Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Midnight Arc

Chapter 15: Escape from Duelist Academy

The remains of the mansion that had housed the seal of Salamander, Guardian of Fire. And within those remains the last few humans on the Duelist Academy now stood.

"We got away…" Griff looked out the window in fear. He could deal with one of Midnight's specters at a time, but this was far too many.

Eri pounded her fist through the stone pillar in front of her. "You bastards…..Why didn't you let me save them?"

"It's simply a matter of numbers." Davis sat back in his chair and sighed. "I don't doubt that you could have defeated them…but all of them? It would be impossible for your body to survive the fifth darkness game. And there were over twenty of them at the dorm."

Krieger slept quietly at the back of the room. He had dueled a couple of the specters and won, but it had drained his strength.


"They try to hide from you milord," Scion bowed before Midnight's throne. "The demons and human are located in the place that held the Seal of Fire."

"We will deal with them in time." Midnight smirked coldly. "After all, there is no way they can possibly hope to defeat us with their cards. You could deal with all of them, but I'd prefer to keep you on reserve until the other Speakers have arrived."

"As you wish. What about Curse though?"

Midnight was keeping close track of that duel. Though he didn't know the specific plays being made, he could tell the general situation of the duel. "Curse is about to unleash his ultimate play against the holder of Luna's power. It should be sufficient to wipe out the weakened holder of the Dark Halo's power."


"Oh really?" Curse placed a card onto his disk. "I summon Visage Mummy (1000/1600) in defense mode." A blue mist-covered zombie appeared on the field in a crouching position. "While this monster is in play I can remove one monster on my field from play to give energy to count as one sacrifice." Another Soul Weaver exploded onto the field and he drew. "Again." Every monster from his graveyard was summoned, sacrificed, and he drew five more cards. Now he had six monsters in his removed from play pile. ("I have the necessary cards to deal with you now.")

Ichigo steadied his breath. Curse had nine cards in his hand, with Spirit Barrier, Card of Safe Return, and Life Lapse in play. ("With Life Lapse he can deal me 500 life points of damage whenever a monster on his field is destroyed.") Also, he had Visage Mummy (1000/1600) in play, which let him remove one monster in play to count as a sacrifice for an effect.

While Ichigo was doing alright. In play he had Black Skull Mage and Jungle Fighter, along with two face-down cards and Shining Sanctuary in play.

Ichigo- 2500

Curse- 1300

Curse sneered. "Are you ready for the last moments of life boy?" He slid a card into his disk. "Magic card activates!" Power flowed along him and the holographic representation of the card. "Dimensional Burial lets me move all monsters from my removed from play pile to the graveyard. Also…" He slid another card into his disk. "I play the quickplay magic card Torn Graves. This card will work perfectly, because whenever a card is moved to my graveyard from any location it counts as going there from the field!"

Ichigo gasped. "That means…Life Lapse…"

"Right. My Life Lapse Combo!" Seven ghostly forms appeared on the field. "Now these monsters go to the graveyard!" The forms started to lower into the graveyard. "Now take 3500 life points of damage!" Life Lapse released a blast of energy towards the half demon rapidly.

Ichigo pointed at one of his set cards. "I can't stop you from hurting me, but I can stop you from finishing me off! Go Damage Buffer!" The card flipped up and blocked the blast of energy. A smaller blast flew out the back of the card and hit him right in the ribs. Coughing in pain he dropped to the ground. "This card cuts all damage to my life points in half during this turn!"

Ichigo- 750

Curse- 1300

Curse growled and looked at the remaining cards he had. "You're a lucky little boy. So I set two cards face-down on the field. End turn."

Ichigo stumbled to his feet and drew. ("I'm done…I just want to sleep.") He looked at the drawn card and placed it onto the field. "I summon Shining Force-Thunder Mistress (2100/1600) in attack mode!" A leather-covered blond-haired woman appeared on the field, lightning crackling along her form. "Attack Visage Mummy!" She released a blast of lightning from her hands that hit the undead monster and blew it apart. "Now Jungle Fighter, attack his life points directly!"

"Reveal Commands from the Heavens!" One of Curse's set cards flipped up and Ichigo's monsters didn't budge at all. "This continuous trap card activates if I have all spaces of my magic and trap zone filled. Now neither of us can attack."

Ichigo growled and looked at his hand. "I…end my turn."

Curse drew. ("I must finish him off…") As his eyes flicked over the cards in his hand…he saw the answer. ("Heh…") "I summon Magic Retriever!" (1200/1500) A demon in magician robes appeared on the field. "Now I discard two cards from my hand to give him a counter. End turn."

Ichigo drew. ("Hyperion…you're good, but not capable of defeating this guy because of his trap card.") He looked at the monsters on the field. ("Thunder Mistress and Hyperion might fuse…") Growling, he knew that he couldn't risk wasting cards. "End turn."

Curse drew. "I summon Harp Mummy (1000/1800) in defense mode." A corpse appeared on the field holding onto a golden harp. "While this monster is in play monsters on your field cannot switch modes!" Two cards in his hand disappeared. "I sacrifice two more cards from my hand to add another counter to Magic Retriever! End turn."

Ichigo drew. "Again….end turn."

Curse drew. "Now's the time…for you to be destroyed! Reverse card open!" His remaining set card flipped up. "Enforcement of the Soldiers!" Commands from the Heavens exploded into dust. "If all cards in my magic and trap zones are face-up, it is destroyed." He pointed at his two field monsters. "I sacrifice these two to summon Master Lich." (2600/2900) A giant undead spellcaster appeared on the field and started to cackle darkly. "What's this? A mage?"

Dark Skull Mage narrowed his eyes. "Interesting…what in the darkness are you?"

Master Lich's bony hands held its staff calmly. "I am the master of the undead. Prepare yourself…for I am here to crush you and your master."

Dark Skull Mage looked back at Ichigo and then forwards at the Master Lich. "Your master is no match for mine."

"That's enough." Curse fanned out his deck. "When Magic Retriever is sent to the graveyard I may take one magic card from my deck for every counter on it." Now he had three cards in his hand.

Ichigo grimaced. ("Two magic cards of his choice…")

Curse slid one into his disk. "I play the magic card Curtain of the Dark Master." A black cloak fell around the Master Lich's shoulders. "This card allows me to activate the effect of one monster in my graveyard if I have an undead monster in play." A hole opened up in the ground and a phantasmal form floated up out of the hole. "I activate the effect of Phantom Assassin." (1000/1200) "When this monster is in play I can destroy one monster in play and deal you 500 life points of damage!" He pointed at Jungle Fighter. "That monster must be the weakest in play." The wild man exploded into dust.

Ichigo- 250

Curse- 1300

Ichigo groaned and fell to his knees. ("No…it hurts too much. I…") His eyes went out of focus and he crashed face-first to the ground.

Curse pointed at Thunder Mistress. "Master Lich, attack now! Chant of Dark Hell!" It started to chant into its staff and energy began to line around the woman's form. "Goodbye."

"Reverse card open…" Ichigo lifted his head, eyes still out of focus. "Negate Attack." Master Lich went silent.

Curse growled and slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Ichigo closed his eyes….and felt his strength give out.


Davis looked out the window and sighed weakly. ("Where are you Pilkington? Extraction will be coming for us in thirty more minutes…")

Eri stopped pacing across the room and snarled. "I'm getting my father's body!"

He snapped his arm out and grabbed her wrist. "Stay right here. Do not leave."

She snarled at him…but then went silent and looked away.


Curse pointed at the fallen Ichigo. "Get your ass up child."

Ichigo's fingers twitched…

Curse blinked a couple of times. "Who…are you?"

"Owie…" Alahandra stood up weakly, her golden hair framing a dirtied face. "Oh no…Ichigo…" She closed her eyes…and found his soul. It was silent, but it was there. Standing up, she looked at her hand and paled. ("I…really don't know how to duel…")

"Well?" Curse tapped his foot. "Since the darkness game hasn't done anything, you are an even trade. Hurry up and draw."

She slid the top card off of her deck. Though she understood the basic rules of the game…there wasn't any strategy in her mind. ("Well….oh yeah! I know what Hyperion does.") Taking the card she placed it onto her disk. "I summon Shining Force-Hyperion." (1600/1400) A golden body-suited warrior with a silver visor appeared on the field. "This monster can attack your life points directly. Go!" It aimed its palm at Curse and fired a blast of energy that hurtled towards the demon.

"Reveal face-down card." Curse pointed at his set card. "I activate the quickplay magic card Dark Flash." A blast of light blinded Hyperion and destroyed its attack. "This card negates one attack and ends your battle phase."

Alahandra gulped and looked down at her hand weakly. ("What do I do now?") Her eyes looked over the cards…and as she looked at the drawn card a faint spark of inspiration went off in her head. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Curse drew. "I don't know who you are but you definitely aren't worthy of me. Farewell! From my hand I play the magic card Bone Fireball! This magic card will destroy your life points by dealing you 1000 life points of damage!" Master Lich lifted its hand up, a fireball appearing in its cupped palms. "Little wench…die."

Alahandra closed her eyes. ("Please work….") "Reverse card open!" Her face-down card flipped up and the fireball disappeared.

"What?" Curse blinked in surprise. "What did you do?"

"Uhh…" Alahandra looked at her card. "Well…"

"I can answer that." Dark Skull Mage smirked. "Secrets of the Dark Arts can only activate while there is a dark spellcaster in play. If this card is activated in response to a magic card then that card will be negated. Also, this card will do something else too…" He smirked. "For every card you have in play you'll take 300 life points of damage!" A ball of energy charged up at the jewel on the end of his staff. Then it fired in a blast of energy towards the demon.

Curse looked at his hand and slammed a card into his disk. "I play the quickplay card Dark Barrier!" A shield of black smoke appeared in front of him. "This card negates one instance of effect damage." The blast hit the shield and dissipated.

Alahandra gulped again. "It didn't work…"

Dark Skull Mage smirked. "Actually…"

As the smoke cleared Curse smirked coldly. "You're finished…because now I…..I…" He stumbled, vision going in and out. "What…what in the hell did you do?" Letting out one weak gasp he exploded into dust.

Ichigo- 250

Curse- 0

Alahandra stared in amazement as the darkness sphere cleared away. "How did you do that?"

"Secrets of the Dark Arts deals its damage regardless of negating effects that are in play." Dark Skull Mage looked back at the girl coldly. "Farewell." He faded away.

Looking down at her deck, Alahandra shuffled the cards up and walked towards the Osiris Red dorm. ("Maybe I can find one of Ichigo's friends….")


"Duel! Duel! Duel!"

Davis gritted his teeth tightly as the doors of the mansion shuddered and exploded outwards as the wraiths surged in.

"There's no way we can duel all of these guys…" Griff stepped back and clenched his fists. "What do we do?"

"We duel them." Eri turned on her duel disk.

They both turned on their duel disks, while Krieger still slept behind them at the back of the hall.


Alahandra wandered around in confusion. "Where am I? Hello?"

"Duel…Duel…Duel…Duel…"

"Huh?" The blond-haired girl poked her head through some bushes and stared in amazement at the black-cloaked wraiths that floated around the mansion and started to flow into the building. "What are all of them doing?"


So…tired…

Well look at this. Are you tired? Weakened?

Please…Eri…wraiths…help…

You want my help? Why should I help you?

Because…you're…me…and Eri…is in trouble…

Grrrr…..

"Twisted Fiend, direct attack!"

"Tyrant, direct attack!"

"Cliff, direct attack!"

Three of the wraiths were blown apart as the three called monster brought their life points to zero. But the moment they fell new wraiths stepped in with duel disks ready. "Duel!"

"There's no end to these bastards…" Eri shuffled her deck and slammed it home.

"Damn it…" Davis shuffled his deck and drew his hand.

Griff stumbled as a wave of dizziness hit him. ("It's starting to wear on me…")

The wraiths prepared to draw their hands…until they all exploded into flames.

All three of the duelists stood in silence…unsure what had just happened.

"Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel!" The wraiths all turned towards the doorway…

Eri was the first to see him. "Ichigo…" Relief washed through her, because that meant he had won. ("But for him to come here…he'll try to save us…and die…")

Ichigo's hair shimmered night black, as did his irises. "Hmmm…so you pitiful shells of humans wish to duel?"

All 129 of the remaining wraiths formed their spectral duel disks at once.

Ichigo's body smirked. "Then this will be my warm-up exercise."

One of the wraiths started to move forwards. "I will be your first opponent."

"No." Ichigo's hand waved across the room. "All of you at once. I don't have the time to waste taking you down one after another." His duel disk slid into place.

All of the wraiths formed in front of him…and then mashed together into one spectral mass. And from within that mass emerged six wraiths, disks at ready. "Foolish mortal…if that is what you wish…so be it. We will exchange positions as our turns pass. But it is unlikely you will last more than one turn."

Ichigo's body snapped its fingers and the world around them blurred. "I begin this darkness game in according to the rules of the Dark Halo!" His lips curled into a dark smile. "On that note…that's who you will be facing in this duel."

Dark Halo- 4000

Wraiths- 4000X6 (123 in reserve)

To be continued…

Davis here. The Extraction team will arrive soon…but this is insane! Pilkington's not only lost his mind but he's challenging all of the wraiths at once!

Next Episode: 129 against one

To Seeker of the Soul: You know that Kaiba will get away with it, if just because nobody is gonna believe this crap if it ever gets out that this happened.

To falcon demon general: Haven't you ever seen a horror movie before? Saying 'how could it get any worse' is just asking for bad stuff.

To generic reviewer: What Yugioh hater are you speaking of?

To The White Mage: Ichigo fell…but Alahandra took his place.

To Dais: Not really. They are not based off of the Orichalchos Soldiers.