A strange eye opened in the Judge's rear field, and a spiky, spherical monster lightly landed on his field. Its single eye spun around as if observing everything on the field.
Orichalcos Qidala, summon!
[Orichalcos Qidala, Defense Power 500]
"It's that Qidala again, brother," Keihei said.
"Yes, the starting point of the Orichalcos system," Kaiba said calmly.
Judai and Hibiki Midori both looked a bit serious. Although they had not encountered the Orichalcos system before, Hibiki Momiji had started to falter once the opposing side revealed this strange monster.
"When summoning Qidala, the discarded card from the hand was the Magic Card 'Card of Compensation'. By discarding a card from your hand to the graveyard, you draw two cards from the deck."
The Judge nonchalantly revealed another card from his hand.
"At this moment, I activate the Speed Attack Magic 'Continuous Magic'. By discarding all cards in my hand, I can replicate the effect of an Ordinary Magic Card."
The Judge discarded his remaining hand, and a new Magic Card appeared, lined up beside the "Card of Compensation" that was being activated.
"The card I want to replicate, of course, is the Magic Card 'Card of Compensation'!" the Judge announced, "Therefore, I will draw a total of four cards from the deck!"
He drew four cards from his deck in one go.
"Summon 'Killer Tomato' in attack position."
A red, plump tomato with a round shape, the green leaf on its head resembled a small, green hat. Despite the tomato's appearance, its face looked like a Halloween pumpkin, with malicious intent shining in its eyes.
"Orichalcos Qi possesses the same effect as a heavy barrier," the Judge said, "Killer Tomato's Attack Power increases by 500."
[Killer Tomato, Attack Power 1400→Attack Power 1900]
"Then, the exclusive effect of Orichalcos Qi is triggered, gaining life from the monsters," the Judge swept his arm, "Recovering 500 Life Points per monster on the field.
I currently have two monsters, so I recover 1000 Life Points."
[Judge, LP 200→LP 1200]
"Now, it's the battle phase," the Judge casually waved his hand, "Killer Tomato, attack 'Chaos Warrior - Messenger of Creation'.
Again, it was a self-destructive attack with a monster of lower Attack Power, but those who witnessed similar scenes during Hibiki Momiji's duel were no longer surprised, and only felt a chill in their hearts.
It's this move again.
Killer Tomato charged in, and Chaos Warrior had to counterattack. The sword light flashed, slicing Killer Tomato's form in half, severing the bright red round head into two pieces.
"When 'Orichalcos Qidala' is present on the field, all battle damage caused by monsters' battles to me is absorbed by Qidala, and the battle damage becomes 0."
As expected, the big eye opened promptly, absorbing all the residual Sword Qi from Chaos Warrior without leaking any, causing no damage to the Judge.
"Then, it's Killer Tomato's monster effect," the Judge continued, "When this card is destroyed in battle, summon a Dark Attribute monster with 1500 or less Attack Power in attack position from the deck.
Special summon the second Killer Tomato."
Golden light shot from his deck, transforming into the second big-headed red tomato, which landed on the field.
[Killer Tomato, Attack Power 1400→Attack Power 1900]
"The second Killer Tomato attacks."
Of course, inevitably, the Great Opening swung its sword again. The sword light descended, and the second version of Tomato was also sliced in two, exploding into fragments.
"Battle damage is still absorbed by Qidala, and a third Killer Tomato is special summoned from the deck."
[Killer Tomato, Attack Power 1400→Attack Power 1900]
"This guy," Judai frowned, "Is he accumulating the damage absorbed by Qidala again?"
Marufuji Ryo said, "Once that monster leaves the field, it will summon that terrifying Demon God; if it absorbs too much damage..."
Through Hibiki Momiji's duel, they all saw that when Qidala leaves the field, it calls forth the Divine Puppet 'Orichalcos Xilinos'. The Attack Power of Xilinos is determined by the battle damage absorbed by Qidala before leaving, so it's common for it to have a power of 10,000 or 20,000 at a time.
As they spoke, the third Killer Tomato charged forward in a self-destructive attack. Chaos Warrior had no choice but to unsheathe its sword to counterattack. The Sword Qi from Chaos Warrior shredded the small tomato into pieces, and the residual Sword Qi waves were also completely absorbed by Qidala's eye.
"The effect of the third Killer Tomato, special summon a Dark Attribute monster with 1500 or less Attack Power from the deck."
Of course, there couldn't be a fourth Killer Tomato. Instead, the Judge gave an ominous smile and raised his arm slightly, causing a beam of light to fall from his deck and explode into a transparent vortex as it hit the ground.
"The card I want to special summon is this card—
—Yubel, summon!"
This unexpected turn of events caught everyone off guard. Especially Judai, who instinctively took a step forward when hearing the name.
A storm and a vortex unfolded on the field, with thorny vines whirling and swirling. A demon with heterochromatic eyes slowly opened them, rose up, and the thorny vines danced around her like countless tentacles.
[Yubel, Attack Power 0→Attack Power 500] (Orichalcos amplification)
"Yubel..."
Though he knew this wasn't his own card, nor did it have an elf residing within it, Judai was still taken aback seeing the monster of significant meaning to him appear.
"Can Killer Tomato summon this thing? It's a Ten-Star Monster!" Keihei was shocked.
"But its Attack Power is below 1500, and it fulfills the Dark Attribute," Kaiba said impassively.
"The battle phase is still ongoing, and naturally, the monster summoned during the battle can continue to attack," the Judge stated, "Yubel's attack, against 'Chaos Warrior - Messenger of Creation."
The Ten-Star Monster, with an Attack Power of only 0, even with the amplification of the barrier, only had a mere 500 Attack Power. Nonetheless, no one dared to underestimate this monster.
"Yubel's effect..." Keihei became tense.
This monster comes with Anti-Armor!
She can nullify battle damage and inflict that damage to the opponent instead. This attack, in one go, would cause significant damage!
"Yubel cannot be destroyed in battle, and any damage that she would cause during battles is also zero for the owner," the Judge explained, "Moreover, she has a second effect.
Before calculating battle damage with a monster, it can be activated to inflict damage to the opponent's monster equal to the original damage value she would have received." (Original effect)
The physical card was later changed to only activate when attacked by an opponent and to inflict damage equal to the Attack Power of the attacking monster. Though it is the same type of effect as in the original, the specifics differ significantly.
Thorny vines shot towards Chaos Warrior, who reluctantly swung its sword in counterattack. Though Yubel's stats were weak, directly confronting Chaos Warrior meant she was no match. The Sword Qi pierced through the vines effortlessly and relentlessly struck her.
Yubel let out a moan, and after enduring the Sword Qi, more vines shot up around her, seemingly sensing the energy of the Sword Qi and with greater intensity, reflected back towards Yugen.
Yet Yugen remained calm, merely revealing another card from his hand.
"The effect of 'Clean Chestnut Ball'," said Yugen, "When the effect of a damage-inflicting monster is activated, discard 'Clean Chestnut Ball' from the hand to negate the effect."
Kuriboh saves me!