Magic Card - Shield Shattering, activate!
A beam of green light shot out from the card, piercing through the only defense on the Judge's field, the robot, like an armor-piercing bullet. The robot immediately exploded into fragments.
"Using Shield Shattering on a monster with 0 Defense Power... I get it now," Keihei thought he had guessed Yugen's intentions, "The Chaos Warrior cannot attack on the turn its effect is used, so getting rid of the Derivative allows for more damage..."
Is that really the case?
Though the Judge frowned and remained silent, he stared intently at Yugen, as if trying to see through to this person's thoughts.
The Second Layer Barrier of Orichalcos, the Orichalcos Qi, had another hidden effect he hadn't revealed.
Compared to the First Layer Barrier, the Second Layer Barrier gained powerful counterattack capabilities.
During an opponent's attack declaration, by sacrificing one of his monsters on the field, he could negate that attack and destroy the attacking monster.
This was the absolute defense of Orichalcos Qi. As long as he had monsters on his field, he could counterattack and reflect the opponent's attack, causing the monster to suffer backlash. Just now, there was a Robot Derivative left on the Judge's field. Had the opponent, unaware, attacked the Derivative, he could have used it as ammunition to reflect the attack.
But now his field was empty, with no monsters available to be sacrificed as ammunition, rendering the absolute defense of Orichalcos Qi unusable.
However, he still had other means.
"The Chaos Warrior has already declared it cannot attack this turn, but the Dragon Warrior can," Yugen said, "Direct attack with the Dragon Warrior."
The Judge slowly raised his hand again.
"Activate Trap, 'Universal Landmine - Broadsword Style'.
Activated during the opponent's monster attack declaration, destroy the opponent's face-up attack position monster with the highest Attack Power!"
Keihei was shocked: "The monster with the highest Attack Power... wouldn't that mean destroying the Chaos Warrior!?"
The Dragon Warrior attacked, but did it trigger the counter-mine against the Chaos Warrior?
But Yugen remained calm and waved his hand: "Then the effect of 'Dragon Warrior' will activate again.
Pay 1000 Life Points to negate the Trap Card effect."
[Yugen, LP 4800→LP 3800]
The Judge frowned again, and everyone was surprised once more.
This Dragon Warrior's ability can be used more than once per turn!?
Yugen sternly declared, "'Universal Landmine - Broadsword Style', the effect is also negated!"
The Dragon Warrior's sword swung again, and the sword light, like a Silver Dragon swimming, pierced through the backfield trap, causing the buried landmines to dissipate into golden dust.
Now, with no obstacles left, the warrior's sword drove straight in. With no defensive barriers, the sword light slashed down straight, with a domineering wind, as if intending to cut his entire body in two.
[Judge, LP 2700→LP 700]
"Tsk."
The damage within the barrier was already a reality for both body and spirit, not to mention that Yugen himself was wielding dark forces to the fullest in this duel, with extraordinary power enhancing every strike and slash of his controlled monster.
Of course, this level of damage and pain was still insignificant to the level of the Snake God. He was more concerned about how much the opponent knew about his true nature.
Squinting his eyes, he scrutinized Yugen with sharp eyesight.
In truth, even if Yugen only used Shield Shattering to deal damage, it would make sense, but he had a feeling that there was more to it.
This person knows the hidden effect of Orichalcos Qi.
This raised a new question.
Since he even knew about the Orichalcos Qi, then besides that... what else might he know?
The Judge began to feel a bit uneasy inside.
His existence had endured for countless ages, the years long forgotten even to himself. In the past, Dazi had acted on his behalf in the human world, walking secretly among mortals and expanding his influence from ten thousand years ago, establishing the vast organization of Doma in modern times. He was well-versed in almost everything and everyone in the world.
Thus, in past encounters, it was always a case of him having the upper hand, knowing his enemy and exploiting their tactics, flaws, and weaknesses, adept at using the darkness in their hearts as a vulnerability to break through.
Even three thousand years ago, when the royal family of Ancient Egypt fought for their lives against the Evil God Zok, he was secretly observing. In reality, when Atom was painstakingly searching for his own origins, Dazi and the Snake God behind him were already well-aware of the Pharaoh's past, even his true name.
However, they both knew that the Pharaoh's true name was also a source of power, and to a certain extent, it was a seal on his strength. In his unnamed state, they were only facing a Pharaoh with half-sealed power, naturally not inclined to help the enemy lift the seal by revealing the true name.
Otherwise, if the Pharaoh recited his true name on the spot, and the Light Creation God descended a cleansing blow, an Orichalcos minor god like him would be left with no place to die.
However, even though Atom was bewildered due to the loss of his true name and memories, at one point, he was almost swayed by Dazi's mouth escape, nearly surrendering to the darkness within his heart, showing just how formidable he was.
But this time, it may have been the first instance in history where the Judge stood on the field yet felt a sense of discomfort of having an opponent who seemed to know his strategies while he was blind to theirs. It was as if the opponent inexplicably had significant knowledge of his methods, yet regardless of the opponent's tactics, background, or thoughts, he could see through them clearly.
"Very well, only 700 Life Points left!" Judai exclaimed with excitement, "Yugen is indeed incredibly strong, now it's just a little more!"
The others remained silent, holding their breaths and watching the situation unfold.
In just a short round, amidst rapid exchanges, both sides had exchanged several attacks and defenses. While the Judge counterattacked fiercely, Yugen effortlessly neutralized all his tactics, further pushing his Life Points to only a flicker remaining.
Though it seemed that Yugen was in a favorable position, upon reflection, the process was quite perilous. Had Yugen not played his signature 'Sudden Mutation' to summon a Dragon Warrior to shield him, not only would he not have been able to deal with the Magic Void Fortress, but the Chaos Warrior would have been destroyed by the counterattack, leading to a troublesome situation in the next round.
Judge: "My turn, draw."
He drew his card, revealing it in hand.
"Magic Card 'Pot of Magic Book'. Both sides draw three cards from the deck."
His expression turned slightly cold, and he spoke only with icy words after drawing.
"I might have underestimated you a bit... but not anymore.
I will unearth your true identity hidden beneath that shell, your darkest part, and your deepest secret."
The Judge waved his hand.
"First, set a card face-down on the field."
He followed by drawing a card from his hand.
"Orichalcos Qidala, this card can be Special Summoned by discarding one card from the hand and paying 500 Life Points."
[Judge, LP 700→LP 200]
He picked out a card from his hand and discarded it, while placing the Monster Card onto the Duel Disc.
"Come forth, Qidala!"