Chapter 148: No Hand Traps Allowed
Chapter 148: No Hand Traps Allowed
Nightwalker took a deep breath. With only 500 Life Points remaining and an almost empty field, he faced a legendary warrior of the Duel Monsters world, the Messenger of the Legend, on his opponent's side of the field. It was a dire situation.
But why was he shaking uncontrollably? Ah, that feeling.
Facing a top-notch opponent, pushing himself to the limit as a duelist, the thrill of an all-out battle—that's what it was.
Keiping was right. Years ago, when he dueled Yugi Muto and freed him from the Three Fiends' mental control, he had also felt a bottleneck afterward.
For years, he had felt stuck, as if he had hit his limit. And that was precisely why he yearned for strong opponents even more.
Only in battles against powerful foes could he find the stimulation to break through his limits and reach new heights.
And now, unexpectedly, he had found that feeling again in a first-year student of Duel Academy.
Without a doubt, this opponent was truly worth going all out for, despite his own status as a "Legendary Duelist" and the other being just a student. Yet, in Nightwalker's heart, he had already positioned himself as the challenger.
He would overcome this hurdle and break through his limits!
"My turn, draw!" Nightwalker declared. "I activate the Magic Card 'Greed Jar' and draw two cards from my deck!"
Nightwalker drew his cards and narrowed his eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
It seemed he had drawn the perfect card to turn the tables in this desperate situation.
"First, I activate the Magic Card 'Rank Up-Magic - The Seventh One'!" Nightwalker announced. "I can select a monster on my field and increase its Level by three! I choose to raise the Level of 'CXyz Wonder Magician' on the field to eight!"
[CXyz Wonder Magician, Level 5 → Level 8]
Keiping raised an eyebrow. "A Rank-Up spell?"
"Indeed, the final preparation for the arrival of my new power!" Nightwalker said, slowly drawing a card from his hand.
"This is the first time I've used this card in front of others since obtaining this new power. I never expected it to be under such circumstances."
You Xuan frowned slightly. What was with this posture, as if he were about to perform a ritual to imprint the card?
"But you are indeed worthy of my full strength, so watch closely! Behold the evolved form of the King of Divine Beasts!
I offer up 'CXyz Wonder Magician,' now Level 8 on my field, as a Tribute, and Special Summon this monster from my hand!"
He held the monster card high above his head, and even before the summon, a storm seemed to stir.
"The pulse of the divine beasts shakes the earth, transcending the flow of time—behold, the King of Divine Beasts—Barbaros, descend!!!"
As the ground shook, a majestic beast emerged from the storm, its golden mane shimmering in the light, as if adorned with a sacred halo. Its eyes blazed with sharp light, like razor-sharp blades. The lion-headed humanoid beast pounded its massive claws on the ground, sending dust and pebbles swirling in a vortex.
King of Divine Beasts - Barbaros, summoned!
You Xuan glanced at Barbaros, taking in its new appearance.
Nightwalker had indeed been busy over the years, giving his ace monster a new form.
[King of Divine Beasts - Barbaros, ATK: 3000]
"Although this card is Level 8, it does not require two Tributes for a Normal Summon," Nightwalker explained. "I can Special Summon it by Tributing monsters on my field whose total Levels are 8 or more!"
"Furthermore," he continued, "once per turn, 'King of Divine Beasts - Barbaros' can exclude any 'Barbaros' monsters from my field or graveyard from the game to destroy up to two of your cards on the field!"
Keiping was astonished. "What a powerful ability!"
"Indeed," Nightwalker said with a smile. "This is the evolved form of the King of Divine Beasts, my ultimate ace. If you think you can stand against it, then give it your best shot! I exclude 'King of Divine Beasts - Barbaros' from my graveyard, destroying both 'Chaos Soldier - Messenger of Armageddon' and the face-down card on your back row!"
You Xuan was quick to respond. "Then I activate the Counter Trap Card - Divine Wrath! By discarding one card, I negate the effect of an Effect Monster and destroy it!"
Nightwalker was taken aback.
That wouldn't do!
"Counter Trap—Damage Disruption!" Nightwalker's back row lit up as he activated the counter, "Discard one card to negate and destroy the effect of a card that destroys monsters on the field!"
A bolt of divine punishment struck down, but it only hit a transparent shield of destruction. Transparent ripples spread along the surface of the shield, and the backlash of the thunderous punishment reduced the Divine Punishment Trap to smithereens.
The counter was successful!
"Beast God King's effect continues!" Nightwalker shouted, "Destroy Chaos Soldier and the other face-down card!"
The Beast God King's thunderous might swept across the field, instantly clearing Yuxuan's side of the field. Chaos Soldier exploded under the onslaught, and the face-down card, "Magic Cylinder," was flipped and shattered.
"Furthermore, the card I discarded was the Magic Card 'Compensation Notes,' which allows me to draw two more cards from my deck when this card is sent from my hand to the graveyard!" (Original Card)
"A Magic Cylinder in addition to the Divine Punishment, what an ironclad setup." Nightwalker remarked, "But now, all your defenses are gone!"
The spectating Card Professors also seemed to think that the outcome was decided at this point.
"However, to push the great Nightwalker to such lengths... and he's just a student. Truly a fearsome young man," commented Tiramuck.
This young man's future was bound to be limitless.
But Nightwalker did not relax his guard.
Was it over?
No, as long as there was still Life Points remaining, he couldn't let down his guard.
Moreover, he could sense that this opponent was no ordinary duelist.
He had only dismantled his opponent's apparent defenses, and there was no guarantee that he had exhausted all his countermeasures.
"I activate the Magic Card 'Card Exchange'!" Nightwalker declared, "We reveal our hands to each other and must each choose one card from the other's hand to add to our own!"
The Card Professors were taken aback.
At this point in the duel, wasn't the victory already secured? Why go through the trouble of exchanging cards?
"What incredible intuition," one of them muttered.
Yuxuan revealed his hand.
Nightwalker narrowed his eyes.
As he had suspected, his intuition was spot on.
Kite Machine!
By discarding this card from his hand, it could act as a shield, protecting him from direct attack damage.
One of the professors exclaimed, "He still has a countermeasure in his hand!"
"Nightwalker has thought of everything," another added.
Nightwalker: "Then I take the 'Kite Machine' from your hand!"
Yuxuan: "In that case, I'll take the 'War God Geb' from yours."
It was a six-star, 2200-ATK Demon-type monster that Nightwalker had used in the manga. However, it wasn't particularly useful, and Yuxuan only chose it because he had no other options; it was the only card left in Nightwalker's hand.
"Even his hand protection has been removed. This guy's got some tricks up his sleeve," Keiping muttered.
He glanced at Yuxuan.
Was this it for him?
Well, to have pushed Nightwalker to such lengths, he was already quite impressive.
"Beast God King Barbaros, direct attack!"
Nightwalker raised his hand and shouted.
The final blow, his ultimate offensive move! But he had a strange premonition.
Even if he made it this far, this attack... might still not be enough.
Indeed, as the Beast God King's strike connected, Yuxuan's side of the field erupted with electric light. Like some sort of transparent shield, a magnetic repulsion forced the leonine Beast God King back.
"Effect of 'Super Electromagnetic Turtle' from the graveyard, usable only once. During your opponent's Battle Phase, banish this card from the game to end the Battle Phase."
Nightwalker breathed a sigh of relief.
For some reason, while he felt a bit disappointed that his attack didn't go through, he wasn't surprised.
"When did you send that to the graveyard?" Nightwalker asked.
Yuxuan: "'Pot of Dichotomy.'"
"I see," Nightwalker mused, "So you set up this multilayered defense long ago."
He smiled and shook his head.
"Then my turn is over."
(End of Chapter)
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