Chapter 11 - Confronting the King

Zarc and Shingo are dragged down from their viewing spot and brought out onto the ceremonial battlefield. The dark king Atem stands there as their opposite. On top of a pillar of gold, he positions himself as their greater, someone above them both.

"I am the King of duels, Atem. Those that try to oppose me, will fall like the rest. I will grant you mercy, and allow you this chance to surrender, and you may exist as one of my humble servants. Defy me still, and you'll be thrown to the sands of time like that fool."

Shingo's vein flares up on his forehead, "Some ego this guy has. If he's so great, where's the humility?"

Zarc's eyes remain on the king. He recognizes them as who they really are. He turns to Shingo with concern. While he respects them as a person, as a duelist, he has much to live up to.

"Well?" Atem grows impatient, "Do you have an answer for me?"

Zarc considers letting himself take Atem on alone, hoping to persuade him to show kindness toward Shingo. But before he can, Shingo picks up a ball of dirt from the field and tosses it at Atem. It misses, but a piece of mud smears his cheek.

"That's my answer! A true duelist doesn't give up! And they definitely have respect, especially for those that lose," Shingo takes all of this very personally. Something even Zarc is surprised over.

Wiping the mud, Atem accepts this as their answer. "Very well. Then you will die as well," the battlefield comes alive. The ground around them becomes engulfed in a dark fire, containing them within its barrier. "Let the games begin!"

DUEL

Atem 4000LP

VS

Shingo 4000LP

Zarc 4000LP

"I will take the first turn, as a true king. I will activate the spell card, Advanced Ritual Arts! By sending from my deck to the graveyard normal monsters, I can perform a Ritual Summon!" Atem takes two monsters out of his deck, "I use the Celtic Guardian, and Silver Fang as material to Ritual Summon!" The warrior elf and the silver wolf become used as a sacrifice to summon a portal, "Ritual Summon! Level 7! Magician of Chaos!" Atem summons his ace monster, a magician in dark robes and blue skin.

[Magician of Chaos Level 7 Dark Spellcaster Ritual ATK 2500]

"Then, I will set my three remaining cards on the field face down and end my turn. Show me what you have, peasants!"

Shingo being more brash takes the first turn from the pair, "Watch me! I draw." Looking at his hand, Shingo's mind starts to come up with an idea to win in one attack. "I set the pendulum scale with scale 3 Yosenju Shinchu L and scale 5 Yosenju Shinchu R."

[Yosenju Shinchu L scale 3]

[Yosenju Shinchu R scale 5]

"With Shinchu R's ability, I can turn its scale from 5 to 11. Now I can pendulum summon monsters of the levels of 4 to 10." The scales radiate as Shingo makes his summon, two large beams of light come out of the open portal above. "Pendulum Summon! Level 10 Mayosenju Daibak, and Level 10 Mayosenju Hitot!" Shingo brings out two monsters made from pure wind.

[Daibak Level 10 Beast Wind Pendulum ATK 3000]

[Hitot Level 10 Beast Wind Pendulum ATK 2000]

Zarc is again taken aback by Shingo's choice of deck. "Yosenju…," he remembers facing these monsters as Yuya during the tournament. It feels like a lifetime ago since then.

"When my monsters are summoned, I can use Daibak to bounce two cards to their owner's hand, while Hitot can do the same with one of your cards. And, because Hitot also increases my monsters by 500 each time a card is bounced, well then, that's game over for you." Shingo's monsters swarm the field with their strong winds, trying to take away Atem's monster and face-downs.

Atem however shakes their head. "A valiant effort, but one that will prove fruitless. Reverse card open, Black Illusion, for the turn, Spellcasters of 2000 ATK or more are unaffected by card effects." A barrier forms around the Magician of Chaos. "There's more. Because I used a trap, Magician's effect will chain and trigger first, allowing me to destroy your Daibak!" Atem's monster does as intended, before its effects are negated, they destroy Shingo's ace monster.

Daibak's effect still triggers, sending two cards back to Atem's hand. Unfortunately, one of them was Black Illusion, leaving Atem with one card left. With one instance of cards returning to hand, Hitot gains 500 attack points.

[Hitot ATK 2000 - 2500]

Shingo stands there perplexed. His plan falling apart, with barely anything to show for it. While tries to pull himself together, figuring he could crash into Magician of Chaos, and protect himself with L, Black Illusion also protects him from battle.

"I…I…," Shingo barely finds the words. "I set two cards face down, and end my turn." Hitot's second effect returns itself to his hand during the end phase. R's scale returns to its original scale.

"Was that it? Was that all you could do to oppose me? That was pathetic," Atem mocks Shingo's efforts. "Maybe your partner will prove to be a challenge."

Zarc just stares Atem down some more, showing no reaction on his face. Until he lets out a light smirk. "You know what? For a King, you truly lack the dignity for the role. Shingo here would be a better fit than you." Zarc's words get a rise out of Atem, while also lifting Shingo's spirits. "At least he knows what it takes to be a duelist. Respect, passion, resolve. If you don't know that, then how could you call yourself a King?"

Zarc draws from his deck. This is the first time in a while he's fully engaged in a duel, never mind one of such high stakes.

"I activate the spell, Guessing Game! I declare the name of a card in your hand, and if it's there, it's returned to your deck, and then I get to draw a card," using the knowledge provided to him with the help of Shingo, Zarc knows what to do, "I declare, Black Illusion!" Atem's trap card is returned to the deck, allowing Zarc to draw a card.

"That sorts out your protection, but then deals with your destructive effects also. I discard the monster D.T. Predaplant from my hand. By doing so I can ensnarl one of your monsters, and negate its abilities." Vines wrap around Magician of Chaos, restraining the monster.

"Now, using the scales Shingo left being, I pendulum summon two level 4 monsters from my hand," the scales create a hole in the sky, and from it, two lights appear. "Pendulum summon! Level 4 D.T. Speedroid, and Level 4 D.T. Phantom Knight." Zarc summons two monsters, a green and white toy monster, and a black and purple ghostly knight.

[Speedroid Level 4 Wind Machine Tuner ATK 1200]

[Phantom Knight Level 4 Dark Warrior ATK 1000]

"I then use the spell, Single Material! By paying 1000 life points, I can use just one monster as material for a summon, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, it doesn't matter. For this turn, I'm allowed this right."

[Zarc LP 4000 - 3000]

"Speedroid's ability allows itself to be treated as a non-tuner. I tune level 4 Speedroid with itself, while also overlay Phantom Knight with itself also." Zarc's monsters use themselves as material, bringing forth two of Zarc's ace monsters. "Synchro summon! Level 8 Clearwing Dragon! Xyz Summon! Rank 4 Dark Rebellion Dragon!" The two dragons of speed and rebellion have been reborn once again, purged of the darkness that Zarc once forced on them.

[Clearwing Level 8 Wind Dragon Synchro ATK 2500]

[Dark Rebellion Rank 4 Dark Dragon XYZ ATK 2500]

"Dark Rebellion's effect. By using one material, I can cut your monster's attack points in half, and then all monsters I currently control gain them for the turn." Dark Rebellion shocks the magician with their lightning, halving their attack while giving it to both dragons.

[Magician ATK 2500 - 1250]

[Dark Rebellion ATK 2500 - 3750]

[Clearwing ATK 2500 - 3750]

"Battle! Clearwing attack Magician of Chaos! When battling a level 5 or higher monster, Clearwing negates their effects, and then gains their attack."

[Clearwing ATK 3750 - 5000]

The attack hits. Clearwing is strong enough to destroy Magician of Chaos in one attack, and heavily damaging Atem's life points.

[Atem LP 4000 - 250]

"With no monster's left on your field, Dark Rebellion will attack you directly! End their reign!" As Zarc's second dragon goes in for the kill, Atem uses their last card.

"Reverse card open! Narrow Passage! While this trap is face-up, we can only attack with one monster per battle phase, so my life points will be safe from your second dragon." Atem was quick on the draw, protecting himself in such a way, leaving him scraping by.

"You pulled yourself out of that one, but we've still got the advantage. I set these two card face down, and end. Show us what you've got, King!" All monsters return to their original stats.

Atem stews in their anger, feeding the darkness within them. Shingo however marvels at Zarc's impressive playing. He's too starstruck to realize the part he played.

To be continued…