**Chapter 241: I, Marik, Have a Dream**
"Marik... he wants to become Pharaoh?"
Odion, noticing Ishizu's questioning gaze, nodded. "Lord Marik's reason for leaving the Tomb Keepers was to become the Pharaoh."
Although Odion had 'betrayed' the Tomb Keepers alongside Marik, as an insider and even a direct participant in Marik's patricide incident that year, a larger part of Odion's reason for leaving the Tomb Keepers was his concern for Marik. Ishizu knew this too.
That year, Marik's Dark Personality awakened and killed his father due to Odion's punishment. Upon waking, he lost all memories of that period, only seeing his father fallen in a pool of blood. Originally, to protect Marik's mental health, Ishizu and Odion had agreed never to tell anyone the truth of what happened that year, not even Marik himself.
But now, how was it that he not only harbored hatred for the Pharaoh, whom the Tomb Keepers were supposed to serve, but even sacrilegiously desired to become the Pharaoh himself?
Marik glanced at Ishizu and said disdainfully, "In my opinion, humans are born to be dominated, and I want to be the one who dominates them. Pharaoh, leader, marshal, consul... whatever the title, I will rise above all mortals!"
"Anyway, humans are like pigeons; if one flies to the right, the rest will follow it. I will be the leading pigeon!"
"Right here, right now, I will prove my qualification with this card!"
Marik, a sinister grin on his face, activated a Card from his Hand: "I activate the Spell Card, [Stargazer Astrolabe]! Return my Level 6 [Yoyo King] from the Field to the Deck, then draw two cards."
After drawing two cards, Marik continued, "At the same time, because [Yoyo King] left the field, its effect activates!"
"Special Summon as many [Yoyo] as possible from my Graveyard!"
The giant marshmallow-angel [Yoyo King] dissipated, replaced on Marik's field by three much smaller [Yoyo].
"The three monsters on the field, I tribute them all!" Marik drew a card from his hand and raised it high above his head. As he did so, the sea breeze at Domino Pier suddenly grew fierce, and the already pitch-black night sky became shrouded in dark clouds.
"Don't blink, Hayato, and witness the full majesty of a god!" Marik excitedly slammed the red-bordered card in his hand onto his Duel Disk. "When Thunder and Chaos Converge, Ancient Spellbooks Bound in Chains, Unrivaled in Power and Limitless!"
"Come forth, [Slifer the Sky Dragon]!"
The dark clouds in the sky pressed closer to the ground, with a flash of dazzling lightning within them. Bathed in the glow of the lightning, Hayato saw a long, serpentine red figure weaving through the storm clouds.
Two golden points of light appeared in the pitch-black clouds, and a terrifying aura, as if from ancient times, swept over them. A dragon roar echoed across the sky, scattering the clouds completely and revealing the true form of the majestic divine dragon!
[Slifer the Sky Dragon][Level 10/Divine]
[Divine-Beast Type]
[?/ ?]
"Is this... a god?" Hayato's expression was serious. Although he had always jokingly called it the 'Traitor Dragon,' now that [Slifer the Sky Dragon] had truly been summoned, Hayato couldn't help but take it seriously.
After all, despite its somewhat dismal track record, the opponent was still a god.
"[Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s power depends on my hand. Each card in my hand provides [Slifer the Sky Dragon] with 1000 ATK and DEF!" Marik proudly raised his hand, displaying the cards within. "I currently have 5 cards in my hand, therefore, [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s ATK and DEF will both become a total of 5000 points!"
[Slifer the Sky Dragon][?/ ? → 5000/5000]
"Because it's Main Phase 2, [Slifer the Sky Dragon] cannot attack this turn. You've narrowly escaped death, Hayato," Marik said arrogantly. "I set one card. My turn ends! Begin your final struggle, Duel King!"
[Marik: 4000 LP, hand 4]
[Slifer the Sky Dragon][ATK 5000 → 4000]
[Set Card]
"Just a mere Traitor Dragon. My turn, draw!" Hayato drew a card and added it to his hand, then pointed towards his [Armed Dragon LV3] on the field. "After one turn of growth, my [Armed Dragon LV3] on the field will evolve to [LV5]!"
Hayato caught the [Armed Dragon LV5] card that popped out of his deck and had just placed it where [Armed Dragon LV3] had been when Marik suddenly spoke: "Then, because you have summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned a monster, [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s effect activates! It decreases that monster's ATK or DEF by 2000 points, depending on its battle position!"
"If your monster's ATK or DEF is reduced to 0 by this effect, that monster is immediately destroyed!"
"Crawl before a god and offer up your life! Thunderforce Attack!"
Hayato's [Armed Dragon LV3] on the field was enveloped in the light of evolution. Just as its body grew to half its new size, the upper mouth of [Slifer the Sky Dragon] on Marik's field opened, and an energy orb flickering with lightning slammed into the newly evolved [Armed Dragon LV5].
[Armed Dragon LV5][ATK 2400 → 400]
The [Armed Dragon LV5]'s ATK, which had originally been on par with a [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], was weakened in an instant to a level even lower than that of an [Earth Warrior] that only had 500 ATK.
"Hmph, it actually survived?" Marik chuckled contemptuously, looking at the wounded and weakened [Armed Dragon LV5] on Hayato's field. "But now that it's so fragile, what can your monster possibly do? Do you plan to use [Armed Dragon]'s effect to destroy a god?"
"Futile! A god cannot be affected by the effects of lower-Level monsters! Trap Cards are negated, and Spell Cards only last for one turn! This is the invincible god card! Hahahahaha!"
Hayato glanced at the card in his hand: "I don't know why you're gloating. It's just a mere god card."
"I activate my Set Card, [Ojama Pajama Party]! I'll use its first effect." Hayato placed his hand by his deck and caught a card that popped out. "This card can only be activated during either player's Main Phase. Add one [Ojama] card from my deck to my hand, then discard one card from my hand."
After sending one card to the Graveyard, Hayato continued, "Then, I activate the effect of [Ojama Mashup], which I just added to my hand! I send [Ojama Red] from my hand to the Graveyard, and add [Ojama Blue] and [Armed Dragon Thunder LV7] from my deck to my hand. Then, I can summon one of them."
"Attack Position [Ojama Blue]!"
Marik burst into laughter upon hearing that Hayato chose to summon [Ojama Blue]: "You don't actually think [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s effect can only be activated once per turn, do you, Duel King? Fool! As long as it remains on the field, [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s effect can be activated an infinite number of times!"
"[Slifer the Sky Dragon], send that fodder monster to the Graveyard! Another Thunderforce Attack!"
The lightning energy orb fired again, striking [Ojama Blue] which had just appeared on Hayato's field, causing it to let out a piercing shriek. Hearing the pained cries of Hayato's monster, Marik's face revealed a look of pleasure.
But soon, he noticed something was wrong.
Was the wailing lasting a little too long?
The dust raised by the Thunderforce Attack gradually dispersed, revealing [Ojama Blue] still wailing and sprawled on Hayato's field with its rear end sticking up. Seeing this, Hayato gave [Armed Dragon LV5] a look, prompting it to kick [Ojama Blue].
"How could this be! Why wasn't that monster destroyed by Thunderforce Attack?!"
"Huh, why am I fine?"
Hayato calmly explained: "[Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s effect seems quite powerful, but the prerequisite for it to destroy a monster with Thunderforce Attack is that it must reduce that monster's ATK or DEF to 0."
"In other words, only monsters with ATK or DEF to reduce can be destroyed. [Ojama Blue]'s ATK is an unchangeable 0, therefore, the premise for Thunderforce Attack to destroy a monster simply doesn't exist!"
[[Ojama Blue]][0/1000]
"Tch, so what?!" Marik grumbled, looking at the two monsters on Hayato's field. "A Normal Monster fodder with 0 ATK, and trash with only 400 ATK left! Do you actually think you can defeat my invincible [Slifer the Sky Dragon] with such weak monsters?!"
"Hmph, hmph, hmph, Marik, my monster's path of evolution has only just begun!" Hayato cut off Marik's impending words. "Don't blink, and witness the power of this monster that is about to defeat a god!"
"I activate [Armed Dragon Thunder LV7]'s effect! I send one monster from my hand and this card to the Graveyard, then Special Summon one [Armed Dragon] with Level 10 or less from my deck!"
"All ripples in the heavens, be my shield! All lightning of the sky, be my blade! Pisces, cough cough, come forth, [Armed Dragon Thunder LV10]!"
(end of chapter)