Disclaimer: No, I do not own Yugioh.

Demon Duelist Legacy-World Tour Arc

Chapter 25: Sestros' Field Magic card; Flaming Abyss

Barely able to hold in his laughter, the Torture King managed to breathe out. "Oh...not really...it's just that you won't be beating me!" Holding up the two cards in his hand, the demon king smirked. "See?"

Rikuo grimaced at the two cards. "Don't think that those will save you!"

Sestros calmed down, though he still smiled darkly. "We shall see, won't we?"

Rikuo grimaced at the sight of the cards. ("This might be a problem...")

Sestros tapped a button on his festering bone and flesh duel disk. "I activate the magic card Emergency Provisions, sacrificing all of these useless magic and trap cards on my field for something far more important. Since I'm destroying four cards, that's 4000 extra life points for me."

Rikuo- 5750

Sestros- 5500

The Torture King smiled and popped open his field magic card slot. "Now I'll play the field magic card Flaming Abyss!" All around them, the darkness grew deeper and colder, until all of them seemed to be lunged into it. "Are you starting to understand why you cannot win? Thanks to the powers of my Flaming Abyss field magic card, soon you'll be nothing but a smoking pile of ash on the ground."

Rikuo grimaced at his face-down card. ("I can't use it!")

Sestros smirked at the worried look on Rikuo's face. "What's the matter? Are you worried? Don't be, because my Flaming Abyss field magic card can only be activated when my field is empty." He looked down at his duel disk and gasped in mock surprise. "My, so it is!" Grinning, he slid the other card he was holding into his graveyard. "Oh well, I guess this will come as a surprise to you then. First off, all cards in both our hands and fields are sent to the graveyards!"

The darkness around Rikuo snatched the two cards in his hand and the cards on his disk, sending all of them into the graveyard slot.

"Now the Flaming Abyss activates its special ability. Each one of your standby phases, it will burn you for 100 life points of damage for each card in your graveyard." He smirked and clapped his hands together. "Now, let's see your amazing top-decking skills, my dear friend. End turn."

Rikuo looked down at his deck and frowned. ("Here we go.") "Draw!" Snatching the top card of his deck, Rikuo held it up to his face. "I summon Dark Catapulter (700/1500) in defense mode!" A strange bipedal metal turtle appeared on his field, with its arms out in front of it. "End turn!" The darkness around his shuddered and then sprayed his body with black flames.

Rikuo- 4450

Sestros- 5500

Sestros smirked. "Because of the ability of my Flaming Abyss, I may only draw one card once every two turns. So I'll draw my card for this turn, but I'll have to skip my next draw phase." Drawing his card, he slid it into his duel disk, the holographic representation of it appearing on the field. "And now the effect of Flaming Abyss gives me my benefit. For every card in my graveyard, it empowers me with 100 life points!" The darkness around him wrapped its inky tendrils against his flesh, all of the wounds he had sustained vanishing as it recharged him. "End turn."

Rikuo- 4450

Sestros- 6400

Rikuo drew, and a glowing bead of light appeared over the head of his Dark Catapulter. "Now I'll blast away your..."

"Like hell you will, reveal face-down trap card! Go Stasis Prison!" Sestros sneered as a cage of black energy appeared around the machine on Rikuo's field. "As long as this is in play, your creature cannot attack or use its special ability. Its defense is doubled though, so don't feel too bad." He threw back his head and laughed. (700/3000)

Rikuo looked at his remaining card and growled low in his throat. ("Damn it...") "I set one card face-down on my field, and end my turn." The Abyss screamed in his ear and sprayed him with more black flames.

Rikuo- 3150

Sestros- 6400

Sestros smirked and his graveyard spat out a card. "Since I cannot draw this turn, I will have zero cards in my hand during my standby phase, which will be perfect for the ability of my Return Zombie. (1000/1600) If I have no cards in my hand during a standby phase in which it is in the graveyard, then I may pick it up at the cost of 500 life points." He took the card and slapped it onto his disk, a horrific mummy-like creature appearing on his field in a crouching position. "And then I summon my Return Zombie to the field in defense mode. End turn." The Abyss wrapped its tendrils around him and infused its master with more dark energy.

Rikuo- 3150

Sestros- 5700

"It's my turn now...Draw!" Rikuo snapped the top card off of his deck, and another glowing bead appeared over the head of his Dark Catapulter. ("Not that it matters. Its abilities are locked away while it's in that prison.") "I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) in attack mode!" A metal dragon appeared on his field and screeched.

"And then I reveal my face-down trap card Metalmorph, which will increase its attack points by 300. Also, when it attacks a monster, it will gain half of that monster's attack points for the duration of that turn!" The red metal dragon shimmered and was encased in a suit of steel plating that enhanced its look. (1800/1600) "Attack his Return Zombie now!" Opening its jaws, the Y-Dragon Head unleashed a blast of electrical energy that blew the undead creature apart.

"End turn." The Abyss screamed into his ear again and sprayed him with black flame.

Rikuo- 1750

Sestros- 5700

Sestros smirked at the pain that was burned across the face of his 'little weapon'. "What's the matter? Does it hurt?" He drew. "Now I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn." The Flaming Abyss activated and wrapped its tendrils around him, charging his body with energy.

Rikuo- 1750

Sestros- 6600

Rikuo grimaced and looked down at his deck. ("Well? Are you gonna give me something to get me out of this bind, or am I on my own?") He drew. "I have to summon Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300) in attack mode!" A yellow tank appeared on his field. "And now I attack using Y-Dragon Head!" The red metal dragon opened its jaws and fired another blast of electricity.

Sestros chuckled mirthlessly as his face-down monster was destroyed. "You've destroyed my Dark Banshee (0/1600) and when she is destroyed I may wipe out all monsters on your field in attack mode!" A wave of sound rolled across the Abyss and slammed into the two monsters, blowing them apart.

Rikuo braced himself against the loss of his monsters, feeling his soul start to collapse in on itself. ("I just need to hold on a little longer. This will over very soon, in one way or another. Let's just hope it's the first one.") "End turn." The Abyss screamed into his ear again, sending waves of pain through his body.

Rikuo- 150

Sestros- 6600

Sestros' graveyard slot spat out the Return Zombie, which he placed on the field. "Since I can't draw, here's your big chance for revenge. Let's see you pull it off." His smile said that he wasn't worried. "End turn." The Abyss once more wrapped its tendrils around him, healing his body.

Rikuo- 150

Sestros- 7000

Rikuo drew his next card, and the beginnings of a smile appeared on his face. "Sestros...you should know that regardless of my past, I'm fighting for the light now." He slid the card he had drawn into his duel disk. "And the light has more power than the darkness could ever hope to have! Activate Last Ray of Hope! I can only activate this card when I have 1000 or less life points, and with its effect I can draw five cards. The only downside is I have to discard my hand at the end of the turn, but trust me..." He drew five cards off the top of his deck. "...that won't be a problem." Fanning his new hand out, the wolf demon looked his options over.

Sestros suddenly understood the truth about this duel. If he dared to hold back, then Rikuo would most likely destroy him. ("And that's not an option.")

"Alright Sestros, here we go. First I'll tribute my Dark Catapulter for something actually useful!" The metal turtle creature shuddered and exploded, taking its impromptu prison with it. In its place stood a wolf demon in samurai armor. "I summon Wolf Demon Lord (2400/1000) in attack mode."

Sestros muttered something angrily at the sight of that particular monster.

Rikuo smirked. "Aww, what's the matter? Afraid he's going to drive his sword right through that heart of yours again?"

"Trust me, Mutt. That little warrior of yours won't be able to hold against most of the monsters in my new deck anyway." The Torture King didn't want to admit it, but the sight of the Wolf Demon Lord angered him.

Rikuo slid a card into his duel disk. "Then I play the magic card Return of Tribute." Sliding a card into his graveyard, the Dark Catapulter reappeared on his field in defense mode. "At the cost of one card from my hand, I can bring back my tributed monster from the graveyard for a turn. And one turn is all I am going to need for my Dark Catapulter to get rid of your Flaming Abyss!"

Sestros felt a drop of sweat bead on his forehead. "What are you talking about? How can that piece of scrap metal destroy my field magic card?"

A pair of bent metal rods appeared on the back of the Dark Catapulter. Between the pieces of metal a ball of yellow light appeared. "The Dark Catapulter's special ability allows me to remove one turn counter from it, as well as one monster from my graveyard. This will destroy one magic or trap card on the field." Rikuo motioned to the Flaming Abyss that surrounded them. "Now take a wild guess at what I am aiming for."

Sestros clenched his fist angrily. "You little top-decking..."

Rikuo smirked as the glowing ball of the Dark Catapulter started to shake violently. "Now I remove my Bronze Wind-up Knight from the graveyard to activate my Dark Catapulter's effect! Go Burning Shot!" The ball of light launched off the back of the turtle monster and launched into the night, exploding in one huge flash of light. All around them, the Flaming Abyss screamed in pain as it was banished from existence.

Sestros gritted his teeth, the darkness around his body so thick and pulsing that it seemed alive. "You....you...."

"I love you too, Sestros." Rikuo pointed at the Return Zombie. "Wolf Demon Lord, attack his undead monster with Howling Sword!" Slamming its sword into the ground, the wolf demon samurai created a wave of phantom flame that consumed the Zombie. "And thanks to the effect of my Wolf Demon Lord, your monster is not coming back!"

Taking a card from the remaining two in his hand, Rikuo slid it into his duel disk. "Now I set one card face-down on my field and end my turn." As per the effect of Last Ray of Hope, he had to discard the remaining card he was holding into his graveyard. The Dark Catapulter also let out one metal roar and then exploded. "Now let's see you worm your way out of this one."

Sestros had gone silent, the shadows obscuring his form.

Rikuo frowned. "Can you hear me? Or has the loss of your precious field magic card broken your brain?"

A few seconds passed in silence, and then Sestros threw back his head, explosive laughter flowing from his lips and sifting through the darkness.

Rikuo scowled. "I must have missed the joke, because I don't see how losing your best chance at winning is funny at all."

Sestros continued to laugh, the darkness echoing and amplifying the noise.

Trying to ignore the shivers that ran down his spine, Rikuo smiled slightly. "So, old man, have you cracked? Is it the end of your mental capacity?"

The laughter stopped. Sestros brought his eyes down to meet Rikuo's. "You're wasting your time trying to stop me. Don't you know that I can beat you with the next card I will draw, if I wanted to?"

"You're bluffing," Rikuo wouldn't let this frighten him. There was too much at stake for him to be scared. "So stop wasting my time and draw your card."

"Very well, my impatient little weapon. Draw..." The Torture King drew his card and giving it a passing glance, slid it into his disk. "I set one card face-down on my field. End turn."

Rikuo narrowed his eyes as the card appeared on his opponent's field. ("What did he draw? With a smirk like that on his face, it has to be a good card. Now the question is...what is it?")

Sestros saw Rikuo's hesitation. "What's the matter Rikuo? It's your turn. Don't tell me that you went and lost your nerve already?"

"Don't ever think that I'm a coward, like you are. Draw!" Rikuo snapped the card off of his deck. "I set one card face-down on my field." The card appeared next to his first one. "And then I attack with Wolf Demon Lord! Howling Sword!" Slamming its weapon into the ground, the demon samurai summoned up another wave of phantom flame that rocketed across the field towards the Torture King.

Sestros motioned to his face-down card, which flipped up. "And I was always curious whether you had the necessary brains to be my prodigy. I guess not. Reveal Shield of Dead Spirits!" A white wall of ectoplasm sprang up out of the ground and absorbed the wave of phantom flame. "Now I'll remove the 'useless' Return Zombie so that my trap card can negate your attack." His graveyard slot spat out the monster card, which instantly exploded into dust.

Rikuo frowned at the continuous trap card that now floated on Sestros' field. ("As long as he has demon and undead monsters to sacrifice, he can negate all of my...") The wolf demon smirked as he figured out something. "Sestros, your shield only has a maximum of two more shots left in it." He pointed at the Torture King's duel disk. "I count your Banshee and your Night Assailant in there. Other than that, I haven't seen a single monster enter that graveyard of yours since I restarted the game. You're running out of time, Sestros. And with the end of my turn, your time on this plane of existence is getting shorter by the second."

The Torture King drew. "Rikuo, don't you think you're just grasping at straws? What makes you think that I'm just going to sit here and let my Shield run out of sacrifices?" He slid a card into his disk and it appeared on the field. "And now I set one card face-down on my field. Let's see what you can do, eh?"

Rikuo drew. "Keh! This card won't help me. But then again..." He smiled and pointed at Sestros. "Wolf Demon Lord, direct attack!" The wolf demon samurai slammed its weapon into the ground again, creating another wave of phantom fire that rocketed across the field towards the Torture King.

"You have your moments of brilliance, but this isn't one of them. Reveal face-down card!" Sestros motioned to his face-down card, which flipped face-up. "Activate Dead Moon continuous trap card!" The darkness above them was parted as grey light fell down onto the field. "As long as this trap card remains in play, I can remove monsters from your graveyard to fulfill the effects of my Shield of Dead Spirits!"

Rikuo chuckled. "If you haven't noticed, my deck is almost entirely made up of machine monsters. Since you have to remove a demon or undead monster from the graveyard, that effect is useless to you."

The grey light flowed into Rikuo's graveyard slot and pulled out the form of his Silver Wind-up Knight. Something was different about the monster though. It was no longer made of metal, but of putrefied flesh...

Sestros raised his hand up to point at the sky. "My Dead Moon fixes that little problem, for it turns all monsters in both graveyards into undead creatures. That means that now I have the perfect food supply for my Shield of Dead Spirits." His smile twisted wider as the spirit of the Wind-up Knight flew across the field and caught the Howling Sword attack right in the face, exploding into pieces of ectoplasm. "And I'll be destroying your graveyard at the same time! So come and attack me, Rikuo. Watch as the spirits of your own monsters turn against you!" His unholy laughter mixed with the sounds of anguished moans and wails that came from Rikuo's graveyard slot.

To be continued...