"My Turn, Draw!"
Hayato looked at the card added to his Hand, and Normal Summoned it: "I Normal Summon 'Performapal Mech-Eye Lizard' in Attack Position!"
Beside the dashing 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion', a Monster with a completely different art style appeared. A light purple lizardman stood upright, revealing its soft, white—belly! Holding an umbrella in its hand and with mechanical glasses perched on its nose, 'Mech-Eye Lizard' took off its top hat, bowed, and made an elegant entrance.
[Performapal Mech-Eye Lizard] [Level 4/Earth Attribute]
[Reptile-Type/Effect Monster]
[1600 ATK/1200 DEF]
As soon as it appeared on the Field, 'Mech-Eye Lizard''s high-tech glasses automatically transformed into a telescope-like device, staring intently at Hayato's Deck:
"When 'Mech-Eye Lizard' is successfully Normal or Special Summoned, I can Activate its Effect once during this Turn's Main Phase."
Hayato said, reaching his hand towards his Deck, just catching a Monster Card that popped out from it. Without waiting for Pandora to see it clearly, Hayato immediately Sent it to the Graveyard.
"From my Deck, I will Send one Monster with 'Odd-Eyes' in its name to the Graveyard! Until the end of this Turn, 'Mech-Eye Lizard' can be treated as a Card with the same name as the Monster Sent to the Graveyard!"
"The Card I Sent to the Graveyard is 'Odd-Eyes Demonic Dragon'!"
As Hayato's words fell, 'Mech-Eye Lizard''s glasses began to transform again, turning into a miniature printer. It "clack-clack-clack"ed out a slip of paper. 'Mech-Eye Lizard' caught the paper and stuck it to its chest. On the slip, boldly written, were the words: "I am Odd-Eyes Demonic Dragon!"
"That's way too sloppy! Make the disguise more convincing, hey!"
Ignoring (Gaia)'s grumbling, Hayato Activated the Card he had Set earlier: "I Activate my Set Card, 'Call of the Haunted'! I will Revive 'Odd-Eyes Demonic Dragon' which was just Sent to the Graveyard!"
Pandora frowned: "First, he selects powerful Monsters from his Deck and Sends them directly to the Graveyard, then uses Cards that Revive Monsters to Summon them directly. As expected of the King of Duels, he's truly a tricky opponent!"
On Hayato's Field, the crater from which (Gaia) had just emerged once again emitted a large amount of light. Above Hayato's Field, a massive Magic Circle was etched out as if by laser. After forming, the Magic Circle swept downwards, and in the air, like a 3D printer, a massive Dragon skeleton appeared.
The four great elements of Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire were drawn together by the Magic Circle beneath the Dragon's feet. Four differently colored Magic Circles formed around the Dragon's skeleton, and then the Fifth Element—Aether—was born from nothing, filling the Dragon's skeleton.
Red and blue lights flashed in its pupils. Under the watchful eyes of Hayato and Pandora, the Dragon, whose body was slowly constructing itself, was given a Soul and roared to the heavens!
[Odd-Eyes Demonic Dragon] [Level 7/DARK Attribute]
[Dragon-Type/Effect Monster]
[2500 ATK/2500 DEF]
"This is the ultimate Demonic Dragon that controls the four elements of creation, Flow! Stagnate! Heat up! Cool down! Creation and Destruction! Witness the immortal, 'Odd-Eyes Demonic Dragon'!"
Hayato celebrated the Summon of 'Odd-Eyes Demonic Dragon', holding his last two Cards in Hand. Instead of playing them directly, he pointed across the Field at Pandora: "This Turn, I will completely finish you!"
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, King of Duels!" Pandora said through gritted teeth. Hayato had only Summoned a Monster with 2500 ATK, and while its Summoning chant was undeniably cool, that didn't change the fact that its ATK didn't exceed 'Dark Magician''s.
Protected by 'Safe Zone', Pandora was very confident that his 'Dark Magician' was invincible. With equal ATK, 'Odd-Eyes Demonic Dragon' couldn't even achieve Mutual Destruction.
What's more, the Set Card in Pandora's Back Row wasn't just for show.
"Battle Phase! 'Performapal Mech-Eye Lizard', Attack 'Mystic Tomato'!" Hayato pointed at 'Mystic Tomato', which was still in a pierced state from 'Rocket Pilder': "Although you aren't destroyed when you initiate an Attack, if you are attacked, your effect becomes ineffective!"
Dancing a cheerful "Singin' in the Rain" step, completely out of sync with the tense Duel situation, 'Mech-Eye Lizard' approached 'Mystic Tomato'. Its mouth opened to an exaggerated, cartoon-like degree, and without hesitation, it swallowed 'Mystic Tomato' whole. Then, with a 'phooey', it spat out the tomato skin.
[Pandora: 2300 → 2100 LP]
"A mere 200 points of Damage, that's nothing!" Pandora scoffed, pursing his lips. "Also, because 'Mystic Tomato' was Destroyed by you and Sent to the Graveyard, I Activate its Effect! I can Special Summon one DARK Attribute Monster with 1500 ATK or less from my Deck in Attack Position!"
"Hmph, what kind of powerful Monster could have 1500 ATK or less?" Hayato said, somewhat dismissively.
Pandora searched his Deck, selected a card, and placed it on the Field: "Appear, 'Fusion Killer'!"
"What?!"
Looking at the Tentacle Monster that appeared on Pandora's Field, Hayato was dumbfounded. "This is DM (Duel Monsters), right? How could someone bring a Card like this? It's too much of a counter!"
[Fusion Killer] [Level 4/DARK Attribute]
[Fiend-Type/Effect Monster]
[1400 ATK/1200 DEF]
Although it didn't look fierce and its Stats were quite ordinary, Hayato knew that this Monster Summoned by Pandora had a truly disgusting Effect: the ATK of a Fusion Monster that Battles with this Card becomes 0 during the Damage Step.
Originally, Hayato had been thinking that no matter what Fodder Monster Pandora Summoned, he could use 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion''s Effect to change the Opponent's Battle Position and perform a Piercing Attack, reducing Pandora's Life Points. But as soon as 'Fusion Killer' was played, it essentially had the words 'direct counter' tattooed on its face, a perfect counter to Hayato's 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion'.
"Hehehe, it seems you're aware of its Effect too, King of Duels?" Pandora said smugly, seeing the confident smile vanish from Hayato's face. "Didn't you say you'd finish me this Turn? If you can do it, then by all means, try!"
"What exactly are you so proud of?" Hayato frowned. "Then I'll just use (Gaia) to Attack 'Dark Magician'! Go, (Gaia)! With sword and Heart, Dog-Head Dragon Flash!"
Although he had switched to an even stranger attack name than before, 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion' still dutifully soared into the air and circled, then attacked 'Dark Magician' from behind. Just as he was about to unleash Dragon fire to change 'Dark Magician''s Battle Position, Pandora immediately Activated the Set Card in his Back Row—
To be continued
(end of chapter)