In short, each of the four Magical Beasts possessed extraordinary abilities and unique skills. Their unwavering combat spirit and astonishing endurance were truly awe-inspiring. Furthermore, Jiang You felt an immense pressure from the secret weapons—the yet-to-be-revealed Beasts.
These four formidable monsters were indeed terrifying, but King Hassan had also equipped Jiang You with the means to deal with them. In fact, this very moment was precisely what he had been preparing for! This perfectly replicated the scenario where King Hassan had single-handedly confronted the Eleven Beasts.
"They're too strong! I activate my Set Card, Evening Bell, Homeward Bound! Since they were summoned simultaneously, its effect targets all unresolved monsters! Destroy all Magical Beasts summoned this turn and banish all cards with the same name!"
"Each of these children is unique, so there's only one copy of each in my Deck."
Every card representing Tiamat's Eleven Beasts existed only once in her Deck. If there were duplicates, her Deck would be almost entirely filled with them.
"No matter—they'll all be banished in an instant!"
At least this dealt with Tiamat's field flood in one fell swoop. Even without triggering any additional effects, a four-for-one trade was still an overwhelming advantage!
These formidable Magical Beasts, capable of challenging even gods, had barely materialized—not even letting out a roar—before being banished from the field.
"This 'Old Man of the Mountain' Card..."
Tiamat glanced at King Hassan, sensing a faint threat emanating from beneath his black cloak, even for her. "...While I must commend you for your actions, Mommy is a little upset now."
"I activate the Spell Card Crimson Star Eye! Your opponent cannot activate card effects in response to this card's activation. Banish all face-up cards on the field! For each card banished, inflict 500 Life Point damage to your opponent! A total of four cards were banished, so you take 2000 damage!"
Tiamat showed no intention of holding back. However, the troublesome Field Spell Card also vanished along with everything else, which wasn't entirely bad news for Jiang You.
Jiang You's Life Points: 4000 → 2000.
The effect was similar to the Tunguska Explosion of a certain Beast, but the opponent unilaterally suffered the damage, and it even banished cards. Yet the most devastating part wasn't even the damage; it was that this effect successfully triggered Tiamat's Self-Sealed departure effect.
Tiamat's Spirit Origin began to restore, her colossal form nearly filling the entire Duel Field.
Tiamat
Beast 12-Star Attack Power 5000
1. This card is unaffected by other card effects.
2. When your opponent activates a Spell, Trap, or Monster effect targeting a card on the field, you can randomly discard one card from their hand to negate that activation and destroy the card.
3. While this card is face-up on the field, all servants on the opponent's field have their Attack Power and Defense Power reduced to 0.
4. When this card leaves the field, you can activate this effect to Special Summon one "Tiamat (Primordial Spirit Origin)" from your Deck, Graveyard, or Hand.
Despite its concise text, this card's effect is absolutely broken. It mirrors the effect of a certain mounted big brother, but instead of discarding the opponent's cards, it creates a win-win situation: once a targeted effect is activated, Tiamat wins twice. Moreover, immune to other card effects, this behemoth can only be defeated through battle destruction. But how could any servant without an Attack Power boost ever reach 5000?
As for the final effect, it likely represents Tiamat's Spirit Origin reverting to its Jurassic state after losing her immortality. Three stages in total—this is going to be troublesome indeed.
Archer's Gilgamesh could indeed surge to 5000 Attack Power in a single turn, but even the equipment summoned from his Gate of Babylon requires targeting, which Tiamat completely shuts down. Jiang You's only recourse now is to avoid all targeted effects.
Jiang You also possesses this card, but he can't deploy it so easily. The crucial challenge is getting it into his hand. For now, his priority is simply to survive.
"Entering Battle Phase! Sorry, but Mommy wins this time!"
While Tiamat's cards were all incredibly powerful, they lacked the ability to replenish her resources. She was down to just two cards in her hand, clearly with no lower-level monsters she could Normal Summon.
"I'll attack Jiang You directly! Return to my side, humanity!"
"It won't end that easily!"
This would be a tough fight without King Hassan, Jiang You thought. Thankfully, his Deck has answers for this.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Protection of Faith! For the rest of this turn, all Battle and Effect Damage I take is halved! Also, for each Hassan with a different card name in my Graveyard, I gain 500 Life Points!"
"My Graveyard contains Hundred Faces, Serenity, Shining Star, and Cursed Arm—four different Hassans! So I gain 2000 Life Points!"
Jiang You regretted retrieving his Host form so early. Protection of Faith also had an attack-boosting effect, but it wasn't needed right now.
Jiang You's LP: 2000 → 4000
Tiamat's attack followed, but since Protection of Faith's effect applied to the Main Battler, Tiamat's own effect failed to activate.
Jiang You's LP: 4000 → 1500
"Another one of his effects..."
Jiang You sensed Tiamat was displeased.
He wasn't mistaken. Tiamat had a natural aversion to King Hassan, though it wasn't outright hatred. "Aren't you relying a bit too much on the 'Old Man of the Mountain'?"
"What can I do? This is his Deck..." Jiang You shrugged. He didn't have his own Deck, after all, though he did possess one exclusive card. That thing was so ridiculously powerful he'd only used it once. It was so special that even Fate's Draw couldn't search for it—a card seemingly reserved for final battles.
"Honestly..."
Hearing the colossal Tiamat speak in such a tone was a novel experience. Unable to secure victory, she ended her Battle Phase. "I set two cards face-down in my Backrow and end my turn."
Jiang You carefully examined Tiamat's Graveyard and found a card with a Graveyard Effect: Primordial Regression. While this card was in the Graveyard, if the opponent Normal Summoned a Servant, Tiamat could banish Primordial Regression to return that Servant to its owner's Deck.
Fortunately, King Hassan possessed complete immunity to effects during the turn he was summoned, so Jiang You didn't have to worry about him being immediately returned to the Deck.
"My turn! Draw!"
Jiang You began his turn by flipping one of his set cards. He had placed it earlier to maintain board presence. "I activate the Spell Card Surrender Thy Head!"
Once again, he sent the three Hassans to the Graveyard. "This time, I'll add a card to my Hand—the Field Spell Card Abyss of the Hidden Valley!"