Chapter 389: Unsealing Ritual (4k, Happy Dragon Boat Festival)

"With that, I end my turn."

There were no flashy maneuvers, no chain of cards; all Aster did was demonstrate his understanding and control over [Destiny].

"Draw."

It was Amon's turn. After drawing a card, he lowered his head to take a look.

Aster could control five cards; the Air Circulation Machine had drawn him one, and he would draw one during his Draw Phase. This meant that to draw Exodia, he needed to draw at least three more cards.

Not only that.

Because he had already peeked at the top five cards of his deck, Aster wouldn't leave any card-drawing cards for him...

Using his current hand to hold out was useless, because on the next turn, Aster would again modify the top of his deck, placing the sealed Exodia at the fifth position from the top.

This was what Aster called "the destiny that can never be reached."

Amon glanced at his cards: "If that is destiny, then I am willing to discard everything."

"Activate Normal Spell Card, Hand Destruction."

Amon played the cards he hadn't used in the first turn.

Both players discarded their entire hands and then drew an equivalent number of cards.

Seeing this, Aster sent all the cards in his hand to the Graveyard, then looked at his opponent. He saw Amon send the Sealed Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Leg, and Right Leg to the Graveyard in sequence, making the spirits and people behind them shudder.

Immediately after, Amon drew six cards, and Aster drew three. Once again, they looked at their hands.

Amon saw "Exodia the Forbidden One" in the third position of his hand and fell silent for a moment.

As expected, obtaining the power of Exodia could not be done by skill and luck alone.

One must complete the "ritual"... the ritual of gathering all five cards.

Now, this card was clearly unusable.

Moreover, even if he recovered it from the Graveyard, he would have to face that ruler who modified the deck.

Therefore, he had to prioritize dealing with that troublesome ruler.

"Activate Field Spell Card, Fog King's Castle."

In this dim dimension filled with piles of bones and forgotten things, a massive castle slowly emerged from the thick fog.

Subsequently, five signal fires ignited atop the Fog King's Castle, casting a ghostly light.

"If Fog King's Castle is on my field, this card can be summoned without Tributes."

From within the thick fog, a figure leaped out and stood on the field.

Its stature was not particularly tall; compared to the Ruler, it even appeared somewhat small.

Fog King, Level 7, Water, Spellcaster, ATK 0.

"ATK... 0?" The Celtic Guardian nearby saw this card and was surprised. "You're actually using a monster like this?"

Tenjou Hikari's expression gradually turned serious.

Fog King... was not an easy monster to deal with.

"While Fog King is in Attack Position on the field, the effects of all other monsters on the field are negated." Amon looked calmly at the Ruler.

The majestic Destiny HERO - Dominance, floating in the air, swayed under the erosion of the fog and involuntarily landed on the ground.

"But if its ATK is only 0, even if it negates the Ruler, it can't defeat it, right?" a spirit asked.

"Activate Equip Spell Card, Royal Sword."

Fog King raised its hand, and a giant sword fell from the sky into its grasp.

"This card can only be equipped to Fog King. During the End Phase of the turn this monster battles, place 1 Emblem Counter on this card. Its ATK increases by 800 for each Emblem."

So that's how it increases its ATK?

But reaching the Ruler's 2900 ATK wouldn't be that easy—

"Battle! Fog King attacks Destiny HERO - Dominance!"

"My ATK is higher!"

"No—Fog King's monster effect: when this card attacks, I can make the ATK of this card and the opponent's monster 1!"

"Then—they will both be destroyed and vanish!"

"Still no, because Fog King's Castle will protect the King!"

Fog King swung its massive sword down at Dominance. Dominance raised its cape, its fists surged with power, and the "D" on its chest unleashed a massive cannon blast—

BOOM!!

Dominance was destroyed. On the other side, Fog King was knocked back by the impact, standing weakly on another pavilion of the royal castle.

Looking back, the "pavilion" where it had just appeared—the Monster Zone—had turned gray.

"If a monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can extinguish one pavilion to prevent that destruction."

At the same time, on the pavilion, Fog King held its great sword in front of it. The sword lit up, flashing with a new light.

Fog King, ATK: 0 -> 800.

"In other words, that monster can avoid destruction by battle at least four times?" the spirits looked at Fog King.

Four times without being destroyed by battle, and its ATK would reach 3200, surpassing Blue-Eyes White Dragon—that's already quite high!

No, even more, it could potentially reach 4000...

"Dominance's monster effect!" Just as the spirits marveled at Fog King's strength, Aster shouted, "When Dominance is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon up to 3 Level 9 or lower Destiny HERO monsters from my Graveyard!"

It even has a 'last will' type effect?

The watching spirits couldn't help but exclaim again.

This monster was already quite excellent.

"I Special Summon Disk Commander, Diamond Diamond Dude, and Doom Lord from my Graveyard!"

Disk Commander, DEF 300; Diamond Diamond Dude, ATK 1400; Doom Lord, DEF 1000.

Aster looked at his field.

Normally, Special Summoning Disk Commander from the Graveyard would allow him to draw two cards.

However, because of Fog King's presence, he couldn't activate the effect.

"End turn."

"My turn, draw!"

"At this time, because of the effect of Diamond Diamond Dude activated last turn, I will resolve the effect of Destiny Draw from the Graveyard—I don't need to discard a card, I draw two cards directly from my deck!"

He drew quickly and glanced at them.

"Although I can't destroy it by battle, I will still inflict battle damage—and Fog King's effect only makes the opponent's monster's ATK 1 when it attacks, so..."

"I Tribute Disk Commander to Tribute Summon Destiny HERO - Dashguy!"

The disk spun on the field, followed by the whirring sound of wheels. Soon, a pitch-black warrior sped over and appeared on Aster's field.

Destiny HERO - Dashguy, Level 6, Dark, Warrior, ATK 2100.

"Battle! Diamond Diamond Dude attacks Fog King!"

Diamond Diamond Dude threw countless diamonds, smashing them into the thick fog. Fog King didn't hesitate and quickly jumped to another pavilion.

Amon, LP: 4000 -> 3400.

"Then, Dashguy attacks Fog King!"

Amon, LP: 3400 -> 2100.

After another heavy kick from the hero, Fog King moved its body to the fourth pavilion.

At the same time, a new emblem lit up on Fog King's sword.

Fog King, ATK: 800 -> 1600.

"If you can't get past the monster, you just deal damage directly? The strategy is clear." Celtic Guardian nodded.

On the other side, Amon laughed. He looked at Aster and said, "Aster, when there are 4 Emblems on the Royal Sword, I can send it and the equipped monster to the Graveyard to inflict 4000 damage to the opponent!"

What?

The spirits exclaimed in shock.

There were already 2 Emblems!

Aster frowned upon hearing this. He looked at the cards in his hand, pondered for a moment, and set a card.

"Set one card, end turn."

"My turn, draw—"

Amon drew a card and glanced at it.

"Spell Card, Graceful Charity. Draw three cards from my deck, then discard two."

Everyone watched silently as he drew. Then, after carefully examining his hand, he actually sent Exodia the Forbidden One and another card to the Graveyard.

"Battle! Fog King attacks Dashguy!"

"Activate its effect, making both monsters' ATK 1!"

Thick fog slowly enveloped Dashguy. Its power became balanced with Fog King's. Sure enough, as Fog King attacked, Dashguy couldn't resist, was swept away by the fog, and vanished from the field. At the same time, the third Emblem on the Royal Sword was filled by the fog.

Fog King, ATK: 1600 -> 2400.

"Wow, if it attacks again, wouldn't it inflict 4000 effect damage directly? Wouldn't he win!?"

"He doesn't even need Exodia to win—"

"Set two cards, end turn."

"My turn!"

After the initial verbal exchange, the two entered the zone, saying nothing else besides what was necessary for the duel.

Now, they only wanted to win this duel.

Aster drew a card, glanced at it, and smiled.

"I drew Quick-Play Spell Card, Mystical Space Typhoon!"

"Oh no!!" Echo's expression changed drastically.

To draw Mystical Space Typhoon at such a critical moment—

"It seems my [Destiny] has the advantage after all."

Aster smiled: "Mystical Space Typhoon's effect: destroy your Royal Sword."

A gale roared. The sword made of thick fog was lifted by the wind, then wrapped, spun, and flew away, until it was no longer visible.

"You fell for it, Aster Phoenix!" Unexpectedly, Amon decisively flipped a Trap Card at this moment. "Trap Card, Crown Blast!"

"When Royal Sword on my field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can activate this. I can turn the Royal Sword's Emblems into pavilion markers on the field!"

Following his move, the Emblems flew out of the Royal Sword, expanded, and finally turned into a giant fireball.

Because of the fireball's appearance, Fog King's figure gradually dissipated until it was invisible.

"This is? Why?"

Aster was puzzled.

Wouldn't this mean he had no monster zones to use at all?

"You'll find out soon," Amon said calmly.

Aster hesitated, looking at the cards in his hand.

"Regardless... since Fog King is no longer on your field, I can activate Diamond Diamond Dude's effect. Reveal the top card of my deck... Normal Spell Card, Harpie's Feather Duster. Activate next turn."

"At the same time, I change Doom Lord to Attack Position to attack the opponent directly!"

If the attack succeeded, he could win directly—

"Open set card, Roar of the Threatened!" Amon pushed his glasses slightly. "You cannot declare an attack this turn."

Aster frowned deeply.

This way, he couldn't attack.

But—that Fog King's Castle seemed to hide some powerful effect, making him feel vaguely uneasy.

What exactly was it?

He suddenly heard a rumbling sound. Instinctively, he looked up and saw the massive, black-energy-oozing seal gate in the sky slowly opening. A presence filled with resentment seemed to be descending from the sky.

Many spirits were so scared they hid behind Celtic Guardian or Tenjou Hikari, trembling as they looked at the sky.

The entire world seemed about to be engulfed by this resentment!

His pupils shrank—

Could it be!

He thought of a possibility.

Has he still not given up on [Exodia]!?

Aster gritted his teeth. Actually, he had prepared specific cards for this duel... although they didn't seem useful right now, this phenomenon... he had to set them.

"Set two cards, end turn."

"My turn, draw!" Amon drew a card and glanced down.

Factory of 100 Dark Machines!

Beautiful!

With this, he could recover the Normal Monsters from his Graveyard—

He silently set the card: "I set one card. Next, activate the effect of Fog King's Castle!"

"By sending this card, which has all 5 pavilions lit, and my hand to the Graveyard, I can add 4 monster cards from my Graveyard to my hand!"

"What!?" Aster was shocked.

How could such a thing happen!

It was—

Total recovery!

Fog King's Castle began to collapse slowly. In the sky, the monster filled with resentment began to tear apart the gate that sealed it.

The spirits began to tremble; the whole world seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

This newly born "Forget-Me-Not Underworld" world looked like it was about to be completely destroyed!

"I add Exodia the Forbidden One, the Sealed Left Arm, the Sealed Right Arm, and Fog King from my Graveyard to my hand!"

These four?

"Then, it's not over yet, Aster—" Amon wore a look of certain victory. "Open set card—Normal Spell Card, Factory of 100 Dark Machines. This card can recover two Normal Monsters from the Graveyard!

With this, I win—Aster!"

Aster's pupils contracted. Seeing Amon about to add cards from the Graveyard to his hand, he acted quickly and opened his set card: "Trap Card, Mind Crush!"

!!!

"Declare a card name. If the opponent has that card in their hand, that card and all copies of it are discarded!"

"I declare... Exodia the Forbidden One!"

"ROAAAAAR!!!!"

In the sky, the Dark Master exploded with a terrifying roar. Endless resentment surged toward Aster, making him almost unable to breathe. Amon watched this scene, stunned and frozen in place.

BANG—

The Exodia in his hand was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. At the same time, the other two parts of Exodia in the Graveyard returned to his hand.

4 cards—

Still not enough!

"...Hahahaha—Aster, is this your persistence?"

Aster looked at his opponent calmly.

"But—it's not over yet!"

There's more!?

Aster's eyes widened.

"Activate the effect of the Spell Card in the Graveyard, Ultimate Forbidden Ritual!"

This is...

The card sent to the Graveyard last turn?

Following Amon's call, the terrifying gate in the sky had been broken free by Exodia!

A giant hand descended from the sky, reaching for the spirits. The spirits scrambled away in a panic, leaving only Echo standing there calmly.

"Echo!?" Aster called out to her.

But—

Echo merely closed her eyes, waiting for the hand to grab her.

Amon's face was expressionless, the reflection in his glasses completely masking his eyes. He lowered his head slightly and said, "As expected, unsealing Exodia cannot be done with clever tricks... one must perform the unsealing ritual."

In the Graveyard, Exodia the Forbidden One popped out automatically.

"When Ultimate Forbidden Ritual is in the Graveyard, and I have 5 different cards with [Forbidden] in their names in my hand and Graveyard, I can activate this. Return all cards with [Forbidden] in their names from the Graveyard to the deck. Send 2 cards with [Forbidden] in their names from my hand to the Graveyard, and Special Summon 1 [Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord] from my deck or hand!"

What is that!?

Following Aster's surprise, the gate in the sky was completely shattered!

A monster covered in black energy, completely different from the legendary Dark Master, stepped out and descended.

It grabbed Echo. Echo let out a shocking scream, then fell directly into a coma from the pain!

Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord, Level 10, Dark, Spellcaster, ATK ?

The unsealing ritual of the Ultimate Forbidden Lord has officially begun!