: 3800 LP, Hand: 1]
[Dark Magician: ATK 2500]
[Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000]
[Set Card] [Set Card]
'Was that really magic? Did you live up to the cool lines I just said?'
'Why wouldn't it be magic? It was Grand Magic - Silent Spell and Grand Magic - Metamorphosis, wasn't it?'
'So, Silent Spell (physical) is about taking out others so they can't speak, and Metamorphosis (physical) is about beating others until they turn into pig heads, right?'
Of course, the above wasn't a real conversation between Yugi and Dark Magician, the master and servant with a long-standing bond. Instead, it was Hayato's mental fantasy, as he had just arrived and hadn't quite grasped the situation.
"That guy on the ground, is that Weevil?" Hayato hid to the side, choosing not to reveal himself, but rather to observe the two duelists. To be honest, after hearing that dragon roar earlier, Hayato's first thought was that Marik had already found Yugi and, like in the original plot, was controlling a puppet to seek revenge on the Pharaoh.
But as he ran, he remembered that the current Marik couldn't possibly do that anymore.
In the original timeline, Marik arrived in Domino City several days after Battle City began. During this time, he sent members of the Rare Hunters organization within Domino City to cause trouble for Yugi in various ways, and even remotely controlled Joey to duel Yugi as a form of revenge.
To maximize the strength of the Rare Hunters in Domino City, Marik had even deliberately given one of the two Egyptian God Cards he possessed—the unwanted (crossed out) Slifer the Sky Dragon—to a puppet he controlled, codenamed "Puppet," to use.
Although God Cards are incredibly powerful, only "chosen ones" possessing Millennium Items are qualified to control Gods in battle. And among all the Rare Hunters, only Marik himself had the Millennium Rod to control a God.
Of course, "Puppet" being defeated by Yugi and ending up as an ace deliveryman, traveling a thousand miles to deliver cards to Yugi, is another story altogether.
However, all of this was what happened in the original timeline, where Hayato didn't exist.
Now, because of Hayato's continuous provocations, Marik not only arrived in Domino City a day before Battle City officially began, negating the need to give God Cards to his puppets to increase the number of duelists, but he also lost The Winged Dragon of Ra to Hayato in a duel last night.
Under such circumstances, how could Marik still give cards to a "Puppet" instead of keeping them for himself?
More importantly, while he had only vaguely felt a divine-level oppressive presence from a distance before, as he drew closer, Hayato clearly sensed a powerful malevolence, which felt exactly opposite to the Egyptian God Cards.
If Slifer the Sky Dragon, which forcibly activated Thunder Force (and trapped others), represented Osiris, the God of the Underworld who dealt with all deaths impartially, then the "divine" entity Summoned in Domino City now was more like an evil demon that had found a vulnerability in the Underworld and repeatedly revived itself to profit from it.
Meanwhile, leaving the bustling city area for the relatively quiet riverside, with no tall buildings obstructing his view, Hayato finally caught sight of the true form of that dragon roar. Its appearance, not much different from Slifer the Sky Dragon, allowed Hayato to confirm the "divine" entity's true identity: it was none other than Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, one of the Sacred Beasts sealed beneath Duel Academy in the future GX era!
And just as Hayato saw Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, a warmth like the morning sun emanated from the card case at his waist.
Taking a card from his card case, Hayato saw that The Winged Dragon of Ra's card seemed to be burning with flames, though it wasn't hot to the touch, but rather warm. Inside The Winged Dragon of Ra's card, Hayato was also surprised to see Gaia, Rainbow Kuriboh, the Ojama family, and the Performapals "visiting".
After talking, Hayato learned that an unknown power had just been siphoning their life force, but The Winged Dragon of Ra intervened in time to protect them.
"There seems to be an evil power spreading through the air," Hayato mused, placing a hand on his Millennium Ring and looking around. He noticed that starting from Yugi and Weevil's Duel Field—or rather, from Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, which had just been sent to the Graveyard—a dark magic was continuously spreading outwards.
On the streets, Hayato saw that behind many duelists, their awakened Duel Monster Spirits—which their owners couldn't see due to lacking the necessary abilities—were listless and dispirited.
"I remember a scene like this in the future, where that certain someone who gathered all the Sacred Beasts siphoned the life force of Duel Monsters from around the world during a duel, transforming from an old man into a muscular tough guy?" Hayato glanced at Weevil, who had finally recovered from the pain and stood up. "But perhaps because there's only one Sacred Beast, the absorption rate is much slower?"
"Even so, the absorption of life force is still happening. Yugi, you'd better act fast."
Hidden in the corner, Hayato went unnoticed by the two duelists focused on their match. Weevil finally recovered from Dark Magician Girl's attack, stiffly stood up, and looked at Yugi: "Yugi! You damn bastard! How dare you attack me, how dare you attack me, who controls Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!"
"I'll never forgive you!" Because Reckless Greed's effect caused him to skip his Draw Phase, Weevil immediately began his turn: "I activate the Spell Card, Card of Safe Return!"
"Then, I use Uria, Lord of Searing Flames's effect from the Graveyard! I discard the Trap Card Ring of Destruction from my hand to Special Summon it from the Graveyard!"
(end of chapter)