He would summon the second Lord of the Aesir here!
Broder had already made up his mind.
Of course, this was also dangerous. After all, even a god was essentially still a Synchro monster. If he summoned his god, it would face the risk of being absorbed next turn as well.
But doing nothing would guarantee defeat. Team Ragnarok had always fought side by side with their respective gods—not just "side by side," which sounded too light.
One could say their entire deck was purely specialized for the Three Lord of the Aesir. All the power in their deck was concentrated on the three gods. Every card in their main deck served only two purposes: either to set up the summoning of the gods, or to support the gods once they appeared.
Therefore, abandoning the strategy of summoning the gods was basically equivalent to abandoning the duel itself. They wouldn't even be able to continue fighting.
Even against an opponent like the Meklord Emperor, they could not retreat here. Summoning the Lord of the Aesir for a direct confrontation and crushing the opponent was the correct path.
"First, I activate the Set card Dragan left for me—Trap Card 'Needlebug Nest,'" Broder said. "Send the top five cards of my deck to the Graveyard."
The top five cards of Broder's deck were sent to the Graveyard with a rustle.
"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Fiend's Sanctuary' from my hand, Special Summoning one Metal Fiend Token to the field."
Broder activated the Spell. A summoning circle opened beside his Duel Runner. Silver light bloomed, and a small silver metal puppet appeared on the field.
[Metal Fiend Token, ATK 0]
Broder continued: "Next, I Normal Summon 'Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar' from my hand!"
Broder summoned another monster. This time, a cluster of shining starlight emerged from the summoning vortex. A divine aura gathered into a human shape, forming an adorable little elf. It was the Ljosalf from Norse mythology that resided in Alfheim.
"The effect of 'Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar' activates," Broder said. "When Ljosalf is successfully Summoned, target one face-up monster on my field other than this card. Then Special Summon one monster from my hand whose Level equals the total Levels of the targeted monster and this card!"
"You only have the 'Metal Fiend Token' on the field besides Ljosalf," Kira noted. "So the 1-star Metal Fiend Token plus the 4-star Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar makes a total Level of 5."
"Correct," Broder said. "Therefore, I can Special Summon a Level 5 monster from my hand.
Come forth, Tuner monster 'Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar'!"
This time it was a red elf. Compared to Ljosalf, it didn't look as cute. In mythology, both Light Elves and Dark Elves originated from the primordial giant Ymir, born from the light side and dark side respectively. In the Nordic Alfar deck, these two sides of the same coin were perfectly complementary.
[Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar, ATK 1400]
"Level 5 Tuner 'Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar,' Level 4 'Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar,' plus Level 1 'Metal Fiend Token'—tune!"
[5 + 4 + 1 = 10]
"The capricious god born from the stars—display your absolute power before me and mock the world! Synchro Summon! Descend, Loki, Lord of the Aesir!"
The sky suddenly emitted a crisp sound like shattering glass. A winding purple crack appeared out of nowhere. Strange green mist seeped out from the fissure first, followed by two giant hands reaching out. With a loud tearing sound like fabric ripping, the crack was violently torn open.
Loki, Lord of the Aesir crawled out curled up like a baby breaking free from swaddling clothes. When he fully stretched his body, the shadow he cast covered half the battlefield. The fifty-meter-tall divine body was draped in flowing divine robes. Most unsettling was his smile that stretched all the way to his ears—its corners curved with the comical arc of a circus clown, yet also carried the sinister gloom of a conspirator.
[Loki, Lord of the Aesir, ATK 3300]
Divine might descended once again, and the audience erupted in cheers. The airplane-headed commentator shouted with high emotion: "The second Lord of the Aesir! The second god has also appeared! Even when facing the Meklord Emperor that can absorb Synchro monsters, Broder of Team Ragnarok still refused to retreat. Instead, he continues to summon a Lord of the Aesir to issue a challenge!
But Loki's ATK is still far lower than the Meklord Emperor's. Does Broder have a plan prepared?"
Broder shouted: "Battle! Loki, Lord of the Aesir, attack Meklord Emperor Wisel!"
Loki, Lord of the Aesir's right eye flashed with a dangerous rainbow light. He gracefully raised his right hand, extending his thumb and index finger like a gun. His fingertips began gathering thick dark matter, like spilled ink rotating and compressing in the void, gradually forming a walnut-sized pure black sphere.
The surface of the sphere continuously burst with black lightning. These lightning bolts did not travel in straight lines; wherever they passed, the space was left with glass-like cracking patterns. When the energy reached its critical point, Loki suddenly whistled. The black sphere shot out, pulling a spiraling vacuum tunnel through the air.
"He's actually attacking with the lower-ATK Lord of the Aesir!" the airplane-headed commentator said. "So Broder really did have a plan!"
"At this moment, I activate the Quick-Play Spell 'Concentrating Current' from my hand!"
As expected, Broder revealed his trump card.
"Concentrating Current: Target one monster on my field. Until the end of this turn, that monster gains ATK equal to its DEF, but no other monsters on my field can attack this turn!
The monster I choose is, of course, Loki, Lord of the Aesir!"
[Loki, Lord of the Aesir, ATK 3300 → ATK 6300]
"Great!" Dragan couldn't help cheering for his teammate outside the field. "If he destroys Meklord Emperor Wisel, Thor will automatically revive next turn—meaning I'll get my god back!"
"And that Meklord Emperor is probably that guy's trump card," Halldor chuckled lightly. "It is indeed a terrifying monster, but gods are not so easily defeated."
Loki's void bullet shot through the air and struck Wisel. It first collapsed into a needle-sized black point, then exploded into ripples of spatial distortion. Everything looked like pencil marks being erased by a rubber, leaving unnatural blank gaps.
However, when the black hole dissipated and space returned to normal, everyone was shocked to see the white Wisel still hovering there calmly.
[Kira, LP 5700 → LP 5400]
Broder's expression changed drastically: "Why?"
"Just now during the battle, I banished 'Shield Warrior' from my Graveyard," Kira said. "By banishing Shield Warrior from the Graveyard, once per duel I can prevent one monster on my field from being destroyed by battle."
Broder's face stiffened. He gritted his teeth: "So you had that too…"
This was bad.
"What a shame. You couldn't destroy the Meklord Emperor. Then next turn, I'll be taking your god as well," Kira said with a smile. "So, end your turn?"
…