A deep, earth-shaking roar echoed, as if some ancient beast was bellowing and shaking space itself. Darkness surged forth, like an eruption from the depths of hell, and jagged demonic armor slowly materialized. This was not armor forged by mortal hands, but a shell condensed from pure darkness and evil, its massive form looming like a mountain of pitch-black stone.
Evil HERO Malicious Bane, Summon!
[Evil HERO Malicious Bane, ATK 3000]
"Malicious Bane's effect!" Jaden announced. "Once per turn, destroy all monsters your opponent controls with ATK equal to or less than this card's ATK!
Malicious Destruction!"
Malicious Bane roared with a heavy fury, as boundless darkness surged forth again. Like a tsunami of shadow, it swept toward Yubel's field, engulfing all in its wake. Under this hellish onslaught, even the high-level Zoa the Fiendish Beast was nothing but powerless fodder, unable to resist.
"So this is Malicious Bane... I see, this monster must be the embodiment of the Supreme King's power," Yubel said.
The power that had once fought alongside her in a past life, sweeping through countless armies, was now standing in opposition.
"But even if the Supreme King wants me to give up, heh, it won't be that easy."
Yubel's tone suddenly rose as she activated another set card.
"Activate the face-down card—Continuous Trap: Limit Reverse! Revive a monster from the graveyard with 1000 or less ATK!"
Jaden's eyes widened. "At this moment?"
It was natural for him to be surprised. After all, Malicious Bane's field-wiping effect had just been activated, and Limit Reverse could only revive a monster with 1000 or less ATK. That meant whatever was revived would have less ATK than Malicious Bane.
Because Limit Reverse's activation would be chained after Malicious Bane, it would resolve first. The revived monster would come onto the field, and then Malicious Bane's effect would resolve—so no matter what was revived, it should still be destroyed.
"Could it be The Wicked Eraser?" Jaden said gravely.
If it was Eraser, maybe Malicious Bane's destruction effect wouldn't work against a god.
"No, Eraser's ATK is '?'," the Supreme King replied coolly. "It doesn't satisfy Limit Reverse's revival conditions."
Jaden realized, "Oh, I see!"
The language of the cards is vast and deep; the road to mastery is endless. But such theoretical knowledge wasn't Jaden's strong suit, so he often hesitated with details.
Of course, that never stopped him from dueling like a genius. Jaden was always more of an instinctual duelist than a thinker, and more often than not, his intuition proved more reliable than logic.
So if it wasn't Eraser, then at this moment the only monster Yubel could revive was...
"No matter how many scars I bear, I'll always return from the deepest depths of hell!
Revive from the grave—'Yubel'!"
A dark vortex opened beneath the ground, and from the swirling blackness, the form of a demon reconstituted. A double-sided body, with heterochromatic eyes seemingly stripped of emotion, vines covered in thorns snaking around her like living serpents.
[Yubel, ATK 0]
"Now, we resolve 'Evil HERO Malicious Bane's' effect, destroying all monsters I control," Yubel declared. "I have 'Zoa the Fiendish Beast' and 'Yubel' on the field.
Come, Supreme King. Use your absolute power to mercilessly trample me."
Malicious Bane's attack surged forward like an avalanche. The two demons were consumed in an instant, eroded and dissolved by the darkness, erased as if they'd never existed.
Zoa the Fiendish Beast let out a scream and quickly vanished. Yubel too was swallowed by darkness, but instead of disappearing, her body rebounded with even greater force, rapidly growing into a mountainous dragon form, with two fierce dragon heads and a single blood-red eye in the center of her chest.
[Yubel - Terror Incarnate, ATK 0]
Yubel explained, "'Yubel' was destroyed by a card effect, so I special summon the second form from my hand, deck, or graveyard...
To gain power, I took on this grotesque form, only to be hated as a Terror Incarnate—my second form."
[Yubel - Terror Incarnate, ATK 0]
"Yubel..." Jaden murmured, a little dazed.
But the Supreme King remained unmoved. "You increased the number of monsters on the field right before Malicious Bane's effect resolved, but they all became fodder for Malicious Bane's power.
When Evil HERO Malicious Bane destroys monsters with its effect, its ATK increases by 200 for each destroyed monster.
I just destroyed two monsters, so my ATK increases by 400!"
[Evil HERO Malicious Bane, ATK 3000 → ATK 3400]
The Supreme King glanced at Jaden coldly. "The dueling field is a battlefield. Is this really the time to space out?"
Jaden snapped out of it.
"When you step onto the field, your only thought should be victory. That's all. It doesn't matter who your opponent is or what personal history you share," the Supreme King said. "Even if your opponent is Yubel.
If you lose here, what do you think Yubel—or that wicked god—will do to this academy, to the people you care about? Do you want to spend your whole life hiding behind the Duel King, letting him fight your battles for you?"
Jaden: "..."
He lowered his head, silent for a few seconds.
Then he broke into a carefree smile.
"Seriously, getting lectured by a guy like you... I really didn't want that." He chuckled. "I was just catching my breath. Of course I know what you're saying.
Even if you hadn't said it, I've always given it my all whenever I duel—no warmups or buildup needed!"
But now, with the Terror Incarnate resummoned, his opponent had an invincible shield again. Attacking head-on would only mean taking damage himself.
Malicious Bane could clear the field, but only once per turn.
The Supreme King said, "Let's wait and see here."
Jaden nodded. "I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn."
Yubel called out, "At this point, whatever you do is meaningless!
My turn, draw!"
She stepped forward and shouted in a hoarse voice.
"Yubel - Terror Incarnate, attack 'Evil HERO Malicious Bane'!"
The two-headed demon dragon roared, the single eye in its chest emitting a soul-piercing light, instantly capturing Malicious Bane. The demon seemed to move forward, as if no longer under its own control.
"Trap!" the Supreme King snapped.
Jaden: "Got it! Activate face-down—Trap Card, 'No Entry!!'
All Attack Position monsters on the field are switched to Defense Position!"
[Yubel - Terror Incarnate, ATK 0 → DEF 0]
[Evil HERO Malicious Bane, ATK 3400 → DEF 3000]
…