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"At this moment, with Ophanim activated, you no longer have any chances left. Let this duel become a ritual to awaken the evil god—with both you and your beloved monster as offerings!"
Thief King Zorc waved his hand grandly, slapping a magic card onto the duel disk.
"First, I activate the magic card—Ground Splitter! This card destroys the monster on your field with the lowest attack power!"
A green magic card unfolded dramatically on Zorc's field. The ground beneath You Xuan began to quake violently, shaking like an earthquake as a deep chasm tore through the terrain.
"You only have one card on your field—the Silent Magician," Zorc sneered. "Truly, beauty is fleeting for this magician girl."
"True Silent Magician, activate its effect," You Xuan declared. "Once per turn, it can negate the activation of a magic card. I'll negate the destruction effect of Ground Splitter!"
A burst of white light erupted from the Silent Magician. The card for Ground Splitter was blown into the air by a transparent magical storm and shattered into dust. The cracked earth on the field returned to its original state.
"Tch, so it has that kind of ability."
Thief King Zorc frowned in displeasure.
"Then I'll activate the effect of Sniping潜行 Sniper!" Zorc declared. "By discarding one card from my hand, I roll a die. If the result is anything other than 1 or 6, I can destroy one card on the field!"
Dice...
You Xuan remembered now. This guy seemed to be someone who liked dice games. His sleight-of-hand tricks with cards hidden in his sleeves were evidence enough—he was a born gambler.
But clearly, he hadn't gambled against Cheng Daozi back in the day.
Sniping sneak Sniper was a powerful low-level monster from the early days of Duel Monsters, with a relatively high usage rate. As long as the dice roll wasn't a 1 or 6, it could destroy a card. With a two-thirds success rate, it had a good chance of succeeding unless luck was particularly bad.
"Although the Silent Magician on your field is also quite troublesome..."
Zorc narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting between the magician and the face-down card on You Xuan's back row.
"The Silent Magician has an effect that increases her attack power based on the number of cards in your hand. Yet, you sacrificed her attack power to set that card. That means it must be a trap you consider valuable.
Let me think... It's likely something like Mirror Force - Holy Barrier that could reverse the situation in one fell swoop..."
You Xuan: "..."
"But it's no use!" Zorc shouted. "I'll show you that such shallow traps are useless against me! Sniping sneak Sniper's effect—Fate Roulette Wheel!"
Though the description mentioned dice, the monster Sniping sneak Sniper used a revolver instead. The black-clad sniper raised his gun, the rotating cylinder at the back spinning rapidly. The needle whirred several times before slowing down, finally stopping on the number "4."
"The roulette landed on 4!" Zorc laughed triumphantly. "Therefore, I destroy your face-down card on the back row!"
Hand over your trap!
The sniper chambered a bullet and fired. The face-down card on the back row was pierced and shattered with a loud crack.
However, when the card was destroyed, there was only a brief visual effect. Zorc caught a glimpse of the card image—it wasn't Mirror Force, nor did it seem to be any generic trap. At least, he hadn't seen it before.
"Now your back row is empty," Zorc declared. "Next, I activate the magic card Demon Sanctuary from my hand, special summoning a Metal Demon Token to my field!"
[Metal Demon Token, ATK 0]
"Then I activate the continuous magic card Underworld Lottery Draw. This allows me to draw two cards from my deck whenever I successfully tribute summon using two or more monsters!"
"Next, I tribute the Metal Demon Token and Sniping sneak Sniper for an advanced summon!
With the roar of metal, bring eternal nightmares to my enemies! Level 7—
—Revolver Dragon, Summon!"
The two monsters disintegrated into tributes, their energy swirling in the summoning storm. The particles coalesced into a heavy, pitch-black steel form—three massive cannon-like barrels, sharp fangs, gears grinding, and metallic friction filling the air. The steel dragon stepped onto the field.
[Revolver Dragon, ATK 2600]
This was the ace in Thief King Zorc's hand, as seen in the anime.
"Due to the effect of Underworld Lottery Draw, I draw two cards from my deck!"
Thief King Zorc drew two cards.
"Next, the effect of Ophanim's Barrier! All monsters on my field gain 500 ATK, so Revolver Dragon's attack increases!"
[Revolver Dragon, ATK 2600 → ATK 3100]
"With this, it surpasses your magician," Zorc smirked. "Battle! Attack the Silent Magician with Revolver Dragon!"
The three barrels on Revolver Dragon's shoulders rotated with a heavy mechanical whirring sound, locking onto You Xuan's Silent Magician.
"At this moment, Revolver Dragon's effect activates!" Zorc shouted. "When Revolver Dragon attacks, it can flip three coins. This turn, it can attack up to the number of heads flipped!" (Anime effect)
The three barrels locked in place, followed by the sound of bullets being loaded and the revolver cylinder spinning. Though described as flipping coins, the holographic system represented this with the spinning cylinder.
After loading, two of the barrels lit up with golden light.
"Hah, looks like I rolled two heads. This turn, Revolver Dragon can attack twice!" Zorc laughed maniacally. "And your life points are only at 2500, with no face-down cards left. This is the end!
Behold the absolute power of Ophanim! Tremble before it!
Revolver Dragon's attack!
Deadly Revolver!"
The first shot fired from the left barrel, unleashing a deadly torrent of flames.
"At this moment, I activate a trap card from my hand!" You Xuan swung his arm, and a trap card materialized in the data stream before him. "Magic Cylinder!"
"What?!" Zorc's eyes widened in shock. "Activating a trap card from your hand?!"
How was this possible?
"It seems you don't recognize the trap you just destroyed."
You Xuan's duel disk ejected the face-down card that had been destroyed moments ago.
"This card is Cross Counter Trap. When this card is sent to the graveyard by an opponent's effect, I can activate a trap card from my hand once during this turn." (Anime card)
"What kind of trickery is this?!" Zorc's expression darkened.
"Therefore, I activate Magic Cylinder from my hand, negating your attack and dealing damage equal to the attacking monster's ATK to you!"
Two ornate magic cylinders appeared on You Xuan's field. The blast from Revolver Dragon entered one cylinder, and within half a second, the other cylinder flipped over, returning the fiery blast directly back at Zorc.
"Gah!"
Taking the full force of his own enhanced Ophanim-powered attack, Zorc's face contorted grotesquely as he was blown off his feet, black smoke rising from his chest.
[Thief King Zorc, LP 4000 → LP 900]
"Soul... damn..." Zorc gritted his teeth.
He realized he had underestimated his opponent.
Lowering the Silent Magician's attack to set a card on the back row was a deliberate move, planting the suggestion that "this trap is important." He thought he had seen through his opponent's strategy, but in reality, his opponent had anticipated his anticipation.
Luring him to destroy the back row was part of a double trap. The real trap was hidden in his hand all along...
What a cunning brat.
Zorc took a deep breath, sitting up and glaring coldly at You Xuan.
"I underestimated you," Thief King Zorc said grimly. "Cunning kid, but this changes nothing. And because you used a Magic Cylinder from your hand, the Silent Magician's attack decreases again!"
[Silent Magician, ATK 3000 → ATK 2500]
The battle wasn't over yet. My Revolver Dragon still has its second attack.
Aiming once more at the Silent Magician, Deadly Revolver!"
The black barrels rose again, firing another devastating blast. This time, there was nothing to block it. The Silent Magician took the full impact and temporarily vanished in a burst of golden light.
[You Xuan, LP 2500 → LP 1900]
"But at this moment, the Silent Magician's effect activates," You Xuan declared. "When the Silent Magician is destroyed by battle or an opponent's effect, I can special summon another Silent Magician monster from my hand or deck, ignoring summoning conditions.
From the convergence of chaos and order, a silent brilliance blooms. A new light descends upon the field—
—Silent Magician LV8!"
The energy released from the destroyed Silent Magician didn't dissipate. Instead, it reformed into a white magic circle. A surge of even more potent magical energy erupted, and the newly evolved Silent Magician returned to the field, her appearance changed and her demeanor icy.
[Silent Magician LV8, ATK 3500]
"Tch, so it even evolved? What a troublesome brat."
Zorc muttered under his breath before slamming another card onto his duel disk.
"Then I activate the magic card Heaven and Earth Lottery Draw!" Zorc declared. "During a turn where I've performed an advanced summon, I draw two cards from my deck. However, these cards cannot be used this turn, and if possible, I must set at least one card on the field." (Original anime card)
Zorc drew two cards: "Because I advanced summoned Revolver Dragon this turn, I draw from my deck!"
He then revealed one of the cards.
"Finally, I set one card on the field. Turn end."