Dragon-X: The Dimension of Dragons

by Fantasymaker76

The First Year of Duel Academy is over and the Summer Holidays are here. But an Old Enemy returns to steal the Old God Cards and use their power to take over the world. The team must band together again on another adventure to defeat them and recover the Old God Cards, an adventure which would take them to a whole new world.

33. Monarch Steel

Monarch Steel:

Peace had returned to Kirkwall following the brief battle but now there was hope for peace in the future and now the war was over. A war started because of the madness of one woman. The Bufferlands would also need help since they had suffered the most from this war but there was hope that people could carry on with their lives.

But one faction had other ideas. The newly created peace could disrupt their plans and allow their prey to escape. For the Venatori, the war made it easier to track the movements of their target and now that peace was restored, they could plan a way to escape and they could not allow that to happen. Livius Erimond could already tell that the Seekers, Dorian and Cassandra were already working on a way to reopen the portal to allow them to leave the dimension and return to their own and if that happened, there was no guarantee that they could retrieve the girl.

Livius along with Gordian were spying on the group from a roof. "So what do we do?" Gordian asked

"Well, we can't target the girl here, not with so many people around." Livius stated "There's no way that anyone of her friends will let us get to her. So we have to make her come to us by taking those who mean a lot to her."

"So we target her friends." Gordian stated "But how can we do that without attracting attention."

"We need to target them separately." Livius stated "We need to draw them away to less known areas where we won't be interrupted."

"And how will just the two of us do that?" Gordian asked

Then they heard a laugh "Well it's a good thing it won't be just the two of you." A female voice stated and the two Venatori members turned around to see Samson, Servis and Calpernia had just appeared behind them.

"The Master thought you would need some help with this." Servis smirked

"The more people we capture, the better." Samson added "Although I have my own target in mind."

"And who is that?" Livius sneered

"I thought about taking out Thrask." Samson sneered "Take him out, and we cause more confusion within the Warrior Ranks."

"Very well." Livius replied "But we still need to take out those closest to the girl."

"And I've met the girl before." Servis stated "I spent time watching her and I know who she's closest with. I say you should at least target her father as well as the Lightsworn Girl who is her best friend."

"So three targets have been decided." Calpernia stated "What about the other two?"

"We should probably take out one of the adults." Servis added "After all, they are children, removing one adult will cause confusion. I'll target that Crowler dude again, after all, of all the adults, he is the weakest link."

"Just remember, his deck's been upgraded since you last faced him." Gordian informed.

"I have confidence in my deck." Servis smiled.

"We can pick the last target as we go." Samson stated

"So we all have a target in mind." Livius smirked "Now we have a job to do." All of the Venatori members all smirked in response knowing that soon, the Elder One will finally have his prize.

...

With the death of Commander Meredith, the war between the Spellcaster and Warrior Faction was over. Thrask had become the new Commander of the Warrior Faction and had agreed to talk peace to end the war. Thrask never wanted this war in the first place and now vowed to withdraw the Warrior army from the Bufferlands and work to help rebuild the damage done to the land. Many were sceptical of Thrask's promises which he understood since the Warriors had committed crimes to the people such as turning them into crystals but Thrask said there was a way to reverse what happened and restore them. He was also investigating the remaining Warriors and charged those who were involved in the crimes. The majority of the Warriors who had served Meredith had only been following orders but there were some who were just as fanatical as Meredith. The former Third in Commander, Karras was due to be put on trial for his crimes and other high ranking commanders were to be investigated for their involvement. Thrask had also taken the Ice Barrier deck from the remains of Meredith's Duel Disk and returned it to the sacred Tomb. Solona had also returned the Ice Barrier dragon she had been given.

The official treaty that ended the War was signed in the Gallows, the headquarters of the Warrior Faction between Commander Thrask and Grand Mage Fiona. They made agreements that the Warrior Faction took responsibility for this war started which was true because of Meredith and Thrask was to begin a policy to prevent more Warrior fanatics from rising. There were still a few fanatic people within Warrior territory that believed in Meredith's views and so Thrask would need to try and limit the influence of these people.

Solona and her friends sat outside the Gallows as the treaty was being signed. She looked at her father "So what's going to happen now?" she asked

"Well, since we're all together once again, it's time we start preparing to get back home." Aristide stated

"I'll be glad." Jaden stated "Duelling is fun but this place seems too dangerous. We don't want to get hurt."

"And if we can get back home now, we can prevent the Venatori from getting you sis." Daylen added "After all, they're still after you."

"Indeed." Dorian stated "The quicker we get home, the better."

"And we can then enjoy Summer Break before returning to Duel Academy for our second year." Alexis stated

"Between the Shadow Riders and these Venatori, it will be nice to be able to relax." Theorn agreed. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So how do we get back?" Neria asked

Cassandra spoke up "We can open the portal back to our world from this world the same way we did before. We just need to find a place to generate enough Duel Energy to open the portal between our worlds though we will have to do it before the gap between our worlds gets too far apart. The more time we waste, the harder it will be to return home."

Zevran stood up "Although, before we go, there is still one task left to do."

Leliana nodded and pulled out the crystal that Alistair had been sealed inside after losing his duel against Alrik "We still have to restore Alistair."

It was then that Thrash came out from the meeting "That won't take too long." He called having overheard them.

"I take it your treaty is finished?" Dorian asked.

"It is." Fiona responded as she arrived as well "It wasn't easy since Anders wanted the treaty to be harsher but I didn't want to go too far."

"This was a negotiated peace." Thrask stated "The one who started this war is dead as her top agents are dead or captured. It's time to move on but it will take time for this to heal. As for helping your friend, there is a way to reverse the crystallization."

"How?" Leliana asked

"Well the power wasn't invented by the Warrior Faction despite what many think." Fiona replied "It was actually used by the Ancient Dragon Faction as a way of capturing Criminals to prevent them from escaping. There is a machine that can reverse this and restore everyone who was crystallized."

"And we have such a machine here in a storage area." Thrask stated "It will take some time to get in back into operation but once we've done it, we should be able to restore your friend plus everyone else. We will have to create some duel energy to get the system powered up."

"And we will need duel energy to help reopen the portal so we can get home." Dorian added.

Thrask thought for a moment "Well, maybe there is something else in the warehouse that will help you with that."

"I guess I'll come with you to check it out." Dorian stated

"I'll come as well." Leliana added "I want to be there to help Alistair."

"And as his teacher, I'll come as well." Crowler added "It will do him some good to know that we're all here now."

"I'll come as well." Zane added

"If duels are going on them I'm coming to watch." Jaden added cheerfully.

Aedan sighed "Jaden, these duels are not about having fun." he reminded him.

Chazz chuckled "Don't bother Aedan, you know what he's like."

"Yeah." Alexis agreed "I'll come too to keep an eye on him."

"I'll join you." Neria added

The others agreed and then Thrask along with Dorian, Leliana, Crowler, Zane, Jaden, Alexis and Neria left leaving the others alone.

Daylen and Aristide looked at Solona "Are you doing alright sister?" Daylen asked

Solona sighed "I don't really know brother." She admitted "You remember my duel with Meredith, I started acting like someone different. I was full of anger and not like myself. I don't really even know what happened, it was like I was possessed. What happened there?"

Aristide sighed "I really don't know." He claimed "However, it may have been something to do with the Venatori. They seemed to be targeting you and maybe they're trying to guide you away so they can try and capture you again. No matter what happens, you must remain with us at all times. No one is to go off on their own; it's too dangerous right now."

Solona nodded "I understand father."

Aristide smiled "Good." He replied "Now I guess we'll just have to wait until Thrask can restore Alistair and Dorian can get the portal open."

...

Up on the roofs, the Venatori watched their targets and Samson smiled "This makes thing easier for us." He stated

"Indeed." Livius smirked "We can go to the warehouse and take out our targets there."

"I know where the warehouse is so I'll take you there. It's in several sections so we can trap our targets in different areas."

"You guys go." Gordian stated "My target is here."

"You sure?" Calpernia asked "You'll be at risk on your own."

Livius scoffed "Let him do what he wants." He sneered "After all, the Elder One will be displeased if he fails. If he wants to do things this way then let him."

"That's rich coming from you who's failed already once before!" Calpernia hissed

Livius glared back but was stopped by Servis "Alright enough!" he hissed "We don't have time for this. Select you targets and deal with them."

Livius wanted to shout back that he was in charge; he did not like being told what to do by others since he saw himself as the second in command of the Venatori. However, he knew that there was no time for this argument. "Fine!" he hissed "Just remember, if you fail, the Elder One will not be pleased!"

"If I fail then I'll gladly take whatever punishment he gives me!" Gordian snarled back

Livius snorted and then left with Servis, Calpernia and Samson while Gordian continued watching his target to wait for the right opportunity to strike.

...

Thrask led the group into a large warehouse and he lit the torches on the walls to bring some light into the room. The warehouse was a large building that had several smaller rooms throughout it. One room was full of boxes with duel monsters cards in them as well as Duel Disks.

"Those are the cards that Meredith used for her army." Thrask explained "They would be given to the Warriors when they collected their duel disk after they had the crystallizing system placed in them.

"She had quite an operation going on here." Dorian stated

Thrask walked to the end of the room where a large device was covered up. He pulled the cover off to reveal a strange looking device with a large blue crystal surrounded by several large rings. "This is the device." He stated "This should help restore all of the people who have been crystallized."

"How does it work?" Leliana asked

"When the device is powered, we just put the crystal in the slot and the duel energy stored will restore them to their physical form." Thrask explained "The machine has been powered down for a while, it's going to need a good jump start to get it running again."

"How are we going to do that?" Crowler asked

"I just need to hook up some duel disks to the device and then we need to duel." Thrask replied "That will create duel energy but it will take a strong monster to create enough energy."

"So who should duel?" Neria asked

Dorian looked at Zane "I say you should Zane, after all, your Cyber End is one of the most powerful monsters, and it might be what we need to create the duel energy."

Zane nodded in agreement "Who should I duel?" he asked

Jaden was about to speak up and request a duel so he could have another rematch against Zane, he hoped that maybe this time he might actually be able to beat him instead of causing a draw. But before he could speak up, a loud noise was heard outside. "What was that?" he stated

Dorian looked at the door "I'll go see what it was?" he said and he walked over and opened the warehouse door and looked around, he didn't see much but he did notice that the sky had become darker "Is it just me or has it gotten darker quite quickly? It was bright sunshine when we entered the warehouse."

Zane, Jaden and Alexis walked over and looked at the sky and sure enough, it had gotten dark almost like it was night time "This isn't natural." Alexis stated

"Agreed." Zane replied "Something's going on."

"I don't like this." Neria spoke up from inside the warehouse "Maybe we should go back to the others and see what's going on."

The others nodded in agreement but just as they began heading back to the entrance, they heard a loud and wicked laugh "I don't thinks so girl!" a voice sneered. Before anyone could react, a large purple barrier formed trapping Jaden, Alexis, Zane and Dorian outside the warehouse while Thrask, Neria, Leliana and Crowler were trapped within the warehouse.

"Guys!" Jaden gasped in horror seeing that they were now trapped.

Thrask walked up to the barrier and punched it only to be zapped by purple electricity and thrown back where he was helped up by Neria.

"What's going on?" Leliana demanded.

The laugh was heard again "You should have some idea girl!" a voice sneered and black shadows began moving around and they formed 4 dark figures on the other side of the room. When they saw the face of one of them, they all gasped.

"Livius!" they all shouted

Livius laughed "Indeed." He smirked and gave a mock bow "I'm glad to see you remember me. As you can see, I'm not alone this time."

They looked at the others and Crowler and Zane were shocked "Servis?" they gasped

Servis smirked "Indeed. I came along for this one."

Samson laughed "I hope you haven't forgotten about me Thrask, after all, we are old friends."

Thrask glared at him, "We were, I believed in you Thrask, what Meredith did to you was wrong. You could have helped us but instead you joined these guys to feed your addiction."

Calpernia laughed "You guys may not know who I am though." She said "The name is Calpernia."

Neria recognised Calpernia's name from the journal she and Solona had found at the Ancient Temple and Samson was the same man who kidnapped her at the Abandoned Dorm last year. She then glared at them "So why are you all here?" she demanded

Livius laughed "You know what we after little girl" he mocked

Neria glared at them "You'll never get to her!" she snapped "Besides, Solona's not even with us so why you trap us here."

Livius laughed "Oh my dear, we're not going after the girl just yet." He sneered "Instead, we're going to make her come to us and you're all going to play a role in it."

"Never!" Crowler hissed "You're not laying a hand on my students!"

Calpernia laughed "You don't really have much of a choice right now. After all, we have you all trapped here."

"So we have to duel you to get out?" Leliana questioned

"Indeed." Samson smirked "But we'll be taking each of you one to one. We have our targets that we're facing. I wonder how good you really are Commander." He looked at Thrask

Thrask glared at Samson "Alright then, I take you on."

Servis looked at Crowler "I've beaten you once before and I can beat you again."

Crowler glared at him "I've made some improvements to my deck since our last duel Servis."

Livius sneered at Neria "I know you're the closest to the girl so you're my target."

Neria narrowed her eyes "Game on, for Solona."

Calpernia looked at Leliana "Since you're the only one remaining, you'll be my target."

"Fine!" Leliana hissed.

Zane, Dorian, Jaden and Alexis watched as the four pairs all got their duel disks out ready. "Get your game on guys!" Jaden shouted "Show these cloaks how we duel."

...

Back with Solona, she along with her father and brother stood in an open square that was deserted of people so it gave them some time to themselves. It had been peaceful until the sky suddenly darkened. It had been bright sunshine and then the sky turned dark and there had been no sign of clouds or rain before. When they looked up, the sky did not look like it was full of dark rain clouds.

"This does not feel natural." Daylen stated

"No' it doesn't." Aristide agreed "Something's wrong." He looked at his daughter "Solona, stay close to me, I have a bad feeling about this."

Solona looked around "You think the Venatori are here?" she asked

Before Aristide could reply, a laugh was heard "We are indeed girl." Then there was a flash and a purple barrier appeared around them trapping the three in a square. Then a figure appeared in a black cloud. This man wore white robes and had a slightly tanned face with a trimmed black beard, his head was covered by a puffy white head. His robes had the Venatori symbol stitched on.

"Who are you?" Aristide demanded "What do you want?"

"My name is Gordian, lieutenant of the Venatori." Gordian introduced himself "And you know why I'm here."

Aristide narrowed his eyes "There is no way I'm letting you anywhere near my children!"

Gordian laughed "Fine then, I guess I'll have to take you out then first. I wonder how you've been doing Zero!"

"That's not my name!" Aristide hissed "I'm no longer under you Master's control."

Gordian smirked "It doesn't matter." He sneered "The Master will win in the end." He pulled out his duel disk and placed his deck inside of it. Aristide followed him.

"DUEL!"

Aristide: 8000
Gordian: 8000

"Since I'm the challenger, I'll go first," Gordian declared. "First I'll set a monster face down and place 2 cards face down and end my turn. I know it wasn't too good but I guess that will do."

Aristide could see a mock disappointment in Gordian's face as he performed his turn. He knew he was only trying to get him under his skin. "I draw!" he declared, "First I activate the spell card Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards. Then I activate One for One, by sending a Monster card from my hand to the graveyard, I can summon a Level 1 monster directly from my deck and I choose Edea, The Heavenly Squire." A small white warrior monster appeared on Aristide's field: (Level 1: 800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"When this monster is successfully summoned, I can special summon another monster from my deck, as long as it has 800 attack and 1000 defence points and I choose Eidos, The Underworld Squire in defence mode." Aristide said as a dark looking monster with sharp hands appeared on his field. (Level 2: 800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"Then I'll activate the spell Return of the Monarchs. Next I'll sacrifice Edea to Tribute Summon Thestalos, The Firestorm Monarch!" A red monster stomped on Artitide's field holding a fireball in each hand. (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 100 DEF)

"Now Thestalos' ability activates and so does Return of the Monarchs," Aristide declared.

"I'll use my trap card Divine Wrath, by discarding 1 card, I can negate your Thestalos' ability and destroy it!" Gordian declared.

"It can't," replied Aritide.

"Why?" Gordian said in surprise.

"The timing is not correct. What I've done is something called "chain-blocking," since I've already chained Return of the Monarch's effect to my Thestalos, you can only activate any cards or effects in response to Return of the Monarchs as it is the last card on the chain," Aristide clarified.

"Oh stupid! How could I forget about that!" thought Gordian as he still had to discard a card from Divine Wrath's effect.

"Very clever," called out Daylen.

"That's what you get from messing with our dad!" shouted Solona.

"Return's effect allows me to add 1 monster with 2400 attack points and 1000 defence points from my deck to me hand so I'll add Caius, The Shadow Monarch from my deck to my hand," Aritide said as he showed Gordian the monster he added. "Then Thestalos forces you to discard the last remaining the card you have in your hand."

Gordian looked in surprise as his entire hand was gone in one turn. "You forced me to discard my Evilswarm Golem," he said.

"Since it's a monster card, you take 100 points of damage for each of its levels. Since it's a level 5 monster, you take 500 points of damage." Thestalos threw a fireball at Gordian which engulfed him in flames.

Aristide: 8000

Gordian: 7500

"I'm afraid it's far from over. Due to Eidos' effect, this turn I can Tribute summon another monster in addition to my Normal Summon this turn so I'll sacrifice him to summon Caius the Shadow Monarch!" Aristide pushed on as a ghouly looking monster appeared holding a dark ball. (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"When he's tribute summoned, I can banish 1 card on the field on your field so I will target your face down monster," Aritide pointed at it as Gordian's monster disappeared.

Gordian growled in frustration, "Since you banished my Evilswarm Hraevelg, I can't activate his flip effect!"

"And it gets worse for you since Caius banished a DARK attribute monster, you automatically take 1000 points of damage." Aristide pointed out as Casius threw a dark beam at Gordian

Aristide: 8000

Gordian: 6500

"Now Thestalos attack him directly with Fiery throw!" Aristide called out as the fiery monarch threw another fireball at Gordian which set his robes on fire. He threw his arms out to put put out the flames.

Aristide 8000

Gordian 4100

"Now Caius will also attack you directly," Aristide said as Caius lauched a second purple beam at Gordian, the force was enough to knock him to the ground.

Aristide: 8000

Gordian: 1700

Daylen and Solona looked on in awe. "Wow; that was incredible, he got rid of Gordian's entire hand and got him below 2000 life points in only his first turn!" Solona beamed in delight.

"Something's not right here sis, that looked way too easy," replied Daylen. "The Venatori know Dad's deck like the back of their hand yet Gordian seems shocked by how powerful his Monarchs are."

"Main Phase 2, I'll activate the Spell March of the Monarchs so now my Monarchs cannot be targeted by or be destroyed by card effects. I'll place 2 card face down and end my turn," Aristide said.

"During your end phase, I activate the trap card Balance of Judgement!" Gordian declared, "Since you have more cards on the field and I've got on my field and hand, I can draw cards equal to the difference."

"Balance of Judgement counts as 1 card on his field and he's got nothing in his hand but there's 6 cards on Dad's field so Gordian can draw 5 cards!" Daylen exclaimed.

"So that's why it looked so easy, he was waiting for Dad to put more cards on his field so he can draw more cards off this Balance of Judgement! I really hate it when our enemies do smart things!" growled Solona.

...

Meanwhile, in the warehouse, Thrask, Lelianna, Crowler and Neria were locked in combat with the other Ventatori members with Neria leading the charge. "I'll activate the Solar Recharge, by discarding Lyla, The Lightsworn Summoner to the graveyard, I can draw 2 cards and mill two cards. Then since I now have 4 Lightsworn monster in my graveyard, I can bring out the almighty Judgement Dragon!" Neria called out as her favourite monster flew onto her field. (Level 8: 3000 ATK, 2600 DEF)

"Go for it!" called Lelianna out to Neria. Leliana had her own duel with Calperia as she had Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 6 on her field (2300 ATK, 1600 DEF). "Horus, attack Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss with fiery flame strike," she called out as Horus destroyed the Burning Abyss with a Fireball.

Leliana: 6500

Calperia: 6700

"That's nice but since Farfa was sent to my graveyard, I can banish your Horus from the duel until the end of your turn." Calperia declared as Horus disappeared.

"I'll place a card face down and end my end so Horus comes back," Leliana called as her dragon returned.

Thrask and Crowler however were not doing so good as Thrask was struggling to get over Samson's Red Templar Horror (Level 6: 2500 ATK, 2100 DEF). Crowler wasn't getting a foothold in his duel with Servis due to a combo between Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 100 DEF) and Master Diamond (Level 9: 2900 - 3700 ATK, 2500 DEF). Crowler was down to just 3400 life points with all the effect damage he was taking.

….

Back with Aristide, Gordian had drawn 5 cards from his Balance of Judgement and then drew his 6th card to start his turn. "I draw! First I'll activate the spell Creeping Darkness. By banishing my Evilswarm Golem and my Evilswarm Heliotrope that I discarded earlier, I can add a level 4 DARK attribute monster from my deck straight to my hand. I'll choose Evilswarm Mandragora." He sniggered as he shown Aristide what he chose. "Then since you have more monsters on your side of the field than I do, I can special summon it from my hand." A green tentacle plant monster appeared on Gordian's field. (Level 4: 1550 ATK, 1450 DEF)

"Next I'll normal summon Evilswarm Castor," Gordian said as a grey looking warrior with a red cape appeared on the field. (Level 4: 1750 ATK, 550 DEF)

"When he's normal summoned, I can normal summon again this turn so I'll summon Evilswarm Ketos," he declared as a disgusting looking creature appeared on the field. (Level 4: 1750 ATK, 1050 DEF)

"Then I'll use his ability, by sacrificing him, I can destroy one of your spell or trap cards so say goodbye to your March of the Monarchs," Gordian declared as Ketos disappeared which let off a black smoke which surrounded Aristide's March of the Monarchs cards, destroying it. "With that gone, I can now activate the spell Different Dimension Reincarnation, by discarding a card, I can bring that, I can bring back one of my monsters that has been banished, I'll bring back Evilswarm Golem!" A large spider-like monster appeared on Gordian's field. (Level 5: 2150 ATK, 1250)

"I activate Golem's ability, once a turn, I can destroy a level 5 or above non-DARK attribute monster on the field so say bye-bye to your Firestorm Monarch," Gordian declared. Golem send a dark mist from its eye, hurling toward the fire monarch.

"I won't let him go to waste, I play the Quick-Play spell, Strike of the Monarchs," Aristide called. "By sacrificing my Firestorm Monarch, your Golem's ability is negated and I can draw 1 card from my deck." Golem's mist disappeared and Aristide drew a card.

Gordian smirked. "Even so, you still lost your monster, that leaves you open for this. I now overlay my level Evilswarm Caster and Mandragora to build the overlay network!" Gordian shouted as his two monsters entered a whirlpool which produced a bright light as the summoned monster slowly descended from the dark sky. "Two evil powers of the underworld, call forth your protector. I Xyz Summon Evilswarm Ophion!" Gordian chanted as a large black scaled dragon appeared on Gordian's field. (Rank 4: 2550 ATK, 1550 DEF)

Daylen looked on, "It's stronger than Dad's remaining Monarch," he warned Solona who for the first time started to get restless.

"Ophion, destroy his Shadow Monarch!" Gordian smirked as Ophion let out a terrible scream which shattered the Shadow Monarch to pieces.

Aristide: 7850

Gordian: 1700

"Now Golem, attack him directly," he laughed as Golem lifted its front legs into the air and smarshed them into the ground, creating a shockwave which sent Aristide flying into the air, hitting ground hard.

Aristide: 5700

Gordian: 1700

"Dad!" yelled Daylen and Solona in unison, "are you OK"

"Yeah, I'm fine children," Aristide said calmly as he stood up.

"You've got a lot of nerve getting in our way," Gordian said to Aristide "After all, you were one of us."

Aristide glared at him "Only because you brainwashed me!" he hissed "Don't think I've forgotten about all you put me though. I still live that day every day of my life in my dreams. Feeling trapped within my own skin while something was controlling my actions."

Daylen and Solona felt every emotion of what their dad said. Sadness, depressed, hopeless, frustration and helpless for their dad, with everything that happened.

"I now activate Ophion's special ability, by using 1 overlay unit I can add 1 "Infestation" card from my deck to my hand. I choose Infestation Terminus. I'll place 2 cards face down and end my turn." said Gordian

….

In the warehouse, Neria had gained the upper hand with her Judgement Dragon and Leliana was holding her own. Thrask was down to just 1000 life points already while his opponent Samson was still had 7000 life points. In desperation, Thrask prepared an all-out assault to defeat Samson. "I activate my Spell card Earthquake. Now all monsters on the field are forced into defence mode!" he called as Samson's Red Templar Knight (Level 6: 2500 ATK, 2100 DEF) and Red Templar Horror was forced to kneel down (RTK: Level 8: 2700 ATK, 2500 DEF)

Then I'll summon Twin Sword Marauder in attack mode!" Thrask called out as a warrior with two swords appeared on his field. (Level 4: 1600 ATK, 1200 DEF). "Since I have Solidarity on my field, he gains an extra 800 attack points. (TWM: 1600-2400 ATK)

Then I'll equip with Axe of Despair to keep him an extra 1000 attack points. (2400 – 3400 ATK)

"That's enough to beat my monsters!" Samson exclaimed.

"Yes, but there's more, I have 2 cards in my hand to equip my marauder with. 2 copies of Mage Power!" the two cards equipped themselves onto Marauder. "Due to Mage Power's effect, then equipped monster gains 500 attack points for each card in my spell and trap card zone. Each Mage Power will give my Marauder 2000 more attack points which means he gains a grand total of 4000 attack points!" (TSM: 3400 – 7400 ATK)

"Why put my monsters in defence if you raise your monsters attack points so high, I won't take damage," Samson sniggered, thinking Thrask made an error putting his Red Templars in defence mode.

"You'll see soon enough!" Thrask called. "Twin Sword Marauder, attack Red Templar Horror with double sword slash!" Marauder charged at Red Templar Horror, and sliced through his red armour, disintegrating him. "Now Marauder's special ability activates, if he attacks a monster in defence mode, if his attack points are higher than your monsters defence points, the difference is dealt straight to you as damage!" A huge cloud of smoke billowed around Samson as he took the piercing damage.

Thrask: 1000

Samson: 1700

"And I'm afraid there's more, since Twin Sword Marauder attacked a monster in defence mode, he's allowed to attack again this turn." Thrask pointed out

"Say what!?" Samson cried out.

"End him now Thrask!" called Crowler as he looked towards him.

"I intend to, Twin Sword Marauder, attack Red Templar Horror and end this duel!" Thrask yelled as his Marauder charged towards Samson's remaining monster. But before he could move another step, Samson had a big smirk on his face.

"I activate the trap Dimension Wall! This trap forces any damage I would take from this attack onto you instead! Since your Marauder deals piercing damage, you're about to fall victim to your own monster!" he laughed as the wall absorbed the damage Samson would take and reflected it back at Thrask sending him flying into the wall.

Thrask: 0000

Samson: 1700 (winner)

"THRASK!" Neria yelled watching

Samson laughed, "It seems the New Commander has already fallen."

Thrask grunted. "You may have defeated me!" he hissed, "but the Warriors will not let you win."

Samson laughed and held up his duel disk "Well, they'll have to find a new Commander to lead them." He pressed a button and a bright glow made everyone except the Venatori members cover their eyes and when they could see again, Thrask was gone and Samson held a crystal in his hand.

"Oh no!" Leliana gasped, "Not this again."

Livius cackled "One down, three to go," He sneered.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" screamed Neria, "You may have taken one down but that will only motivate us to go harder than ever on you!"

"That's right!" yelled Crowler as he glared at Servis.

Crowler: 3400

Servis: 7100

"And you are about to feel our motivation to avenge those who have fallen! I activate Ancient Gear Fusion! This allows me to use Ancient Gear monsters from my hand and field to perform a fusion summon. However, if I use the Ancient Gear Golem on my field as a fusion material, the rest of my fusion materials monsters can be anywhere in my deck. I'll fuse the golem that is on my field along with Ancient Gear Soldier, Ancient Gear Engineer and Ancient Gear Beast in my deck!" he declared as his four Ancient Gear monsters appeared and were engulfed into a whirlpool. "When the power of the ancient machines grow stronger, they form an ultimate machine that will bring chaos to its enemies! I fusion summon Chaos Ancient Gear Giant!" A humongous blue machine rose from the ground. It was so huge it broke through the roof the warehouse, towering over everyone. (Level 10: 4500 ATK, 3000 DEF)

Outside, Jaden, Zane Dorian and Alexis saw the giant emerging through the roof. "It's Crowler's giant!" gasped Alexis.

"I hope he's OK," put in Dorian.

"Yeah, but one of them has already fallen," said Zane. "I've got a bad feeling about this.

Inside, Crowler pointed his finger at Servis. "Prepare yourself! Chaos Ancient Gear Giant, attack Gem Knight Master Diamond!" he yelled as his Giant picked up Master Diamond (Level 9: 2900 ATK, 2500 DEF) and threw him into a wall, crushing him.

Crowler: 3400

Servis: 6400

"And it gets worse, my giant can attack all your monsters!. Oh, and don't think you can do the same thing your fellow fiend did to Thrask. My Giant is immune to any spell or trap cards. Go Giant, eliminate Lady Lapis Lazuli!" Crowler continued on as the giant crushed Lady Lapis (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 1000 DEF) to smithereens

Crowler: 3400

Servis: 4300

….

Back with Aristide, he was about to begin his next turn. "I draw! First I activate the Spell Card Pantheism of the Monarchs! By sending The Prime Monarch from my hand to my graveyard, I can draw 2 cards from my deck. Then I'll Pantheism's second effect. By banishing it, I choose three Monarch Spell or Trap cards from my deck and show you them. You have to choose 1 of them which goes to my hand but the others are shuffled back into my deck. I'll choose The Monarchs Awaken, Tenacity of the Monarchs and The First Monarch. Which one will it be?"

Gordian looked at the three cards, he knew what each of those cards do. "I'll choose The Monarchs Awaken," he declared

Aristide added the card to his hand and put the other two back into his deck and shuffled it up. "Then I'll activate Eidos' special ability from my graveyard, by banishing it, I can summon a monster with 800 attack and 1000 defence points, come back Edea The Heavenly Squire in defence mode!" he called as the small white warrior monster appeared back on the field. (Level 1: 800 ATK, 1000 DEF).

"There's no need for me to explain his effect again so I'll use his effect to summon Lucius The Shadow Vassel in defence mode!" he said as a small black cloaked figure appeared wearing a grey mask with two horns. (Level 1: 800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"Stop right there, I activate my trap card Summon Limit!" Gordian interrupted. "Now because you've already summoned two monsters this turn, you cannot summon any more monsters this turn."

"So he stopped him from tribute summoning his Monarchs," Solona said.

"I'll place 2 cards face down and end my turn." Aristide said.

"Not so strong without your Monarchs now are you?" Gordian giggled.

"It's your move you know," hissed Aristide

"Oh right, sorry," apologised Gordian in mock. "I draw! First I'll summon Evilswarm Zahak." A smaller dragon than Ophion appeared on Gordian's field. (Level 4: 1850 ATK, 850 DEF)

"Then I'll use my trap card Infestation Terminus, now by banishing my Zahak, I can send both of your monsters back to your hand," sniggered Gordian as Zahak disappeared, sending a dark mist to both Aristide's monsters which lit up and went back to his hand.

"Uh oh, Dad's now wide open!" Daylen yelled.

"Not for long though son," Aristide said. "I play the trap Escalilation of the Monarchs. Now once a turn during your turn, I can perform a Tribute summon."

"But you don't have any monsters to tribute to Tribute summon!" called out Gordian.

"Think again, I now play another face-down; the Quick-Play spell, The Monarchs Stormforth! Now I can tribute one of your monsters as though it's one of my own."

"You can't!"

"Yes I can, now bid farewell to your Ophion and say hello to my Kuraz, The Light Monarch!" Aristide called as Ophion vanished; much to Gordian's surprise. In stepped a golden warrior on Aristide's field. (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"Now due to Kuraz's ability, I can destroy two cards on your field so say goodbye to your Golem and your Summon Limit," Aristide called out as Kuraz sent two beams of light which shattered Gordian's remaining monster and his trap card. "You do get to draw a card for each card Kuraz destroyed with this effect though. But now Return of the Monarchs also activates so I can now add Mobius the Frost Monarch to my hand. Aristide added his card to his hand while Gordian begrudgely drew two cards. "It's still your move so you know."

"I'm well aware of that!" growled Gordian. He then looked at the cards he drew. "If I use monster reborn, I could summon back my Golem and use its effect to destroy his Light Monarch. But since he added The Monarchs Awaken to his hand last round, I bet that is the remaining face-down on his field. If he uses it, it would make his monarch immune to Golem's effect. So that's not the right way to go. But this is," he thought

"I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Evilswarm Ophion!" he called out as the large dragon reappeared again but this time without any overlay units. (Rank 4: 2550 ATK, 1550 DEF)

"At least with no overlay units, he can't use his effect anymore," Solona said.

"Now Ophion, attack Kuraz!" Gordian called out as Ophion let out another scream which put the lights out on Kuraz, sending a cloud of smoke billowing around Aristide.

Aristide: 5550

Gordian: 1700

As the smoke cleared, Solona and Daylen were relieved to see their dad was OK. But now they were getting worried about the rest of their comrades, "What could be going on with those guys with Thrask? We haven't heard anything from them since this duel started" wondered Solona, "If the Venetori are after me, do you think they are going after our friends to get to me?" she asked her brother

"I fear so sis, they have been quiet since we got here. And we still don't know why you were transported here in the first place," Daylen replied. He then looked across the area. In the distance, he saw a distinctive blue machine towering high. "Look over there," he called out to his sister, "It's Crowler's Giant."

Solona saw it too "What's going on there."

Gordian laughed "Did you think I came here alone?" he smirked "We decided to target other people as well and they separated without us having to influence them."

Solona gasped, now she knew that the Venatori were targeting her friends, she hoped they would be able to pull through this.

…

Alas, all was not going well at the warehouse. While Crowler's Giant had allowed him to gain the upper hand against Servis, Neria had now lost her Judgement Dragon in her duel with Livius. Meanwhile, Leliana was hoping her Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8 (Level 8: 300 ATK, 1800 DEF) would be enough for her to beat Calpernia.

Leliana: 1200

Calpernia: 1200

"I sense your anger building, quite pleasing," giggled Calpernia.

"You know why!" growled Leliana, "I was once as dark as you were being a brainwashed student! But now I've grown since then and will right my own wrongs. I made a promise to Alistair!" She remembered how Alistair was crystalised after losing his duel to Alrik back in Aeonar Prison.

"Making a promise to a fallen friend, how sweet," laughed Calpernia.

"DO NOT MOCK ALISTAIR!" spat Leliana venomously

"Well I did, and now it's time we get back to the duel. Prepare for your final move!" Calpernia declared. "I draw! I'll first activate the spell card Dark Hole. Now your dragon is automatically destroyed"

"I don't think so, my Horus' special ability activates, since you activated a spell card, Horus can negate and destroy that spell so your Dark Hole is swallowed up," replied Leliana

"Fine but now that leaves you wide open for this. I'll use Recurring Nightmare to get back Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my graveyard back to my hand. Next I activate Good & Evil of the Burning Abyss, in order to activate this, I must discard Calcab and Alich back to my graveyard; their levels added together total 6," she squealed as her two monsters disappeared into a black sarcophagus. "Behold as two members of the Malebranche make way for the leader of the underground! I Ritual Summon Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss!" she chanted as a large red masked monster appeared with two scary looking wings. (Level 6: 2700 ATK, 2200 DEF)

"Now Calcab and Alich's effects both activate in my graveyard. Now your face down card is destroyed and your Horus' ability is negated until the end of the turn." Calpernia continued as Leliana realised she now had to use her face down card.

"I activate the trap card Damage Diet!" Leliana responded, "In case your monster becomes stronger than mine, now any battle damage I take this turn is cut in half."

"You think that will be enough to save you? Well it won't be," Calpernia said unfazed. "I now activate Malacoda's special ability, by sending Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand to my graveyard, your dragon's loses attack points equal to Barbar's attack points." (Barbar: Level 3: 1700 ATK, 1000 DEF)

(HTBFD LV8: 3000 - 1300 ATK)

"Now your Malacoda is stronger than my dragon!" Leliana gasped.

"And it gets worse, Now Barbar's effect activates, by banishing 3 "Burning Abyss2 cards from my graveyard, you take 300 points of damage for each one that gets banished this way, so that's 900 points of damage coming your way!" Caleprnia yelled. Barbar shot three ironballs towards Leliana.

"Not good enough Calpernia, my Damage Diet has another effect! By banishing it from my graveyard, I can cut the effect damage I take in half as well," Leliana called out just as the three iron balls hit her but she emerged with a determined look on her face.

Leliana: 750

Calpernia: 1200

Neria looked on from her duel, "Alright! Even though Malacoda has 1400 more attack points than Leliana's dragon, she would only take 700 points of damage from Damage Diet's effect so she will survive, but just about," she thought to herself.

"You may have thought you would survive by reducing the damage you take. But as I said, it would not be enough!" Calpernia smirked. Leliana started to worry what might happen next. "I activate the effect The Terminus of the Burning Abyss spell card from my graveyard! By banishing it, my Malacoda gains an extra 800 attack points." Calpernia let out a wicked laugh as Malacoda gained extra strength. (MNOFBA: 2700 – 3500 ATK)

"Oh no!" Leliana yelled in realization.

"Looks like you're about to join your little friend, I suppose. Malacoda, attack Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 and end this rascal," she called out as Malacoda flapped his wings and sent a huge gust of a darkness heading towards Horus.

Leliana picked up the crystal she had in her pocket and looked at it. She pictured Alistair as he turned into a crystal. Tears poured out from her face. "I've failed you Alistair." She whispered as the attack from Malacoda came closer and closer. Leliana accepted her fate as there was nothing more she could. "I'm sorry," she made her final whisper as the attack finally hit.

Leliana: 0000

Calpernia: 1200 (winner)

The rest of the group all gasped in shock as Leliana was engulfed in a bright light as she was blasted back and two crystals fell to the ground.

"We're halfway there." Livius sneered

Neria narrowed her eyes "It's not over yet!" she yelled "Crowler and I still have a lot to show you!"

Outside, Dorian looked at Alexis, Zane and Jaden "I think now's the time to inform Aristide and the others what's happened."

"I agree." Zane stated "I'll head over there now."

"Good luck Zane." Alexis called and then Zane left as the duel in the warehouse carried on.

…

Solona and Daylen watched as their father duelled when Solona heard a familiar voice call out.

"Solona!" the voice of Theorn called and the siblings turned around to see Theorn along with the others from the group minus the group that went to the warehouse standing just beyond the Barrier.

"We saw the clouds darken and we tried to find you." Aedan stated

"Then we saw Crowler's Ancient Gear giant and realised something was wrong." Kallian added

"It's the Venatori!" Solona shouted "They trapped us and they've targeted my father plus the group at the warehouse."

"You mean they're in trouble?" Zevran gasped "Leliana's in trouble."

"As are Jaden and Alexis." Chazz added

"We'll just have to hope they can hold their own." Cassandra stated

"At least we have numerical advantage." Sereda stated

Gordian laughed "Numbers have no meaning to us." He stated "Now let's get back to the duel."

"As you wish," nodded Aristide. "After it is now my turn." Aristide drew his next card. "First, I activate my Spell Pot of Desires! By banishing the top 10 cards of my deck face-down, I can draw 2 cards from my deck. ~Next, I'll banish Caius the Shadow Monarch from my graveyard to summon Lucius, The Shadow Vassel!" The small black cloaked figure wearing a grey mask with two horns reappeared on Aristide's field. (Level 1: 800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"Then I'll sacrifice my Lucius to summon Mobius the Frost Monarch!" Aristide continued as the small figure was replaced with a white monster with a blue cape. (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"Ha! I have no spell or trap cards on my field so your Mobius' effect is useless," Gordian smirked.

"That maybe, but my Return of the Monarchs still activates. This time though, I'm going to add a monster card with 2800 attack point and 1000 defence points to my hand, instead of one with 2400 attack points. I will add Erebus, The Underworld Monarch from my deck to my hand," Aristide declared.

"Even so, your Mobius is still weaker than my Ophion," Gordian called out.

"For the time being," replied Aristide, "I activate Trade In, so I discard Eredus to draw 2 cards. With that I can now activate the field spell Domain of the True Monarchs!" The area surrounding Aristide changed from a deserted area to a black field with the symbol of a Monarch in the middle. "Now Mobius the Frost Monarch, attack Evilswarm Ophion!" Aristide called.

"But his Monarch has less attack points than Ophion," Kallian said.

"Dad knows what he's doing," Daylen responded,

"I activate Domain's effect, if my tribute summoned monster is going in for an attacking another monster, he gains 800 more attack points," Aristide's called out as the power from the feel spells emitted into Mobius. (MTFM: 2400 - 3200 ATK) Mobius then charged at Ophion, jumped up and punched him in the neck, causing it to howl in pain as it disintegrated.

Aristide: 5550

Gordian: 1050

Smoke billowed around Gordian as he took yet more damage. "I could do this all day," he called out. "Was that the best you can do?"

"I won't fall for your mind games, I've grown since then. Now that the battle phase is over, Mobius' attack points return to normal (MTFM: 3200 – 2400 ATK). "I'll place 1 card face down and end my turn. Oh and don't think you can Xyz summon another more powerful monster Gordian. Since I have a tribute summoned monster on my field and you currently don't, you cannot summon any monsters from your Extra Deck.

"Since Xyz monsters are summoned from the extra deck, just like Synchro and Fusion monsters, Gordian can no longer Xyz summon," Zevran said.

"This will really limit what he can do," Theorn agreed.

"So far, so good," thought Solona.

"Now it's my turn!" Gordian spoke. "First, I activate the Spell Pot of Greed to draw two cards I'll summon Evilwarm Kerykeion in attack mode" A black armoured monster appeared with 3 red ball of light beside him. (Level 4: 1600 ATK, 1550 DEF)

"Then I'll use his ability, by banishing Evilswarm Golem from my Graveyard, I can return Evilswarm Ketos from my graveyard back to my hand." Gordian decided on. "Then I'll use Allur of Darkness, now I can draw two cards and then I have to banish a Dark attribute monster from my hand." Gordian drew two cards and decided to banish the Ketos he just added.

"What is he planning?" Aristide wondered.

Kerykeion also allows me to normal summon again this turn, as long as the monster I summon is an "Iswarm" monster. So I'll sacrifice Kerykeion to tribute summon Evilswarm Coppelia!" Kerykeion disappeared and a new monster with two pistons and a red eye appeared on the field. (Level 6: 2450 ATK, 2050 DEF)

"So now they both have a tribute summoned monster so Domain's effect has been nullified," Daylen realized.

"And it will get more powerful as I activate a field spell of my own, Mystic Plasma Zone!" Gordian called out as the field changed into an area with multiple thunderstorms with bolts of lightning.

"Now Mystic Plasma Zone gives all DARK attribute monsters an extra 500 attack points!" (EC: 2450-2950). Now Evilswarm Coppelia, attack Mobius now!" he commanded as his monster sent a lightning blast from my sky which electrified Mobius, resulting in a large explosion.

Aristide: 5050

Gordian: 1050

The group that arrived with Theorn now realised how dangerous duelling a member of the Venatori was which the smoke cleared as Aristide now had a scar forming on his face. "Is he OK?" asked Aedan.

"It'll take more than that to take my dad down," Solona replied confidently.

"He may have more life points but that doesn't always win you the duel in the long run," said Chazz.

Meanwhile, Zevran was hoping that Leliana was OK as he had knew her longer than anyone else. He remembered that they came here to help those that helped them break out from the brainwashing of the Shadow Riders. With Alistair already gone, Zevran began to worry for Leliana.

"Next, I'll activate the spell card Card of Demise, now I can draw until I have three cards in my hand," Gordian said as he pulled a hair off his beard as he draw three cards since the rest of his hand was empty. "I'll place these three cards face down and end my turn."

….

Sadly for Zevran, Leliana was not OK. She had been turned into a crystal and was now the second duelist to be turned into a crystal. Neria was pushing herself to the brink. Though she defeated the warrior Cullen, in the Bufferlands, this duel was even more intense as she stared at Livius' Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World (Level 8: 2700 ATK, 1800 DEF)

Neria: 2500

Livius: 4200

"Now I activate the spell card Charge of the Light Brigade, now I can mill the top 3 cards of my deck to my graveyard, and I'll add Gragonith, The Lightsworn dragon from my deck to my hand," Neria called out. "Since Wulf, Lightsworn Beast was one of the cards that I sent to my graveyard, I can now summon it to the field." A large white Cat Beast with large claws and wielding a large axe appeared on the field. (Level 4: 2100 ATK, 300 DEF)

"But that's not all, now by sacrificing him, I can now tribute summon Gragoith, The Lightsworn Dragon!" Neria cried out as a horse like dragon galloped onto her field making the sound of a horse. (Level 6: 2000 ATK, 1600 DEF)

"So what, it can't do me any harm," sniggered Livius.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" growled Neria. Livius looked surprised at what Neria has said. "Gragonith gains 300 attack points for every Lightsworn monster in my graveyard."

"What!?" Livius exclaimed.

"In case you've not counted, I have 13 Lightsworn monsters in my graveyard which means my dragon gets an extra 3900 attack points!" Neria went on as Gragonith felt the power of its fellow Lightsworn monsters in Neria's graveyard (GLD: 2000 – 5900 ATK)

For the first time, Livius was no longer cocky but now took a step back in shock as he saw how much more powerful Gragonith had become. "Now Gragonith, destroy his Grapha now! Lightsworn Gallop!" She yelled as her dragon charged straight at Grapha and disintegrated him, causing Livius to fall to the ground.

Neria: 2500

Livius: 1300

Neria had never pushed herself harder even though Livius had not Xyz summoned. But his deck was so tough to play against. Now she understood why he may be the leader of this group of the Venatori. Meanwhile, Crowler was looking strong with his Chaos Ancient Gear Giant. He had got Servis close to breaking point as he couldn't find a way to get around the Giant.

Crowler: 3400

Servis: 500

"With my Giant in command of this duel, it's looking bleak Servis," Crowler said.

"You know the saying, the bigger they are, the harder they fall," Servis suggested as he look at Crowler's Giant.

"You've tried so many times already. One more attack and its over for you."

"I'll eventually find a way. And that way comes now!" he declared as he drew a card from his deck. "First I activate my face down, the Trap card, Fragment Fusion! Now by banishing Gem Knight monsters from my graveyard, I can use them to perform a fusion summon. I'll banish Gem Knight Lazuli, Gem Knight Emerald and Gem Knight Alexandrite! I fusion Summon Gem Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond!" he called out as three monsters whirled together. Out of the whirlpool came a large warrior with a sword, red cape and wore silvery armour (Level 10: 3400 ATK, 2000 DEF).

"Impressive but it is still weaker than my Giant," Crowler declared.

"Who said I was done there, I'll use the Spell Card Silent Doom which lets me bring back my Gem Knight Tourmaline back from my graveyard in defence mode." A yellow rock monster appeared next to Brilliant Diamond. (Level 4: 1600 ATK, 1800 DEF)

"Now for my ultimate fusion card," Servis smirked, "I activate Particle Fusion, now I can fuse together my two monsters on the field. Prepare yourself!" Servis' two monsters spun into another whirlpool as a golden monster wielding an axe emerged. "I fusion Summon Gem Knight Topaz!" (Level 6: 1800 ATK, 1800 DEF)

"What the? Why did he use a stronger monster to fusion summon a monster with less attack points," thought Crowler.

"Now you'll see why Particle Fusion is my trump fusion card. Since I used a fusion monster summon to summon my Topaz, Particle Fusion allows him to gain attack points equal to that fusion monster which means my Topaz gain all of Lady Brilliant Diamond's 3400 attack points!" Servis sneered

"SAY WHAT!?" yelled Crowler

(GMT: 1800 – 5200 ATK)

"That's more than enough to wipe out your Giant. Now Gem Knight Topaz, attack Chaos Ancient Gear Giant!" Servis commanded as Topaz shone a bright light hurling at Crowler's Giant. Slowly but surely, parts of the Giant disintegrated causing it to slowly fall back through the hole in the roof. Eventually it made contact with the ground and disintegrated into thousands of pieces which fell all around Crowler and Neria. Outside, Jaden, Dorian and Alexis watched in horror to see Crowler's Giant had fallen.

Crowler: 2700

Servis: 500

"Your fate is now sealed! I activate Topaz's special ability, when it destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to your monster's attack points," Servis yelled in triumph. Looks like all those new cards were for nothing, former, professor." Topaz shone his gold armour at Crowler causing him to crunch his face in agony. Eventually he collapsed onto the floor, never to get up.

Crowler: 0000

Servis: 500 (winner)

"DOCTOR!" Dorian yelled

Crowler was just about able to use the last of his strength to look at the group outside the barrier "Avenge me my students." He said "Avenge me." He could no longer keep his head up and then he was engulfed in a bright light.

Now it was just Neria and Livius left. Livius smirked, "Looks like it's just you and me now little girl!"

Neria didn't like that. "Never call me little!" she snarled "And you'll pay for this."

Livius just laughed, "From what I can see, you've got no chance now. Our mission here is nearly complete and your friend will come to us."

"Even if you defeat me, the rest of us will protect Solona with all our strength!" Neria hissed "Now let's get back at it!"

Livius smirked "As you wish little girl!"

….

Back with Solona's group, they could see Crowler's Giant in the distance falling from the sky. "Will they be OK?" asked Daylen.

"Crowler's Giant is gone, does this mean what I think it means?" wondered Chazz

"I'm afraid it does!" called a voice running towards. Chazz and Daylen recognised the voice and turned to see a blue haired man started to become out of breath.

"Zane!" they yelled. Zane finally came to a stop in front of the group.

"I thought you went with Thrask and the others to the warehouse," said Theorn.

"I did," replied Zane. "Myself, Jaden, Alexis and Dorian were outside the warehouse when the Venatori ambushed us. We couldn't intrude on any of their duels."

"Are they OK?" asked Solona.

"I'm afraid not. Thrask and Leliana are goners," Zane looked at the ground, feeling ashamed of having to tell everyone the bad news. They gasped in horror and now knew why duelling the Venatori was so dangerous. Zane then looked at Zevran who was crouched on the floor in disbelief at what happened to Leliana. "I'm so sorry Zevran," whispered Zane.

"And we've just seen Crowler's Giant fall from the sky. Does this mean what I think?"

"I hope not. I left them when Leliana was defeated so the last time I saw them, Crowler and Neria were still duelling.

"So that's why we didn't hear from them!" growled Solona. She now realised that both her dad and now her best friend were in extreme peril. "Dad, Neria, stay strong," she whispered.

"Alright, now it's my turn!" called out Aristide as he drew his next card. "First, I'll activate the Spell card, Card Destruction, so we each discard our hand and replace it with how many cards we discarded." Aristide discarded the last card in his hand which was Edea the Heavenly Squire and drew one card. Gordian had nothing in his hand to discard so he drew nothing. "Since Edea was sent to my graveyard, her ability now activates so now I can get my Panthesium of the Monarchs from my banished zone back to my hand. And I won't waste any time in activating it so I discard The Monarchs Erupt to draw 2 cards. Then I activate the Equip Spell, Restoration of the Monarchs! Now I can revive a monster with 2400 attack points, however, its special abilities are negated. Rise again Mobius the Frost Monarch!" The white monster with a blue cape reappeared before kneeling down in defence. (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"Let me guess, you'll tribute it for another Monarch," Gordian guessed.

"Correct, but a more powerful one than you believe. Due to the effect of Restoration of the Monarchs, the equipped monster counts as two sacrifices. So now I'll sacrifice my Mobius to summon the angel of all monarchs, come forth Ether, The Heavenly Monarch!" Aristide called as Mobius disappeared only to be replace by a shiny silver angelic monster, wielding a staff in her left hand. (Level 8: 2800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"Now her ability activates, and so does my Return of the Monarchs."

"Not this time it won't!" called out Gordian, "I activate my trap card Down Burst, now all face up spells and traps are now put face down which means your Return of the Monarchs can no longer activate."

"That maybe so, but now due to Ether's effect, by sending The First Monarch and Tenacity of the Monarchs from my deck to my graveyard, I can summon a monster from my deck as long as it has 2400 attack points so come out Raiza the Storm Monarch!" He called out as a green knight appeared alongside Aristide (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 2000 DEF)

"On the summoning of your Raiza, I trigger another trap card, Torrential Tribute, now all monsters on the field are automatically destroyed!" Gordian yelled triumphantly. A wave surge surrounded the entire field causing all of Aristide's and Gordian's monsters to be exterminated.

"Oh great, now the field has been wiped clear," groaned Daylen.

"They both have no cards in their hands so it looks like they are now relying on top-decking," said Cassendra.

"I have no choice to end my turn," Aristide said.

"Then it is my move," Gordian spoke as he drew a card. He looked pleased with what he drew. "I'll set this monster face-down and end my turn.

"Let's see if my top-deck was any better," Aristide said as he drew a card. "I set a card face down and end my turn," he called out.

"Then I'm up then. First, I'll activate the Continuous Spell Soul Absorption, now whenever a card gets banished, I gain 500 life points. Next I'll Flip summon my Morphing Jar!" and a monster in a jar flipped face up with a distinctive smile on its face. (Level 3: 700 ATK, 600 DEF)

"Now due to its flip effect, we both discard our whole hands then we can each draw 5 cards from our decks. Since we both our hands our empty, I guess you can say we can both refresh our hand, not that it matter to you," Gordian sniggered as both he and Aristide drew 5 cards.

"Aristide would have to wait until next turn to use his cards but Gordian can use his right now though," worried Theorn.

"You're right to be worried, now I summon Evilswarm Thunderbird!" Gordian declared as a grey tentacled creature appeared on Gordian's field. (Level 4: 1650 ATK, 1050 DEF)

"Before he gains attack points from your Mystic Plasma Zone, I activate the trap Dust Tornado to destroy it," Aristide declared as a dusty wind blew away Gordian's field spell.

"Very well, I activate my Spell Card Monster Slots, by banishing Evilswarm Kerykeion from my graveyard, I can draw a card, if it happens to be a monster card with the same level as my Kerykeion, I can automatically summon it," he called as he drew a card, "I drew Evilswarm Salamandra so now I can summon it to my field." A blueish dinosaur a terrifying looking jaw appeared on the field. (Level 4: 1850 ATK, 950 DEF)

"Now since I just banished a monster from my graveyard, I gain 500 life points from Soul Absorption's effect,"

Aristide: 5050

Gordian: 1550

"Next I'll use Salamandra's effect, up to twice a turn, I can banish a monsters from my graveyard, then he gains 300 attack points. So, I banish Evilswarm Ketos and my Evilswarm Ophion so he gains 600 attack points." (ES: 1850-2450 ATK)

"Now you know what happens next, I banished two more monsters so I gain another 1000 life points," he sniggered.

Aristide: 5050

Gordian: 2550

"If he keeps banishing his monsters, he's only going to keep gaining life points," pointed out Zane

"Now for my attacks, Salamandra, attack him directly," roared Gordian

"You really think I would leave myself that wide open Gordian?" asked Aristide, "remember when I discarded a card from my hand with Panthesium's effect early in the duel?"

Gordian pondered on this for a minute and then realised, "you discarded The Prime Monarch didn't you?" in realization

"Exactly, now by banishing March of the Monarchs from my Graveyard, I can summon the Prime Monarch as a monster card." Rising from the ground came an invisible monster with only a silver cloak and two weapons that could be seen to the naked eye. (Level 5: 1000 ATK, 2400 DEF)

"Remember though, since you just banished a card, my Soul Absorption gains more 500 more life points," Gordian spoke up.

Aristide: 5050

Gordian: 3050

"It's no trouble you now have a monster, I can still destroy it, Salamandra, attack his Prime Monarch!" Gordian sneered as Salamandra charged at the prime monarch and chewed at its cloaks, causing it to destroy itself. "Now you really are wide open, Thunderbird and Morphing Jar, attack him directly," he called as both his remaining monsters launched themselves at Aristide causing him to be knocked hard onto the floor.

Aristide: 2700

Gordian: 3050

"DAD!" yelled Solona and Daylen.

"He's not moving!" shouted Aedan. Now everyone was concerned and then Aristide groaned as he tried to get up.

"Dad!" Solona yelled and ran over and tried to help her father.

Gordian sneered "You cannot interrupt this duel girl!"

Solona glared at him "Alright that's enough!" she snarled "Stop using my family and friends to get to me! I'm the one the Elder One wants and I have what he wants" she pulled out the Urthemiel card.

"Same here!" Daylen added pulling out his Razikale card. "Fight us!"

Aristide coughed as he pushed himself up. "No kids, stay out of this."

"Dad, you can't keep this up." Solona begged. "You can barely stand."

Aristide gave a small smile. "Oh my children, it means a lot to me that you care for me." He then sighed "But you must step back, I have to finish this."

"But…" Solona stated but then Aristide placed a finger of her lips.

"Please my daughter." Aristide ordered "I must do this, it's my job to protect you two from harm. No matter what happens, I'll always be with you in your heart."

Solona was struggling to hold back tears but finally nodded and then helped her father to her feet with Daylen's help and stepped back.

Gordian laughed, "Well, that was touching, but we don't have time for this!"

Aristide narrowed his eyes; "You must feel proud of yourself to be interrupting family moments like that!"

Gordian laughed "I'm proud of serving my master." He sneered "Now let's get back at it, now I activate my spell card Mystic Wok, by sending Morphing Jar to my graveyard, I gain life points equal to its attack points." He giggled as Morphing Jar disappeared and Gordian gained yet more life points.

Aristide: 2700

Gordian: 3750

Next I overlay my Level 4 Salamandra and Thunderbird!" he called out as his two remaining monsters jumped into a whirlpool on the ground. "Server of pure evil, come create nightmares for our adversaries! I Xyz Summon Evilswarm Nightmare!" Gordian chanted as a knight wearing grey armour, wielding a grey axe and a red cape kneeled down in front of Gordian. (Rank 4: 950 ATK, 1950 DEF)

"What the? Why did he use two stronger monster and used them to summon a weaker one?" asked Kallian.

"It probably has an impressive special ability," replied Zevran.

"Now that the stage is set, I can now reveal my face down Continuous Trap Card, Soul Demolition! I can only activate this card when I have a Fiend type monster on my field; now by paying 500 life points, I can force each of us to banish a monster card from the opponent's graveyard."

"Hang on, if he pays 500 life points to banish two monsters, he actually gains 500 life points overall!" gasped Aedan.

"So I will force you to banish Erebus from your graveyard and what will you banish?" asked Gordian.

"I'll choose Morphing Jar," replied Aristide as Gordian paid 500 points to activate Soul demolition's effect.

Aristide: 2700

Gordian: 3250

With two monsters banished, Gordian smirked, "Now you know what happens next." He gained more life points from Soul Absorption's effect.

Aristide: 2700

Gordian: 4250

"Oh and Soul Demolition's effect isn't once a turn, I can activate it as many times as I like, so I'll force you to banish the remaining two monsters in my graveyard and I shall banish your Ether and Edea as well," Gordian declared as he activated Soul Demolition's effect two more times. 4 monsters got banished which triggered Soul Absorption's effect.

Aristide: 2700

Gordian: 5250

"He gained 4000 life points off just 1 card!" burst out Solona.

"Now make your move!" Gordian declared.

….

Outside the warehouse, Jaden, Alexis and Dorian were oblivious to what was going on with Solona's group. Zane had left them to go tell them what had happened to Leliana and Thrask. "He must have got back to them by now," Dorian said.

"Yeah but if our main duelling professor couldn't defeat these Venatori, what hope have we got to take them down," asked Alexis.

"We have to duel to the end." replied Jaden, "A duel isn't over until the last card's played."

They looked to see Neria was the last one standing inside the warehouse facing against Livius. He glared at her, "Ready for the end, little girl."

Neria: 2500

Livius: 1300

"I'M NOT LITTLE!" spat Neria furiously.

"You're all the same to me," giggled Livius. "Now prepare for your doom! It's my turn, I draw!" Livius drew his card. "First, I activate Dark World Dealings. We each draw 1 card then we have to discard a card." Both duelists did what was told. Neria drew Lightsworn Barrier and as she had no other cards in her hand, she had to discard it. Gordian drew his card and discarded Celri, Monk of Dark World. "Now Celri's ability activates, since it was discarded, it can revive itself to your side of the field in defence mode." Celri revived itself on Neria's field much to her surprise. (Level 1: 100 ATK, 300 DEF)

"Now once it's summoned there, its second effect activates, forcing its opponent to send a card to the graveyard," continued Livius.

"But you summoned Celri to my side of the field, so it makes you his opponent," said Neria, wondering why Livius gave her his Celri.

As Livius discarded the remaining card in his hand, he had a big smirk on his face. "The card I discarded was Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World. Now since it was discarded by my opponent's card effect, I can special summon him straight from my graveyard!"

"Oh no you won't!" Neria responded, "I activate the Counter Trap Solemn Warning! Now by paying 2000 of my own life points, I can negate the summoning of your Reign-Beaux!"

Neria: 500

Livius: 1300

"It may had been a big price to pay but I was prepared for that!" yelled Neria.

"But you weren't prepared for own Counter Trap card, Seven Tools of the Bandit, by paying 1000 of my own life points I can negate your Solemn Warning!" Livius gave out a wicked laugh has Neria's attempt to stop Reign-Beaux's summoning had failed.

Neria: 500

Livius: 1300

"NOOOOO!" screamed Neria as a huge fiend monster wielding a black staff of power reigned his way on the field. Neria remembered this monster as Livius fought Daylen at Duel Academy with this monster and she knew his ability. (Level 8: 2500 ATK, 1800 DEF)

"And since I special summoned Reign-Beaux in this way, all your spells, traps or monsters are destroyed!" sneered Livius.

"This can't be!" Nerai yelled in panic.

"I think I'll destroy all your…" Livius paused for a second and spoke again, "monsters." Reign-Beaux let out two power disks from his body and disintegrated both of Neria's monster, including her Gragonith. Livius gave out and wicked laugh while Neria looked on in disbelief as she realised she was done for.

"Solona, Daylen, Theorn, I'm sorry," whispered Neria.

"Looks like you're wide open," smiled Livius viciously, "any last words?"

"Actually yes," replied Neria, "I may be a goner, but the rest of my friends will only use this to end you and your precious master once for all! Once that happens, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Dorian, Jaden and Alexis watched in horror, as Reign-Beaux lifted his staff, "Rein-Beaux, attack the little girl directly and wipe out the rest of her life points!" he yelled in triumph as Reign-Beaux zapped a black curse at Neria.

As the curse came closer and closer, Neria closed her eyes accepting her fate, "Everyone, avenge us," she whispered as finally the curse engulfed Neria and she disappeared.

Neria: 0000

Livius: 300 (winner)

"NERIA!" Alexis yelled

Livius cackled and held up the crystal that Neria had just been sealed into too and he look over at his comrades "Well, it looks like our mission here is done. We should see if Gordian has handled the girl's father."

Dorian gasped when he heard this "So Aristide was the other target."

Jaden was so angry he was barely able to prevent himself from bagging on the Shadow Barrier, he just glared at Livius "Hey, Veni freak!" he shouted "I challenge you!"

Alexis gasped "Jaden, what are you doing?"

"You guys messed with our friends, and no one gets away with that!" Jaden hissed "Now fight me."

Livius snorted "I really don't have time for this boy." He stated "Maybe some other time, but right now, we have prizes to give to our masters." Then in a flash, Livius and the other vanished and the barrier vanished.

"Get back here!" Jaden shouted at the empty room, "You hear me, get back here!"

Dorian placed his arm on Jaden's shoulder "Jaden, I know you're angry but you must contain that anger for later. We have to get back to Aristide. Hopefully, he may be alright."

"And we'll have to break the news to Solona." Alexis added "She's going to be the most devastated over this." The three of them ran off to get to Aristide. As they ran, they could only hope and pray everyone else will be safe.

…

Back with Arisitide, he knew he now had to launch a major counter-strike with Gordian's life points rising so dramatically the previous turn. "Alright, it's my turn, I draw," he called as he drew his sixth card. "First, by sending 1 card from my hand to the graveyard, I can summon Berlineth, The Firestorm Vassel!" he called as a red armoured pyro warrior with a blue cape and fire rings appeared on the field. (Level 3: 800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"You've just set off my Evilswarm Nightmare's special ability, when you special summon a monster, my Nightmare can use 1 overlay unit to place your monster face down," sniggered Gordian as Berlineth's figure disappeared and turned him face down.

"I don't see the purpose in you doing that, you know that I can just Tribute it to perform a tribute summon," stated Aristide. "But first; I activate the special ability of Landrobe, The Rock Vassel from my hand, since you have a monster on your field, I can special summon it to my field." A small monster with amber amour appeared on the field. (Level 4: 800 ATK, 1000 DEF).

"When I special Landrobe in this way, one of your monsters is forced into face-down defence mode, so your Nightmare is now put face-down." Landrobe punched the ground which shook the Nightmare and in a flash, it turned face down, just like Berlineth. "Then I'll reactivate the face-down Return of the Monarchs. Now I'll sacrifice Landrobe and the face down Berlinth to Tribute Summon Zaborg, The Mega Monarch!" he called out passionately as his two monsters disappeared, only to be replaced with by a huge silver monster with a red cape, tiger coloured clothing and two hands of lightning. (Level 8: 2800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

"Now I'll use Zaborg's effect to destroy your face-down monster, then I'll chain Return of the Monarchs.

"I'll chain the Quick-Play Spell card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Return of the Monarchs," called out Gordian.

"That won't save your monster though!" warned Aristide as Zaborg shot out a lightning strike at Gordian's face-down Evilswarm Nightmare, causing it to disintegrate. "Then I'll activate the Spell Card Heavy Storm to destroy your Soul Absorption and your Soul Demolition," Aristide continued as a freak storm blew away Gordian's Soul Absorption and Soul Demolition, in doing so, it also destroyed Aristide's Escalilation of the Monarchs as well.

"Alright, now Gordian won't be able to keep gaining life points by banishing his cards!" cheered Kallian.

"Now Zaborg, attack with directly with Static Lightning strike!" he yelled as Zaborg shot a bolt of Lightning which caused Gordian to suffer an electric shock as he took the full brunt of the blast.

Aristide: 2700

Gordian: 2450

As the electricity stopped racing through Gordian, he shook his body to get rid of the sensation, "Ha, that kinda tickled," he smirked.

"Alright, he got back in the duel!" Solona cheered as her dad had managed to fight off the pain from this duel to launch his counterstrike.

"It's a shame he got so many life points off that Soul Absorption last round as dad could have won the duel by now," Daylen stated.

"We can't expect anything, it can still go either way," replied Aedan.

"I'll place this last card face down and end my turn!" called Aristide.

"Now prepare for your doom!" boomed Gordian, "I draw, first I activate the Spell Card Dimension Fusion! First I pay 2000 life points, then we can each special summon as many our banished monsters as possible!"

"Just for the price of 1 card, he gets five monsters!" called Serada

"Yeah, but don't forget, Aristide can summon his banished monsters too," stated Cassandra.

Aristide: 2700

Gordian: 450

"I'll summon Evilswarm Golen, Copeilla, Ketos, Castor and Heliotrope in attack mode!" called Gordian as he summoned out his five monsters from the banished zone onto the field.

Evilswarm Ketos: (Level 4: 1750 ATK, 1050 DEF)

Evilswarm Castor: (Level 4: 1750 ATK, 550 DEF)

Evilswarm Heliotrope: (Level 4: 1950 ATK, 650 DEF)

Evilswarm Golem: (Level 5: 2150 ATK, 1250 DEF)

Evilswarm Coppelia: (Level 6: 2450 ATK, 2050 DEF)

"While I'll summon Erebus, The Underworld Monarch, Ether, the Heavenly Monarch, Caius, The Shadow Monarch and Kuraz, the Light Monarch all in attack mode as well!" commanded Aristide as he summoned out 4 monarchs to join alongside Zaborg.

Erebus, The Underworld Monarch: (Level 8: 2800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

Ether, The Heavenly Monarch: (Level 8: 2800 ATK, 1000 DEF)

Caius, The Shadow Monarch: (Level 6: 2400 ATK, 1000 DEF)

Kuraz, The Light Monarch: (Level 8: 2400 ATK, 1000 DEF)

Gordian smirked as he looked at Aristide's Monarchs, "You may look like you have an intimidating line-up, but none of your monsters can use their effects as they were special summoned. Like this, I activate Golem's special ability, now I can destroy 1 Level 5 or higher non-DARK attribute monster on the field. So say goodbye to your Ether the Heavenly Monarch!"

"Did you forget about this card Gordian?" Aristide asked as he made for one of his face down cards. "I activate the Trap card The Monarchs Awaken! While it does negate Ether's special ability, she is now immune to any other card effects indefinitely." The trap formed a barrier, protecting Ether as Golem's ability just bounced off the barrier. "You should have remembered this card. After all, you allowed me to get this card to my hand in the first place with Panthesium's effect earlier on in the duel."

"I did remember it," smirked Gordian, "I just wanted to get it out of my way. My Golem was bait." A wicked smile formed on his face.

"What could he be on about? The only monster he has that can defeat any of his Monarchs is Coppelia and it can only defeat Kuraz or Caius," pointed out Zevran.

"Do any of his other monsters have any hidden effects?" Sereda asked.

"What about the two cards he still has left in his hand?" asked Aedan.

Then Daylen noticed something related Gordian's monsters and quickly realised, "He has three level 4 monsters!" he gasped.

Gordian had heard what Daylen said. "Well spotted little boy," he answered in a mock clap. "I overlay my Level 4 Ketos, Castor and Heliotrope to build the overlay network!" Gordain's three monsters left the field and jumped into a whirlpool in the sky. "When the darkness is fed by our power, the ultimate power is evil is formed! I Xyz Summon Evilswarm Ouroboros!" chanted Gordian as a huge black and white dragon with multiple holes in its body appeared on the field. (Rank 4: 2750 ATK, 1950 DEF)

"It still doesn't have enough attack points to defeat three of those Monarchs," said Kallian.

"My Ouroboros has three different special abilities, though I can only use 1 effect each turn. I think I'll use his first effect. By using 1 overlay unit, I can send one of your monsters back to your hand, I'll choose your Zaborg!" Gordian declared as Ouroboros let out a terrible roar at Zaborg

"I don't think so, I activate the Trap card Breakthrough Skill, now your Ouroboros' abilities are negated until the end of this turn," responded Aristide. Gordian's dragon quietened down as his effect became useless.

Gordian growled in annoyance. "I haven't normal summoned yet so I'll now summon my second Kerykeion!" he called as Gordian summoned a second black armoured monster appeared with 3 red ball of light beside him (Level 4: 1600 ATK, 1550 DEF)

"There's no need for me to explain his effect so I'll just add Heliotrope from my graveyard back to me hand." Gordian said as he revealed a green monster with a sword in his hand. "And then via Kerykeion's effect, I can normal summon again so I'll summon Heliotrope." Then green monster with a sword transferred from his hand onto his field. (Level: 1950 ATK, 650 DEF)

"And with two level 4 monsters, I can Xyz Summon again!"

"Two in one turn?" asked Aristide.

"Indeed, now I overlay my Level 4 Keykeion and Heliotrope!" the two monsters jumped into a second whirlpool, though Gordian gave no summoning chant. "I Xyz Summon Evilswarm Bahamut!" he called as a black dragon with silver wings appeared on the field. (Rank 4: 2350 ATK, 1350 DEF)

"Now your monsters will be mine, I activate Bahamut's special ability, by using one overlay unit, I can take control of one your monsters. Your Erebus, The Underworld Monarch is mine!" he laughed.

"SAY WHAT!?" everyone cried as Bahamut grabbed Erebus with its claws and dragged him across to the opposite side of the field.

"Now it is time for your end, Evilswarm Coppelia, attack Zaborg, The Mega Monarch!" he demanded.

"What are you doing Gordian? Your Coppelia has less attack points than my Zaborg!" called out Aristide. The two monsters collided but Zaborg shot a bolt of lightning at Coppelia, causing it to be electrocuted. This caused a big explosion.

Aristide: 2700

Gordian: 100

As the smoke cleared, Gordian had a huge grin on his face even though Coppelia was destroyed. "Now Coppelia is destroyed, his special ability activates so I can take control of the monster that destroyed him so your Zaborg is now mine as well!"

"Not again!" yelled Solona as Coppelia spirit possessed Zaborg and forced him to go to Gordian's field.

"Now your own monsters can be used against you." Gordian smiled wickedly. "Now Erebus attacks your Ether." Both Erebus and Ether fought to the death. In the end, both of them bit the dust. "Now Zaborg, attack Kuraz, the Light Monarch!" he demanded as the two monarchs fought against each other with Zaborg coming out on top. The resulting explosion caused Aristide eyes to flicker back and forth.

Aristide: 2300

Gordian: 100

"Now my Ouroboros attacks your one remaining monarch!" Gordian giggled as his dragon shot a dark fireball at Caius, The Shadow Monarch. His destruction left Aristide with an empty field.

Aristide: 1950

Gordian: 100

"Looks like you're all alone," Gordian laughed wickedly.

"Do something Dad!" yelled Solona.

"I'm not quite alone Gordian! You remember The Prime Monarch didn't you?" Aristide asked. "Now by banishing Return of the Monarchs from my Graveyard and I can summon The Prime Monarch as a monster card in defence mode!" he called out passionately as the invisible monster with only a silver cloak and two weapons rose from the ground to protect its master. (Level 5: 1000 ATK, 2400 DEF)

"Alright, his Prime Monarch has enough defence points to stand against the two monsters who haven't attacked yet," cheered Daylen.

"He should be safe," agreed Aedan.

"You would be safe, if I didn't have this." Gordian spoke, giving a wicked smile. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Rush Recklessly, which gives my Bahamut an extra 700 attack points until the end of the turn!" he called out as the spell gave Bahamut some extra power.

(EB: 2350 – 3050 ATK)

"What, NO!" yelled Aristide.

"Evilswarm Bahamut, attack The Prime Monarch!" Gordian called as the black dragon's silver wings flapped, causing a whirlwind which blew off The Prime Monarch. Now, everyone gasped in realisation at what was about to come.

"With The Prime Monarch gone, he has nothing to protect himself from Evilswarm Golem!" Theorn yelped in horror

"There's nothing he can do!" Cassandra gasped. "He has nothing to stop that final attack!"

"That's right!" Gordian cackled as Golem got ready to strike. "It's over!"

Solona gasped "I have to stop this!" she tried to run over but Aristide yelled over to stop her.

"Solona, stay back!" he yelled

"But dad, you're going to lose the duel!" Daylen added

"That may well be" Aristide sighed "But know this, no matter what happens, I will always be with you."

"Don't talk like that!" Solona started sobbing as her eyes watered "Dad please…"

"Solona." Aristide smiled "Always believe in yourself, don't let them win."

Gordian laughed "Well touching as this it, it's time for the end!" he cackled. "Evilswarm Golem, finish him off." Evilswarm Golem lifted its front legs off the ground and sent them into the ground creating a large shockwave which sent Aristide flying.

Aristide: 0000

Gordian: 100 (Winner)

No one could see anything as Aristide was flown backwards. Solona now had tears falling "Dad, no!"

Aristide simple closed his eyes and before he hit the ground, he was engulfed in a bright light and then a crystal fell to the ground which was then dragged into Gordian's hand.

Solona gasped when she saw her father's crystalized form in Gordian's hand, she was in so much shock that she could hardly say anything and she fell to her knees sobbing

The Barrier was still up preventing anyone from entering but they could see what happened. They too were all in shock at what just occurred. "Is he really…"

"Gone!" Gordian finished smirking "He's with us now!"

"Give him back right now!" Aedan shouted

Gordian laughed "I don't think so." He sneered

"And he's not the only one." A voiced cackled and then four hooded figures appeared, it was Livius, Samson, Servis and Calpernia who each held out crystals "Some friends of yours are also with us.

Upon seeing the crystals, Solona was even more horrified "Neria!" she gasped when she saw her best friend.

Livius laughed "Now you can see what we're capable of." He stated "Now the Elder One has a message for you girl. If you want your friends back them meet him at the summit of Mount Sundermount. That's where he'll be waiting for you. If you want them back, then come and get them."

Daylen stepped forward "We're not letting you go!" he growled "No one does that to our friends and gets away with it!"

Samson laughed "You really have no way of stopping us from leaving!"

"There's more of us than there are of you!" Theorn yelled

Calpernia smirked "Did you think we would just walk out of here?" he questioned "Think again."

"We'll see you around!" Servis added and then the five Venatori leaders vanished in a puff of black smoke and the barrier vanished.

"Solona, Daylen!" Everyone yelled as they ran to their friends.

"Are you two alright?" Theorn asked

Solona finally spoke up "Guys, my father, our friends" she said quietly "They're gone, they're really gone." She then let out a loud scream and slammed her fist to the group "This is all my fault! WHY? WHY DID THEY TARGET THEM, IT WAS ME THEY WERE AFTER!"

"Solona?" Sereda tried "It wasn't your fault!"

"IT IS!" She shouted back "IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME, NOT THEM!"

No one could think of anything to calm Solona down. Cassandra turned when she heard footsteps approaching and she looked around to see Dorian along with Jaden and Alexis approaching them. The three of them took one look at the scene and they could tell what happened. This mission had now just got a lot more complicated.

Chapter End:

Notes: Wow, well this was a massive chapter and once again, I have to thank my brother for writing the duel. I think from now on, he will be writing the duels except for ones where a created deck is involved but he definitely writes duels better than I do. Part of me was not impressed with the start of the duel but I had planned on doing this as a way to try and remove some characters since I do feel like there are too many in the story at this point and some needed to be removed. I know this story is not as popular as my other stories but I still like Yu Gi Oh and I still like this story even if it's becoming harder to write but I'm not giving up on this story but with increasing coursework for University, it's stressing me out a lot so I cannot say when I can update but I'm hoping to have a chapter on Rise of the Divines done by the end of the year, it just depends on how I can cope with the stress.