Tournament of Tears
Chapter 43: Unveiling the souls of light and darkness
Sestros suddenly lifted one arm to point up at the sky. "Pest, enjoy this duel. Because I'm about to do something I have yet to do since my inauguration as the King of the Dark World!" Lightning crashed down in the background; while a strange and beautiful structure made of light blue crystal appeared around them both, indicating the location of the Trial. "I will bare my soul to you!" A deck appeared in his Duel Disk's deck slot. But something was strange about it.
The backs of the cards weren't the normal brown design, but were instead an ornate black and red design. "This is the soul deck of the King of Torture and Darkness. Please live long enough for me to enjoy using it, Starlight Savior!" The last words were spoken with venom behind them.
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Lightning smashed down against the domed structure that formed to indicate the site of the Infinity Trial, dissipating against a pale barrier of blue light. A dark laughter was echoing out of the inside of the structure.
Starlight Savior grimaced at the fact that Sestros was already laughing insanely. Unlike the other times he had heard the Torture King laugh, this was different. It was far more out of control. It was like the gentlemanly façade that Sestros normally wore was removed, revealing the beast that the demon king was. "What's so funny?"
"I'm just enjoying the feeling of my released soul. Now, let's begin!" Sneering, he drew. "I play the continuous magic card Desolation Arch!" Behind him a giant stone arch sculpted to resemble a pair of wicked claws rose high upwards, nearly reaching the roof of the structure. "Also, I place one card face-down on the field and one monster in defense mode. Now then…go ahead and take your turn!"
Starlight Savior drew, and the Desolation Arch suddenly started to glow red. "What's this?"
"You'll see in time." Sestros continue his insane smile. "Now, please show me what you can do!"
"Well, since you asked…" Grasping a card from his hand, the young man smiled at it. ("Alright, let's see what these cards can do!") "I summon Planetary Aspect Jupiter!" An explosion of lightning hit his field and formed into a humanoid wearing a suit of futuristic armor that crackled with green electricity across its frame. (1600/1700) "Jupiter, attack the set monster with Celestial Lightning!" A blast of lightning fell from the sky onto his monster, which transferred that power to its gauntlets. Snapping up its hand, it unleashed a ball of green electricity that crashed into the set monster on Sestros' field and blew it into dust. "When Jupiter destroys a monster as a result of battle and sends it to the graveyard, the controller of that monster takes 400 life points of damage!"
Sestros was struck by a bolt of lightning, but instead of flinching he laughed as the energy trailed along his frame.
Sestros- 3600
Starlight Savior- 4000
Without showing any reaction to the lightning, Sestros pointed up at the sky. "First the effect of Desolation Arch activates! When a monster is destroyed a counter is added to this card and the controller of the destroyed monster takes 100 points of damage!"
Sestros- 3500
Starlight Savior- 4000
"And the effect of my face-down monster activates." A three-eyed furry little phantom demon appeared above his head. "I'm sure you know of the effect of Sangan. When this monster is sent from my field to my graveyard, I add one monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck to my hand." Removing a card from his deck, he flipped it over to show it to Starlight Savior. It had a picture of a sneering humanoid wearing armor made of bone. "I choose Desolation Soul; Bone Knight!"
"Desolation Soul?" Starlight Savior frowned slightly. ("Sure enough, his deck isn't the same as it was before. So I wonder what these new cards do…") "I place one card face-down on my field and end my turn."
Sestros smiled happily. "Excellent, then let me show you my soul's power!" He drew. "I summon Desolation Soul; Bone Knight!" (1500/1800) The monster depicted on the card appeared in play. "The effect of my Desolation Soul is that for every counter on every Desolation card in play it gains 200 attack points!" (1700/1800) "Your monster is defeated!" His monster leapt across the field, sword raised to cut into Jupiter.
"Celestial Lightning!" Starlight Savior braced himself as the two monsters collided, exploding together in a cloud of green lightning and bone shards.
Sestros pointed at his Desolation Arch. "Two more counters appear, and we both take 100 points of damage!" He continued to smile happily as his opponent twitched slightly in pain. "Don't slow down, or else you'll spoil my fun."
Sestros- 3400
Starlight Savior- 3900
"Who said anything about slowing down?" Starlight Savior smiled right back. "Just getting an itch out, that's all."
"That's good, because you're about to suffer even more!" The Torture King's face-down card flipped up. "I reveal my trap card, Desolation Coffin!" A large stone coffin rose up out of the ground and opened to reveal the Bone Knight. "When a Desolation Soul on my field is destroyed in battle, I may revive it." (1500/1800) "And since there are now three counters on my Desolation Arch, it gains 600 attack points!" (2100/1800) "Direct attack!"
"You're dreaming if you think I wasn't ready for that!" The young man's set card flipped up and he disappeared behind a wall of large floating rocks. "Asteroid Belt triggers when you attack directly, negating that attack and dealing you 500 points of damage for every monster you have in play!" Those floating rocks hurled themselves at Sestros.
"Foolish…" Sestros watched as his Bone Knight suddenly moved with lightning speed, slashing each asteroid into pebbles. "While Bone Knight is in play, I may remove one counter from a Desolation magic or trap card in play to reduce one instance of effect damage I take by 1000."
"It has two effects?" Starlight Savior grimaced as he saved that information away. ("Most likely, the attack increase effect is shared by all of these Desolation Souls.")
"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Sestros just kept smiling at Starlight Savior like they were old friends. "Well, what will you do now?"
"I'll counterattack!" Drawing, he fanned his hand out and nodded at the cards he saw. "When Jupiter is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I may draw one card during my next standby phase." Adding another card to his hand, he lifted a different card up. Its picture was of a planet surrounded by a ring of blue light. "I activate the magic card Terraforming Ring, special summoning one Planetary Aspect monster from my graveyard to my field." A boom of thunder shook the field as his Jupiter returned. "Also, I play the magic card Supreme Thunder!"
Jupiter snapped its arms up in front of it, a single metallic rod emerging from its back and aiming to the sky. Another lightning bolt fell from the sky and hit the rod, which seemed to spread that raw power around the monster's body. "This card activates when Planetary Aspect Jupiter is in play. One monster in play is treated as if it was attacked by a 2500 attacker this turn!" All of that built up power flew from Jupiter's body and enveloped the Bone Knight, blowing it apart. "During this turn, Jupiter is unable to attack however."
Sestros- 2800
Starlight Savior- 3900
Sestros cackled as his Desolation Arch released a beam of red light that stabbed into his chest. "Once more Desolation Arch deals me 100 points of damage and gains a counter!"
Sestros- 2700
Starlight Savior- 3900
Sliding a card into his disk, Starlight Savior glanced at Sestros' set card. ("It wasn't a monster defense or magic defense card, so I can assume it must be an anti-trap card.") "I place one card face-down on the field and end my turn."
Sestros pointed at his set card. "Hold on, I'm activating my set card during your end phase. Go Emotion Vampire! This card triggers when during the same turn that one of my monsters is destroyed in battle by a monster. I may add one counter to a Desolation card in play!" His Arch grew brighter, its red glow starting to overcome the light blue of the structure. "And now I draw!"
("There has to be more to his Arch than just gathering counters…") The young man didn't like this at all, and it didn't help that his set card was a bluff.
"I play the equipment magic card Ruined Future. This card lets me special summon one level four or lower Desolation Soul from my deck to the field, which I then equip with Ruined Future. When Ruined Future is destroyed or removed from the equipped monster, the equipped monster is sent back into my deck." A black hole of darkness appeared on his field, and a dark form slowly rose out of it. It was another humanoid, this one covered in armor made out of what seemed to be the chitin of some kind of insect. "My choice is Desolation Soul; Plague Vagrant." (1000/1000) "For every counter on every Desolation card I have in play, it gains 200 attack points." (1800/1000) "Plague of Violence!" The Torture King sneered as his monster's chest plate opened and a swarm of strange-looking demonic insects came forth, swallowing up Jupiter. A few moments the swarm dissipated to reveal that Jupiter was gone.
Sestros- 2700
Starlight Savior- 3800
"And I'm sure you haven't forgotten the power of my Arch!" Sestros smirked as he got to watch his opponent twitch in pain for a moment as the Arch shot him with a beam of red light.
Sestros- 2700
Starlight Savior- 3700
"Also I place two cards face-down in play and end my turn." Something about the smile that was still on Sestros' face gave Starlight Savior the creeps. "Come now, show me something worthwhile already."
Drawing, the world's last hope frowned. ("I can't use this card yet…") "During my standby phase, because Jupiter was destroyed, I draw another card." Now, looking at his hand, he saw what he could. "I summon Planetary Aspect Venus!" A bright pillar of golden light fell over his field, and when it cleared it revealed a female humanoid wearing a suit of golden power armor. Her radiant golden hair shimmered in the peaceful light of the structure. (1400/1200)
"How beautiful, but it is all for naught! I reveal Pitfall of Despair!" Sestros sneered as Starlight Savior's monster was chained up by black strands of metal that pulled her through the ground, leaving a hole where it had done so. "When there is a Desolation Soul in play and you summon a monster that is level four or lower, I may destroy it."
("He prepared for my summon, huh?") Suddenly Starlight let out a weak yell of pain as he was caught off guard by the beam from the Desolation Arch.
Sestros- 2700
Starlight Savior- 3600
Thought that had hurt, he quickly recovered and looked at the last four cards in his hand. ("For everyone, I have to win.") "It looks like I'll just have to gamble with this turn. I play the magic card Planetary Lottery." His graveyard was spat out of its slot. Taking the small stack of cards, he shuffled them up and fanned them out with their backs to Sestros. "You select one card at random from my shuffled graveyard. If that card is a Planetary Aspect it is special summoned."
Sestros pointed at the center card. "Let's see what it was…"
Smiling, Starlight Savior flipped it over. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! I special summon Planetary Aspect Venus once more!" The female humanoid reappeared in play, that radiant glow coming from her again. "And now I play the magic card Love Chain!" His monster snapped up one of her hands and a long golden chain launched out of the ground and wrapped around the Torture King's set card. "When Venus is in play I may steal one card you have in play!" The face-down card was pulled to his field.
"What does that accomplish except to stop me from using it?" Sestros' strange smile continued, as he was apparently unaffected by anger now.
"That's exactly why I did it…because my next card is another Venus specific card! It's called Crescent Beam!" Planetary Aspect Venus pointed at single finger gracefully at the Plague Vagrant. "I select one monster in play and destroy it. Also, you take 600 points of damage!" A sharp beam of light launched from his monster's finger and pierced the chest of the Torture King's monster, shattering it. "And according to the effect of your Arch, you take 100 points of additional damage!"
Sestros- 2000
Starlight Savior- 3600
Sestros snapped up one hand and the sound of buzzing wings could be heard. "When Plague Vagrant is destroyed I may special summon two Plague Tokens (300/300) to my field in defense mode." A pair of large demonic insects appeared in play on his field.
Starlight Savior gained a very deep frown all of a sudden. ("He has seven counters on his Arch, and now he had two tokens in play. This is just the greatest setup for a sudden change of fate in his favor.") "I end my turn."
Sestros drew…and started to giggle crazily. "This is perfect…utterly perfect! I sacrifice these tokens to summon my Desolation Soul; Beast of Wrath!" Another hole opened up on his field and giant howling demon covered in iron plating appeared in play, baring its fangs at Starlight Savior's field. (2600/2000) "For every Desolation magic and trap card I have face-up in play, it gains 500 attack points. Also, like all of the Desolation Souls it gains 200 attack points per counter on every Desolation card in play!" (4500/2000) "And now it will eat your pretty little lady!" His monster roared and leapt forward, snatching up the humanoid in its jaws and chewing her to pieces. Gore and blood sprayed across the once pure floor of the structure.
Sestros- 2000
Starlight Savior- 500
Starlight Savior stared at the horrific scene…right up until he was zapped by the Arch's beam.
Sestros- 2000
Starlight Savior- 400
Sestros just kept laughing loudly at how funny this foolish hero looked now. "What's the matter, are you envisioning yourself in her place? Anyway, I'll just set one card face-down on my field and end my turn."
The young man pointed at his own set card. "I activate my face-down Emergency Provisions, sacrificing your face-down card to gain 1000 life points!" Sestros' set card disappeared.
Sestros- 2000
Starlight Savior- 1400
Starlight Savior narrowed his eyes angrily. "….Draw." Sliding the top card off of his deck, he glanced at it and nodded. "I won't let you get away with this. Venus' special effect…when it is destroyed and sent to my graveyard, during my next draw phase if that card is a monster card I may special summon it!" Flipping the drawn card over, he smiled calmly. "Emerge, Planetary Aspect Saturn!" The ground split in half and everything was thrown into chaos as a massive form rose out of the ground. It was a humanoid wearing dark orange powered armor, and its very prescense seemed to cause destruction all around it. Cracks appeared in the structure's body, and a small earthquake shook the field. (2700/1300)
"What a big monster…too bad it will do you no good." Sestros started to smile as his hand reached for a button on his duel disk. ("My other Pitfall of Despair will clear away your last hope…") Suddenly the earthquake increased in magnitude, and his face-down card shattered. "Impossible…"
"Far from it." Starlight Savior pointed at his monster, which was no longer giving off that destructive energy. "When Saturn is summoned all face-down cards in play are destroyed and cannot be chained."
"So what? It still cannot match my monster in battle." The Torture King sneered. "Come and face my beast, hero."
Starlight Savior flipped the last card in his hand over. "I was waiting for the right time to use this card, and that time is now! I activate the magic card Star Filled Sky! All counters in play are removed, and for each one removed I gain 300 life points!" The Desolation Arch grew calm, its red glow vanishing. With a loud crack it shattered. "I see…once it has had counters on it, if it ever has no counters on it then it is destroyed. And now that your card is gone, the attack power of your beast returns to normal!" (2600/2000) "Saturn, attack with Obliteration of Eternity!"
Sestros threw up his hands to protect himself as the massive fist of Saturn punched his beast in the face and blew it apart.
Sestros- 1900
Starlight Savior- 3800
As the smoke caused the powerful punch cleared, Starlight Savior pointed at Sestros calmly. "No gimmicks, no jokes…I will beat you here and now, Torture King."
Lowering his arms, Sestros revealed that he was still sneering. "Come and prove that then. Actually, let me bring it to you! When I am done, the very world you wish to protect is going to be destroyed by your hands. And if you think what you have seen so far is the best that my deck can do then you are gravely mistaken!"
To be continued…