Author's Note: Finally the confrontation with the last of the priests…sorta!

Chapter Thirty-Four: Master of the Elements

Takuya scowled and kicked a pebble with his right foot, watching it skip along the ground. "Sent on a mission, I nearly die, and my teammate most likely does. Sent on another mission, and somehow I'm not feeling too great about the results."

He was well aware that this was a necessity in their efforts to stop the destruction of the Universe, but that didn't make it any more difficult to process. He was a martial artist, but he wasn't used to close friends dying. Or being shot.

Moscow. Of all places, he was in Moscow. And of all places, it was colder than hell itself. Of course he was well aware that Ryu and Autumn were probably freezing worse, but he still wasn't enjoying himself. Scowling he wrapped his thick coat around himself tighter. "I hate the cold…"

"That's a pity, I like the cold. Of course, I also like the hot…err…heat." Takuya sighed and dragged himself around in the snow to face whoever had spoken to him. The voice was younger and more active than he had expected from a priest.

The young man facing him was pale in the way that only someone who had enough Russian blood in them could be, although besides the paleness of his skin he didn't look at all Russian. His eyes were a bright aquamarine, and his hair a dirty blonde. "Who are you?"

The teenager, for he couldn't have been more than eighteen or nineteen, rubbed the back of his neck and looked abashed as he spoke. "Umm…Lin Koriki, errr….Temporary Head Priest of the Order of Immortality…ummm….also Temporary Guardian of the Death-Sealing Spell of Joining."

Takuya raised an eyebrow, not quite sure what to make of the young man. Besides his obvious youth and how uncomfortable he seemed to be, he was also dressed strangely. Not only was his jacket an odd emerald green color, but he was wearing brown fingerless gloves and a bright green cap pulled over his head. "I'm not…err…what did you mean by Temporary?"

Lin laughed again and continued rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, you see technically my second cousin once removed is the actual Head Priest, but he's ill so I'm taking over this duty for him. So…we duel to see who gets the shiny orb, yeah?"

Unable to think of any other response Takuya just nodded his head and a grinning Lin strapped a black duel disk onto his right arm and flipped it open. "Great! I may not be much of a priest, but I'm a heck of a duelist!" (LLP: 4000)

Shaking his head in a mixture of disgust and relief Takuya reached into the depths of his jacket and pulled out a thick box. He opened it and turned it around to show Lin, revealing that it contained three decks. "Pick one. One is my personal deck, another is my tournament deck, and the third is a deck I'm reserving. The last one you can't choose."

Lin paused and then came to a decision. "Just use whichever deck is the one you think you can do best against me with. Doesn't matter to me, I just want a fun duel. Plus not to embarrass my second cousin once removed."

Takuya said nothing and just picked up one of the decks and placed it into his deck holder. Then he returned his deck box into his jacket and activated his duel disk. "Fine, then let's duel!" (TLP: 4000)

The blonde young pseudo-priest drew and immediately slapped a card down onto his duel disk. In response his disk generated an image of a card in a horizontal position on his field. A defensive monster. "End!"

Although he wasn't sure what to make of the move Takuya still took his own turn. 'Odd, my training lets my predict opponent's movements based on their eyes and often that gives me a general idea of what my opponent is up to on the dueling field. But he's not giving anything away but joy…meaning he's either a complete idiot or he knows his fighting.'

Takuya examined the young man across from him, and came to the conclusion that it was the latter part. After all, this boy wasn't being entrusted with this job because he was the only one available. "Draw!"

He glanced down at his hand, and then threw out the monster he was holding. "Life Rock Knight(1600/1400) in attack mode! When this monster is summoned if I have no other warriors on the field I get to draw a card, and if the opponent has no other warriors on the field I get to add a warrior to my hand. I get both!"

First he drew a card off the top of his deck, and then he unfurled his deck and searched through it, carefully picking the monster he wanted. Once he had it he shuffled up and returned the deck to its place. Glancing up at his rock armored knight he made his choice on his move. "Life Rock Knight attacks your set monster!"

The bulky knight lifted up his rusty looking sword and slammed it down on the set monster. It appeared in the form of a bow being raised to stop the strike, and Life Rock Knight pushed down, trying to break through. "Damn…to high a defense…"

Lin chuckled as Life Rock Knight was tossed backwards, sliding to return to Takuya's field. At last Lin's monster was revealed as a blonde woman with white angel wings behind her body, holding a bow in her hand. "Not quite. This is the first of my Legendary Warriors, the Sky Archer(1300/1500). And she can't be beaten in battle by monsters with sixteen hundred or more attack points!"

It took Takuya a moment to consider what this meant, but once he had it made all the difference. 'It isn't as great an ability as say a complete inability to be beaten in battle, but it's close to it. While in defense mode her defense points are high enough that only a monster with sixteen hundred or more attack can beat her, so that means none can. It's an excellent defense.'

Frowning Takuya slid two of his cards into his duel disk and then with one last look at his hand he made his choice. "Turn end."

Lin snickered and snapped around the card he had just drawn. It started glowing, and immediately Sky Archer raised her bow. Then she jumped into the air, her wings spreading out wide as they could go. "Magic card activates, Shot of the Clouds!"

Sky Archer knocked a white feathered arrow into her bow and took aim at Takuya. "What's she doing?"

"When Shot of the Clouds is played Sky Archer gets the ability to attack directly this turn. So now, Sky Archer attacks with Shot of the Clouds!" Sky Archer released the arrow which sailed true down from the air. Not wanting a repeat of the gunshot episode Takuya dodged to the side, so the arrow merely nicked his shoulder. (TLP: 2700)

Suddenly Takuya pointed to his face down card on the right, which flipped into a face-up position. "Reverse card open, Declaration of War! This continuous trap card only activates when I've received damage. During each of our turns we have to battle at least one pair of monsters. And since you don't have a choice, Sky Archer and Life Rock Knight now battle!"

Lin blinked in surprise as Life Rock Knight charged forwards and slashed his sword at the descending archer. She jumped backwards, barely blocking with her bow. "Clever…but still, your monster was too strong so she lives." (LLP: 3700)

"Maybe so, but the damage was dealt. And if you have no monster next turn, that means I'll get to battle Sky Archer again for more damage. That will continue as long as my continuous trap is in play." Lin paused, considering what options he might have in this situation.

Smirking he slid a card into his duel disk beneath Sky Archer. "I'll give her the equip card Winged Bow, which doesn't give her any point bonuses, but its ability will help all the same."

Her bow suddenly gained a pair of angelic wing extensions for each pointed back edge of the bow, making it look like the weapon a true angel would wield. "Finally I set one card face down. And it's all you."

Takuya drew and quickly added the card to his hand and then picked out another one. "Since your monster is in attack mode, I'll instead finish her off with this monster! Boiling Edge Knight(1500/1400)!"

A monster in blue armor stepped out of a giant card representation and reached behind his back for a sword strapped there. His arm was stopped when an arrow embedded itself in his chest. Boiling Edge Knight stared at the arrow for a few seconds and then burst apart. "What was that?"

Lin smirked and wagged a finger at him. "Heh, sorry buddy but that won't cut it. Winged Bow destroys any monsters of fifteen hundred or less attack that you summon. Meaning for the time being you can't beat Sky Archer in battle at all."

Without seeing any way to continue in that way, Takuya was well aware of what he could do. "I use the effect of Declaration of War, forcing Life Rock Knight and Sky Archer into battle!"

Life Rock Knight came head on and swung his blade overhead, which Sky Archer caught with her bow and forced backwards. Her knees nearly buckled from the impact however, and Lin's life points still took a hit. "Your trap is pretty cool." (LLP: 3400)

"Yes, well what makes it better is that I never actually declared battle. So now Life Rock Knight will attack again and deal you another round of damage! Even if I can't yet kill that archer, I'll chip away at your life points!" Without missing a beat the knight raised his heavy sword and attacked again.

To Takuya's surprise this time Sky Archer merely jumped deftly to the side, causing Life Rock Knight to stumble forwards. Once he had recovered he jumped back to Takuya's field. "What happened this time?"

"My trap Aerial Evasion ends the battle phase when a player declares Sky Archer as an attack target, so looks like you've failed to accomplish anything at all." Takuya frowned and immediately flipped around one of the cards he was holding.

"Activate quick-play magic card, Saving Face! This activates if I have a monster with 'knight' in its name on the field that has its attack negated or has its attack fail in any way. I can now destroy any monster on the opponent's field, so say goodbye to Sky Archer!" Lin gasped as his archer blew apart, sending itself and the equip card to the grave.

Once he recovered from his surprise Lin couldn't help but grin in what Takuya recognized as delight. "So you're no slouch of a duelist I see. That's good; I was hoping this would be a tough duel."

"You're right, I'm no slouch. So I'll continue to show that, but for now I'll just end my turn." He folded his hand up and dropped his arm to his side, waiting for his opponent to make his move. Lin drew and looked curiously at the new card.

"Go continuous magic card, A Legend Is Born! As long as this continuous magic card is active whenever I special summon one of my four legendary warriors or a special type of monster involving them, I get to draw two cards." Smirking he plucked another of the cards from his hand free and held it aloft.

"Since that's the case I'll play Birth by Ignition! This lets me special summon number two of the Legendary Warriors from my hand or deck, so meet Spearman of the Inferno(2000/1200)!" A burning meteor shot down from the sky above and crashed into the ground in front of Lin.

Slowly the fires died down, revealing the new monster that Lin had brought forth. It was a tall warrior in black and red samurai armor, its black helmet adorned with yellow forehead decorations and its face covered by a red faceplate. In its right hand was a long black-handled spear. "Next since I special summoned this guy I draw two cards!"

Lin grabbed two cards off his deck at once and gave them a quick once over before returning to the field. "Since he's tougher I'd say its time to have this brutal attacker beat down your Life Rock Knight!"

Spearman of the Inferno raised his spear, the bladed end bursting into flame, and hurled the weapon straight at Takuya's weaker knight. Takuya reacted immediately, slashing his left arm out over his remaining set card. "Open reverse card, Element Shield! If my monster is anything but a light or dark monster I can negate your attack and remove the attacker from the game!"

The pseudo-priest responded by twisting one of the cards in his hand around for Takuya to see. "Sorry buddy, but no can do. I play Absolute Negation which will call back my attack, making you have used your trap for nothing. Of course my attack is still a failure, but I keep my monster."

With its spear back in hand the Spearman looked calm and collected, and not the raging fire monster that it had been seconds earlier. Takuya was disappointed that he hadn't gotten to remove it, but glad that his monster had survived. "Okay, I'm not done yet. I activate the continuous magic card Joyful Light of the Heavenly Realm. This lets me draw two cards instead of one during my draw phase."

Finally taking one of the last two cards in his hand Lin placed it behind his Spearman and gave Takuya a mock salute. "Turn end sir!"

Takuya glanced at his graveyard slot for a brief moment after drawing, and then saw his own face-up trap card starting to glow. "Instead of having it attack and be slaughtered I'll tribute my knight for another knight. This time my choice of monster fits yours, as its Inferno Supremus Knight(2400/2000)!"

His newest monster was wearing silver armor and a conical helmet, but it had a painting of a raging wildfire on its chest and the sword it held aloft was a raging flame of its own. "This monster has an ability that deals one hundred damage times the slain monster's level when it beats a monster. So starting off according to the effect of Declaration of War our monsters fight!"

Inferno Supremus Knight began to raise his burning sword above his head for an attack, but suddenly Spearman of the Inferno slammed his spear into the ground. Bright sparks flew up and Takuya's knight grabbed at its eyes and stumbled around. "What did you do to him?"

"I'm sure you remember my Aerial Evasion, so I'll let you know that I used a similar trap called Sudden Flare that works with Spearman of the Inferno instead. So since technically it's the chosen target of battle, I was able to stop you." Takuya clicked his tongue against his teeth, bothered by his failure to beat the monster yet. A brief flash of Kai went through his mind and he shook it off. He couldn't end up like that, he wouldn't let it happen.

"I play one card face down and end my turn! Bring on as many Legendary Warriors as you want, but they can't beat my Knights of the Elements!" Lin and Takuya's eyes met and they burned with as great of flames as the two fire type monsters they had on their fields.

For the start of his turn thanks to his continuous magic card Lin drew two cards, bringing him up to three cards in his hand. He grinned at what he saw and snapped his fingers. "Spearman of the Inferno's effect activates now!"

Spearman of the Inferno held his spear above his head and began to spin it. Bolts of flame flew out of it, landing all around Takuya and Lin. The two duelists edged away from the flames, but still they licked at their legs. "During my standby phase he deals us both five hundred damage." (TLP: 2200, LLP: 2900)

Grabbing one of the cards he had drawn Lin held it up above his head. "Since you enjoyed the combo of my first continuous magic card and Birth by Ignition so much I'll do something like that again. This time I'll be playing Left by the Tide!"

A wave crashed down on the field, depositing a swanky look man face first. He lay there for fifteen or twenty seconds and then coughed and pushed himself to his feet very slowly. "Meet Legendary Warrior the third, the master of the seas, Swashbuckler of the Roaring Ocean(1500/1400)!"

Swashbuckler was the very image of a pirate. In his right hand was a rapier, and his black hair was breaded and held in check by a blue bandana. Marking his left eye was an eye patch, and he also had a short little mustache. He casually adjusted his black gloves and the black jacket he wore over his white shirt and smirked. When he smirked, a gold tooth glinted from within. "This guy's tougher than he looks, and I'll show you how with this next magic card!"

He went to lift up the last remaining card of his opening hand, and then paused. "Oh yeah, first I get to draw because of my continuous magic card. Two new cards for this old boy."

As soon as he had drawn his new cards he grabbed the old card and lifted it above his head like he had originally intended to. "Go, Fury of the Waves! During this turn Swashbuckler of the Roaring Ocean gains a thousand attack points!"

The cocky smirk on Swashbuckler's face faded and he balled his left hand into a fist, his teeth grinding together as his anger gathered. "Let's take your big bad flame user down a notch! Rapier of the Sea!"

With a terrible roar of anger Swashbuckler ran full tilt at the knight, his blade swinging in crazy wide arcs as he went. Takuya knew that his time to act was now, so he had to do it. "I'll stop your monster in its tracks with Life Seal of Elements! Not only does this continuous trap negate one attack per turn by removing an elemental monster from the game, it also gives me a thousand life points whenever I do so."

Life Rock Knight slipped out of Takuya's grave and the martial artist tucked it into one of his wide puffy pockets. Swashbuckler's rapier slammed against an invisible wall and he screamed in anger. "Sorry Lin, but your monster was denied." (TLP: 3200)

Lin smirked in response. "You sure about that? Maybe you should take another look."

Takuya blinked in surprise when the rapier darted in and stabbed his knight in the chest. The knight groaned and collapsed, bursting into flame. "What the…how did he do that?" (TLP: 3100)

"Simple, Swashbuckler's own effect is that he can attack twice during each battle phase. Oh, and since your field is now empty, that means I'll attack you directly with Spearman of the Inferno!" Takuya groaned as flames roared around his body, stripping him of most of his life points. (TLP: 1100)

Lin grinned and grabbed at one of his other cards. "Now I'll show you what I meant by special forms. See, there are four different Legendary Warriors, and while that's a small number they can combine for greater power. In other words, here's their real strength. Polymerization!"

The two monsters were pulled together into a warp, creating a brand new monster. Instead of an impressive monster of frightening stature all that came of the fusion was a depressed-looking man with long, filthy brown hair and beard. He wore brown rags under the remains of broken armor, and in his hand was a rusty cracked sword. "That's your fusion? He's pathetic looking."

Instead of looking offended Lin just nodded. "That's right, because he's the Warrior of Lost Hopes(2500/1600). His special effect will really come in handy later. But for the moment since he was special summoned I get to draw two cards."

Lin replenished his hand with two brand new cards, giving him four total. "I'll set up one card and give you the turn."

Takuya drew his card and winced at what he saw. It was a man in heavy armor with long black hair in an old fashioned ponytail…just like how Kai wore his hair. 'Even if this guy wants this duel to be a fair and fun one…I can't let up any chance at victory! If I don't win more people could die!'

Taking a different card from his hand he slammed it down onto the field. "Breeze Knight(1700/1400) in attack mode! When this monster is summoned I can send one face down card on the opponent's field back to their hand!"

Lin's set card popped out of his duel disk and back into his hand, leaving only the much too strong Warrior of Lost Hopes. "Your warrior may be strong, but raw strength isn't everything! I equip Breeze Knight with Element Blade, boosting his attack by eight hundred!"

A hilt with no blade replaced the white armored knight's own sword. The knight, whose helmet appeared like a dove's, squeezed the hilt tight and suddenly a gleaming white blade of air erupted from the end. "With twenty-five hundred attack points our monsters are dead even, meaning neither of us has the advantage."

Seeing no other options there was just one last thing to do. "End."

Since it was his turn Lin drew two cards from his Joyful Light of the Heavenly Realm's effect. "Now, during my standby phase Warrior of Lost Hopes adds one of two monsters to my hand or a 'Polymerization'. I choose to add a monster to my hand."

His deck spat out a card, pumping him up to seven in hand. "Now, I summon the final of all four Legendary Warriors. Here is Defender of the Mountain(1400/2000)!"

Heavy footfalls were the first indication that the coming monster was physically large. But when he actually showed his face it seemed to Takuya that the sound was from the terrible weight of his armor. Defender was a bulky warrior wielding a spike mace in his left hand and a thick shield in the right hand. His armor was a dark brown that revealed absolutely no skin and looked very thick. "He's no match for my monster!"

Lin nodded and flicked up one of his hand cards. "Yep, that's exactly why I'll play this card in conjunction with him. It's the mighty magic card Rock Crusher Mace! It destroys all monsters on your field with defense points lower than Defender of the Mountain's!"

Defender of the Mountain immediately slammed his heavy mace into the ground, cracking it and sending a fissure spreading out towards Breeze Knight. The knight stumbled in an attempt to get away but failed and fell into the open fissure. "Damn…"

"Okay, now it's his turn for a direct attack! Go get him Defender of the Mountain!" Again the warrior crushed his mace into the ground, breaking it apart in an expanding line that headed straight for Takuya.

"I remove Breeze Knight from the game to activate Life Seal of Elements' effect!" He grabbed the knight from his grave and an invisible barrier stopped the expanding fissure. The fissure was pushed back and closed up, protecting Takuya. (TLP: 2100)

Takuya braced himself for the next attack that would end it…but it never came. "Wh…why aren't you attacking?"

Lin chuckled and rubbed at the back of his neck, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "Ah, Warrior of Lost Hopes is so dejected he's lost the ability to attack at all. So you're safe for the time being."

Taking one of his other cards Lin placed it face down. As it appeared in front of him Takuya considered carefully the look on Lin's face, trying to judge if it was the same card that he had set last turn. 'Damn, he really is good at hiding it. It's not going to work on him at all.'

Drawing without a word Takuya made note of the card that he had drawn the previous turn. He reached for it but then jerked his hand away. 'I…I can't play it? Am I really this pathetic that I'm shaken so easily?'

"I set a monster and end my turn." Lin drew instantly, getting two cards and then a card from his deck thanks to his fusion monster.

Lin suddenly snapped his fingers and his set card revealed itself. "Bet you thought this was a serious trap. In fact it's just my Pyro Clock of Destiny! Its effect speeds up the turn count of the duel by one, meaning I get to search my deck again."

As quick as a flash Lin had eight cards in his hand as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Meanwhile Takuya had two continuous trap cards, one of which he couldn't use anymore without risking of losing and only two cards in hand, one of which he couldn't force himself to use. "I can see you're nervous, and you've got every right to be. After all, I'm about to unleash the ultimate power of my deck!"

Takuya bit his bottom lip and drew blood. He could tell that Lin was completely serious when he said that. "First up I'll play Defusion, splitting my Warrior of Lost Hopes back into Spearman of the Inferno and Swashbuckler of the Roaring Ocean!"

His two former monsters reappeared and Takuya made a connection. By the grin on Lin's face he was absolutely right. "I can tell that you know what happens now. Now since I special summoned them back to the field I get to draw a total of four cards!"

In mere seconds he had pumped his hand size up to eleven cards with essentially no effort. "That's not all, to create my ultimate monster I have to play Polymerization one more time! This time I'll fuse Defender of the Mountain, Spearman of the Inferno, Swashbuckler of the Roaring Ocean, and from my hand Sky Archer!"

A spinning vortex of brown, red, white, and a blue merged together. When the lights faded the new monster was revealed. He looked like some sort of Asian monk as his head was shaved bald, his eyes closed in contemplation, and he wore green robes and held a staff in his hands. "This is he. Master of the Elements(4200/4100)!"

Takuya gulped, realizing just how big of trouble he was in. Even without any effects Master of the Elements would be a formidable foe, and Takuya could tell that this wasn't a monster without effects. "Damn…"

"You should be saying that, since now I draw two more cards again, putting me back up at eleven in hand!" He drew twice, grinning like a lunatic as he did so. It looked strange to compare that bulky hand with the two lonely cards that Takuya was holding.

Seconds later a card shot out of Lin's grave and he held it up, revealing it to be one of the two Sky Archers in his grave. "Now I activate one of Master of the Elements' effects! By removing a wind type monster from my grave he gains the ability to attack your life points directly this turn!"

A powerful gust of air shot past Lin and into Master of the Elements back. Using the boost from the torrential winds the staff wielding warrior shot like a rocket across the field, staff pointed directly at Takuya's throat. "You should have known, I remove Inferno Supremus Knight to negate it!" (TLP: 3100)

The staff ricocheted off that same invisible barrier from before and with grace and eyes still closed the Master returned to Lin's side. "Of course I knew, but that didn't mean I wouldn't try. Also, I set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Hold up right there! You've still got nine cards left in your hand, so you better discard until you've fallen to six cards." Lin grinned and grabbed three cards from his hand. He turned them around showed them to Takuya.

"I discard Sky Lark(700/400), Fire Drake(600/900), and Mountain Lion(400/1200) from my hand. These three monsters are familiars to my Legendary Warriors, and since they share their elements I've now got extra fuel for Master of the Elements!" Takuya scowled and reached for his deck, realizing that he was in over his head.

"Activate magic card, Fire Knight's Strike! If there's a fire element warrior in the grave I can destroy any monster on the opponent's field. And my target is Master of the Elements!" A warrior formed of pure fire erupted from his card and charged towards the Master, intent on slaying him.

Lin's right arm snapped out over one of his two set cards and it flipped up, revealing a continuous trap. "Will of the Legend gives magic and trap immunity to all my Legendary Warriors and their fusions!"

A white glow sprang up around Master of the Elements and the burning knife exploded against his chest. The fire faded away quickly, revealing that Master of the Elements was completely unharmed. "Damn it…"

Without missing a beat Lin pointed to his other set card which also flipped up. "I'll also activate Infinite Disregard! This lets me choose any card name and never have to pay life points for that card for as long as this card is in play. My choice is Will of the Legend, which has a thousand point upkeep."

Takuya cursed under his breath, seeing the meaning behind that. Now it meant that his Legendary Warriors would have infinite immunity to magic and trap cards for as long as those two cards remained in play. 'Guess that leaves monster effects and battle to beat his behemoth.'

Grabbing one of the last two cards in his hand Takuya placed it down onto the field, causing another horizontal backed card to appear on his field. "A monster in defense. End."

Lin drew twice, and then slid one of the cards into his duel disk. "I'll add on to my combination by playing Soul Absorption. Whenever a card is removed from the game I'll gain five hundred life points."

He snapped his fingers and suddenly the two set monsters burst into flames. "By removing fire monsters from my grave, namely my Fire Drake and Spearman of the Inferno I can destroy one of your monsters. So both of your monsters are gone!" (LLP: 4400)

Takuya grimaced, knowing he was definitely in trouble here. "Master of the Elements attacks your life points directly!"

Again an invisible wall blocked the strike before it could hit Takuya, boosting his life points at the same time. "At this rate we're in a deadlock." (TLP: 4100)

Without saying another word Lin discarded a card from his hand, showing that he was done with his turn. With a sigh Takuya reached for his deck, not quite sure what he could do to bring this duel back under his control and win. 'This is looking bad for me…'

The sight of his newest card gave him hope that he wasn't sure he still had. "To summon this monster I have to remove all elemental monsters in my grave from the game, it's a risk but it has to be taken! That's four monsters, so the life points are all yours!" (LLP: 6400)

A tall warrior in pitch black armor walked out onto the field, a long and thick blade slung over one shoulder. His helmet was nowhere to be found, but the spikes on his shoulders added a definite air of threatening power to him. As did the fact that his sword had to be nearly as tall as he and about a foot thick. "This is my mighty Element Assault Knight(4500/0)! He throws everything else away in return for brutal attack points!"

Lin's eyes widened in surprise as Element Assault Knight's grip tightened on his sword and swung it down. A blast of burning wind shot out of the tip directly at the Master of Elements. "Goodbye Master of Elements!"

The flaming wind exploded, sending rocks flying all over the field. Takuya grinned, happy to have gotten that out of the way. "What are you happy about?"

Takuya's grin faded as the dust settled. A half-broken rock wall stood between him and Master of the Elements, who was still intact. "But…but you have no set cards!"

"That's right, I don't. Instead I have Master of the Elements' next ability that of removing an earth type monster from my grave to negate an attack. That means that despite your monster's strength I can still stop it." Takuya scowled, seeing Lin's life points raise up as well thanks to Soul Absorption. This was getting worse by the minute. (LLP: 6900)

Lin reached for his next two cards, but paused when Life Seal of Elements exploded. "What in the world was that?"

"When I have no elemental monsters in my grave during my end phase my Life Seal is destroyed. Now go and get this over with." Lin nodded and finally drew his two cards. Of course there was little option for playing cards as his magic and trap zones were all full.

Seconds ticked away as Lin examined one of the cards he had drawn, and then he started snickering. "Perfect, I'll beat down your ultimate element monster with my own! I'll do it by discarding Legend's Superiority! By discarding it and my whole hand I can double any Legendary Warrior's attack points for the rest of the duel!"

Master of the Elements was suddenly surrounded by a huge spinning vortex of fire, water, sand, and wind. After nearly a minute of the continuous special effects the Master tapped the end of his staff on the ground, banishing the vortex. "And now his attack is at eight thousand four hundred points. All that, and he can't use his effects till my next turn. Cool isn't it?"

Takuya felt his hands shaking as Master of the Elements gripped his staff. "Yeah…cool."

"That's right, it's damned awesome! Strike of Elemental Mastery!" Master of the Elements simply vanished. Almost instantly he reappeared directly in front of Element Assault Knight and tapped the monster's forehead with his staff. The knight looked shocked for a moment, and then burst apart. (TLP: 200)

Takuya knew perfectly well that it all came down to this. Yet somehow he couldn't see how it would make a difference. "Do innocent people have to die so that others can live?"

Lin blinked, taken off guard by the question. "I…I don't know. My parents died when I was young, innocent and taken from this world by an accident. I lived and here I am. Isn't it important for people to live though?"

"It is…but it doesn't make it any easier. Yet I understand partially that it gives me something to fight for. To fight and make sure that nobody else dies, to make sure that the death of an innocent, the death of a friend, is not in vain. I think I've figured out who my enemy is…" Lin met Takuya's eyes, both of them utterly serious.

Takuya placed two fingers on the top of his next card and drew, snapping it out to the side. "My enemy is he who would take innocent life for the purpose of self advancement! He who would take innocent life for the purpose of amusement! I can't undo the nature of the Universe that seems to say innocents will inevitably die so that others will live…but I'll do my best to fight it anyway!"

He thrust out his card, revealing it to be a magic card. On it a man in regal robes had a sword against the shoulder of a man kneeling before him. "Knighting Ceremony is my card! It lets me special summon any monster with 'knight' in its title from my hand to the field no matter what the cost for it!"

Without another thought about it he slapped the monster he had been saving onto his duel disk. The man that stepped out had long black hair done in an old-fashioned topknot, and had a katana at his waist. He wore bamboo sandals, and the red garb of an old samurai. "Knight of the Orient-Fire Soul(2800/2500)!"

"What's that monster going to do? Compared to Master of the Elements he's just a pipsqueak." Takuya closed his eyes and his samurai dropped one hand to the base of its sheath and the other to the hilt. It slid its legs slightly apart, dropping into a stance that showed a readiness to charge and unsheathe his blade at the same time.

"Pipsqueak? Perhaps he's smaller and has less attack points, but in terms of pure skill with the blade my Knight of the Orient far surpasses your monster! Allow me to prove it with one final ultimate strike! Ultimate Technique; Burning Soul God's Blade!" In a flash the samurai unsheathed his sword. A thin line of red flame slashed across the field and through Master of the Elements. Then without anything else happening the samurai sheathed his sword.

Master of the Elements stood strong…and then burst into flames. Lin's eyes were wider than should have been possible as his ultimate monster burned to ash. "What…what in the seven hells was that?"

"That was Fire Soul's supreme technique, usable only once during the duel. This monster cannot attack but has four techniques, each of which does something different. The final one allows him to destroy any monster in play and then deal its attack as damage to the opponent!" Lin gasped as he looked down at his duel disk and saw that it was true. His life points were falling faster than stock prices in the U.S. (LLP: 0)

Takuya took one last look at Fire Soul before it faded away, the duel at last finished. "Thank you for that duel, it helped me understand my role in what's to come. I'm a warrior, a fighter, no matter what that will always be the case. So I guess it's my duty to fight for others weaker than myself, to protect the innocent."

Lin smiled and pulled a crystal clear orb out of his coat and tossed it to Takuya. The martial artist caught it and gave it a careful look, examining the glowing center. After he was satisfied he tucked it into his own thick coat. "You're a great duelist guy. I bet you'll do great at protecting people."

The two shared a smile and Takuya turned to walk away. He paused after taking several steps in that direction and craned his neck back to look at Lin. "By the way, my mine is Takuya Shinomori. Remember it, because I just might come back one day looking to duel you again."

The young blonde man grinned and waved at the departing warrior. "I think I'd like that. See ya Takuya, as long as the world doesn't end!"

Takuya sighed and stared at the now setting sun, his mind on those last few words. To himself he whispered. "Yeah…as long as the world doesn't end."

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Author's Notes: And that mini-arc comes to a conclusion. Next is a full arc which will essentially last until the end of the story, but technically in my mind goes for 17 more chapters. We're officially in part two of this story.

Next Time: The Death-Sealing Spells have been gathered. Losses have been taken. Secrets are brewing beneath the surface. The clock begins to tick down as the last of the month flies by. Ihami's traitorous actions are revealed and by the end of the month all hell will break loose. Time has run out.

See it all in, Countdown Begins! The Second Seal Shatters!