Update

As per the suggestion from E.T. 2000, I changed the name of Cyreath Rider to Cyreath Medusa, which is Rider's real name from Fate/Stay Night. Hopefully, this helps with confusion as to her identity.

Response to Reviews

Thank you to HunterHQ, Noobmaster, Guest, Portal, Anonymous, Kingdom Hearts Guy, ZeroMK7, E.T. 2000, Ambiguous, Guest, Unnamed, and Decode Talker for reviewing Chapter 34 of Obscured Truth.

Hello, everyone! As we get closer to the end of the year, I hope you're safe and healthy wherever you are. You know, if you include this chapter, there are a total of four chapters left before Season 1 of the story is officially done. That said, I sure hope you're enjoying everything that's been going on so far.

Anyways, let's get to answering reviews:

HunterHQ: Even if the Hanoi are the bad guys, they do have some honor. You also have to remember: The Tower will only shut down once Revolver and Infearno are defeated. So even if Watchman defeated Revolver, he'd still have one more opponent to defeat. As for Raguel's concern with Medusa and Miyu, it isn't around jealousy at all. Rather, it's about how in the world is Raguel going to explain everything that's happened since she went into her coma eight years ago, including there being two house guests (which would be Herald and Medusa). The teenagers won't appear until after Season 3. The reason why Dr. Kogami used kids was because they haven't been exposed to the worlds problems yet. By observing how the children solve problems, the Ignis will learn from them. Also, Dr. Kogami didn't ask for Project: Apotheosis. It was invented alongside the first Lost Incident when Project: VIII was first launched.

Noobmaster: Who knows? Anything can happen.

Guest: Why else do you think I decided to write another Season after Season 3?

Portal: Merry Christmas back to you. Revolver is indeed strong. He may be just as strong and memorable as Reiji Akaba, the Hell Kaiser, and Jack Atlas. Oh, and the word is Project: Apotheosis. As for your other question, it's Yu-Gi-Oh. Unless the episode demands the characters double-team the baddie, there's a good chance they won't.

Anonymous: Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord and the Fusion Monster Crimson Nova Trinity the Dark Cubic Lord represent unimaginable darkness in someone. There is a reason why Watchman vowed to never use them, and that will be revealed later on. Go and Stregone found another way across the chasm. As for your other question, you'll just have to read on.

Kingdom Hearts Guy: Indeed. Have faith in Raguel and Playmaker, as they'll pull through in the end no matter what.

ZeroMK7: In my mind, I see Watchman as a visionary, who sees the bigger picture. The reason why he wanted to end it peacefully was because something bigger is coming that threatens everything: The Crisis. If he succeeded in getting Dr. Kogami to join his side, then he'd get another ally, as well as save everyone from the short-term threat. Watchman also said himself that he doesn't have all his power. Plus, if you were in Watchman's situation, would you really want to hurt people you viewed as old friends?

E.T. 2000: Thanks for the suggestion. I made the changes and credited you for them. If you're concerned about the information regarding Project: VIII, don't be. Season 3 will briefly touch on it so there's more variety on it. Season 4 will also greatly focus on it more as well. Also, there's no way I would have Revolver lose here, as it would completely throw off the story. After all, Playmaker and Revolver need to have their final showdown. As for your other question, all I will say is keep reading.

Ambiguous: The first Lost Incident, which was a part of Project: VIII, occurred both before the Hanoi Project (also part of Project: VIII) and Season 1.

Guest: History does have a way of repeating itself, and the ramifications for not stopping it the second time around will affect the characters in the present. If you're curious, then I encourage you to read on.

Unnamed: I'll consider your idea for Revolver in the future. I'll tell you now: The Lost Incident children are in no way descended from the first set of Lost Incident subjects.

Decode Talker: Watchman is somewhere around the same age as Dr. Kogami.

With that out of the way, let's get to the chapter!

Chapter 35: Sorcerer's Determination

In LINK VRAINS...

The azure-overcoated man walked to the destroyed bridge where Playmaker dueled Specter and stopped at the end. Due to his duel, it was obvious what happened to the bridge, for no one could cross it now. But that wasn't the reason why he came...

"Are you certain this was where the Data Storm originated, Wraith?" the azure-overcoated man asked, as a black figure emerged from the top of his Duel Disk. Dark-blue lines covered its body and converged on its chest, creating a circle with a line down the middle. Its head was shaped like Herald's, but it had a protrusion that pointed backwards and up with dark-blue coloration on the top instead of two protrusions on the sides. Its eyes were also like Herald's, only instead of creamy-pearl, they were colored dark-blue.

"I'm certain, Azrael." Wraith confirmed, identifying the azure-overcoated man by name. He then thrusted his right hand in front of him towards the chasm, causing several pieces of Data Material to levitate from the chasm. "Ah. How interesting."

"What is it?" Azrael asked.

"This data material came from an Ignis." Wraith answered. "But as for who, I have no idea. I'll need some time to break it down and analyze it. However, if I had more Data Material..."

Azrael got the tip and looked at the Tower of Hanoi. "I know where to get you some, Wraith. Leave that to me." He then started running to the end and jumped off, landing on his duel board before speeding off to the other side of the destroyed bridge. Once he landed, he continued running.

As Azrael continued to run, his Duel Disk beeped, causing him to look at it. "Looks like two more duels are about to begin."

"I can see that." Wraith said, also looking at what Azrael was looking at. "But it's nothing to concern ourselves with."

"Unless Stregone and Go Onizuka are able to somehow defeat Revolver and Infearno." Azrael pointed out, disbelief evident in his voice. He knew deep down that the Hanoi would take care of the Charisma Duelists before moving onto Raguel and Playmaker. While everyone was distracted, he could acquire the Data Material needed for Wraith.

So he kept running. All the way to the Tower of Hanoi.

Elsewhere, in LINK VRAINS...

Raguel and Stregone narrowed their eyes as they stared down at Infearno, who had a determined smirk on his face.

"Only four of you remain to oppose us." Infearno said. "Once you're all finished, there will be no one left to oppose the Hanoi's goal."

"And just would that goal be?!" Stregone demanded through gritted teeth. "From what I saw, you Knights of Hanoi have been turning innocent people into data to feed your Tower!"

"I assure you it's for an ethical cause." Infearno attempted to placate Stregone, but to no avail.

"Ethical? Ethical?!" Stregone repeated. "What's ethical about turning people into data? More importantly, what exactly is ethical about kidnapping children and traumatizing them for your damn 'science experiments'?!"

Infearno, as well as Raguel and Herald, widened their eyes in surprise. Did Stregone just say what they heard him say? Or was there wax in everyone's ears but his?

"Whoa." Herald muttered.

"Stregone knows about the Lost Incident..." Raguel realized.

"I know everything that happened!" Stregone continued. "How you Hanoi kidnapped eight children for a top-secret 'science experiment', only for it to one day be shut down due to a whistleblower. What I want to know is: Why would you and your group do something this villainous? And to children of all people?! How despicable."

Infearno narrowed his eyes, having been unfazed by Stregone's rant. "Villainous? You may see us as villains, but from our perspective, we see ourselves as people on the side of good. If it's any consolation, we regret creating those 'science experiments.'" He turned to the Tower. "The reason we launched this Tower in the first place was to destroy them once and for all."

"And to do that, you're willing to turn innocent people into data for the Tower..." Stregone concluded.

"A small price to pay for saving the greater portion of humanity from what lies beyond the network." Infearno countered, scowling at Stregone. "I'll have you know something else, Stregone. In our quest to achieve our goal, we too suffered loss."

"Oh yeah? What exactly did you guys lose?" Raguel interrupted with his question. "I doubt that aside from your own teammates, you couldn't lose anyone else."

Infearno turned to Raguel. "Oh, but we did. Just a few minutes ago, Revolver defeated Watchman in a duel, turning him into data in the process."

Raguel's eyes widened in shock as he heard that. "No way..."

"Watchman... lost?" Herald said in disbelief.

"Hold up." Stregone said, turning to Raguel. "The guy who said he was going after the head of the serpent was defeated?" Raguel nodded in response. "Damn."

"Watchman was an old friend of Revolver and his father." Infearno explained, getting both Raguel and Stregone's attention. "What Revolver did was hard, but he had a strong will to carry out the act. You could say this day exacts a heavy toll not just for us, but for all of you as well."

Infearno sighed before continuing. "I may be a Knight of Hanoi, but I am not without mercy. Which is why I'll give you one chance to leave, Stregone. That way, you can watch my duel against Raguel in the safety of the real world."

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer." Stregone responded, pointing his right finger at Infearno. "I won't let you harm the people of LINK VRAINS. And for the sake of the other Lost Incident children, I won't let your actions go unpunished as well! That's why I'm challenging you to a duel here and now! Will you accept?"

Infearno grinned at hearing Stregone's answer. Excellent, he thought. He's taken the bait. Not only can I show Raguel a second taste of despair, I can also ensure I'm ready to destroy him and his Ignis once and for all. "Alright, Stregone. I accept your challenge."

"Excellent!" Stregone replied, readying himself for what was to come. "Then prepare yourself! You're about to find that our will equals yours!"

"We shall see about that." Infearno responded.

"Duel!" Infearno and Stregone said in unison.

Stregone: 4000 LP

Infearno: 4000 LP

"This is it, Raguel." Herald said, turning to him. "We're about to witness a duel of great proportions!"

"Yeah." Raguel agreed. You got this Stregone, he thought. Just... be careful.

"I'd like to go first, if you don't mind." Stregone requested.

"If that is your wish, then I'll allow it." Infearno allowed.

"My turn!" Stregone looked at his cards and smiled. "I activate the Spell card, Terraforming! This card lets me add a Field Spell card from my deck to my hand!" A card popped out of his deck, which he added to his hand. "From there, I'll activate the Field Spell card, Magical City of Endymion!" A pink circle consisting of hieroglyphics surrounded both him and Infearno before disappearing. "Every time I activate a Spell card, I can place one Spell counter on this card once it resolves!"

Infearno frowned in thought. I've seen all of Stregone's duels against the Hanoi's grunts and sergeants, as well as his duel against Jeanne Azaria, he thought. Which means I know how to counter his deck's strengths.

"I'll now use the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician to set the Pendulum Scale!" Soon, two pillars of light appeared on both sides of Stregone's field. In the pillar of light on his right was a magician with brown hair and dark robes. There were gold-like elements on each of his upper arms, with chrome plating on the lower section of his arms. On his right arm was a disk that fired out a gold, clock-like blade. Timegazer also wore a black magician's cap with a gold-like element on it, as well as metallic plating on his left leg.

In the pillar of light on the left was a magician with long blond hair and white robes with a purple cape. On the magician's chest was black-plating, with four small orbs on either side and a big orb at the center. Like Timegazer, Stargazer also wore a magician's cap, only white. In his left hand, he carried a double-bladed staff, with a massive white circle at the center.

Stargazer Magician Scale: 1

Timegazer Magician Scale: 8

"Next, I activate the Spell card, Pendulum Pot." Stregone continued. "This card lets me draw cards from my deck equal to the number of cards in my Pendulum zones. Since I have two cards in my Pendulum zones, I can draw two cards!" After explaining, he drew the top two cards of his deck.

"Since a Spell card was activated, the effect of Magical City of Endymion now activates!" A blue orb went into the Field Spell, giving it a brief, blue glow before disappearing.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 0 + 1 = 1

"Swing far, pendulum! Carve the arc of victory!" Stregone chanted. "With the set Pendulum Scale, I can Special Summon monsters between Levels 2 and 7 at the same time! Emerge, Magical Abductor and Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic!" Within moments, a portal opened between the two pillars, where two lights emerged. The lights hit the field and then dissipated, revealing two monsters.

The first monster was a female magician with dark robes and splashes of green and white stylizing it. She had long dark hair that went down to her waist, with two strands of hair curving upwards near her ears. At her chest was a red Spell counter, which was worn like a pendant. In her right hand, she carried a scepter that had a hook at the top and another Spell counter inside it.

The second monster was a tall magician with black robes that had golden outlines. Attached to his back was a massive, golden ring, and there were a total of twenty purple Spell counters visible on the magician. Endymion had long white horse-like hair and a golden mask with black horns on top. In his right hand was a golden staff, with a massive golden hook.

Magical Abductor ATK: 1700 DEF: 1400 LV: 4 Scale: 3

Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic ATK: 2800 DEF: 1700 LV: 7 Scale: 8

"Appear! The circuit of sorcery!" A Link Portal soon appeared in the sky above Stregone. "The summoning conditions are two Spellcaster monsters! I'll set Magical Abductor and Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic into the Link Markers!" Magical Abductor went into the bottom-left arrowhead, while Endymion went into the bottom-left arrowhead, resulting in both arrowheads turning red at the same time.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Rise! Link 2! Daybreaker the Shining Magical Warrior!" A white-robed magician, carrying a sword and shield and wearing a long red cape appeared on Stregone's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Pieces of golden armor were attached to Daybreaker's armor, with Spell counters adorning it. Daybreaker swung his sword, ready for battle.

Daybreaker the Shining Magical Warrior ATK: 1600 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

"When Daybreaker is Link Summoned, I can place a Spell counter on this card. And for every Spell counter, it gains 300 attack points!"

Daybreaker the Shining Magical Warrior SC: 0 + 1 = 1

Daybreaker the Shining Magical Warrior ATK: 1600 + 300 = 1900

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Stregone concluded. "You're up."

Meanwhile, at another area in LINK VRAINS...

Playmaker continued running through the wreckage, intent on reaching the Tower.

"Hey, Playmaker! Hold up!"

Playmaker stopped running as Frog and Pigeon approached him. "What is it?" he asked.

"There's two duels going on at three o' clock." Frog explained, pointing to two spots in the distance.

"Three? I missed lunch!" Ai panicked.

"This is not the time for jokes, Ai." Playmaker told him. He immediately began thinking who the participants for those duels could be. On the side of the Hanoi, they lost Lord Kazuma, Specter, Ace, and Athaliah. Meanwhile, Blue Angel, Rosetta, and Numera also got turned into data as well. Aside from him and Raguel, that meant...

"Go Onizuka's dueling against Revolver, while Stregone's dueling against Infearno," he concluded. Playmaker turned to Frog and Pigeon. "You should log out. It's only more dangerous from here."

"Nope! We're in this to the end!" Frog stated. "The bird-brain and I are covering your story. So we're going to be sticking to you like lint on a lollipop."

"We won't let you out of our sight!" Pigeon added. Unfortunately for the duo, when they opened their eyes, they realized that Playmaker had resumed running. "Yikes! He's fast!"

"Quick squawking and kick your cardio into overdrive!" Frog ordered.

"Right boss!" Pigeon replied, as the duo flew after Playmaker.

Eventually, Playmaker ran up a ledge and gasped. He was looking over a duel between Go Onizuka and Revolver. Go had Gouki Suprex, Gouki Riscorpio, Gouki Twistcobra, and the Link 3 Gouki Thunder Ogre on his field.

"There he is!" Ai gasped. "Check out Go's monsters. His monster's biceps have biceps! You jelly?"

"Not really, Ai." Playmaker answered back. "And neither is Revolver."

Go turned to look at the duo. "Sorry to steal your spotlight, Playmaker," he said. "But not really. You're done dueling for today. Because I'll pin this jobber for you."

"It appears the only thing that can overshadow your confidence is your delusion." Revolver said. "My turn! I draw!"

"You know, as journalists, we need to be impartial." Frog said to Pigeon. "But I'll make an exception just this once. Go get them, Go Onizuka! Win this!" Upon saying this, Pigeon cheered for Go as well.

Revolver immediately started his turn by Special Summoning Gateway Dragon to his field. Using its effect, he Special Summoned Sniffer Dragon, which let him add a copy to his hand before he promptly summoned it to his field. From there, Revolver used a combination of the Link Summoned Link 3 Triple Burst Dragon, Arrow Charge, and effect of Go's Thunder Ogre to Link Summon Topologic Bomber Dragon.

To make things worse, he activated Triggering Wurm's effect to Special Summon it back to a zone Bomber Dragon pointed to, resulting in its effect destroying all monsters in both duelists' Main Monster Zones. Luckily, Go activated the effect of Twistcobra to tribute Riscorpio and give its attack points to Thunder Ogre, boosting it to 4500 attack. He also took advantage of the opportunity to use Thunder Ogre's effect, increasing it further to 4900 attack points. On top of that, he got to add three new 'Gouki' cards from his deck to his hand.

While Go got the greater advantage due to Bomber Dragon's effect, Revolver was still able to draw a card due to Triggering Wurm getting destroyed or banished by the effect of a Link monster.

"That changes nothing!" Revolver said. "I will now activate my Spell card, Link Protection! This turn, Bomber Dragon can no longer be destroyed by battle, and neither of us takes any battle damage." He pointed his right hand at Go. "Battle! Topologic Bomber Dragon attacks Gouki Thunder Ogre! Malicious Mayhem!" Bomber Dragon gathered red energy and blasted Thunder Ogre with it. In response, Thunder Ogre fired a surge of electricity right back, causing both beams to collide with each other.

"Why?" Ai asked, confused. "Revolver's monster is weaker than Go's!"

Revolver answered Ai's question through his actions. "Bomber Dragon's effect! If it attacked an opponent's monster, it's automatically destroyed!" As if to prove his point, Thunder Ogre exploded in a flash of flame, much to Go's dismay as he shielded his eyes from it.

"Okay. I guess I'm the idiot." Ai commented.

"But this is only the beginning of your problems." Revolver continued. "Bomber Dragon now inflicts damage equal to your monster's original attack points. Aiming Blast!" Bomber Dragon crackled with magenta energy as it unleashed a shockwave at Go.

"There's no way you're gonna make me tag out that easy, Revolver! Because I activate the effect of Gouki Octostretch from my hand!" Go countered. "By discarding him from my hand, I can cut the damage I take in half!" Even though Octostretch took the brunt of the attack, Go was still pushed back several feet.

Go Onizuka: 4000 – (2200 / 2) = 2900 LP

"That's a nice play you made." Revolver mockingly praised him. "But it doesn't make you a Playmaker!" He smirked upon saying that. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn."

It doesn't matter if this creep looks down on me, Go thought, because the only faces that matter are the ones that look up to me. A determined look appeared on Go's face as he put a hand on the top card of his deck. That's why, for the sake of the kids, I'll keep fighting until the very end! "My turn! I draw!"

Elsewhere, at Stregone's duel...

"My turn! I draw!" Infearno said, drawing the top card of his deck.

"Trap card, activate! Pendulum Link Port!" Stregone interrupted, gesturing to one of his cards. The card showed Heavymetalfoes Electrumite raising her blazing daggers high into the air and forming an 'X' above her. A red portal in the background then released two lights, revealing the silhouettes of Metalfoes Volflame and Metalfoes Goldriver behind Electrumite. "If I control a Link monster, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from my Extra Deck to Main Monster Zones that Link monster is pointing to. Come back to me from the Extra Deck, my allies! Magical Abductor and Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic!" At Stregone's command, Magical Abductor and Endymion reappeared on his field at Daybreaker's bottom-left and bottom-right Link Markers.

Magical Abductor ATK: 1700 DEF: 1400 LV: 4 Scale: 3

Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic ATK: 2800 DEF: 1700 LV: 7 Scale: 8

"Stregone just Pendulum Summoned during Infearno's turn." Herald said in awe.

"He must have upgraded his deck prior to coming here." Raguel noted.

"Daybreaker's effect now activates!" Stregone added. "As a monster was Special Summoned to a zone he points to, I can place a Spell counter on him. And you know what that means, Infearno!"

Daybreaker the Shining Magical Warrior SC: 1 + 1 = 2

Daybreaker the Shining Magical Warrior ATK: 1900 + 300 = 2200

"I didn't expect you to conduct a Pendulum Summon on my turn." Infearno said, also surprised with what Stregone just did. "Regardless, you only brought out two monsters. What a letdown."

"Hey, there's a saying." Stregone countered. "Big things come in small packages."

"I hope for your sake you're correct." Infearno replied, smirking before briefly looking at his cards. "I activate the Field Spell card, Dis, City of the Burning Abyss!" Hellish fire briefly surrounded the Duel Field before dissipating. "Now all 'Burning Abyss' monsters I control cannot be destroyed by their own card effects, nor can they be targeted by other card effects! Next, I activate the Spell card, Pre-Preparation of Rites! Not only does this card let me add a Ritual Spell card from my deck to my hand, I can also add a Ritual monster from my deck or Graveyard to my hand whose name is listed on that Ritual Spell!" Two cards popped out of Infearno's deck, which he added to his hand.

"I activate the Ritual Spell card, Good and Evil in the Burning Abyss! This card lets me tribute monsters from my hand or field whose combined levels equal or exceed that of the stated Ritual monster, and then summon it from my hand. I tribute the Level 3 Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and the Level 3 Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand."

A dark red magic circle with six flames appeared on his field, along with Graff and Scarm. Both demonic creatures disintegrated into light and entered the center of the circle, which emitted a pillar of dark red light.

"The contract's been made!" Infearno chanted, his Duel Disk's screen and black sections glowing dark red. "Demonic leader residing in the eighth circle of Hell! Accept these two sacrifices and serve your master! Ritual Summon! Rise, Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss!" A red-skinned demon in blue armor soon emerged from the portal and onto Infearno's field. It wielded two swords, one blue and one red, and also had a tail resembling a dragon's head.

Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss ATK: 2700 DEF: 2000 LV: 6

"Prepare to be consumed by the wrath of hell!" Malacoda exclaimed, as he brandished his swords.

"Talking demons? Seriously?" Stregone said, grossed out by what he just saw. He shook his head, focusing back to the duel at hand. "Regardless, you activated three Spell cards. Which means Magical City of Endymion gains three Spell counters! Also, the effect of Magical Abductor now activates. Each time a Spell card is activated and resolved, she gets a Spell counter, as well as 100 attack points for each one she has." Three red spheres with a triangle in them floated around Magical Abductor's staff, powering her up.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 1 + 3 = 4

Magical Abductor SC: 0 + 3 = 3

Magical Abductor ATK: 1700 + 300 = 2000

"I activate Graff's effect from my Graveyard." Infearno continued, not bothered by what he just did. "Since he was sent to the Graveyard, I get to Special Summon a 'Burning Abyss' monster from my deck. Serve me, Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" A demon with long wings, a white visor covering his eyes, and shoulder-length white hair flew onto Infearno's field. A piece of demonic breastplate armor with teeth and eyes covered his upper chest. Chains were wrapped around his forearms, and pieces of white fur were on his shoulders and legs.

Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1200 DEF: 0 LV: 3

"Next, I summon Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" A muscular demon resembling a bull with grey blue skin and broken blue horns snorted upon being summoned to Infearno's field.

Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 3

"Time's ticking boys!" Cir said. "The faster we defeat this puny human, the sooner we can move to dessert!"

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, Cir, but I got it under control." Infearno told the demon. He pointed his right hand to the sky. "Appear, the circuit of blood and death!" A Link portal appeared in the sky above him. "The summoning conditions are two Level 3 monsters. I'll set Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Alich, Malebranche of the Burning into the Link Markers!" Cir went into the bottom-left arrowhead, while Alich entered into the bottom-right arrowhead.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Emerge! Link 2! Geryon, Steed of the Burning Abyss!" An enormous, demonic armored horse with black skin galloped onto Infearno's field, in the right Extra Monster Zone. The horse had glowing blue horns on its head, along with a mane of blue fire. Its hoofs were also alit with blue fire.

Geryon, Steed of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1600 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

"Prepare to fall before my might!" Geryon screeched, as it reared on its hind legs for a brief moment.

Infearno brought out one of his stronger monsters, Raguel thought, looking at Geryon. And one that can attack directly once per turn by cutting battle damage in half.

"The effects of Cir and Alich now activate." Infearno continued. "First, since Cir was sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Burning Abyss' monster from my Graveyard! Return, Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" A draconic fiend with wings and claws emerged from a fiery portal and onto Infearno's field. Upon seeing Stregone, it licked its lips, eager to sink its teeth into him.

Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 3

"Second, since Alich was sent to the Graveyard, I can target one face-up monster on the field and negate its effects until the End Phase. I target your Daybreaker!" An apparition of Alich briefly appeared and threw a blue flame at Daybreaker, incapacitating him of his abilities temporarily.

Daybreaker the Shining Magical Warrior ATK: 2200 – 600 = 1600

"It's time to battle!" Infearno declared. "Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss attacks Daybreaker, the Shining Magical Warrior! Abysmal Destruction!"

"I'm going to enjoy this!" Malacoda said, as its swords lit up on fire. The demon then charged at Daybreaker and slashed him twice with its blazing swords, turning him into particles. Stregone's avatar fizzled as his life points dropped.

Stregone: 4000 – 1100 = 2900 LP

"Geryon's effect!" Infearno added. "Since it's pointing to a 'Burning Abyss' monster, it can attack you directly, but any battle damage you take is halved! Attack him with Wild Charge!"

"Take this!" Geryon said, running forward to Stregone's side of the field, only to jump into a blue portal that materialized out of nowhere.

The next thing Stregone knew, Geryon appeared out of the blue portal on his right side and rammed him to the ground.

Stregone: 2900 – (1600 / 2) = 2100 LP

"Stregone, you okay?" Raguel called out to him. Stregone responded with a thumbs-up as he slowly got back up on his feet, causing Raguel to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I get your concern, Raguel," Herald said, "but it'll take much more than that to defeat him."

"He may have lost Daybreaker, but he's still got Endymion and Magical Abductor." Roxy pointed out over the earpiece. "I'm sure he's figuring out a way to counterattack as we speak."

"Let's hope so." Raguel whispered back, as he watched the duel.

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Infearno concluded. "At this point, Scarm's effect now activates. Since it was sent to the Graveyard this turn, I get to add a Level 3 Dark Fiend monster from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Infearno's deck, which he added to his hand. "I saw how you made miraculous comebacks in your many duels, but so far, I'm not impressed."

"I'll tell you now, Infearno. You shouldn't underestimate me!" Stregone responded. "My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the effect of Pendulum Pot from my Graveyard! By banishing this card, I can draw cards from my deck equal to the number of cards in my Pendulum zones. Since I have two cards in my Pendulum zones, I can draw two cards!" After explaining, he drew the top two cards of his deck.

"The effects of Magical City of Endymion and Magical Abductor both activate once again! "

Magical City of Endymion SC: 4 + 1 = 5

Magical Abductor SC: 3 + 1 = 4

Magical Abductor ATK: 2000 + 100 = 2100

After looking at the cards, he smirked. "I activate Magical Conductor's effect! By removing three Spell counters from her, I get to add one Level 1 Spellcaster monster from my deck to my hand." As Stregone took a card from his deck and added it to his hand, three of the Spell counters from Magical Abductor vanished, decreasing her power.

Magical Abductor SC: 4 – 3 = 1

Magical Abductor ATK: 2100 – 300 = 1800

"Swing far, pendulum! Carve the arc of victory!" Stregone chanted. "With the set Pendulum Scale, I can Special Summon monsters between Levels 2 and 7 at the same time! Emerge, Arcane Apprentice and Disenchanter!" Once again, a portal opened between the two pillars, where three lights emerged. The lights hit the field and then dissipated, revealing three monsters.

The first monster was a dwarf-sized wizard wreathed in purple and brown robes with only a pair of eyes peeking out from beneath the shadow cast by their hood. In his hand, he carried a small scepter.

The second monster was a woman wearing purple robes with a green sash tied around her waist, as well as a red cloth tied at her hips. She had bushy red hair tied in multiple ponytails, which went down to her waist, along with a small cap on her head. In her hand, she carried a sun-disked staff.

Arcane Apprentice ATK: 1000 DEF: 400 LV: 2

Disenchanter ATK: 2000 DEF: 2300 LV: 5

"I'll also summon Mythical Beast Jackal from my hand!" A blue-skinned creature with four legs and wispy-like features on its head and legs. It also had dark-blue armor with yellow lines and orange Spell counters as well.

Mythical Beast Jackal ATK: 0 DEF: 1400 LV: 1 Scale: 4

"I activate the Spell card, Pendulum Riches!" The card showed a group of men opening a treasure chest, which contained rubies and sapphires. "If I Pendulum Summoned monsters this turn, I can draw cards equal to the number of monsters that were Pendulum Summoned. Since two monsters were Pendulum Summoned, I get to draw two cards!" He drew the top two cards of his deck and looked at them. Just what he needed.

"The effects of Magical City of Endymion and Magical Abductor activate once again! Also, the effect of Mythical Beast Jackal activates as well!" Stregone added. "Each time a Spell card is activated, I can place a Spell counter on this card after it resolves!" One of the orange Spell counters glowed on Jackal's back.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 5 + 1 = 6

Magical Abductor SC: 1 + 1 = 2

Magical Abductor ATK: 1800 + 100 = 1900

Mythical Beast Jackal SC: 0 + 1 = 1

"I activate Disenchanter's effect! Once per turn, I can remove one Spell counter from anywhere on the field to target and return one face-up Spell card to the owner's hand. I'll therefore remove one Spell counter from Magical City of Endymion to return Dis, City of the Burning Abyss back right back to your hand!" A blue orb went out of the Field Spell and into Disechanter's staff.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 6 – 1 = 5

Disenchanter then fired a blast of energy from her staff at Dis, City of the Burning Abyss, returning it to Infearno's hand and causing him to scowl in annoyance.

"Level 2 Arcane Apprentice tunes the Level 5 Disenchanter!" Stregone soon pointed his right hand to the sky. A bolt of green lightning struck him as the world greyed out and his two monsters disintegrated into particles. Two rings, one purple and one appeared before turning blue and merging. Seven blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "2 + 5" in front of them. The screen changed to "7" as light surged through the rings.

"The master of magicians awakens!" Stregone chanted. "Show yourself, magician of light and magic! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Arcanite Magician!" A magician wearing white robes with purple lines emerged from the light and was summoned to the right Extra Monster Zone on Stregone's field. The magician wore a massive white cap with purple lines and pointed spikes on the sides. His orange eyes glowed for a brief moment as he twirled his staff, ready for battle.

Arcanite Magician ATK: 400 DEF: 1800 LV: 7

"I activate Arcanite Magician's first effect! When he's Synchro Summoned, I can place two Spell counters on this card! For every Spell counter on Arcanite Magician, he gains 1000 attack points!" Two blue orbs orbited around Arcanite Magician's staff as he powered up.

Arcanite Magician SC: 0 + 2 = 2

Arcanite Magician ATK: 400 + 2000 = 2400

"In addition, the effect of Arcane Apprentice activates as well!" Stregone continued. "Since it was sent to the Graveyard for a Synchro Summon, I get to add Assault Mode Activate from my deck to my hand!" A card popped out of his deck, which he added to his hand.

"If you think my turn is done, then you're mistaken! I activate Arcanite Magician's second effect! By removing a Spell counter from anywhere on my field, I can target one card you control and destroy it! I remove a Spell counter from Magical City of Endymion to destroy the face-down card on your right!" A blue orb from Magical City of Endymion went into Arcanite Magician's staff, powering it up before being used by Arcanite Magician to fire a blast of magical energy at Infearno's face-down card on the right, turning it into particles.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 5 – 1 = 4

"The best part is that unlike most effects these days, I can use this one multiple times!" Stregone stated. "I'll therefore remove four more Spell counters from Magical City of Endymion to destroy your remaining face-down card, Geryon, Steed of the Burning Abyss, Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss, and Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" Three more blue orbs from Magical City of Endymion went into Arcanite Magician's staff, powering it up. Arcanite Magician then fired four blasts of magical energy at Infearno's remaining face-down card, Geryon, Malacoda, and Graff turning all of them into particles as well.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 4 – 4 = 0

"I activate Malacoda's effect." Infearno said. "When it's sent to the Graveyard, I can target one card on your field and send it to your Graveyard. I target your Arcanite Magician."

"What?!" Stregone responded, as an apparition of Malacoda appeared before charging at Arcanite Magician and slashing him twice, turning him into particles. As much as I hate losing my ace monster, he thought, the duel is obviously in the bag. Since Infearno has only one monsters and no Spell or Trap cards on his field, two direct attacks will win me the duel!

He thrusted his right hand at Infearno. "Battle! Magical Abductor attacks you directly! Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic also attacks you directly! Magical Overload!" Magical Abductor fired a blast of magical energy at Infearno. The Spell counters on Endymion also glowed as he raised his staff into the air and fired a blast of magical energy as well at Infearno, causing a massive explosion.

But to Stregone's shock, Infearno was standing unscathed. And in his left hand was... a book? That... created a barrier around him?

"H-How are you still standing?!" Stregone demanded.

"Come now, you really want to end the show quickly? That's not in your nature." Infearno reprimanded him. "But to answer your question, I activated the second effect of Apocrypha of the Burning Abyss from my Graveyard." A silhouette of a card then appeared on Infearno's field, which showed Dante reciting a chant from a book to save Virgil from Phlegyas' attack. "If I control no 'Burning Abyss' monsters, I can banish this card to end the Battle Phase. Then I'm allowed to Special Summon one 'Burning Abyss' monster from my deck as well." A card popped out of his deck. "Come forth! Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" A horned, bearded old man appeared on Infearno's field, wielding a spiked ball on a chain.

Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1700 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

And I was so close to finishing him off, Stregone thought to himself. For now, I guess I should prepare myself for what else he has in store. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Two cards appeared face-down in Stregone's Spell & Trap card zone.

"My turn! I draw!" Infearno said, drawing the top card of his deck. "Once again, I activate the Field Spell card, Dis, City of the Burning Abyss!"

"Like I'm letting that happen!" Stregone interrupted. "Endymion's effect activates! Once per turn, when a Spell or Trap card, or the effect of a Spell or Trap card is activated, I can return one card I control with a Spell counter back to my hand. By doing this, I can negate the activation and destroy it! I return Mythical Beast Jackal back to my hand to negate and destroy Dis, City of the Burning Abyss!" Jackal exploded into particles as it returned to his hand. Endymion then fired a blast of magical energy at Dis, City of the Burning Abyss, destroying it completely.

"Also, I can place the same number of Spell counters the returned card had onto Endymion. Jackal had only one Spell counter when it returned to my hand. So Endymion therefore gains that Spell counter!"

Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic SC: 0 + 1 = 1

"I see." Infearno muttered to himself, before redirecting his attention to the duel. "In that case, I activate the Spell card, Card of Sanctity. Now each of us gets to draw until we have six cards in our hands." Infearno drew five cards from his deck, while Stregone drew four cards from his deck.

"Next, I summon Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand." A winged demon with no arms and long white hair soon joined Infearno's field.

Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1000 DEF: 1900 LV: 3

"Appear, the network of suffering!" Infearno's hand glowed red as a galaxy portal appeared in the sky above the duelists. "Materials confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Level 3 monsters! I overlay the Level 3 Barbar and Farfa!" Both demons turned into streams of brown and grey energy as they entered the portal, where a pillar of light soon erupted from its center.

"Xyz Summon! Begin your adventure through the depth of Hell! Rank 3! Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss!" A man with long, dark blue hair in a ponytail was summoned to the right Extra Monster Zone on Infearno's field. He wore red clothing, a laurel on his head, and a small bag on both sides of his body. On the right side of his body was a small, sheathed sword.

Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1000 DEF: 2500 RNK: 3 OU: 2

"Infearno just Xyz Summoned Dante." Herald said, looking at Infearno's field. "But compared to him, Stregone still has a more balanced field."

"If past history indicates anything," Raguel replied, narrowing his eyes, "it's that Infearno can turn the duel around in seconds with his deck."

"I activate Dante's effect!" Infearno continued. "By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can choose a number from one to three, and send that many cards from the top of my deck to the Graveyard. And by doing this, Dante gains 500 attack points for each card sent from the top of my deck to the Graveyard until the End Phase! I'll send three cards so that Dante gains 1500 attack points!" Infearno sent the top three cards of his deck to the Graveyard, while one of the lights behind Dante went into his fist, boosting his power temporarily.

Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss OU: 2 – 1 = 1

Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1000 + 1500 = 2500

"Farfa's effect! Since it was sent to the Graveyard, I can target one monster on the field and banish it until the End Phase!"

"Crap!" Stregone said. He knew exactly who Infearno would choose between his two monsters.

"I target Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic." Infearno decided, as he fired a hellish blast of energy from his hand at Endymion, causing him to temporarily vanish from the field. "And if you think that's all I got, you're wrong! I activate the effect of Libic from my Graveyard! Since it was sent to the Graveyard, it lets me Special Summon one Level 3 Dark Fiend monster from my hand with its effects negated. I Special Summon Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" A grey skinned demon with wings, claws, three spiked horns, and long black hair soon appeared on his field.

Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1500 DEF: 300 LV: 3

"I'll then activate the Spell card, Terminal Port!" The card showed Baby Tiragon being transported from the Extra Monster Zone to the Main Monster Zone behind it. "I can target one Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz monster in my Extra Monster Zone and move it to a Main Monster Zone. Let's see. I'll target Dante and move him to the Main Monster Zone below the right Extra Monster Zone!" Dante did a backwards somersault and landed in the Main Monster Zone below the right Extra Monster Zone.

"Last but not least, I activate the Continuous-Spell card, Rise of the Burning Abyss." Infearno said. "All 'Burning Abyss' monsters on my field gain 500 attack points while this card is on the field!" Dante and Cagna were soon surrounded by fiery energy.

Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss ATK: 2500 + 500 = 3000

Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1500 + 500 = 2000

"You activated two more Spell cards, which means the effects of Magical City of Endymion and Magical Abductor activate!" Stregone reminded him.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 0 + 2 = 2

Magical Abductor SC: 2 + 2 = 4

Magical Abductor ATK: 1900 + 200 = 2100

"Battle! Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss attacks Magical Abductor!" Before Magical Abductor could react, Dante pulled out his sword and slashed her, turning her into particles.

"When a Pendulum monster is destroyed, it goes to my Extra Deck instead!" Stregone pointed out. Regardless, he grit his teeth as his avatar fizzled once again.

Stregone: 2100 – 900 = 1200 LP

"Since Dante attacked, I must change him to defense position." Infearno said, Dante returned to Infearno's field and took a kneeling stance beside Cagna. "End this, Cagna! Attack Stregone directly!" Cagna lunged at Stregone, but...

"I'm not out yet!" Stregone suddenly said. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Scapegoat! This card lets me Special Summon four 'Sheep' tokens to my field in defense position." Four different colored sheep tokens then appeared on his field.

Sheep Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

Sheep Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

Sheep Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

Sheep Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Magical City of Endymion's effect!"

Magical City of Endymion SC: 2 + 1 = 3

"Will you press on with your attack?" Stregone asked.

"Of course. After all, I can't let you Link Summon." Infearno answered. "Cagna will instead attack the Sheep token on your far-right." Cagna lunged at the Sheep token and tore it to bits. However, since it was in defense position, Stregone took no damage whatsoever.

"Okay, that was too close of a call there." Herald commented.

Raguel, meanwhile, looked on with worry. Infearno had all his life points, while Stregone lost three-quarters of his own. If he had a plan, he better launch it now. Or else it would be all over.

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Infearno concluded. "At this point, Dante's attack points revert back to normal, while Farfa's effect ends. Which means Endymion returns to your field." While Dante's strength went back to his original amount, Endymion reappeared on Stregone's field.

Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss ATK: 3000 – 1500 = 1500

Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic ATK: 2800 DEF: 1700 LV: 7 Scale: 8

"I must admit that I didn't expect you to survive this turn." Infearno admitted.

"I still got plenty of tricks left." Stregone stated. "And I'll use them to defeat you!"

"That's an admirable statement." Infearno replied. "Which is why I'll reward you with this." He pressed a few buttons on his Duel Disk, causing a blue screen to appear in front of him, showing Go Onizuka and Revolver's duel. More specifically, Go was building up his armada of Gouki monsters. "I want you and Raguel to see what happens next to someone who uses their tricks, only for them to go to waste in the process."

Meanwhile, at Go Onizuka's duel...

Go immediately began his turn by Link Summoning Gouki Heel Ogre to the Main Monster Zone Bomber Dragon was pointing to, much to Revolver's satisfaction, as it meant he could destroy the newly summoned Gouki monster. However, Go surprised him by using Heel Ogre to not only negate Bomber Dragon's effect, but destroy it in the process instead. As a bonus, he got to Special Summon Thunder Ogre from his Graveyard back to his field.

"Go's deck was always solid." Playmaker stated. "But he's enhanced it with new cards to turn the duel in his favor."

"Hold on." Ai said, turning to Playmaker. "Did you just give a compliment? You actually know how to do that?"

But why is Revolver unfazed, Playmaker wondered. As if to answer his question, Revolver activated the second effect of Link Protection, banishing it from his field and Bomber Dragon from his Graveyard to prevent Go from attacking unless he controls a number of Link monsters equal to the Link rating of the banished Link monster. As Ai observed, Bomber Dragon had a Link rating of four, so Go couldn't attack unless he had four Link monsters.

In response, Go summoned Gouki Suprex, Gouki Riscorpio, and Gouki Headbatt from his hand. Summoning those monsters not only gave Thunder Ogre an 800 attack boost to 3000, but also allowed him to Link summon Gouki the Great Ogre. From there, Go activated the Continuous-Spell card Gouki Roar to give his Gouki monsters a 300 attack point boost whenever any of them battle. And for the cherry on top, he activated Gouki Face Turn to resurrect Gouki Jet Ogre, thus satisfying the requirement needed to attack.

"Oh yeah!" Ai cheered. "Go now has four Gouki Link monsters on his field! Which means he can attack for the victory!" He turned to Playmaker. "Hey. You agree with me, right Playmaker? Um, I take that as a no?" Ai shrugged his arms. "What are you worried about? Go has this in the bag."

"Perhaps..." Playmaker began before widening his eyes. "Or perhaps not." He suddenly put two and two together. "That face-down card."

"I've got kids counting on me to save LINK VRAINS and put the Hanoi on ice! Beginning with you!" Go said to Revolver, pointing a finger at him.

"Is that so?" Revolver smirked at Go's declaration. "Then don't disappoint those children, Go. Attack me directly. That is, if you have the guts to do it."

"Oh, I will." Go replied. "Battle! Gouki the Great Ogre attacks you directly! Gouki Axe Slash!" The Great Ogre charged forward at Revolver, intent on finishing him off.

"Remember the time I said a single card can change the duel? THIS IS THE CARD I WAS TALKING ABOUT!" Revolver responded. "I activate the Trap card, Mirror Force!" As the card revealed itself, a bright light emerged from it, causing Go, Playmaker, and Ai to cover their eyes.

"Gaah!" Pigeon said in shock.

"Turn down the high beams, will ya?" Frog added.

"Oh no." Playmaker said. This was not good at all for Go.

"When Mirror Force is activated, all monsters in attack position is destroyed." Revolver explained. "Every. Single. One." The Great Ogre then exploded into particles, along with Thunder Ogre, Heel Ogre, and Jet Ogre.

"My monsters! No. This can't be!" Go exclaimed, as the events unfolded in front of him. When the light faded away, he didn't have a single monster remaining.

At Stregone's duel...

As Revolver activated Mirror Force on the blue screen, Raguel, Herald, and Stregone covered their eyes from the blinding light that emerged from the card. They watched as a series of explosions destroyed Go's armada of Gouki monsters. When the light faded away, everyone except for Infearno gasped in shock. There were no monsters left on Go's field!

Satisfied with their reactions, Infearno turned off the screen.

"What-What was that card?" Stregone asked, after he got his bearings together.

"Mirror Force." Infearno simply answered, surprising Stregone and Raguel. "Revolver's newest weapon against Link monsters."

Raguel gasped. He remembered what Playmaker had said. That Revolver had a powerful card which can turn the tide of the duel around if not paid attention to.

"I feel I should thank you personally." Infearno continued, redrawing Raguel's attention. "After your duel against that pathetic sergeant, I showed Revolver the footage of both Mirror Force and Assault Mode Activate. He concluded that since Link monsters can only exist in attack position, they'll face instant destruction. So thank you for helping us eliminate your friend."

"No. I couldn't have. I wouldn't..." Stregone lamented, as he realized his role in helping the Hanoi acquire a weapon that Revolver used against Go.

"Poor Stregone..." Herald said.

"I've never seen him like this." Roxy added through the earpiece as she saw what was going on back at Café Matsuo's backroom.

"The fact that he unintentionally gave the Hanoi a strong card to use is putting him under stress right now." Raguel explained to her through the earpiece. "We need to have faith that he'll pull through no matter what."

Come on Stregone, Stregone thought to himself, get it together. Go's obviously still in his duel against Revolver. Even though he has no monsters on his field, and if he-. Suddenly, his eyes widened, as he began to recall a memory in his mind.

Flashback: Two years ago, in LINK VRAINS...

"Aw crap!" Stregone shouted, as The Great Ogre slashed Arcanite Magician and destroyed him, reducing his life points to zero in the process. "For a moment there, I really thought I had you."

"You were close." Go admitted, walking towards Stregone. The two of them were in a private server in LINK VRAINS, where they agreed to put a show on for the children in the orphanage and the shelter to raise their spirits. Although Stregone managed to continuously destroy Go's cards again and again using his Spell counter combo, Go managed to respond to the occasion by eventually Link Summoning The Great Ogre and Destroy Ogre. "If it wasn't for Destroy Ogre's effect, as well as the effects of my other 'Gouki' cards, you probably would have got me that time."

"It's amazing how you and your 'Gouki' monsters are able to work together against all odds." Stregone stated, impressed as always. "How are you able to do it?"

Go crossed his arms as he looked at the sky in the private server. "Well. I guess it's due to many things. For me, it involved trial and error, as well as the ability to get back up whenever you fall to the ground." His duel disk then beeped. "I have to go, Stregone. There's an appointment I need to keep." Go turned around and started walking.

But before he could log out, Stregone spoke up. "When you're down on the ground against impossible odds, what pushes you to keep on fighting no matter what?"

Go stopped walking "Simple. A goal." He turned his head to Stregone. "As long as you have one, you'll be motivated to continue fighting, no matter who or what you're up against. For me, it's making the children happy." He grinned before logging out.

A goal of my own, Stregone repeated in his mind, as he looked up at the sky in the private server. Maybe that was the missing piece to his dueling strategy.

Flashback End: Present Day...

That's right, Stregone thought, calming himself down. If I know Go, he wouldn't let Mirror Force knock him down to the ground for good. He'd find a way to get right back up and fight with everything he has! And that's what I'll do too!

"You think you can break me that easily?" he shouted at Infearno, getting his attention. "Well you're wrong! Go may have lost one round, but that doesn't mean he lost the duel. He'll find a way to make a comeback against Revolver. And just like him, I'll find a way to defeat you as well, Infearno!"

Infearno smirked. "If you honestly believe you can defeat me, then back up your words with your cards."

"He's got his spirit back." Herald said, happy for Stregone.

"Infearno's in for it now." Raguel added, who couldn't help but smile.

"My turn! I draw!" Stregone said, drawing the top card of his deck. This should work, he thought. "Using the set Pendulum Scale, I can Special Summon monsters between Levels 2 and 7 at the same time! Emerge from the Extra Deck, Magical Abductor!" For a third time, a portal opened between the two pillars, where one light emerged. The light hit the field and then dissipated, revealing Magical Abductor, who was summoned to the right Extra Monster Zone on Stregone's field.

Magical Abductor ATK: 1700 DEF: 1400 LV: 4 Scale: 3

"Hold on a minute." Herald said, turning to Raguel. "Why would he Pendulum Summon only one monster? And to the Extra Monster Zone of all places? The rules really should let you Pendulum Summon monsters from the Extra Deck to the Main Monster Zones. Sheesh."

"We're about to find out, so pay attention." Raguel told him. A part of him couldn't help but agree with Herald. After all, before Link monsters and the change in the Master Rules, a duelist could Pendulum Summon from the Extra Deck and hand to monster zones on their field. But with the change and introduction of Link monsters, a person could only Pendulum Summon from the Extra Deck to Main Monster Zones a Link monster pointed to. Otherwise, the maximum number someone could Pendulum Summon from the Extra Deck was one, as each duelist had one Extra Monster Zone.

"I activate the Continuous-Spell card, Spell Absorption!" Stregone said. "Every time a Spell card is activated, I gain 500 life points immediately after it resolves. And since a Spell card was activated, Magical Abductor's effect activates as well!"

Magical Abductor SC: 0 + 1 = 1

Magical Abductor ATK: 1700 + 100 = 1800

Infearno frowned. With that card, Stregone would be able to start off a chain where he'd be able to gain lots of life points no matter who activated the Spell card. If I'm to stop this chain, he thought, I need to now prioritize on either destroying Magical City of Endymion or Spell Absorption. I'll have to also prevent him from activating Assault Mode Activate as well if I'm to keep my field.

"The effects of Magical Abductor and Magical City of Endymion activates!"

Magical City of Endymion SC: 3 + 1 = 4

Magical Abductor SC: 1 + 1 = 2

Magical Abductor ATK: 1800 + 100 = 1900

"And because a Spell card was activated, Spell Absorption gives me 500 life points!" Stregone added, as a blue aura surrounded him, increasing his life points.

Stregone: 1200 + 500 = 1700 LP

"With Spell Absorption, Stregone will be able to get a boost in life points no matter who's playing a Spell card." Roxy said over the earpiece in Raguel's ear.

"It will help him out in the long-term." Raguel agreed as he narrowed his eyes. "But there's no telling what Infearno has regarding his deck."

"Appear! The circuit of sorcery!" Stregone declared, as a Link portal appeared in the sky above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more monsters, including a Spellcaster monster! I'll set Magical Abductor and two of my Sheep tokens into the Link Markers!" Two of the Sheep tokens went into the bottom-left and bottom-right arrowheads, while Magical Abductor went into the bottom arrowhead.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! The magician's queen shall grace the field with her radiance! Link 3! Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians!" A woman wearing a long white dress and golden pieces of jewelry on her upper arms appeared on Stregone's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She had very long blond hair with a golden piece of jewelry on the left side of her head. On her back was a crescent disc with four Spell counters. Her emerald eyes sparkled as she strung her bow, ready for battle.

Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians ATK: 1850 LINK-3 ↙️⬇️↘️

"A new Link monster..." Raguel muttered, looking at Selene.

"And with all her arrows pointing to his field!" Herald added, a look of excitement in his eyes. "This opens up a level of options for Stregone!"

"I activate Selene's effect!" Stregone continued. "When she's Link Summoned, I can place Spell counters on her equal to the number of Spell cards on the field and in the Graveyards."

"Both of our Graveyards?" Infearno inquired in shock.

"Both of them." Stregone confirmed. "On my field, I have Spell Absorption, Magical City of Endymion, Stargazer Magician, and Timegazer Magician. In my Graveyard, I have Scapegoat, Pendulum Riches, and Terraforming. How many Spell cards do you have, Infearno?"

"On my field, I have Rise of the Burning Abyss. In my Graveyard, I have Terminal Port, Card of Sanctity, Dis, City of the Burning Abyss, Pre-Preparation of Rites, and Good and Evil in the Burning Abyss." Infearno answered.

"That means Selene gains a total of 13 Spell counters!" Stregone declared, as several yellow Spell counters attached themselves to the crescent disc on Selene's back.

Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians SC: 0 + 13 = 13

"I activate Selene's second effect! By removing three Spell counters from anywhere on my field, I can Special Summon a Spellcaster monster from my hand or Graveyard in defense position to a zone she points to. I therefore remove three of Selene's Spell counters to Special Summon Arcanite Magician from my Graveyard!" Three of Selene's Spell counters flew upwards and to one of the Main Monster Zones behind her. Forming a portal, Arcanite Magician jumped out of it and took a kneeling stance behind Selene, successfully reappearing on Stregone's field.

Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians SC: 13 – 3 = 10

Arcanite Magician ATK: 400 DEF: 1800 LV: 7

"I'll now activate my face-down Trap card, Assault Mode Activate!" Stregone said, as the card revealed itself to Infearno. "When this card is activated-!"

"Continuous-Trap card, activate! Coffin of the Burning Abyss!" Infearno interrupted, as he gestured to one of his face-down cards. The card showed Lucifer opening a coffin, which showed Beatrice's dead body to Dante, much to his horror and grief. "When you activate a card effect, I can negate that effect and banish it!"

"What?" Stregone said, as a silver coffin emerged from underneath the ground onto Infearno's field. It then opened up and sucked in Assault Mode Activate before closing.

"Do not worry, Stregone. If Coffin of the Burning Abyss leaves the field, not only is the card shuffled into your deck, you get to draw a card as a consolation prize." Infearno told him. "Remember: I saw your duel footage. And I know Assault Mode Activate is a key card in helping you win."

Stregone grit his teeth. He had hoped to end this with Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode. However, with Infearno having sealed that option from him, he had to make a change to his plan in winning the duel.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Miracle Synchro Fusion!" Stregone said. "This card lets me perform a Fusion Summon by banishing monsters from my field or Graveyard that are listed on a Fusion Monster in my Extra Deck! I banish Arcanite Magician from my field, and Arcane Apprentice from my Graveyard to Fusion Summon!" Arcanite Magician disintegrated into red particles of energy, while Arcane Apprentice emerged from Stregone's Graveyard as blue particles of energy. The blue and red particles of energy then swirled into a vortex. Two tornadoes of energy shot upwards and merged to form a magenta whirlwind.

"Yes!" Herald cheered. "We're about to witness a Fusion Summon using a Synchro monster firsthand!"

Raguel couldn't help but smirk. Although he first saw what was about to happen on screen, seeing it in front of him was a whole new matter.

"The master of magicians shall unlock the restraints of his power, and emerge as something entirely new!" Stregone chanted. "Fusion Summon! Come forth, Level 10! Supreme Arcanite Magician!" A magician wearing purple and brown robes along with a white cape emerged from the portal and landed onto Stregone's field in the Main Monster Zone Selene was pointing to. Unlike Arcanite Magician and Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode, Supreme Arcanite Magician's robes also had armored plating on them, along with large, green Spell counters as well. He spun his staff around in front of him, ready for battle.

Supreme Arcanite Magician ATK: 1400 DEF: 2800 LV: 10

"So you had a backup plan in case this happened..." Infearno muttered. He expected nothing else from the Sorcerer of LINK VRAINS.

"I activate Supreme Arcanite Magician's first effect!" Stregone said. "When he's Fusion Summoned, I can put two Spell counters on this card! For every Spell counter on Supreme Arcanite Magician, he gains 1000 attack points!" Two blue orbs orbited around Supreme Arcanite Magician as he powered up.

Supreme Arcanite Magician SC: 0 + 2 = 2

Supreme Arcanite Magician ATK: 1400 + 2000 = 3400

"Magical City of Endymion and Spell Absorption's effects activate!" An aura surrounded Stregone as his life points increased, while Magical City of Endymion gained another Spell counter.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 4 + 1 = 5

Stregone: 1700 + 500 + 500 = 2700 LP

"I activate Supreme Arcanite Magician's second effect! Once per turn, I can remove a Spell counter from anywhere on my field to either target and destroy a card on your field, or draw a card from my deck. I choose the first effect, where I'll remove a Spell counter from Magical City of Endymion to target and destroy your remaining face-down card!" Infearno's eyes widened in surprise as a blue orb from Magical City of Endymion went into Supreme Arcanite Magician's staff, powering him up before being used by Supreme Arcanite Magician to fire a blast of magical energy at Infearno's remaining face-down card, turning it into particles.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 5 – 1 = 4

"Battle!" Stregone declared. "Supreme Arcanite Magician attacks Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss! Arcane Scepter Blast!"

"Dante, no!" Infearno screamed, as Supreme Arcanite Magician spun his staff in front of him and fired a blast of purple, magical energy at Dante. As a result, he turned to particles, much to Infearno's anger.

Infearno: 4000 – 1900 = 2100 LP

"Dante's effect! Since he was sent to the Graveyard, I can target a 'Burning' Abyss card in my Graveyard except him and add it to my hand. It's a good thing I know which card I'll add to my hand with this effect!" A card appeared out of Infearno's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand.

"Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic attacks Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss! Magical Overload!" Stregone continued. The Spell counters on Endymion glowed as he raised his staff into the air and fired a blast of magical energy at Cagna, turning the demon into particles and causing Infearno to shield his eyes from the explosion.

Infearno: 2100 – 800 = 1300 LP

"When Cagna is sent to the Graveyard, I can send one 'Burning Abyss' Spell or Trap card from my deck to my Graveyard." Infearno explained, as he took a card from his deck and sent it to his Graveyard.

"This duel ends now, no matter what you do." Stregone stated with confidence.

"That's right!" Herald realized. "He still can attack directly with Selene!"

"Which will win him the duel..." Raguel added, actually believing that the duel was about to be over soon.

"End this duel, Selene!" Stregone said, thrusting his right hand at Infearno. "Attack Infearno directly with Spell Crescent Arrow!" A Spell counter morphed its shape into an arrow, which Selene grabbed and fired at Infearno.

"You may think the duel's over, but you couldn't be anymore wrong!" Infearno shouted. "I summon Battle Fader from my hand!"

"Battle Fader?!" Stregone, Raguel, and Herald all said at the same time, as a small creature with no arms or legs appeared on Infearno's field. Its body consisted of two large mechanical limbs. One mechanical limb was in the shape of a clock hand, while the other limb had a golden bell attached onto a hook. On the creature's back was four sharp protrusions stretching outwards. Attached to the front was a small demonic face.

Battle Fader swung the limb with a bell like a pendulum, creating a barrier that stopped Selene's arrow and shattered it to pieces.

Battle Fader ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"If you attack me directly, I can Special Summon this card and end the Battle Phase." Infearno explained. "However, since it was summoned this way, I'm required to banish it once it leaves the field."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Herald exclaimed, stunned with what happened. "If it weren't for Card of Sanctity, he wouldn't have got that card!"

"True, but you have to remember Herald: Stregone has a strong field set up." Raguel pointed out. "He also managed to decrease Infearno's life points and increase his own in the process. What happens in the next few turns will determine the outcome of this duel."

Stregone narrowed his eyes. Victory once again was so close, but Infearno managed to survive. Regardless, he did succeed in eliminating over half of Infearno's life points and increase his own as well. If Infearno activated even a single Spell card, Stregone would gain even more. And combined with his field, he'd be able to finish him off for good next turn.

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn," he concluded, as two face-down cards appeared in Stregone's Spell & Trap card zone.

"My turn! I draw!" Infearno said, drawing the top card of his deck and looking at it. He's more troublesome than I anticipated, he thought. Looks like I'll have to get serious. "Appear! The circuit of blood and death!" A Link portal appeared in the sky above Infearno. "The summoning conditions are one Fiend monster! I'll set Battle Fader into the Link Markers!" Battle Fader went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Charon, Ferryman of the Burning Abyss!" A skeleton wearing a long red cloak over his body and riding on top of a long boat appeared on Infearno's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Charon, Ferryman of the Burning Abyss ATK: 0 LINK-1 ⬇️

Charon, Ferryman of the Burning Abyss ATK: 0 + 500 = 500

"Since Battle Fader left the field, it's banished." Infearno added. "But that doesn't matter now. I activate Charon's effect! When he's Link Summoned, I can Special Summon one 'Burning Abyss' monster from my Graveyard to a Main Monster Zone he points to. Return, Cir!" At Infearno's command, Cir reappeared on Infearno's field in the Main Monster Zone Charon was pointing to.

Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 3

Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1600 + 500 = 2100

"I summon Barbar from my hand once again!" As Barbar reappeared on Infearno's field, he swung the spiked ball on the chain, ready for battle.

Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1700 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1700 + 500 = 2200

"He's got three 'Burning Abyss' monsters on his field." Herald said, looking at Infearno's field.

"From what I see, there's one of two moves Infearno can make." Roxy added. "He can either Fusion Summon..."

"Or Link Summon." Raguel finished, remembering Phlegyas, Guardian of the Burning Abyss and how he lost against Infearno due to that monster. Upon doing so, he started to shudder.

"You alright, Raguel?" Herald asked, turning to Raguel.

"Sorry. Just a bad memory, that's all." Raguel answered.

"Appear, once again! The circuit of blood and death!" Infearno declared, as a second Link portal appeared above him in the sky. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Burning Abyss' monsters! I'll set Charon, Ferryman of the Burning Abyss, which is a Link 1 monster, Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss into the Link Markers!" Charon went into the bottom arrowhead, Cir went into the bottom-left arrowhead, and Barbar went into the bottom-right arrowhead.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! O Guardian of Hell, grant me the power to punish my enemies, and burn them all to the ground! Link 3! Phlegyas, Guardian of the Burning Abyss!" A demonic giant standing eight feet in height emerged from the Link Portal to the right Extra Monster Zone on Infearno's field. He had massive feet with small spikes on his thighs, along with muscular arms. Over his magma-hardened body were more spikes, along with cracks around his head that were glowing. On top of his head was a large crown, and at the sides were two curved horns. Phlegyas' eyes glowed bright orange as he roared at Stregone.

Phlegyas, Guardian of the Burning Abyss ATK: 3000 LINK-3 ↙️⬇️↘️

Phlegyas, Guardian of the Burning Abyss ATK: 3000 + 500 = 3500

"That must be Infearno's strongest monster..." Stregone muttered, his eyes widening as he stared at the demonic giant on Infearno's field.

Of all monsters Infearno had to summon, he had to bring out that one, Raguel thought, his eyes also widening in horror as he looked at Phlegyas on Infearno's field.

"When Phlegyas is Link Summoned," Infearno explained, "I can destroy cards you control equal to the number of 'Burning Abyss' monsters I used as Link Material! Since I used three 'Burning Abyss' monsters, I can destroy three cards. Therefore, I'll destroy your Endymion, Supreme Arcanite Magician, and Spell Absorption! Hellish Firaga!"

"What?" Stregone exclaimed in shock, as Phlegyas fired three fireballs from his hands, which incinerated Endymion, Supreme Arcanite Magician, and Spell Absorption.

"If you think that's bad, there's more to come." Infearno reminded him. "I activate the effects of Cir and Barbar from my Graveyard. First, since Cir was sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Burning Abyss' monster from my Graveyard! Return, Geryon!" At Infearno's command, Geryon reappeared on Infearno's field.

Geryon, Steed of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1600 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

Geryon, Steed of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1600 + 500 = 2100

"Second, the effect of Barbar activates! I can banish up to three 'Burning Abyss' cards from my Graveyard to inflict 300 points of damage for each one! I banish Cir, Graff, and Scarm from my Graveyard to inflict 900 points of damage to you!" Three fireballs appeared out of Infearno's Graveyard and orbited around his hand, which he fired at Stregone. As a result, Stregone was knocked back several feet by the combined impact.

Stregone: 2700 – 900 = 1800 LP

"Battle!" Infearno declared. "Phlegyas, Guardian of the Burning Abyss attacks Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians! Hellfire of Rage!" Phlegyas' hands glowed as he raised them high in the air, causing the ground underneath Selene to heat up. However...

"You triggered my Trap card, Shift!" Stregone interrupted. "When you target exactly one monster I control for an attack, or for a Spell or Trap card effect, I can target a monster I control and change the target to it instead!" Infearno's eyes widened in surprise. "I change the attack target to my last Sheep token!" Shift fired a blast at Phlegyas, causing it to turn to the Sheep token and make the ground underneath the Sheep token to heat up before incinerating it. As the token was in defense position, Stregone took no damage as a result.

Seeing this, Infearno scowled. "You may have dodged one attack, but let's see if you can dodge this! Geryon, Steed of the Burning Abyss attacks Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians! Wild Charge!" Geryon charged forward and rammed its head into Selene, turning her into particles.

Stregone: 1800 – 250 = 1550 LP

"Okay, that was a close call." Roxy said to Raguel through the earpiece. "If it weren't for Shift, Stregone would have lost the duel."

"I'm glad he's still in the duel as well, Roxy." Raguel agreed. "However, if he is to win on the next turn, he'll need a monster with at least 3000 attack points." Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Roxy. What's going on in Go's duel against Revolver?"

"Hold up. Let me see." Roxy typed on the keyboard for a few seconds before answering. "Go has the advantage, but knowing Revolver, it won't last long."

"Judging from what you told us Roxy, as well as the duel we're watching right now, it seems that both sides are constantly trying to get the upper hand." Herald deduced. "In other words, it's anyone's game now."

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Infearno concluded.

"My turn! I draw!" Stregone said, drawing the top card of his deck. Upon looking at it, his eyes widened. He drew it. The card that would lead to his victory. And almost all the conditions were met. But first...

"With the set Pendulum Scale, I can Special Summon monsters between Levels 2 and 7 at the same time! Emerge from the Extra Deck once again, Endymion!" Within moments, a portal opened between the two pillars, where one light emerged. The light hit the field and then dissipated, revealing Endymion, who was Pendulum Summoned to the right Extra Monster Zone on Stregone's field.

Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic ATK: 2800 DEF: 1700 LV: 7 Scale: 8

"Endymion is a strong monster." Infearno said. "However, the most you'll do if you attack is 700 points of damage."

"You're right on that." Stregone agreed, causing Infearno to raise an eyebrow. "But you remember how I said I still got plenty of tricks left?"

"I remember. Where are you going with this?"

"I'm saying to defeat you, I'll have to use my greatest trick yet." Stregone looked at the card once again. "It's a shame, really. I wanted to use this card against him in a duel. To surprise him, even though he's seen a good majority of my duels."

"Who exactly are you talking about?" Infearno asked, now getting curious as to where Stregone was going with this.

"Sorry, but my lips are sealed." Stregone replied, looking at Infearno. "Whether he's watching the duel in LINK VRAINS, or in the safety of the real world, I hope he'll be able to prepare himself for what's to come. For the day I get to finally duel him."

"What's Stregone talking about?" Herald whispered to Raguel.

"No idea." Raguel admitted. "But I think we're about to witness something amazing."

Infearno thought about these words before responding. "Alright, Stregone. I'll play along. Let's see whether the greatest trick in your deck can defeat my demons."

"Trust me, Infearno. It will." Stregone responded with confidence. He redirected his attention to the duel. "I activate the Spell card, Magicalized Fusion! This card lets me Fusion Summon one Spellcaster Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by banishing monsters from my field or Graveyard! I'll let you in on a little something. For this Fusion monster, I need to banish five Spellcaster monsters."

"Five?!" Infearno, Raguel, and Herald said at the same time.

"From my field, I banish Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic. And from my Graveyard, I banish Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians, Disenchanter, Daybreaker, the Shining Magical Warrior, and Supreme Arcanite Magician!" All five monsters materialized on Stregone's field. They broke apart into red, blue, green, orange, and yellow particles of energy and swirled into a vortex. Five twisters shot upward and merged into a violet tornado.

"With the power of five magicians, the ultimate practitioner of magic shall heed my call!" Stregone chanted. "Fusion Summon! Emerge on the battlefield! Level 12! Quintet Magician!" A magician wearing extravagant dark-blue and purple robes broke free from the tornado and appeared on Stregone's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. His robes consisted of shiny, curved plates that had sharp edges and covered the shoulder areas. He had long orange hair, which flowed down from the sides of his face. In Quintet Magician's right hand was an ornate staff. There were also five dark magical circles surrounding him as well.

Quintet Magician ATK: 4500 DEF: 4500 LV: 12

"To think you'd be able to call on that monster..." Infearno muttered in shock, looking at Quintet Magician.

"Magical City of Endymion's effect!" Stregone continued.

Magical City of Endymion SC: 4 + 1 = 5

"Quintet Magician's effect activates! When he's Fusion Summoned using five Spellcaster monsters with different names, I can destroy all cards you control! Magical Reckoning!"

Quintet Magician spun the ornate staff in his hand before he pointed it at Infearno, causing the dark magical circles to spread themselves out and surround his field. Infearno could do nothing but brace himself as a barrage of arcane blasts shot out of the dark magical circles, destroying Phlegyas, Geryon, Rise of the Burning Abyss, Coffin of the Burning Abyss, and his other face-down card. When the barrage died down, he looked at his field and grit his teeth in anger.

"With Coffin of the Burning Abyss gone, I get to shuffle Assault Mode Activate back into my deck, as well as draw a card!" Assault Mode Activate then zoomed right back into Stregone's deck before it was shuffled. Once it was finished, Stregone drew the top card of his deck.

"They're gone..." Roxy said. "All the cards on Infearno's field are completely wiped out!"

"Then... that means..." Raguel muttered.

"ALRIGHT!" Herald cheered. "Stregone's won! He just needs to attack, and victory will be his!"

Stregone glared at Infearno. "Infearno! You and the Hanoi are not only responsible for turning innocent people into data for the Tower, but for traumatizing eight children as well! For those two things, I will defeat you here and now!" He gestured to his field. "Battle! Quintet Magician attacks you directly! Mystical Pentagram!"

Quintet Magician spun the ornate staff in his hand before firing a pentagram-shaped magical blast at Infearno, creating a massive explosion that engulfed him entirely.

Stregone sighed. "It's over," he said. "I've won, everyone."

"Not... necessarily."

Stregone gasped as the smoke cleared, revealing that Infearno was somehow still standing. The worse part was that he didn't lose any life points whatsoever.

"How the hell did you survive that attack?" Stregone demanded. "It should have finished you off!"

"Thanks to a certain card you destroyed with Quintet Magician's effect." Infearno answered, as his field revealed the crumpled remains of a demonic statue. A silhouette of a card was also on his field, which showed Lucifer overseeing haunted spirits possessing a large, demonic statue. "When the Continuous-Trap card Haunted Statue of the Burning Abyss is destroyed by your card effect, I can Special Summon one 'Demonic Statue' token to my field in defense position. So when you declared your attack, it was redirected to my Demonic Statue token instead." The crumpled remains then turned into particles.

Stregone grit his teeth and said, "I Set one card face-down and end my turn." It's okay, he thought. Quintet Magician is the strongest monster on my field. And if he tries anything sneaky, my two face-down cards will catch him off guard for good!

Raguel narrowed his eyes. "Stregone has cards in his hand while Infearno doesn't," he muttered. "Both of them are nearly tied in terms of life points, and Quintet Magician is the strongest monster on the field."

"But it's Infearno's turn now," Roxy pointed out, muttering alongside Raguel as she looked at the screen. "This turn will determine who wins the duel."

"My turn! I draw!" Infearno said, drawing the top card of his deck. "I summon Lucifer's Acolyte of the Burning Abyss from my hand!" A charred black skeleton with silver pitiless eyes, a sliced mouth, and a black robe apparated onto Infearno's field.

Lucifer's Acolyte of the Burning Abyss ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I activate Lucifer's Acolyte's effect! Once, I can pay 1000 life points to send one card from my deck to my Graveyard and replace this effect with the sent card's effects. However, I can't activate anymore copies of that card for the rest of this duel. The card I send to my deck is... Return from the Different Dimension!"

"WHAT?!" Stregone, Raguel, Herald, and Roxy said at the same time, as Infearno's life points dropped, causing him to grit his teeth.

Infearno: 1300 – 1000 = 300 LP

A card then popped out of Infearno's deck, which he took and sent to his Graveyard.

"I activate Lucifer's Acolyte's new effect, courtesy of Return from the Different Dimension!" Infearno continued. "By paying half of my life points, I can Special Summon as many banished monsters as possible."

Infearno: 300 / 2 = 150 LP

"Return to me, Cir, Graff, and Scarm!" At Infearno's command, Cir, Graff, and Scarm reappeared on his field and roared.

Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 3

Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 3

Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 800 DEF: 2000 LV: 3

"Woohoo!" Graff said, cheering. "We're back from the dead!"

"You said it, Graff!" Scarm agreed. "The best part is there's a fresh human in front of us!"

"Just because we're alive doesn't mean we can slack off!" Cir pointed out to Graff and Scarm. "We have to-!" He suddenly stopped talking, as he felt a presence. "Wait. That presence. That's-!"

"Lucifer's Acolyte!" Graff and Scarm finished, terrified that Infearno had to bring that monster out.

"If Lucifer's Acolyte is on the field, that means things went downhill since we were banished." Scarm stated.

"For the love of-." Infearno sighed to himself. "Apologies for my demons, Stregone. They unfortunately have personalities of their own. But rest assured, I'll take care of that." He pointed his right hand to the sky. "Appear! The circuit of blood and death!" A Link portal appeared in the sky above Infearno. "The summoning conditions are two Level 3 monsters! I'll set Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss into the Link Markers!" Cir went into the bottom-left arrowhead, while Scarm went into the bottom-right arrowhead.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Arrive from Hell and assert your dominance! Link 2! Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss!" A dark angel emerged from the Link Portal and onto Infearno's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It had the head of an ox, the head of a lion, the head of an eagle, and the head of a redheaded woman on its chest, as well as wings on its back and crossed over its chest. It wielded a red curving sword in its left hand, which lit on fire. All four heads screeched really loud at Stregone, making him cover his ears.

Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss ATK: 500 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

"Cir's effect! Just like before, it lets me Special Summon one 'Burning Abyss' monster from my Graveyard! Return, Barbar!" Barbar reappeared on Infearno's field.

Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss ATK: 1700 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit of blood and death!" Infearno declared, as a second Link portal appeared in the sky above him. "The summoning conditions are one or more 'Burning Abyss' monsters! I'll set Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Lucifer's Acolyte of the Burning Abyss into the Link Markers!" Graff went into the top arrowhead, Barbar went into the top-left arrowhead, and Lucifer's Acolyte went into the top-right arrowheads.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Emerge from hell and tear my enemy into pieces! Link 3! Cerberus, Hound of the Burning Abyss!" A massive, three-headed demonic hound ran through the Link portal and onto Infearno's field in the Main Monster Zone Cherubini was pointing to, resulting in the both of them being co-linked with one another. Upon seeing Stregone, all three heads roared at him.

Cerberus, Hound of the Burning Abyss ATK: 3000 LINK-3 ↖️⬆️↗️

Raguel's eyes widened. "A new 'Burning Abyss' Link monster!"

"Now that is one ugly dog..." Herald commented, seeing Cerberus for the first time.

"To think you of all people would force me to call on Cerberus..." Infearno said with fury under his breath. "But with this monster, the duel is over."

"Your monster is certainly impressive, but just like your other demons, it's weak." Stregone responded. "Quintet Magician has 4500 attack points, whereas Cerberus only has 3000 attack points."

"For now, it does." Infearno replied, surprising Stregone. "When Cerberus is Link Summoned, it gains effects equal to the number of 'Burning Abyss' monsters used as Link Material. Since three 'Burning Abyss' monsters were used, Cerberus gains all of its effects!" As if to emphasize his point, Cerberus' heads were surrounded with different elements. The head on the far left was surrounded with a fiery aura, the head in the middle was surrounded with an icy aura, and the head on the far right was surrounded with a thundery aura.

"Fear my flames!" Cerberus' fiery head said.

"Your flesh will freeze!" Cerberus' icy head said.

"Feel my thunder!" Cerberus' thundery head said.

"So your little dog can talk like your other demons, huh?" Stregone deduced.

"It's been a while since I brought out Cerberus, so forgive him if he's a bit... eager." Infearno replied. He redirected his attention to the duel. "Back to the duel at hand! Once again, I activate Barbar's effect from my Graveyard! Since it was sent to my Graveyard, I can banish up to three 'Burning Abyss' cards from my Graveyard to inflict 300 points of damage for each one! I banish Graff, Scarm, and Cagna from my Graveyard to inflict 900 points of damage to you!" For a second time, three fireballs appeared out of Infearno's Graveyard and orbited around his hand, which he fired at Stregone. As a result, Stregone was knocked back several feet by the combined impact.

Stregone: 1550 – 900 = 650 LP

"Stregone only has 350 life points left..." Raguel muttered, narrowing his eyes and frowning. Stregone only grit his teeth.

"Quintet Magician is one of the most powerful monsters in the game." Infearno acknowledged. "But every monster can be overcome with the right cards. If you don't believe me, allow me to demonstrate! I activate the second effect of The Terminus and the Burning Abyss in my Graveyard. By banishing it, I can target one 'Burning Abyss' monster on my field and have it gain 800 attack and defense points until the end of your next turn. I target Cerberus!" A golden light enveloped Cerberus from Infearno's Graveyard, increasing its strength.

Cerberus, Hound of the Burning Abyss ATK: 3000 + 800 = 3800

"I activate Cherubini's effect! By sending a Level 3 monster from my deck to the Graveyard, one 'Burning Abyss' monster I control gains its attack and defense points until the End Phase! I'll send Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my deck to my Graveyard to have Cerberus gain its 1400 attack points!" As Infearno took a card from his deck and sent it to the Graveyard, Cerberus' strength increased for a second time.

Cerberus, Hound of the Burning Abyss ATK: 3800 + 1400 = 5200

"Calcab's effect!" Infearno added. "Since it was sent to the Graveyard, I can target one Set Spell or Trap card you control and return it to your field. I choose the right one!" A blast of light erupted from Infearno's Graveyard and hit Stregone's face-down card on the right, returning it to his hand.

There's nothing to worry about, Stregone thought to himself. He targeted the wrong card for Calcab's effect. Which means once he attacks with Cerberus, it'll be lights out for him!

"Stregone. You have proven to be a strong duelist. For that, I shall give you one more reward." Infearno pressed a few buttons on his Duel Disk for a second time, causing a blue screen to appear in front of him, showing Go and Revolver's duel. More specifically, Go having dealt damage with his strongest Link monster yet: Gouki the Giant Ogre. "Go may have the strongest monster on his field, but if I know Revolver, he'll defeat him just like he did to Watchman. I want you and Raguel to witness Go's demise before I finish you off for good."

At Go Onizuka's duel...

"Ready, chump? Battle!" Go declared. "Gouki the Giant Ogre attacks Booster Dragon! Ogre Sword Strike!" The Giant Ogre ran forward at Booster Dragon before swinging his large sword down at it, causing a massive explosion and making Revolver's avatar fizzle as his life points dropped.

Revolver: 4000 – 3100 = 900 LP

"Ooh! That must have hurt!" Ai commented.

"This changes nothing." Revolver said.

"Nah, mac. It changes everything." Go replied.

"You believe that because you never were the brightest." Revolver countered. "When Booster Dragon is destroyed, I can target one other Dragon monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it. Return, Triple Burst Dragon!" At Revolver's command, Triple Burst Dragon reappeared on his field, only in the Main Monster Zone.

Triple Burst Dragon ATK: 2400 LINK-3 ⬅️⬆️⬇️

"That's nothing I can't handle." Go declared. "You're just lucky The Giant Ogre can't attack twice this turn, or else you'd be screwed. But for now, I end my turn." Upon saying that, The Giant Ogre's attack points reverted back to normal.

Gouki the Giant Ogre ATK: 5000 – 2000 = 3000

"When my next turn comes up, you're going down like a tree in a hurricane!"

"Or so you hope." Revolver responded. "My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate Triple Burst Dragon's effect once again! By tributing it, I get to Special Summon a Link 2 or lower monster in my Graveyard. I can also Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Dragon monster from my hand. So return, Booster Dragon! And come on out, Hibernation Dragon!" Booster Dragon reappeared on Revolver's field, along with a small, serpent-like dragon with purple skin and a microchip for a body. It had four small, light-blue wings, and four prongs in front of its body.

Booster Dragon ATK: 1900 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

Hibernation Dragon ATK: 600 DEF: 1500 LV: 3

"When Hibernation Dragon is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target one Level 4 or lower Dragon monster in my Graveyard and add it to my hand. But don't worry. It won't be on the sidelines for long. Because I'll now summon it. Come on out, Magnarokket Dragon!" A blue and red metal dragon with green holographic wings and a small cannon on its head appeared on his field.

Magnarokket Dragon ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200 LV: 4

Magnarokket Dragon ATK: 1800 + 300 = 2100 DEF: 1200 + 300 = 1500

"Booster Dragon's effect!" Revolver added. "Once per turn, I can target one monster on my field and increase its attack and defense points by 500. In addition, you cannot activate cards or effects in response. I target Magnarokket Dragon!" He then gestured to Magnarokket Dragon. "I activate Magnarokket Dragon's effect! If it's targeted by a Link monster's effect, I can destroy this card and send one monster on your field to your Graveyard."

"If Go loses The Giant Ogre, he'll have no monsters to defend himself." Playmaker said.

"01101110101000111!" Ai panicked.

"I send The Giant Ogre to your Graveyard!" Revolver said. "Fire!" Magnarokket Dragon's entire body transformed into a bullet that entered the barrel on Booster Dragon's head. It then fired a massive blast of energy at The Giant Ogre.

"You mean misfire!" Go suddenly stated. "Since Magnarokket Dragon has fewer or equal attack points than The Giant Ogre, he's unaffected by your monster's card effects!" The Giant Ogre easily deflected the blast with his sword into the ruins surrounding the Tower of Hanoi.

"Okay, that was close!" Ai said, relieved by what happened. "I almost deleted my data!" Playmaker couldn't help but smile at this development. Go really had upgraded his deck for such an occasion.

"Is that the best you can do?" Go taunted Revolver, who only narrowed his eyes in frustration.

"You're beginning to annoy me..." Revolver muttered.

"That's what I like to hear, because it means I'm doing something right." Go paused for a moment before continuing. "In my past duels, I only cared about putting on a good show. Because making comebacks was what my biggest fans, meaning my littlest fans, loved. But sometimes it didn't work out. Then I get that L." He looked down at the ground for a few moments before he looked at Revolver. "But this is one match I can't afford to lose. Not if I want to save LINK VRAINS from you thugs, and prove that I rank right up there with the top duelists. That's what I realized, Revolver. For once in my life, I have to duel for myself. Not for you, your mama, or your mama's mama. I'm going to duel my duel and get that W from you!"

Revolver couldn't help but chuckle after hearing Go's big speech. "My, my. That was quite the lovely speech. Delusional, but lovely."

"Go's got 1000 life points and The Giant Ogre on his field." Ai observed. "While Revolver has 900 life points and an army of dragons on his field."

"Except Revolver has four monsters on his field." Playmaker pointed out, causing Ai to gasp.

"You're right!"

"How did you fail to notice that Ai?" Playmaker wondered.

"Hmph. I'm not listening to you." Ai grumbled.

"Whatever hope you had, you'll learn how misguided you are." Revolver declared. He then pointed his right hand to the sky. "Manifest, my circuit!" Soon, a Link Portal appeared in the sky above Revolver. "The summoning conditions are three or more effect monsters! I'll set Booster Dragon, which is a Link 2 monster, Shelrokket Dragon, and Hibernation Dragon into the Link Markers!" Booster Dragon split into two tornadoes of energy and entered the top and bottom arrowheads, Shelrokket Dragon entered the left arrowhead, and Hibernation Dragon went into the bottom-left arrowhead.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! My gale that slices open the closed world! Link 4! Borrelsword Dragon!" A large red and silver mechanical dragon appeared on Revolver's field in the right Extra Monster Zone and roared at Go. It had two large green spikes extending downwards from its neck, as well as green spikes on its knees. Attached to the sides of its head were two sharp blades. Borrelsword Dragon also had a gun barrel in its chest, ready to be used.

Borrelsword Dragon ATK: 3000 LINK-4 ↙️⬅️⬆️⬇️

"Doesn't look that tough." Ai said. "If you take away its titanium armor, laser guided tracking processors, and neutronic proportion systems, it's just a regular dragon." He then sweat dropped. "On second thought, maybe Go should be worried."

"Gotta admit. Your new monster looks intimidating." Go said, staring at Borrelsword Dragon.

"It doesn't just look intimidating. It is intimidating!" Revolver emphasized. "I never expected to summon this monster against you. Hell, you're the second person that forced me to summon this monster in the first place!"

"Second?!" Playmaker repeated loud enough to get Revolver's attention. "What do you mean, Revolver?"

Revolver turned to Playmaker. "Before you and Go could reach the Tower, Watchman ended up confronting us. And after our attempt to bring him back to our side, I was forced to duel against him. He put up a bigger fight than I expected, but in the end, I defeated him."

"You... defeated Watchman?!" Playmaker said out of shock.

"The same guy who defeated Raguel and Herald lost against... you?" Ai added. To both Playmaker and Ai, this was surprising to hear. After all, Watchman had a very unique deck that was quite troublesome. And if Revolver managed to defeat him, that meant he got stronger. A lot stronger.

"So let me get this straight, Revolver." Go said, gritting his teeth in anger as Revolver turned to him. "Watchman once worked with you, and when he decided to do what was right, you decided to defeat him in a duel? How could you do that to an old friend?! Someone you once saw as a comrade?!"

"Comrade?! My comrades are the ones who believe in our goal!" Revolver stated. "Dr. Genome, Baira, Faust, Dancho, Specter, Lord Kazuma, and Infearno. They are my true comrades!"

"Comrades who'd follow you to destroy the network and endanger everyone's lives..." Go pointed out.

"If that's what it takes to accomplish our goal, then so be it!" Revolver narrowed his eyes in fury. "For providing a smidgen of opposition, I will wipe you off the face of this realm!" He thrusted his right hand at Go. "Battle! Borrelsword Dragon attacks Gouki the Giant Ogre!" The two blades on the sides of Borrelsword Dragon's head snapped upwards, forming a single massive blade, which it brought down on The Giant Ogre in a charge. In response, The Giant Ogre swung his large sword to meet the attack, causing a shockwave that buffeted Ai. It also blasted Frog and Pigeon away as well.

In addition, the feed at Café Nagi was cut, making the screen show nothing but static. "What the-?" Kusanagi said, as he stared at the screen.

"Our monster's attack points may be equal, but Borrelsword Dragon can't be destroyed in battle!" Revolver said.

"Yeah? Well, the same goes for The Giant Ogre. So it looks like this fight is a stalemate and your attack was a complete waste!" Go replied.

"That's where you're disastrously wrong! I activate Borrelsword Dragon's effect!" Revolver responded. "When Borrelsword Dragon declares an attack on a face-up monster, it not only gains half of your monster's attack points, it also cuts your monster's current attack in half!" As Borrelsword Dragon's strength increased, The Giant Ogre's strength was cut in half, allowing Borrelsword Dragon to push it back.

Borrelsword Dragon ATK: 3000 + 1500 = 4500

Gouki the Giant Ogre ATK: 3000 / 2 = 1500

"Go's monster is losing ground like he's wearing ice skates!" Ai panicked. He turned to Playmaker. "Can't we do anything for him?"

"Borrelsword Dragon's second effect!" Revolver continued. "Once per turn, I can target one attack position monster on the field and change it to defense position. I target Metalrokket Dragon!" Metalrokket Dragon changed to defense position. "Metalrokket Dragon's effect! If it's targeted by a Link monster's effect, I can destroy all cards in the column it was in! In other words, The Giant Ogre is finished!" Metalrokket Dragon's entire body transformed into a bullet that went into the gun barrel in Borrelsword Dragon's chest. The gun barrel then rotated, and Borrelsword Dragon's mouth opened as a cannon extended from its mouth.

"Blast Destruction!" Borrelsword Dragon fired a fountain of yellow energy at The Giant Ogre, consuming him and causing Go to scream as a massive explosion to envelop them.

But when the smoke cleared, it revealed Go and The Giant Ogre still standing!

"Huh? Are my eyes bugging? How is The Giant Ogre still on the field?" Ai asked, shocked and curious with what happened. The field showed that The Giant Ogre had 2500 attack points, which should have been 1500.

Gouki the Giant Ogre ATK: 1500 + 1000 = 2500

"When Borrelsword Dragon cut The Giant Ogre's attack points in half," Go explained, as he stood up and looked at Revolver, "his attack points changed. Which meant The Giant Ogre gained 1000 attack points until the end of this turn!" He smirked. "And since he's unaffected by monsters who have fewer or equal attack points, Metalrokket Dragon was unable to destroy him! In other words, you failed."

"Are you sure?" Revolver asked, challenging his claim. "Or perhaps it is you who has failed to comprehend my strategy." Go's eyes widened upon hearing that. "When Borrelsword Dragon activates its effect, it gets to attack twice."

"What?" Go said in shock.

"You heard me." Revolver's eyes widened in glee. "Did you actually think I would make such a silly mistake?" He thrusted out his right hand. "The battle still continues! Borrelsword Dragon attacks Gouki the Giant Ogre! And this time, ensure nothing of him remains! Electric Borrelsword Slash!" Borrelsword Dragon roared as it charged at The Giant Ogre once again. Although The Giant Ogre braced himself, Borrelsword Dragon broke through his guard using its tail before bringing down its single, massive blade and bisecting him down the middle. As a result, The Giant Ogre was destroyed, and Go screamed as his life points dropped all the way to zero.

Go Onizuka: 1000 – 2000 = 0

Although his life points dropped to zero, he was still standing by some miracle. However, Go's body was hunched over, indicating that he lost the duel.

"Go's still standing." Ai said. "He's... still in this duel."

"No, Ai." Playmaker told him. "He may be on his feet, but he doesn't have a single life point left. He lost the duel." Playmaker grit his teeth while Ai moaned sadly, knowing what was about to happen, as Go's avatar turned red before disintegrating.

"Well, Playmaker. It looks like it's the end of the line for me." Go said, as he turned his head to him.

"But not our mission." Playmaker pointed out. "Thanks to you, we now know the identity of Revolver's secret card."

Go smiled. "Put it to good use." Within moments, his body broke apart completely into data, which went towards the Tower of Hanoi.

"Well, well." Revolver said, getting Playmaker's attention. "It appears that you and I will be able to have our rematch. And once Infearno finishes off Stregone, he'll be able to eliminate Raguel as well. That means it's time to finish this."

Playmaker turned around as the winds whipped around him and Revolver. "Yes. Finally."

At Stregone's duel...

"Go Onizuka!" Stregone cried out, as he and Raguel witnessed Borrelsword Dragon bisect Gouki the Giant Ogre and eliminate the remainder of Go's life points. The blue screen then disappeared.

Before Raguel could even speak a word, Infearno beat him to it. "Don't worry, Stregone. You'll soon join your friend as data." He thrusted out his right hand. "Battle! Cerberus, Hound of the Burning Abyss attacks Quintet Magician! Triple Finish!" Fire, Ice, and Thunder energies began to form in each of Cerberus' heads before they fired them all at once at Quintet Magician. There were differences between the three, though. Cerberus' fiery head fired several fireballs from its mouth, its icy head fired a vortex of icy energy from its mouth, and its thundery head fired a beam of electricity from its mouth.

"I'm not out yet!" Stregone suddenly said. "I activate the Trap card, Mirror Force! When Mirror Force is activated, all monsters in attack position is destroyed. So say goodbye to your Link monsters!" As the card revealed itself, a bright light emerged from it.

"Spell and Trap cards are meaningless against Cerberus!" Infearno exclaimed. "For when it attacks, you can't activate them. Which means your Mirror Force is useless!"

"Oh no!" Stregone exclaimed, as the bright light died down and Mirror Force reset itself on his field.

"But without Mirror Force..." Roxy began.

"Stregone's done for." Raguel finished, realizing that the duel was about to be over soon.

"Finish this, Cerberus!" Infearno ordered.

"Be consumed by the elements!" all three of Cerberus' heads said at the same time, as its attack was met head-on by Quintet Magician firing magical beams of energy from the dark magical cirlces. Unfortunately, Cerberus' attack overpowered every single of them and struck Quintet Magician down, who cried out as he exploded. Stregone cried out in pain as the blast knocked him off his feet and onto his back.

Stregone: 650 – 700 = 0

"Stregone!" Raguel shouted, as he ran towards the fallen Charisma Duelist. He then knelt to his level as he tried to help him get up. "Easy, there. I'm not letting you turn into data."

Stregone sighed. "Sorry, Raguel. But we both know that's not possible until the Tower is disabled." His body turned red. "I fought with everything I had, but in the end, it just wasn't enough."

"That's not true." Raguel said, getting his attention. "It's thanks to you that I can finish what you started."

Stregone smiled. "Of course you will. Just remember. Even though I'm not here physically, I'll always be with you... Yuhiro." Raguel's eyes widened as Stregone's body broke apart into data, which went into the Tower.

"He knew your real identity, Raguel." Herald realized. He turned to Raguel, who was crying. "Oh, man."

Raguel screamed out Stregone's name, having realized that he lost a father-figure to the Hanoi.

"That, Raguel, is the second of your despairs." Infearno said, getting his attention.

"The second?" Raguel repeated. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"There are three despairs that everyone goes through." Infearno explained. "One: The loss of a friend. Two: The loss of a parental figure. And three: The loss of someone they love."

Raguel grit his teeth in anger at Infearno talking about loss as though it was delivered casually through the news. "I swear, if you hurt Miyu..."

"By experiencing two out of the three despairs, you're almost ready to guide me to finding the answer I've been looking for." Infearno stated. "That will be done in our final duel."

"If you want to duel, then I'll be more than happy to oblige!" Raguel spat out, as he got ready. But to his surprise, Infearno raised a hand in front of him.

"Not here." As the winds suddenly started to whip around him and Raguel, Infearno pressed a button on his Duel Disk, causing a fiery portal to appear in the sky. "Since Revolver and Playmaker will be dueling in LINK VRAINS, I created a private server where we can have our final duel. You can get there through the portal in the sky. Until then." Infearno then disappeared from the network.

Raguel looked up to the sky, as he saw the fiery portal. "Everyone's counting on us, Herald. Are you ready to do this?"

"Of course." Herald answered. "Lead the way."

Raguel then jumped up and landed on his duel board as he sped towards the Tower of Hanoi. Don't worry everyone, he thought. Playmaker and I will bring you all back. No matter what.

Card Gallery

Lucifer's Acolyte of the Burning Abyss (LV: 1/Fiend/Dark/ATK: 0/DEF: 0/)

Effect: Once, while this card is on the field: You can pay 1000 LP; send one card from your deck to your GY, and if you do, replace this effect with that card's original effects. For the rest of the duel after you activate this effect, you cannot activate anymore copies of that send card.

Terminal Port (Normal Spell card)

Effect: Target 1 Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz monster in your Extra Monster Zone; move that monster you control to an empty Main Monster Zone on your field. You can only activate 1 'Terminal Port' per turn.

Pendulum Riches (Normal Spell card)

Effect: If you conduct a Pendulum Summon: You can draw cards equal to the number of monsters that were Pendulum Summoned this turn. You can only activate 1 'Pendulum Riches' per turn.

Apocrypha of the Burning Abyss (Quick-Play Spell card)

Effect: Special Summon 1 'Burning Abyss' monster from your deck, ignoring its summoning conditions. If you control no monsters and your opponent attacks you directly: You can banish this card from your GY; end the Battle Phase. Then you can Special Summon 1 'Burning Abyss' monster from your deck to your field. You can only use each effect of 'Apocrypha of the Burning Abyss' once per turn.

Pendulum Link Port (Normal Trap card)

Effect: If you control a Link Monster: You can, immediately after this effect resolves, Pendulum Summon Pendulum Monsters from your Extra Deck to Main Monster Zones that Link Monster is pointing to.

Haunted Statue of the Burning Abyss (Continuous-Trap card)

Effect: When this card is activated: Special Summon 1 'Demonic Statue' token to your field in attack position (LV: 3/Fiend/Dark/ATK: 0/DEF: 0). It cannot be used as Link Material. During each of your Standby Phases, pay 500 LP or destroy this card. If this face-down card is destroyed by an opponent's card effect: You can Special Summon 1 'Demonic Statue' token your field in defense position (LV: 3/Fiend/Dark/ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

Coffin of the Burning Abyss (Continuous-Trap card)

Effect: When your opponent activates a card effect: You can negate that effect, then banish it. If this card leaves the field: Shuffle the banished card into your opponent's deck, then they draw one card.

Charon, Ferryman of the Burning Abyss (LR: 1/Fiend/Dark/ATK: 0/⬇️)

Effect: 1 Fiend monster. When this card is Link Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 'Burning Abyss' monster from your GY to a Main Monster Zone this card points to.

Cerberus, Hound of the Burning Abyss (LR: 3/Fiend/Dark/ATK: 3000/↖️⬆️↗️)

Effect: 1 or more 'Burning Abyss' monsters. This card gains effects equal to the number of 'Burning Abyss' monsters used as Link Material:

1: If this card destroys a monster by battle: It gains 500 ATK.

2: Once per turn, when this card is targeted by a monster effect (Quick Effect): You can negate the activation, and if you do, sent it to the GY.

3: If this card battles, your opponent cannot activate Spell/Trap cards until the Damage Step.

QOTC

What's your favorite summoning method?

Chapter Preview

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 36: Race Against Time. Determined to face Infearno and end things, Raguel rides the Data Storm to the portal in the sky. Along the way, he witnesses the duel between Revolver and Playmaker, where he learns more information about the Lost Incident. As their duel reaches the climax and Raguel gets closer to the top, a shocking thing suddenly happens...

Chapter 37: Damnation. Having made it to Infearno's private server, Raguel listens to his tale on what led him to becoming a Knight of Hanoi. With everything on the line, he engages him in one last duel afterwards, but can Raguel withstand the might of Infearno's demons?

Author's Notes

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I managed to get this chapter done a few days before New Year's Eve. Hooray for me, and hooray for you as well! Let's talk about what happened, shall we?

The first scene that happens is my New Year's gift to you. I won't spoil things too much, but we finally learn the azure-overcoated man's name: Azrael. Also, he has an Ignis named Wraith with him. Just what exactly are they planning? And who are they? You'll have to read on to find out.

Then there's the main event of the chapter, which is the duel between Stregone and Infearno. It was one of the hardest duels I had to come up with so far, just because I wanted both duelists to hold nothing back. Sadly, the duel ends with Stregone losing against Infearno and his new ace monster: Cerberus, Hound of the Burning Abyss. However, he did manage to bring out the strongest Spellcaster monster in existence: Quintet Magician. The main thing I wanted was for Stregone to use this monster for the first time and for Infearno to unleash his new Burning Abyss Link Monster.

Aside from the duel, there were one other thing I wanted to show, which was a brief flashback between Stregone and Go Onizuka. Here, they discussed how someone can continue moving forward when they're knocked to the ground. Go's answer to this is having a goal to motivate you. However, as evident in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh, your goal can transform you. In Go's case, his goal changed from protecting the children to defeating Playmaker at all costs, causing him to go through some disturbing changes. Just something to keep in mind.

Thank you to everyone for reading Chapter 35 of Obscured Truth. Regarding the episodes in the anime, I have hopes that I should be able to get Chapter 36 up before New Year's Day. But if not, then allow me to say this:

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

As always, please let me know your thoughts about the chapters below in your reviews. Also, constructive criticism is appreciated, as your tips and advice helps make the story better. In addition, don't forget to favorite and follow the story. That way, you will get a notification once the next chapter is released.

What did you enjoy the most about this chapter? Was it the duel between Stregone and Infearno? The reveal of Azrael? Or is it something you're looking forward to?

And with that, I will see you next chapter! Bye!