Chapter 421: Shining Nova
Chapter 421: Shining Nova
"As long as it stands on the field, it can block the effects of an entire race of monsters."
Marufuji Ryo's face turned pale.
Such a targeted effect would be nothing short of a death sentence for a Pure Dragon Deck duelist.
Keihei, who always had absolute confidence in his brother, couldn't help but swallow his saliva at this moment, feeling anxious for Kaiba.
"But even so, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon still has the higher attack power," Judai said.
"No," Keihei said in a low voice, "That warrior has other terrifying effects."
Sure enough, You Xuan continued: "The second effect of 'Dragon Destroying Swordsman'. This card's attack increases by 1000 points for each Dragon-Type monster your opponent controls or in their graveyard!"
"What!?!"
The spectators were shocked once again.
A boost of a thousand points for each Dragon?
The Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon's attack power also increased based on the number of Dragons in the graveyard, but it could only boost by 300 points per card. On the other hand, the Dragon Destroyer not only absorbed the power of both field and graveyard Dragons, but it also gained 1000 points per card.
In other words, no matter how hard one tried, there would always be a huge gap between the attack power of the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon and the Dragon Destroyer. The more Dragon-Type monsters in the graveyard, the wider this gap became, creating an insurmountable barrier.
"There are six Dragon-Type monsters in Kaiba's graveyard, and he has the White Spirit Dragon and Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon on the field." You Xuan explained, "That's a total of eight Dragon-Type monsters.
Thus, 'Dragon Destroying Swordsman - Destroyer' gains an attack boost of eight thousand points!"
[Dragon Destroying Swordsman - Destroyer: ATK 2800 → ATK 10800]
Keihei's face had turned pale: "An attack power of ten thousand and eight hundred."
"Additionally, while 'Dragon Destroyer' is on the field, all of your opponent's Dragon-Type monsters must be in Defense Position." You Xuan continued, "And when attacking a Defense Position monster, if the attacking monster's attack exceeds the defending monster's defense, inflict piercing battle damage equal to the excess amount."
Kaiba frowned: "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon chooses not to apply this effect and thus does not need to change to Defense Position. Only the 'White Spirit Dragon' will switch."
[White Spirit Dragon: ATK 2500 → DEF 2000]
"What terrifying suppression." Marufuji Ryo exclaimed as he looked at the swordsman, "When facing Dragon-Type users, this swordsman's oppression surpasses even that of the legendary gods."
The Dragon-Type monsters had been a beloved race in the dueling world for many years, attracting a large number of duelists with their strength and appearance. It was easy to imagine that the release of such a card would cause an earthquake-level impact on the dueling world.
Duelists who used Dragon-Type decks would find themselves at a huge disadvantage when facing this monster, with their chances of winning drastically reduced from the start.
Unable to attack or activate effects, and with their opponent's attacks dealing massive damage, what could they do?
"Next, I activate the magic card 'Pot of Greed' and draw two more cards from my deck." You Xuan declared.
You Xuan drew two cards, glanced at them, thought for a moment, and then took a step forward.
"It's time for battle!
Dragon Destroying Swordsman - Destroyer, attack the 'Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon'!"
The warrior raised his dragon-slaying greatsword, and the light from the sword was as cold as the galaxy itself, slashing down with a brilliant white light!
"Hmph, I expected that you would use the Ultimate Dragon Destroyer." Kaiba said, "If I don't go all out and reveal my trump cards, there's no meaning to this duel!
The Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon still has its final ability, Shining Nova!!!"
"It's useless, President Kaiba!" You Xuan shouted, "Shining Nova is an effect that needs to be activated! As long as the Dragon Destroying Swordsman is on the field, you cannot activate any effects of Dragon-Type monsters!"
Keihei was surprised: "But the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon can choose whether or not to apply monster effects."
"Only for effects that 'affect monsters'.
With this explanation, they realized the Dragon Destroyer was indeed the natural enemy of the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon.
At first glance, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon seemed to possess nearly invincible abilities, but all of its powers seemed to be perfectly countered by this Dragon Destroyer.
It truly lived up to its name as a Dragon Slayer, an undeniable bane to all Dragon-Type monsters.
Even Kaiba was taken aback by this turn of events.
Of course, he wasn't surprised that his opponent didn't let him get away with his combo, but rather that they seemed to know the hidden ability of the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. However, in the heat of the duel, there was no time to ponder this further.
"I, of course, anticipated this! I activate my face-down card!" Kaiba declared. "Continuous Trap, 'DNA Surgery'! Declare a Type, and all monsters on the field become the declared Type!"
You Xuan frowned. "So that's how it works with declaring a Type."
"Correct!" Kaiba exclaimed. "I declare 'Divine-Beast'! All monsters on the field become Divine-Beast Type!"
The three monsters on the field, the two dragons, and the Dragon Destroyer were instantly enveloped in a fantastical aura. The already majestic super monsters now appeared even more sacred and awe-inspiring under this radiant halo.
Of course, Kaiba's declaration of the monster type was arbitrary; he simply chose Divine-Beast because it sounded cool and flashy.
His true intention was to change the Type of his monsters away from Dragon.
"The Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon can freely choose whether to be affected by effects," Kaiba explained. "I choose for it to be affected by 'DNA Surgery'. Therefore, both the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon and the White Spirit Dragon have become Divine-Beast Type.
With two fewer Dragon-Type monsters on the field, the Dragon Destroyer's attack decreases by 2000 points!"
[Dragon Destroying Swordsman - Destroyer: ATK 10800 → ATK 8800]
Keihei worriedly added, "But even so, it still has an attack of over eight thousand... Oh, that's right! If it's not a Dragon-Type..."
"Indeed!" Kaiba interrupted. "The 'Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon', now no longer a Dragon-Type monster, is unaffected by the Dragon Destroyer's effect! Therefore, I activate the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon's final ability, Shining Nova!
Sacrifice this card to destroy any number of cards on the field!"
Kaiba declared in a deep voice.
"And this effect... can also be activated during my opponent's turn!"
Although the subtitles of the anime translation had interpreted Kaiba's effect explanation as "destroy any card on the field" when he first used it, if one listened closely to Kaiba's original Japanese, he said "any number of cards" and not just a single card.
It was just that, in the anime, this effect was only used twice, and both times, whether in the game or by Kaiba himself, only one card was chosen to be destroyed. So, there has always been a dispute about whether the anime effect could destroy multiple cards or not.
In the Japanese version of the anime, the animators took a shortcut and used the actual card artwork after it was physically released, which didn't match the effect in the anime at all. However, in the English version of the card artwork, the effect description states "destroy any number of cards," suggesting that the number of cards to be destroyed is indeed at the controller's discretion.
So, according to the K language interpretation, the number of cards to be destroyed should also be freely selectable.
Even Judai was shocked. "Destroy any number of cards, and it can even be activated during my turn!?
Although everyone knew that in future iterations of the game, destroying multiple cards in a single turn wouldn't be that unusual, such an effect was still incomprehensible at this point in the story.
Being able to destroy any number of cards on the field during your opponent's turn, resetting their setup to zero at any moment—how could they even play the game like this?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
