Author's Notes: Yeah...I got nothing to say...yet.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Power From Within
Dalin drew, and Osiris instantly gained further power. Suddenly Dalin's graveyard glowed, and a card popped out of it. "If Saint Dragon Osiris is in play, once per turn I can return a card from the cemetery to my hand with the power of the Icon of Osiris. Now thanks to that I activate Payment of Debt!"
Drake's eyes went wide as he realized the implications of this. Each turn Dalin could get back Payment of Debt and pump his hand up by three cards, meaning Osiris would always be more powerful than the average monster. Now it had six thousand points. "If Icon of Osiris is in play and I play a card related to Osiris, I can instantly draw a new card."
Dalin held up a card from his hand, and with other hand he gestured towards Osiris. "Your attempts to destroy him have angered Osiris. Now, his wrath shall be swift and deadly. I play the magic card Wrath of Osiris, in order to use his second mouth ability against all monsters in play!"
Osiris opened its second mouth wide, and fired three blasts of energy at Drake's monsters. They collided with the creatures and blew them away, and smoke filled up Drake's field. "Since that card related to Osiris my hand size is instantly six again. However, I now play Hands Clawing from the Lands of the Dead! This card works in concert with Osiris, and destroys your hand!"
Osiris slashed with one clawed arm, and three blades of energy slammed into Drake, forcing him backwards. He groaned and dropped to one knee, his cards falling from his hand. Instantly Dalin drew a new card, keeping his hand size at six, and giving him a god with six thousand points against his empty field and hand. "I see...so this is your true strength."
"Yes. You have dueled well, but now it's over. Saint Dragon Osiris(6000/6000), attack him directly!" Osiris' jaw opened up and a massive beam of energy erupted from it. Everyone watched in shock as the strike hit Drake and blew him completely off the platform.
Steam rose off the fallen emerald flame form of Drake Ihachi as he lay prostrate on the ground, completely unmoving. Dalin stood beneath the hovering head of Osiris, watching his opponent carefully. "I told you, that is my power. For I am the very might of Osiris incarnate on Earth."
The wind blew across the top of the Duel Tower, and silence followed these words.
They all stared, watching the smoke rise from Drake's false body. Dalin stood exactly where he had, Osiris above him and his arms at his sides. Hikari and Kirani began to move towards Drake, when Dalin suddenly made a slashing motion at them with his hand. A barrier appeared in front of them, blocking their way. "Stand back. It's not over yet."
Everyone looked at him in surprise, but their gazes were drawn to Drake as the teenage boy in fire elemental form groaned and sat up, shaking his head. "Damn...that was seriously powerful. But don't count me out quite yet Dalin!"
He took a leap and landed back on the platform in his original position. He raised his duel disk and smirked, ready to continue. Dalin nodded, and then asked what was all on their minds. "I had realized you weren't finished when the cards on the field didn't immediately fade. However, would you explain how you survived?"
"Simple, Scholarly Magician allows me to activate magic cards from my hand during the opponent's turn, or set cards on the field during their turn. Any card set in this manner can be activated during that turn. So when you went after Scholarly Magician I set a card on the field. You didn't see it because of the smoke. And here's the card." He held his hand in front of his graveyard slot and it popped out.
"The Shrink magic card, which let me reduce Osiris' attack power by half to three thousand. It was nearly enough to finish me off, but not quite. So this duel is still on." He returned the card to the grave, leaving him with no hand and no field except for Effect Economics. Meanwhile Dalin had his Icon of Osiris and Saint Dragon Osiris at six thousand attack points. (DRLP: 1000)
"Very well, I end my turn, leaving me with six cards in my hand." Drake frowned, having hoped that Dalin would empty his hand slightly. Then again, with the immunities that the gods had, it was no surprise he felt no need to leave cards out to protect it. All Osiris needed was its effect and cards in hand.
Drake took a deep breath and drew the top card of his deck. He took one glance at it and girded himself for what was to come. "It's going to come down to the power of a god, versus whatever I can rely on. Just know, Osiris won't be enough to defeat Eikyuu."
"We'll see. Before you tell me what power can defeat Eikyuu, perhaps you should worry about defeating me first." Drake nodded, as grim faced and cold as Dalin. This was no time to joke around, this was a win or lose moment in a very important duel. A duel Drake had no intention of losing.
"I set one monster face down!" A brown backed card appeared in front of him, face down. Osiris eyed it like a snack, and Dalin nodded. The god opened its mouth wide, and energy charged within.
Kirani gasped as he realized what was happening. Hikari looked at her strangely, so she explained. "Saint Dragon Osiris has a special ability. Whenever a monster is summoned by the opponent Osiris strikes it with an attack that drains it of two thousand points. If it has less than two thousand points, it is destroyed. So the only reason Drake would set a monster face down with Osiris in play...is to force the immediate activation of a flip effect."
Osiris' Summon Lightning Impact blew Drake's set monster apart, leaving no traces. But Drake was grinning, having known that Osiris had no choice but to use its own effect. "Your monster's effect flipped up my Sage of Everlasting Light(500/400) who will now determine the course of this duel. And I'll bet everything on tails!"
A giant coin was projected holographically, and it began to spin up in the air. It came down as a blur, striking on its edge and bouncing crazily across the field. It went into a spin, and finally slowed landing with one side face up. Both duelists stared at it, and then Drake punched one hand into the air. "Tails it is! Now, I draw five cards!"
"Now, my true strength is what will combat Osiris. I set three cards face down, and end my turn!" Now his only barrier between him and a god were three magic or trap cards. It was down to just those, and no god could be destroyed by such things.
Dalin drew and then caught the card that his graveyard spat out. "Payment of Debt, that lets me draw three new cards, putting my hand size at ten cards." Osiris hissed, spreading steam all over the field as its power rose to even greater heights.
"If you thought Osiris would be alone, you were greatly mistaken. According to their effect I now special summon two monsters from my hand. Servant of Osiris(?) And Servant of Osiris(?)!" Two human figures appeared, wearing simple drab white robes. They only thing that set them apart from normal humans were their glowing silver eyes.
"Question marks? Why are their attack and defense points question marks?" Dalin gestured broadly to both of them, and their bodies became lined with silver energy.
"Much like their master their attack and defense points are based on the cards in my hand. For each card in my hand they gain three hundred attack and defense points. Since I hold eight cards, Osiris has eight thousand and they both have twenty-four hundred." Drake grimaced, realizing that he was now facing down three very powerful monsters who would just become more powerful.
"Now, Saint Dragon Osiris launches an attack!" Just like when it attacked Drake directly, the Egyptian god sent a stream of high powered energy straight at the duelist.
"Open face down card, Protection of the Destined! This card prevents me from being harmed by monsters during this turn, so none of your attacks can be completed." The attack phased right through Drake, blasting apart a spire of the tower that rested behind him. Drake grimaced, realizing that something similar could happen to him if he was hit by Osiris.
"So be it. I set one card face down. Now I end my turn, discarding one card from my hand to reduce my hand size to six." He slid a card into his grave, and then folded his arms, awaiting Drake's move.
"Your monsters are all limited by your hand size. Although potentially they can all be devastatingly powerful, you can't hold more than six cards in your hand. And therein lies the base flaw in Osiris." Drake smirked and drew, planning it all out.
Dalin didn't seemed bothered by Drake's confidence, in fact he had a simple smile on his face. "That's not as accurate as you might have hoped. You see, the card I discarded to return my hand size to the limit was called Balance of the Body and Soul. As long as it exists in the cemetery my hand size has no limit."
Drake frowned, realizing that he had to toss that theory out the window. Apparently Dalin's deck had ways of dealing with the few flaws that Osiris had and capitalizing on them. Osiris was just about at its perfect form, now the only flaw remaining was what would happen if Drake managed to empty Dalin's hand. 'All I can do is just duel. He's not getting through this duel without showing me his all!'
"I summon Sunset Magician(1300/2000) in defense mode!" The red robed magician appeared, and was immediately struck by a purple sphere of energy. The magician looked severely weakened as its defense dropped to a meager zero points.
"Since Sunset Magician was hit by an attack, I now get to draw one card. Now, I set that card face down and end my turn!" A third card appeared on his field, protecting him from Dalin's assembled forces.
As soon as Dalin drew his graveyard returned a card to him. "Just as usual, I activate Payment of Debt. Then I follow that up with Pot of Greed, granting me a grand total of eleven cards."
Dalin scanned his cards and then took one of them and slid it into his duel disk. "Perhaps you were planning on exploiting the remaining flaw of Osiris and forcing me to get rid of my hand to weaken Osiris. However, one card will make that impossible. Go, Hand Stasis Field!"
He took the ten other cards from his hand and inserted them back into his deck. Then he shuffled them all together and returned his deck to his duel disk. Behind him ten holographic Duel Monsters cards appeared. "When activated Hand Stasis Field lets me shuffle any number of cards from my hand into my deck. For the rest of the duel my hand is considered to be set at that amount. So now I have a set hand size of ten cards."
Drake grimaced, realizing exactly what that meant. No matter what he tried, Osiris would always have ten thousand points, and the Servants would always have three thousand. 'He's just created a permanent army of monsters with huge attack strength. As if one weren't enough!'
Realizing that he had little choice, Drake knew he had to act. Now was the time for desperate measures, not for sitting back and letting things happen. "I activate my trap card, Soul Theft! By sacrificing one monster on my field I can remove five cards from my deck from play!"
Sunset Magician faded away, and Drake reached for his deck. He popped it out and quickly took five cards, and held them up. All five of them vanished, leaving nothing in their place. "Now that I've done that, I guess I'm set. It's still your move Dalin."
Dalin frowned, his eyes lowering to look at Drake's two remaining set cards. 'He removed those five cards for a reason, but even I can't know exactly what it is. Even in a situation such as this it would be best for me to use caution. Osiris is my best bet.'
He raised his right arm, Icon of Osiris glowing brightly, and pointed at Drake. "Saint Dragon Osiris...attack him directly. Thunder Force Attack!" His dragon god launched its deadly attack, sending an enormous blast of divine energy straight at his opponent.
Drake snapped his fingers together, and one of his two remaining cards flipped up. A swirling vortex of green flame appeared in front of him, and something started coming out of it. "My card is called Chaos Magic Vortex! This lets me take one magic or trap card from out of play and immediately activate it!"
A giant holographic card emerged from the vortex, which closed behind the card. As Osiris' attack closed in, the giant card turned around. A rainbow barrier appeared in the way of the attack and Osiris strike flickered out of existence. "I can't destroy gods with magic or traps, but I can negate their attacks! Mirage Magic absorbs Osiris' attack and increases my life points!" (DRLP: 11000)
Azure watched with wide eyes as the two duelists played on to the best of their abilities. 'Dalin's power is enormous, but this Drake fellow is excellent as well. Even with a god facing off against him he doesn't back down at all. I can't tell which one is better.'
Kirani watched nervously as both of them clashed. Although normally she would have supported Drake in a duel as things currently stood if Dalin didn't win the duel then there was no telling what would happen. 'At this point all I can do is watch.'
Takuya watched, his jaw set painfully tight as he gritted his teeth. This whole duel was nerve wracking. 'Drake, I consider you a rival and a friend and at the current level you're displaying I don't know if I could defeat you. But Dalin is the reigning champion of this game...so which of you is stronger?'
Hikari watched and wrung her hands together, feeling the stress of a duel like this on her. Just like Kirani she felt the urge to support her brother in this duel, she knew that it was important for Dalin to win. 'Good luck to the both of you...'
"Osiris' attack may have failed, but I still have two more monsters. Servants of Osiris, attack Drake and undo what he has done!" Both robed men raised their hands and fired beams of silver at Drake. The punk duelist in green flame form took the attacks to the chest and slid back from the force. (DRLP: 5000)
"You're good Dalin, but no matter how good you are I have no intention of losing. Since your hand is empty I think it's safe to assume that your turn is over." Dalin nodded curtly, and Drake drew immediately afterwards.
Drake glanced at his new card, and then immediately held it up above his head. "The gods may be unstoppable in terms of regular battle, and they may be immune to destruction effects, but that doesn't mean they're invincible. I can't kill Osiris, but I can certainly remove it as a threat!"
Dalin looked up as Osiris roared, its body flashing as a swirling vortex appeared above it. The massive body of the god was pulled up into the vortex, and in moments it was nowhere to be seen. "What have you done to Osiris?"
"My Pulse of Chaos magic card lets me remove one monster on the field from the game. In this case I chose to remove Osiris, so it's no longer a threat. Of course I'm far from done!" He took one of the last two cards in his hand and slammed it down on his duel disk. Energy gathered in front of him, and a shape began to form.
"Thanks to the ability of Soul Theft my Sunset Magician was waiting as a tribute, and I've just used it. So meet Chaos Magician Girl(2000/1700)!" An attractive woman in blue and black leather appeared, buckles all over her outfit. She flashed a smirk at Dalin and twirled her ebony staff above her head.
"Chaos Magician Girl outclasses Dark Magician Girl in all ways, much like Black Magician of Chaos outclasses the Dark Magician. For instance, she gains three hundred attack points for each card that has been removed from play. That's four of the cards I removed with Soul Theft, and Sunset Magician!" Black lightning crackled around Drake's magician's form, increasing her strength to a superior thirty-five hundred.
"Your Servants are powerful, but they're wide open and no match for Chaos Magician Girl. Chaos Burning Attack!" The same black lightning that had previously lined the form of the magician girl now shot down her staff and at one of the Servants. The opposing monster shattered and became nothing but digital fragments. (DLP: 1700)
"The last card in my hand goes face down, and then it's your turn." A new card appeared on his field, backing up his Chaos Magician Girl. It was two cards face down, Effect Economics, and his girl against one Servant of Osiris with a static three thousand points and the Icon of Osiris.
The giant of a duelist picked up the top card of his grave, and then immediately took a card from his grave and held it out. "Payment of Debt now allows me to draw three new cards."
He drew three more cards, giving him four cards in his hand. Not only that but it boosted Servant of Osiris to a deadly forty-two hundred attack and defense points since his hand size was technically considered to be fourteen. "My monster is strong, but that won't be enough to finish you off."
Although having more cards in his hand assisted his monster with greater strength, he had something in mind to deal with the boost of power that Chaos Magician Girl received. "Although Osiris is gone, his powers are not lost. I activate the magic card Summon Lightning Impact, which will simulate his second mouth ability!"
He thrust out his left hand and sphere of purple energy identical to the effect of Osiris shot out. Chaos Magician Girl winced as it slammed into her stomach and drained her of two thousand attack points, leaving her with a merely average fifteen hundred. "She may be weakened, but she's not out yet. Or had you forgotten my two face down cards?"
Dalin shook his head, and then motioned to Servant of Osiris. "I had not forgotten, but little is accomplished by always holding back and never taking a chance. So I won't hold back at all. Servant of Osiris, attack Chaos Magician Girl!"
His monster fired its energy attack, and one of Drake's face down cards flipped up. "Go, Chaos Mirror! At random one card will be taken from my out of play pile and activated and I know just what I want!"
A large black mirror appeared in front of Chaos Magician Girl, and her attack power drained to twelve hundred as a card was taken from out of play. The card on the mirror spun around, and it looked like Black Magician of Chaos launching an attack. "Just what I had in mind. Chaos Scepter Blast!"
"That magic card...it can only be used when Black Magician of Chaos is on the field. How will that help you?" Dalin knew that something was coming, because Drake appeared completely confident and focused. In the last moment before the attack could strike the remaining card on Drake's field revealed itself.
"Chaos Renewal! This normally costs eight hundred life points, but Effect Economics removes that cost. Now I can special summon one monster from out of play or from the cemetery with 'chaos' in its title. Come on out, Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600)!" The familiar leather clad blue skinned magician that was Drake's primary monster flickered into view in front of the magician girl, draining her attack power by a further three hundred points.
"Now that he's in play, he gets to use his magic card. Chaos Scepter Blast will not only destroy your monster, but it also removes it and the top two cards of your deck from the game since it's a level two monster!" Black Magician of Chaos slammed his scepter against the ground, and a blast of chaos energy shot forwards and blew apart Servant of Osiris. Then the magician smacked aside the beam of silver energy, protecting his apprentice.
Dalin frowned and slid Servant of Osiris and two cards off his deck and tossed them to Drake. The effect of Chaos Scepter Blast took the removed cards and placed them in the opponent's removed from play pile. Therefor Chaos Magician Girl regained nine hundred attack points, putting her at eighteen hundred. "Well played Daisuke."
Drake smirked in response, awaiting the end of Dalin's turn. "Very well, it seems I will have to return to a more defensive posture. I set one card face down and place a monster in defense as well. End turn."
The punk duelist drew and then took his card and the card he had returned from his magician's effect and slid them both onto his duel disk. "I'll set those two cards face down."
He frowned, looking over his two monsters. He knew that he could attack, but this was the first time since Dalin had unleashed Osiris that he had felt the need to set a card. There was no telling what sort of cards it could be and no telling what the monster was. 'But he's right, there's no way I can win this by being overly cautious.'
"Here I come! Black Magician of Chaos, attack his set monster!" He had to attack with it, just in case the set monster was another Servant of Osiris. That way he wouldn't lose too many life points if the monster's defense was extremely high.
Black Magician of Chaos jumped into the air and pointed his staff down at the set monster. A stream of black lightning crashed into the set monster, and it appeared as an old man with glowing silver eyes before vanishing. "You flipped Osirian Necromancer(300/100). Although he is removed from the game, his effect ends your battle phase and lets me revive three monsters from the cemetery with zero attack and defense points."
Three cards were spat out of his graveyard, and he caught all of them and slapped them on his duel disk. Two were simple glowing spheres, and the third was a man in white robes with glowing silver eyes. "Holy Shine Sphere(0/0), Holy Shine Sphere(0/0), and Servant of Osiris(0/0)."
Dalin held up his duel disk so Drake could see that his two spheres were in defense mode. Based on how it was standing tall, it was already obvious that Servant of Osiris was in attack mode. "Osirian Necromancer may have set Servant of Osiris' points at zero, but his own effect now raises his attack and defense to thirty-three hundred!"
Drake grimaced, realizing that now Dalin had three monsters to work with again, including one that was stronger than any of his own monsters. 'I've still got my set cards, so I'm safe. His monsters are just as vulnerable to effects as mine are.'
On the other side of the field Dalin had already drawn and taken a card from his grave. He slid the returned card back into his grave as he activated it. "Once more, Payment of Debt activates."
He slid three more cards off his deck, boosting Servant of Osiris forty-five hundred attack and defense points. "It's time to see what you have. Now, I activate See No Evil! During this turn you cannot activate face down cards."
Dalin noticed his opponent's fists clench tightly as energy bonds wrapped around his set cards, making it impossible for them to be used. Now it was just monster versus monster, and Dalin's was superior. "Three turns ago you removed Osiris from play. Osiris was once betrayed by Seth and chopped into pieces, but he always returns. Just as that is the case, so shall he now return!"
He held out one of the four cards of his hand and the sky above clouded up again, lightning striking down on the platform. "I play Descent of the Lord of the Dead! By sacrificing two monsters on my field I can permanently bring Saint Dragon Osiris back from the cemetery or out of play."
The two Holy Shine Spheres flew up into the clouds above, and a loud roar reached their hearing. For the second time in the duel the mighty lord of the dead descended from the clouds above, wrapping his giant form around the Duel Tower. "Saint Dragon Osiris(14000/14000) has returned!"
Drake kept himself calm even as the enormous god opened its maw, giving Drake a perfect view of the massive amounts of energy gathering within. "Now I attack your two monsters with Saint Dragon Osiris and Servant of Osiris!"
The two monsters attacked with a combined strength that would easily strip Drake of all of his life points. Drake took a deep breath and then waved his hand over his field, and suddenly both of his monsters vanished. "Like all magicians my monsters have tricks up their sleeves, including a disappearing act. But not to worry, they left a present in their place."
A card popped out of his deck and he threw it onto one of his monster zones. A huge man with a shining barrier of energy in one hand appeared, crouching in defense mode. "This is Chaos Defender(0/4000) who can be instantly summoned from my deck by removing two monsters on the field from the game!"
"He's just in the way!" Osiris' attack smashed into the Chaos Defender, and the energy barrier shattered just seconds before he did. Then the silver attack of Servant of Osiris hit Drake in the chest and forced him backwards. (DRLP: 1100)
Dalin slid a card onto his duel disk, reducing the attack power of his two monsters slightly. However, they were still both easily stronger than most monsters any duelist could unleash. Now it was Drake's turn to see if he could make another comeback. 'Back and forth, first I have the advantage, then he has it, then I have it, and now he has it again!'
He held up the single card in his hand and then calmly placed it onto his duel disk. A black clad form appeared, holding a simple looking wand in one hand. "Chaos Apprentice(1600/1400) has spent many years trying to gain the sort of strength that his masters posses, and in moments thanks to Osiris he will gain that power!"
The muscular duelist frowned, realizing that he couldn't stop Osiris from using its effect. So he simply waited as Osiris launched its Summon Lightning Impact at Chaos Apprentice and blew it away. "Since Chaos Apprentice was destroyed I'll reintroduce you to Black Magician of Chaos(2800/2600)!"
Osiris instantly opened its second mouth and fired another blast. The blast hit the magician in the chest, but he stood fast even as his attack power was drained by two thousand points, reducing him to a meager level of eight hundred. "You didn't summon him for attacking did you?"
"Nope, I use his effect and return a magic card from the grave to my hand. Now go, Pulse of Chaos! Remove Saint Dragon Osiris from play again!" The same vortex from before appeared above Osiris' head and the giant dragon god began to be pulled upwards into it.
"I will hear nothing of this. I was prepared for such an attempt, so I activate Hear No Evil, my face down card. At a cost of a single discard I can negate any effect activated by the opponent. So your vortex fails." The vortex began to close, and Saint Dragon Osiris shook off its pull, slowly returning to its place.
"You may have been prepared for me, but I was also prepared for you! When I removed five cards from the game with Soul Theft I put a special card out of play, one that can be activated from the removed from play pile. I activate Chaos Flux!" Energy flowed from the clouds into the vortex, and once again it began to expand, drawing Saint Dragon Osiris into it.
"Normally Chaos Flux lets me remove one card in my hand from play to negate an effect, but if it exists out of play I can use it to negate an effect at no cost. So Hear No Evil fails...and Pulse of Chaos succeeds!" Saint Dragon Osiris' managed one final roar before it was drawn completely into the vortex and was closed up away in the removed from play pile.
With no more cards on the field and a single weak monster to work with, Drake had no choice but to end his turn. However, he was perfectly confident that his face down cards would protect him. "I draw."
"And then you activate Payment of Debt, I know." Dalin nodded and drew another three cards, once more giving him an impressive hand size of five cards. Nothing could stop Dalin from always having the cards he needed at this rate.
"I activate Emergency Restoration. I may shuffle any number of cards back into my deck from my hand to increase my life points by five hundred for each. So I return three cards and gain fifteen hundred attack points." He returned the three to his deck, leaving him with just one card in his hand. (DLP: 3300)
"Now I summon the final Servant of Osiris(3000/3000). The first one will now attack Black Magician of Chaos!" His monster launched its attack, but a rainbow barrier blocked it, and then flowed straight into Drake's duel disk. (DRLP: 4100)
"The first time I summoned Black Magician of Chaos I used it to bring back Mirage Magic, which I set face down. That let me once again negate one of your monster's attacks and increase my life points by its attack strength." Dalin nodded and then motioned to his remaining Servant, which raised its hand and fired its attack.
Drake grimaced as one of his best monsters was blown away by the attack, and since it had been in attack mode he also took a significant amount of damage. "Your Black Magician of Chaos was no match for Servant of Osiris." (DRLP: 1900)
Since Dalin had no more cards in his hand his turn was over. Now Drake was left with just one card face down and no hand. But at the same time he hardly seemed bothered by this. "It's time. Time to show you the power that is needed to stand strong against Eikyuu. Defeat me and this power will be granted to each of you, protecting you from him."
He drew, and the light around him began to dim. Everything was darkening, the light going out as it was all drawn into the card he now held in his hand. "I don't feel particularly orderly right now, so I guess you'll understand shortly."
Everyone watched as Drake took the card he had face down and held it up next to his newly drawn card. White light began to swirl around the two cards, and then a tendril of darkness swirled around them as well. "Heart of Darkness, Heart of Light. Time to combine them together!"
The two cards merged into one, and a Kanji symbol appeared in red flame on Drake's forehead, appearing strange as opposed to his green flame body. "Together in this situation they have created the Heart of Chaos! And now, this card creates for me a monster like no other. Come forth, Lord of Chaos(3000/3000)!"
A figure emerged from the card, its body covered by lines of black lightning and white lightning, keeping its actual appearance hidden from view. The energy creature snapped its fingers, and both duelist's disks began to glow. "Lord of Chaos now removes our cemeteries from play, and he'll remove your entire field from play as well!"
Dalin grimaced as his field vanished, leaving him completely open. "Lord of Chaos, attack Dalin directly!" Streams of black lightning and white lightning arced through Dalin's body, shocking him and burning him at the same type. When the attack ended he dropped to his knees, breathing heavily as steam rose up off his body. (DLP: 300)
"This is the power that you must defeat! If you can't beat me and the Lord of Chaos, then you can't beat Eikyuu! So get up and let's keep playing." Dalin rose back onto his feet and drew, power surging through his body as he did so.
"Card of Sanctity!" Both duelists snapped six cards off their decks, giving them full hands to work with. But the one with the immediate advantage was Dalin, because he could use his cards here and now.
"I activate the continuous magic card, Judgement of Ma'at!" A massive set of balancing scales appeared in front of him, dominating his now empty field. All of them watched it carefully, wondering what it could do.
"Now, by discarding Feather of Ma'at from my hand I can destroy one card on the opponent's field and increase my life points by its attack strength." Lord of Chaos appeared on one side of the balancing scales, and a pure white feather on the other. Lord of Chaos easily outweighed the feather, and he disappeared. (DLP: 3300)
"I summon Priest of Osiris(1500/1300) in attack mode. Now, Priest of Osiris shall attack you directly!" A man in fanciful white and purple robes appeared and raised a golden staff. A beam of white light fired from the tip of the staff, heading straight for Drake.
"You mistake Lord of Chaos for a normal monster. I discard a card from my hand and revive him in defense mode, automatically becoming the target of your attack!" The energy monster appeared crouching in defense, and the beam of energy bounced off of him and crashed into Dalin. (DLP: 1800)
"Your monster is truly impressive. So I believe I'll set two cards face down and end my turn." Two cards appeared beside the giant balance scales, potentially protecting him from the Lord of Chaos' attack.
Drake snapped a card off his deck and then immediately slid two cards from his hand into the graveyard. "By discarding two cards from my hand Lord of Chaos can remove your entire field and hand from play!"
Energy began to consume Dalin's field, but one of his two face down cards flipped up. "You have triggered the anger of the gods. Reveal Divine Wrath! I shall discard one card from my hand to negate Lord of Chaos' effect and destroy it!"
Holy light shone down from the sky above, and Lord of Chaos was blown apart by it. Dalin slid the last card in his hand into the cemetery, and stood patiently awaiting the next move. Drake frowned and slid a card into his graveyard. "I discard a card to revive Lord of Chaos in defense mode. Now, I discard two to remove your field from play!"
Lord of Chaos appeared again, and a vortex then showed up above Dalin's field. However, Dalin didn't seem bothered by this. "It is time. I activate my Priest's effect. Now I take one card that went from my hand to the cemetery and place it on my field, while placing one card that went from my field to the grave into my hand."
A card returned to his hand while a new card appeared face down on his field. Drake frowned, not quite seeing what this was going to accomplish. All he had done was set the card he had discarded and get back Divine Wrath. "Priest's ability also allows the newly set card to be activated immediately, so I activate the card I discarded. A second Divine Wrath!"
Drake gasped in horror as his Lord of Chaos was blown apart by the effect of Dalin's counter trap. Then Dalin immediately took two cards from his grave and placed one onto the field and one into his hand. 'I see. He's got a great lock there, because he just needs to discard a Divine Wrath for a Divine Wrath and then he'll immediately get both back. Monster effects are blocked.'
"I set one card face down. End." He frowned, realizing he had just emptied his entire hand in an effort to clear Dalin's field, yet he hadn't succeeded. Dalin was proving to be perhaps the most formidable opponent he had ever faced.
Dalin took his newly drawn card and placed it on his disk next to his priest. Immediately a woman in identical garb appeared next to the priest. "Priestess of Osiris(1500/1300) in attack mode. Now I shall send one card from my hand and one card from my field to the grave in order to draw two cards."
He picked up two new cards off his deck, and then his Priest started to glow. Two cards shot out of his graveyard and he immediately placed one on the field and one back in his hand. "These two monsters work perfectly in unison, for when Priestess sends cards to the grave they immediately return thanks to the Priest. Now, Priest attacks!"
"Go face down card, Hope of Dreams! I get to draw one card for each monster on your field and special summon a monster from out of play in defense mode for one turn! That monster will block the attack!" He drew twice, and then smirked as a giant red head drifted down to block the Priest's attack. The massive form of Osiris now rested on Drake's side of the field. (DLP: 1300)
Dalin frowned and folded his arms, showing that his turn was over. Drake drew, giving him three cards in his hand. He glanced at one of them, and then immediately slapped it down. "Chaos Priest(800/400) in defense mode. When summoned I can special summon one monster from out of play. So I think Osiris will be my weapon!"
"I activate Divine Wrath and discard Divine Wrath, immediately returning them to their places." Drake nodded, his priest shattering under the power of Dalin's trap card loop. But to Dalin's surprise Drake looked happy about this.
"When destroy Chaos Priest is removed from play. Since that was a different effect you didn't get the chance to negate it. And at that same instant I can take five cards from out of play and return them to my deck." Five cards appeared in his hand and then he shuffled them into his deck.
"Now I set these two cards face down. Back to you Dalin." Now all that was between Dalin and Drake were two face down cards. But Dalin was well aware that a large factor of danger from Drake came from his magic and trap cards. With a combination of deadly monsters he became a truly deadly duelist.
Dalin drew, but before he could do anything Drake had already activated a set card. "Here's my trap card, Drifting Towards Nothingness! This instantly removes all cards on both of our fields and hands from the game until the end of my next turn!"
A massive vortex appeared above them and pulled all of the cards they had into it, leaving both of them with barren hands and fields. "Since I cannot play anything, my turn is over."
Drake frowned at his newest card, but shrugged and threw it onto his disk. "I was hoping to finish it now, but this will just have to do. Go, Messenger of Chaos(1200/900)! This monster can be considered at any time to not be in play and I can pay half of my life points to return all cards from out of play back to our decks. At the same time I get to bring back one card of mine that was removed in the last two turns."
A single card appeared face down behind his Messenger of Chaos, and both duelists shuffled every single one of their out of play cards back into their decks. "Messenger of Chaos, attack Dalin directly!" The blast caught Dalin in the side, dropping him to one knee. (DLP: 100)
Dalin drew, but just as before Drake was busy activating his face down card. "By considering Messenger of Chaos out of play I can activate my face down card! Sealed Life is a counter trap that only works when I have no other cards on my field and it prevents you from playing any cards onto the field from your hand this turn!"
Azure looked away, realizing what had just happened. She should have known that it was impossible for anyone to pass the Trials. Always even those that got closest failed in the final challenge. As far as she was considered it was as if the game were rigged, but she knew that to not be the case. 'They have failed the Trials, he has lost. Without the ability to play any cards it is over.'
Drake and Dalin stared at each other for several moments, and then finally Dalin spoke. "We both played well, and in the end only one duelist could win. But you should know by now that I do not lose. Now, I discard Spirit of Ammut from my hand in order to special summon a certain monster from my deck."
Drake gasped as a behemoth of a monster appeared on the dueling platform, its body a mix of deadly creatures. He could feel its power as well, and he knew what was coming. "Daisuke, this is Ammut the Devourer of Souls(2800/2300). Once per turn she removes a monster on the field from play and increases her attack by five hundred."
Ammut roared and clamped its massive jaws around the Messenger, consuming it whole. Its power rose to an impressive thirty-three hundred and it now was staring down Drake. Drake lowered his head, and then raised it again, smiling at Dalin. "You're the best duelist I know, and sooner or later we'll get a chance to duel again. When we do, I'll walk away the victor. Until then, congratulations. You've passed the Trials."
"Ammut, attack him directly!" Energy crashed into the phantom Drake's chest, and the roaring noise of the attack completely drowned out all else, including the sound of shifting life points. Then Ammut faded away, and the holographic projectors shut down. (DRLP: 0)
"Congratulations all of you, and I wish you luck against Eikyuu. You've succeeded in the Trials, and now the power of the Heart of Chaos will join with each of you, protecting you all from Eikyuu's power. It's time for you all to move on and to face the final challenge. Eikyuu awaits." He smiled one last time, and then his emerald fire body faded away, leaving no trace that he had ever been there.
The Duel Tower that they had been on faded away just as Drake had, and they found themself standing in the middle of the Madison Square Gardens arena, exactly where they had left. As one they turned to face the east, knowing what awaited them. "It's time. Eikyuu awaits."
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Author's Notes: What? Did you all think that such a long awaited duel would end in a single chapter? Ha! Now all that remains is Eikyuu.
Review Response
G.O.T. Nick: Maybe was right. Drake couldn't defeat the combo, but he could save himself.
The White Mage: See, don't underestimate it. They got more duel time than originally thought by most.
WolfGeneral: We are indeed at end game now. The Trials mini-arc is officially over.
Time Mage: I understand that you are the sole member of Sumatinism, a religion that worships Dalin Sumatin, but what you just said was purely ignorant. Had you actually read the duel through anything other than rose colored lenses you would have noticed that both duelists shifted back and forth with control. Did you not see Dalin being forced to simply preserve Jupiter? Did you not notice that neither duelist was every really caught off guard? Did you not notice how Dalin had to use his full power to take down Drake? Dalin is not WAY superior to Drake. So Mr. Sumatinite, I'd appreciate it if you did not completely ignore the happenings of a chapter just so you can say that Dalin is even better. Both are skilled duelists, and neither is necessarily superior to the other. Simply winning a duel does not determine completer superiority, especially in this case when it was so close.
That is all for my rant.
Original Cards(If I put a TM next to a card, that means it was created by Time Mage who created Kai, if it has WG next to it, it was created by WolfGeneral)
Drake: Sage of Everlasting Light, Protection of the Destined, Sunset Magician, Soul Theft, Chaos Magic Vortex, Pulse of Chaos, Chaos Magician Girl, Chaos Mirror, Chaos Scepter Blast, Chaos Renewal, Chaos Defender, Chaos Apprentice, Chaos Flux, Heart of Light, Heart of Darkness, Heart of Chaos, Lord of Chaos, Hope of Dreams, Chaos Priest, Drifting Towards Nothingness, Messenger of Chaos, Sealed Life
Dalin: Payment of Debt, Servant of Osiris, Hand Stasis Field, Summon Lightning Impact, Osirian Necromancer, Descent of the Lord of the Dead, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Emergency Restoration, Judgement of Ma'at, Feather of Ma'at, Priest of Osiris, Priestess of Osiris, Spirit of Ammut, Ammut the Devourer of Souls
