Chapter 403: Fighting Till the End
Chapter 403: Fighting Till the End
"Elemental Hero Absolute Zero, with an attack of six thousand!"
"Now, Earth Neos activates its effect, allowing me to tribute an Elemental Hero on my field. Earth Neos can then absorb that monster's attack and defense stats!" Red Leaf explained.
"So, I tribute 'Elemental Hero Vortex,' and its attack is absorbed by Earth Neos! Earth Magma!!!"
Vortex's body disintegrated into specks of light, its energy completely absorbed into Earth Neos. The hero's body turned into a surging crimson, like molten lava erupting from the depths of the earth. Destructive power raged within, and scorching lava transformed into a fiery dragon that shot out from his back, carrying temperatures hot enough to melt metal and stone.
[Elemental Hero Earth Neos: Attack 2500 -> Attack 5300]
"In one move, he's boosted his attack to five thousand three hundred and six thousand!"
Jaden's eyes shone with admiration.
This was Mr. Red Leaf, the strongest hero on the surface, making his desperate counter-attack!
Yuuji observed quietly, his chin propped up in thought.
If it were him, he might have chosen to have Earth Neos absorb the attack of 'Elemental Hero Absolute Zero' as well. That way, not only would Earth Neos' attack instantly break through ten thousand, but more importantly, it would trigger Absolute Zero's strongest ability, 'Absolute Zero' - when leaving the field, destroy all monsters your opponent controls.
Then he suddenly recalled, "Oh right, I think this effect was also added after the card was physicalized."
In the manga, Absolute Zero only had one effect, which increased its attack depending on the number of water-attribute monsters on the field. But in the physical card game, this effect was often overlooked, much like the first effect of The Grand Creator. As expected, even in Red Leaf's skilled hands, there was still room for improvement with this Hero deck.
It was a pity. If Absolute Zero had a field-nuke effect, Red Leaf might have had even more impressive plays.
Speaking of which, if he were to offer his opinion, tributing Vortex wasn't entirely necessary. After all, the attack boost Earth Neos gained would return to its original state at the end of the turn.
Of course, this was a Soul Card, so boosting its attack and momentum was a basic move, and not something to be surprised about.
"Let the battle begin!" Red Leaf shouted, "First, 'Elemental Hero Earth Neos' attacks 'Elemental Hero Sparkman'!"
His attack was now more than sufficient. With the effect of Vortex reducing the attack and defense of all of his opponent's monsters by half, as long as Red Leaf's total attack went through, he would complete this desperate counter-attack!
Of course, it probably wouldn't be that smooth.
"Then I activate the trap, 'Monster Switch.' When a monster on my opponent's field declares an attack, I can return one monster I control to my hand, and then Special Summon a four-star monster from my hand."
Judgment looked at the few monsters on his field.
"So, I return 'Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer' to my hand and Special Summon this card from my hand—
—'Orichalcos Chidora.'" (Original Card)
Phoenix Enforcer's body dissipated into a burst of flame that flew back into his deck. A strange monster, covered in spikes, appeared in his back row, its entire body dominated by a singular, eerie eye.
[Orichalcos Chidora: Attack 500 -> Attack 1000] (Orichalcos Boost)
"What?!" Red Leaf frowned.
It wasn't just because of the monster's bizarre appearance, but also because of where it had been summoned.
It had appeared in the Spell/Trap zone, behind the four Elemental Heroes, instead of the Monster zone.
"The second effect of Orichalcos Barrier. That is, the Monster and Spell/Trap zones on my field can be used interchangeably, and monsters can be summoned in the Spell/Trap zone."
Judgment explained calmly.
"Furthermore, as long as there are monsters in the Monster zone, my opponent cannot choose a monster in the Spell/Trap zone as an attack target."
Red Leaf's frown deepened.
There was such an odd effect.
And this monster made him feel uncomfortably uneasy for some reason.
Down below, Seto Kaiba narrowed his eyes as well.
"This guy..."
There was no way he could forget this card.
It was one of the key cards used by Dartz, the spokesperson for Orichalcos all those years ago.
"You've given up on using the Hero series and finally brought out your original monster, huh?" Kaiba said quietly.
In a way, it was perhaps also a form of acknowledgment of Red Leaf as an opponent.
But no matter what, having come this far, Red Leaf couldn't back down now.
"I rewind the battle, but my attack continues," Red Leaf declared, "Continue the attack on 'Elemental Hero Sparkman'!"
[Elemental Hero Sparkman: Attack 2750]
Earth Magma Slash!
Like wielding molten lava as a flame in his hand, it became a blade that sliced through! A blade of fire cleaved through Sparkman's body, melting the hero, who shattered under the force of the attack.
"Well done!" Jaden exclaimed, "You've inflicted a huge amount of damage in one go."
"No." Yuuji shook his head.
"Eh?"
They saw that after Sparkman's destruction, the flame and energy released from its body seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, all of it absorbed into the eerie eye of the monster in Judgment's back row.
The ominous Orichalcos Chidora.
And Judgment's Life Points remained untouched.
"What?!" Red Leaf exclaimed in shock.
"Orichalcos Chidora has an effect that allows it to absorb battle damage." Judgment explained calmly, "As long as this card is on the field, all battle damage I take becomes zero."
Red Leaf gritted his teeth.
Because of the Orichalcos Barrier, he had to destroy the monsters in the front row before he could attack Chidora in the back. But if he didn't attack Chidora, he couldn't inflict any damage.
He glanced at the three remaining heroes on his opponent's field.
Normally, even if he couldn't inflict battle damage, he should continue attacking to reduce his opponent's monster count.
But that eerie eye at the back, especially the scene of it absorbing energy earlier, made him feel a bone-chilling dread.
"What now? Will you continue your attack?" Judgment asked.
"I end my turn without attacking."
It was as if a voice in his head was warning him not to continue the attack, as doing so might trigger even more terrifying consequences.
"Oh? You sense danger from Chidora and choose to forego your attack? Hmph, despite your lack of knowledge about my tactics, your intuition is surprisingly accurate. I suppose that's the talent of a top-tier Duelist.
But unfortunately, it changes nothing."
Judgment slowly raised his arm.
"My turn, draw!
I activate my face-down Trap Card, 'Alchemical Cycle.' The original ATK of all face-up monsters I control becomes 0."
[Elemental Hero Neos Alius: ATK 500 -> ATK 0]
[Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster: ATK 500 -> ATK 0]
[Elemental Hero Necroid Shaman: ATK 600 -> ATK 0]
[Orichalcos Chidora: ATK 500 -> ATK 0]
Except for Necroid Shaman, whose attack increased by 100 points due to the presence of "Blaze Man" in the graveyard (destroyed last turn), the attack of all other monsters became zero, leaving only the 500 attack points granted by the barrier.
Red Leaf was perplexed: "You're reducing the attack of your own monsters to zero?"
"Then, let battle commence!" Judgment declared nonchalantly.
"Elemental Hero Necroid Shaman attacks 'Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!'"
[Elemental Hero Absolute Zero: ATK 5000]
As there were now five other monsters on the field besides Absolute Zero, its attack power decreased slightly, but it still boasted an impressive 5000 attack points.
Without surprise, Necroid Shaman was instantly frozen and shattered into icy shards by Absolute Zero.
"Of course, the battle damage is once again absorbed by 'Orichalcos Chidora,'" Judgment explained, "and when a monster whose attack became 0 by 'Alchemical Cycle's' effect is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I draw 1 card."
Judgment drew a card.
"Now, Neos Alius attacks 'Absolute Zero!'"
[Elemental Hero Neos Alius: ATK 500 -> ATK 0]
[Elemental Hero Absolute Zero: ATK 4500]
Again, without surprise, Neos Alius was frozen and shattered instantly.
"The battle damage is absorbed by Chidora once more, and I draw another card," Judgment continued, "Then, 'Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster' attacks Absolute Zero!"
[Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster: ATK 500 -> ATK 0]
[Elemental Hero Absolute Zero: ATK 4000]
Rampart Blaster met the same fate as its comrades, frozen and shattered like an egg hitting a rock.
"Finally, 'Orichalcos Chidora' attacks 'Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!'"
[Orichalcos Chidora: ATK 500]
[Elemental Hero Absolute Zero: ATK 3500]
"Even this monster is going to commit suicide?"
Red Leaf found himself breaking out in a cold sweat.
An extremely ominous premonition filled him with dread, and he knew something was amiss.
He could sense that something was hidden behind that eerie, large eye.
Something was about to be unleashed!
Yu Xuan sighed softly, "It ends here."
"To force the appearance of 'that thing,' Red Leaf, you are indeed a proud Duelist," Seto Kaiba said calmly, "But it's over."
Only the two of them in the entire arena clearly understood what was about to transpire.
As Absolute Zero froze Chidora, shattering it into dust with its overwhelming power, it was as if a forbidden seal had been broken.
Even the Orichalcos Barrier seemed to respond, with the six-pointed star's green light flickering erratically. The earth trembled, and the entire sky was illuminated by the green light, as if in fear of the impending emergence of a demon god.
"When 'Orichalcos Chidora' leaves the field in any way, its hidden seal shall be broken."
Judgment raised his Duel Disk, and a towering beam of green light shot forth from his deck, from which an immensely powerful demon god descended.
Orichalcos-Cilronos has been summoned!
"Orichalcos-Cilronos?"
Red Leaf struggled to lift his head, feeling as though he had expended his last ounce of strength just to face this demonic entity. The oppressive pressure it exuded made even lifting a finger seem impossible.
Kaiba's expression turned grim, and he remained silent for a moment.
It was this monster.
Back then, when he and Atem faced Dartz in a 2-on-1 Duel, Kaiba had only managed to hold on until this point. He had ultimately fallen to this very demon god.
"Indeed, Cilronos' attack is the total amount of battle damage 'Orichalcos Chidora' has absorbed until it leaves the field, with an additional 500-point boost from 'Orichalcos Barrier.'
Therefore, Cilronos' attack is..."
[Orichalcos-Cilronos: ATK ? -> ATK 17,950]
Attack: 17,950!
"That monster again, big brother!" Kippei also had a psychological shadow from this creature.
"Hmm," Kaiba grunted in agreement.
In fact, when he and Atem faced it, this monster's attack had exceeded 20,000, which was even more outrageous than it was now.
But the outcome would be the same.
"To have made it this far, I'll give you some credit for your efforts," Judgment said, "The fact that you forced me to summon Cilronos exceeded my expectations.
But it's time for your curtain call. Now..."
He gave a calm order.
"Orichalcos-Cilronos, attack 'Elemental Hero Neos!'"
It seemed as if the power of the entire barrier was being channeled, with green light converging on the divine figurine, flowing up its body to its head, and then spiraling out in the shape of a ring.
Neos' body was sliced in half at the waist, and the ring continued unimpeded, striking Red Leaf.
Red Leaf grunted and flew backward, his body seemingly moving beyond his control.
His vision blurred, and the calls of his name from the audience grew fainter and fainter.
So, this is how it ends...
Well, while there are still some regrets, I gave it my all.
At the very least, I fought until the very last moment as a Duelist, didn't I?
[Red Leaf: LP 100 -> LP 0]
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
