Seeing Kaiba end his Turn, Chumley's finger immediately rested beside the Activate Set Card button on his Duel Disk, staring at the Mysterious Person opposite him.
"My Turn, Draw!" The instant he heard the Mysterious Person draw a card and enter their Standby Phase, Chumley immediately pressed the button.
"Hey, you! During your Standby Phase, I activate these two Cards in my Back Row!"
As the button was pressed, two more cards on Chumley's Back Row opened, revealing a red and a green card: the Trap Card (Chain Material) and the Quick-Play Spell Card (Instant Fusion).
"(Instant Fusion)'s effect is: Send Fusion Material Monsters determined by a Fusion Monster Card from my Field to the Graveyard, then Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck." Chumley paused, then spread his hands. "However, powerful Cards often come with great risks. The Monster Fusion Summoned by this Spell Speed 2 card will be destroyed during the End Phase of the Turn it is Summoned."
"So, even if you Summon a powerful Monster, it can only stay on the Field for one Turn, and since it's not your Turn, it can basically only be used for Defense, right?" Bastion Misawa nodded knowingly. "I see, I completely understand."
"But you said sending Monsters from *your* Field to the Graveyard... don't you only have one (Labrynth Archfiend) on your Field?"
"Could it be that you're going to Send Seto Kaiba's (Blue-Eyes White Dragon) to the Graveyard?"
In this 2v2 Duel, Kaiba and Chumley, as teammates, could share Monsters on the Field. For example, Kaiba could use Chumley's Monster as a Tribute to Tribute Summon (Blue-Eyes White Dragon), and Chumley could also use Kaiba's (Blue-Eyes White Dragon) as Fusion Material.
However, both players' Fields were independent. If the Mysterious Person attacked Kaiba with a Monster, Kaiba could only use his own (Blue-Eyes White Dragon) for Defense, not Chumley's (Labrynth Archfiend). If Chumley used (Instant Fusion) to Summon a Fusion Monster, it could only be placed on his own Field, which would result in Kaiba losing his only Monster and being forced to face a Direct Attack from the opponent's Monster.
Hearing Bastion Misawa's words, Kaiba also turned to glance at Chumley, his eyes narrowed.
"Don't look at me like that, Seto, you're my dearest friend, my brother! How could I take your wife—I mean, Monster?" Chumley quickly appeased Kaiba, then pointed to the other Card he had activated. "Although I do only have one Monster on my Field, who said I was going to use Cards on the Field for Fusion?"
"Chain Link 1 (Instant Fusion), Chain Link 2 (Chain Material)! (Chain Material)'s effect is that this Turn, when I Fusion Summon, I can Banish Monsters from my Deck, Hand, Field, or Graveyard to be used as Fusion Material! Don't try to fathom my humble wisdom with my God-given talent!"
White smoke billowed from the Deck Zone of Chumley's Duel Disk. Card after Card was automatically searched by the Duel Disk and handed to Chumley, who then Banished them all at once. The rising smoke behind Chumley manifested several Monsters of various shapes.
Chumley took out a Card, holding it between his fingertips, and announced the names of the Banished Monsters used as Fusion Material one by one: "The ones aiding me in Summoning this Card are all eleven (Infernoid) Monsters! One last time, Fusion is accelerating!"
"(Infernoid Decatron), (Infernoid Seitsemas), (Infernoid Piaty), (Infernoid Lucifugus), (Infernoid Astaroth), (Infernoid Asmodai), (Infernoid Belphegor), (Infernoid Baal), (Infernoid Adramelech), (Infernoid Lilith), (Infernoid Attondel)!"
"Creator God, who embodies Chaos, bring forth our wishes from the past! Gather! Power of (Infernoid)!"
"Fusion Summon! (Infernoid Tierra)!"
Colorful flames rose into the sky, outlining a gigantic husk. The instant Chumley slammed the Card onto his Duel Disk, the God, an amalgamation of all eleven (Infernoid) Monsters, opened its eyes.
(Infernoid Tierra) [Level 11/FIRE Attribute]
[Fiend-Type/Fusion/Effect]
[3400/3600]
"Its ATK is even higher than (Blue-Eyes White Dragon)'s!?" Bastion Misawa didn't notice Kaiba's sudden murderous glare, continuing to speak to himself, "This image, could it be based on Samael, the 'Blind God' creator in Gnosticism, depicted with a lion's head and a dragon's body, blending elements of Judaism and Christianity?"
"But what's the point of Summoning such a powerful Monster? It's just a one-time use item that can only exist for one Turn."
Bastion Misawa didn't realize Chumley's purpose in Summoning (Infernoid Tierra), and Chumley couldn't be bothered to explain. He just waved his hand and said, "(Chain Material) is used this Turn, I cannot Attack. And (Infernoid Tierra), Fusion Summoned by (Chain Material)'s effect, will also be destroyed during the End Phase. But it doesn't matter, because the moment she was Summoned, I've already achieved my objective."
"(Infernoid Tierra)'s Fusion Materials are (Infernoid Attondel), (Infernoid Lilith), and one or more (Infernoid) Monsters. Depending on the number of different Types of Fusion Materials used, (Infernoid Tierra) will activate multiple effects upon a successful Fusion Summon."
"If three or more different Types were used, both players Send three Cards from their own Extra Deck to the Graveyard. If five or more different Types were used, Send three Cards from the top of both players' Decks to the Graveyard. If eight or more different Types were used, both players can choose up to three of their Banished Cards and return them to the Graveyard."
And Chumley, who had already chosen three Cards from his Extra Deck and Sent them to the Graveyard, paused, then sneered, "And if ten or more different Types were used, both players' Hands are all Sent to the Graveyard!"
"Hey!" Hearing this, Kaiba couldn't help but glare at Chumley, only to see Chumley spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "My apologies, Kaiba, this is a necessary Tribute."
"Hmph, do you think I'd believe your nonsense?" Kaiba snorted coldly. Affected by Chumley's effect, he also chose three Cards from his own Extra Deck and Sent them to the Graveyard. After revealing three Cards from the top of his Deck, he Sent them, along with his remaining two Cards in Hand, to the Graveyard.
"Heh, it really is a 'Pure (Labrynth)' Deck, huh."
Listening to Kaiba's sarcastic tone, Chumley retorted defensively, "(Labrynth) by its name is a Castle. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for such a big Castle to have other Fiend-Type Monsters living in it? My Castle is quite spacious, you know."
"A Hand Destruction Effect?! Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have held onto those Cards!" The Cards in his Hand, along with the three Cards revealed from the top of his Deck, were all Sent to the Graveyard. Compared to Kaiba, Bastion Misawa could still retrieve the two Monsters (Mezuki) and (Gozuki), which were previously Banished by the effect of (Different Dimension Arena), back to his Graveyard.
But the one most affected by (Infernoid Tierra)'s effect was undoubtedly the Mysterious Person, who had just started his Turn. He held six Cards in his Hand and hadn't even had a chance to execute his Combo yet, when (Infernoid Tierra)'s effect instantly cleared his Hand, leaving him empty-handed.
Chumley tried to make out what Cards the opponent Sent to the Graveyard to determine their Deck, but it seemed the Mysterious Person was prepared. Among the Cards he Sent to the Graveyard, only the topmost one, (Card of Sanctity), was visible; Chumley couldn't make out anything else.
Nevertheless, knowing that the opponent's (Card of Sanctity) had been Sent to the Graveyard was a good thing.
As he thought this, Chumley saw the Mysterious Person suddenly say, "Banish this Card that was just Sent to my Graveyard, and activate its effect."
'Banish a Card from the Graveyard to activate its own effect, huh? Hmph, nothing to worry about.' Kaiba didn't pay much attention to what Card the Mysterious Person activated, but he noticed that Chumley, next to him, froze slightly when he saw the Card the opponent took out from the Graveyard and revealed.
Kaiba also looked at the Card the opponent revealed, finding it to be one he didn't recognize. At this moment, the Mysterious Person spoke again: "From my Deck, I Set one 'Eldlixir' Spell/Trap Card on my Field!"
The name of the Card the Mysterious Person held in his hand was (Guardian of the Golden Land). The Deck he was using was—
"Holy s***, Eldlich!?"
How could Chumley have known that, on a whim, he'd decide to Duel with (Labrynth), only to run into an Eldlich Deck user? The two great Heavy Trap Decks, Gold and Silver, actually came together! Who would've thought that two such "Sleeping Dragons and Phoenixes" would gather in this small Egyptian city?!
Compared to Chumley's (Labrynth), which primarily used Normal Traps and had a more back-and-forth Beatdown style, Eldlich, which favored various oppressive continuous Spell/Trap Cards, focused on suppression and preventing the opponent from enjoying the Duel. Especially an Eldlich Deck equipped with both (Skill Drain) and (Imperial Order) was even humorously dubbed a "Pendulum Deck".
Simply put, one (Labrynth) liked to Interrupt others and had strong interaction, while the other (Eldlich) was more self-contained. If you absolutely had to say it had strong interaction, it did, but Eldlich's interaction usually occurred between Duelist and Duelist.
What relieved Chumley slightly was that, thanks to (Infernoid Tierra)'s effect, all six Cards in the Mysterious Person's Hand had been Sent to the Graveyard. For a while, he wouldn't be able to Set any annoying face-up Spell/Trap Cards. He surely couldn't have piled up several copies of a Graveyard-activating Card like (Guardian of the Golden Land) all at once—
"Then, the effects of (Graverobber of the Golden Land), (Conquistador of the Golden Land), (Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine), and (Eldlixir of White Destiny) also activate. I Banish them from my Graveyard to Set three 'Eldlixir' and two 'Golden Land' Spell/Trap Cards from my Deck onto my Back Row."
As if to slap Chumley in the face, apart from the (Card of Sanctity) that Chumley had seen, all five of the Mysterious Person's other Hand Cards in the Graveyard were actually Eldlich Archetype Cards, all possessing effects that could be activated by Banishing themselves from the Graveyard.
Despite suffering Chumley's (Infernoid Tierra)'s Hand Destruction, in the blink of an eye, the Mysterious Person actually Searched a full five Cards from his Deck and Set them on his Back Row!
"To Set so many Traps all at once, your playstyle is too oppressive!"
Chumley complained. Bastion Misawa and Kaiba instinctively glanced at Chumley's Back Row, coincidentally having the same thought: 'You're the last person who should be saying that!'
After Searching five Cards from his Deck and Setting them, the Mysterious Person's actions weren't over. He pressed the Activate Set Card button, activating a Card he had just Set: "Although Trap Cards and Quick-Play Spell Cards require one Turn of preparation time after being Set before they can be used, Normal Spell Cards can be activated the Turn they are Set. I activate the Spell Card (Eldlixir of Nigredo Awakening)."
"From my Hand or Deck, Special Summon one Zombie-Type Monster in Defense Position. If there is no Eldlich Monster on my Field, this effect cannot Special Summon a Monster that is not an Eldlich Monster."
As he spoke, the Mysterious Person manually Searched the Core Card of the Eldlich Deck from his Deck, the only Monster in its Main Deck.
"Incarnation of blasphemy that disturbs the slumber of the dead, merge the Souls of the deceased spirits of the Chaos World, and descend upon this murky World!"
"(Eldlich the Golden Lord)!"
A gigantic Alchemist's Cauldron appeared in the Mysterious Person's Monster Zone. The potion within churned and spat out a black stone. This symbolized the first of Alchemy's Four Stages—Nigredo, the blackening, or death. A Monster, entirely golden-yellow and adorned with gem ornaments like a parvenu, rose from the Alchemist's Cauldron and landed on the Mysterious Person's Field.
(Eldlich the Golden Lord) [Level 10/LIGHT Attribute]
[Zombie-Type/Effect]
[2500/2800]
"After (Eldlixir of Nigredo Awakening) is activated, until the End Phase, I cannot Special Summon monsters that are not Zombie-Type." Explaining his Card's Self-Restriction, the taciturn Mysterious Person didn't perform any further Combo. Instead, he lowered his raised Duel Disk and said, "My Turn ends here."
[?: 4000 LP, Hand 0]
(Eldlich the Golden Lord) [DEF 2800]
[Set Card] x4
"Hey, you're just ending your Turn like that? Damn it, you didn't even enter the Battle Phase!" The Mysterious Person's Turn ended, but Bastion Misawa was quite displeased with his teammate's performance. "Talking about being undefeated across London, completely unreliable."
The speaker had no intention, but the listener paid heed. Hearing Bastion Misawa say that this Mysterious Person was "undefeated across London," Chumley inexplicably thought of someone.
However, this somewhat silent Mysterious Person bore no resemblance to the extremely arrogant person he remembered. It must just be a misconception.
(Infernoid Tierra) Self-Destructed and was Sent to the Graveyard the moment the Mysterious Person declared his End Turn. As he thought this, Chumley's Turn began. He placed his finger on top of his Deck: "My Turn, Draw!"
(Infernoid) appearing in (Labrynth) is perfectly fine, just as (Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle) would also appear in Eldlich.
(end of chapter)