Chapter 497: A Bright Future

"My turn, draw."

The Supreme King drew a card and then revealed it directly.

"Spell Card 'Card of Sanctity'. Both players draw cards until they have six cards in their hand."

Judai drew cards along with him.

"Then activate Spell Card 'Foolish Burial'!" the Supreme King said. "Send one monster from the Deck to the Graveyard.

I send 'Evil HERO Malicious Fiend' from my Deck to the Graveyard."

The Supreme King showed the searched card and sent it to the Graveyard.

"Malicious Fiend..." Judai saw the fleeting image and quickly understood. "The evil version of Dark Necrofear?"

"It is a stronger and better version!" the Supreme King said. "Just as I am stronger than you!

Evil HERO Malicious Fiend's effect: banish this card from the Graveyard to Special Summon an 'Evil HERO' other than 'Evil HERO Malicious Fiend' from your hand or Deck!

I Special Summon 'Evil HERO Infernal Gainer'!"

【Evil HERO Infernal Gainer, ATK 2100】

"Infernal Gainer's effect: when this card is successfully summoned or Special Summoned, add one 'Dark Fusion' from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand."

The Supreme King drew the Spell Card returned from the Graveyard.

"Return Spell Card 'Dark Fusion' from the Graveyard to my hand."

"Then activate Spell Card 'Dark Fusion' again!" the Supreme King shouted. "Send 'Evil HERO Infernal Gainer' on the field and 'Evil HERO Malicious Edge' in my hand to the Graveyard to perform Dark Fusion!

Descend again—"

"—Evil HERO Malicious Edge!!!"

Another fusion; Infernal Gainer and Malicious Edge were crushed in the vortex, and the massive darkness transformed into a physical form again, becoming the strongest demon hero descending once more!

【Evil HERO Malicious Edge, ATK 3000】

"Back again, huh," Judai muttered.

"Correct, just like the darkness in your heart," the Supreme King said. "Not only powerful, but no matter how many times it is destroyed, it will make a comeback; it can never be eliminated!"

But this time, Judai did not refute him, just looked at him like that.

Even his gaze was no longer as sharp as it was at the beginning, instead revealing a hint of... sympathy.

"You must have had a very hard time for so long, right?" he said softly.

"What?" The Supreme King was stunned.

"The moment I endured your Malicious Edge's attack just now, I seemed to remember a little bit," Judai said. "Our past lives, so much pain and betrayal, so much torture...

But I didn't remember any of it before. All of this was borne by you, right?

I can't imagine how much you bore to become what you are now."

The Supreme King pondered.

But he quickly recovered: "I don't understand what nonsense you're talking about, but I never go easy in my duels!

Evil HERO Malicious Edge's effect!

Destroy all monsters on the opponent's field with lower ATK than itself!"

Malicious Edge's dark wave swept over again, and Grand Neos couldn't resist, only able to annihilate and disappear in that darkness.

"But the effect of the Equip Spell 'Instant Neo-Space'!" Judai said. "When Grand Neos leaves the field, Special Summon 'Elemental HERO Neos' from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard!"

Beams of light flew down from the other end of the starry sky, once again manifesting the posture of the Neos hero!

【Elemental HERO Neos, DEF 2000】

"Futile struggle," the Supreme King shouted coldly. "Evil HERO Malicious Edge, attack 'Elemental HERO Neos'!"

Then, the moment Malicious Edge flew out, the Supreme King played another card from his hand.

"Quick-Play Spell 'Trap Booster'!" (Original card)

He sent one card from his hand to the Graveyard and revealed another.

"Trap Booster can activate a Trap Card directly from the hand by discarding one card.

I activate Trap Card 'Meteor Rain'! This turn, when my monster attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to the opponent equal to the difference between ATK and DEF!"

【Evil HERO Malicious Edge, ATK 3200】

【Elemental HERO Neos, DEF 2000】

"Activate Set Card, Trap Card 'Hero Guard'!" Judai said. "Can be activated when an opponent's monster attacks. One monster with 'Hero' in its name on my field will not be destroyed by this battle!" (Original card)

"But battle damage will still be calculated," the Supreme King said. "Correct, but I still have the Continuous Spell 'Damage Gate'," Judai said. "While this card is on the field, all battle damage taken by both of us is halved!

Furthermore, 'Hero Guard' has another effect. During the damage calculation step of this battle, banish one monster with 'Hero' in its name from my Graveyard; the battle damage I take is halved again, and I can draw one card from my Deck!"

Judai revealed a card in his Graveyard.

"I banish 'Elemental HERO Thunder Giant' from my Graveyard; battle damage is halved again, and I draw one card!"

The defenses of the Continuous Spell and Trap formed two layers of buffer shields in front of Judai. Halved and then halved again, by the time it reached Judai, the impact was much less than before.

【Judai, LP 700 → LP 400】

"Persistent guy," the Supreme King said. "Then set one card, and end my turn."

"Phew~ so dangerous, so dangerous."

Judai breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest.

"Almost died."

!. Read

"But even so, your Life Points are like a candle in the wind," the Supreme King said coldly. "And my Life Points are 5400, and I still have the strongest Evil HERO 'Malicious Edge' that cannot be defeated.

Even if you lingered for one more turn, what can you do?"

Judai pondered for a moment.

Then he looked up at the Supreme King.

"Actually, before I came here, before I faced you, I was afraid in my heart. I was afraid to face you, and I was angry at what you did.

But now these feelings are no longer that intense.

Now I feel lucky."

"What?" The Supreme King frowned, puzzled.

"Lucky that I could meet such reliable partners in this lifetime," Judai said softly. "I have encountered huge troubles and tricky enemies more than once. Every time, he was always there in time, stepping forward in time.

And he is the most reliable person I have ever seen. He can resolve any situation, and he can turn any tricky situation into safety.

Sometimes it even makes me feel like I'm a bit redundant, ahahaha..."

Judai scratched his head embarrassedly.

The Supreme King kept a straight face and said nothing.

So are you humble-bragging?

Does such a teammate really exist?

Impossible, sci-fi, it must be sci-fi.

The Supreme King expressed he absolutely did not believe it.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"It's just that I'm thinking, maybe you just didn't have my good luck, or maybe you just bore all the darkness for me.

Maybe it's because you were there that I could grow to be like I am today."

The Supreme King's golden eyes, which had always been without waves, seemed to flicker slightly.

But only for a moment.

"It doesn't matter what you say," the Supreme King said coldly. "Soon your existence will disappear, and I will be unprecedentedly powerful, becoming truly complete!"

Judai smiled and shook his head.

"No, I will not fall. Because I said, your power is just empty, power that is not needed," he said. "And I have found what I want to protect, the reason I want to fight. And more importantly, the partners waiting for me to go back.

However, I promise you. Even if I might not be able to do it today, sooner or later, I will let you see that future full of light, a future worth fighting for."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 498 =====