"I see you have some skill."
Masked Sorcerer's gaze swept coldly over the two magicians to the left and right of Yugen's field, like guardians.
"But now that I've received the power of evolution granted by my god, I am invincible.
My turn, draw a card!"
The Sorcerer drew a new card and immediately revealed it.
"First, activate the Speed Attack Magic 'Tornado', destroying your backfield cover card!"
A black tornado whirled up, sweeping with lightning toward the backfield cover card.
"Silent Magician's effect," Yugen interrupted, "Once per turn, negate the activation of a Magic Card."
The storm came to an abrupt halt, dissipating along with the thunder under the shelter of the white magic array.
"Tsk, such capability... Then activate the Magic Card 'Pot of Greed', draw two more cards from the deck."
The Sorcerer drew cards, then pulled out two more from his hand.
"Magic Card 'Sacrificial Puppet'. Use a monster from my field as a sacrifice to special summon a monster from my hand that can be normally summoned!
I'll send my covered monster from the field to the graveyard, then special summon this card!"
The covered monster on the field flipped over to reveal a sinister red demon dog, its body dissolving in a storm of shadows, forming the image of a summoning array.
"Level seven, Holy Night Dragon, summon!"
A storm of holy fire erupted from the summoning array, and the dragon spread its wings, spinning onto the field.
[Holy Night Dragon, Attack Power 2500]
The goblin minions behind began to shout again: "Master of Magic is awesome!"
"Summoning such a powerful monster in an instant, that kid doesn't stand a chance!"
"..."
Masked Sorcerer also smugly chuckled: "You were cautious, didn't attack my covered monster last turn, trying to prevent a flip effect?
But it's useless. My covered monster is 'Demon Dog Eight Ghost Dogs', when sent from the field to the graveyard, it allows me to add a Demon race, Level 8 monster from the deck to my hand.
Though you didn't attack it, sacrificing it to the grave through 'Sacrificial Puppet' also triggers this effect."
Masked Sorcerer drew the demon he searched from the deck and smiled coldly.
"The demon I searched is this card. Upon receiving my god's blessing and evolving myself, this is the fiercest, most evil form—
—Masked Demon Beast - Death Guardian Master!"
Yugen: "..."
So this thing is your evolved form?
Also a monster that appeared in DM, used by Light and Dark Mask Brothers and Malik. A Level 8 Demon with 3300 attack power, requiring at least one of [Masked Sorcerer - Cursed Throat] or [Melchizedek Four-Faced Beast] among two monsters on the field as sacrifice for special summon.
"Then I still haven't performed a normal summon this turn," the Sorcerer chuckled coldly, raising his volume, "Next, I'll normally summon myself!
[Masked Sorcerer - Cursed Throat], summon!"
Sure enough, when he placed the card onto the Duel Disc, an image resembling a split manifested from the Sorcerer's body, directly separating onto the empty space on the front field.
[Masked Sorcerer - Cursed Throat, Attack Power 1500]
Secret Technique: I Summon Myself!
The scene looked somewhat eerie, but Yugen remained calm. He knew this was a part of Yu-Gi-Oh! tradition, and stranger things were yet to come.
"Sheep Derivative summoned by 'Scapegoat' cannot be used as a sacrifice for upper-level summons but can be used as sacrifices for other effects."
Clasping his fingers tightly, the Sorcerer seemed to chant some incantations and then loudly proclaimed.
"Therefore, I'll sacrifice one 'Sheep Derivative' along with myself!"
Advanced Secret Technique: I Sacrifice Myself!
The Sorcerer's clone and the Sheep Derivative disappeared on the field, as if swallowed rapidly by a mass of expanding darkness. A vortex of chaos erupted, claws tearing through the darkness, and a bizarre demon with three masks emerged from the chaos.
[Masked Demon Beast - Death Guardian Master, Attack Power 3300]
The goblin minions became agitated once more: "The strongest form after the Master's evolution has appeared!"
Some minions directly taunted Yugen: "Ha, you're already dead, surrendering now is too late!"
"It's not over yet! Next, activate the Magic Card 'Burial Spell Treasure Scroll', banish 'Pot of Greed', 'Sacrificial Puppet', and 'Tornado' from the graveyard, and draw two more cards from the deck!"
After the Masked Demon Beast appeared, the Sorcerer's voice seemed to become sharp and distorted.
"Then I activate the Equipment Magic 'Reptile Demon Fury' from my hand. The equipped monster becomes a Reptile race, and its Attack Power increases by 800.
I equip it to the 'Holy Night Dragon', increasing its Attack Power by 800!"
[Holy Night Dragon, Attack Power 2500 → Attack Power 3300]
"Hmm?" Yugen frowned.
Holy Night Dragon was Special Summoned through the effect of the Magic Card 'Sacrificial Puppet', and the monster summoned by this effect can't attack this turn.
"Heh, you're wondering why I'm strengthening the Holy Night Dragon, right? The answer is this—"
The Curse Master played another card from his hand with a shout.
"Magic Card 'Cross Attack'!"
The Magic Card appeared on his field with a roll of golden light, which enveloped both his Holy Night Dragon and Masked Demon Beast.
"Cross Attack allows you to choose two monsters on your field with the same Attack Power. This turn, one of the chosen monsters can attack directly, while the other cannot attack!"
The minions suddenly realized.
"I see, by equipping to raise Holy Night Dragon's Attack Power to match the Masked Demon Beast, it can attack directly!"
"And furthermore, the Holy Night Dragon summoned by the 'Sacrificial Puppet' couldn't attack this turn anyway, making use of even that detail..."
"A direct attack with 3300 Attack Power; with this hit, that kid's Life Points will be like a candle in the wind!"
"This is the Curse Master's Duel; so powerful..."
Yugen: "..."
It really is a combo characteristic of anime.
Though he now feels like he's touching a bit of the divine draw's path and dares to try building more boldly, such acrobatic combos are something he's still not used to...
"My 'Holy Night Dragon's' Attack Power rose to match that of 'Masked Demon Beast - Death Guardian Master', so naturally, I choose to sacrifice Holy Night Dragon's attack, allowing the Masked Demon Beast to attack directly!"
The Curse Master laughed sharply.
"Directly attack with 'Masked Demon Beast - Death Guardian Master'! Feel the power of destruction!"
The massive demon rushed out, striking with its sharp claws directly toward Yugen.
But at that moment, a miracle occurred!
The Silent Magician unexpectedly jumped out to block in front of Yugen! She extended her arms, using her slender body to forcibly block the demon's claws, turning into golden light and dispersing with a snap.
"What?!" The Curse Master was shocked, "What's going on? Why did the monster jump out on its own to block the attack?"
"Heh, this is the bond between a Duelist and their monster." Yugen responded righteously, "The power of bonds can create miracles; someone like you wouldn't understand it."
Curse Master: "???"
What in the world?
He suddenly recalled hearing rumors of a Duel King from some unknown world with terrifying power capable of making even the rules nonsensical. Could it be that I've run into the legendary...
But then his gaze fell on a Trap that had been flipped open on the opponent's field at some point.
Trap Card - Earth-bound Spirit's Temptation. When an opponent's monster declares an attack, the target can be reselected by the player.
"Tch, you found out, huh." Yugen grimaced, "That's right, I used the Trap effect to select a new target for 'Masked Demon Beast - Death Guardian Master's' attack.
Therefore, your attack target became the Silent Magician instead of me. And because of that attack, I lost 1300 Life Points."
[Yugen, LP 4000 → LP 2700]
The Masked Sorcerer finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily, he sharp-eyedly caught a glimpse of the card in the backfield. That guy nearly fooled him into thinking he'd encountered the legendary nonsense king...
"It's all rhetoric to make it sound nice, but in the end, you're just using your monster as a wall." The Masked Sorcerer sneered.
Yugen didn't respond. On the field where the Silent Magician disappeared, a white magic array appeared out of thin air. The waves of magic power surged like a storm, spiraling upwards.
"What?" The Masked Sorcerer was shocked again, "Wasn't she defeated?"
"No, what you did was merely unleash her true power. When Silent Magician is destroyed by battle or an opponent's effect, another 'Silent Magician' monster from the hand or Deck can be Special Summoned, ignoring summoning conditions.
From the juncture of chaos and order, a silent radiance emerges, the Light Magician descends—
—Silent Mage Lv8!"
A transparent magic storm picked up, the white robe billowing, and the recently departed White Robe Mage soared again with an even greater magical aura than before.
Silent Mage Lv8, summon!