Author's Note: Let part two of Last Rays of Twilight begin!

Chapter Thirty-Five: Countdown Begins! The Second Seal Shatters!

They stood together in the center of Dalin's house, all of them remaining gathered together. Ryu placed the Death-Sealing Spell of Tide on the floor in front of him and stepped back so he was standing next to Autumn. "That's one."

Alice stepped away from Hikari and placed the Death-Sealing Spell of Wind next to Ryu's gathered seal, then returned to Hikari's side. "Number two right there."

Nikolas rolled his eyes and dropped the Death-Sealing Spell of Earth into the pile. "Three."

Ihami smirked and let the crystal orb float from her hand down until it settled amongst the other three. "Death-Sealing Spell of Flame makes four."

Takuya pulled the Death-Sealing Spell of Joining from his pocket and added it to the growing pile of Death-Sealing Spells. "That's the fifth."

Last but not least Dalin knelt down and set the Death-Sealing Spell of Thunder with the rest, completing the group. "And that makes all six. We've successfully gathered the six Death-Sealing Spells, just as we needed to."

Silence straddled the room like a giant, ready to crush anyone who dared to speak. Finally gathering some courage Ryu let his voice be known. "Ummm…so what do we do now? We're supposed to use them as a temporary seal on this ancient evil thing right? But how do we go about that?"

"Probably play right into the hands of the enemy I'd wager." Ryu's eyes widened as he felt a presence at his shoulder. He tried to move, but his body felt like led, he couldn't even twitch a finger.

The rest of the group felt basically the same, and none of them could move an inch. Casually strolling into the ground with his black trench coat flicking out behind him was a familiar yet changed figure. Hikari stared at the newcomer in fear. "….Drake?"

Even though he wasn't facing her Hikari knew that voice, that voice and that swagger anywhere. It couldn't be anyone but her brother. "Close, but not exactly. The name is D'raka, and I've come to reap the fruits of your labor."

Alice blinked and mulled over what he had said. Once she came to a conclusion she voiced it. "So…you're Drake's evil twin brother then?"

D'raka stopped in front of the pile of Death-Sealing Spells and a big drop of sweat formed on his brow. "Yeah….let's go with that."

Although almost everyone seemed too confused to really make much of a fuss, that didn't apply to all of them. Nikolas was struggling, his muscles quivering as he tried as hard as he could to move, to even activate his magic and free himself. But nothing was coming. "What the hell are you talking about anyways? Reap the fruits of our labor? What's that crap about?"

D'raka laughed the sound dark and confident at the same time. "The term Death-Sealing Spells is a bit of a misnomer, a misnomer you believed. They were created thousands of years ago to do exactly what you want to do with them, to act as a temporary seal should one of the seals on that evil be broken."

Autumn gulped, unable to hide the fear that was creeping through her body merely being in this strange Drake's presence. "But…if they do what we think, how is it a misnomer?"

D'raka knelt and reached out with one hand, stopping it just inches away from the first of the Death-Sealing Spells. A wavering heat was between his hand and the crystal. "Because they act like a sort of emergency system. The instant one of the seals breaks they get activated and are placed in the hands of their chosen guardians. Meaning that the duty you want to use them for is already what they are being used to do."

To their surprise Ihami stepped forward and reached out, letting one of the six orbs fly up into her outstretched hand. "In other words the reason we all gathered them was so that the temporary seal could be broken. You were all used to put them into my hands."

Alice struggled against the bonds of power that kept her in her place and tried to reach them. "You traitor! I'll stop you!"

Ihami's lilting crystalline laugh echoed through the room as she sauntered over to the struggling young woman. Ihami placed one cool hand against the girl's cheek and smiled. "I'm sorry, you seem to be under a mistaken impression that I was ever on your side to begin with. The only side I've ever been on is my own. I do whatever is in my best interest."

Seeing that she couldn't get anything out of the ancient Egyptian woman Alice turned her attention to the frozen Dalin, tears brimming in her eyes. "Senpai! You have to stop them senpai, please!"

"Senpai! Senpai! Save me! Save me! Make it all better, waa, waaa! Sob sob!" D'raka chuckled and walked over to the frozen Dalin, who so far had said nothing, and placed his hand on the man's chest.

"Little Alice, you keep whining and complaining like this fucking thing is gonna save you. Well, it may look like your precious mentor, but he's just a shell, a husk used for our own purposes. A puppet made in his image. A puppet that bows to its masters." To everyone's surprise Dalin dropped to one knee and bowed his head. D'raka patted the top of that head without a word.

"Why make us do it for you? Those guys weren't that tough." Ryu's words seemingly caught D'raka off guard, because there was no initial response. Finally he brought his hand away from the false Dalin's head and he turned to face Ryu.

Ryu's entire body felt colder and weaker when he saw D'raka's face for the first time since his appearance. There was still a resemblance to Drake, but his eyes were much different. The left eye was the same violet shade as Drake's, only a storm of red dots swam through it like silt in a river. "What the hell?"

It was the second eye, his right eye, which really threw them all off. A large scar ran from just below his right eye to the top of his forehead, indicating that at some point damage had been dealt. But in place of the normal violet eye was a size larger, and the pupil was a red gaping maw of slavering teeth. "What the hell you ask? This is a special eye I acquired recently with a little help. An eye that brings me one step closer to my goal."

D'raka smirked and patted Ryu on the shoulder. "You wanted to know why I didn't just go and get them myself. Well as part of the magic placed on them the Death-Sealing Spells cannot be used by whoever wins them. So had I gone to get them they would have been useless to me."

Ihami strolled up and wrapped an arm around D'raka's waist, grinning to show off her pearly white teeth. "That's where I came in. Like we heard, the Death-Sealing Spells can't be given, only won. However, that rule only applies to mortals. Since I'm immortal I can take the Death-Sealing Spells and simply give them to D'raka."

"Why? What do you get out of all this?" Ihami and D'raka both looked over at Hikari, who was watching them with a somewhat sickened expression. Whether it was from the whole situation or just seeing someone who looked like her with her arm around someone who looked her brother's waist that made her sick.

Ihami tapped her chin with her free hand, looking like she was trying to think up the answer. Finally she snapped her fingers as it came to her. "Oh that's right, living forever. See, I love to live; I've grown attached to it. In exchange for the Death-Sealing Spells my buddy D'raka here will deal with the one remaining person who can kill me, who I myself can't deal with."

"Where's senpai?" Ihami released D'raka and walked back over to Alice. She leaned in closer, her nose nearly touching Alice's.

"He's floating in a casket down the Nile, never to be seen again. Good thing as well, since he's one of only two people in the world that can kill me. Since he's out of the way, D'raka will willingly take care of the second. Then I can live forever." She pulled away from Alice, who let her eyes drift to the ground, trying to hide the tears that were starting to flow freely.

D'raka snorted and shoved his hands into the pockets of his sleeveless trench coat. "Let's get on with this shit, the whole villains explaining their plots thing gets annoying. Give me the Death-Sealing Spells so I can get the fuck out of here and on with my plans."

He snapped his fingers and each of the others in the room felt their lips being pulled together by the same weight that kept them from moving. "Well hooray for the sounds of fucking silence. Never thought they'd shut up."

He cast a glance at Ihami, who ignored him and placed one hand over the pile of Death-Sealing Spells. They floated up into the air until they were all spinning in a tight circle around her hand. They were soon joined by the one she had previously picked up. "D'raka, I gift these Death-Sealing Spells to you in accordance with the laws of deep magic placed upon them by the gods. They are yours to do with as you see fit."

They shot out from her hand towards D'raka. The dark version of Drake merely raised one hand, causing the crystal orbs to stop before striking him. He let them float above his open palm, looking at them carefully. "Took long enough. Keh, these brats are just fucking lucky the magic of the Death-Sealing Spells prevents me from directly killing them. Still, there's more to do, so I'm leaving."

D'raka scowled and turned around, looking directly at Hikari. "Damn, I almost forgot. For this to work I have to sacrifice everyone closest to me in blood. Its blood magic that destabilizes the sealing power of the spells, understand? So you're going to become my sacrifice."

Hikari's violet eyes narrowed as she heard a voice in her head speak words she had thought were only her own over-active imagination. Words spoken by someone with eyes like D'raka's. "Die by my hand! Become my sacrifice and die a thousand deaths!"

"It was real…the whole time it was real." D'raka walked up to her and tapped on her forehead with one finger. Instantly the two vanished, disappearing into themselves as if pulled in by a black hole.

Ihami looked around at the others one last time and then glanced back at the kneeling puppet Dalin. He stood up and walked up to her, standing at her side. "Well, it's been fun kids. And in no time at all the story is going to take a nasty turn, get ready because death is going to come for each of you. Tootles!"

Like D'raka and Hikari she vanished, only she disappeared in a flash of light along with her puppet. As soon as she was out of sight the gathered group were released from their restraints and collapsed on the ground. Alice was sobbing, and nobody else could seem to think of anything to say.

At least until Takuya stood tall and looked around at the rest of them, his eyes burning up. "We were used, well so what? We've taken losses, including some of our biggest guns and leaders? Well so what? We're still here, we're still alive, and so we can't give up! We have to keep fighting so that innocent people don't keep dying!"

Ryu snorted and sat on his haunches, his eyes hidden by his bangs as he hung his head. "And what? What do you expect us to do next? The guy telling us what to do was Dalin, we don't know where to go from here."

Takuya looked up at the ceiling, his body completely still. "We were betrayed not just by Ihami, but also by the Puppeteer. That doesn't mean its over. I know that there are other people out there with information, and I know just who to ask. We'll stop this from happening, you'll see."

Nikolas picked himself up and started to walk towards the door, but paused right before walking out suddenly. He turned and looked back at Takuya and smirked. "I'm not going to back out now. I have yet to finish my dealings with Sumatin, so I'm in until then. And I have a question I have to answer for that bitch Ihami, once I figure out what the answer is. And besides, if the Universe is destroyed there won't be anything left to steal."

He clasped hands with Takuya and the two shook on it, determined to keep going. With a sigh Ryu stood and held his hand out to Takuya, who also shook it. "Well, I guess I'm still in. Hell, I don't want the Universe to end more than anybody else. Besides, even if we can't stop those two freak jobs we can still stop that lunatic Taichi."

Autumn shook her head and picked herself up, then also shook hands with Takuya. "I don't see why I shouldn't stick around. I've been with you idiots this long, I might as well stay with you until the end of the Universe. Even if it is sooner than expected."

All of them looked to Alice, whose shoulders still shook but whose sobs were now silent. She continued like that for a few more minutes, her shakes slowing bit by bit until she was at last completely motionless. When it was gone, she pushed herself up to her feet and met their eyes. "Senpai wouldn't stop fighting, so I can't disappoint him. As long as I've got breath in my body I won't stop fighting, just like him!"

Takuya happily shook her hand and then slammed his fist into his open palm. "Alright then! We're all together on this, so we've got to make haste. To win this thing we're gonna need a few more allies, so we need to get in touch with Kirani and her family, I'll explain why in a minute. Then we need to find Taichi and stop him. But most of all, we need some big guns for this. We're going to need Drake."

Nikolas smirked and looked out the open window at the dark night, stars filling the sky. "Then what are we waiting for? It's already past twilight, so let's not even waste an hour of the night!"

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"You've been doing well so far…better than I expected. Of course…that doesn't mean our project is even close to…being complete." The wheezing of air through burnt lunges made speech more difficult, but he spoke nevertheless.

Sitting in a wheelchair, his body covered in bandages with tubes connected to him and a breathing mask on his face was none other than Taichi Nobuki, his cold eyes gazing at the dark hair of head kneeling in front of him. Standing behind him was his assistant, a beautiful woman who had proved to be useful. "Sir, you're going to be in terrible shape if you don't go for treatment soon."

Taichi's hoarse breath rattled out his ruined lips and he took a deep breath from the oxygen mask, replenishing his limited supply. "Not yet…more has to be done. We have to put the last pieces…in place. That's where…you come in."

His eyes remained fixed on the young fellow at his feet. The young man bowed his head deeper and began to speak, but was cut off by a popping noise. All of them looked to the left, where none other than D'raka stood. "I hope I haven't interrupted anything? I have? Good."

Taichi felt rage bubbling up in his chest. He had hoped to be done with this bastard, but again he had come. He had already given too much to this bastard, and he didn't want to give anything else. "What else do you want? Don't you….have enough…already?"

D'raka sneered and strolled over to the end of the control booth, looking down at the production line below, listening to the screams. "Oh I just need a few more things. First and foremost…I need Tenjiku Ihachi."

Taichi sighed and waved one hand briefly as if dismissing the idea. "Fine, take her. I don't even…know which plant she's…in. She's yours…."

The dark figure nodded, his eyes continuing to roam the plant floor. "Good, good. You know it still amazes me how things like this can work out. Now as for the last thing, I'm going to need you to give me as many dead bodies you can, as long as they have used Blood before. The highest level available as well."

Again Taichi waved his hand. "I don't care…if you take…the corpses. Just be done….with it. I'm tired of….talking to you. Get out of here…."

D'raka smirked and walked away from the window, brushing by the young man on the floor and winking at the attractive assistant with his good left eye. "Looks like everything is going to work out. This is the continuation of a beautiful friendship. I'll see you again Taichi, don't die on me until then."

He disappeared just as he had appeared, vanishing into himself with a pop. Taichi's assistant placed a hand on his shoulder in a soothing gesture, which he didn't shrug away. "Evelyn…you're always so kind….the kindest person I….ever knew. I expect you to…end it…if I ever give in."

"Of course sir. As always I'll be by your side and do as you say. But are you sure it's wise to honor the agreement you were placed under all those years ago? It is dangerous." Taichi reached up one shaky hand and placed it on top of hers, his eyes seemingly colder than usual.

"I want to see mankind suffer…and so it will. But to protect….my interests and yours….that's where you come in. You know what to do…don't you?" The young man nodded and then rose to his feet, his dark blue eyes shining bright, his pitch black hair falling freely across his forehead.

"Of course I do. Always remember that I will do anything you ask of me…father."

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Three weeks passed faster than any of them thought possible. Every minute seemed to be filled with frantic efforts, questions, and very few answers. For one pair it was an entirely different situation as the month came to a close.

Drake sighed and stared out at the setting sun. His training was complete, at least in his father's eyes. He had defeated Masue, surpassed him in terms of dueling and fighting in the space of a month. Surpassed his own previous limits. But it was just the beginning. "It's almost twilight."

Masue nodded, standing next to his son and also watching as the brilliant ball of fire descended in the horizon. "That's true. After twilight the night will come."

They continued to stare into the distance, neither saying a word for several minutes as it continued to grow darker. Finally Drake broke that silence. "It was…interesting getting to know you. And don't worry; I'll get it as quick as possible once I leave."

The father sighed and shook his head. "You beat me, you surpassed me, but it's far from over. You'll still have to continue to improve, and to fight. And you'll have to answer many important questions. Your struggle has only just begun Daisuke."

"Yeah, maybe so. Still, I've never backed down from any challenge in the past so I'm hardly going to back down from this challenge. I'll meet it head on and defeat it, just like all the others!" Masue laughed at his son's enthusiasm and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"You understand that this is the last time we'll see each other, don't you? I can't remain for more than a day in the living world, and soon I'll cease to exist. Expending my limits like this to help out is going to destroy my soul. So before that I wanted to apologize for not being there for you. I wish that" He was cut off when his own son slugged him, sending him crashing into the ground.

Drake stood above him, his head tilted to the side as he watched the sun at the very bottom of its descent. "Don't apologize for shit you never had control over, that sort of thing pisses me off. We do what we think is best at the time, and it's not like anybody ever knows all the consequences to their actions. If we did know that'd make life hella boring."

Masue laughed and propped himself up on his elbows, looking out to watch the sun set once more with his son. "That's true. Its amazing that at times you sound like you're a completely selfish punk idiot, and others you're as wise as your father."

Drake snorted and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're just as much of a cocky ass as I am, you know that? I ain't wise or anything like that, I just happen to get that some things are stupid and other things aren't."

"That is wisdom, even if in a crude form. I think you'll do well, you'd make a great father I think." Drake's face fell slightly, darkening just like the sky was. He sighed and reached down and pulled his father back up to his feet.

Father and son stared at each other for several seconds, and then Drake turned around and started walking away. "Don't be an idiot; I'm not gonna live that long anyways. I'll be seeing you old man."

"No you won't Daisuke." He watched his son continue to walk away, the setting sun at his back. Drake raised his hand and gave a parting wave without ever looking back.

Drake's face was hard as steel as he walked away, walking to the future that seemed so uncertain and so frightening. "I know old man, I know. Just so you know…you were a good father."

He rounded a hill, putting him completely out of his father's view and he still kept walking. "I was a terrible son though. But old man…I won't let you down."

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When his son faded from his senses Masue turned around and looked into the night sky. "You've been waiting there for a few minutes now, why don't you show yourself."

"So, you're Masue Ihachi huh? I'm kinda surprised honestly, that a worthless shit like you is my old man." Masue sighed, not looking back as D'raka walked out of the darkness and stood just a dozen feet away.

"I guess you want my blood then? I suppose I should have been expecting this. But you won't get my life or my blood without a fight, and I won't go down easily." D'raka snorted and snapped his fingers. Masue heard the sound of something clicking into place and finally turned.

D'raka stood across from him, a black duel disk which resembled a living thing on his left arm. It looked as if it was holding his deck in place with sharp teeth, and the bulk of the duel was in fact moving, proving that it probably was alive. "Old man, I'll crush you." (DLP: 4000)

Masue raised his own left arm and a simple DD3 activated, deck already in place. "You really want to fight? Do you really think that you can beat me in a duel?" (MLP: 4000)

The dark version of Masue's son smirked and pulled the top five cards off his deck. "Dumbass, I'm only dueling you because I know I can win and just want to enjoy crushing you. I could just beat you down, but this will be more fun. So show me what you're capable of geezer!"

Masue scowled and drew once to start the duel. "I begin by summoning Celestial Magician LV3(1300/800) in attack mode!"

His monster was a youngish girl with blue hair, wearing a yellow robe with a diamond pattern to it. In her right hand was a staff with a full circle surrounding a shining silver star. "Finally I set two cards down behind it and conclude my turn."

D'raka smirked and casually raised his drawn card, revealing a ball of black flame that seemed to be shooting down. "Death Meteor deals you a thousand points of damage!"

A black ball of fire similar to the one depicted on the card shot down from the sky above and crashed down on Masue. It exploded, raining black fire down on the ground all around them. "Heh, I bet that hurt." (MLP: 3000)

A flare of power came from the middle of the flames, extinguishing them and revealing Masue. The older man was scowling and looked irritated, but still was quite intact. "Less than you think. It will take more than that to defeat me."

"Fucking duh. I wouldn't be dueling you right now if I thought I could beat you with just one Death Meteor. Keh, don't be such a moron." They faced off, Masue filled with resentment and anger, D'raka filled with hatred and amusement.

"I'll follow your lead and place two cards down to end my turn. Now…it's the first real turn for you, so you better do more than stall. I want to see some of your real power, so bring it on!" He beckoned with one hand, his lips curved up into an eager smile.

Masue drew and suddenly Celestial Magician started to glow. "During my standby phase Celestial Magician LV3 evolves into her next higher form, that of Celestial Magician LV5(2100/1700)!"

The blue haired girl grew taller and more developed, her staff changing in size to accommodate her more mature and larger form. "Once per turn Celestial Magician LV5 allows me to remove one face down magic or trap card on the opponent's field from game! Celestial Banishment!"

Celestial Magician spun her staff in a rapid circle and finished with it pointing at the card set on D'raka's right. A bolt of prismatic energy shot out of the star in her staff and roared towards the set card. "You should know better than to defend yourself with merely a few cards. The opponent can easily undo that defense and defeat you!"

D'raka smirked and pointed to the targeted card, which flipped up revealing it as having a trap border. "And you should know well enough that targeted cards for removal or destruction can still be chained, making such effects often completely pointless! So don't fucking give me a lecture you geezer!"

The prismatic energy struck the face-up trap card and dissipated. Then the trap started glowing red and the ground beneath Celestial Magician started to shake. "Speaking of which, my chained card is called Drag to Hell, and it'll do what you intended to do to it. Remove Celestial Magician from the game!"

Chains burst out of the ground and wrapped around Celestial Magician and began to drag her into the ground. She was easily pulled under, but Masue didn't seem to be that worried. "You may have defeated one, but they are far from finished. Reverse card open, Level Revolution!"

One of Masue's two set cards flipped up and the spot formerly occupied by Celestial Magician LV5 started glowing. "Level Revolution activates when an opponent's effect takes a level monster off the field. It lets me special summon a level monster of equal level to the field!"

The glowing light faded into the form of yet another Celestial Magician LV5. "With my replacement magician I'll attack you directly! Celestial Shot!"

A burst of white light shot out of the star in her staff, striking D'raka directly in the chest. The energy flickered as a spot of black flame appeared over his chest, preventing it from striking him directly. "Heh, I won't get hurt by the likes of that crap." (DLP: 1900)

"Even if it didn't hurt you physically it still damaged your life points by more than half. Now, two cards face down and that's the end of my turn." Two cards appeared, one on each side of the previous set card.

D'raka snapped a card off his deck and held it up. "You're so proud of your damned level monsters that I think I'll help you gather them with the aid of my magic card, Call of Cthulu! I choose monsters from your deck to special summon until your field is filled up, and no matter their requirements they get summoned."

Four cards flew out of Masue's deck and landed on his duel disk one by one. As they did four large monsters took shape on his field surrounding his Celestial Magician LV5. "Armed Dragon LV10(3000/2000), Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV10(3400/2500), Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8(3000/1800), and last but not least Armed Dragon LV7(2800/1000)!"

The two Armed Dragons were huge monsters with spiked bodies and bladed wings, the lower level one being red and silver, while the biggest was almost completely silver. The two Horus level monsters were already silver in color, one being large and majestic with wide spread wings and the other with a sweeping crowned skull and an even bigger body. "Why would you special summon some of my best monsters to the field like that?"

"Keh, just to help me out of course. Reverse card open, Collapse of Damned Souls! When the opponent special summons a monster I get to destroy every monster on the field!" One by one the powerful monsters were blown apart, leaving Masue's field completely void of monsters.

D'raka smirked as he was suddenly surrounded by a red glow. "When a monster summoned by Call of Cthulu goes to the grave I get to draw one card and gain four hundred life points. So I'll thank you for that." (DLP: 3500)

He counted out the four cards with his fingers and then drew them off the top of his deck with one tug. He placed them amongst this other cards and fanned them out, looking over all seven. "So interesting…I can even attack you directly!"

He took one of them and slid it into one of his magic/trap zones. "Since I have a card with 'damned' in its name in the grave I can activate this trap from my hand. The trap monster known as Marauder of Damned Souls(1600/1200)!"

A rotting form with a half gone face crept out onto the field, a cracked and battered scimitar slung over one shoulder. Strangely the right half of the monster's face, the intact half, was human flesh while the other was rotted brown bone. "What is that monstrosity?"

"This? One of my damned soul trap monsters, a rare breed that can be summoned almost like normal monsters. Now, Marauder attacks your life points directly!" Marauder's intact eye lit up with delight as he raced across the field, his uneven legs clunking against the ground as he brought his scimitar up over his head ready to cut down Masue.

Before it got all the way the middle one of Masue's three face down cards flipped up, revealing a set of colored dice and a hand. "Level Tuning allows me to special summon one level monster from my grave, though it can't attack or use its effects during this turn."

The huge form of Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV10 rose onto the field, shrieking as it spread its wings out as wide as they could. Marauder skidded to a halt and stared up at the mighty dragon. "Don't forget the other effect of Level Tuning. It lets me draw two cards. And of course while I do that I'll also use the rule of replay to call back my attack."

He drew twice and Marauder turned and walked back to his field, looking irritated at not being able to sink its sword into supple flesh. "Well, since I can hardly attack right now I'll just throw these two new cards face down. And now it's your chance to shine geezer."

Masue drew and his body started glowing as Horus shrieked, the sound shaking both duelists. "During my standby phase I must pay a mandatory five hundred life points for Horus." (MLP: 2500)

Despite his current deficit of life points in comparison to D'raka he still didn't seem worried. He pointed to D'raka and Horus opened its mouth and began to gather energy. "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV10 can once per turn destroy all magic cards on your field and in your hand!"

Two burst of red light shot from Horus' mouth and struck D'raka's hand of cards. Two of the cards lit up and were then pulled by a spectral hand into his own cemetery. "Heh, if you think that's going to slow me down then you're not as bright as I thought."

"That's not all I intend to do! If I have the highest level monster on the field I can activate this trap card, Double Break! It destroys two magic or trap cards on your field, so I'll eliminate the threat of your set cards!" A duo of arrows shot out of his activated trap card, one headed for each of D'raka's sets.

"In a deck filled with trap cards I'm well prepared for any assault on such cards. In other words one of my set cards is called Creeping Death, which activates when any card on my field would be destroyed. First step, it negates the destruction!" The arrows burst into flames and crumpled into ash before concluding their trek to the traps.

D'raka chuckled as a black aura surrounded Horus, who started to jerk around wildly, screaming as it did so. "Second step is that it drains half the attack points from a monster on the opponent's field and adds those points to my life points!" (DLP: 5200)

He breathed in deep as the black aura leeched off of Horus and flowed into his duel disk. Once the darkness was gone he opened his eyes and continued. "Again, I get to thank you for giving me some much appreciated life points."

Masue didn't say a word, despite how annoyed he was at his dragon losing attack points. "Even so he's stronger than your trap monster. And also I'll bring back a familiar set, by playing Monster Reborn on Celestial Magician LV5!"

The level magician from before took shape on the field, holding her staff above her head. "Next I'll activate the magic card Level Up! This card allows me to send a level monster on my field to the grave to summon a higher level form from my deck. I'll evolve her to her second highest shape!"

Celestial Magician aged, going from a teenager to a young mature woman in her early twenties. She had lost the innocent look in her eyes and now held a look of determination and added wisdom. Her staff was now red instead of black. "This is Celestial Magician LV7(2600/2100)."

Masue grabbed the last card in his hand and slid it into his cemetery. Celestial Magician then aimed her staff at D'raka's face down card and it started to glow. "By discarding a card from my hand once per turn Celestial Magician LV7 can remove up to two magic or trap cards on the opponent's field from the game. Celestial Banishment Level Seven!"

A huge wave of prismatic energy shot from the central star in her staff and raced towards the remaining set card on D'raka's field. As it approached the set card crept up, bit by bit revealing itself. "Cold in here…isn't it?"

Masue shivered, feeling the temperature drop rapidly. The air became misty and frost developed on his two monsters' bodies. Even the prismatic energy froze over and then shattered in mid-air. "What is this?"

"This? Oh it's the effect of my trap card, Cold and Unfeeling. It removes the effects of all of the opponent's monsters, prevents them from ever attacking again, and reduces all life point damage to me for the turn to zero. But only when the stupid opponent tries to use a monster effect." Masue grimaced, realizing that D'raka had timed it perfectly.

Despite the troublesome position Masue was far from quitting. He extended his empty left hand out over one of his set cards and it revealed itself. "Open set card, Level Draw! For every two levels of one level monster on my field I can draw one card. So I'll draw five cards for Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV10!"

He easily drew the five cards from his deck and flared them open, his eyes quickly picking out the most usable card. "Your efforts are in vain you sadistic monster! Magic Purge removes all floating effects, including your damage protection!"

The mist vanished and the frost on the two level monsters shattered, setting them free to do whatever they wished. D'raka growled, his right hand balling into a fist. "Bastard…"

"Enough talk! Horus, burn his life points! Strike him directly with Divine Flame Level Ten!" Horus' jaws opened wide and bright red flames spewed out, the ground melting in the path of those flames as they scorched their way towards D'raka.

"Fool! You fell for my trap, the trap of Deception!" Masue stared in shock as D'raka's body faded away, revealing instead his Celestial Magician LV7. The blue haired woman screamed as the flames boiled her alive. (MLP: 1700)

When the flames died down D'raka reappeared, brushing dust off of his leather jacket. "Idiot, by attacking me while I had no face down cards you let me play the trap card Deception from my hand, which sacrifices a card on my field and redirects a monster's attack to another monster on the field. Thanks to that you managed to cut your own numbers down."

Masue smirked and slammed a card from his hand into his disk. "Even so, that doesn't stop me from striking you with heavy damage! Resurrection Strike special summons a monster destroyed this turn back to the field and lets it attack!"

Celestial Magician LV7 returned and aimed her staff at D'raka. "Celestial Shot Level Seven!"

A bolt of white light shot at D'raka, but was again caught by a barrier of black flames like the previous Celestial Bolt. Yet still, despite that the damage was done. "I'm surprised you managed to strike me like that…it just proves that you're as tough as I thought and worth destroying." (DLP: 2600)

"Yes, now, I place two cards face down. That empties my hand save for this last card, which I'll now play. Twilight Renewal allows me to draw until I hold five cards in my hand." D'raka raised an eyebrow as the older duelist drew five times, once again completely restoring his hand.

"Impressive, you still manage to keep your options open even after burning so much effort into hitting me with that attack. You're nobody to trifle with, even an elite duelist would be no match for you, and I can see it. Of course, I can also see that it's my turn and it'll be my chance to show you a greater amount of strength!" He laughed as he drew his card for the turn, giving him four cards in hand. As he did so Celestial Magician was destroyed.

Masue sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "During the end phase of the turn in which a monster was summoned by Resurrection Strike that monster is sent to the cemetery."

D'raka reached for one of the cards he was holding, but was caught off guard when one of Masue's two face down cards flipped up. "What the hell?"

"Instantaneous Attack allows one monster to attack immediately, so my Horus will attack your life points directly with Divine Flame Level Ten!" Again the dragon spewed out a huge wave of intense flames, and this time there was seemingly nothing in the path to stop it.

"Don't make me fucking laugh! From my hand I play the trap monster Swordsman of Damned Souls(1800/1900) in defense mode!" A mostly humanoid man holding a claymore appeared crouching in front of the flames. Like Marauder his body was half flesh and half rotted bone.

"Horus' attack continues!" The flames engulfed Swordsman. Despite how intense the heat was the Swordsman never screamed, instead he seemed to be amused about something even as he was melted into a puddle of black sludge.

D'raka raised his right hand and pointed it like a gun at Horus. "Bang."

Horus blew apart as if hit by a massive shot, but Masue couldn't see anything that could have caused it. Seeing how his opponent was confused, D'raka felt from the bottom of his heart that he should be kind and explain. "Any monster that battles Swordsman dies after damage calculation. So that's the end of that beast."

D'raka slid another card into his duel disk and another half-man, half-rotten skeleton appeared, this one clutching a tattered bow in its hands. "Archer of Damned Souls(900/1400) is a unique trap monster. See, it can't attack, but once per turn it can send the top three cards of your deck to the grave. So here we go."

The archer shot a black arrow out of its bow. When the arrow plunged it Masue's deck three cards seemingly just vanished. When they were gone the arrow faded away as well. "If a monster is sent to the grave I draw a card, and I see you lost one, so I draw."

He picked up a card and then placed two cards into his disk. "Two cards face down. And now, just like you I'll play Twilight Renewal to draw a brand new hand. And of course, just like you I'll end it there."

Masue frowned as he reached for his deck. 'He's taunting me…his own will gave him that card during his draw. Which means his dueling strength and will is strong enough that it's over powering mine. In order to do that his level as a duelist would have to be…'

His frown deepened as he considered the implications of that incomplete thought. If it was true, then this was a far more dangerous opponent than he could ever have guessed. "My draw!"

Masue held out one of his drawn cards and suddenly Archer of Damned Souls floated to his field. "I play Soul Exchange! At a cost of my battle phase it lets me tribute one of your monsters for one of my own."

The Archer faded away as rings of light, and in its place came a large but chubby red and black dragon. It had normal wings, but its body had spikes coming out at regular intervals. Its rounded jaw seemed ready to open and spew flames at any moment. "Armed Dragon LV5(2400/1700) is my choice of monster."

He spun one of the cards in his hand around, showing a Horus breathing flames all over running peasants. "Burn you monster! I play Flames of Level, which allows me to deal half the attack of one monster on the field as damage to your life points!"

Armed Dragon LV5 opened up its wide mouth and sprayed fire out of it, completely covering D'raka in it. Despite the intensity of the flames D'raka only laughed, his body protected by that same black flame. "You should know, unless you're actually stronger than me you can't hurt me in a duel!" (DLP: 1400)

"Again I say that the damage is enough. You should actually allow yourself to be hurt, because pain shows us our limitations rather than limiting us in itself." D'raka snorted and pointed at one of his set cards, letting it reveal its face.

"Don't talk to me about pain you feeble old man, I understand it more than you ever could. In fact, my trap reflects that as it's called Research in Pain. Whenever effect damage is dealt I can trigger this card to draw three from my deck." He happily drew three times and added the new cards to his growing hand.

"I know more about pain than you think monster, and your own greed is reflected in my power to turn it back upon you! Activate magic card Greed Reflection! This allows me to draw however many cards my opponent has drawn!" Just like D'raka he drew three cards, replenishing the cards he had used to summon his Armed Dragon and damage D'raka's life points.

Masue looked over his new cards and then pressed a button on his duel disk. His field card slot opened up and he placed one of the cards into it. "This is the field where all level monsters flourish. Tower of Evolution!"

A massive tower shot up into the sky, its top long out of view. It resembled a black Leaning Tower of Pisa more than anything else, and sticking their heads out of various areas in the tower were different level monsters. "In this place all level monsters gain two hundred attack and defense points, and during my end phase I can level up a monster on my field at the cost of my next draw."

Taking another card he placed it down behind Armed Dragon, making a replacement for the Instantaneous Attack that he had used during D'raka's turn. "I'll conclude my turn there, and then evolve my monster into Armed Dragon LV7(2800/1000)!"

Armed Dragon LV5 crawled into the tower, and then from one of the higher levels the large form of the dragon flew down. It spread its bladed wings and roared, spewing flames into the air. "This duel is far from over monster, and before it ends I will teach you respect!"

D'raka snorted. "Don't make me laugh you old coot. You don't stand a chance of defeating me or even teaching me this so called respect. Let me show you one reason why, one of the mighty weapons of my deck I recently acquired on a trip to Duelist Academy…"

He placed two cards down onto his field, letting them materialized. "By sacrificing these three two trap cards along with the trap card I set last turn I can summon a beast who thrives on the power of traps. Meet my mighty legendary demon!"

Flames flashed across the sky as something huge descended through the night, splitting the clouds apart with its bulk. Masue's eyes widened as he saw just how huge the monster was, as it had to stretch hundreds of feet in length. It was a dark crimson color and very snake-like, though it did have two clawed limbs at the upper part of its body. Wide leathery wings spread out from its back and its sharp toothed jaws were framed by two pincers. "What is this? A perversion of Osiris?"

D'raka laughed as his tremendous monster roared, shaking the ground for miles. "You could say that, but no, not exactly. I'd like you to meet the legendary demon, God Flame Emperor Uria(X000/X0000)!"

Uria eyed the two set cards on Masue's field and shrieked, immediately causing one of them to flip up. It was shown as being a Mirror Force and suddenly it shattered. "Heh, outside of its cost of three traps to summon Uria's first ability is to reveal one card on the field per turn. If it's a trap it is destroyed."

"What determines its attack points? It seems to not have any at the moment." D'raka chuckled and held out his organic duel disk. Red bolts of flame shot out of his cemetery slot and into the crystal on Uria's forehead and were absorbed into the legendary demon.

"What determines its attack points? For every trap card in my cemetery it gains a thousand attack points, and since right now I have ten traps in the graveyard it has an impressive attack and defense of ten thousand points!" Uria roared again as its new stats were officially displayed, dwarfing everything else that had been played so far in the duel.

Masue took a deep breath, preparing for the oncoming attack. He could still defend himself, but that didn't mean he wasn't worried about what it would take to defeat such a powerful monster. 'And I don't even know anything about this creature. Does it have any other effects?'

"Hey, right now you seem to be thinking something like 'how am I gonna beat this monstrosity' right? Well I don't think you should worry about it, because this turn he's going to wipe you out. Uria, annihilate him with your Inferno Blaze!" A huge stream of super-heated flame shot out of its mouth, heading down towards Masue. The heat was making the air shimmer and the ground below them bubble.

Masue grimaced at feeling the oncoming power, but he had no reason to surrender and just let himself get hit. "Reverse card open, Shield of Light! This will negate your attack and increase my life points by one thousand!"

D'raka sneered and flipped one of the cards he was holding around. "I said it ends this turn and I meant it! Negative Morality drains a thousand of my life points away in order to negate any effect you've used!"

The older man felt time slow as his trap burst apart. The flames crept closer and closer, and the heat was beginning to affect him. He could see that Armed Dragon LV7 was already burning even before the attack had struck, and Masue's own clothes were started to burn at the edges. 'So this is how it ends? In fire?'

Armed Dragon LV7 turned to ash and then the ash was burned away. The fire continued to punch into the ground, making it into molten ground and drilling deeper down into the earth. Masue felt his strength give out as the heat drove him to his hands and knees. "I'm sorry Daisuke…I couldn't defeat him." (MLP: 0)

Slowly the fire faded, but the heat from the attack remained. D'raka casually walked over the molten ground, ignoring the heat as he made his way over to his fallen 'father'. He stood over the older man and reached down, picking the older man up by his shoulder. "So that was all your strength? If that's the power you possess, then with my newly attained level there's nobody left who can oppose me."

D'raka breathed in deeply, enjoying the scent of burnt flesh his Uria had caused. "Yes, the time has come. Your time has ended old man, the sands in the hourglass have run out, and now the ritual will manually shatter the second seal!"

His free hand curled into an iron fist and he threw his head back and began to laugh at the night. "Now, now I become a god!"

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As dawn began people all around the world looked up at the sky and wondered what horrors were occurring. Running like a jagged bolt of lightning across the dawn sky was a black space that seemed to be a split in the atmosphere.

As that fracture in reality grew a terrible sound fell over the Earth and none could help but edge away, fear gnawing at their very souls. It was a sound that even those unfamiliar with it would recognize. It was the wailing of the dead.

Despite not understanding, somehow many of those watching knew. A renaissance of death was coming, a holocaust unlike any the world had experienced before. Death was riding on the wind.

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Author's Notes: Wow, this turned out to be the longest chapter of this story yet, marking in at nearly twenty pages in length. And hell, that was a pretty long duel despite being only eight turns. Yep, you counted it, eight turns.

Next Time: The sky has split open and a chill fills the air. Death begins to walk amongst mankind and the horror begins. Murders sweep the earth and a terrifying face is given to the mere concept of death. The march towards the apocalypse has begun.

See it all in, Death Rides on Earth!