World 029: Conquest for its Own Sake
Valkyrions LP: 8000 Khans LP: 8000 -TURN 01-
On top of the flat and desolate canyon mountains, a Magnetic Warrior battled an undead conquerer for the right to live. He would not show fear and use all the power he could pull together. "I activate Megalith Unformed, which ritual summons one Megalith ritual monster from my deck by sacrificing twice as many levels from my hand or field!" The quickplay spell used four stars from Megalith Och to ritual summon the headless rock angel Megalith Phul(2/500/2000) [Zone 1] from the deck. "So I was right. You use rituals. But was that a quickplay ritual? How pedestrian. Do you even have any normal ritual spells?" Khan felt less than pleased to see what his favorite summon method had become in Valkyrion's hands.
"I don't need them! That's what makes them so good! See when Megalith Phul is summoned, I can boost its level to that of a Megalith in my graveyard. Also I take that Megalith back!" The Magna Warrior divulged as Och returned to its hand thanks to Phul(4/500/2000)'s effect. "And Megalith Phul can also start a ritual summon with itself as a tribute! And he special summons the Megalith from my deck! Megalith Hagith!" The hexagon tile above Phul's neck descended to sacrifice it, and then flipped around to grow a winged demon(4/1300/2600) [Zone 4] of black rock. Veins of gold grew on its body, and its face was covered by a horned helmet. "When Megalith Phul is ritual summoned, I get to add a Megalith spell or trap to my hand! I pick this one, Megalith Portal! Now I can take a Megalith monster back every time I ritual summon one! Like this!" Hagith of course also had the ability to start a ritual summon by itself, though it could only summon cards from the hand. Valkyrion activated the continuous portal spell and sacrificed Hagith to the hexagons to create the statue of the black/white angel twins(4/1000/2700) [Zone 3]. Its effect discarded one card to draw a new card, while Megalith Portal redrew the Megalith Hagith ritual monster.
"Tch. I have seen enough of your tricks. I get why Zettai wants to delete you now, because I do too!" Khan yelled impatiently. "I thought you said this was not personal?" Valkyrion asked as he placed one trap card down on the field. "Oh it wasn't at first. But then you made it so by implying that you were better than me. I can see what your cards do, I am sure you can see what mine do as well. So stop talking down to me like you weren't born yesterday! There is only one ritual master in STHEREA. And you are looking at it!"
-TURN 02-
"I activate Vendread Charge and summon Vendread Revenants!" Khan did not care to tell his artificial opponent what his cards did. Valkyrion could see for himself that Vendread Charge would discard a Vendread monster(Vendread Battlelord) to summon another, the grey zombie horde Revenants(4/1800/200) [Zone 3], from the deck. "And I activate Revendread Evolution, I sacrifice Vendread Revenants and Vendread Houndhorde!" Where his opponent would ritual summon from the deck, the conquerer could bring ritual monsters back from the graveyard. The spell of Evolution sacrificed monsters from the deck as well as the field, and gathered seven stars in total to resurrect Vendread Battlelord the undead cyclops(7/2700/0) [Zone 3] in armor of bones, skulls and horns. "Now, what should I negate? Monsters? Spells? Traps?!" By banishing a Vendread from the graveyard, Battlelord would forbid one type of cards activations for the rest of the turn. "Well I know the answer. I banish Vendread Houndhorde and negate your traps. Because I hate surprises!"
"Oh? Well, then let me help you.I activate Megalith Promotion! Because I am pretty sure I can still chain my card to yours!" The Magna Warrior performed a quick chess-like maneuver, 'promoting' his current piece on the field by doubling Och(8/1000/2700)'s level. "And while I am at it! I activate Megalith Och's effect too and ritual summon Megalith Aratron from my hand in defense mode!" Lightning and thunder erupted from the portals, caused by the ceremonial sacrifice of the Och twins. The crumbling black stone corrupted the white and reformed into a massive dragon(8/2000/3000) [Zone 2]. Four heads came out of one end of a winged hexagon, whole four tails came out the other way. During all of this, Megalith Portal's own effect triggered again and returned Megalith Och to the magnetic warrior's hand.
"Ha! That is at least something worth crushing!" Khan let out a violent laugh as he activated the effect inherited by Battlelord. Since it'd used Vendread Revenants as a sacrifice, it could destroy one special summoned monster each turn. A large mutated claw spawned from the cyclops' torso and reached across the field. "That wont be easy, Bionis Khan! Aratron can negate a monster's effect if it targets a Megalith!" Valkyrion countered. He let Aratron return a Megalith (Phul) from the graveyard to his deck, and repelled the revenant claw with Aratrons wings. Noy only did this negate the effect, it also destroyed Battlelord for using that power. "As if I didn't see that coming! I wanted Battlelord to die!" Khan spat. If a ritual summoned Vendread Battlelord died, he would also move two Vendreads from the deck. One (Vendread Chimera) got added to the hand and the other (Vendread Anima) sent to the graveyard. "Now, I activate Allure of Darkness!" Khan soon banished the Vendread Chimera, a DARK monster like all the other Vendread, so that he could draw two cards and keep them.
"Huh? What did you.." Unexpectedly, an accursed purple aura came to surround Megalith Aratron(1500/2500). "Oh that happens when I banish Vendread Chimera; your monster loses 500 attack and defense points! Not so mighty anymore, eh?" Khan sneered and inspected his new hand. "Ah, another proper spell. Prepreparation of Rites!" Khan could activate this spell to claim a ritual spell and a ritual monster namechecked by it. Revendread Origin and Revendread Slayer were the chosen couple. "Now, Revendread Origin! I sacrifice Battlelord from my graveyard, and ritual summon Vendread the Slayer!" Another seven stars fell into the mirror of mutation and sacrifice, and gave life to the undead masked mutant Revendread Slayer(6/2400/0) [Zone 3]. Soon afterwards, Khan banished Vendread Anima from his graveyard to special summon Battlelord [Zone 4] back from the banished zone. "Now, what does solid obsidian taste like? Megalith Slayer! Attack the Megalith!" Though the Slayer started out weak, it could consume zombies in their grave to boost its power during each battle. The flesh of Vendread Revenants supplied it(2700/0) with enough strength to smash into the dragon Aratron.
"Ah! But I can negate my monsters death each turn! I mean, Megalith Portal can!" Valkyrion boasted, hiding his monster inside the portal network temporarily. "That's an effect that only works once, Magna Warrior!" Aratron had to come out again eventually and let Vendread Battlelord attack it. The cyclops took his large bone sword and severed four dragon heads from their necks with one mighty swing. "Was that your best card? You're more pathetic than I even imagined!" Khan said his final insult of the turn and placed one trap card down. "I am not pathetic!" Valkyrion protested. "That's what a loser would say! You're just like your friends! You're all pathetic! We will always be better than you!"
-TURN 03-
"That's it. You can insult me all you want. But if you insult my friends, you have gone too far!" Valkyrion's voice took on a deeper tone as he felt a rare emotion: anger. "I was born to do this! I am a duelist like no other! I will show you! I summon Manju of the Thousand Hands!" His next card wore the expression that Valkyrion himself could not share, the divine and enraged idol Manju(4/1400/1000) [Zone 1] with hands growing everywhere on his body. Its effect, known to all ritual duelists, added one ritual monster or ritual spell from the deck to the hand. "I add Megalith Ophiel! And I will summon her with Megalith Bethor!" Less known were the effects of Megalith like Bethor, who discarded itself and sacrificed Manju to special summon the angelic white statue Ophiel(4/1600/2500) [Zone 4]. Her effect allowed Valkyrion to add a new Megalith monster, another Megalith Hagith, to his hand. "Heh, now they can even be used as ritual spells from the hand? You are definitely the weirdest ritual duelist I ever met. But your moves are getting stale, Magna Warrior."
"Stale? So what?" Valkyrion ignored him and trudged on, letting Megalith Ophiel activate ger second effect to sacrificed herself and ritual summon the second Megalith Hagith(4/1300/2600) [Zone 2]. "So you are predictable! You cannot hit me like that!" Khan scoffed. Once he saw one ritual summon, he'd seen them all. Hagith's effect added another Megalith Unformed spell card to the Magna Warrior's hand. Unformed sacrificed the Megalith Och in his hand to ritual summon Megalith Phul(2/500/2000) from the deck again: another move Khan could see coming from miles away. "Then how about this? I didn't show you this one before!" Megalith Phul quickly set itself up for its own selfsacrifice, as it(8/500/2000) copied the level of Megalith Bethor and drew the ritual monster back from the graveyard. "I summon, Megalith Phaleg!" And so the second of the three mighty Megalith rulers descended, the Hexagons transformed Phul into the great warrior angel Phaleg(8/2500/1200) [Zone 4]. "Phaleg gives my Megalith 300 attack and defense points for each ritual monster in my graveyard!" Her very grace blessed Hagith(2800/4100) and herself(4000/1200) with boosts from five ritual monsters (Phul, Aratron, Och, Ophiel, Hagith). Though Khan still did not seem very intimidated.
He would likely make a better impression on the newest members of his audience. "Valkyrion! We found you! I knew we could!" Echo, Charles and the Legendary Fisherman landed on the dusty canyon platform, much to the surprise and irritation of Khan. "You? Are here? How did you.. that could not have been a quickjump." He assumed that the separation of STHEREA would have at least kept them apart for a little while longer. "I can feel the presence of my friends, no matter where they are. And we had help to get us here." But traveling through the subconscious layer of STHEREA would be almost as fast as a quickjump, and Charles made that possible for them. "Help?" But unlike Echo and her friends, Khan could apparently not see Charles.
"Bionis.." Charles could feel the changes the duelist had gone through as well as see them: the gold-wearing undead duelist exuded the same kind of energy that Static once did. "They were right." Static had corrupted his friends. No wonder he told Charles that he did not need to keep pretending for much longer. Allthough everyone technically still believed that there was only one Void.
Valkyrion also ignored Charles, but only because he did not know him at all. "Echo! Fisherman! Is everyone else okay?" And because this reunion, while a joyous one, could have been more complete. "We do not know. You were closest to us. Just keep your mind on your own problem. Or do you need help?" The Fisherman asked and gave Khan a determined glare. "No! I can do this! I don't want to put you in danger either! Besides, he is a ritual duelist like me and Fire Princess! I have to fight him!" Valkyrion reactivated the continuous Megalith Promotion trap and doubled the level of Megalith Hagith(8/2800/4100). "Of all times you develop a sense of honor now?" The Fisherman growled. "No. Not honor. It just...it just makes sense to me!" Valkyrion could not exactly explain his own feelings for once. And he liked that.
"I ritual summon Megalith Bethor!" Hagith activated its effect, turning itself into a ritual sacrifice for the final Megalith ruler: Bethor the goldhorned dark dragon(8/3000/4100) [Zone 2]. "He destroys one of your cards for each ritual monster in my graveyard! I have a lot more than I need!" The dark Megalith raised the spirits of its fallen subjects, and hurled them towards the Vendreads like a ghostly meteors. Battlelord perished in a pale blaze, and so did Khans unknown trap card. "Tch." Khan did however banish Revendread Origin from his graveyard to negate the destruction of Revendread Slayer. Even if that only delayed the inevitable. "Echo! Watch this! This is for you! Bethor! Phaleg! Attack him directly!" Black and white energy soared across the field simultaneously. Phaleg blasted the Slayer to pieces and Bethor gave Khan no place to run too. The duelist and his monster were caught by twilight's explosion. "Graahhh!"
Khan's LP: 3700
"Bionis!" Charles' shouts were silenced by the noise of the blast. He could not tell how much damage these attacks were actually doing. "It's going to be okay. Valkyrion would never hurt someone seriously." Echo assured her. "But.. what if he has to? What if this is not enough to bring Khan back to his senses?"
"Who are you trying to calm down here?" As promised, Khan emerged from the smoke entirely unharmed. "To your friend, Void! He is here with us. Can you really not see him?" Echo finally told him, for all the good that could do. Bionis Khan had always been stubborn even before his conversion 'The Conqueror'. "Void? Here? You realize how crazy you sound right? And what does it even matter? I am not fighting you, I am fighting him! And after that I am going after your fisherguy over there. Unless you are willing to stop me?" Khan turned his hateful scowl towards the girl in the wheelchair. "Stop you? I.. I wouldn't." Echo shook her head. She did not want to fight him or use her power on him, yet that was all they seemed to demand. "Static made you this way. But you were not always like this. You are not just Khan. You are.."
"QUIET!" Khan cut her off. He had too; she came too close. "If you are not going to do anything, then you should not say anything either! Least of all anything about who I used to be! That man is dead! Bionis Khan is dead too! I am the Conqueror! And your friend here will be my first conquest! And you get to watch! Because unlike him, I can still evolve further!" Though Khan had lost all his cards, he could still use one effect at the end of the turn. "I banish Conquistador of the Golden Land from my graveyard! And set Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine down on my field!"
-TURN 04-
"Eldlixir? Conquistador? What are these.." Valkyrion and the others were all completely blindsided, because of a mysterious new trap card that could add Eldlixir spells from the deck to the hand. "That is what I mean with being unpredictable! You like to peek into our memories, so you must also know all our combos and deck setups. But with the Items in our pocket, we can make any card we want to get the element of surprise. And I wanted a set of cards that suited my new role as conqueror. I wanted to be the one that found all the treasures in this world and the world above! To see whether or not the fables and conspiracies are truly real!" Khan drew his next card, which would emphasize his point perfectly. "And it all leads to one! I activate the Cursed Eldland! I pay eight hundred lifepoints and add one Eldlich monster from the deck to my hand! I choose Eldlich the Golden Lord!"
Khan's LP: 2900
".. is that your new ace monster?" Valkyrion cautiously inquired. "It is the monster that will bury you. I can send the Golden Lord to my graveyard, along with a spell, to rid myself of one of your cards!" Back when Revendread Slayer got destroyed, its effect activated to add a Vendread spell (Vendread Nightmare) to Khans hand and send a Vendread (Revendread Executor) monster to the graveyard. The Vendread spell was what he discarded to force life into his undead Lord, who turned the nightmare magic into a deadly curse that haunted Megalith Phaleg into her own early grave. "Hey!" She was no more, and neither was Bethor's(1500/3000) stat-ups. "Heh. That was just the first wave, Magna Warrior. Like all zombies, Eldlich will not stay dead. I can destroy one of my spells or traps, to add Eldlich back to my hand! Then I can special summon one highlevel zombie from my graveyard and give it a thousand extra attackpoints. I will use that effect on Eldlich too! Because, honestly, you did not think you were going to get out of seeing him in the flesh, did you!?"
One could not claim the Golden Lord did not deserve his title, as the undead Eldlich(9/2500/2800) [Zone 5] rose from his sarcophagus fully covered in pure golden armor. A flowing purple cape adorned his back, and large white gloves with gem-encrusted rings hid his withered hands. Most striking was the mask that covered his face, a golden helmet with four eyes, downwards curved horns and a half-ring crown. Through its powers, Eldlich(3500/2800) acquired a 1000 attackpoints. "By the way, when Eldland is destroyed, I can send one Golden Land card to my graveyard." The golden duelist revealed why he suddenly sent another Conquistador trap card to the grave. "That will fetch me another Eldlixir later, but for now I activate Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine! When I control an Eldlich monster, I can special summon one zombie monster from my graveyard!" Khan's trap poured necrotic white nectar across the grave of Vendread Battlelord to awaken it [Zone 4] once more. "Destroy the Megalith!" The Battlelord made its attack, and impaled Megalith Bethor in the chest with the blade of bone.
Valkyrion's LP: 6800
"Gah! What the.." A part of Valkyrions own body chipped away, as he got hurt for the first time. "So you do feel pain? Or is just that a memory again? Your power comes from what people believed in right? Well people believed a lot of things, like the undead! And just like in the stories, my own will also always come back. So let's find out together if pain also comes back to haunt you! Eldlich! Direct attack!" Even the Golden Lord's attacks were magnificent. He created multiple orbs of differently colored light and let them crash into the Magna Warrior. "Argh!" More and more his robotic body took damage, cracking in several spots.
Valkyrion's LP: 3300
"Stop! You're hurting him!" Echo cried out. "That's the whole idea, missy! And the one who gets hurt the most loses!" Khan laughed out loud. "But it doesn't have to be like that! I know people can duel for other reasons now! You can do it too!" She pleaded. "Can I? Or should I? Whatever image you think you have of me is wrong. I was always in it to show off how I was better than everyone else. Any other reason was just me fooling myself. But if you want to stop me, why don't you do it? Or is it.. really impossible for you to control me?" He moved the turn towards the endphase. There he activated the second Golden Land Conquistador from his graveyard to set the Eldlixir of White Destiny from his deck. "You.. can't, can you?" That was when he realized, she had already tried. She literally asked him to stop not one minute ago, and he felt no compulsion to obey. "Oh man. They were worried for nothing! Your voice is absolutely harmless! As long as we keep winning, you cannot make us do anything, Echo! Hahahaha!"
-TURN 05-
"No. That is why she has us." Valkyrion drew his next card. "Why she has me." He summoned it, a Block Golem(3/1000/1500) [Zone 3], and activated its effect to split it into two level 4 rock monsters that came from the graveyard: Megalith Ophiel [Zone 2] and Hagith [Zone 3]. "To win for her. I XYZ-summon Gallant Granite!" Both of them were overlayed to bring out the stone-carved samurai(R4/2300/1800) [Extra Zone 2]. "Look guys! Cierze told me about this card, she says the XYZ-champion used it on Giganoto. So I wanted one of my own." Valkyrion knew how to use its effect as well, detaching one material to add a rock monster (Megalith Phaleg) from the deck to his hand. "And I kinda want a name like hers too!" And finally the Magna Warrior revealed his skill card: Super Ritual. It sacrificed the Golden Lord Eldlich, as his levels exceeded that of the monster 'Everest' wanted to ritual summon: the second Megalith Phaleg(8/2500/1200) "Something like Everest! The tallest mountain in the world! That sounds cool, right!?"
"Yeah, it sounds cool!" Echo shouted. "Cool? Guys? Where did he learn words like that?" The Fisherman shook his head.
"Tch. You had a nasty skill like that eh?" Khan grunted. With six different ritual monsters in the grave, Phaleg(4300/3000) gained 1800 attack and defense points. "Yeah I could have used it earlier! But I saved it for when I needed it the most! Like to destroy a monster that cannot be destroyed!" One card remained, Vendread Battlelord. Phaleg would blow it to pieces with her staff, and Gallant Granite would get rid of Khans remaining lifepoints. "Well then I guess its time I show off my talent! To claim whatever I desire!" Khans plans did not even match his opponents for a whole second. "I activate Envy Eater from my hand to make our monsters effect switch!" The Vendread Battlelord(3600) gained attackpoints from the two Vendread ritual monsters in the graveyard, "Ack!?" Meanwhile Phaleg(2500/1200) would get no use from Battlelord's power. "You are not the only one with special cards anymore, Magna Warrior." The Battlelord's blade shot Phaleg's staff blast back towards her, killing her with her own holy magic.
Valkyrion's LP: 2200
Envy Eater, 3/500/500 Dark/Zombie/Effect
During the main or battle phase (Quick Effect) you can discard this card:
Target 2 monsters on both players fields; while both are on the field they gains each other's effects.
"What.. but.." The Magna Warrior saw his victory disappear before him. "Wait." He never had a chance to begin with. "No. Is this.. is this it?" Gallant Granite alone could do nothing to the Battlelord even after it(2700/0) lost its powerboost. "Echo? What is gonna happen now?" For the first time in its existence, the Magna Warrior had to contemplate defeat.. and the consequences thereof. "I don't know." Echo shared this new dread as well. "Scarlet might have... But she is not here." The girl in the wheelchair had meant to depend on the doctor for every technical details. The truth was, she simply did not understand what kind of friend she made.
-TURN 06-
"Oh I know what is gonna happen." Khan suddenly pulled out a cybernetic needle with a red cross symbol on it. "Thanks to Scarlet Fever's newest software. You see, she made us something that will let us completely delete you upon defeat."
"What?!" Echo and the Fisherman flinched. Khan ignored their panic and activated the Scarlet Eldlixir from his graveyard. It could be banished to set another Golden Land trap card face-down on the field. "Come, Eldlich!" That random trap got destroyed by the golden king, who rose from his sarcophagus again, phased through Khan's hand and special summoned himself(3500/2800) [Zone 1] to the field in attack position. "I activate the spell, White Destiny Eldlixir!" Khans pure white elixir spell could also summon zombies from the graveyard or hand, so he used that to resurrect the Revendread Slayer(2400/0). Two zombies would have been enough, three would just be overkill. But Khan wanted to savor this victory, so his weakest monsters attacked first. "So first your XYZ-monster will die!" Vendread Battlelord plunged his bone blade deep into the stone heart of Gallant Granite and cracked him open from the inside out. "And then.."
Valkyrion's LP: 1900
"No!" Charles could not bear it any longer. He had to try something no matter what his own circumstances were. "Khan! Thinks about what you are trying to do! You are destroying him!" He could not leave the subconscious realm, but he could hover right next to Khan to yell in his ear. Some words had to connect to him on some level, as an idea or a sensation. "What if he is alive!? What if he is like us?! Do you want his death on your hands! Do you want him to disappear and lose everything he learned!" These ADIs were not like those possessed by the Crown, they were something more. Charles saw it, Khan should have seen it too. Maybe he did, his face did betray a slight twitch. But whatever thought stung the back of his head, did not change his mind. "No!"
"You!" Khan injected the Scarlet Cross into Eldlich the Golden Lord and declared the direct attack. The Golden Lord's gloved hand glowed crimson and punched right through the Magna Warrior's body.
Everest's LP: 0
(To Be Continued in World 030: Soul out of the Bottle)
New cards used by Valkyrion the Magna Warrior
Megalith Hagith
Megalith Aratron
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands
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Gallant Granite
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Megalith Unformed
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Megalith Promotion
New Cards used by the Khan the Conquerer
Eldlich the Golden Lord
Envy Eater
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Vendread Charge
Cursed Eldland
Eldlixir of White Destiny
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Conquistador of the Golden Land
Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine
