"So King, do you wish to have the first move?" Draegor asked in a humble manner.
"Hahaa. Not quite. I'll let you three have a go first." The large lion-man offered.
"So you can attack us when your turn comes without having to worry about us attacking on our turn. Is that correct?" Draegor questioned with his arms crossed.
"Right you are, Dark One." King laughed.
"That is fine with me. Bella, please make your move." The masked man ordered.
"Right. First I'll activate my Skill: 'Thorned Armor'. Now I'll gain an extra 300 ATK and DEF for each Equip Spell I have." Bella declared. "And with that, I'll equip my 'Axe of Despair', raising my ATK by 1000, plus an extra 300 thanks to my Skill." She added on as a wicked one-handed axe formed in her hand.
"1800? That ain't bad considering what you started with." King said with a laugh. Bella gritted her teeth, and through her pain.
"If you are finished, I will take my turn now." Draegor cut in. Bella nodded her head. "Good, then I will start by Summoning 'Lilly the Dark Elf' to the field." He declared and Lilly stepped in front of Draegor.
King looked on confused, then started laughing. "I must apologies as I didn't realize that she was your Monster."
"I-I'm not a Monster." Lilly called back and King stopped laughing.
"Say now, this is new. I've never come across a Monster that could talk. Where'd you find her?" He asked.
"That is of little importance. Just know that she was not a Monster originally." Draegor briefly explained.
"Is that so? So she was a person once?"
"Yes, now if you will excuse me, I would like to finish up my turn." The cloaked man grumbled.
"Go ahead."
"Thank you. Next I will Set two cards and that will end my turn." Draegor finished.
"Fantastic. Now I'll start things off with my Skill: 'Rage of the Beasts'!" King shouted and his body started to glow as he let loose a mighty roar. "With this Skill, I can now attack all of you if I want!" The lion-man roared. "And I'll start with you!" King pointed to Bella and charged with his axe. The elf raised her weapon to defend herself.
"Activate 'Magic Cylinder'!" Draegor chanted and King swung his axe into a large, hollow cylinder. Before he could even realize what happened, he watched as a second one appeared next to him, and from it his own axe came through and cut him.
King roared in anger as he was injured from his own attack. "What was that?" He questioned.
"My Trap 'Magic Cylinder' will stop any attack that is declared, then it will damage the attacker equal to the ATK of the person or Monster that attacked." Draegor explained. "With 2500 ATK, I am willing to bet that hurt you quite a bit." He mocked.
"Is that so? Then I think I'll take you on next!" King roared as he came for Lilly.
"I activate 'Negate Attack'!" Draegor chanted. King's swing was stopped by an invisible force, preventing him from attacking further. "Looks like you are out of options, King." Draegor said with his arms crossed.
King quickly backed off. "Impressive, Dark One. I've yet to fight an Able Duelist that could stand up to my impressive ATK power before, let alone use it against me."
"I will accept that compliment of yours." Draegor bowed.
"My turn's up." The lion-man huffed with pride.
"Then I will continue where I left off. I will now Summon 'Marauding Captain' to the field." Draegor chanted. In front of him an armored warrior equipped with two unique sword rose from its summoning circle. "Thanks to the special effect of my new Monster, when he is Normal Summoned I can now Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Monster from my hand, and I choose 'Giant Soldier of Stone'!" Draegor declared and a towering stone statue rose from the earth and accompanied 'Lilly' and the 'Captain'.
King looked up at the 'Giant Soldier' for a moment with fear, but then he noticed something. "Heh. Your statue is big, but with only 2000 DEF, that doesn't mean anything. I'll cut that thing down to size, along with every other Monster you have." He boasted.
"You will not get the chance to." Draegor said coldly.
"What?" King paused.
"My turn is not yet over. Now witness as I evoke 'Lilly's' effect of Contact Fusion!" Lilly concentrated and emitted her power from within. Then, the other two Monsters began to crumble into rocks and started to merge with Lilly, covering her completely as the mound of earth grew in size.
Once the rock finally finished fusing to Lilly, Bella and King looked up to see her new form. Lilly stood, defending with her fully armored body and giant shield she now carried. She was towering above them all; more so than the 'Giant Soldier' did, and like the 'Giant Soldier', she was made entirely out of rock.
"I present to you 'Lilly the Stone Protector'!" The masked man cheered with an unsettling tone.
"What in the world is that?" King gaucked.
"Allow me to explain a bit so you may understand. This form requires Earth Monsters to be fused to Lilly. For each one, she gains a new effect. The first one will increase her DEF by 1000 for each Monster used to summon her, except 'Lilly' herself. That brings it from 1000 DEF up to 3000." Draegor explained and King could feel himself gulp at those numbers. "The second effect she gains is protection unto others. While 'Lilly' is in this form you cannot attack any other Monsters, except her." The masked man finished.
"I see, but what of your friend there?" King did his best to recover his composure.
"Bella? Remember that she acts as her own Monster so you would not be able to attack her regardless, however, I doubt you would want to after my next play." Draegor said calmly.
"What?" Both Bella and King asked.
"I play the final card in my hand: 'United We Stand', and I will equip it to Bella." The cloaked man chanted. Bella suddenly began to emit a powerful aura. "This will raise her ATK and DEF by 800 for each Monster I control, and since we are teamed up, Bella herself will add to that count. This means she gains 1600 ATK and DEF."
"Don't forget my Skill as well. I get another 300 ATK and DEF boost thanks to Draegor's Equip Spell, giving me a grand total of 3700 ATK and 3400 DEF." Bella explained as her power rose at a terrifying rate. King took a step back. "Now you're finished." She said as she charged the lion-man with her axe. King did his best to block it, but Bella was too strong now and she managed to cut into him with impressive force.
"That brings your life force down to 300." Draegor said.
"It's not over yet." King huffed. "You're not the only ones with Equip Spells." He breathed. "I equip myself with 'Horn of the Unicorn'!" King declared and a golden horn formed atop his head, and its power rapidly surged through him. "With the power in this horn, I gain an extra 700 ATK and DEF, making my ATK 3200." King laughed with pride.
"But that's still not enough to beat me!" Bella exclaimed.
"Who said I was attacking you? If I take down 'Lilly', then you'll lose 800 ATK, bringing you down to 2900." King smiled and Bella gasped. "So let's see you stand against this!" He roared and swung his axe for 'Lilly'. She raised her shield to defend, but King was able to cut through her effortlessly.
"Lilly!" Bella shouted in fear of her niece. The stone that formed 'Lilly's' body began to crumble and fade away to dust.
"Now you're one Monster down, and 800 points weaker." King laughed, but then he noticed that Bella's ATK was still the same. "What?" He panicked and looked at the crumbling statue. "But…" He started until he noticed the normal 'Lilly' was standing amongst the eroding rubble.
"When she is defeated in her Fusion form, Lilly will instead revert back to her original self. With 'Lilly the Dark Elf' back on the field, I still have another Monster and Bella keeps her ATK." Draegor explained in a mocking tone.
"Then I'll attack her again!" King shouted and swung for 'Lilly' again.
"I activate 'Lilly's' effect! Stop his attack!" Draegor ordered. Lilly did as she was told and formed a transparent, purple shield in front of her, stopping King's attack in its tracks. The lion-man stared, wide-eyed. "It seems we win, King. In our next turn, Bella will deliver the final strike." The masked man coldly declared.
"So it would seem." King quietly growled. "I surrender. Looks like you guys will be able to handle yourselves just fine in the mountains." He said as he sheathed his axe.
"Thank you. We will be on our way now." Draegor said as Lilly disappeared.
"You're not an Able Duelist, are you?" King crossed his arms.
"I do not yet understand your methods of classifying a person's capabilities. If it puts anything into perspective, before you, of the few I have faced thus far, I have been disappointed by how much they lack when compared to me." Draegor said with a sigh.
"Only an Expert Duelist can carry an attitude like that." King chuckled. "If that's the case, then I never stood a chance from the start."
"We must be going now. Any further delays could be detrimental to us." The cloaked man said as he started to walk away with Bella following close behind.