Chapter 16: Kazuki vs. Lord Hallows
Kazuki and Lord Hallows took up their positions on either side of the misty duelling arena they were in. Kazuki wondered if this room was Lord Hallows's personal chambers in the Midnight Castle, if this place was even still IN the castle at all. With this freak of nature, he could be anywhere for all he knew. Kazuki deployed his Duel Disk and loaded it up with his deck. This very deck had given him a consecutive win of twenty-six before Amy broke his winning streak. He was confident that he could beat Lord Hallows and put an end to his sick game for good. It would be a nice surprise for Amy when she woke up and heard the good news that he'd beaten Hallows. She might resent him slightly for beating her to winning Jack's soul back but she'd be too relieved to care about that.
"I was hoping I'd get a chance against you, Hallows." Kazuki admitted, "After what you did to Jack and everything you've put Amy through…it sickened me and I want nothing more than to see you defeated after everything you've done! For all the people whose souls you've stolen away, I will stop you!"
"You will TRY to stop me! But you'll fail miserably!" Hallows taunted, "You may think you're a superior duellist thanks to your all powerful Dragon Deck and your precious Five-Headed Dragon at your command, but even that will fall victim to my unstoppable Zombie Army!"
"How the hell do you know I have that card in my deck?!" Kazuki blurted incredulously.
"Never you mind. All you need to worry about is how quickly I'll be adding your soul to my collection." Hallows said tersely, "Shall we get started or do you have any last minute requests to make?"
"Only one." Kazuki replied, "That if I win, you not only let me, Amy and Chloe leave your castle unharmed and with our souls intact, but you give Jack his soul back. And the souls of Gypsy, Garth, the Ripper and Amethyst too!"
"Aww, no love for Satoshi?" Hallows jeered, "I know he nearly burned your girlfriend to death but that's just cold of you."
"Do you accept my offer or not?" the Dragon Duellist said impatiently.
"Of course I do! Because I know I'm not gonna need to uphold my end of the bargain because I'll win anyway!" the Shadow Realm keeper retorted, "I'm all too happy to make wagers I know I can't lose."
Kazuki smiled grimly. At least once he beat Hallows, he'd get what he asked for. Amy would appreciate this so much when she woke up and saw that her brother was back, and all because of him! And she wouldn't have to live with the Fiendish Five's fates weighing over her anymore once he won.
"What is your thing with stealing souls about anyway?" Kazuki asked curiously, "Is it something you need to do in order to stay alive or what?"
"Oh no, I don't need souls to sustain my well-being." Hallows explained, "I'm immortal. As the Keeper of the Shadow Realm, I cannot die whatsoever and I don't need anything to stay alive. But I DO need souls to increase my power. Specifically, duellist's souls. Their duelling energy feeds me power and the more I take, the stronger I become. Eventually, I'll be strong enough to throw the entire world into the Shadow Realm! Then the shadows will rule over everything with me at its head!"
"But why do it?" the blonde boy asked, "Surely you can see there's nothing to gain from just making the world dark forever!"
"Nothing to gain?" the demon duellist snorted, "I get to torment all you puny mortals to my heart's content, I get all the souls I could ever feast upon and with me in charge of everything, the world will be an orderly place with none of the stink of humanity infecting the place! There is EVERYTHING to gain from this plot and nobody, not even you will stand in my way!"
His cane transformed into his Duel Disk. A ghostly figure holding up a Life Point counter formed on the side of the field. It was time to duel and Kazuki was determined to win. With Jack and four of the Fiendish Five's souls up for grabs and his soul up as the price for failure, everything was riding on him winning this duel and he wasn't going to let Hallows lose! For everyone's sake, he would beat him! He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
Ames…this is for you. I promise you, I'll defeat him. he thought.
"I will have the first turn." Lord Hallows declared as he drew his starting hand, "Now let's see what damage I can do here…"
He drew his sixth card and added it to his hand. His eyes twinkled with delight as he studied his opening hand. He couldn't believe his luck! He had Destiny Board in his hand already! And what was even better was that he had a Spell Card that he could use to slow Kazuki down and make it so Destiny Board couldn't possibly fail!
This duel's already over and I haven't even played a single card yet... Hallows crowed in his thoughts I'm almost tempted to prolong Kazuki's suffering but why take that risk when he's as powerful as he is? No, I'll play it smart for this match…
"I set one card face-down on the field." Hallows announced, setting Destiny Board straight away, "And then I'll also set a monster face-down in Defence Mode."
His two cards appeared on the field, one in his Spell/Trap zone and the other in his Monster Zone. Kazuki didn't like the look of this opening turn. A face-down monster AND a face-down card already? Hallows was clearly making it so he'd have to be cautious about attacking him. But Hallows wasn't done yet.
"Next I play my Spell Card, the Dark Door!" he cried as he placed the card in another section of his backrow.
"Argh, that card! I've always hated it when others use it!" Kazuki muttered, "Now both of us can only attack once per turn!"
"Exactly!" Lord Hallows cackled, "That should slow you down a bit and keep you away from my Life Points! How will you defeat me now when you can only attack me once?"
Kazuki frowned. He hated to admit it, but Hallows was right. With The Dark Door in play, he was going to have a very hard time actually doing any real damage to him. If Hallows could keep playing monsters in Defence mode, he'd be forced to keep attacking them and that would be the only attack he'd be allowed to initiate. At the same time, Hallows could only attack him once too so that would keep him from taking too much damage from Hallows. But why would Hallows handicap himself like that along with him? What was his duelling strategy here? Kazuki could feel his stomach tightening with worry. He was going blind with no idea on how Hallows duelled so he didn't even know what to expect. He reached for his deck and drew his first card. He hoped he would draw Stamping Destruction, a Spell Card that allowed him to destroy Spells and Traps if he had a Dragon in play. That would get rid of The Dark Door and leave him free to attack as often as he liked! But instead, he'd drawn Polymerization. At least he'd be able to Fusion Summon his Five-Headed Dragon once he had five dragons ready to use. That would at least give him his most powerful monster to keep Hallows busy!
"You may have set the pace for now, Hallows, but I'll control this duel!" Kazuki declared "For I…"
"Hold it right there!" Lord Hallows interrupted, "Don't do anything just yet. I have a face-down card to activate first. And it's the very card that won me Jack's soul earlier today! Face your doom as Destiny Board spells out your end!"
Kazuki's blood ran cold as he saw Hallows's face-down card flip itself up to reveal itself. He knew all too well what Destiny Board was and what it did. He'd seen it before but hadn't actually fought any duellists that wielded it…until now. The spooky board hung above Hallows's head with a ghostly letter "F" to signify the first letter of the message that would spell Hallows's victory. Now Kazuki understood Hallows's plan. With The Dark Door in play, it would prevent him from attacking more than once, slowing him down so much that he wouldn't be able to get his Life Points down to zero in time before Destiny Board finished spelling out "FINAL". But Kazuki could see Hallows had ruined his own plan by playing The Dark Door. Because it was in play, Hallows wouldn't have room to spell out "FINAL". He needed all five spaces in his backrow to spell the word out or else it wouldn't work. But suppose he had a way around that? What if he had Spell/Trap removal to get rid of The Dark Door so he had the space he needed? He had to stop Destiny Board and fast or else his soul was going to be Hallows's!
"So you used that card to beat Jack." Kazuki acknowledged, "Of course you did. Only a coward like you would rely on an instant win condition."
"You may see it as cowardice, but I see it as pragmatism." Hallows dismissed, "It's not cowardice when you're using your resources to your advantage like I am! With my duelling strategy, I cannot possibly lose!"
"No strategy is flawless and I'll find a chink in your armour somewhere!" the Dragon Duellist declared, "Now I make my move by playing Blizzard Dragon in Attack Mode!"
A blue dragon with a long tail and large wings on its arms materialized onto the field (1800ATK/1000DEF). Blizzard Dragon screeched viciously, clearly keen to attack. Hallows could see why it was called so. With its blue scales and chilly breath, he imagined it could freeze its victims alive with one blow. Blizzard Dragon went on the offensive, attacking Hallows's face-down monster on Kazuki's command. The icy dragon opened its mouth and blasted the face-down card with a beam of ice that shot out of its throat. The monster flipped up, revealing itself to be Pyramid Turtle. That was not good for Kazuki for Pyramid Turtle had a very useful effect that would only give Hallows extra protection.
"Thank you for destroying my precious turtle." Hallows taunted, "It is more valuable to me dead than alive as you know. When it's destroyed, I get to Special Summon another Zombie-type Monster, but only if it has 2000 or less Defence Points. Unfortunately for you, I have a particularly strong monster that fits that criteria. Quake with fear at the sight of Ryu Kokki!"
His new monster punched its way up from under the duelling arena like an actual zombie rising up from its grave. Kazuki watched in worry as Ryu Kokki emerged in all its hideous glory (2400ATK/2000DEF). It was a nightmarish abomination with sharp teeth, a large horn on its head and a body that seemed to be made up of skulls. A large red orb protruded from its chest and glowed brightly. The grotesque creature seemed to grin wickedly at Kazuki, clearly about to enjoy whatever pain and suffering it was about to bring him. But the blonde boy wasn't too worried. He knew he still had an extra trick up his sleeve.
"Too bad for you, Hallows, that I have something that can help me out." Kazuki crowed, "I enter my second Main Phase. While I'm here, I'll active Blizzard Dragon's special effect. Once per turn, I can target a monster of yours and prevent it from attacking or changing its battle position until the end of your next turn. So don't think you'll be using that thing against me anytime soon!"
Blizzard Dragon blew icy flames at Ryu Kokki that froze it on the spot. It was encased from head-to-toe in ice and unable to move. Lord Hallows didn't seem to care about that.
"Stall tactics aren't going to save you boy, not when I'm the one with Destiny Board in play!" he snorted, "If you want to lose faster, I'll be happy to help you do that!"
"You hush. I know what I'm doing." Kazuki said dismissively, "I finish off by setting two cards face down. It's your turn now."
He looked at his remaining hand. He only had Curse of Dragon, Koumori Dragon and Polymerization left to use. He just needed two more dragons to add to his hand and then he'd be able to Fusion Summon his Five-Headed Dragon. His deck was full of dragons so that wouldn't be a problem, unless he drew nothing but Spell and Trap cards for the next few turns. He looked up at Destiny Board as a Spirit Message with the letter "I" faded into view. It was one of the advantages of using Destiny Board on the opponent's turn, it gave the user two letters straight away to speed up the process. Kazuki only had three turns left to finish off Lord Hallows before Destiny Board could complete the message. His two face down cards would at least help him do some damage.
"We'll see if your pathetic strategy helps out." Lord Hallows crowed, "Now let's see what my next turn has in store!"
He drew his next card. He didn't use it as it was only Dragon Zombie. He had a better monster he could use for now.
"Ryu Kokki cannot attack unfortunately, but I can still build up my forces for now." the Shadow Realm Keeper announced, "I call from the grave my Zombie Master!"
Another Zombie-type monster burst up from below the ground of the duelling arena as Zombie Master joined Ryu Kokki in battle (1800ATK/0DEF). It looked like a young boy with long white hair and clad in tattered clothes. A ragged cape hung off its shoulders.
"And now I activate its effect." Hallows continued, By sending one monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon ANY Zombie monster from either Graveyards. I'll send away my Dragon Zombie so I can bring back Pyramid Turtle!"
Kazuki cursed in annoyance as Pyramid Turtle made its return to the field. It appeared in Defence Mode beside Zombie Master. With three monsters protecting his Life Points, Lord Hallows was as good as safe. The Dark Door was going to make this near impossible for him to get past such a barrier! It was worse for Kazuki because now if he attacked Pyramid Turtle, it would only Special Summon another Zombie for Hallows to protect himself with. How could he possibly get to his Life Points now?
"I can see you're starting to feel the hopelessness of your situation weighing down on you, aren't you?" the Shadow Demon taunted, "With The Dark Door limiting your attacks, how will you possibly get to my Life Points now I have three monsters in play?"
"It's only gonna be two I'm afraid for I have a surprise for you." Kazuki sneered, "I activate both Ring of Destruction AND Ring of Defence!"
"WHAT?! You have that combo?! Curse your good fortune!" Hallows ranted.
"Exactly! I can't attack you directly, but I can still get to your Life Points with this!" Kazuki declared, "I'll use Ring of Destruction to destroy Ryu Kokki while Ring of Defence will protect me from receiving any damage!"
Hallows could only watch helplessly as an explosive ring-shaped device was fastened around Ryu Kokki's neck and exploded shortly afterwards. His monster was destroyed instantly and he was now left with only two monsters left to defend him and 5600 Life Points remaining. It was clever of Kazuki to have other methods of depleting Life Points than just attacking but that had been nothing but a desperate play. Kazuki still wasn't going to get rid of all his Life Points fast enough! Destiny Board would remain unimpeded by Kazuki's strategy!
"I do admire your desperation, boy." Lord Hallows crowed, "You're clearly keen to put up whatever pitiful effort you can to keep your soul from falling into my possession but you're only wasting your resources! There's nothing you can do to stop Destiny Board!"
"Don't be so confident about that." Kazuki said grimly, "I've got a card that can stop it. Now let's see if I can draw it…"
He drew his next card. It still wasn't Stamping Destruction but it was one of his most powerful monsters at least. He needed to do as much damage as he could so having strong monsters would be helpful in that regard. With Zombie Master still in Attack Mode, Hallows's Life Points wouldn't be safe in this turn.
"I now play Koumori Dragon in Attack Mode, but he won't be staying." Kazuki announced as he placed the card on his Duel Disk, "I banish it from the game in order to Special Summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon from my hand!"
His metal dragon appeared on the field with its massive wings spread out and hits metal body glistening in the low light of the arena. Hallows just grinned smugly as he saw the draconian monster looming above him.
"I wondered if you'd get that beast out to play…" he purred.
"Well, here it is and it's gonna leave you with 1000 less Life Points!" the Dragon Duellist shouted, "Red-Eyes, destroy Zombie Master now!"
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon obliterated Zombie Master with a single burst of flames from its mouth. The attack had left Lord Hallows with only 4600 Life Points left but he was still far from defeated. The skeletal creature just cackled as if Red Eyes' attack had been nothing more than a harmless spark smouldering against him.
"A pitiful effort from a pitiful duellist with a pitiful deck." he taunted, "I'm far from finished! And now Destiny Board gets to spell out the next letter, further spelling out the message that'll lead to your doom!"
As Kazuki's turn ended, the next Spirit Message appeared on the Destiny Board, this one spelling out the letter "N". Kazuki's heart began to pound with anxiety. Only two turns left and it was all over for him! Where was that damn Stamping Destruction Spell Card when he needed it?!
"Ooooh the terror on your face is simply delicious!" Lord Hallows cackled, "I wish I could make it last forever. But all in good time. Now let's see what's next for me…"
He drew his next card and grinned with pleasure. He had just what he needed to guarantee his victory.
"At least with this card, I can still spell out Destiny Board's message while keeping The Dark Door in play." Hallows purred with pleasure, "For this turn, I play my Dark Sanctuary Field Spell!"
He played the card and all at once, the arena changed into a surreal world with eyes watching from all around and a red sky looming over everyone. Kazuki grimaced. Of course Hallows had Dark Sanctuary! All Destiny Board players used it because it formed such a brilliant combination with it! Now Hallows could play any Spirit Messages in his Monster Zones as well as his Spell/Trap Zones so he could keep The Dark Door in play without it taking up space! Kazuki hated to admit it, but Lord Hallows had structured his deck very well to work around his instant win strategy. He could see why this freak was the Keeper of the Shadow Realm. Who better to run the place than a duellist that could use Destiny Board so effectively?
"Nice change of scenery, wouldn't you agree?" Hallows said with admiration, "Now to finish off my turn, I'll play my Tristan, Knight of the Underworld in Attack Mode alongside Pyramid Turtle."
Another zombie rose up from under the ground and took its place on the field. Tristan, Knight of the Underworld (1800ATK/0DEF) looked like a skeleton clad in knight's robes, a cape and a helmet. It was seated atop a horse that also wore a helmet and a tattered back cover. Kazuki was puzzled. Why did Hallows play it in Attack Mode? It was too weak to defeat his Red-Eyes Dragon! But he soon saw what Hallows was up to. Tristan had a handy effect in which it would gain 300 extra attack points from any other Zombie Monsters Hallows controlled. He had Pyramid Turtle in play so now Tristan's Attack Points increased to 2100, making it at least strong enough to destroy Blizzard Dragon. There was also another effect Tristan had. Upon being Normal Summoned, Hallows could add any Zombie Monsters with 0 Defence Points back to his hand. He chose Zombie Master.
"Tristan, slay that Blizzard Dragon now!" Lord Hallows commanded.
The undead knight galloped towards Blizzard Dragon, his horse's hooves like thunder as it carried it towards its victim. It sliced at Blizzard Dragon, taking its head clean off in one swish of its sword. The resulting attack left Kazuki with one monster less and 7700 Life Points remaining. But Hallows wasn't trying to get rid of Kazuki's Life Points.
"If you think I can't see through your plan Kazuki, you're sorely mistaken." the demon explained, "I know you're hoping to Fusion Summon that Five-Headed Dragon of yours but if I can keep destroying your dragons and preventing you from having enough dragons to fuse together, you'll NEVER summon it! It's not like it would save you anyway so I don't know why you're even trying at this point."
"Don't you ever get tired of pretty much saying the same thing over and over?" Kazuki sighed irritably.
He drew his next card. He hadn't drawn Stamping Destruction…but he HAD drawn a Trap Card that would still be very useful to him. Hopefully this card would change everything for him.
"I'll set this card face-down." he declared, placing the card in his Spell/Trap zone, "And that'll do for now."
Destiny Board gained yet another Spirit Message, this one spelling out the letter "A". To save himself room for anymore Spells and Traps he might want to use, Hallows chose for this one to go in his Monster Zone to keep the extra space. Lord Hallows laughed mockingly at his Kazuki for what an uneventful turn he'd just had.
"So is that it? You just set one card and don't even bother attacking?" he jeered, "You've pretty much given up at this point! Ha, ha, ha! Well, let's see if I can finally put you out of your misery!"
He drew his next card and grinned with pleasure. Now THIS would come in very handy!
"Looks like we're even for I too set one card face-down." Hallows declared, setting the card in the space he'd left free thanks to Dark Sanctuary, "And I'll call Zombie Master back to the field thanks to Tristan ever so kindly adding it back to my hand last turn."
Zombie Master returned to the field alongside Pyramid Turtle and Tristan, Knight of the Underworld. With Zombie Master's presence, Tristan gained 300 more attack points, taking it up from 2100 to 2400 Attack Points. With three monsters standing guard and the Dark Door preventing Kazuki from attacking more than once, it was impossible for his opponent to get to his Life Points now. Or so Hallows thought…
"Thanks for that." Kazuki sneered, "Now I get to destroy more of your monsters! I activate Burst Breath!"
"WHAT?! Another Trap?! And what does that do?!" Hallows cried worriedly.
"By sacrificing one dragon monster, I get to destroy all monsters on the field that had less or equal attack to it." Kazuki explained, "And I only have Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon so I'll sacrifice it and wipe your field clean of monsters!"
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon disappeared from the field. The moment it vanished, a huge whoosh of flames shot out from Kazuki's card, roasting Hallows's zombies alive as they swept over the field. The only one that was unaffected was Spirit Message A as despite being on the field as a Monster Card, Dark Sanctuary prevented it from being effected by card effects. But it would offer no protection as it didn't prevent opponents from attacking directly so if Kazuki drew a particularly powerful monster next turn, he could attack Hallows for game. Despite all this, Lord Hallows remained as confident as ever.
"Fie! You destroyed all my monsters! That won't stop Destiny Board from winning this duel for me!" Hallows declared, "You can't possibly have a monster in your deck that'll wipe out the rest of my Life Points! I have 4600 left! And with only two cards left in your hand, you haven't got anywhere near enough resources to summon your precious Fusion Monster!"
"It was worth a shot." Kazuki said casually, "Besides, I may still have my chance yet…"
He drew his next card and grinned excitedly.
"And that chance is here!" he cried, "For I just drew Card of Sanctity! Now we both draw until we're holding six cards!"
He played the card and as Kazuki had said, he and Hallows drew until their hands contained six cards. To Kazuki's immense luck, he'd drawn four extra dragon monsters to go with the Curse of Dragon and Polymerization he still had in his hand. Now he could summon his unstoppable beast at last!
"You were so close Lord Hallows, but I'm afraid my soul's staying where it belongs!" Kazuki declared, "Thanks to Card of Sanctity, I now have five dragons in my hand so I can use my Polymerization Spell Card in order to Fusion Summon the almighty Five-Headed Dragon!"
Hallows could only watch in horror as Kazuki's most powerful monster made its appearance on the field. Five-Headed Dragon (5000ATK/5000DEF) towered over him with its five heads all glaring at him wickedly. Five-Headed Dragon was a colossal behemoth of a dragon with a huge body, enormous wings and five heads each at the end of a long neck and all five heads looked different from one another with each one representing different duel monster attributes from fire to water to win to earth and even dark. It had an effect that prevented any monster that wasn't a LIGHT attribute from destroying it. With only 4600 Life Points left, Lord Hallows wasn't going to survive a direct attack from Five-Headed Dragon. Kazuki had won! This duel was his!
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Hallows exclaimed, "THIS CANNOT BE! NO, I WILL NOT BE DENIED! I WILL NOT FALL WHEN I WAS SO CLOSE TO WINNING!"
"I'm afraid you will!" Kazuki cried happily, "It's all over Lord Hallows! Destiny Board won't ever complete its message! Five-Headed Dragon, attack him directly and bring an end to his reign of terror!"
Five-Headed Dragon took aim with its five heads and blasted Lord Hallows with five simultaneous attacks, each one a blast of energy representing their respective elements. The five-pronged attack rushed towards Hallows, ready to vaporize him on the spot. But then to Kazuki's horror, the attack hit an invisible force field and was cancelled out! Hallows remained standing, completely unharmed! As soon as the smoke cleared, Hallows threw his head back and laughed hysterically.
"YOU POOR, PATHETIC CHILD! AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!" he bellowed with laughter "I warned you I wouldn't be denied, and I meant it! You could've finished me off…but I had my Negate Attack Trap Card ready for such an occasion!"
Kazuki saw with a sinking heart that Hallows did indeed have that card in play. It was the card he'd set on his previous turn. Thanks to Negate Attack, Five-Headed Dragon hadn't been able to finish off Lord Hallows in the end. Kazuki fell to his knees in horror. He couldn't believe it. He'd come so close to winning but in the end, it wasn't enough! He was going to the Shadow Realm and he couldn't do anything about it! He punched the ground in fury.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! No, no, no!" he wailed, his eyes filling with tears of sadness and anger, "How could I lose at the last minute?! Amy, I'm so sorry! I was so close…"
"But not close enough!" Hallows jeered, "There's nothing more you can do now. Your hand is empty, you have no other cards on the field you can use so just say the word and I can get to taking your soul already! No point in stalling any longer…"
Kazuki wanted to, but he knew it was futile. What could he do? Five-Headed Dragon had been his last option and it had failed. If he tried to run now, it would do no good as he couldn't exactly leave this place and Hallows would only stop him anyway. With no other options, he did the only thing left he could do.
"Then…I end my turn." he said, his voice distant as despair weighed down over him.
With that, the duel was over. Destiny Board was able to conclude its message. The final spirit message appeared on the board with the letter "L". The word "FINAL" loomed above the arena with each letter surrounded by flames. Like for Jack, it was the word that spelt out Kazuki's doom. His time in the mortal world was over. There was only the Shadow Realm for him now. The duelling arena disappeared and Hallows's Duel Disk returned back to its cane form. Kazuki remained on his hands and knees, to full of grief to even look Hallows in the eye. The shadow demon allowed himself a moment to relish in Kazuki's grief before he pointed is cane at him.
"Your efforts were fruitful, but ultimately futile!" he gloated, "Not even your almighty dragons could save you in the end! Destiny Board has claimed another soul for me and as a result, your will spend an eternity rotting in the Shadow Realm like all my other victims!"
Kazuki cried out as his soul was ripped from his body and swallowed up into Hallows's cane. The last thing he felt was horrible pain and agony as his soul left his body. And then…nothing. His body remained where it was, empty and lacking in life. His eyes dimmed and his face grew vacant. Hallows tensed up as the power from Kazuki's soul surged through his body, powering him up even more than ever. He moaned in ecstasy as if he'd just been pumped up on something incredible.
"Oooh…oh yes! Yeeeesss! This feels incredible!" he cackled, "I have more power than I've ever had in my life! Ha, ha, ha, ha! I feel like I could eclipse an entire city! In fact…I'll do just that now! As for Kazuki, I'm sure Amy will enjoy getting to see what's become of her sweet, sweet lover boy…"
He looked over to Kazuki's soulless body. With both Jack and Kazuki in the Shadow Realm, he could scarcely begin to imagine how Amy would take it. She was in for a nasty surprise when she woke up tomorrow night…
Kazuki couldn't beat Hallows in the end despite having his powerful dragons and now he's in the Shadow Realm too! Now Amy's playing for both Jack and Kazuki's souls! Can she do it? Find out as we begin "The Duel of Fates" between Amy and Lord Hallows...
Trivia: This chapter wasn't going to be the duel with Kazuki and Lord Hallows originally. I planned to do a double duel between Amy, Kazuki and two minions of Lord Hallows named Skeletov and Yokai in which they would use a Gravekeeper's and Spellcaster themed deck respectively. However, I'm keen to get back to writing Pokémon fanfics after the recent games reignited my Pokémon passion so I decided to scrap the duel so I can finish this story off quicker. Also I feel it might be considered padding overall if I include it anyway. However, if anyone wants, I can release an extended cut of this story later on in which the duel is included.