"Soul Crossing" allows you to use your opponent's monsters as Tribute materials to Tribute Summon the Egyptian Gods… but why would something like this show up in Kaiba's hands?
Because he uses the fewest new cards so far?
"Arcana Knight Joker's effect can only negate effects that target itself… I see, so this was the real aim?
"If Blue-Eyes White Dragon could have finished off my LP directly, that would have been ideal. Regardless, since it failed, then this means… no, that Set Card was from the first turn.
"I understand now." Yami Yugi reviewed everything that had happened and arrived at a conclusion. "Kaiba, you were certain I would bring Card of Sanctity for Slifer's effect… so you prepared a strategy to summon Obelisk depending on the situation, didn't you?"
Turn.5
After drawing a card from his Deck, Kaiba raised his arm high and shouted with a voice so forceful it strained his throat: "Let me show you Obelisk's ultimate effect! I Tribute the two monsters on my field!"
Obelisk the Tormentor grabbed a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in each hand, lifted them up, and crushed them to pieces as fuel for its own activation.
"To use Obelisk's ultimate effect, you would even sacrifice your Blue-Eyes?! Kaiba, you—!!!"
"This sacrifice is for victory! My monsters must be prepared for this!"
Kaiba was currently in a half-frenzied state driven solely by the desire to finally defeat Yugi—at any later point in time he would surely be a total Blue-Eyes fanatic.
"Obelisk's ultimate ability: by Tributing two monsters, during this turn Obelisk's Attack becomes infinite. In battle, it is always treated as having higher Attack than its opponent, and if it inflicts battle damage—I win the Duel instantly!"¹
"So this is Obelisk's strongest ability?!"
Yugi looked toward the Defense Position Gorz on his field. Fortunately, Obelisk didn't have piercing damage, and Gorz's Defense was 2500.
Kaiba could only activate one non-Divine-Beast effect this turn, so Yugi wasn't worried about losing right now. In fact, what puzzled him more was why Kaiba would choose this moment to activate Obelisk's ability.
"I activate Dragon's Mirror! By banishing the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my Graveyard,
"I Fusion Summon Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon! This monster is unaffected by Trap Cards—meaning no matter what your Set Cards are, Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon cannot be stopped!
"I'm entering the Battle Phase, Yugi! Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon attacks Gorz the Emissary of Darkness!"
Although Gorz tried to endure, its Defense simply wasn't enough, and it was destroyed by Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon.
"I activate my Set Card—Call of the Haunted's counterpart, 'The Grave of Enkindling'! When a monster on my field is destroyed by battle, both players Special Summon one monster from their Graveyard in Defense Position. The monsters Special Summoned by this effect cannot change their positions. I Special Summon Arcana Knight Joker!"
Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman couldn't be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon, so Yugi had no choice but to bring out Arcana Knight Joker to take the hit. Kaiba revived Dark Blade from his Graveyard, and what he explained next made Yugi's heart jump.
"Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each—therefore, it attacks Arcana Knight Joker!"
Yami Yugi and Yugi exchanged a glance and flipped their Set Card: "I've been waiting for this moment! I activate Ring of Destruction! With this card's effect, I destroy one face-up monster on the field—and we both take damage equal to its Attack! I'm sorry, Arcana Knight Joker!"
Ring of Destruction—banned in 2005, unbanned only in 2015. Although it inflicted damage to both players, its slew of ways to avoid self-damage made it feel like a fake card.
"Ring of Destruction?! That card forces both players to take damage! And we Duelists are both wielders of the Egyptian God Cards—you intend to end this Duel with such a method?!"
Kaiba glared at the Ring of Destruction on Yugi's field, his expression twisted in disbelief.
"A Duel between wielders of the God Cards cannot end in a draw!"
"It won't end in a draw!"
At the same moment Kaiba roared, Yami Yugi revealed the card in his hand. "I discard Hanewata—this turn, I take no effect damage! This effect can be activated during your turn as well! Obelisk the Tormentor may indeed be a mighty Egyptian God—but the Duelists who wield them are not invincible! This is my answer!"
Seeing the card in Yugi's hand, Youmi's eyes flew wide in surprise. "A Tuner?!"
Ib blinked and spoke to Youmi: "Oh? It seems this era's Synchro Monsters are starting to be born. I wonder how long it will take before Synchro Summoning fully develops."
A world where Tuners exist but Synchros do not… or rather, a world where Synchro Summoning simply hasn't emerged yet?
If Duel Monsters reflects the resonance of the Spirit World, then the appearance of Tuners before Synchros is perhaps not so strange.
"Kaiba, right now you're trapped in the cycle of chasing victory… of chasing your chance at revenge against me. But ever since Death-T, I believe you still carry your true heart. That's why I was certain you would rely on Fusion Monsters centered around Blue-Eyes—and so this Ring of Destruction is the proof of my belief."
Ring of Destruction would damage both players—but thanks to Hanewata, Yugi would take none of it. The combined Attack values of the two destroyed monsters would fall entirely upon Kaiba alone.
"My defeat… was it because I couldn't let go of my Blue-Eyes White Dragon… or was it…"
Taking the full damage from Ring of Destruction, Seto Kaiba collapsed to his knees. After mumbling to himself for a moment, he stood back up, handed Obelisk to Yugi, and left the arena with a complicated expression.
"The Duel… the Duel is decided! The winner—Yugi Muto! After one hour of rest, we will begin the finals of Duel City!"
Yami Yugi held Obelisk, gave Kaiba one last look, then turned and walked toward Youmi below the stage.
Youmi was currently wrestling with Ib over her chips and soda. Seeing Yami Yugi approaching, she finally turned to face him.
"So it's our final match, Yugi."
Youmi produced a wet wipe from who-knows-where, cleaned her hands, and stepped toward Yugi—when suddenly, a distant dragon's roar echoed across the sky.
"Hm?"
Following the sound, Youmi looked up just in time to see a dragon blazing with red light crashing toward her—then her consciousness snapped.
…
Much later, lying flat on the ground, Youmi slowly opened her eyes as awareness returned.
"Mr. Jaden, are you certain this man is an acquaintance of yours?"
With hazy vision, he seemed to see a crab talking.
"Absolutely. If your Duel Spirit brought us to a powerful ally, then aside from Mr. Yugi, this man is our strongest support—Youmi," answered a jellyfish.
"…Did I wander into an aquarium?"
…
¹ The original manga and anime descriptions of "infinite Attack" were far too vague, so this version will be used consistently.
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