Seeing the monster before him filled Daniel with hope. Though he had resigned himself to death moments earlier, deep down he wasn't ready to give up.
The Ancient Gear Soldier raised its left arm and slammed it brutally into the spider-creature, sending her flying several meters back. Yet the strike barely seemed to affect her.
The sudden appearance of the strange golem had startled her, yes, but she didn't consider it a real threat. With a shrill cry, she lunged again, claws flashing.
The screech of tearing metal echoed through the warehouse, so loud Daniel almost covered his ears. The golem, however, remained unmoved. With another shove, it knocked her aside once more, then rushed forward, trying to finish her off with a follow-up blow.
That was when the spider realized the truth: physical damage was ineffective against a machine incapable of feeling pain. Switching tactics, she opened her jaws, where a strange black energy began to condense, glowing with a sinister pulse.
From behind the golem, Daniel watched with a knot in his throat. That throbbing sphere in the creature's mouth wasn't normal.
A demonic breath? A spell?
Before he could fully process it, the attack was unleashed.
The explosion shook the entire warehouse. The impact hurled Daniel against a wall, while crates and piles of trash burst into flames, filling the place with fire and choking smoke.
Dazed and aching all over, Daniel lifted his head, desperately searching for the mechanical warrior.
Slowly, the dust and smoke cleared. The spider-creature stared coldly at the silhouette emerging from the haze. Faint runes glowed across the golem's metal plating. Its left arm dangled, destroyed and useless, but it still stood tall, the light in its "eyes" flickering with determination.
—"Hehehe… kid… your toy really is scary," the spider muttered nervously.
It wasn't mockery. She had poured a great deal of demonic energy into that attack, confident it would erase the golem completely. Yet all it had managed to do was tear off an arm.
The Ancient Gear Soldier then raised its right arm—the only one still functioning. Instead of a hand, a cannon was mounted there.
A red light flared inside the weapon, growing in intensity until a blazing projectile shot out toward the creature.
Shards of concrete and gravel exploded with every blast. The thunderous roar of the cannon filled the warehouse with metallic echoes and choking smoke.
Despite his initial relief, Daniel's frustration grew. The spider-creature was too fast: she skittered along walls, darted across the ceiling, and shifted directions with ease. For the golem, landing a direct hit was nearly impossible.
Daniel racked his brain in desperation. Could he use more cards? Anxious, he pulled the deck out of the Duel Disk, hoping to find a stronger monster or a useful spell. But the moment the cards left the slot, a wave of weakness swept through him. At the same time, the golem began to fade, its form dissolving into thin air.
Panicked, Daniel shoved the deck back into place. The exhaustion vanished instantly, and the mechanical warrior regained solidity.
—"So… I can't choose freely?" he whispered, throat tight.
Perhaps he was still too weak to bend the cards to his will, or maybe the system had strict rules he didn't yet understand.
With no better option, he tried the most basic approach: drawing the top card, as in a normal duel. To his surprise, the system allowed it. The golem continued fighting automatically, firing its cannon, while Daniel drew one trembling card after another.
When he held four cards in his hand, that same draining sensation returned, as though his life-force were being siphoned away.
—"Only four…? No—five, counting the Ancient Gear Soldier…" he realized.
That had to be his current limit: a maximum of five linked cards at once.
He looked at the cards in his hand and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Two traps and two monsters. Useful under different circumstances—but the problem lay in which monsters he had drawn:
Ancient Gear Golem (Level 8 / ATK 3000 / DEF 3000).
If he had just one more monster on the field, he could summon the ancient colossus. And if a simple soldier was this powerful, there was no doubt that the giant would crush everything in its path.
But luck wasn't on his side. Both monsters required difficult summoning conditions, and the traps he held weren't much help either.
Resigned, he slid the two traps into the Spell & Trap Zone on the Duel Disk. The field was set—though without any real reinforcement.
Daniel clenched his teeth and turned his attention back to the battle, feeling every second grow heavier.
---
The cannon fire shattered walls and shook the ceiling with each impact. Through one of the cracks, Daniel glimpsed a sliver of sky. An idea sparked in his mind:
"If I can open a hole in the wall, I might escape."
The problem was how to direct the shots where he wanted. To his utter surprise, as if reading his thoughts, the golem fired exactly where he had imagined.
Amazed and a little exhilarated, he pictured another spot—and the golem obeyed.
—"I can control it?" he muttered in disbelief.
Wasting no time, he ordered the golem to fire at the wall to his right. Within seconds, a hole large enough to escape through gaped before him.
Dragging his aching body, Daniel pushed himself to his feet and staggered toward the improvised exit.
—"You won't get away, brat!" the spider shrieked furiously.
Before Daniel could pass through, a white liquid shot forward, sealing the hole.
Webbing.
Daniel tried to tear it down or rip through it, but it was far too tough.
Unwilling to give up, he commanded the golem to fire at another, farther wall, then sprinted in that direction. The distance seemed too great for the webbing to reach, so the enraged creature scuttled down from the ceiling to chase him.
Daniel aimed the golem and fired.
Confident in the golem's mechanical clumsiness, the spider hadn't thought to dodge. Until now, she had evaded every shot simply by changing positions. But this time, Daniel was the one aiming. And though a card game fanatic, he had played more than his fair share of shooters. He knew the basic rule: don't shoot where the enemy is—shoot where they're going to be.
The projectile struck true, slamming into the spider and sending her flying. Daniel seized the opportunity and dashed for the new exit the golem had blasted open.