Lava Demon God...
Hyakuno's mouth twitched.
Right now there are countless Duelists and researchers all over the world studying the Duel King's Card Decks. Every single Deck he's ever used, every single strategy, all of it gets dug up and analyzed.
And anyone who's ever tried to learn about the Duel King, there is absolutely no way they wouldn't recognize this Monster——
——Lava Demon God.
The legendary baby that once ate the invincible Orichalcos Snake God and saved the world from destruction.
Of course, it's pretty fun to watch that match as a spectator. Especially that look of utter grievance and rage when the opponent's giant Monster, born from their own Soul and summoned through hell and high water, gets chomped in one bite by the big baby—that has always brought a heartfelt happy smile to tens of thousands of Duelists.
Well, as long as you're not the one on that field.
Watching the guy across from him casually add the big baby to his hand now, Hyakuno felt a depression that was almost beyond words.
He knew exactly what was coming, yet he couldn't stop it, couldn't protect his Angels.
If there was anything even more depressing than this...
"End Phase, the effect of the 'Volcano Queen' on your field also activates." Yugen said, "During your own End Phase, you must Tribute one Monster on your field to 'Volcano Queen.'
Or, you can choose to take 1000 damage yourself."
Eye chimed in, "The choice is yours, you know? Isn't that super merciful?"
Yugen made a 'please' gesture. "Come on then, pick."
Hyakuno: "..."
He suddenly had a strange illusion.
It felt like he wasn't in a Duel at all, but like a dog chained to a stake.
The two bastards on the other side were standing just outside the length of the chain, heaping every kind of humiliation and fancy mockery on him. He was furious and powerless, the urge to tear those two to pieces growing harder and harder to suppress, yet he was shackled to that damned cursed chain on the stake and could do nothing but bark at them like crazy.
"Huh?" Yugen tilted his head. "Not choosing?"
Hyakuno took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said coldly.
"I choose...to send 'Sky Knight Pegasus' to the Graveyard."
With his permission, the Volcano Queen beamed, opened her bloody maw, and gulped the holy Sky Knight down in one bite. The superheated Flame instantly melted the Sky Knight until he turned into a Fireball and disappeared in the Volcano Queen's stomach.
The full Volcano Queen let out a satisfied burp. Hyakuno didn't know if it was his imagination, but he even felt like this bastard smiled at him.
As if to say, thanks for the meal.
Hyakuno took deep breaths over and over.
He knew he'd made the right decision.
Against this pure stall/control opponent in front of him, Life Points were more valuable than at any other time. A thousand damage was no small amount; he couldn't just eat that for nothing.
And the Sky Knight couldn't be kept anyway. Even if he didn't Tribute it to the Volcano Queen now, next turn it would still get eaten by the Lava Demon God.
The logic was sound, but watching his Sky Knight get swallowed, he still couldn't help but feel in his heart——
——this is so damn infuriating.
But he really should have realized it already.
The really infuriating stuff was still to come.
"My turn, draw."
Yugen drew, then immediately revealed a card from his hand.
"I activate the Magic Card 'Double Gate.' Banish the copy of this card in the Graveyard from the Game, and draw two cards from the Card Deck." (Original Card)
Yugen took the other Double Gate that automatically popped out of the Graveyard.
"Of the two cards that got sent to the Graveyard together with 'Demon Dog Eight Ghost Dogs,' the second one just happened to be this other 'Double Gate.' So I draw two more cards from the Card Deck."
Yugen drew two cards, paused, then slowly raised his head and gave Hakuno Misa a smile that carried a hint of danger.
Hyakuno grit his teeth.
He knew what was coming.
All he could do was watch.
"I once again Tribute the 'Volcano Queen' on your field...along with 'Tudalin,' and Special Summon this powerful Monster to your field.
My Soul, my ace! The power of destruction and rebirth——
——Lava Demon God, Summon!"
The Volcano Queen let out a muffled hum, her whole body turning into a mass of lava and dissipating, dragging the innocent Tudalin beside her into it as well, burning him to ash.
Magma churned, Flame erupted, fire spouted skyward. In the abyss of lava, as if the fury of the earth's core burned without end, the blazing magma flowed like a river running wild.
An indescribable power awakened from the boiling chaos, lava converging into a surging torrent, condensing into a colossal behemoth that slowly rose amidst the rolling heat waves. Accompanying it was a red‑hot iron cage, like bars forged from Hellfire itself, which without asking for permission descended over Hyakuno, trapping him within its prison.
A literal jail sentence.
Hyakuno's mouth twitched.
He hadn't forgotten that Lava Demon God would also burn its controller for 1000 Life Points at the start of the turn.
But clearly, that wasn't the only headache he had.
"So the Volcano Queen that was just Tributed has once again returned to my Graveyard." Yugen said calmly. "Then I activate the Magic Card 'Resurrection of the Dead.' By discarding one card from my hand, I can return one Monster Card in the Graveyard to my hand.
I discard the 'Scholar Spirit' in my hand, and return 'Volcano Queen' from the Graveyard to my hand."
Hyakuno: "......"
So it's a tag‑team couple act, huh?
This still isn't over, huh?
The intention of that play couldn't be more obvious. No matter what you Summon next, the Volcano Queen is just going to keep eating it. It was practically an open conspiracy.
The guy across had a revealed Volcano Queen in hand—either Hyakuno simply gave up on summoning Monsters and stopped struggling, or anything he did Summon would become feed for the Lava Couple.
Of course, as long as the Continuous Trap "Forced Termination" was still around, Yugen couldn't attack either.
"Lastly, I set one Cover Card and end my turn." Yugen said.
Eye kept up the trash‑talk DPS: "Back to you again~ The countdown to your Life ending has begun. Be sure to cherish your final turn!"
"Your Elf is so damn noisy!"
Hyakuno, whose mental state had already been shaky, grew even more irritable.
"My turn, draw!"
"At this moment, the effect of Lava Demon God," Yugen said lazily, "1000 points of damage."
Molten lava poured down over her head, so hot that Hyakuno gritted her teeth in pain.
[Hakuno Misa, LP 2200 → LP 1200]
"Damn it... this amount of Life Points is enough!" Hyakuno snapped. "Activate Magic Card 'Demon's Dressing Room'!
Pay 800 Life Points, reveal the top four cards of the Card Deck. All Level 3 or lower Ordinary Monsters are Special Summoned to the field, the rest of the cards are returned to the Deck!"
[Hakuno Misa, LP 1200 → LP 400]
Do or die—the remaining Life Points were practically meaningless in the face of the opponent's Card Deck type.
No matter what, she had to come up with something this turn...
Hyakuno drew four cards.
"Special Summon 'Little Angels'!"
[Little Angels, Defense Power 900]
"Then I offer 'Little Angels' and 'Lava Demon God' as Tributes, to perform an Upper-level Summon—
—Light Divine Machine - Roaring Dragon!!!"
A feral glint flashed through Hyakuno's eyes.
"Disappear for me, Lava Demon God!"
Lava Demon God let out a low grunt, and the overflowing energy turned into white light, gathering and transforming into a white Roaring Dragon that descended onto the field!
[Light Divine Machine - Roaring Dragon, Attack Power 2900]
"Damn, she actually offered up my precious baby..."
The Eye muttered, but right after that its big round eye narrowed into a crescent again.
"But even so, your troubles are far from over." It eyed the freshly summoned Roaring Dragon with ill intent. "As long as Forced Termination is on the field, no matter how powerful a Monster you summon, it still can't attack.
This dragon looks pretty tasty, hehe... Next turn I'll have Volcano Queen eat it right up!"
With Hyakuno now down to only 400 LP, if she failed to feed Volcano Queen a new Monster as nourishment on her next turn, she'd be burned to death by Volcano Queen straight away.
"I don't need you to spell that out!"
Hyakuno snapped irritably, then shouted:
"Activate Magic Card 'Trap Disassembly'! I can destroy Trap Cards on the field!
Destroy the Continuous Trap 'Forced Termination'!"
The supposedly unbreakable back-row Trap was blown to pieces. The Eye's expression changed drastically. "Ahhh, you bastard! You actually blew up Forced Termination..."
"Hahahaha, I told you, I'm not the same as those random street Duelists. Underestimate me and you'll pay the price!
Wipe him out, wipe him out for me!"
Hyakuno's eyes were bloodshot; she was practically screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Light Divine Machine - Roaring Dragon, direct attack!"
Yet just as that massive Angel slowly rose, power gathering for an all-out strike, the corner of Yugen's mouth suddenly lifted slightly.
It was a playful smile—but to Hyakuno it radiated a deadly threat.
"You just now... declared an attack, didn't you?" Yugen asked.
Being asked that made Hyakuno's heart sink.
She blurted out on reflex, "Wait, let me think again..."
"Too late!" The Eye said smugly. "Your attack declaration has already left your mouth—I heard it! Haha, you were completely lured in by my exquisite acting just now..."
Yugen glanced at the floating eye beside him and said with a smile:
"To think you'd be baited by such clumsy acting... I'd say your level really is just street tier."
The Eye chimed in on cue, "That's what I'm saying!"
Then it immediately felt something was off.
"Hey! Who are you calling clumsy at acting?"
Yugen ignored it and instead spoke with a smile.
"Lava Demon God is my trump card. It can easily devour the strongest Monster by being offered as Tribute, and inflict continuous damage on the opponent's field.
Your Life Points are already hanging by a thread. Just taking one more burn from Lava Demon God would be fatal. And the simplest and most direct way to get rid of Lava Demon God is to Tribute it away..."
Hyakuno subconsciously swallowed. That smile on the opponent's face looked more and more sinister in her eyes.
"...Did you really think I wouldn't take that possibility into account?"
Hyakuno opened her mouth, but couldn't make a sound.
"I'm done playing with you. This ends here."
Yugen casually flipped his final Cover Card.
"Trap Card 'Bomb Embrace of the Sacrificed'.
When an Upper-level Summoned Monster on the opponent's side declares an attack, destroy all Attack Position Monsters on the opponent's field. And..."
He paused, then added meaningfully:
"Inflict 1000 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points."
Hyakuno's eyes went wide.
An Upper-level Summoned Monster... attack declaration...
She looked in despair at the Roaring Dragon, already charging its attack and unable to stop, then looked at Yugen, and finally said hoarsely:
"You... you were waiting for me to do this from the start..."
Yugen smiled, but said nothing.
BOOM——
That was the sound of the Roaring Dragon's body detonating, and the Fireball unleashed by the explosion swallowed Hakuno Misa whole.
[Hyakuno, LP 400 → LP 0]