Chapter 704: As a Duelist

A low, earth-shaking roar sounded, as if an ancient beast were growling, shaking the space. Darkness, as if from the depths of hell, surged and erupted, and jagged demon armor slowly emerged. It was not armor forged of common iron, but condensed from pure darkness and evil; from afar, the hulking body looked like a pitch-black mountain.

Evil Hero Malicious Bane, summon!

【Evil Hero Malicious Bane, ATK 3000】

"Malicious Bane's effect!" Jaden said. "Once per turn, destroy all monsters on the opponent's field with ATK lower than this card's!

Malicious Destruction!"

Malicious Bane roared heavily, and that boundless darkness surged out again. Like a tsunami of darkness, it swallowed Yubel's side of the field with overwhelming force. The high-level Demon Zoah was like a powerless piece of trash under this hellish momentum, unable to resist at all.

"Malicious Bane... I see, this monster is the incarnation of the Supreme King's power." Yubel said.

The power of the Supreme King, which had once stood side-by-side with her and swept across thousands of armies in a past life, had now reached the opposite side.

"But even if the Supreme King wants me to give up, hehe, I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

Yubel's tone rose sharply, and she raised her hand to activate another backrow card.

"Activate face-down card, Continuous Trap—Limit Reverse, revive a monster with 1000 or less ATK from the Graveyard!"

Jaden was startled. "At this timing?"

He was instinctively surprised. Because at this timing, Malicious Bane had already activated its board-clearing effect, and Limit Reverse could only revive monsters with 1000 or less ATK, so the revived monster would definitely have lower ATK than Malicious Bane.

Limit Reverse's activation chained after Malicious Bane's, so it would resolve first. The revived monster would be summoned to the field first, and then Malicious Bane's effect would resolve. So no matter what was revived, it would be destroyed by Malicious Bane.

"Could it be the Wicked God Eraser?" Jaden said solemnly.

If it were Eraser, Malicious Bane's destruction effect might not work on a God.

"No, Eraser's ATK is '?'." The Supreme King said coldly. "It doesn't meet the revival conditions for 'Limit Reverse'."

Jaden realized. "O-oh, I see!"

The language of the game is profound, and the road to advancement is endless. And this kind of theoretical knowledge happened not to be Jaden's strength, so he was unsure about many details in processing.

Of course, this didn't affect his god-like card playing. Jaden was a duelist who was better at relying on intuition than his brain, and the final results often proved his intuition was more reliable than thinking.

And since it wasn't Eraser, the only monster the opponent could revive at this timing was...

"Even if scarred, I will always return from the deepest depths of hell!

Su Sheng 'Yubel' from the Graveyard!"

A dark vortex opened in the ground, and the pitch-black current condensed into a demon's human form. A dual-sided body, heterochromatic eyes that seemed to have been stripped of emotion, and thorny vines slithered around the body like snakes.

【Yubel, ATK 0】

"Next, process the effect of 'Evil Hero Malicious Bane', destroy all monsters on my field." Yubel said. "I have 'Demon Zoah' and 'Yubel' on my field.

Come, Supreme King. Use your absolute power to ravage me mercilessly."

Malicious Bane's offensive finally crashed down with overwhelming force. The moment the two demons were caught in it, they were eroded and disintegrated by the darkness, swallowed as if annihilated.

Demon Zoah shrieked and quickly dissipated. Yubel was also swallowed by the darkness, but as her body disappeared, a stronger force rebounded, rising rapidly at an astonishing rate, growing into a solid dragon body like a small mountain, with two ferocious dragon heads and a blood-red eye in the center of its chest.

【Yubel - Terror Incarnate, ATK 0】

Yubel said: "When 'Yubel' is destroyed by a card effect, Special Summon the second stage from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard...

The sorrowful knight who turned into an ugly form to gain power, but was instead hated—this is my second form, Terror Incarnate."

【Yubel - Terror Incarnate, ATK 0】 "Yubel..." Jaden was a bit dazed.

The Supreme King, however, remained unmoved, still saying coldly: "Increasing the number of monsters on the field the moment before Malicious Bane's effect activated will also all become Malicious Bane's power.

When Evil Hero Malicious Bane destroys monsters on the field using its own effect, this card's ATK increases by 200 for each monster destroyed.

It just destroyed two monsters, so ATK increases by 400!"

【Evil Hero Malicious Bane, ATK 3000 → ATK 3400】

Then the Supreme King glanced at Jaden and said coldly: "The duel field is a battlefield. Is this the time for you to be dazed?"

Jaden was startled.

"Stepping onto the duel field, all you need to think about is victory, nothing else. No matter who the opponent is, no matter what entanglements there are, it's the same." The Supreme King said lightly. "Even if the opponent is Yubel, it's the same.

If you lose here, what will Yubel and that Wicked God do to this school and the others you care about next? Do you want to hide behind that King of Games for the rest of your life, letting him stand up for you in everything?"

Jaden: "..."

(Content omitted)

He lowered his head and was silent for a few seconds.

Then he laughed freely.

"Geez, to think I'd be lectured by a guy like you... I really don't want that." He smiled and said, "I was just catching my breath. Of course I understand what you're saying.

Even if you didn't say it, I've always been in a state of giving my all in every duel, without any foreplay or buildup!"

But now that the opponent has re-summoned Terror Incarnate, it's equivalent to having an invincible shield again. Attacking with high ATK will only result in me taking reflection damage.

Malicious Bane's power can clear the board, but only once per turn.

The Supreme King said, "Let's wait and see for now."

Jaden nodded: "I know. Set two cards from my hand to the backrow, end turn."

Yubel said loudly: "At this point, whatever you do is meaningless!

My turn, draw!"

Yubel took a step forward and shouted in that hoarse voice.

"Yubel - Terror Incarnate, attack 'Evil Hero Malicious Bane'!"

The two-headed demon dragon roared angrily, and the eye on its chest released a soul-capturing light, immediately capturing Malicious Bane. The Death Fiend seemed to lose control, stepping forward step by step.

The Supreme King said, "Trap!"

Jaden: "I know! Activate face-down card, Trap card 'No Entry!!'

Change all Attack Position monsters on the field to Defense Position!"

【Yubel - Terror Incarnate, ATK 0 → DEF 0】

【Evil Hero Malicious Bane, ATK 3400 → DEF 3000】

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 705 =====