Author's Note: Simple today isn't it? I don't own Yu-gi-oh.
Author's Notes: I feel proud of myself that I finished 'The Long Awaited Duel' on July the Fourth and then got serious work in on this chapter before going to sleep. Today I had off from working because it was the 4th, I gotta thank my Dad for being nice in that manner.
Quote of the Chapter: "I tried looking for a book on how to clean our basement in the horror section." -Someone I know online's mother
Advert of the Chapter: Today's advertisement is not a Yugioh story. Its an Inuyasha fanfic known as 'On a Leash' by Moonlight Shadow4. In this fantastic story our favorite hanyou is more worthy of his name then ever. In fact he's become a dog thanks to a curse placed on him, and who picks him up from the pound but everybody's favorite schoolgirl, Kagome. Read and find out how Inuyasha deals with being a dog, and whether or not he manages to free himself from the chains that bind him. Or rather, the leash that binds him. See him run, see him hide, see him wet the Goshinboku!
Chapter Thirty-Two: Goddess in the Palace
The sounds of feet thundering on stone and marble steps was all that could be heard aside from the falling breath of the owners of those feet. Up and up they went, heading towards the top of the steps and towards the entrance to the temple. The whole gang, or what was left of them, were going up. It was Serenity, Yami, Bakura, Kai, Dalin, and Kevin. Those were all who remained. Six to face off against the implacable Ihachi.
Six sets of feet stopped as they reached the top of the steps. Six pairs of eyes stared at the colonnades and arches that made up the entrance to Ihachi's temple, to her palace. Once they crossed through that doorway they would be in for the fight of their lives. They had to be ready for it, or the world would suffer and die.
There was no more waiting, no more stopping, no more interuptions. This was the final moment before they would have to find within themselves their greatest strength, or perish. This woman, Ihachi, had defeated Seto Kaiba in one turn. To defeat her would take more power then they had ever thought they would need.
Slowly those six sets of feet moved forwards, passing under the arches and into the brilliant light of the inner sanctuary of the temple. Inside it was even larger then they could have thought, with massive marble columns soaring over a hundred feet upwards.
At the far end of the temple was an altar, and just beyond the altar was a magnificent throne that seemed to be formed of pure light. Sitting upon that throne was Ihachi, now wearing a flowing gown of red silk with a plunging v-neck line that displayed generous amounts of cleavage. With a scepter in her right hand and her left hand rest on the arm of her throne, she looked every bit the goddess.
Completing the look were people they didn't recognize, perhaps Rare Hunters perhaps not. What they were doing was something you only saw in movies about the Romans or the Greeks. One of them fed her grapes, and two more fanned her with giant leaves. The fourth and final servant rested on his hands and knees, acting as a foot rest for Ihachi.
Their feet clomped against the marble floor as they approached her, closing in on their target. What they noticed most about this temple, other then Ihachi herself, were the things attached to the columns. Attached to each column was a person, chained against it and most often stripped to the waist and left in nothing but a loin cloth, or in the case of women a loincloth and a tan covering for a top.
They recognized faces, they recognized every agonized face up there. Each face belonged to one of those who had fallen, except for a rare few who had not fallen prey to Ihachi's games and had gone in other ways. Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, Yugi Moto....
Serenity's eyes went wide as she became the first person to spot that face. She raised her arm and pointed, her voice filled with shock and amazement. "Look!" The person she pointed at was none other then Kirani, who instead of being chained to a column was chained to part of Ihachi's throne.
They had not recognized her at first because her face was downcast, and even now as she raised her eyes to them it was hard to understand that she really was Kirani. They Kirani that they knew was a strong and proud person, but this person's eyes had the look of one who has lost all hope. There was no spark of recognition in her eyes, only despair. She was dead inside.
"So, you have come to me not as my loyal worshipers, but as my enemies. I will not tolerate disobedience in my realm, least of all in my temple, my palace. I could crush you all where you stand, but I will take greater joy in crushing you in the game used to select you." With a flicker of her wrist she dispersed her servants, each of them walking to a corner to await her next command.
She rose to her feet and glided down the steps until she stood across from them not twenty feet away. As she moved her silken dress changed until she wore a tight fitting red blouse and skin hugging red leather pants. She raised her arm and a duel disk appeared upon it, deck already in and it already activated.
"I'd like this to be interesting, and since I know facing any one of you won't be a challenge, I want to face you two at a time. When one falls another may step forward to replace him or her. The replacement will begin with the same number of cards as they person they replaced held, but drawn from their own deck. They will not be able to use the effect of the deck the first person used. They will however start with full life points." (ILP: 8000)
She grinned widely, a grin that nearly mirrored the familiar grin that Drake wore whenever he was about to face a challenge that he was confident he could overcome. The whole group looked to each other, trying to decide exactly who would be the first to duel. Before anyone else could speak it was Yami who stepped forwards, activating his duel disk. (YLP: 8000)
The next thing that happened was that Kai turned around, suddenly knowing what he had to do. He stopped in front of Dalin and held out his hand, extending the card he held towards the larger and older duelist. "This card is for you, I was told to give it to its rightful owner, and I feel that you are the rightful owner."
Dalin glanced down at the card he had been given and recognized the blue card and the image of the blue god upon it. Obelisk the Tormentor, third of the Egyptian god cards. Now he held all three. He gave Kai a slight nod and then inserted the card into his deck.
With that done, Kai turned and approached Ihachi, stepping up beside Yami to become the second duelist that she would be facing. Yami gave him a brief nod which Kai returned, and then he too activated his duel disk. "I will be your other opponent. You better hope you've got real power, otherwise you'll be finished quickly enough." (KLP: 8000)
Ihachi let out a laugh of pure crystal, her voice sending shivers up all of their spines as she spoke. There was something about her lilting and sensual tones that held an essence of darkness to it that they could detect. Her voice held the ring of evil. "Very well, the order shall be me, the Pharaoh, and then the guard. I find it very amusing that you are my opponents. Anyways, my deck master is the simple creature called Spirit Jackal, whose effect I won't use the whole duel, only till I get bored with it."
She smirked as the jackal in human form appeared, riding another jackal like creature. It stood behind her, feet pressed firmly against the ground. Yami searched his deck and selected his monster, holding it up and watching as the dark robed spellcaster appeared behind him. "My deck master will be Skilled Dark Magician!"
Kai started to search for his Breaker, but suddenly an idea struck him. The things that had happened in the Memory Tomb had taught him that predictability was also a weakness, and the past made things predictable. He wasn't going to be predictable. "I choose XYZ Dragon Cannon to be my deck master!" The massive combination creature appeared, showing its full power as it towered over the other two deck masters.
Ihachi casually drew her opening hand, looking it over with cool disinterest. While she did this the other two were doing the same things, deciding on what sort of first moves they would like to make and wondering what their deck masters did. Unlike them, Ihachi knew what her deck master could do, and she knew what she would do.
"What a pity, a bad hand. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to settle for playing a monster in defense mode." The brown backed card appeared, large and more real looking then most holograms were. This made them notice that the detail one their deck masters was more intricate as well. Kai swore he saw the chrome on his deck master shine in the ambient light of the temple.
Yami looked over his hand again as he drew a new card and slowly settled on a move. He couldn't attack yet, so that wasn't an option. In this two on one duel the first person who would be allowed to attack would be Kai, so for the moment he'd just supply back up and let Kai make that choice. "I set two cards face down and summon Beta the Magnet Warrior(1700/1400)!"
The earthen soldier was summoned to the field, all its power crackling around it. To his surprise he saw his puzzle start to lift up, pointing straight towards his monster. It was so real that it really was a magnet warrior! It was generating a magnet field that was giving a slight pull to his Millennium Puzzle. "I think this game is more real then we anticipated."
Ihachi let out a crystalline laugh again, raising one hand to her mouth in a haughty sort of manner. Yami and Kai grimaced as she did so, but she couldn't help but laugh at his worry. "Of course its more real. This is the Shadow Realm even if I have made alterations, and I've been holding back the real power of this realm up until now. But now it will leak in and drain you of strength, sapping you of power each moment you are active here. Can you handle the pressure?"
Kai didn't even blink as he drew a card, nor did he waver. He felt no weaker then he had the moment this duel started. In fact he felt stronger then he ever had before. He was determined, he was focused, and he wouldn't give in to mere parlor tricks. "I set one card face down and summon Skilled White Magician(1700/1900)!"
The white robed magician now stood in front of him, a casual breeze through the temple ruffling his robes. He raised his staff in a salute to his master, and Kai raised one hand in a return salute. "Skilled White Magician, attack her face down!" The mage raised his staff and unleashed a blaze of white energy at the defending monster, but before it struck the energy exploded, rocking Kai and Yami and unbalancing both of their monsters. (KLP: 7700)
The thing that had proved too strong from Kai's attack was revealed. It was a beautiful woman with a cruel sneer on her face, a black leather outfit snug against her body. A faint blue glow rose off her body, and her eyes were shaped like cat's irises. "Thank you Kai, you attack my Goddess of Wicked Destruction(1500/2000). Not only was she stronger then your monster, but whenever a monster is involved in battle with Goddess of Wicked Destruction, the opposing monster is destroyed."
The goddess snapped her fingers, and Skilled White Magician let out a cry of agony. Slowly he sunk to his knees, holding his middle as something ate away at him from the inside. After several seconds of this, he fell face first to the ground, unable to rise. That is, until Spirit Jackal fired off a beam of energy that surrounded Skilled White Magician.
"Did I mention Spirit Jackal's effect? When a monster is destroyed after being in battle I can choose to special summon it under my control. So I thank you for the monster." Skilled White Magician rose and calmly walked over to her side of the field, now completely under Ihachi's control. Kai grimaced, but since he had nothing else he could do he declared the end of his turn.
Ihachi drew another card, replenishing her hand so that it once again contained six cards. She looked at her card and shrugged casually, the action causing a few laces to come undone on her blouse. For some reason Kai got the impression she had done that on purpose. "I play Heavy Storm."
A heavy wind started to whip through the temple, intent on destroying all of Yami and Kai's placed cards. Though Kai would have nothing left he could count on his partner to help him if it came time, just as he was helping his partner by saving his cards. "I activate Spell Shield Type-8, discarding a card to negate and destroy Heavy Storm!"
The wind continued for a moment more, then it fizzled out, leaving all of their cards unharmed. Once again Ihachi sighed and shrugged, undoing another lace. She glanced over her cards for a few more brief moments and then casually placed a card onto the field and watched as it materialized. "That's all I can manage. Go ahead and make your move."
Yami drew a card and sneered as he put together a plan of action. But before that he had something he had to say. "I don't know how you defeated Kaiba at all, let alone one turn. You are weak, and I will shortly crush you beneath by my heel." He selected the card he needed to play and placed it onto the field, taking another off as he did so.
"I sacrifice Beta for Beformet(1400/1500), allowing me to place a Gazelle into my hand. Now that I have Gazelle I activate Polymerization, fusing Gazelle and Berfomet into Chimera the Flying Beast(2100/2000)!" The two monsters, one red and one brown, jumped into the swirling vortex of the fusion card. What emerged was a creature with two heads, the body of a lion, and all the ferocity of the legendary creature itself.
"Chimera will destroy Skilled White Magician!" The beast launched itself forward, biting down on the Skilled White Magician's shoulder with one mouth and goring the magician's chest with the other. The mage struggled against the implacable hold of the Chimera, but it was unable to stop the devastation happening to it. Shortly it was dead.
The watched her, and to their surprise her life points didn't alter in the slightest. Yami's gaze turned towards his partner when Kai let out a small gasp, and to his surprise he discovered that instead of Ihachi taking damage, it was Kai who was losing life points. "What's going on?" (KLP: 7300)
Ihachi let out a laugh that was reminiscent of tinkling glass with all the sharpness of that glass as well. "The monster was Kai's after all. What? You thought I'd take damage when one of his creatures was destroyed? I'd never allow something so foolish!" She put a hand to her heart as she laughed, displaying just how funny she thought the situation was. The other two duelists just grimaced and settled themselves in for a tougher duel then they thought.
Yami started to end his turn, but before he did he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. One of the crystal spheres that his Skilled Dark Magician used to display if it had a magic counter....was glowing. So was the second one. That meant that Skilled Dark Magician still gained magic counters whenever a magic card was played....but to what purpose? Was it just to summon the Dark Magician, or could he do something else with them? "End turn."
Kai drew a card and slowly followed Yami's gaze to the Skilled Dark Magician. His thoughts followed the same trend that Yami's had, but just like his partner he had no real answer. He could only hazard a guess at what his deck master's effect was, and testing it right now might not be a good idea. "I set one card face down and summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer(1800/400). End."
The monk appeared in front of Kai and bowed deeply to him. Then it turned its gaze upon the Goddess of Wicked Destruction who cast him a fierce glare. The goddess was determined to let Kycoo and Chimera know that she was not afraid of them, for she was above them. Quite an eerie thing to think, but Kai was certain that the monsters had personalities in this place, that they were every bit as real as he was.
Ihachi plucked another card free, examining it and her nails after doing so. However before she could make any move Kai made his. "Activate Dust Tornado!" The card flipped up and sent a whirling vortex of sand and dust at Ihachi's face down card. She made no move to activate it and watched, with a happy expression, as it was destroyed completely.
"Why thank you Kai. You destroyed Apple of Freyja, which allows me to draw a card when it leaves the field." She happily drew another card, once again putting her at a hand of six cards. She surveyed her hand for several more seconds before smiling brightly and selecting the cards she wanted to play.
"I'll set two magic or trap cards face down. Then its back to hair boy over there." She winked at Yami who grimaced and watched her cards appear instead. Both he and Kai were having similar thoughts, wondering exactly what Ihachi's strategy was and why she didn't seem to really be making any moves. This kind of strategy couldn't possibly have defeated Kaiba in one move, so what was she hiding?
Yami took that moment to look at his newly drawn card, and he smiled slightly. If he was right in his hypothesis about his deck master's effect, then shortly he'd be dealing serious damage to Ihachi. That would show her that she had to take them serious. "Ihachi, in moments you'll learn what taking duelists such as us for granted accomplishes. Watch and learn Ihachi, as I activate Defusion!"
Kai looked at his partner quizically, wondering why he had just undone the work he had done in the previous turn. However as the last sphere lit up on the Skilled Dark Magician, Kai had a feeling he was about to find out. "I sacrifice Berfomet and Gazelle to summon Dark Magician(2500/2100)!" The purple robed magic user appeared in their place and then did the most astonishing thing that had happened in the duel.
"My Pharaoh, it has been a long time since last you brought me out. I, your servant Mahado, await your command." Yami stood agape as his long time favorite monster addressed him as if they had long known each other. And perhaps they had, for strange things happened in the Shadow Realm. But if this Mahado, the Dark Magician, knew him as Pharaoh....perhaps he knew his name!
"Mahado...I have forgotten much, it has been far too long. Do you....do you remember my name?" Mahado provided him with a deep bow and smiled fondly as if at a long time friend or companion. Then Mahado did exactly what Yami had been hoping for....he nodded.
"You are the Pharaoh Atem. I am your faithful servant and protector as I have been since my death at the hands of the thief Bakura long ago." Yami's eyes widened further with each and every word. He could see patches of memory in his mind, long forgotten things that were only now revealed to him. He remember so much now, but yet so little. Most important of all....he knew his own name. He was no longer merely the dark aspect of Yugi with a hidden past. He was Atem, former Pharaoh of Egypt.
"Mahado, shortly I will ask you to attack, but first I must do more. What I will do is activate the effect of my deck master, removing the three magic counters he has in order to special summon a monster from my deck. So come forth, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior(3500/3850)!" The powerful composite warrior appeared in all his glory, a strong magnetic pull coming from this new and deadly warrior.
"Next I play Monster Reborn to revive Chimera! And I will begin by attacking with Chimera to eliminate Goddess of Wicked Destruction. When she falls Mahado shall destroy Chimera after he comes under your control. Then I shall finish up with a direct attack by Valkyrion. Feel my wrath Ihachi!" Chimera flew across the field, intent on its goal, intent on gaining another meal.
Mahado's eyes widened in that brief moment, widened as he heard that name and connected it with a similar name he had heard of spoken in hushed tones, thought of only as false rumors and legends. Any papyrus scroll that contained that similar name contained a picture, and this woman was the one pictured. "Impossible....Ihami...."
Ihachi smirked as she snapped her fingers together and went into action. "Since you've targeted a monster with 'goddess' in its name with an attack I can activate Black Matter Chaos. This will remove each of your monsters from the game. So quickly won, quickly lost." Mahado whirled around, desperate to inform his Pharaoh of what he knew while he had the chance, but it was too late.
A pinpoint of darkness appeared where Ihachi's card had been, and suddenly the force of a black hole was activate, pulling all but Ihachi's creatures into it. Everyone else grabbed hold of pillars to avoid being pulled in, all except Dalin and Ihachi who stood strong. There was something else that...Yami's gaze pulled away before his mind confirmed anything, and he watched as his monsters all disappeared into the dark pinpoint.
Kai grimaced, knowing there was nothing more that Yami, or Atem or whatever he was called, could do in that turn. He drew a card and looked down at it, only seeing a monster. However, it would be useful for him to bring it into play to give himself another monster to use. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician(1900/1700)."
His black robed mage appeared, but as soon as he did Ihachi went into action, snapping her fingers to activate her remaining placed card. It flipped up, revealing a card that Kai recognized. As soon as he saw it, he grimaced, knowing what was going to happen next. "I activate Blind Attack, forcing both of your monsters to attack!"
Skilled Dark Magician launched a beam of energy at Goddess of Wicked Destruction and Kycoo chucked a pair of ofuda at her. She made no move to block the attacks, they simply fizzled out feet in front of her. Then both of his monsters underwent the same agonizing death that his Skilled White Magician went through, and each of them was struck by the light of Spirit Jackal and moved to her side of the field. (KLP: 7000)
Unable to make any further moves Kai just declared the end of his turn. Ihachi happily drew her card and showed it to them, a green pot that every duelist there easily recognized. "Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards...oh wait, being experienced duelists you already knew that." She smirked and drew her cards, once again bringing her back up to six cards in hand.
"I think I'll just set one card. Of course now I activate Shot From the Dark. I'm guessing you recognize this, and so I'm using it to reactivate Heavy Storm. This time, there's no stopping it." For the second time in that duel the winds picked up, tossing about their face down cards. Finally the cards were picked up and hurled away, shattering into pieces against the ground or against the columns. But what made no sense was that she had destroyed her own card moments after placing it!
"I bet you're confused, aren't you? Well the card I set was a bit like Apple of Freyja, an effect activates when it's destroyed. Its called Rogue Flame, and now that's its gone I can special summon a special type of monster to the field. I special summon Valkyrie Brunhilde(1800/2000)." The monster that was summoned was a strong looking woman in armor and on a white horse. She didn't seem too impressive, but Kai had this feeling in the pit of his stomach that his creature was bad news.
"Next I'm going to shift my Goddess of Wicked Destruction into attack mode. And in this game, considering that rules are different, I'll sacrifice Skilled Dark Magician to special summon Dark Magician from Kai's deck!" The monster shattered, replacing by another purple clad magician. This one, however identical it was to the magician Yami/Atem had used, it didn't speak.
"Now that I've got all of these monsters, I'm just going to finish Kai off once and for all. All of my monsters shall attack directly!" Each of the monsters moved in for the kill, Brunhilde using her blade to slash at him, Dark Magician firing a beam of purple energy, Kycoo throwing ofuda, and Goddess of Wicked Destruction shooting beams of energy from her eyes.
Each of the attacks slammed into him, each one more painful then the last. He knew that the end was about to come, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. It made no sense, Drake had been certain he would play a larger role in the final duel, but here he was about to be defeated.
The purple beam of energy from his own Dark Magician closed in, the final attack that would finish him off. But before it hit something popped out of nowhere and took the hit, getting blown into tiny little smoldering brown pieces. Kai and Ihachi both looked around for the culprit, and there was Atem, holding the card in his hand. "My Kuriboh defends my partner from the attack of the Dark Magician, keeping him in this duel." (KLP: 1900)
Kai let out a deep breath as soon as this was over. Atem flashed him a thumbs up, and Kai responded in kind. It looked like using Spell Shield Type-8 had been the first part, and Atem, or Yami or whoever, had responded in kind by defending his life points. "Thanks."
Atem smirked as he drew a card, knowing what he had to do now. He had one monster he could summon, but he didn't know if he should do so as it could hurt Kai....no, it would hurt him. "I set one card face down, and sacrifice my deck master's three counters to special summon Chaos Soldier(3000/2500) from my deck." The blade wielding master warrior was summoned, brandishing his blade and ready to attack and defeat Ihachi's creatures.
"Kai....do you trust me?" Kai blinked in surprise at this question, but he understood quickly enough. He flashed Atem a grin, and the one time Pharaoh smiled back. They had an understanding. "Chaos Soldier will cut the Dark Magician down to size!" It jumped across the field and literally sliced Dark Magician in half, blood and bone splattering across the ground. Nothing touched Ihachi though, she remained pristine. (KLP: 1400)
Kai drew a card and then slowly grinned. He cast a glance back at his deck master and understood that the risk was worth it. If what he hoped to do worked, then he would save them a bit of trouble. But first thing he had to do was get rid the threat on him by doing it in himself. "I'll activate my deck master effect, discarding a card to destroy Goddess of Wicked Destruction!"
XYZ Dragon Cannon charged its weapons and unleashed a deadly barrage at the Goddess. Because it wasn't battle the Goddess couldn't destroy XYZ, and she was destroyed completely, enough revenge for him. Now he had to get rid of Kycoo before she did something with it, he would leave Brunhilde for later. "I play Monster Reborn on Dark Magician!"
The purple clad mage appeared again, readying its staff. Kai thrust one hand at pointing towards Kycoo, and he gave the command. "Destroy Kycoo!" A blast of dark magic later and Kycoo was no more, leaving Brunhilde the only creature left on Ihachi's field. (KLP: 700)
Ihachi rolled her eyes at his stupidity. Whatever his thoughts were on the matter, killing off Kycoo had been dumb. He had just wanted to kill it on his own terms, whereas she would have slammed it into Chaos Soldier in order to deal even more damage to him. "I'll play the permanent magic card, Curse of War, a sort of field effect like Goddess of Wicked Destruction's effect."
"Brunhilde will attack Chaos Soldier, and Curse of War will prevent the life point damage and destroy your soldier!" Brunhilde's shield was sliced nearly in half by Chaos Soldier's retaliatory swing, but for some reason Brunhilde herself remained intact, unharmed in any way. Chaos Soldier shuddered and died moments later, and then moved to Ihacih's side.
"If Brunhilde would be destroyed I can reduce her attack by one thousand to let her remain on the field. With that explanation out of the way, I'll destroy the Dark Magician with my new Chaos Soldier!" The soldier rushed across the field in order to cut down the magician, and Kai briefly wished that he had reborned Valkyrion instead of reviving Dark Magician because of sentimental value.
"Reveal trap, Regulation of Tribe! And I choose warriors!" Ihachi rolled her eyes as the chains shot out and stopped Chaos Soldier from attacking. With that done, Ihachi declared her turn as over, giving the move to Yami who had little he could do, no matter what he drew.
The Pharaoh drew a card, but he found himself with far too few options. He sadly placed only a single card, and then motioned for Kai to start his turn. Ihachi's cards, individual cards that was, were proving very deadly. It was like her deck was designed around cards with terribly powerful effects, but there had to be more to it then that.
Kai drew a card and contemplated whether he should use his deck master effect again. No, he'd wait for a moment before doing that. He swiftly placed a card down on the field, watching as it appeared, and then he chose to make his move. Curse of War only worked when she attacked, so taking it out was pointless at the moment. "Dark Magician attacks Brunhilde!"
The blast of dark magic shattered the rest of her shield, and Ihachi dropped her defense power to zero points, leaving her nearly defenseless. However, because Curse of War only worked on her turn, she was going to be taking the damage. Behind him he heard the others cheer as she took damage for the first time in the duel. (ILP: 7300)
Suddenly she started laughing, clear and crystal laughter, laughter that spoke of true humor. Laughter that screamed, 'you're and idiot'. "The guard does a little bit of damage and you lot cheer? How absolutely pathetic! Watch my turn, and watch what true power can do. I will spare the guard for a turn because he amuses me, and so I can show you power. I will crush all of you soon enough!" Kai blinked, still wondering why she kept calling him 'guard'. What was she talking about?
She drew and smirked, slapping two cards into play. The first went onto her monster zone, and the second into her magic/trap slot. "I sacrifice Brunhilde to summon Valkyrie Altest(1600/1600) and use Maiden of Swan to summon Valkyrie Sovite(1600/1600)!" Two more armored women appeared, both riding armored horses. They slashed with their swords, and suddenly the Dark Magician was destroyed.
"When Valkyrie Sovite is summoned I can destroy any monster on the field, so I trashed Dark Magician. Now I'll use Altest's effect. When she attacks I can remove one monster in my opponent's cemetery from the game to set her attack power at that level. I'll use Halt Play to prevent your So both will attack the Pharaoh, me removing Dark Magician for Altest!" The two valkyrie's slashed across Yami's chest, knocking him backwards and dealing a significant amount of damage. However it wasn't over yet.
"Now I will attack directly with Chaos Soldier!" The mighty blader cut across the Pharaoh's chest, smashing him into the ground and nearly finishing him off. However both he, Kai, and everyone else there was well aware that she could have easily removed Valkyrion to finish Atem off. She was toying with them, and that was hardly a good thing. (ALP: 900)
Atem started his turn in the usual manner, drawing a card and looking to see what it was. Unfortunately he couldn't do anything at the moment, he could only hope his set card could hold Ihachi off when the time came. "I pass my turn."
Kai glanced at his newest card and again considered if he should discard a card, but he wanted to save for something big, so for the moment it wasn't the right idea. He could perhaps just defend, he had no other method to use at the moment. "I set a monster in defense mode. End turn."
The attractive false goddess added another card to her hand, and then daintily used the card she had drawn. She placed it on her disk and picked up her Sovite as she did so. "I sacrifice Valkyrie Sovite for...another Valkyrie Sovite! And I use its effect to destroy Kai's set monster." The first Sovite was replaced with an identical monster, and to Kai's horror it slashed apart his set monster with ease. Since it wasn't an attack the effect of his Cyber Jar didn't activate.
"Now I've had enough of playing with you two, so I'll finish you both off with an attack from my two Valkryie's, not even using Altest's effect!" Both valkryies rode down, swords held at the ready. They made a downwards cut with their blades at the exact same moment, and at the exact same moment Kai and Atem both shouted the same words.
"Activate trap, Waboku!" Waboku's defensive power reduced the battle damage to zero, saving them from the attacks that she directed their way. It would only work for one turn, so they just had to hope that they could recover in short order. If they couldn't then things would shortly end very badly for them.
Atem drew a card and glanced at it. He sighed, understanding the truth. He knew that all things were necessary, so in this moment he would have to take a necessary risk. With the power of his card he could perhaps turn the duel, or at least buy them a short advantage that would transfer over to whoever took over after they were defeated. And at this moment he was certain they would be.
"I use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Curse of War. With that out of the way I'll activate my deck master effect once again, summon the Buster Blader(2600/2300) to the field! My blader will destroy Valkyrie Sovite!" The blader rushed forwards and swung down with his massive sword, cleaving the valkryie's head from her shoulders with practiced ease. That single attack ripped a chunk out of Ihaci's life points, and she didn't look happy about it. (ILP: 6300)
Kai continued the trend, he knew he had to. He could practically feel the things his partner was thinking. If they couldn't defeat Ihachi, they could at least clear a path for whoever came next. He had exactly the method of doing that, and he was about to make it show. "I discard both of my cards to destroy Chaos Soldier and Altest!"
A double blaze of cannon fire ripped the two monsters into smithereens, clearing a path directly towards Ihachi's life points. Her field was now totally cleared, and they had the only monster, only card in play. The powerful Buster Blader gave them the advantage for the moment, but there was no telling what she would do next.
Ihachi drew a card, her smile once again returning. She started laughing, laughing as hard and as long as she felt necessary. In the background they could see the servants flinch. They recognized the laugh as something that usually meant pain for them, and that couldn't be good for the two duelists. "Well, its been fun so far, but you've both barely managed to stand up to my valkryies. Goddess of Wicked Destruction was nearly too much for you, and my next goddess is even greater!"
She placed the card onto the field, and they watched in awe as a gorgeous blonde haired woman appeared, a green glow shining from her body. She was clad in light white robes, essentially just a fancy toga. She also wore a tiara and had eyes that looked like swirling galaxies. "This is the Goddess of Mentality(1000/1000), and since I summon her I'll discard a card to take control of one monster on the field. Come to me, Buster Blader!"
The goddess crooked her finger, and a dazed blader staggered over to her, turning around to face Kai and Atem. Both of them gulped in air greedily, knowing that this might be their last moment. In this next attack, the two of them would be defeated, there was no way around that. "Luckily for you two, Goddess of Mentality can't attack whenever she's controlling a monster. So it'll be only one of you who loses now. But who shall it be...."
She tilted her head to the side and tapped a finger against her lips thoughtfully, the goddess in front of her mimicking the pose. Buster Blader just stared dazedly ahead, unable to take any action without previous command. Suddenly Ihachi snapped her fingers, obviously coming to a decision.
"I've got it. The strongest should be the one to go first. So Atem, do me a favor and say hello to the other gods and goddesses, because shortly you'll be meeting them. I on the other hand will live forever, the one true Goddess of this place. Give my regards to oblivion!"
Buster Blader lunged and struck with his blade, ending the life of the powerful duelist who had long been known as King of Games. Ihachi had struck him down, struck him down with laughter on her lips, joy in her heart, and evil in her eyes.
Mou Hitori No Yugi, the Other Yugi, Atem the Pharaoh of Egypt, joined the ranks of the dead, joined the ranks of all the other long forgotten Pharaohs. There was no more Yugi, no more Atem, and with his passing it seemed that in the hearts of the other duelists, there was no more hope.
Ihachi just kept laughing.
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Original Cards
Ihachi: Goddess of Wicked Destruction, Black Matter Chaos, Blind Attack, Halt Play, Curse of War, Goddess of Mentality, Shot From the Dark
Anime Original Cards: Apple of Freyja(KC Grand Prix), Rogue Flame(KC Grand Prix), Valkyrie Brunhilde(KC Grand Prix), Valkyrie Sovite(KC), Valkyrie Altest(KC), Maiden of Swan(KC)