Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Demon Duelist Legacy-World Tour Arc

Chapter 26: The Master of the Undead; Sestros

"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.

Rikuo growled low in his throat at the disk slot, and the wails inside died down a little. "Your morbid little tricks won't stop me, Sestros. I have the power of light on my side, and that can defeat your evil plans, no matter how powerful you think they are."

The Torture King looked around him mockingly. "The light? What light?" His arm swept back and motioned to the haze of darkness that surrounded them. "There is no light in this place. A darkness game does not know the difference between good and evil. It completely depends on the skill of the players. And if you haven't figured it out by now, I am far more skilled than you are."

"Oh? Then why do you need to hide behind your Shield of Dead Spirits?" Rikuo wouldn't let the worry that he felt show. This duel was not looking good for him, but that didn't mean he was finished yet. "Well, I'm sure I will find a way to take out your Shield soon enough, but until then I set one card face-down on my field. End turn."

Sestros drew. "The darkness hungers for a sacrifice and you will are next on the menu. I play the magic card Pot of Greed! As you know, this little staple lets its user draw two cards from his deck."

Pulling his two new cards free, the Torture King slid one of them into his duel disk. "First I set one card face-down my field, and then I play the magic card Blood Puppet Ritual!"

The card shimmered and turned into a ceremonial knife. "Now I may pay any amount of life points. After I have paid for that amount, I divide that number by 100 and special summon a number of Blood Puppet Tokens (200/200) to the field of my choosing!"

Grinning maliciously, Sestros drove the knife point-first into his arm. A fountain of blood sprayed outwards, forming into ten little humanoid creatures made of blood. "So I'll sacrifice 1000 life points to summon ten Blood Puppet Tokens to the field. And since these creatures are tokens, they don't take up spaces in my monster zone!"

The Blood Puppets lifted into the air and dangled above Sestros' field, hanging like marionettes without a puppeteer. "And these little monsters have a special ability that will win the game for me. You see, once per turn I can sacrifice one of them to deal its attack in damage to your life points!"

One of the ten Blood Puppets exploded in a spray of blood, leaving a blob of the black-red fluid behind. "Now, attack his life points directly!" The blob stretched until it looked like a spear, and then it launched through the air in an arch, headed straight for Rikuo's chest.

"Sestros, don't you dare think I'm that easy to kill! Reveal face-down card, Emergency Provisions! Now I'll sacrifice my two face-down cards to gain 2000 life points!" Rikuo's two face-down cards shuddered and exploded right before the blood spear slammed into his chest and sent him stumbling backwards.

Rikuo- 1950

Sestros- 6000

The Torture King shrugged innocently. "You're only delaying the inevitable. As long as my Shield of Dead Spirits is in play, your own monsters are your enemies. How can you win?" As if cue, Rikuo's graveyard slot began to echo out another chorus of anguished cries. "See?"

Rikuo wasn't going to let these cheesy special effects mess with his head. "Are you done?"

Sestros sneered knowingly. "End turn."

Rikuo drew. ("Alright, so he's got a whole lot of defense. That doesn't mean that I can't beat him though.") "I set one card face-down on my field. End turn!"

"What's the matter Rikuo? Why didn't you attack?" Sestros drew. "I suppose you finally got smart and realized that my Shield of Dead Spirits and Dead Moon combo is impossible to defeat?" He pointed up at his Blood Puppets. "Now, Blood Spear Strike!" Another of the ghastly creations exploded, firing a blood spear across the field that slammed into Rikuo's chest.

Rikuo- 1750

Sestros- 6000

Another Blood Puppet exploded. "Now I sacrifice a Puppet to summon my mighty Puppet master!" (0/0) A horrible demon dressed like a clown appeared on the field. "And he has a very special ability that will leave you screaming in fear. By paying 1000 life points, I may revive three monsters from the graveyard."

Rikuo frowned angrily. "Now wait a second! That creature's special ability only lets you revive monsters from your graveyard!"

"Ah, but that's where you are wrong. Thanks to Dead Moon, I can access your graveyard for any effect." The Puppet master cackled and threw its hands into the air. Three beams of green light shot from its clawed fingertips and flew into Rikuo's graveyard slot. A few seconds passed and then the three chosen cards were removed and brought over to Sestros.

Rikuo- 1750

Sestros- 5000

Catching the three cards, the Torture King chuckled. "These should be fine. First, I summon them all to the field!"

The first creature to appear looked like a giant corpse. Huge hunks of decayed flesh hung off of its frame, and it threw back its head to let out an echoing howl of hunger and pain. "Say hello to Irios the Undead Monarch!" (2700/2300)

Right next to it was a strange mixture of bone and flesh, with a pair of long bone cannon barrels on its back. "And my X-Head Zombie!" (1800/1500)

The final creature appeared behind both of them. It looked like some kind of horrible armored zombie, with a bone sword in one hand and a rib-cage shield in the other. "And finally, my Super Zombie Knight!" (3000/3000)

Rikuo growled in pure anger at the perversities of his monsters that were on Sestros' field. "You sick bastard..."

Smirking, the Torture King motioned to his three new monsters. "Because of the ability of Puppet Master, I cannot attack with the monsters I have summoned this turn. I'll have to end my turn for now." The new zombie monsters on his field wailed in hunger and started to move forward, only to reined in by the Puppet Master at the last second. "Now now, my little pets. Calm yourselves and give the dog a chance to fight back."

Rikuo couldn't take it anymore. "Sestros, those monsters were Daniel's long before they were mine...and for making such mockeries of them, I will crush you and them one by one! Draw!" He drew his next card. ("Brilliant speech, but how do I back up my claims?") Sliding the card he had drawn into his duel disk, the wolf demon took a shallow breath. "I set that card face-down, and end my turn."

Sestros drew. "My little undead creatures can't be held back anymore." He pointed at Rikuo. "Super Zombie Knight, attack his Wolf Demon Lord!" Groaning in a mix of rage and hunger, the hideous monstrosity lunged forwards.

Rikuo tapped a button on his duel disk. "Reveal face-down Mirror Force!" A glowing blue barrier snapped up between the two of them. "This will reflect your attack back at you, and destroy every attack mode monster on your field!" The barrier blocked the sword swing of the Zombie Knight and then struck back with a shotgun-like blast of energy that blew the three zombies and the Puppet Master off of Sestros' field. "What a shame, your precious little perversities bit the dust."

Sestros motioned to one of his Blood Puppets. "Attack his life points!" It exploded and slammed another Blood Spear into Rikuo's chest.

Rikuo- 1550

Sestros- 5000

Rikuo, despite the burning pain he was feeling all over his body, managed to smile winningly. "Is that the best you can produce?"

Sestros waved his finger in the air. "Do you remember during the Shadow Tournament when you used Mirror Force on me? Now what did I activate?"

The wolf demon paled. "Mass Restoration..."

Tapping a button on his duel disk, his face-down card flipped face-up. "That's correct! Reveal Mass Restoration! This will bring back all of my dead monsters, but it will immediately end my turn." The ground shook as the three undead creatures that Sestros had created broke through the earth and reappeared on the field, followed by the Puppet Master. "So draw your next card, Mutt."

Rikuo drew. ("Come on...come on...") He turned the card enough that he could see the face. ("Jourgen....")

Sestros watched his opponent stare at the card he had drawn for a good minute, at least. "So what's the matter? Didn't get the card you needed?"

"Actually, I got the perfect card for this situation." Rikuo snapped it around to show it to the Torture King. "See? It's Brain Control!" A purple brain appeared on his field and released a wave of energy that fell over the Puppet Master. "And thanks to its effect, your sick little monster maker will obey me for one turn." Cackling mindlessly, the clown fiend floated over to Rikuo's field.

Sestros snorted. "Have you forgotten that I have taken the most powerful monsters out of your graveyard already? The effect of Puppet Master is useless to you."

Rikuo flipped up his face-down card. "Who ever said that I was planning on using its effect? I just need it for a sacrifice. Activate Kamikaze Infusion! Now I will sacrifice your Puppet Master to destroy all undead monsters on your field!" The fiend screamed in pain and exploded, filling the whole field with white light. When the light faded, Sestros only had his five remaining Blood Puppets on the field.

The Torture King narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.

Rikuo pointed at one of the Blood Puppets. "Wolf Demon Lord attack!" The demon samurai slammed its sword into the ground and created a wave of phantom flame that burned across the earth towards the bloody mannequin.

Until the ghostly form of Rikuo's Irios exploded out of the wolf demon's duel disk and absorbed the attack.

Sestros' unreadable face slowly broke into a calm smirk. "I see you had forgotten about my defense combo. That's a shame."

Rikuo clenched his fist angrily at the foolish mistake he had made. ("Damn it...how can I get around that Shield of Dead Spirits?") "End turn."

Drawing his card, the Torture King glanced at it and then placed a monster onto his disk. "I set one monster in defense mode. Now I'll attack your life points with another Blood Puppet!" Another of the morbid creatures exploded into a blood spear that slammed into Rikuo. "End turn."

Rikuo- 1350

Sestros- 5000

"Draw!" Rikuo snapped the top card off of his deck. "End turn."

Sestros drew. "Once again, you remain locked out. How long until you crack like the fragile little egg that you are?" He motioned to his face-down monster card, which flipped up to reveal a decayed camel. "Activate the special ability of Des Lacooda!" (500/600) "When it is flip summoned, I may draw one card. And then I will use its special ability to flip it back face-down!" The camel shimmered out of existence, a face-down monster card in its place.

After he drew his card, the Torture King pointed at Rikuo. "Blood Puppet, direct attack!" Another of the creatures exploded and slammed the wolf demon in the chest.

Rikuo- 1150

Sestros- 5000

"And then for the finale to this turn, I set two cards face-down." Two cards appeared on both sides of the defense combo on Sestros' field. "Now take your turn."

Rikuo drew his next card. ("My deck is running out of cards. At this rate, I will wind up decking myself...") "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn." A horizontal card appeared on the field next to his Wolf Demon Lord.

"That's all you can do." Sestros drew. "After all, any attack on your part would just destroy the monster supply in your graveyard." Motioning to his face-down Des Lacooda, Sestros sneered as it flipped up and then flipped back face-down. "And that's an extra card for me."

He drew and added the card to his other two, before selecting one and sliding it into the last open space on his duel disk. "I activate the continuous magic card Blood Moon. As long as this card is in play, all monsters on the field are now undead. And that's not all, for my card has another special ability. It also raises the attack of all undead on my field by 200 points per every undead creature in play."

Lifting his hand into the sky, the Torture King exploded into laughter as a blood-red light fell down onto the arena. On Rikuo's field, the Wolf Demon Lord collapsed to the ground in pain as its skin and flesh fell away in huge hunks, leaving it a withered and undead creature.

Rikuo's eyes flashed dangerously at the sight. "Sestros...you...you..."

"And now is the perfect time to bring back an old friend. I sacrifice my face-down Des Lacooda to summon Curse of Vampire!" Sestros' face-down monster disappeared and the pale-faced vampire monster stood in its place. (2000/1500) "And then the special ability of my Blood Moon activates, raising my creature's attack points by 200 per undead monster on the field. And since that is every creature, he gains a 600 points increase!" (2600/1500)

Rikuo grimaced at the sight of the Curse of Vampire growing larger, its form now lined with black light. ("There must be a weakness on that thing...")

The Torture King pointed across the field at the moaning Wolf Demon Lord. "Undead Claw Attack!" His Curse of Vampire launched across the field and slashed the pitiful remains of Rikuo's once mighty warrior apart.

Rikuo felt the loss of his creature, but no true pain accompanied its death. "I'm not beaten yet. The special ability of Wolf Demon Lord means that I can't take damage because of its death!"

Sestros waved his hand dismissively. "I know that, stupid fool. However, all of the powerful special abilities of your monster are about to become mine!" One of his two set cards flipped face-up. "Activate continuous trap card, Dark Rebirth! As long as this is in play, every monster of yours that I destroy comes under my control at the end phase of the turn."

That was pushing a line that Rikuo would not allow. "I refuse to let that happen!"

Sestros smirked and motioned to one of his Blood Puppets. "Direct Attack!" It exploded and slammed another Blood Spear into Rikuo's chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

Rikuo- 950

Sestros- 5000

"I hope that snapped you out of your tirade, my dear little weapon." Sestros motioned to the ground next to his Curse of Vampire. "Come to me, Undeath of the Wolf!" (3000/1000) The earth churned and then exploded upwards as the new monster appeared. Throwing back its head, the decayed wolf demon howled into the night.

Rikuo stared at his creature, which now had glowing red eyes. "Wolf Demon Lord..." He fell to his knees.

Sestros waved his finger in the air and walked over to pat the rotting demon monster on the head. "Wrong. This is Undeath of the Wolf, my loyal pet." He licked his lips. "Actually...technically, I think I'll name him Rikuo. After all, just like him, you are my pet as well."

Rikuo didn't want to listen...but he couldn't take his eyes off the sight of his own physical avatar working against him. ("Even you...even you do not believe I can do it?")

The Torture King walked back to his spot on the field and spun around, his red-muscle tissue cape flapping in the air behind him. "Rikuo....like I said, even your own monsters don't want to help you. You're all alone. So, do you still think the light can win?"

Rikuo wanted to answer...but he couldn't find any words. His eyes were stick locked upon the form of Undeath of the Wolf....and how he had a chilling feeling that his fate was going to be the same as its.

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

To thegymrat: Wow...Rikuo can't get any love, eh? At least there's a Sestros fan out there though.

To The Mystic Wanderer: Just pay respect where respect is due and all will be fine. :P

To GryphinWyrm7: Hurry and keep writing, my friend.