Author's Note: Now for the next elemental duel.

Chapter Thirty-One: Roar of Thunder

The scene was far from a pleasant one. At best it would be described as a scene of bloodshed and at worst it would be described as the scene of a violent massacre. It was enough that even someone who had seen violence before would have difficulty looking at it.

Though once mighty, the remains of Kedamono the guard of the sacred Eastern Door now gave the impression of pain. Every bit and piece that was left of the giant guardian seemed to emanate that feeling, as if horrible pain had been poured into them and left there to fester and grow.

His dark red blood had since dried on the ground, but that just made the smell that much worse. Flies buzzed around the various parts of the corpse, and scavengers had since taken their fill of his body. "By all things that are holy…what could have done this?"

Takuya Shinomori knelt on the ground and covered his mouth with his right hand, biting back the bile that had risen on the sight. It had been days since he had last seen Kai, and that was worrying him. After his own release from the hospital he had rushed straight out here, only to be met by this sight.

Even here there was no sign of Kai, which didn't make Takuya feel any better about the situation. He knew that if Kai was capable of it he would have made himself known. Since he hadn't, that meant something was wrong. "Kai…where are you?"

"That's a difficult question to answer I'm afraid." Takuya jumped to his feet and raised his fists defensively, prepared to strike whoever or whatever came within range. But to his surprise he found a familiar face waiting for him, even though that person hadn't spoken.

The one who had spoken appeared to be somewhat older, a man in a casual suit who appeared to be in his late twenties. "What's going on here?"

The former speaker frowned slightly as he looked out around at the carnage, apparently not noticing the sickened looks of his three female companions. "I'm afraid that I'm not sure myself. Although I fear the worst and know that we came too late. My name is Tokuha Kajika, and I assume you're Takuya Shinomori."

Takuya nodded and slowly lowered his fists, feely mostly relaxed around these four. But he was perfectly prepared to leap into a defensive position if the situation called for it. "That's right. So, Kajika huh? So he's your brother then, right Kirani?"

Kirani put her right hand on her hip and took a deep breath, refocusing herself away from the carnage around them. She shot a glance at her older brother and then looked back at Takuya. "Yes, he is. I came with them to stop something from happening, but it looks like it's too late. And if we're late, then it's likely that Kai is…well I don't know for sure, but it doesn't look good for him."

The martial artist grimaced even though he had already come to that conclusion. He still didn't like hearing it come from another person and therefore confirming it for him. Suddenly a though struck him. "Kirani…if you're with your brother and what I'm guessing are your sisters, then where's Drake? Did you guys get separated in Madrid or something?"

Kirani's bright eyes widened and her brother looked back at her. She gave him a brief nod, and then returned her attention to Takuya. "What you just said…it just told us something we were afraid of. I never heard anything from Drake about Madrid. Whoever you talked to…that wasn't Drake. Or at least not exactly."

First response from Takuya was to blink and then he saw it as a revelation. "On the plane…Kai was talking to me about how strange and extra violent Drake seemed at the midnight meeting. I thought he was being paranoid because of the tension between them, but now that I think about it he was right. Drake nearly started a fight between the two of them over absolutely nothing, and seemed to generally be ruder than normal. So if that wasn't really Drake, then who was it?"

"A mistake of mine I guess you could say. Before the meeting Drake was drugged and kidnapped by a woman named Yumi, who used to lead the gang he was in. She dueled me in a Darkness Game, and because I passed out during it she was considered the winner, and her Penalty Game released something Drake almost always keeps under the surface. The personality that consists of every aspect of himself that he hates, all of it magnified. And when we dueled I just barely won, but my Penalty Game…I think it released him in an actual body." Takuya stared at her for several seconds as he tried to process all the information that had just been thrown at him.

"You're saying that wandering around out there is someone who looks exactly like Drake, but is actually a version of Drake that's I don't know…pure evil or something? And that's the Drake that we told about the Concordance of Legends?" Tokuha's eyes widened measurably, the first emotion that had shown on his calm face since he had appeared.

Instantly Tokuha was in his face, his eyes ablaze with something Takuya couldn't recognize. Perhaps it was fear, maybe something else. "Concordance of Legends? This dark monstrosity has been sent to retrieve the Concordance of Legends? And now it seems that this entrance has been defiled…it seems that our time is running thin."

Tokuha whirled around and gestured to his siblings as he started to walk away, beckoning them to follow. "We have much work to do, and little time to do it in. Takuya Shinomori, speak with your leader and tell him about this situation. The hourglass is almost empty. He will understand."

Takuya rushed after them, determined to get some real answers out of them. "Wait a second! What's so important about the Concordance of Legends? What are you searching for?"

The air around the four siblings shimmered and when it returned to normal there was no sign of any of them. Takuya skidded to a stop and looked around but saw nothing. "Damn…what's going on?"

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Rishid's eyes were downcast as he walked at the head of a small train of men in black robes, all of whom had their heads shaved. In between them was a casket, and within that casket was the body of Isis. 'She would have wanted to be laid to rest in the very same place in which she was raised.'

He had returned to Egypt with her body in order to lay her to rest, to give her some peace at last. The whole process seemed made to depress him further, but it was his duty as her adoptive brother. 'First Malik and now Isis. I truly have failed them.'

"Yes, you certainly have." Rishid stopped in his tracks at the sound of that voice and spun around. Just as he had suspected the dozen men acting as escorts and who were carrying the casket were all standing completely still. It was as if time had frozen.

Sitting cross-legged on top of the casket was a young man wearing a white tank-top and tan loose fitting pants. His black hair fell in front of his eyes, keeping them from view. His skin was bronze enough to be considered Egyptian and he spoke the language perfectly. "You…Israfel!"

The man who had given claim to being the angel of music smiled warmly and stood up, his weight not disturbing the coffin in the least bit. "It's good to be remembered. It seems that the woman has fallen. In addition, you've failed to pay heed to my warnings."

Rishid frowned, and not just because there was a strange man with eyes that could suck out your soul standing on top of his adoptive sister's casket while time was frozen. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

Israfel shrugged and placed his hands behind his head, still smiling. "That's because your existence is wholly without merit, but I'll explain it anyway. Slowly."

The angel raised his right hand above his head and then brought it down until he was pointing right at Rishid. He smirked and suddenly Rishid felt a wave of dizziness hit him. "Remember."

Suddenly Rishid stopped and shivered. Isis followed the path his eyes were taking as he scanned the rooftops. She gave him a questioning look, and he answered immediately. "I felt as if someone's eyes were boring into my very soul. I did not like it."

"Jumpy aren't you?" Alice yelped, and both Isis and Rishid spun back to see who had spoken. Standing just a handful of feet away, perched on a cart selling melons, was a bronze skinned young man, looking just slightly older than Alice.

Isis was a very self-aware person. It wasn't often that she lost focus on her surroundings, so she was not caught off guard when she noticed that nobody around them was moving. It was as if time had stopped. "Who are you?"

The bronze skinned man smiled, his midnight locks falling down across his face to cover his eyes, making it impossible to tell if he was looking at them directly. Idly he reached up one hand and brushed imaginary dust off his brown desert robes. "A shame, a true and utter shame that you nobody recognizes me these days."

Rishid frowned, a look that was made even more dangerous by his stony features. He stepped out in front of Isis, towering over the seated younger man. "We have never met you before. Now give your name and state your business or you will regret it."

Despite being confronted by a much bigger man, the young Egyptian looking man just grinned, looking quite cocky. He tilted his head up, and the hair parted, giving Rishid a look into eyes that were had no pupils, and were darker than the night itself. "Little man…I could eat you alive."

Rishid clutched his chest suddenly, feeling as if something was being pulled at within his body, within the very core of his being. It was a burning and tearing sensation that sent intense flashes of pain through his mind. In mere moments he was on the ground, twitching and clutching his chest. "Just a few moments more and I'll find out what your soul tastes like."

"Release him and speak! I'll listen to what you have to say, just stop this!" The young man shrugged and lifted his gaze from the fallen Egyptian man. His bangs fell across his eyes again, concealing them as he looked in Isis and Alice's direction.

"My name is Israfel. A pleasure to meet you." He extended one hand out to her, which she refused to take. Alice was standing completely behind her, terrified of the young man who had somehow nearly killed Rishid just by looking at him directly.

"That's not polite behavior. Don't act like I'm evil, I'm far from it. In fact, I come bearing advice for you, that's why I've temporarily placed us in a pocket of time separate from the rest of the time stream." His newest smile looked rather eerie in that it was both friendly, amused, and frightening.

"You tried to kill Rishid merely because he threatened you. What advice do you have that makes you worth listening to?" Israfel vanished, appeared to their right perched on top of an unlabeled brown box. His hidden eyes seemed to shift over to Rishid, and the tall Egyptian shuddered and stood to his feet.

"There, he's all better. Its best if mortals learn lessons in respect before someone truly cruel does something. As for my advice, well I'm sure you're aware that the apocalypse is coming, correct?" Isis nodded, still not sure what to make of this strange man.

Israfel laced his fingers together and placed his folded hands over his right knee, propping his chin on top of that. "The dinner of in honor of Osiris, the plot by Set to slay his brother, such things are to come to pass again. The champion is the destroyer, the savior the Satan. That's basically it."

To the strange man's surprise, and to the shock of Isis and Rishid, there was a sudden snort following the comment. "That's it? A bunch of cryptic nonsense and then you'll just head off? The fate of the world is in the balance and that's what you give us? Hell, why should we even trust you anyways?"

Rishid stepped between Israfel and Alice immediately, keeping him from looking directly at her. Isis on the other hand turned around to face Alice, looking upset. "Alice, I understand that your knowledge is limited, however you must know this. Israfel is the name of the Angel of Song, who is said to come and blow his trumpet as the apocalypse begins."

Israfel laughed happily, slapping a leg with one hand, looking positively overjoyed by the response. "I always forget that you mortals don't really get how things work. Yet it's always so refreshing to be called by that term. You know, I was mortal once as well, a very long time ago."

Isis turned, looking for answers, but before she could even ask a question Israfel waved a hand, brushing her off. "Don't think about it too much. Just know that there is only so much I'm allowed to tell you. You'll come to understand the truth soon enough. If the Satan of this age is born, know that the apocalypse will come. That is your goal. Farewell."

Rishid felt shaky as the vision of the past faded, returning him to the present where based on the fact that Israfel's finger was still pointed at him and smile was still on his face, Rishid assumed no time had passed. "Your warning…how could we take you as being trustworthy after you nearly killed me."

Israfel snorted but continued to smile. "You mortals are always so squeamish and uppity, never remembering who your betters are. I gave you the warning for a good reason, albeit not the same one you would have wanted it for. But it was true nevertheless. Know that everything I say is the truth."

None of that made Rishid feel any better about the advice. "Why do you come now to bring this advice to me? Why me to begin with, why not someone else? Someone like Dalin Imaki Sumatin?"

"Again, that's something that depends on how you view the world. Since you don't view it the same way I do, I can hardly explain my reasoning to you now can I? Keep my words in mind should you receive any strange visitors. And to any request you are given by strange visitors, I would suggest saying no." He hopped off the coffin and onto the dusty road, landing in between two of the casket bearers.

He gave Rishid a curt nod and then walked away, whistling a merry little tune that was somehow familiar to Rishid. Likely it was a song he had heard somewhere before. "Farewell once again tomb keeper."

Israfel's body faded away, dissipating like mist. As soon as there was no trace of him the casket bearers started moving again, unaware that they had been frozen at all. Rishid felt his heart thudding in his chest as a powerful sense of foreboding came over him. 'It's like the air is filled with something tangible…like an emotion. It's powerful, but I don't recognize it.'

"So, he's gone is he? Took the jackass long enough. My turn to crash the party." The arrogant voice interjected itself, and when all of the casket bearers looked up Rishid knew time hadn't been frozen again for them.

Something was physically hurled into the bearers, sending three of them sprawling over the casket. Since it was now unsupported on one side the coffin collapsed to the ground and nearly burst open. A cocky laugh rang across the street and someone stepped out of the shadows and planted a foot against the fallen coffin. "Been a while Rishid buddy old boy. But sad to say there's not time to reminisce as I've got to have a little chat with Isis. Where is Hottie McTan anyway?"

The pitch-black sleeveless trench coat that covered the lithe muscular form would have told Rishid who it was, even if the cocky attitude and reddish brown hair hadn't. None other than Daisuke Ihachi looked up at him, but something was different about him. "What…Daisuke…what happened to you?"

The other man smirked in that eager and cocky manner he had; only this time it seemed to have an edge of malice to it. He raised his right hand to his right eye, which was now a gouged out hole with a scar extending up from it over his forehead and two inches down his cheek. His left eye was the same violet shade as before. "This? Just making preparations, that's all. And also, don't call me Daisuke. My name is D'raka."

Rishid felt a powerful chill running up his spine at the sound of that name. His eyes trailed to the casket that "D'raka's" foot was on. "Isis was murdered just two days ago. Now leave, this isn't the time for whatever you want."

D'raka snorted and shoved the lid of the coffin off with his booted toe. It crashed to the ground on the other side, revealing Isis in a white gown, arms crossed over her chest. "So, the bitch really did drop dead eh? No matter, I can deal with that. She's one of two who keeps the secret I need, so I'll have to drag it out of her undead corpse."

The Egyptian felt his blood boil as D'raka spoke about defiling her body. He couldn't allow anything to happen to her, not even in death. "You will do nothing of the sort!"

He charged at D'raka only to have the shorter man backhand him away without even looking at him. Rishid's body did a full spin in the air before he crashed onto the ground, his lip bleeding from the blow. "Keh, measure your own capacity before trying to fight me."

Rishid lifted his head and his eyes widened as he finally saw what D'raka had hurled at the casket bearers, who by now had already fled the area. "That's...but…did you?"

D'raka followed Rishid's gaze, finally settling on the object he was staring at. "Oh, that. Yeah I did. I needed to see a little bit about suffering from his tolerance I guess."

"You…you killed Kai in order to satisfy some sick sense of curiosity? Testing his tolerance, or were you testing your own tolerance to gore? Seeing just how much you liked it maybe? Monster!" D'raka just snorted and planted his boot on the back of Rishid's head and shoved it into the dirt.

"I just wanted to murder someone. Don't weird it up." D'raka removed his boot and reached down and grabbed Isis' body by the throat and easily lifted her out of the coffin. Her body hung limply in his grip and he examined it carefully.

"Get your filthy hands off her you animal!" D'raka growled and slammed his boot back down on the top of Rishid's skull, crushing his nose into the ground. Rishid could feel the blood pooling around his face, so his nose was definitely broken.

"I will take you apart in alphabetical order if you do not shut up. Understand?" Finally he pulled his foot off the older man's head and then rolled him over onto his back with his foot. D'raka made a flicking gesture with his hand and the body of Kai Kaethen floated into the air and over to him. He dropped the body unceremoniously across Rishid's stomach.

Back and forth he looked between the bodies he had gathered, and finally he looked specifically at Rishid and grinned. "Now that I think about it, I've got a bit of a request to make."

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Dalin drew his fifth card and his opponent, who claimed to be Moreth the High Priest of Thunder, did exactly the same. Moreth drew a sixth card, indicating that he intended to go first. As soon as he drew the card a purple fog rolled in as the Darkness Game started. "Let's see just how mighty you are Sumatin." (MLP: 4000, DLP: 4000)

Moreth slapped a card onto his duel disk and a green lizard about six feet long appeared on his field. "Meet my Thunder Lizard(1600/1300). And sadly for you, each turn he deals three hundred points of damage to the opponent!"

The lizard opened up its mouth and fired a blast of lightning out. The lightning struck Dalin and crackled all over his body, but he didn't even flinch. Off to the side Ihami grinned, knowing that she was going to enjoy the show. "Is that all?" (DLP: 3700)

Moreth seemed slightly put off that Dalin didn't seem to be affected by the damage, but shook it off quickly enough. "I set two cards face down and end my turn."

Dalin drew and carefully placed the card onto his duel disk. "I will retaliate with Uranus, Angel of Good Will(1800/0). Uranus attacks with Benevolent Wave!"

The yellow skinned angel raised one palm and several waves of yellow light were released. They reached out for the giant lizard, but was stopped as one of Moreth's set card flipped up. "Reveal trap card, Storm Barrier! This destroys your attacking monster and deals you seven hundred damage!"

Dozens of lightning bolts broke the waves of light apart and coursed through Uranus' body. The angel shook for a few seconds and then blew apart. "Not only that, but now Thunder Lizard uses its damage effect!"

A ball of lightning hit Dalin head on, but just like the previous time he was unfazed by the effect damage. Even if he was falling behind in life points so early he was perfectly calm. "Your Thunder Lizard is quite effective, I must admit." (DLP: 2700)

Dalin slipped two cards into his duel disk, just like Moreth had done during his turn. "End turn."

As soon as Moreth drew another lightning ball struck Dalin and burned away another patch of his life points. "You don't seem to even blink, but that's alright. I'll defeat you even if you don't react to anything I do the whole duel!" (DLP: 2400)

He held the drawn card up to his eyes and smirked beneath his cowl. Dalin knew he was being mocked from beneath that cowl, even though he couldn't see Moreth's face. "I activate the magic card Thunder Trinity, and all it costs me is my entire battle phase!"

Twin lightning bolts shot down from the sky, one striking on either side of Thunder Lizard. "For that simple cost my Thunder Trinity card lets me special summon two copies of any single monster on my field. Which means I now get two more Thunder Lizards!"

The glow from the lightning faded, revealing two more giant lizards, each one with a jaw filled with electricity. "My lizards are eager to burn your life points, so I'll activate their damage effects, taking away six hundred more of your life points!"

Two consecutive lightning bolts struck Dalin who merely stared impassively at Moreth. Moreth's left eye twitched, irritated about the lack of reaction despite his current hefty lead. "You're really an emotionless lump aren't you? Pity." (DLP: 1800)

"My emotional state is unimportant. What is important is this duel, so please feel free to continue your turn instead of wasting time on useless words." Moreth felt the urge to attack his opponent, but knew it was against the rules to physically strike someone during a duel and during a Darkness Game. He'd have to settle for dealing more life point damage.

"It doesn't matter if you talk much or not, just watch me win! Since I haven't normal summoned this turn I'll do so by summoning Gilford of Thunder(1800/400) whose special effect lets me draw one card from the top of my deck and one card from the bottom!" A young warrior in light blue armor and holding a medium sized sword took to the field. As soon as it did Moreth drew the two cards.

Dalin felt mild surprise at the sight of a monster he had seen Kirani use a number of times before. He had never honestly expected to see anyone else use it, even though it wasn't an extraordinarily rare card. "Hah, now I activate Lightning Bolt, which lets me destroy one card on the field. I choose your left set card!"

A single bolt of lightning shot out of the magic card, skewering the named card and blowing it apart. Dalin made note of it and slid the destroyed trap card into the cemetery. "Since my battle phase is gone, I'll set one card face down and end it there."

When Dalin drew the three Thunder Lizards had already gathered electricity into their mouths. Moreth snapped his right hand up and the three lizards launched their salvo. "My trio of Thunder Lizards will shock you out of half of your remaining life points!" (DLP: 900)

As soon as the electricity had stopped pumping through his body Dalin took one of the cards from his hand and held it up. "I play Coming of Heaven. I can now add angels to my hand from my deck at a cost of three hundred life points each. They cannot be normal summoned or set this turn." (DLP: 300)

Two cards slid out of his deck and instead of adding them to his hand he took another card out of his hand and added it to the two he had gained. "Now, I reveal my trap card. Heavenly Array of Light! For every light type monster I discard I can destroy a card on your field."

He flipped the three cards around, revealing them to be monster cards, each one a light type an identical to the others. They were men in monk robes with wide sweeping angel wings. "I discard my three Ascended Men(1200/500) to destroy your three Thunder Lizards."

A wide blast of light shot out of his face-up trap card and the instant the Thunder Lizards were touched by that light they disintegrated, leaving little left but ash. "Now since the cards I discarded were Ascended Men I draw one card for each since they went to the grave. I draw three."

Dalin picked up three cards off his deck and placed one of them onto his duel disk, holding the other two aside. "I summon Neptune, Angel of Emancipation(1700/0). Since he is too weak to attack, I'll activate Song of Angels to regenerate fifteen hundred life points." (DLP: 1800)

Taking the last newly drawn card he placed it into his duel disk, replacing the set cards he had previous either used or lost. "End."

Moreth growled and slammed his drawn card down onto the field, picking up Gilford of Thunder seconds later. "I sacrifice Gilford of Thunder to summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch(2400/1000) and activate his effect to destroy your Neptune!"

A heavily armored man with lightning rods on his back descended onto the field and fired a blast of lightning from his palm, eradicating Neptune easily. "Next I'll activate my trap card, Thunder Barrage! By removing all thunder monsters from my grave I can deal you three hundred life points damage for each. That's twelve hundred!"

A heavy concentrated stream of lightning roared across the field and hit Dalin in the chest. He braced himself against it and closed his eyes, preventing himself from being moved by the blast. Finally it faded, leaving him intact but his life points not so much. "You're doing quite well Moreth." (DLP: 600)

"Well? I'm completely in control. You're hardly the ultimate duelist I was expecting. Zaborg, attack him directly!" The thunder monarch raised his right hand and sent another blast of lightning flying at Dalin, this time intent on finishing the duel rather than destroying a monster.

A metal shield appeared on Dalin's arm and he intercepted the attack. A glowing blue barrier came out of the shield, and the energy flowed through it into Dalin's duel disk. "My Draining Shield negates your attack and gives me life points equal to your monster's attack." (DLP: 3000)

Moreth took a deep breath and added a card from his hand onto his field, keeping him at an even two set cards. He had no intention of letting the duel slip out of his grasp now. "Take your turn ultimate duelist."

Dalin drew. "Activate magic card Renewal of Triplets. I recall all three Ascended Men to the field." Three monks with angel wings and halos now stood on Dalin's field. The appearance of three monsters at once would have been more impressive had they not been so weak.

"Next I play Sacrifice of Angels, which lets me, tribute angels on my field to draw cards. I'll tribute all three of my Ascended Men to draw three cards. In addition I'll draw three cards because of their effects." Moreth couldn't help but whistle as Dalin drew six cards thanks to his combo, completely restoring his hand.

The angel duelist fanned out all seven of the cards in his hand and selected two of them, one of which he held facing Moreth and the other with its back to him. "I offer Jupiter, Angel of Life(2400/2400) to feed the ritual magic card Justice Unleashed!"

Lady Justice appeared on the field with a ritual pot on each side of the balance scale. However since it was only one monster being offered only one pot was used as Jupiter was sucked in. "Now I unleash Sol, Angel of Justice(1900/1900)!"

Dalin's revealed monster hovered a foot above the ground and was easily as tall as Dalin himself. She sported a flowing white dress, long silvery hair, and a white cloth that covered her eyes. "Sol will be the preparation needed to finish you. First I discard a light type monster to increase her attack and defense by five hundred."

A silver glow formed around her and her attack and defense scores rose to twenty-four hundred each. Then the glow faded, and she was left even to the thunder monarch in terms of attack. "I end by setting a card face down."

Moreth considered the nature of Sol as he drew for his turn. He didn't know anything about a ritual angel, so it must have been a rare monster. He would have to crush it quickly. "Activate field magic card Kingdom of the Thunder Monarch! This raises the attack of every monster with 'thunder' in its name by six hundred and their defense by five hundred!"

The street around them changed form, becoming a glorious and magnificent courtyard. At the end closest to Moreth was a magnificent stone of white marble, on which Zaborg sat. "With his attack raised to three thousand he's strong enough to finish your angel, so now he attacks!"

A larger lightning ball streaked towards Sol, only to be deflected by a wall of pure light. "Light Barrier prevents my monsters from being attack during this turn."

Moreth scowled and looked at his hand, but saw no further plays he could make. He was going to have to end it there. "I can't do anything else. Make your move."

Dalin drew and immediately discarded the drawn card. "I discard Holy Shine Sphere(500/500) to Sol's effect, allowing me to draw three cards off the top of my deck."

He drew three more times, and gripped one of the cards separately, putting it into the duel disk right beneath the zone Sol was in. "The equip card Sword of Heaven increases Sol's attack points by one thousand."

A glowing silver sword formed in front of Sol and she reached out with a dainty hand to take it into her grasp. Instantly her attack points shot up to thirty-four hundred, stronger than even Zaborg. "Since no traps can be activated during the battle phase whilst an angel attacks and Sol is in play I feel safe in making my strike. She attacks!"

"Zaborg may fall, but he won't cost me anything. If Zaborg is destroyed while my field card is in play I take no damage the rest of the turn." The silver sword slashed straight through Zaborg's armor, cutting his head off his shoulders. The rest of the body followed.

"Two cards face down, and end." Ihami leaned back up against the wall, grinning even wider. She had a clear view of Dalin's hand, and she was certain she knew what was coming shortly. All he needed was one more card and he'd create his combo.

Moreth drew and laughed out loud immediately. "Monster Reborn revives Zaborg the Thunder Monarch(3000/1500), and now another effect of Kingdom of the Thunder Monarch activates!"

Zaborg extended both hands, each one crackling with lightning as he built up a large blast of electricity. "When he's summoned I can discard two cards from my hand to nuke all magic and trap cards on your field!"

The electricity shot out of Zaborg's hand and crackled first across one set, then to the other, and finally to the Sword of Heaven, destroying them each in turn. With the Sword of Heaven gone Sol's attack power fell to a weaker twenty-four hundred. "Now that she's weakened, Zaborg will eliminate her!"

Another ball of lightning was launched from the monarch's gauntlets. This one hit Sol directly in the face and blew her away. Her entire body was coated by the lightning before she was vaporized. "That is the perfect revenge of a monarch." (DLP: 2400)

With no remaining cards in his hand, Moreth could do nothing but end his turn. But he wasn't worried, not anymore at least. With his monarch and his field he could smash through anything that his opponent summoned. "You've been very disappointing to me so far ultimate duelist. Even so, I'll be satisfied to defeat you in the name of Lord Eikyuu!"

Dalin drew once and then glanced back at Ihami. She flashed him a sultry smile and he turned back to the duel. "The puzzle has been completed. This turn you fall. First step, I activate Monster Reborn!"

His field shimmered and a new angel appeared on it. The angel was clad in brown robes and had long brown wings extended out behind his back. His face was handsome but stern, and in his right hand he held a large scimitar. "Behold Earth, Angel of Destruction(1650/0)!"

Moreth blinked, staring at the monster in confusion. "There are two things wrong with this situation. First is that your monster is a weakling hardly worthy of the title 'angel of destruction'. The second is that I never saw that monster go to the grave, so how could you revive it?"

"I simply discarded it using Sol's effect the first turn so that I could later use my Monster Reborn and revive him without having to sacrifice a monster for his summon." Moreth was taken aback, not sure what to make out of that kind of forethought.

Dalin then took one of his three other cards and placed it onto his duel disk. A feminine angel with arms crossed over her chest and three orbs floating around her body was the angel that was summoned. "Venus, Angel of Creation(1600/0) joins the fray. And her inclusion spells victory for me. So now, step three."

He fit another card into his duel disk, and Venus spread her wings wide up and out behind her back, then flapped them down repeatedly. "My Angel's Feather Gust requires an angel in play to use, and if I meet the requirement I can destroy all cards in your magic and trap zone."

Moreth scowled as his two face down cards were blown away, but still felt confident since he had his field card and his thunder monarch was much stronger. "One card left, and no chance of that one card allowing either of your monsters to defeat my monarch."

"I don't intend to defeat your monarch, I intend to defeat you. Venus attacks Zaborg!" Venus flapped her wings and flew across the field, only to be met halfway by a lightning ball to the face. She fell backwards and her body burst into millions of pixels. (DLP: 1000)

"What in the world was the point of that foolishness? All you did was waste a monster and let me deal you damage. Are you stupid or something?" Dalin replied by calmly sliding the final card in his hand onto his duel disk. As soon as he did a fierce red aura sprang up around Earth.

"No, in fact I know more about strategy than you do it seems. By sacrificing Venus in a futile head-on assault I fulfilled the requirement for my quick-play magic card, Angelic Revenge. When an angel dies in battle I can increase another angel's attack by the base attack of the monster that did the killing. So now Earth gains twenty-four hundred attack points!" Moreth gulped as Earth's attack points soared to a deadly four thousand and fifty, making him even stronger than the monarch.

"Even if you kill my monarch I'll still survive thanks to the effect of my field card. The duel is far from over ultimate duelist!" Dalin shook his head and as he did so Earth raised his scimitar and poised himself to strike.

"Apparently you forgot what I said. I never intended to defeat your monarch, but rather to defeat you. Earth possesses the unique ability to attack magic and trap cards as if they were monsters. Set cards are considered to be in defense mode with no attack or defense points. Whereas face-up cards are the same…." Moreth's eyes widened as he realized the implication. If set was defense mode for magic and traps, then face-up had to be attack mode.

"You understand I see. Then this is the end for you! Earth, Angel of Destruction…attack Kingdom of the Thunder Monarch(0/0) with Sword of the Destroyer!" Earth swung his scimitar down in a mighty arc. At first nothing appeared to have happened, but slowly the entire courtyard split in half, including the impressive throne upon which Zaborg sat.

Moreth fell to his knees as the field shattered all around him, and the sound of his life points draining away was drowned out by that sound. "I see…I understand now why you're called the ultimate duelist." (MLP: 0)

As the darkness faded away Dalin and Ihami approached him. With a hint of regret Moreth held out a crystalline sphere with sparking blue light trapped inside. "This is the Death-Sealing Spell of Thunder. Use it well…ultimate duelist."

Dalin turned and walked away, Ihami however didn't follow immediately. She stood in front of Moreth and stared down at him from a second. "So, you ever use the spell?"

"Of course not. In fact, Lord Eikyuu never informed any of us what they did." Ihami grinned in response and to Moreth's surprise she pulled back his hood and kissed him full on the lips. She pulled back, still grinning, and replaced the hood.

"Good, it's better if you don't know. Tootles!" She waved briefly and ran to catch up with Dalin, leaving a stunned High Priest kneeling in the middle of an empty street staring after her.

She caught up with Dalin and looked up at his stern and emotionless face. "So, what's your take on Takuya's news about Kai's disappearance? The pseudo-samurai kid always struck me as a goody-goody, so I don't think he'd abandon the mission he was sent on."

Dalin didn't stop walking, nor did he look down at Ihami. "Kai Kaethen is dead."

"I see. Does it bother you that one of your comrades has fallen in the line of duty?" There was silence for several seconds as if Dalin was considering the question. Finally they stopped at a crosswalk and Dalin looked down at her, his jade eyes as cold and dispassionate as ever.

"Don't ask question to which you already know the answer. It's a waste of time." Ihami grinned and shoved her hands in her pockets. Briefly she stuck out her tongue at him before they started to cross the street.

"You're just like I remember Sumatin. But wow, look at this. First Isis and now Kai. I wonder which of your comrades will be the next to die." Dalin's only response was silence.

Ihami smirked and continued walking. "I wonder indeed."

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Author's Notes: I wonder indeed.

Next Time: The death of Kai Kaethen brings the fatalities amongst the group up to two, and Ihami's certainty that another death will come may spell doom for another of the party. Questions scream out to be answered all at the same time as Nikolas Selket steps forward to confront the next elemental. But his opponent's strategy may very well be the end of the Thief of the Desert.

See it all in, Broken Earth!