Chapter 36
A Duel with Dartz: Part 4
"The Three Barriers of Orichalcos"
"The seal will now be enforced with its most powerful layer! Behold the ancient magic of Orichalcos Tritos!" Dartz declared as the third barrier of the seal appeared. "Welcome to level three, gentlemen." he added. "How can the seal possibly get any stronger?" Twilight asked. "Your two allies are dealing with a force greater than the darkest shadow and older than time itself. Does that answer your question?" Dartz answered as his life points increased to 18,500.
"Unless I lost count, he's close to having 20,000 life points!" Spike said, shocked. "Orichalcos Malevolence, use your special ability to switch Kaiba's dragon into attack mode." Dartz commanded before the creature did so. "I'm afraid this is goodbye. With an attack strength of only 1400, your dragon is far too weak to defend your life points." he said. "We'll see." Seto replied. "Now, Orichalcos Malevolence, bring Kaiba's soul to me!" Dartz commanded.
"Wrong! I activate my Shrink magic card!" Seto revealed. However, Dartz grinned as the third barrier of the seal suddenly destroyed the card. "Is it beginning to sink in yet? When used properly, the Seal of Orichalcos is unmatched by any other card in the game of Duel Monsters. And due to its third layer, your magic and trap cards are useless against me!" the madman revealed.
'Dartz is right. Each layer of the seal is more powerful than the last. If I don't think of something soon, Kaiba's going to lose the duel and worse, his soul.' Yami thought. "Now, as I was saying, Orichalcos Malevolence, destroy Kaiba's dragon!" Dartz commanded before the attack was thrown. Mokuba, worried for his brother's safety, called out his name. "Not so fast! I activate my Shield Ambush trap!" Yami declared before his trap sprung. "This allows me to sacrifice Big Shield Gardna and transfer every one of its defense points to Different Dimension Dragon's attack points!" he explained before all 2600 of Big Shield Gardna's defense points left it upon its destruction and reinforced Different Dimension Dragon's attack points until they were at 4000.
"Never thought I'd see the day when Yami would help his greatest rival by sacrificing his best defending monster." Rainbow admitted. "Rival is right, especially since Kaiba doesn't even like the rest of us." Tristan pointed out. "Different Dimension Dragon, counterattack and crush his monster, now!" Seto commanded before the mighty, molten behemoth was blasted apart. "Now all the damage is absorbed, by Kyutora." Dartz pointed out.
'No matter how powerful our monsters are, as long as Kyutora is on the field, his life points are safe.' Yami thought. "Is your dueling partner really worth that much to you, Pharaoh? After all, you gave up your only defense to save him, leaving your life points wide open to a direct attack." Dartz stated. "As a matter of fact, you've left yourself open to four direct attacks. And I have the perfect foursome in mind for the job; my Mirror Knights! Known affectionately to you as Mai, Pegasus, Yugi and Joey." he continued.
"Now, strike his highness down, my knights!" he commanded before each knight struck him with their blades. "How's it feel? They've all turned against you, and there's only one left. For I've saved the best for last!" he said as the Mirror Knight disguised as Pegasus charged in. Yami blocked the blade with his Duel Disk just before it could strike. 'Yugi-boy, please tell me you have the card I gave you.' Pegasus said, mentally. 'I do, but what's it for?' Yami asked as he remembered the moment that card was found.
'That card unlocks the secret of the Legendary Dragons.' Pegasus mentally explained. "What are you waiting for?! Attack him!" Dartz commanded before the Mirror Knight struck the last blow, GREATLY DROPPING Yami's life points to 1500. "Are you alright? Can you stand?" Seto asked. "I'm fine. Thanks for advising me to get up." Yami replied. 'Our life points are decreasing while Dartz's continue to grow stronger. But, what did Pegasus mean by unlocking the secret of the Legendary Dragons? Could the card he gave me be the secret to defeating Dartz and saving mankind?' he thought.
"I think I'll set one card face down and end my turn for now." Dartz said, concluding his move. "Alright, Kaiba, go ahead and make your final move. For with only 600 points left, your time is just about up." he added. 'I hate to admit it, but if I don't think of something quick, Dartz will win and I can't let that happen. Not after everything that lunatic put me through with Alister as his unsuspecting puppet.' Seto thought as he remembered what Alister said the day they met and what Dartz said not so long ago.
'Convincing Alister that my family ruined his life and only caused further conflict in the Bosnia War was one thing, but when Dartz bought out my company, he crossed the line. And there's no way I'm letting him get away with that.' he added. "You may have pushed around your three cronies and lied to them about what caused them to join your cult, but I refuse to end up like they did! So it's my draw!" he declared before drawing and laughing. "Guess I should've warned you, whenever I'm about to lose I draw exactly what I need. And this time is no different!" he continued before his Legendary Dragon appeared.
"It's Critias!" Dartz said in surprise. "Now, Yugi, if I know your dueling strategies as well as I think I do, then I'd have to say the set card you have is Mirror Force." Seto said to his rival. "Yes, and I know what you're planning, so take it away." Yami replied. "I reveal Yugi's set card and merge it with Critias!" Seto declared before the trap and the monster became one. "Now rise, Mirror Force Dragon!" he bellowed before his new monster, a level eight, Light attribute, dragon/fusion/effect monster with 2800 attack points and 1200 defense points, appeared.
"What do you plan to attack?" Yami asked. "You know as well as I do that we can't win as long as he has those knights on the field." Seto replied. "Then I'll take it you plan to attack the fourth knight?" Yami asked. "You'll just have to wait and see. Besides, I still ain't convinced that Dartz didn't alter the holograms to have the faces of Joey, Mai, Pegasus and yourself. But since you suggested it..." Seto answered. "Mirror Force Dragon, attack his Pegasus knight, now!" he commanded. The attack fired, but it bounced right of the mirror shield.
"I think I get what's going on. If an attack is launched at you and you activate Mirror Force, the attack will be returned to sender!" Pinkie said with glee. "Why the long face, Dartz? Could it be you're aware of my dragon's special ability?!" Seto asked. "It's called Absorb Reflection!" he added as the attack was absorbed into the dragon's wings. "Not bad, Pinkie. You must've caught on to my brother's plan." Mokuba complimented.
"Time to use the power I just absorbed by reflecting the blast back to your side and take out all four of your knights!" Seto declared. "Don't forget he won't take any damage thanks to Kyutora." Yami pointed out. "Wait, if they all get hit, does that mean their souls will be lost forever?!" Fluttershy asked, horrified. "We're about to find out." AJ said with a gulp. "Don't think that I'm not willing to do what's necessary to protect what's mine. And as for those holograms, you likely reprogrammed them! Don't you know who I am, Dartz? I invented this technology and I know you managed to manipulate the images so their heads could resemble Pegasus, Mai, Joey and Yugi. But since you won't drop the act willingly, I'll force you to." Seto stated.
"Mirror Force Dragon, flatten those phonies, now!" he commanded before the attack launched and started to take the knights down. "Yugi! Are you alright?!" Yami shouted before the boy looked up and smiled. 'We're fine.' Yugi replied, mentally. 'But how?' Yami asked. 'You did it, Kaiba-boy. Thank you.' Pegasus said, mentally, before all four knights left the field. "I hope that they're not gone forever." Tea said, worried. "Very impressive, Kaiba. But I'll be just fine. After all, my life points are still unharmed. You see, even though its about to be destroyed, my Kyutora is able to absorb all the damage before saying its final farewell." Dartz stated.
"At least those four are safe." Yami said in relief. "Thanks to my dragon, you have no monsters left to defend you." Seto said. "Well, I beg to differ. Take a closer look, won't you?" Dartz replied before they saw Kyutora flash, spark and make the battlefield shake. "Kyutora has another ability; whenever its destroyed, it evolves!" he declared before a massive blast occurred, followed by a rising of a new creature. "Oh, no. What's going on?!" Yami asked as the behemoth rose. "What is that?" Seto asked. "My little friend has just grown up, so playtime is now over! Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Orichalcos Shunoros!" Dartz replied as they all gazed at the massive level ten, Dark attribute machine/effect monster with 20,000 attack points and 0 defense points.
"Do you see what I see?" Seto asked. "Unfortunately." Yami replied. "That's got to be the strongest monster I've ever seen. It's got 20,000 ATTACK POINTS!" Spike shouted before fainting. "Don't look so surprised. You two are the ones who created this unstoppable beast! You may have destroyed Kyutora, but you unleashed something far worse!" Dartz declared.
"That thing could wipe us out in one strike!" Yami said in shock. "You're absolutely right, but before I do that, I have some more bad news to share. The activation of Orichalcos Shunoros' special ability!" Dartz replied. "Now, my creature, release Orichalcos Dexia and Orichalcos Aristeros!" he commanded before its arms detached to beomce their own monsters, both level four, Dark attribute machine/effect monsters with 500 attack points, thanks to the seal, and 0 defense points.
"What's the meaning of this?" Yami asked. "Allow me to clear things up; Shunoros just released two more creatures, the first one is known as Dexia and its attack strength is always 300 points higher than the monster its battling, making it the perfect sword. And the second one is just as strong, Aristeros will intercept every one of your attacks and retaliate with a blast that's 300 points greater than the one you fired, making it the perfect shield!" Dartz answered.
"You'll never get past my triple threat." he added with a laugh. 'Not only his his monster more powerful than Kaiba's dragon, but with Dexia and Aristeros on the front line, our attacks won't even get through!' Yami thought. "Next I activate the trap card, Martyr Curse!" Dartz declared as his trap sprung. "This forces one of your monsters to engage in battle with one of mine. And as a nasty side effect, it cancels out any special abilities your creature may have. And since I don't seem to have much of a choice, I'll target your Mirror Force Dragon! Without its reflecting power, your dragon will be completely defenseless. Which means you're about to be out one soul." he continued.
"Orichalcos Shunoros, remove Kaiba's life points so the seal can remove his soul with Photon Ring Blast!" he commanded. In mere moments, Mirror Force Dragon was SLICED in half. "Ta-ta, Kaiba. We can't keep the Great Leviathan waiting." he said before the ring struck Seto. "Kaiba, no!" Yami shouted as Seto was sent reeling into the barrier, only to bounce off as his life points hit 0, leaving Yami to fend for himself. "Orichalcos one, Seto Kaiba, zip." Dartz simply said.
"Kaiba? Are you alright?" Yami asked as his rival barely kept himself on his feet. "I'm not done." Seto said, weakly. "I activate, my trap." he added as his trap sprung and caused Yami to start glowing before greatly increasing his life points to 4300. "It's called Wish of Final Effort. It converts every one of my dragon's attack points into your life points, Yugi." Seto explained. Finally, exhausted, Seto collapsed to his knees, though Yami rushed over and caught him before he hit the ground.
"Kaiba, wait. Hang on!" the ancient one pleaded. Mokuba tried to run to his brother, but the seal prevented him from entering. "Seto! Wake up!" he shouted. "Say something." Yami said, desperately. "Don't mess up, got it? I fought too hard. So you can't lose this. Now win." Seto replied before finally losing consciousness. "I will. I promise." Yami said as the seal encircled Seto and stole his soul away.
"Well, Pharaoh, looks like you're the sole survivor." Dartz said before Seto's soul appeared on the wall, causing him to laugh. "You disgust me." Yami said. "Echoes to us, too." Twilight concurred. "I'll tell you what. Since I already have what I need, your friends can keep the rest of him." Dartz said before sending Seto's body out of the seal so that everyone else could check on him.
"Please, Seto. Open your eyes. I know you're in there somewhere." Mokuba said as tears streamed down his face. "On the contrary, my young friend, I'm afraid you're talking to an empty and comatose shell. Your brother has graciously donated his soul and the life force within it to the Great Beast." Dartz stated. "It's not fair! Give him back, Dartz!" Mokuba shouted.
Suddenly, the temple started to shake. "What's going on?" Yami asked. Outside, Roland and Fuguta felt the shaking as well. In fact, the shaking was an earthquake felt all across the planet from New York to Arizona as lightning flashed. Deep beneath the sea, the Great Leviathan had finally awakened before the quake ceased, which worried everyone on Doma Island and inside the temple. "Do you feel that? Thanks to Mr. Kaiba's generous donation, the Great Leviathan is almost ready." Dartz said.
"Call off your monster this instant!" Twilight commanded. "Silence!" Dartz retorted before a giant eye appeared behind him, followed by a road that blew everyone outside of the seal out of the chamber. "What have you done to them?!" Yami asked, demandingly. "Are you all alright?!" Yami shouted. When the dust cleared, only the Mane 7 were still standing, thanks to their own magic.
"Well, it seems that you have a very diminished audience, Pharaoh. One with magical powers. Perhaps once the Great Leviathan and I are through, we'll proceed to find out where they gained this magic and take it for ourselves." Dartz said as the Mane 7 and Yami looked at the unconscious bodies of the rest of the group. "Don't worry, Pharaoh. Those three are fine, I don't need their souls, and I don't mind if your magical friends stick around witness your final duel." he added. "That's enough!" Rarity snapped.
"But there's something I think you'd all wish to know, particularly you, Pharaoh. I met you thousands of years ago when you ruled over Egypt. We may not have been officially introduced, but I was there watching you." Dartz replied. "Go on." Yami said. "When the Battle of Atlantis ended, I thought the Great Leviathan was gone forever. That is, until I met you." Dartz explained. "Hold on! What does that evil creature of yours have to do with him?!" Rainbow asked. "I thought someone would never ask." Dartz said before they saw an image of ancient Egypt.
"Behold, the palace of the Nameless Pharaoh in the year 3,000 BC!" the madman declared. "Ring any bells?" he asked. They all soon saw Yami and his court facing off against a monster with wings and a body that looked like a snake, complete with the head of one at the end. "Tell me, is that really me in the ancient past?" Yami asked before they all witnessed Yami's high priest step forward to combat the creature, but the pharaoh stood firm and faced off against the creature alone before calling forth Obelisk the Tormentor to fight the beast.
"Why are we watching this?" Yami asked. "Because it was on this very day that I realized that the Great Leviathan would rise again, and its all because of you and the magic that you wield." Dartz asked. But before the vision faded, Twilight and the others saw the same hooded individual watching what was happening from afar. "It's him! The hooded figure from that vision at Battle City during Yami's duel with Kaiba!" Twilight shouted.
"He must've watched the whole thing transpire while he was here before finding those spells that Ishizu mentioned." Fluttershy figured. "But the question is, was what he was after of pure intent, or malicious intent?" Rarity asked. "Once Atlantis sank into the sea and the Leviathan laid to rest, I was forced to wander the Earth and wait. After all, I couldn't wipe out mankind on my own. I needed power. That's where you came in. See for yourself." Dartz continued as they saw a more massive and seemingly more dangerous version of the creature from the first vision fly into the city outside Yami's palace with someone following it on horseback. Then they saw Yami himself.
They saw he was pursuing both the creature and, possibly, its master on horseback with Slifer the Sky Dragon following him. As Yami rushed through the village, he unknowingly passed by Dartz. "I sensed it immediately. Your life energy was exactly what I needed, but the time wasn't right. So my wait continued." Dartz continued. "But why?" Yami asked. "I agree. If you wanted Yami's power, why didn't you confront him then?" Rarity wondered.
"Because there was another individual threatening to destroy the planet and, quite frankly, he was in my way." Dartz answered as they saw the village in chaos and flames. "But I knew my day would come. And it did." he added before they all saw the very night Yugi put the Millennium Puzzle together for the first time, fusing him with Yami. "5,000 years later, when a naïve young man unlocked the dark magic of the Shadow Realm within the Millennium Puzzle. With that, came the return of the Shadow Games, and the rebirth of the Nameless Pharaoh and his rivals." he continued.
"So that's why you targeted my friends." Yami said, putting the pieces together. "That's right. You should be flattered. Never before have I encountered such a powerful group of souls." Dartz replied. "You're a sick man, Dartz." Fluttershy said, quite upset. "You claim that I'm the sick one? The fact remains that your friend ushered in the age of the Shadow Games 5,000 years ago and nearly wiped out his whole kingdom!" Dartz retorted.
"You lie!" Yami shouted. "I saw it all. The way you conjured up creatures of darkness, including those your people thought to be tools of the gods, to do your bidding. You're evil, Pharaoh, and there's no denying it! And soon you'll get what you deserve, when I feed your soul to the Great Leviathan and complete what I started centuries ago!" Dartz retorted.