Marie Alter's lips curled into a sultry smile as she fixed Hoshino with a teasing gaze. "Master, you enjoyed making the other jump back and forth repeatedly just now, didn't you? As a reward, I'll make you feel even better~"
Her dangerously suggestive tone was accompanied by black rose petals swirling ominously around Hoshino's deck. The card being searched was caught in the whirlwind and pulled into the graveyard, carried away by the roses' mystical power.
"It's execution ti, Marik! The effect of [Heroic Spirit – Scáthach] activates! Once per turn, it allows to Special Summon a Heroic Spirit monster from my hand or graveyard!"
Scáthach extended her hand gracefully, tracing delicate patterns in the air with her fingers. Her voice carried an air of solemnity as she said, "This will be the final primordial rune of this battle. Let this victory, born of courage, echo as a triumphant cry, oh legendary heroes!"
Hoshino reached for the top card of her graveyard pile, a wave of intense bloodlust radiating from her as the energy in the dark arena grew thick and foreboding.
"I'm reviving the monster sent to the graveyard earlier by Marie Alter's effect—[Heroic Spirit – Vlad III]!"
[Heroic Spirit – Vlad III★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][DARK][Zombie/Effect][ATK 2300/DEF 1200]
"Now, it's ti for darkness to take the stage—a feast of blood~"
As Vlad III materialized on the field, a swarm of dark bats spiraled around him, their presence more nacing than ever. His crimson eyes glowed fiercely, brimming with an even deeper, more terrifying killing intent.
"Vlad III... isn't that the card with that effect?!" Jonouchi exclaid, trying to recall its power. The mory of Hoshino summoning it in a duel flashed vividly in his mind.
Yugi's voice rose with excitent as he explained, "Exactly! This card's effect is the key for Hoshino to turn the tables and finish this duel!"
Slamming Vlad III's card onto the field with confidence, Hoshino turned to the now visibly rattled Marik. "Do you hear it, Marik? The sound of flowing blood—it marks your doom! Vlad III's effect activates!"
"Offer your blood! The violent power coursing through countless lives shall be mine to command!"
[If your Life Points are lower than your opponent's, this card gains ATK equal to the difference.]
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP: 700]
[Marik LP: ∞]
Hoshino's voice was resolute as she declared, "The infinite difference between your Life Points and mine fuels Vlad III's endless power!"
A blood-red mist erupted across the arena, condensing at Vlad III's fingertips. The malevolent energy surged as Vlad III chuckled darkly. "Such imnse and marvelous magical energy—it far exceeds the limits I ever reached in life! To think a soul sealed for a thousand years would break through its boundaries in this battle!"
[Heroic Spirit – Vlad III ATK 2300 → ∞]
"To raise its ATK to infinity?!" Marik gasped, his previously smug deanor giving way to stunned disbelief.
Amid the swirling mist, Hoshino extended her arm forward, her gaze unwavering. "Prepare yourself, Marik! This is the price of your own vile deeds—a direct attack that will obliterate your infinite Life Points in this Shadow Ga!"
"Amazing turnaround, Hoshino-nee—go for it!" Akasha cheered, her excitent so overwhelming that she accidentally punched Jonouchi in the jaw.
"Battle! Vlad, attack directly!" Hoshino commanded.
In response, countless blood spikes erupted from the ground, forming a crimson trail as they surged toward Marik with lethal precision.
"Let offer my blood-soaked life—Kazikli Bey!"
With no monsters on Marik's field to defend him, the blood spikes struck unopposed, annihilating his infinite Life Points in an instant. Even if he had defenses, Vlad III's piercing effect would have rendered them aningless.
"Using the difference in Life Points... Truly impressive, Hoshino!"
But Marik wasn't done yet. His dissolving body radiated a sinister aura as he activated his set card. "Trap Card activated—[Graverobber]!"
[Graverobber Trap Card Effect: Select 1 Spell Card from your opponent's Graveyard. You can use it as if it were in your hand until the end of the turn. If you use it, take 2000 points of damage.]
"Graverobber?!" Jonouchi exclaid in shock. He often relied on the card himself but hadn't expected Marik to use it here.
"But most of the Spell Cards in Hoshino's graveyard are exclusive to Heroic Spirit monsters, right?" Jonouchi reasoned.
"You're not wrong," Yugi responded, his tone growing serious. "But there's one exception... and Marik knows it."
Marik's lips twisted into a wicked smile as the trap card transford into the image of Monster Reborn.
Kaiba's eyes narrowed, his tone tense. "If Marik's using Monster Reborn, then his plan must be..."
Marik cackled triumphantly. "The god's effect activates! The slumbering sun in the graveyard reignites its flas and returns to the battlefield!"
[The Winged Dragon of Ra★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][DIVINE][Divine-Beast/Effect][ATK ?/DEF ?]
By sacrificing the stolen Monster Reborn, Marik summoned the radiant form of The Winged Dragon of Ra. Its phoenix-like flas blazed with overwhelming divine energy as it descended upon the battlefield.
"The Winged Dragon of Ra's effect activates! I pay Life Points until only 1 remains, rging with the dragon to raise its ATK and DEF to match the points paid!"
As the energy consud him, Marik's body disintegrated entirely, leaving only a single glowing eye suspended above Ra's fiery form. His soul had been hollowed out by the imnse cost, but his resolve remained unwavering.
[Marik LP: ∞ → 1]
[The Winged Dragon of Ra ATK: ∞]
"By sacrificing my infinite Life Points, I've raised Ra's attack power to infinity!"
"This... he's truly insane!" Hoshino muttered, her gaze fixed on the floating eye atop The Winged Dragon of Ra.
The odds had shifted once again. Despite Vlad III's power reverting to its original ATK, Hoshino faced an infinite-ATK Winged Dragon of Ra—a near-impossible challenge.
"Damn, I didn't expect Marik to have one last trick up his sleeve!"
Marik's counterattack, reckless to the point of being suicidal, caught everyone completely off guard.
With its attack power raised to infinity, The Winged Dragon of Ra transcended its limits. Its scorching flas, akin to the blazing sun itself, instantly vaporized the blood spikes hurtling toward it.
[Vlad III ATK: ∞ → 2300]
Bathed in the fiery light, Yugi's expression turned unusually grim. "He reduced his Life Points to 1, preventing Vlad III from increasing its attack power. However, the attack that has already been launched cannot be taken back!"
In this era where attacks couldn't be canceled, a declared attack was as irreversible as spilled water. The Winged Dragon of Ra, having effortlessly incinerated Vlad's blood spikes, spread its blazing wings wide, ready to strike back and consign its opponent to the depths of despair.
Kaiba, watching the events unfold, couldn't suppress a strange mix of emotions. "The strongest form of The Winged Dragon, only to fall during its own attacking turn? How ironic."
"Marik, if this is the ultimate form of the Winged Dragon you've created by forsaking your humanity and soul, then I'll respond with my ultimate!" Hoshino declared, her voice filled with resolve. As the fiery storm surged toward her, she decisively flipped over the final set card on her field.
"Let the final act begin! I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card: [FGO THE STAGE]!"
[FGO THE STAGE – Quick-Play Spell Effect: Tribute Summon 1 monster from your hand. If a [Heroic Spirit] monster is Tribute Summoned by this effect: You can target 1 or more [Heroic Spirit] monsters in your Graveyard that were used as Tribute for this Summon; return them to your hand.]
"I Tribute Vlad III from my field. This halts the attack!"
A cold, ominous sacrificial aura, darker and more nacing than Vlad's blood, spread across Hoshino's field.
Drawing a card from her hand, Hoshino continued, her voice ringing out through the arena. "Marik, this will be the final battle of the gods! I Tribute Vlad III, Jeanne, and Marie Alter from my field to Tribute Summon a monster from my hand!"
Kaiba, who had already believed the battle to be decided, stared in disbelief at this unexpected developnt. "Tributing three monsters? Is she summoning a god at the last mont?"
Yugi, unable to contain his excitent, nodded vigorously. "That's right. If Hoshino has a god stronger than anything else she possesses, it must be this one!"
Behind Hoshino, a black fla, no less brilliant than The Winged Dragon of Ra's golden light, erupted furiously. From within the churning inferno, a monstrous figure bearing the sa silhouette as Ra spread its dark wings and soared onto the battlefield.
"I Tribute three monsters to summon [The Wicked Avatar]! Let this ultimate Wicked God face off against The Winged Dragon of Ra!"
The Wicked Avatar ascended in a spiral of darkness, exuding the aura of a malevolent sun, its presence heralding the end of all things.
[The Wicked Avatar★★★★★★★★★★ (10 Stars)][DARK][Fiend/Effect][ATK ?/DEF ?]
"Once again, you're relying on to save the day, aren't you, girl?" The dark Winged Dragon roared in the sky. Though its words were incomprehensible, Hoshino could sense its arrogance and relish for victory.
"Arghhhh!" Marik, clinging to the last vestiges of his consciousness, roared in primal rage. Fused with The Winged Dragon of Ra, his voice was nothing more than a guttural cry of hatred aid at Hoshino.
"Behold the most powerful Wicked God that reigns supre! Counterattack!" Hoshino shouted, raising her Duel Disk high as the golden and black gods charged toward each other.
Their clash unleashed an inferno of crimson and ebony flas that lded together, generating heat so intense it seed poised to lt the entire Duel Tower.
Across the world, duelists held their breath, captivated by this climactic showdown. This battle, destined to be etched into the annals of Duel Monsters history, would beco a legendary mont never to be surpassed.
As the gods' final strikes collided, Hoshino's voice resounded over the battlefield. "The effect of The Wicked Avatar Its ATK is always 1 point higher than the monster with the highest ATK on the field besides itself! Even an infinite attack power must fall before the strongest Wicked God!"
[The Wicked Avatar ATK: ∞ 1]
The Wicked Avatar's attack power surged to surpass Ra's by a single point. This single point symbolized Marik's remaining 1 Life Point, flickering like a candle on the verge of being extinguished.
Pointing toward the heavens, Hoshino's gaze burned with unshakable determination. "Marik, your life, steeped in darkness and destruction, has long been beyond redemption. This Shadow Ga you initiated is your ultimate punishnt!"
Yugi encouraged her firmly, his voice filled with admiration. "Hoshino, after everything you've endured, you're the one most qualified to deliver Marik's judgnt. Use this Wicked God's ultimate strike to shatter destiny's chains and end it all!"
"Let's finish this! Wicked Avatar—final strike!"
The Winged Dragon of Ra unleashed its ultimate attack, a blazing torrent of fiery energy. But the dark cannon fired by The Wicked Avatar easily overpowered it, engulfing Ra's massive body in its consuming darkness.
A sharp screech pierced the skies as The Wicked Avatar spread its black wings fully. Its surging flas devoured the golden light, reducing The Winged Dragon of Ra to ashes within the Shadow Ga's space.
The once-invincible divine beast writhed helplessly in the black inferno. Its grotesquely distorted eye—the last vestige of Marik's corrupted soul—twisted violently before being consud entirely.
"It's over, Marik. Whether it's the twisted desires of your dark half or the rebellion of your light side, they will all vanish into nothingness in these flas," Hoshino declared.
As The Winged Dragon of Ra fell, its massive body disintegrating, Marik's existence was erased forever.
[The Winged Dragon of Ra Destroyed]
[Marik LP: 1 → 0]
[Duel Over. Winner: Hoshino Chiyuki!]
(*****)
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