Yay! This arc is finally over! Enjoy the conclusion!

John: Wow indeed.

Chapter 30: Wrath of the Soldier

Everyone stared at where Gabriel had been in silence.

"That was… unexpected," Draken stated.

"Hm… this must be more important than any of us guessed if God's messenger would come down to talk with us," Will murmured.

"Indeed," Daine agreed.

Gaston looked over at the door. "Maybe we can discuss this later? For all we know, Rue could be dying now."

"Yeah, we should hurry," Larka nodded. "Miles? Do you want to stay here?"

Miles shook his head, standing up unsteadily while Gen held onto his arm.

"He'll be fine, after a while," Gen told her.

"Then let's get through with this," Neo suggested. "Who wants to do the honors in opening the door?"

"I will," Hope volunteered. She reached over and pulled it open.

-----

I know that I have a huge chance of dying about now, but I can't help but feel bored, Rue thought in disgust.

He had been hanging on the cross for way too long. His circulation had died a while back, and he couldn't even try to guess how long he had been here.

Then he heard someone approaching. Unfortunately, they were coming from behind him, and in his position, he could not turn around to see who it was.

The figure stepped into view. This didn't help matters much though, because he was covered by the standard white cloak. His gold cross could be seen though.

"Ah, I see that you are awake… good. That means we can begin."

"What are you planning on doing?" Rue inquired.

The Commander took out a dagger and ran his finger down the blade carefully, testing its sharpness. "You have been brought here for one reason: to be sacrificed."

"…Well, that explains my position," Rue muttered. "But a sacrifice? Why use me as a sacrifice?"

"I am well aware that you have a demon living inside of you." At those words, Rue thought he felt something… shift… inside of him, but could not be sure. "These dark powers will make you the perfect offering."

"I'm honored," Rue said dryly. Terrific. How am I going to get myself out of this one?

"A procedure must be followed, of course. Which is why you are still alive at this moment. But soon, you will be… what was that?!"

He spun around to look at the dark area Rue had assumed was a portal of some kind. Someone was stepping through it. That person turned out to be…

"Hope!" Rue exclaimed.

"Thank goodness! We made it in time!" she said in relief, stepping out of the portal. The others in the group followed.

"Nice decor," Draken commented. "Makes the atmosphere perfect, especially for this occasion."

The Commander did not seem pleased. "How irritating. You've arrived far too early."

"Sorry if we interrupted anything important," Gaston said sarcastically.

"I suppose I will just have to kill all of you first," the Commander decided, sheathing his knife. "Here is how it will work. I challenge one of you to a duel. If you win, I will perish, and you will be able to leave with your friend. But if I am the victor, then all of you die."

"Isn't that just a little cheap?" Neo pointed out.

"You forget that I hold the upper hand here, seeing as this boy's life is in my hand's."

Ruecian kept fingering the hilt of his sword, as though he wanted nothing more than to slice the Commander into several pieces.

"Being a hostage really sucks," Rue sighed.

"Fine. We'll play by your rules," Will said. "But which one of us will duel you?"

"It doesn't matter to me."

Max stepped forward immediately. "Let me duel then. I want revenge for what your henchmen did to me."

"Ah… you were the one that we tried to kill, aren't you? But you lived, one way or another."

"With amnesia, but I recovered," Max explained. "However, I'm still not about to forgive you easily."

"I see. Then prepare to duel. If you win, you will certainly have your vengeance."

"I have two questions," Larka said. "First of all, you're the leader of the Commanders, correct?"

"Yes, I am."

"What is your name?"

"Kouten will do. Now, enough stalling. Let us begin."

Max: 8000

Kouten: 8000

"I will make the first move, if you do not mind," Kouten said.

"Just hurry up."

"I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

"I start by drawing Demon Soldier. This triggers Olympion's effect. He does 500 damage to you, and I draw another card."

Max: 8000

Kouten: 7500

"I'll summon Demon Soldier (1900/1500) and attack your defense monster."

"It's my Lord Poison. (1500/1000) Is that all?"

"I lay one card down, and then end my turn."

"I lay another monster in defense mode, and a card face down before ending my turn."

Draken shook his head. "This is sad. All he's doing is playing monsters in defense mode."

Will glanced at the field. "I'd be careful if I was Max. Kouten is obviously planning something."

"I summon Cursed Gyura. (1500/800) Demon Soldier attacks your defense monster."

"Rekunga is destroyed. (1700/500)"

"And Cursed Gyura attacks directly! That's all for me."

Max: 8000

Kouten: 6000

"I'll just lay another monster in defense mode," Kouten said with a small sneer.

What is he planning? "I drew Gil Gars. Olympion's Deck Master ability activates again. You take 500, I draw…"

Max: 8000

Kouten: 5500

"I'll summon Gil Gars. (1800/1200) Demon Soldier attacks your defense monster."

"It is another Lord Poison. (1500/1000) This time, his special ability is activated. When destroyed in battle, I am allowed to special summon one Plant Sub-Type from my Cemetery to the field, as long as it is not another Lord Poison. So I special summon Rekunga in attack mode. (1700/500)"

"Fine by me. Gil Gars destroys it, and Cursed Gyura attacks once more! I'll lay one card down. Then I'm done."

Max: 8000

Kouten: 3900

"Alright, enough of this," Kouten said. "I will start by activating Foolish Burial. This allows me to take my last Lord Poison from my deck and send it directly to the Cemetery. Then I play Angel's Gift, to draw three cards and discard two. I'll choose to discard another Rekunga and my Kuribo. After that, I activate Black Hole, destroying all of your monsters."

"Damn it," Max growled.

"Then I activate Cry of the Living Dead on Rekunga. (1700/500) Then I will activate Rekunga's effect. By removing two Water Main-Types from my Cemetery, I get to place a Rekunga Token on my field, in attack mode. So I remove all three of my Lord Poisons and my other Rekunga for two Rekunga Tokens. (700/700) Then I will sacrifice all three of my monsters… for Immense Divine Soldier of Obelisk!"

"What?!" Draken yelped. "Isn't that…?!"

The Rekunga and its two seedlings vanished. Then something glinted up in the grey clouds, before the object came flying down too fast to see. It crashed into the ground, sending dust everywhere, covering the field so that nothing could be seen… except two blood-red eyes.

Then the dust settled, and they could see the monster. Its whole body was blue, except for its white teeth and red eyes. Even the spikes and jewel on its forehead were blue. Its head also had a deadly design of several spikes. It was so tall that it was forced to kneel on the ground so that the others could see it completely. But then it stood, causing them all to be dwarfed by its sheer height.

It was the god card from the center portrait. This was Immense Divine Soldier Obelisk. (4000/4000)

Max was frozen, staring at it in terror. Even the bravest man would have felt much fear if this creature suddenly was facing them. But it was awakening a horrible memory from within Max…

A big, blue monster… I should have realized this sooner! Hope thought. It's Obelisk! Max has faced Obelisk before, and it nearly killed him!

Normally, Hope would have been more worried. But something odd was happening. She felt as though she had seen this creature before… as if it was very, very familiar to her. As though she were… bonded, that was the word… with it. She looked down at her orb and saw, to her surprise, that it was glowing very brightly. The light was shining for one second, then replaced by darkness, only to have the light overwhelm it again…

"Good god!" Neo exclaimed.

"So he… had a god card all along…" Zack said.

"And he just broke the seal on it. Dear lord… Max is going to have a hell of a time fighting that guy off," Draken groaned.

"Max…" Brandi whispered.

"Impressive, isn't he?" the Commander smirked. "And that is without seeing his special ability. I activate Raise Dead, on Kuribo! (300/200)"

Max shakily raised his hand to his Duel Disk. "No way in hell am I letting you get away with THAT again! I activate Destruction Ring, on Kuribo!"

The Kuribo was surrounded with a ring of grenades, and only had a chance to give out a small whimper before it was blown apart.

Max: 7700

Kouten: 3600

"It looks like you've learned your lesson from the first time you were beaten by Obelisk," Kouten said.

"What were you trying to do?" Larka questioned.

"By sacrificing two monsters, Obelisk can use an ability called God Hand Crusher. This destroys all of the opponent's monsters and deals the opponent 4000 damage. I was going to activate Multiply, so I would have four Kuribo to sacrifice to Obelisk, but that blasted Destruction Ring stopped me. No matter… Obelisk alone can take you out. Obelisk attacks!"

Damn it… this is going to hurt… Max winced.

"Oh gosh…" Hope paled. "If Obelisk was behind Max's previous injuries… he doesn't stand a chance…!"

Obelisk slammed his fist into Max with great speed. He was sent flying back with a shout of pain, right at the gravestones.

"No!" Brandi cried, leaping behind her brother.

He crashed right into her, the force sending both of them into a tombstone with a sickening crunch. Brandi had taken most of the force of the blow though. She was now slumped against the gravestone, unconscious.

"Brandi!" he exclaimed, laying her on the grass.

Mana ran over as fast as she could, seeing as she was still weakened by the church. She looked over Brandi swiftly.

"It's no use… I think she has a concussion, and a broken back, but I can't heal her! My powers are off limits so close to the church!"

"Can't we do anything to help?" Larka asked desperately.

"If we leave this area, I should be able to use my healing powers again. So if Max wins this duel quickly enough, then she should be alright."

Max got up. "Then I'll just have to slaughter this bastard before it's too late…"

Max: 3700

Kouten: 3600

"What can you hope to do?" Kouten sneered. "Obelisk cannot be destroyed with any of your petty cards. Do you really think you can stand up to a god?"

"I can do more than that… I can destroy a god!" Max snarled.

"Oh really? And how do you think you can pull that off?"

"Just watch and learn!" Max said. He slowly drew his card, and looked at it. "You'll pay for what you did to her."

"Just try and destroy Obelisk. It won't work."

"We'll see about that! I start off by playing Cry of the Living Dead on Cursed Gyura! (1500/800) Then I play Raise Dead on Demon Soldier! (1900/1500)"

"You will get nowhere by mimicking me."

"I sacrifice Cursed Gyura and Demon Soldier to special summon Masked Beast Death Guardius! (3300/2500) Then I sacrifice Death Guardius for Great Demon Gaazetto! (0/0)"

"What good will that weakling do you?"

"Weakling? Care to rephrase that? Because Gaazetto's attack is two times the monster that I used to sacrifice for him. (6600/0)"

Kouten stumbled back. "What?!"

Max smiled coldly. "And I'm not done. I activate Force, to take away half of Obelisk's attack and give it to Gaazetto! (8600/0) (2000/4000)"

"Magic cards affect god cards? I thought they might be immune to it," Larka stated.

"Apparently, they aren't as high and mighty as we thought," Darche commented.

"And then I activate Shrink, to weaken him even further! (1000/4000)

Kouten definitely looked more nervous now.

"Now, Gaazetto attacks!"

Gaazetto rushed forward and punched Obelisk with his huge fist, and then leapt back.

Obelisk just stood there, growling slightly.

Kouten gave a somewhat shaky laugh. "It's no use! Obelisk is too strong to be defeated by such a pathetic monster! Only another god card would even stand a… what?!"

A small crack was appearing on Obelisk's chest, and is slowly began to spread over him. Then, with a sound that was like a cross between a screech and roar, the supposedly undefeatable god fell apart into several small pieces.

Max: 3700

Kouten: 0

"This can't be!" Kouten protested. "A god card can't be defeated that easily! It can't!"

"What do you think just happened?" Max smirked.

"I… no! It just can't be this way!"

"Quit being a sore loser," Gaston snarled.

"But… a god card… why…?"

Then a lightning bolt came down from the sky, slamming into Kouten. When the flash cleared, the others looked over to where he had been.

There was nothing left, except for a blue card that was lying on the ground.

"…That's that, I guess," Draken said.

Max walked forward and picked up Obelisk, looking over the card. "I'll hold on to this… we can't have it being played again."

"But once was enough to break the seal," Will pointed out. "I agree that Obelisk should not be summoned again, but that's one seal that's broken now. We have to find the other two before they are summoned as well."

"We have a few matters that are a bit more important at the moment," Rue said. "Such as getting Brandi out of here and healing her. And helping me off this cross, maybe?!"

"Oh, sorry!" Hope apologized.

Ruecian easily sliced the ropes apart. Rue nearly fell over, since his circulation had indeed died a while back, but Ruecian managed to grab his arm to help him keep his balance.

Max carefully lifted Brandi. "Let's leave."

"I'll second that gladly," Rue agreed.

Without further conversation, they all walked back through the portal, all thinking about what they had seen happen.

-----

They emerged on the balcony of the church.

"I hope we won't have to go through another ordeal on the way out," Larka said nervously.

"I doubt it," Hope replied. "I think that was a one time only thing."

It appeared that she was right. They left the room easily, and after Rue had a few moments to gaze at the pictures, were soon standing next to the front door.

"Is this how we are to leave?" Draken guessed.

"Most likely," Zack stated.

"Then let's get out of here," Hope suggested. She stepped up to the door, and pushed it open.

-----

The five people were sitting by the lake's edge, waiting for their friends to return. But it had been a few hours already, and their worries grew for each passing second.

"I can't stand this!" Amy exclaimed suddenly. "We don't even know if they are alive or dead right now! Isn't there any way we can check on them or something?!"

"Sure, seeing as we are right here," Draken joked.

They spun around to see the group standing by the lake. Amy blushed slightly.

"Whoops, didn't know you guys were back," she said sheepishly. "So, how did it go?"

"It certainly could have been worse," Rue commented. By now he had managed to be able to walk without leaning on Ruecian the whole time.

He nearly lost that ability when he was tackled by Claire though. "Rue! You're alright!"

"OW! I was alright, until you did that!"

"Oh, sorry!" She let him up, but her grin pretty much showed that she didn't regret what she had done.

"Any casualties?" Sarius asked.

"Well… Brandi was injured. But Mana is going to heal her now," Hope explained.

"Brandi was hurt? How?!" Matt demanded.

"By being thrown into a tombstone," Will explained.

"Say what?!"

Max laid Brandi onto the grass, and Mana put her hands on her companion. After a few minutes of exhausting work on Mana's part, Brandi's wounds were soon healing.

"So, where did you guys end up?" Sarius inquired.

"A church," Draken answered.

"A church? Wow. I'll have to check that out," he replied. "Since I hold the cross that acts as a key, I guess I could consider myself the owner of the place."

"Go ahead," Larka said. "I doubt any of us would care for it."

Amy looked over at Miles. "What is wrong with him?"

"We aren't sure," Gen confessed. "But he should be fine after some time.

By this time, Mana was done. She sat back, exhausted, as Brandi began to come around.

"Ow… what… happened?"

"Are you alright?" Max asked.

"I'm fine… Max! What about you?"

"Nothing serious," he shrugged.

Brandi looked over at the others, who seemed to not notice that she was awake yet. "Let's leave while they're distracted."

Max nodded, and he helped her up. They started to walk away, but…

"Hold on! Where are you guys going?" Hope called.

"We have stuff to take care of," Max answered. "So we're leaving."

"Not before you promise us something," Hope said.

"What do you want us to promise?" Brandi inquired.

"The whole reason this mess was started was because Max was gone for a month. I want both of you to contact us daily. Not only you two… but all of us should keep daily contact. If for some reason you don't, then we'll know something is wrong, and we can come and help."

"Daily?" Brandi questioned.

"Yes, daily! Promise me!"

"Alright, we'll do that, if you let us leave now," Brandi shrugged.

"Well then, contact us soon," Hope said.

They nodded, and then walked off.

"So what now?" Rue asked.

"Well… I guess you guys get to go home," Hope decided. "At least mom will be happy. But like I said, we should keep daily contact."

"But what about us?" Larka asked nervously. "Fell and I don't have a place to call home…"

"I do not have a location to stay at either," Zack stated.

"Well… if mom doesn't mind… maybe you guys can stay at my place for a while longer. Until you get your own home, anyway," Hope suggested.

"Thanks, that would be great!" Larka said. Malon barked in agreement.

"I appreciate it," Zack replied. "Thanks."

"And the rest of us are going to leave?" Draken asked. "Alright, can do. Shall we get going?"

"Yeah," Hope agreed. She turned to Matt. "Well, we'll see you later, since you won't be in the same location as us."

"Indeed," Matt nodded. "Bye guys." Then he teleported away.

"And we'll see you two later," Hope said to Sarius and the Child.

"Indeed. Goodbye, for now," Sarius replied.

"Ja ne minna," the Child said.

And the rest of them were soon gone.

Sarius looked over the cross before walking over to the lake edge and putting it into the water. As the portal formed, he leapt in, the Child and their Soul Monsters following.

-----

Sarius gazed around the church. "Quite an interesting area. The light energy in here is overwhelming."

He walked over to the front, where the three portraits were, and focused on the middle one.

"So… the group now knows of the three god cards. I wonder how long it will take for them to realize?"

The Child simply tossed the golden ball into the air before catching it again. What was unusual about it this time was that it was glowing slightly.

"Someday… they will know." Sarius looked over at the door to the room where the ordeals had been. "I am quite curious to explore this church some more, but there are things to be done. Let us go, Child. We'll come back later. For now… we need to take care of some business."

"Hai, Tirran-sama."

Then they left, leaving the quiet church.

What they did not notice about the center portrait was that Obelisk's eyes seemed so much more alive than the other two gods', as though it had been awakened from a long sleep.

THE END