"D.D. Crow, banish Uria!"
Crow quickly slid the monster card from his hand into the graveyard. A small crow spread its wings, breaking through the barrier of space. Soon, it reappeared, clutching the Uria, Lord of Searing Flames card in its beak. With an upward flap, it disappeared into the dimension beyond.
"He actually carried off my Uria? That's too much," Kira sighed, feigning disappointment.
Crow said, "Jack had such a hard time defeating Uria! How could we let you revive it so easily? Don't underestimate the power of teamwork!"
Yusei added, "That's right! Goodwin, maybe you're strong—maybe even stronger than any of us. But we... we have bonds! Support and trust between companions let us surpass our limits!"
Kira didn't reply for a long moment.
Yep, the familiar shouts about friendship and bonds before charging straight ahead.
Clearing his throat, Kira said, "Alright then. I'll just have to keep using this guy. Normal Summon 'Phantom of Chaos.'"
The monster that appeared looked less like a creature and more like a puddle of black sludge, floating in front of him with no fixed form.
[Phantom of Chaos, ATK 0]
Crow said, "Another monster with zero attack?"
Yusei reminded, "Don't let your guard down!"
Goodwin's duels always had strange tricks.
Kira explained, "Phantom of Chaos's effect: once per turn, I can target any Effect Monster in my graveyard. Until the end of the turn, this card becomes that card's name and gains its original attack points and effect." (Anime effect)
In the real card game, the actual card is similar, but you have to banish the chosen monster from your graveyard, so the cost is higher than in the anime.
Upon hearing this, the three opponents' faces changed again.
"It can transform into a monster in the graveyard?" Jack said, "So if he has that in his grave..."
Kira continued, "I use Phantom of Chaos to copy 'Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder' in my graveyard, gaining Hamon's name, original attack, and effects!"
With a snap of his fingers, the dark sludge began to bubble with a rotten stench, its gelatinous body twitching in the stormy air. Dozens of golden lightning bolts stabbed into the mass, carving out the form of a demon—first a ribcage, then bone wings painfully tearing free, as the muck churned, each spark of light exposing the demon's true shape.
Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!
[Phantom of Chaos (as Hamon), ATK 4000]
"That's the second Sacred Beast," Crow muttered, "Even a phantom of it is this overwhelming."
Kira smiled, "It's the effect of the Field Spell, 'Fallen Paradise.' Now with a Sacred Beast on my side, Fallen Paradise lets me draw two cards, once per turn."
Kira drew two cards.
"Battle," Kira declared. "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, attack 'Red Dragon Archfiend'!"
The Sacred Beast's bony wings shattered the sludge, thunder clashing as if space itself cracked apart. Divine thunder rained down mercilessly on Red Dragon Archfiend.
Jack shouted, "I activate my trap—"
Kira interrupted, "Trap Cards are ineffective against Sacred Beasts. They aren't affected by the effects of any trap."
Everyone was startled. Like the Earthbound Immortals, Sacred Beasts were immune to traps.
Jack snorted, "My trap doesn't target the Sacred Beast anyway. I activate 'Red Gem!' It protects any monster with 'Red Dragon' in its name from being destroyed by battle or card effect until the end of the turn." (anime card)
Red flames turned to crystal, encasing Red Dragon Archfiend. Hamon's thunder was completely deflected.
"A trap just for Red Dragon? Interesting," Kira replied. "But battle damage will still be calculated. Or at least, it would be—if not for this restriction." He shrugged. "Phantom of Chaos's copy is still just a phantom, so although it can battle and destroy enemy monsters, the battle damage it deals is zero."
The trio sighed in relief.
If it could copy a Sacred Beast and still deal damage, that would be unbeatable.
Kira said, "I set a card face-down and end my turn." He paused, then added, "Phantom of Chaos's copy ability expires at the end phase and its ATK returns to zero."
The imposing golden demon faded away, its image dissolving into mist. The black sludge collapsed back to the ground.
[Phantom of Chaos, ATK 4000 → 0]
Having survived the Sacred Beast's assault, Team 5DS's morale soared.
"Alright, with Phantom of Chaos down to 0 ATK, this is our chance!" Crow looked to Yusei, "Let's take it!"
"Yes, I understand!" Finally, it was Yusei's turn. He was full of morale too.
"My turn! Draw!"
He glanced at his new card and declared, "I will not let my friends' hopes go to waste! I activate the Spell Card 'Tuning'!"
A spell card projection appeared.
"Tuning lets me add a 'Synchron' Tuner monster from my deck to my hand," Yusei announced. "I add Quickdraw Synchron from my deck to my hand."
He drew the Synchron and revealed it.
"Next, I must send a number of cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard equal to the level of the tuner I searched." (Anime effect)
Kira mumbled, "Anime Tuning, that's so broken."
In the real card game, you only mill one card from your deck, but here, you mill as many as the level.
"Quickdraw Synchron is level 5, so I'll send five cards from my deck to the graveyard!"
Five cards were quickly sent to the grave.
"Now, Quickdraw Synchron's effect: I can Special Summon it from my hand by discarding one monster!"
"I discard a monster to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron!"
[Quickdraw Synchron, ATK 700]
"Just now, I also sent 'Level Eater' to the grave! Its effect activates: While in the graveyard, I can reduce the Level of any level 5 or higher monster I control by 1 to Special Summon it!"
Kira raised his eyebrows.
Yusei, ever the master of hand traps—even in banter, he smoothly dropped another banned card.
…