Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.
Legends of the Demon Duelist-Chaos Arc
Chapter 9: The earth thief
It didn't take Terra long to reach the area where he had felt the life-force. ("You're here….and I have to find out whether you will be a threat to my plans.") The area he had stopped at was a cliff overlooking the ocean. "Come out now…"
"…or you'll what, mutt?" A calm, nearly uncaring voice echoed out from the trees.
Terra felt his blood rise at the sound of the voice. "It's you!" The wolf demon flexed his claws and snarled angry. "Come out coward!"
"Very well, if it will shut you up." A form dropped out of the branches of a nearby tree and landed silently to the ground. Standing slowly, the newcomer revealed a slight figure wrapped in white silk with long silver-white hair and a pair of the same-colored fox ears on top of his head.
Terra's lips curled slightly. "If it isn't the girl among thieves. I'm surprised that you were somehow sent to the darkness realm in the first place, Esmin."
"Esmin Reiner was temporarily delayed," the fox demon flexed his hands and eyed the wolf demon suspiciously. "So when did you get to become so young-looking, Mutt of the Dirt?"
Terra paid the question no mind. "Call me that again and you'll be breathing through your throat." He slowly started to advance…
Until both demon's thief reflexes kicked in and they both leapt aside just in time to avoid a bed that slammed down right where the two of them had been standing.
Esmin took this opportunity to pull a card out of thin air. Snapping it through the shadows, it re-emerged as a pitch-black colored whip. "Unlikely distraction, but it will do. Now then Terra, let's have a little talk." He started to advance forward.
On his own account, Terra was already standing and had his claws ready. "Yes…lets."
They started to move towards each other until…
"Ouch!" Ahran hopped up from the bed and cradled his poor aching skull. ("Father, why did you have to go and do that? Just when Ichigo was nearly fixed you go and knock him unconscious.")
Terra and Esmin both looked at Ahran. Terra gave the boy a look of anger, while Esmin seemed simply indifferent to the fact that someone had just nearly crash-landed onto him.
Terra, on the other hand, was pissed. ("That kid is friends with Rikuo. If he sees me then my cover is blown.") Growling, the wolf demon reached outwards and called upon the power he knew would fix this problem.
Ahran's headache had eased just in time to watch darkness gather around him. "What's this?" He narrowed his eyes and slowly slipped into a state of focused meditation. ("The darkness….so that's it.")
Terra glanced over at Esmin, who was still expression-less. "I challenge you and the little runt to a darkness game. Losers disappear forever."
"My, that is quite forward of you," the fox demon shrugged his shoulders and started to walk away. "I'll be with you in a moment then, let me get myself prepared."
Ahran glared at Terra. "It's you, the thief that has a grudge against my father."
"I have more than a grudge against your father, but that isn't important now." Terra held up his arm and there was a flicker of light as a duel disk appeared. "Get yourself ready for the end. I'm not going to let you give me away to Rikuo."
Ahran disliked dueling in general, but since Ichigo was unconscious he had no choice. Holding his arm out, he felt a surge of energy as a duel disk materialized around his arm. "Fine, I'll destroy you and then there won't be any need to trouble my father."
Esmin casually walked back into view with a duel disk on his arm. "Alright then, since I suppose we're all playing with Soul Decks there's no need to worry about cheating then." His disk clicked into place. "I'm not sure what you are up to, Terra, but I suppose once this duel is done it won't matter, will it?"
"Right." The wolf demon knew that he was in double jeopardy. Both Ahran and Esmin were targeting him, and he was targeting them. That didn't remove the fact that this duel was going to be a three-way match, but he doubted those two were going to choose to attack each other over him. "Let's begin then."
Terra- 4000
Esmin- 4000
Ahran- 4000
Esmin drew. "I believe that a gentleman gets first move. So I'll simply set one monster face-down on the field and two cards down behind it. End turn."
Terra drew. ("In this type of duel none of us can attack during the first turn, but that doesn't mean much. Each of us will be playing it safe, because attacking risks having one opponent tear down your defenses and wipe out your life points with the help of the other player.") Looking at his drawn cards, he nodded slightly. "I'll begin with the continuous magic card Sacred Wealth. As long as this card is in play all duelists now draw two cards from their deck during their turn." He placed a card onto his disk. "I set one monster face-down and end my turn."
Ahran drew twice. ("I'm not sure who to attack, but I had best defeat Terra first. This other demon I have nothing against…") He threw a card down. "I summon Angel of the Sphere (1900/0) in attack mode." A gold-armored angel appeared on the field. "During my standby phase I can special summon out one Defense Angel (0/1500) Token in defense mode. I also set one card face-down. End turn." ("For now, I'll use this monster to defend myself with.")
Esmin drew twice. His eyes slowly closed and he felt the auras of energy around his two opponents. ("The boy's power is note-worthy, but otherwise not worth my time. Terra's energy is, like any good thief's ability, veiled so well I cannot be sure how to handle him.") "For now I will end my turn."
Terra closed his eyes and drew twice. ("Now to show these two fools a taste of my true power.") His face-down monster card disappeared. "I sacrifice my set monster to summon Diabound Carnel (1800/1600) in attack mode." A demon with a snake's head instead of legs appeared on the field. "Then I equip my monster with the magic card Dead Spirit's After-image, which will allow me to special summon a copy of the equipped monster to the field each turn. This token cannot be sacrificed or attack." Another of the snake demons appeared on the field. "Of course…that isn't why I did what I did. Diabound Carnel special ability activates! This monster can equip to any monster on the field and lower its attack points by the attack strength of Diabound Carnel." His hand rose up and pointed at the Angel of Spheres. "My target is there!" The snake demon copy flew across the field and encased the angel in a dark sheath of shadow. (0/0) "Diabound Carnel, attack with Death Spiral!" The real demon charged up a spiral blast of yellow energy within its hands and launched it at the angel.
Ahran motioned to his face-down card. "Radiance Ring activate now! This continuous trap card lets me discard a card from my hand to protect my light monster from death." The spiral blast pounded through the angel and slammed into the boy. "However…" He fell to his knees, the energy nearly drained right out of him. "…battle damage still occurs."
Terra- 4000
Esmin- 4000
Ahran- 2200
Terra shrugged his shoulders and slid a card into his disk. "My monster did its job. So I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Ahran's irises contracted for a few moments as he summoned up his strength to stand. ("I will not fall to you!") He slowly came to his feet. "It's time to get rid of that eyesore you call a monster. Angel of the Spheres special ability activates and special summons out a token!" An angel holding a golden shield appeared on the field. "Then I sacrifice these two monsters to call upon one of my best creatures!" Both of the angels disappeared and were replaced by a huge emerald-colored reptilian form. "Crystal Dragon (2750/2750) comes to end your monster's life! Crystal Burst!" The dragon opened its jaws and released a wave of crystalline green energy that tore across the field to tear down Diabound Carnel.
Terra shook his head. "Kids these days need to learn patience. I activate my trap card!" His face-down card flipped up. "This trap is called Dangerous Trap." Taking a card from his hand, the wolf demon held it up. "If you guess what type of card this is, then your attack not only gets through but I take double damage from my monster's destruction. However, if you guess wrong then your monster's attack will be negated and I will draw one card from my deck for every 1000 attack points of your monster."
Ahran frowned. "It's a monster."
Terra flipped the card over to show a green backing. "Wrong. Now I place the card back into my hand and the effect of my trap card triggers!" A spray of barbed chains exploded out of the ground and tore the stream of energy to little glowing ribbons. "Then I draw two cards." He slid two cards off of his disk. "That isn't all though, because I now must play down cards equal to the number I drew." He slid two cards into his disk. "So I set these face-down."
Ahran grimaced at the fact that he had been foiled. "Don't get so cocky. I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Esmin drew calmly. "This is a lot like watching a comedy show. Surprisingly, neither of you have been paying attention. That's a shame, because now I go on the attack." His face-down monster was replaced by a elf in strange living robes. "Fairy King Truesdale (2200/1400) should be enough to wipe out your monsters." The elf charged up a ball of golden energy within its palms. "Die."
Before the ball had even left the monster's hands Terra's face-down card was up. "Mirage Magic negates the attack and gives me life point gain instead." Diabound Carnel turned negative and the attack bounced off of it and slammed into Terra's duel disk, which absorbed the energy instantly.
Terra- 6200
Esmin- 4000
Ahran- 2200
Esmin didn't seem surprised. "It went better than I thought. So I set two cards face-down on the field and end my turn."
Terra drew twice. "Still more of your tricks Kitsune? Oh well, because you're next on the list. First though, I summon out my Diabound Carnel copy." Another shadowy form of the snake demon appeared on the field. "Then I summon Shadow Creator (1800/1500) in attack mode." A black form appeared on the field. "This monster will take one token on my field and fill all of my monster zones with copies of the copy." Two more Diabound Carnel tokens appeared. "Then I play the effect of two of my copies, attaching them to your monsters!" Two of the demons leapt across the field and latched onto Crystal Dragon and Fairy King Truesdale. (950/2750) (400/1400) "Diabound Carnel, get rid of that fairy's fairy! Death Spiral!" The demon charged up another yellow ball of energy that it hurled across the field towards Esmin's monster.
"You are a fool." The fox demon snapped his fingers. "Blood Seeker (0/0) comes out to stop your attack and latch onto your monster."
"Not a chance," Terra motioned to his face-down card. "Because my Mystical Space Typhoon card eliminates your trap monster before it can get its effect off." The Death Spiral continued forwards.
Esmin frowned and snapped his fingers twice. "First I call out Magic Venus." (0/0) A huge Venus fly-trap appeared on his field. "Then I activate my Nature's Lure trap card. Your monster must attack my Magic Venus." The Death Spiral swerved and slammed into the Venus, blowing it apart.
Terra glanced over at Ahran. "Your turn. Go Shadow Creator!" The dark form started to creep along the ground towards the Crystal Dragon.
Ahran motioned to his face-down card. "My trap card Draining Shield will stop your attack and give me life point gain equal to that amount!"
Terra- 6200
Esmin- 4000
Ahran- 4000
Terra shrugged his shoulders. "I set three cards face-down and end my turn."
Ahran drew twice. ("Why didn't he attack the other guy? It's like he is toying with us.") Shaking his head to clear it, the wolf demon looked over at his Crystal Dragon. ("My friend…forgive me for what I am about to do.") "I equip my dragon with this and then sacrifice it to summon out Kaiser Glider!" (2400/2200)
Terra narrowed his eyes slightly. ("Why equip your monster with something and then send it to the graveyard?")
He understood a moment later when the emerald-colored Crystal Dragon reappeared on the field. Ahran held up a card. "I used my Light of Rebirth equipment magic card on my Crystal Dragon. When the monster equipped with this card is sent to the graveyard, then I may special summon it back to the field."
Terra smirked slightly and motioned with his fingers. "Come and play then, little whelp."
Ahran pointed at Diabound Carnel. "Go Crystal Burst!" Opening its jaws, the dragon released a wave of crystal light that tore towards the monster…and then swerved to slam into the remaining Diabound token. "What?"
Terra- 5250
Esmin- 4000
Ahran- 4000
Terra pointed to his Shadow Creator. "This monster possesses the power to force you to attack all tokens on my field before attacking anything else."
Ahran pointed at Diabound Carnel. "Golden Burst!" The Kaiser Glider opened its jaws and released a wave of energy that hurtled across the field towards the demon. "You won't escape this time!"
"That's what you think." The golden ball of fire swerved and blew the Shadow Creator apart. "Did I mention that my Shadow Creator counts as a token?"
Terra- 4650
Esmin- 4000
Ahran- 4000
Ahran snarled and slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Terra shook his head sadly. "You're just like Rikuo. It's sad really." Then he looked over at Esmin. "Maybe you can do better?"
Esmin drew twice. "I intend to. First I summon Gurandora (1900/700) in attack mode. When this monster is summoned I gain 1000 life points, but when it is destroyed I lose 2000."
Terra- 4650
Esmin- 5000
Ahran- 4000
The fox demon pointed at Diabound Carnel. "I'm getting very sick of that thing! Go my monster!" Gurandora roared and charged, slashing Diabound Carnel in half.
Terra- 4550
Esmin- 5000
Ahran- 4000
Terra snapped his fingers. "Nice attempt, but bad idea. I activate the trap card My Opponent's Shadow. This card changes the target of the attack to another creature. Namely…" Diabound Carnel reappeared on the field, and Gurandora charged towards Kaiser Glider, immediately getting blown apart.
Terra- 4550
Esmin- 2500
Ahran- 4000
Esmin frowned and slid a card into his disk. "I activate the equipment magic card Poison Spore. This will make it so that if you destroy my Fairy King Truesdale, the monster the destroys it will be destroyed as well. Then I switch my King into defense. End turn." The elf fell to one knee and its skin turned a pale purple.
Terra drew twice. "I love this. It's so much fun finally being able to duel how I wish, without any kind of limitations on me!"
("What's he talking about?") Both Ahran and Esmin thought at once.
Terra smirked. "Forgive me, I got carried away. Now then, let's continue. I summon Dark Familiar (700/700) in defense mode." A little demon appeared on the field next to Diabound Carnel. "This monster cannot be attacked as long as I have other monsters on the field. While it is in defense mode its attack strength will be given to one monster on my field. In this case…" The demon's body gave off black ribbons of energy that ran through Diabound Carnel's body. (2500/1600) "Now I summon out my Diabound token and equip it to Crystal Dragon." Another shadow of Diabound Carnel latched onto the emerald-colored monster. (950/2750) "Now your creature is finished. Go Death Spiral!" The demon charged up another spiral blast and hurled it at Ahran's monster.
Ahran discarded a card from his hand and threw up his arms to try to stave off the blast as it barreled through his dragon and hit him. "Radiance Ring defends my monster from death."
Terra- 4550
Esmin- 2500
Ahran- 3050
Terra shrugged it off. He didn't care. "End turn."
Ahran drew twice. ("This is ridiculous…how long can he keep his monster alive? And as long as it stays in play we cannot do anything.") "I switch both Kaiser Glider and Crystal Dragon into defense mode." Both dragons curled their wings in and crouched. "Then I summon Barrier Angel (0/1700) in defense mode. This monster's special ability makes it impossible to attack as long as I have other monsters, and it raises the defense of all defensive monsters on my field by 500 points as well." An angel in heavy armor appeared on the field in a crouching position. (0/2200) (950/3250) (2400/2700) "End turn."
Esmin drew twice. ("I am more patient than you are Terra. You'll make a mistake long before I do.") "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Terra drew twice. "This is interesting…so now you both crumble to my Diabound Carnel? Bah, then I end my turn without playing anything." He looked sad, which seemed strange considering the fact that he was winning.
Ahran drew twice and his eyes widened. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Esmin had caught that look. ("What did you draw?") He drew twice. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Terra drew slowly, a dark smile on his face. ("Time to turn up the damage factor.") "I play the magic card Neiki Ouiju." A stone tablet appeared on the field and sucked the Barrier Angel into its surface. "This will seal away your monster and leave it useless. Not only is its effect gone, but when it is destroyed you'll lose 500 life points. Just to make this even more painful for you, I also summon Dark Serpent." (1600/1800) A huge black snake appeared on the field. "This monster's special ability doubles all power increases on my field. So now my Diabound Carnel gains another 700 attack points." (3200/1600) "Destroy the Crystal Dragon now, Death Spiral!" The grey demon threw a ball of energy that flew across the field and slammed into the dragon, blowing it apart. "And if I am correct, your Radiance Ring trap card will only work for monsters in attack mode. Such a shame for you. Then my Dark Serpent attacks Esmin's fairy!" The snake curled around the crouching fairy and then exploded along with its prey. "And your equipment magic card kills my snake, bringing Diabound Carnel back to its 2500 attack strength. End turn."
Ahran closed his eyes and drew twice. ("My friend…now's our chance to end this madness.") "You just did exactly what I wanted you to do."
"Oh really?" Terra smirked slightly. "Then come and try your luck against me."
Ahran smirked back. "I'm done being passive, it's time for you to die. Trap card activate! Go Crystal Rebirth!" The Crystal Dragon reappeared on the field. "This trap card revives one monster from my graveyard with either the word Crystal in its title or a gem name. Then I reveal my other card!" His card flipped up and the stone tablet exploded into dust. "The quickplay magic card Baptism of Light destroys one monster on my field and lets me special summon out one light monster from my hand to the field!" He threw down another card and a huge ruby-colored version of his Crystal Dragon appeared on the field. "Come out, Crystal Dragon!"
Terra- 4550
Esmin- 2500
Ahran- 2550
Terra narrowed his eyes slowly.
Ahran motioned to his Kaiser Glider, which stretched its wings and roared loudly into the darkness. "Kaiser Glider goes into attack mode. Now, try this on for size! Crystal Burst!" The ruby Crystal Dragon fired a blast of the same-colored light that slammed into Diabound Carnel and blew it apart. "And this time stay dead."
Terra- 4300
Esmin- 2500
Ahran- 2550
Terra motioned to his set cards. "I'm not that easily defeated! I reveal Mirror Wall Ouiju and Revival Ouiju! The first card will increase the attack strength of one monster on my field by half of the attack strength of a creature on yours, as long as target creature destroyed one of my monsters in battle. The other card will revive one of my lost monsters immediately!" Diabound Carnel reappeared on the field much larger than before. (3175/1600) "Also, Mirror Wall Ouiju forces the killer of my monster and the powered up monster to do battle immediately!" The demon threw a spiral burst of energy that blew the Crystal Dragon apart.
Terra- 4300
Esmin- 2500
Ahran- 2125
Ahran's eyes closed in pain. ("Forgive me, my friend…I should have known better.") "I play the continuous magic card Life-Giving Spring." A white stone fountain appeared behind his monsters. "Whenever you attack now I will gain 500 life points before damage calculation. End turn."
Esmin drew twice. ("Foolish boy is going to get himself killed at this rate.") "I set a monster in defense and discard one card from my hand to bring its size back down to six. End turn."
Terra drew. "You both are rather interesting. I never said the Mirror Wall Ouiju gave my monster a permanent attack increase. Oh well, such a shame."
Both Esmin and Ahran frowned at the fact that they had been tricked.
"What's the matter?" Terra feigned looking hurt. "It's not my fault. Anyway, now I summon Dark Eyes." (0/0) A pair of phantasmal red eyes appeared in the air above him. "This monster can be sacrificed to bring back any equipment magic card from my graveyard. So I'll take back Dead Spirit's After-image and equip it to my Diabound Carnel again." Another shadow of the demon appeared on his field. "Equip to Crystal Dragon!" The shade flew across the field and latched onto the Dragon. "Then Death Spiral!" (950/2750)
Ahran discarded a card from his hand just in time to catch what energy his dragon didn't stop right in the chest. Though the fountain sprinkled him with energy, it wasn't enough to remove the pain.
Terra- 4300
Esmin- 2500
Ahran- 1675
Terra slid a card into his duel disk and smirked. "End turn, whelp."
To be continued…
