"Twin Vortex's effect! Destroy both your 'Loki, Lord of the Aesir' and my 'Meklord Emperor Wisel'!"
As soon as Kira finished speaking, the trap card activated. A blinding golden light burst forth from the face-down card. Two golden lightning bolts shot out like spears of judgment—one striking the energy core of Meklord Emperor Wisel, the other piercing straight toward Loki's chest.
The Meklord Emperor's armor melted into glowing red molten iron the instant the lightning touched it. Its internal circuit boards exploded one after another, sparks erupting from every joint. Finally, with a deafening blast, the entire mechanical body shattered into countless burning metal fragments.
Loki tried to release a barrier to defend himself, but the lightning suddenly split into countless tiny chains that wrapped around him. His emerald-green pupils contracted sharply. His divine body convulsed violently under the electric current before exploding like a punctured balloon with a loud "bang," scattering into countless drifting green light particles.
"You sacrificed your own Meklord Emperor just to block Loki's attack?" Broder asked.
But the opponent should have known that trading one-for-one to remove Loki was a huge loss. Gods are immortal—Loki would revive at the end of the turn. Only the opponent's own Meklord Emperor was truly gone.
In reality, this move was equivalent to sacrificing the Meklord Emperor just to stop one attack from Loki. For Broder, it was actually a very profitable exchange.
At that moment, Broder's pupils suddenly shrank.
Because he saw it.
Through the gradually dissipating smoke after Meklord Emperor Wisel's destruction, a new mechanical figure stood tall behind the curtain of smoke.
Under the vast horizon, a mechanical armor glowing with cold blue light stood majestically. Its core torso resembled the head of a hawk ready to strike, with a pitch-black hollow in its chest that seemed to emit an extremely sharp gaze. Behind it, the metal frame extended backward, forming a pair of wide and elegant mechanical wings, as if ready to flap and soar through the skies at any moment. Below the torso, a heavy cannon stood imposingly. When energy gathered at the muzzle, the entire barrel was wrapped in a faint blue halo.
Broder stammered, "Th-this is—"
"As you can see," Kira said with a light smile, "'Meklord Emperor Skiel'. Like Wisel, this card cannot be Normal Summoned. It can only be Special Summoned when one of your own monsters is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard."
[Meklord Emperor Skiel, ATK 2200]
Broder's face turned deathly pale, looking extremely ugly.
So the Meklord Emperors… there wasn't just one?
Off the field, Dragan slammed his fist on the table in fury: "What the hell? Wasn't Wisel supposed to be his ace!?"
Even the usually calm captain, Halldor, now had a grim expression.
Meklord Emperors—what terrifying things. There wasn't just one of these horrifying monsters. Since there was Wisel and Skiel, who knew if Kira was still hiding other models?
Truly terrifying monsters. A truly terrifying opponent.
"I set one card and end my turn. Also, during the End Phase, the Lord of the Aesir revive from my Graveyard."
Broder said darkly.
"Because Wisel was just destroyed, the 'Thor, Lord of the Aesir' equipped to it has also returned to my Graveyard. Therefore, during the End Phase, both Thor and Loki will revive. Come back, you two Lord of the Aesir!"
Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky as the firmament split open once more. The sea parted, and Thor slowly rose from the center of the divided waters. The sky shattered, and Loki emerged again from the broken rift.
[Loki, Lord of the Aesir, ATK 3300]
[Thor, Lord of the Aesir, ATK 3500]
"First, Thor's effect. When Thor revives from the Graveyard by its own effect, it inflicts 800 damage to the opponent!" Broder swung his arm grandly. Thor struck down with his divine hammer. A transparent bolt of lightning slammed into Kira, carrying the fury and humiliation the god had suffered while being bound and humiliated earlier.
[Kira, LP 5400 → LP 4600]
"Next, Loki, Lord of the Aesir's effect. When it revives, add one Trap Card from the Graveyard to your hand." Broder continued, "I add the Trap Card 'Needlebug Nest' from my Graveyard to my hand."
Broder showed the recovered Trap Card.
"Turn end."
"My turn. Draw!" Kira declared.
"I activate the third Spell Card, 'Dual Gate'. Banish a card with the same name from the Graveyard and draw two cards from the Deck."
Kira drew two cards, then immediately revealed one of them.
"Spell Card 'Card of Burial Magic'. Banish three Spell Cards from the Graveyard and draw two cards from the Deck. I banish 'Aurora Draw', 'Dual Gate', and 'Burden of the Mighty' from the Graveyard and draw two cards."
Kira drew two more cards.
After drawing, he smiled casually and looked up.
"So you've probably already guessed it. Meklord Emperor Skiel also possesses the same type of ability as Wisel. The Meklord Emperors were born to suppress Synchro Monsters. Even if the opponent is a god, it makes no difference.
Meklord Emperor Skiel, effect activate! Once per turn, equip one Synchro Monster your opponent controls to this card as an Equip Card. Absorb it once again—'Thor, Lord of the Aesir'!"
"Dream on!" Broder shouted. "Continuous Trap 'Nordic Relic Svalinn' effect activate! Once per turn, when an Aesir is on your field, negate the effects of all cards your opponent controls!"
The divine power surged through the trap once more, intending to render Skiel powerless just as it had done to Wisel earlier.
"This move is about to reach its limit too." Kira smiled, flicking his finger lightly. "Quick-Play Spell 'Mystical Space Typhoon'. Destroy one Spell or Trap Card your opponent controls."
Broder's pupils contracted.
Oh no!
Nordic Relic Svalinn was a Continuous Trap. If destroyed, its effect would not resolve. And it was his strongest defense against the Meklord Emperors. If he lost this trap—
But the typhoon blew through, shattering the trap. In the end, it failed to stop Skiel's ability.
A piercing blue light shot out from Skiel's chest core. Countless chains made of high-density energy shot forth like venomous snakes. The moment they touched Thor, they pierced into his divine body. The muscles of the Norse God of Thunder began to break down into data. His armor twisted and deformed like butter melted by high heat, exposing the surging thunder energy within. Thor's raised Mjölnir let out a mournful cry as spiderweb-like cracks spread across its surface, releasing one final burst of lightning. Thor's body shattered like a broken glass statue, disintegrating into countless streams of charged particles that were greedily devoured by the mechanical core.
Skiel's mechanical wings behind it suddenly spread to their limit. Thor's phantom flickered across its armor, especially on its right mechanical arm, which was completely wrapped in thunder light, forming an energy hammer outline similar to Mjölnir. When it raised its newly born thunder arm, dark clouds instantly gathered over the entire battlefield, as if countless bolts of lightning were echoing the birth of a new ruler of thunder and lightning.
[Meklord Emperor Skiel, ATK 2200 → ATK 5700]
Thor, Lord of the Aesir—absorbed once more!
…