"The effect of Prisma Illya destroys all Spell and Trap Cards on the opponent's field. That ans your back-row card, Pyramid of Light, is destroyed!"
The trajectory of the stars crashed into the white barrier. According to Pegasus's conditions for halting the ritual, Hoshino had to destroy the Pyramid during the duel and then defeat Kaiba.
However, with Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon gone and no effects left to protect Kaiba's field, the more imdiate threat wasn't the Pyramid—it was the Negate Attack he'd set in the back row last turn. And now, it too would be destroyed by Illya's effect.
If Kaiba lost his last ans of stopping Hoshino's attack, he could be taken down in a single strike by Illya.
Even after fine-tuning his deck with AI simulations and resolving to end things once and for all, Kaiba still found himself staring down the sa humiliating defeat as always.
Kaiba roared hysterically, "Even the power of Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon still can't bring victory?!"
Pointing at the stars illuminating the entire space, Hoshino solemnly responded, "Kaiba, victory isn't decided solely by powerful cards like Gods or Shining Dragons. While strong cards offer overwhelming strength, the true deciding factor is the power ford from a duelist's entire deck—shaped by their resolve."
Seeing the montum shift, Yugi nodded in agreent. "That's right. Kaiba, you've beco too dependent on the Shining Dragon's power, ignoring the rest of your deck's potential. If you rely only on Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon..."
(Pegasus: "If you are truly ready for this, Kaiba-boy, the card that surpasses the Gods lies within that deck over there. Take it—if you dare~")
Setting his Duel Disk down, Kaiba forced a dry, bitter smile. "That bastard Pegasus… still the sa as ever. It's like he sees right through people."
Even without the Millennium Eye, Pegasus could still perceive the essence of things through sheer experience. The genius who created Duel Monsters didn't rely solely on a Millennium Item to ascend to greatness.
But high above, Illya—still trying to destroy the Pyramid of Light—began to look uneasy.
"Master, this isn't good. This pyramid… it's not so easily broken. Even though I'm using my full power…"
"What?!" Hoshino frowned in confusion, staring at the white barrier. It remained completely unscathed despite Illya's strike.
If she couldn't destroy the Pyramid of Light, then defeating Kaiba wouldn't be enough to stop the ritual as planned. The resurrection of the King of Destruction—who had absorbed the power of the three Egyptian Gods and two Evil Gods through the pyramid—would only be a matter of ti.
Hoshino turned to Kaiba and demanded, "Kaiba, explain this! Isn't the Pyramid your card?!"
"All I know is that Pyramid of Light can seal the effects of Gods. As for its other two effects… they're like the ancient script once engraved on The Winged Dragon of Ra."
Untranslatable ancient text—that was the sa reason Ra's effects remained hidden until Hoshino revealed them during her duel. Certain sacred texts could only be deciphered by those attuned to the mories of the past, like Marik.
"Then allow to enlighten you, foolish King of Light!!"
A deep male voice suddenly echoed through the white space without warning, sending chills down Hoshino's spine.
"Kaiba, behind you!" Yugi called out, sensing the disturbance first and pointing in alarm.
Behind Kaiba, a towering figure—ford from black liquid overflowing like it was pouring from the Holy Grail—erged as the source of the voice.
"—The second effect of Pyramid of Light: as long as this card remains face-up on the field, my face-up Spell and Trap Cards cannot be destroyed!"
The bald giant who appeared out of nowhere kindly explained Hoshino's dilemma—but "kindly" might not have been the right word. Judging by his chilling presence and eerie arrival, he was clearly no ordinary opponent.
"Who are you?!" Kaiba turned around, attempting to maintain his composure, and demanded an answer from the figure who towered even above him.
"I am Anubis—the King of Destruction—who shall devour both the King of Light and the King of Darkness!"
In response to Kaiba's question, Anubis suddenly seized Kaiba's head with a massive hand, lifting him off the ground like a toy. The usually dominant and towering Kaiba never imagined suffering such humiliation.
"Foolish King of Light. Even with the Pyramid of Light and a monster that surpasses the Gods, you still couldn't claim victory. How utterly disappointing!"
With his muscular arm bulging with veins, Anubis slamd Kaiba headfirst into the Pyramid's wall with crushing force. The blow instantly knocked Kaiba unconscious.
"The King of Destruction… so my grandfather and Pegasus were right all along…" Yugi's pupils trembled as the reality sank in.
There was no ti to worry about Kaiba. Two urgent problems now lood before Hoshino:
First, under the current conditions, she had no way to destroy the Pyramid of Light.
Second, according to the original plan, the King of Destruction was supposed to resurrect only after the duel between the King of Light and the King of Darkness ended. So why had Anubis appeared now?!
"You're not even following the script anymore, are you?!"
With Anubis already on the field, Hoshino wasn't even sure if stopping the ritual mattered anymore.
Beneath Anubis' feet, the black sludge writhed and took the form of a Duel Disk, wrapping around his muscular arm.
"Hoshino Chiyuki… to think that even in that mont, you could change the outco of the King of Darkness's defeat. As expected of the exalted one's other half!"
"Other half? What are you talking about…?"
Strangely, rather than confusion, Hoshino was struck by a wave of nauseating dizziness upon hearing those words.
As the Duel Disk ford completely from the sludge, Anubis' face twisted with cruel delight.
"That exalted one… is the most supre, most magnificent, and most overwhelming evil I've ever seen! Even I felt an instinctive fear upon laying eyes on her! That kind of terror—one that pierces the spine when facing absolute power—made my long-dormant blood boil with excitent!"
Watching Anubis gloat, Hoshino twitched at the corner of her mouth. "Great…another crazy bastard…"
"The resurrection ritual isn't finished yet. So now, I'll take over the King of Light's duel! The rules remain the sa as when you interrupted earlier—both sides replenish their hands to five cards, but the field remains unchanged. And of course, if you still want to stop my resurrection, Hoshino Chiyuki, your victory condition remains the sa…"
"The sa victory condition? You an I still have to defeat you and destroy the Pyramid?"
Hoshino scowled. "But you just said the face-up Pyramid is indestructible! Are you ssing with ?!"
Anubis sneered and ignored her outburst. Calmly, he drew five cards from his deck and took over the duel from Kaiba's unconscious body like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Then, my turn! I draw! And I activate an effect—Illya and Miyu, who were banished as Fusion Materials, will be Special Summoned and returned to my hand, respectively!"
[Magical Girl – Illya DEF 1000]
Although Hoshino also replenished her hand to five cards, Miyu was returned to her hand from the banished zone via Dragon's Mirror, so she effectively drew only four new cards from her deck.
"Even if I can't destroy the Pyramid, I can't let that Blue-Eyes Ultimate Alternative Dragon stand. Attack, Illya!"
Entering the Battle Phase, Hoshino raised her hand, pointing toward Prisma Illya in the sky, and declared an attack.
Currently, Prisma Illya had an ATK of 6100, while the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Alternative Dragon had 4500 ATK. Even if the attack landed, it wouldn't completely wipe out the opponent's remaining 2000 Life Points, aning the duel wouldn't end while the Pyramid of Light remained on the field.
That is, unless Dragon Priestess Miyu—who had NTR'd a Blue-Eyes White Dragon—was the one to deliver the finishing blow.
"Yes, Master!" Illya responded, her magic surging violently through her hands. Tapping into the power of her Prisma Cosmos form, she forcibly converted her entire nervous system into a high-load magical circuit.
"This is my all-or-nothing—Overload Saturation Barrage!"
A torrent of unleashed magical energy surged forward, engulfing Anubis's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Alternative.
The effect of Pyramid of Light only protected face-up Spell and Trap Cards, which ant that the set Counter Trap Negate Attack from Kaiba's last turn was naturally destroyed by Illya, leaving it unable to block the attack on the Ultimate Dragon.
[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Alternative Dragon DESTROYED]
[Anubis LP 2000 → 400]
"Ugh! As expected of the other half of that great being! A perfect strike that even caused pain in my own domain—truly praiseworthy! But this battle will not, and cannot, end just yet!"
"Tch." Clicking her tongue in frustration, Hoshino, despite the thousand complaints in her heart, could only sigh and conclude the Battle Phase.
"Hoshino..." Yugi looked at her with regret. Had she simply ordered the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to launch a direct attack, the duel's outco would have been completely overturned.
However, the harsh reality was that this wasn't a duel where victory alone would resolve everything.
Revealing the hidden slot on her Duel Disk, Hoshino inserted a Field Spell into it.
"—I activate the Field Spell [Oath Under the Snow]!"
The gentle snowfall conjured by the Field Spell blended almost seamlessly with the pure white space around them. Unfortunately, since Pyramid of Light was a Continuous Trap rather than a Field Spell, it wasn't replaced by Hoshino's card.
"I set two more cards and end my turn!"
[Hoshino's Hand: 2 cards | Set Cards: 3]
At the very mont her turn ended, Prisma Cosmos Illya's form dissolved into two beams of light, which descended onto Hoshino's field amidst the softly falling snow.
"Prisma Cosmos Illya's effect activates! When this card leaves the field, the monsters used as its Fusion Materials return to the field, ignoring summoning conditions!"
The dazzling light gradually faded, revealing the two figures who had combined their power into Illya's strongest form just monts before—Dragon Priestess Miyu and Magical Girl dea Illya.
[Dragon Priestess Miyu – DEF 2200]
[dea Illya – DEF 1000]
Both cards reappeared in Defense Position on Hoshino's Duel Disk. As her Prisma form faded, Illya clutched her arms, her face twisted in pain.
"It hurts! It hurts so much! Even after reaching my final form, I still have to keep fighting? This is way too cruel!"
As the cost of attaining the Prisma state, her entire body—including her nervous system, blood vessels, lymphatic system, and muscles—had been transford into pseudo-magical circuits, placing her under imnse strain and causing severe damage.
"Since the Fusion Monster Prisma Illya left the field, the effect of the Field Spell Oath Beneath the Snow activates, allowing to draw one card from my deck."
Anubis formally began his turn, drawing a card while sneering.
"Is this your last struggle? Then allow to deliver your final judgnt this turn! To be reborn alongside that great being and overturn this world, I must complete the resurrection ritual!"
"Crazy people are always trying to overturn the world! And what's with this 'other half' nonsense? I think both you and your so-called 'great being' have screws loose!"
Hoshino showed no rcy with her words, her attitude practically screaming, I'll even roast myself if I have to!
"How dare you insult that being in my presence?! Unforgivable!"
The ever-arrogant Anubis suddenly twitched in rage, veins bulging across his smooth, bald head—all because of a single insult from Hoshino.
"Even if you bear the sa appearance, the difference between you and that being's true greatness is a gap as vast as the heavens and the abyss! I, the King of Destruction, Anubis, shall now use the power hidden within the Pyramid of Light to eliminate this threat to her existence!"
Seeing Anubis suddenly fly into a rage, Hoshino didn't even know how to respond. This guy had been giving off cult-leader energy from the very start.
Now that she thought about it, in mythology, Anubis was depicted as a jackal-headed figure...
(*****)
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