Chapter 19: Tower, Bog, and Flame
"Arise Archduke Dispater."
A tall man and small horns rose from the ground. His dark black hair blew in the heated winds. In his right hand, he held a long rod-like staff. He wore resplendent garbs and a look of sorrow on his face. Behind him, a tall Iron Tower rose from the ground. Dispater jumped onto the tower as it rose and stood within it. Judis stood beside it laughing.
"You will never get past the tower of Dispater. Within his tower, he is invincible!"
Dispater looked down from a balcony on his tower. His solemn red eyes and sadistic frown hid his undeniable malice.
'Dispater… although weak in physical power, he has unmatched defensive strength, protecting him from the outside world. Be careful Bann, you might not know what you are getting yourself into.'
"Also, thanks to the power of Dis, Dispater gains more attack, making him stronger than your Dark Blade. Dispater, attack!"
Dispater rose his staff into the air. Lightning shot down from the clouds and struck Dark Blade, incinerating him.
'Great, now I'm defenseless again.' "I activate Bronze Knights. I can now rid myself of three Cree to summon three Bronze Knights." 'Well, at least I have three more Knights.' "I set one spell and end my turn."
"My turn. I attack your Bronze Knight."
"I activate Covering Fire and Martyr Shield."
Once Bronze Knight vanished into dust. The copper dust showered onto the swords of the other two, which both shone in a golden light. Dispater struck Bronze Knight with his elongated staff. Then, the third knight stuck his sword in. However, neither knight was strong enough to stop Dispater, and finally, the second knight was destroyed, leaving only the final Bronze Knight.
"I switch my Bronze Knight to Defense Position. End turn."
"Dispater, attack!"
Dispater struck Bronze Knight with another flash of lightning, turning him to dust.
"Come on, Bann. I thought you were good. Pathetic is more like it."
"You can do it Bann! You're the man!" his friends yelled.
'Thanks guys… but I can't break past that tower. What do I do?'
"Believe in yourself."
'Queen's Knight? I should have known I would get you sooner or later.'
"I have a plan to destroy Dispater, but you must summon me, King, and Jack's Knights."
'I understand.' "I summon Queen's Knight."
Queen's Knight appeared on the field.
"Then I activate Wrought Iron Arc. This allows me to Special Summon my King's Knight."
The knight in gold armor appeared next to Queen's Knight.
"And now, I can Special Summon Jack's Knight."
The last of the knight trio appeared on the field. He wore blue armor, similar to the gold and red armors of King and Queen's Knight.
"So? Am I supposed to be threatened? You may have managed to summon another Knight Trio, but they are still no match for Dispater."
"You're wrong. My knights can attack as one. I activate Union Attack."
All three knights put their swords together and struck the Tower of Dis in one unified blow. The base began to crumble and the tower cracked and fell. Dispater fell from the tower, but shattered before hitting the ground.
"Im… impossible! You defeated Archduke Dispater?"
"That's two Lords down."
"And many more to go. It is time to bring you into the third hell, the quagmire of Minauros"
The world around them changed again. The ground became soft and muddy. The Iron City melted and sank into the marshy ground. Evil swamp plants rose from the depths.
'Another layer of Hell. How far deep does this place go?' "Finish your turn already."
"Fine, then I cast a spell and summon Mammon the Viscount."
The ground beneath them shook. Something was in the water, churning the swamp.
"What the hell is that?"
"Hell is right. The ruler of the third hell, that is. Arise Mammon!"
Water shot up from the swamp lake, and from the rippling wave pool, an enormous serpent rose up. At the top of its body, it was humanoid, but the rest of it was snake-like. Mammon was so enormous that he bent its body over to the dueling area and most of him was still submerged in the sea. In his right arm, Mammon held a devilish spear.
'Good, his attack is equal to King's Knight's, which means that if I strike him with my King's Knight, I will destroy both of them.' "My turn. Too bad your Mammon is equal in strength to my King's Knight. King's Knight, attack and wipe out the third archdevil!"
King's Knight lifted his sword and attacked. He ran at Mammon. Mammon countered with his spear. The too were equal until the mud underneath King's Knight began to make him slip. Mammon took the advantage and destroyed King's Knight.
"What! Both were equal. Mammon couldn't have destroyed Bann's knight," Tiamat was stunned by the loss of King's Knight, along with the rest of the Bashers.
"It's this plain, isn't it? What does your newest Hell do, Judis?" Zakei demanded.
"So glad you asked. Look at the feet of the knights."
Queen's Knight and Jack's Knight were sinking into the mud.
"Only creatures of Hell can survive in the lower depths. Your knights will be no match for my demon armies."
"Forget you. I will find a way to defeat your Mammon."
'I really doubt that. I have let you come this far. I know what you are planning, Bann. Just open your mind to me and let my Mind Haxxorz spell continue its effect. HA HA HA HA HA!'
'Fusion. It's the only thing I can do. If I can fuse my three knights, then I might stand a chance.' "I activate the Warrior Returning Alive. This brings King's Knight back to my mind. Then, I activate Polymerization to fuse King's Knight, Queen's Knight, and Jack's Knight into the ultimate knight, Joker's Knight."
The three knights vanished in a flash, leaving a purple clad knight where they stood.
"I knew you would do that! Activate Hell Polymer!"
Mammon dispersed into a dark aura and wrapped himself around Joker's Knight, fusing himself with the knight. Joker's Knight grew a serpent tail, thirty feet in length. He picked up Mammon's spear and slithered into the swamp lake behind Judis. His eyes glowed red and a serpent tongue slid out of his mouth.
"MU HA HA HA HA! Mammon has taken control of your Joker's Knight! Your most powerful monster has been fused with my serpent lord to form the most perfect devil."
'Joker… what have I done?' Bann stared down at the ground. A look of defeat was upon his face and the glimmer of hope in his eyes had faded.
"Bann!" Recks and Zakei yelled.
"Oh no," Jigen and Tiamat murmered.
Morgen stood there, unable to say a word. His mouth was wide open and he was in complete shock.
"This is the ultimate power of the Lord of the Third, and I thank you, Bann, for helping Mammon take on this form."
"I set a spell and end my turn…"
"Pathetic. I attack with Joker's Knight Mammon."
Mammon lifted his spear with his left hand and threw it at the Bann.
"Activate Soul Ressurection. This brings Queen's Knight back to the field to defend me."
"Too bad, she is no match for Mammon. Strike her down!"
Mammon pulled out his sword and cut Queen's Knight in half. Bann turned away at the sight of her death. Tears ran down his face.
"Bann, don't give… up…"
"No…"
"What was that? What did you just say?"
"No… I will never give up… I… I…"
"Bann…"
"Brother…"
"BEAT HIM!"
"I ACTIVATE KNIGHT REBIRTH!"
Gearfried the Iron Knight reappeared on the field.
"Now, Gearfried, I release you. Release Restraints!"
Gearfried burst out of his armor once again.
"Then, I activate Excelsior."
A sword appeared in stone before Gearfried. Gearfried lifted the sword out of the stone and swung it at Joker's Knight Mammon.
"You won't destroy him that easily. Along with his brute force, Mammon gained the abilities of Joker's body. I send the power of Hell Blade to Joker's Knight Mammon."
The dark aura surrounding Joker's body concentrated into his blade and turned deep red. He struck like a snake at Gearfried. Their blades clashed and sparks flew. Joker stopped Gearfried's special attack and threw him into a tree.
"Uhhhh…"
"Gearfried!" Bann rushed over to his fallen friend. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, Lord Bann."
"Good, because its time to take this up a notch." Bann turned toward Judis and stared at him with a look of rage. "This is far from over. Gearfried's special attack may have failed, but he can still perform a normal attack. Gearfried, Omnislash!"
Gearfried got up, grabbed Excelsior with both hands.
"Ahhhhh!" Gearfried yelled as he jumped into the air.
'What is this guy doing?' "Mammon, counter attack."
Mammon struck back. Once again, Gearfried and Joker Mammon's swords clashed.
"…" Gearfried forced Mammon back with all his might.
"Go Gearfried!"
Gearfried back-flipped, jumped at Mammon again, and sliced him in half.
"WHAT! HOW!"
"You stopped Gearfried's Saber Obliteration, but his Omnislash, combined with Excelsior, increased his normal attack to beyond even Joker's Knight Mammon's power."
"Yeah! Woo hoo! That's what I'm talking about Bann!" his friends cheered on.
"Impossible…" Judis stared, unable to believe that his third lord had been defeated.
"Bring on the next one. Gearfried and I will destroy him too."
"But… can you take on two at once? I start this turn by entering the fourth hell, the land of fire, Phleghethos!"
Lava exploded from the ground. The trees burned and the swamp sank beneath pools of magma that hardened into the blackest obsidian. Erupting volcanoes rose from the hardening ground below them. Ash and soot filled the air, making it near impossible to breathe. The only trace of water left in the land was the drying up River Styx.
"I set a card and activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it. My Statue of the Wicked leaves behind a Wicked Token, which I can then tribute to summon my Lords of the Fourth, Archduke Belial and his daughter Lady Fierna. Set one spell, and end turn."
Lady Fierna, a beautiful, but quite deadly devil, carried a sword made of pure fire, while her father held a long pike. They both rode in on hellish horses, black with red-eyes and covered in fire.
"I won't stand down." 'Damn, now Gearfried's attack decreases. His attack is equal to Belial's. But, if I destroy Fierna, I can decrease Belial's attack.' "Alright, it's decided. Gearfried, attack Fierna."
"Right," Gearfried responded as he picked up his sword again and leapt into action.
"No, I activate my trap. Hell Barrier. It increases the defense of my monster."
A ring of fire encircled Fierna and enclosed her.
"Oh crap."
Gearfried struck the barrier, but couldn't break it. The force of the barrier pushed him backwards. Gearfried hit the ground, but the damage wasn't severe.
"Shit. His lords keep getting more powerful. Gearfried, you okay?"
"Never better."
"Set trap. End turn."
"Good. My turn. I summon my Hell Baatezu. He allows me to summon my Hell-Born Angel. I end my turn. Now, I reveal the power of my newest layer of hell!"
Hell Baatezu and Hell-Born angel began to glow red. Their auras flew into the air and struck Bann, throwing him onto the ground.
"AHHH!"
"Do you like the pain? Because I sure do." Judis licked his lips and laughed again.
"Damn… damn you. My turn." 'This might be my chance to take down Belial. No, he wouldn't leave his own Cree unprotected, would he? Maybe I should attack Fierna again?' "Gearfried."
"Understood." Gearfried attacked Fierna, but was thrown back again!
"What?"
"You idiot. My Hell Barrier remains in effect. It constantly protects Fierna from your attacks. So sad. You could have destroyed Belial."
'Ah! No way!'
"And now, it's my turn. I use the power of my Hell-Born Angel to increase my life. Then I sacrifice my Hell Baatezu to summon Hell Knight. Then, I sacrifice my Hell-Born Angel to increase Hell Knight's attack. Belial, attack!"
'Gearfried… I… I won't fail you.'
"I know you won't. I believe in you. They believe in you."
"Activate… cough… Shining Armor!"
Silver armor covered Gearfried's body. Belial charged on horseback, his spear aimed at Gearfried, who stopped it with his hands. Gearfried then picked up Excelsior and cut Belial's head off.
"Wha… uh… huh?"
"The Shining Armor negates all of your card effects that affect Gearfried. Thus, his attack was no longer lowered by the powers of hell."
"No… Belial. You will pay. I end my turn. The fires of Phleghethos now inflict more damage to your life."
'I'm running low pal. I don't know how much farther into hell we can go.' "Gearfried, attack Fierna."
Gearfried destroyed the second ruler of Phleghethos.
"Thanks to the second effect of my Shining Armor, Gearfried can attack twice if there is another monster on your side of the field."
Gearfried then struck down Hell Knight.
"Don't think just because you have destroyed another two of my lords, that you have won. This duel isn't over yet."
"You're right, Judis. It's only just begun."
Next time on City of Fire: The Tomb