Chapter 20: The Tomb
"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."
"My turn. I send us to the fifth layer of hell."
The fires were doused with a rush of water. The vast sea sank the entire field. The land lay in a deep blue. Icy platforms rose from beneath Judis and Bann, keeping them aloft. The wind chill froze their soaked clothes. Far off, the Bashers stood in a harbor, watching the frozen bay.
"Welcome to Stygia, the Fifth Layer of Hell. A frozen sea fed by the River Styx covers the land."
shiver was Bann's only reply. He shook rapidly from the icy cold.
"Now, I cast a spell, summon a shadow monster, and end my turn."
A shadowy figure appeared on Judis' side of the field.
"Gearfried, attack!"
Gearfried struck the shadow, revealing it as Hell Guardna, who lifted his shield of fire and stopped Gearfried's attack.
"Gearfried, attack again!"
Gearfried struck Hell Guardna again, destroying it, but Judis chained with another Hell Calling, summoning Hell Mount.
"My turn, I sacrifice my Hell Mount to summon Hell Construct."
An enormous and fiendish machine rose from the water behind Judis. It looked like a large factory, pumping out smoke fire.
"Next, I activate Hell Storm, destroying Excelsior and inflicting damage to your life."
A violent storm rose up from the water, blowing wind and fire over the field that shattered the blade.
"My turn ends."
"I cast one spell and end my turn." 'I can't even get past
"Then, I activate Monster Reincarnation. This spell returns Hell Baatezu to my mind. Then I summon him and Hell Battalion. And to finish, I activate Levistus' Tomb."
The water displaced again to reveal a large iceberg that now floated between both men. The ice was so large and dense that it was impossible to see inside of it, but Bann had a bad feeling that he knew what was in there.
"Before I end my turn, I will activate the power of my Construct to send Hell Baatezu to the grave."
The devil was absorbed into the large factory and vanished.
'What's he planning now? I have to stop him.' "I attack Levistus' Tomb."
Gearfried attacked the tomb with his sword, but the Hell Battalion stood in his way.
"Staunch Defender!"
Gearfried fought the Battalion. He killed several with his sword, but many more snuck behind him and slashed his back. His armor broke, but he kept fighting. Gearfried fought a losing battle, but never gave up. He managed to defeat them, but not without sustaining heavy damages. Blood spurted from his lips, his eyes went white, and he collapsed on the ice, slid into the water and drowned.
"Gear… GEARFRIED!"
Bann fell to his knees, landed on his hands, and stared at the cold, hard, ice beneath him. He banged his fist on the ice and tear dripped from his eyes.
"Too bad for the weak at heart. Finish your turn so I can destroy you."
Bann looked up, stared into the cold eyes of Judis and swore under his cold breath. He clenched his fist and stood up again, never taking his eyes off his opponent. His eyes were heated red.
"You will pay, Judis," Bann said in a hoarse voice. "You will pay dearly. I summon Guardian Knight. He is automatically placed in defense position. I end my turn."
"You lose, Bann. This plain has been slowly cutting your life each turn. As soon as I end my turn, what little life you have left will be gone. I end my turn."
The darkness crept down from the sky to strike Bann. He tried to get out of the way, but there was nowhere to run. Then, Guardian Knight got up and shielded Bann from all damage.
"No, thanks to my Guardian Knight, I won't take any damage outside of the battle."
"What!"
"Sorry, this duel isn't over. My turn. I activate Mystik Wok and sacrifice my Guardian Knight to help me again, healing me. Then, I activate Monster Reborn, Special Summoning Joker's Knight."
Joker's Knight returned to the field. His purple armor reflected the light that reflected off the cold water.
"Mammon has no control over him anymore. Joker's Knight, attack!"
Joker's Knight struck Hell Construct and blew it apart. The shrapnel shards flew all over the field. Some hit Bann. He screamed in pain and almost flew off the ice platform.
"Master Bann." Joker's Knight knelt by his side. "I am sorry, Lord Bann."
"I'm fine. Come on, let's take this guy down."
"Fat chance. I activate Hell Freeze."
"Brace yourselves," Tiamat warned the others.
"Wait, nothing happened," Bann looked at the field, utterly confused.
"Not yet. Watch," Judis said, looking contently at Levistus' Tomb."
Bann turned his eyes to the tomb and now understood what was happening. The ice was spreading, freezing the rest of the water. It was actually absorbing the heat of the rest of Stygia. The iceberg melted, but whatever was causing it to absorb heat was unable to completely break the tomb.
Bann and the others continued to stare as the entire sea froze solid. Inside the crystal coffin, they could now make out a humanoid figure with glowing red eyes. He was still frozen deep within the tomb, but Bann now knew why it was called Levistus' Tomb. He was staring down the Lord of the Fifth.
"Meet Prince Levistus! And to end my turn, I activate Hell Control. At the moment, this does nothing, but soon, you will understand."
"Right… My turn. And I attack Prince Levistus!"
Joker's Knight struck the ice… but couldn't even dent it!
"What?"
"Levistus is a psychic. I unlocked his psychic powers, allowing him to put a barrier around the ice. Also… I can now use Psychic Counterstrike."
A barrier of red psychic energy became visible around the frozen tomb. It formed into a sharp, spear-like projection and aimed at Joker's Knight.
"No…"
Levistus' Spear struck down at Joker's Knight, who jumped out of the way, but the spear struck again, each time trying to hit Joker. Finally, it came down on Joker, who had nowhere to run.
"Joker, use the power of Spiral Spear Strike."
Joker's Knight lifted his shield to defend himself. The spear hit the shield and stopped. Then it shattered and vanished. Joker's Knight stood on the field and sheathed his sword.
"Forgot Joker's effect already? I negated the effect of your Hell Control."
"No bother. On your next turn, you will just have to attack Levistus again."
Bann glared at Judis and ended his turn. "I summon Holy Knight. Go."
Holy Knight lifted his sword. The skies opened and light shined onto Bann. Then he lowered his sword again and the skies closed. Bann's life increased due to his special effect.
"I use Block Attack to switch your Holy Knight to defense position. Now, Levistus, attack with Hell PsySpear."
Levistus' psychic energies once again took the form of a red pointed whip and struck Holy Knight, destroying him.
"As you can see, Levistus has infinite power. However, the ice limits his true strength."
"Then, I'll just have to obliterate him. My turn. Ah! I think I just found out how to destroy Levistus."
"No, you can't have."
"Oh, yes I have. I call fourth Phoenix Blade."
The fire that ignited Bann's soul flew out of him and formed the wings of a phoenix. It then struck the ground and spun in an inferno, forging a sword in the ice. Joker's Knight picked up the Divine Sword and lifted it into the sky.
"Joker's Knight, attack with Divine Phoenix Storm."
Joker's Knight lifted the Phoenix Blade and spun it in his hand, forming a fiery twister. Then he slashed downward with the blade, releasing the twister on Levistus. The fire spun around the tomb, melting it away. Levistus was trapped within the intense heat, where he was incinerated.
"I believe that was number six."
Judis was unable to say a thing. He just stared at Bann. His eyes burned with hatred.
"Levistus just got owned."
"Hell yeah."
"Six… six… six of the Lords. Six of them dead. This sixth hell awaits… Malborge!"
A large mountain rose from the depths. The vast seas were gone, replaced by jagged rock and barren land.
"I am forced to activate Devil's Sanctuary, which summons my Metal Devil, which I can then sacrifice to summon the Lord of the Sixth, the Hag Countess."
The small metallic oddly shaped creature appeared on the field for a split second and vanished. Then another… wait… nothing happened. Can someone call wardrobe?
"I think your monster skipped out on you."
"The Hag Countess is a master of shadow and disguise. You do not see her… because she is hidden."
"Right, my turn, and without any protection…"
"Wait, I haven't finished the very last part of my move. Hag Countess, strike!"
Shadows wrapped around Joker's Knight and he vanished!
"Oh, and one last thing. The Hag Countess is unaffected by all of your spells and traps. Plus, without any monsters to protect you at the end of your turns, you are in deep trouble."
'Damn, what do I do? Gearfried, Joker's Knight, Gaia, they're all gone. Damn it!' "I activate Ride of the Paladins. This card allows me to Special Summon Noble Knight Horseman and Gaia the Fierce Knight. Then I send Noble Knight Horseman on a Glory Quest."
Noble Knight Horseman galloped off.
"That leaves Gaia, who I protect with these traps, and end my turn."
"My turn. Now, I use the powers of Malborge again."
"Not so fast. I activate Knight Seal. This negates the effects of Malborge for the remainder of the game."
"I can still attack you with the Hag Countess."
Judis' shadow rose up from the ground, took the shape of a woman, and struck with dark claws. Bann countered with Knight Shield again, protecting Gaia from harm.
"You're just delaying the inevitable."
"You mean your death? Yeah, I am. My turn. I switch Gaia to defense position and set a shadow monster. Then I end my turn."
"I attack Gaia again. This time, you have no protection."
The Hag Countess appeared again from the shadows and dragged Gaia back down with her.
"Set another Cree. End turn."
"I summon Hell Blade. Now attack the two shadow monsters."
Both of Bann's monsters were destroyed. He was defenseless.
"I Special Summon Noble Knight Horseman, who returns from his Glory Quest stronger than before. Now, Noble Knight Horseman, attack Hell Blade. Sword Flash Thrust!"
Noble Knight Horseman rode at full speed toward Hell Blade, decapitating the demon with the sword-arm. He then trotted back to Bann's side.
"I cast three spells and end my turn."
"My turn. Hag Countess, destroy him!"
"Reveal trap, Soul Leveler and activate Mystical Space Typhoon!"
Noble Knight Horseman's level increased. Then Mystical Space Typhoon wrapped around him. A new Knight took Noble Knight's place. He wore white armor with a large pointed helm. Blue gems decorated his heavenly armor and a large white sword was in his right hand.
"Meet Saint Knight Isaac!"
"Whoa, that guy looks awesome!" Zakei exclaimed.
"Yes… but looks aren't everything. Does it have the power to take down the Hag Countess?" Jigen wondered.
"No… no, he doesn't," Bann told them. "He doesn't stand a chance."
"Thank you for telling me that. Hag Countess, attack!"
"Activate Negate Attack. Unlike you, I had a backup plan. Now, It's time to take your Hag down. I activate equip Isaac with Holy Sword. Then, I attack the Hag Countess!" 'Their attacks are now equal, but the Holy Sword will protect Isaac from the attack.'
Isaac struck the ground with the Holy Sword. The shadows were sucked into blade like a vacuum. Then Isaac lifted the Holy Sword and swung it, releasing the Hag Countess and then swung it again. Her dark body vaporized in the light.
Judis didn't hesitate at the destruction of his Lord this time. In fact, he seemed changed. Something unexplainably different was in his eyes, like a demon that was trying to break out. "I activate Shadow Remains and sacrifice them to summon Triel, the Fallen Angel."
An angel with white wings and ropes fell onto the field. It cackled as it got up and spread its wings, which turned black. His blue eyes became red and fangs protruded from his mouth, soaked in blood. His clothes also turned black and were also soaked in blood. He lifted a jagged knife in his left hand an laughed again.
"Welcome… to the seventh hell."
Next time on City of Fire: Dark Perfection