"Why did Kaiba banish his own three monsters as well?" Hoshino furrowed her brow, unable to figure it out.
As if reading Hoshino's confusion, Kaiba raised his duel disk and pressed the activation button for a set card.
"You'll find out why I banished my monsters soon enough!"
"Activate the trap card, [Return from the Different Dimension]!"
Sensing the activation of the trap card, the space in the courtyard began to twist and distort.
[Return from the Different Dimension Trap Card Effect: Pay half of your Life Points to activate. Special Summon as many of your banished monsters as possible to your side of the field. During the End Phase, banish all monsters that were Special Summoned by this effect.]
"Special Summon the monsters just banished!?" Seeing the card's effect, Hoshino started to grasp what was happening.
"Thanks to the effect of Return from the Different Dimension, I Special Summon my three Giant Germ monsters to the field!" From the distorted space, three large purple spheres emerged one by one.
[Seto Kaiba LP 2500 → 1250]
[Giant Germ][ATK1000] x3
"Summoning three Giant Germs to his field... What the heck is Kaiba planning?" Jounouchi, who had been watching Kaiba's strange moves from the start, still couldn't figure it out.
In contrast, Hoshino had already mostly pieced together Kaiba's plan.
"A god needs sacrifices, right?" The stronger the monster, the higher the cost to summon. A normal summon that requires three monsters as sacrifices is one of the highest costs in the game.
"Exactly! This is the god that represents ultimate power!" With a wild smile, Kaiba slapped his last card onto the duel disk.
As the card made contact with the disk, the entire school's atmosphere grew tense.
The power sealed within the card seemed to be unleashed like shackles being broken.
The overwhelming aura of a destructive god flooded the courtyard.
"When it descends, scorching winds will ravage the earth, and the living will turn to corpses!" Kaiba closed his eyes, chanting an incantation that Hoshino didn't understand.
"This... is the aura of a god." Hoshino looked up at the sky. What had been clear and sunny was now covered with dark clouds.
"Is this some kind of holographic effect? Or is it the card itself? It's changing the weather..."
But regardless of the explanation, the sight was astonishing.
"Szzzt—" A spark of static electricity flickered across Hoshino's duel disk.
"!! Hey, Kaiba, this duel disk is sparking! Is this really okay?!" Startled by the spark, Hoshino was tempted to take the disk off.
"Behold, and bow down before the true form of this god!"
"Great, this guy's gone crazy..." Hoshino muttered, glancing at Kaiba, who was completely absorbed in his delusional world.
"By sacrificing the Giant Germs on my field, I summon [Obelisk the Tormentor]!" Finally completing the summon, Kaiba eagerly awaited the god's arrival.
Unlike the distorted summoning from Return from the Different Dimension, this one shattered space itself. A giant blue god emerged, punching through the void.
[Obelisk the Tormentor ★★★★★★★★★★ (10 Stars)][Divine][Divine-Beast/Effect][ATK4000/DEF4000]
"A Divine attribute and Divine-Beast type monster..." Hoshino stared in awe at the god's true form as it shattered the void.
"Hahaha, Hoshino, Yugi! Do you see it now? This is my new power, the strongest god of destruction!"
Kaiba, laughing maniacally, threw back his coat and waved his right hand forward.
"Obelisk the Tormentor! Show these mortals your dominance over all Duel Monsters!"
"Attack, Obelisk the Tormentor!"
"This is bad. Hoshino's Lily has 2700 attack points, but Kaiba's Obelisk has enough attack power to deal exactly 1300 points of damage," Yugi observed, feeling the oppressive force of the god.
"1300 points of damage? That's exactly Hoshino's current Life Points!" Jounouchi realized the danger after Yugi pointed it out.
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 1300]
"Damn you, Kaiba! Calculating your attack so precisely, huh?!"
"Take this, Hoshino! Obelisk the Tormentor's attack, Fist of Fury!" Against the giant blue arm of Obelisk, Lily's form seemed so small and helpless.
Without any exaggeration, the massive punch carried enough power to crush anything in its path.
"Master, this might be bad if we take this hit!" Lily, who had been strong and resolute, now trembled with fear as the attack rushed toward her.
"I can't lose like this, not in my battle for revenge!" Hoshino couldn't accept being defeated by a god's punch.
"Even if it's a god, I have to try something! Otherwise, I'll just be repeating my past failure!"
Refusing to give up, Hoshino pressed the button to activate her set card, raising her final defense in the face of despair.
"Activate the trap card, [Nagging Shopkeeper]!"
[Nagging Shopkeeper Trap Card Effect: When a monster with [Heroic Spirit] in its name is targeted for an attack, you can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from your deck in Defense Position to take the attack instead. The Defense Points of the Special Summoned Monster increase by 500.]
"Thanks to the effect of my trap card, I Special Summon [Heroic Spirit - Mash Kyrielight] from my deck!" In the nick of time, Hoshino quickly searched through her cards and placed Mash onto the duel disk at lightning speed.
"Come out, Mash! Not even the god-crushing Fist of Fury can break through your unyielding shield!"
[Heroic Spirit - Mash Kyrielight ★★★★ (4 Stars)][Light][Warrior/Effect][ATK1000/DEF2000 →2500]
[Effect: ①: As long as this card is in face-up Defense Position, your opponent can only target this card for attacks. If this Defense Position card is attacked, it is forcibly changed to Attack Position. ②: This Defense Position card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects.]
"Yes, Senpai!" Despite the duel disk running at full capacity, it still managed to materialize Mash onto the field.
"It's useless! Gods aren't affected by trap cards or the effects of monsters below god-tier!" Kaiba scoffed at Hoshino's trap card, his attack showing no signs of hesitation.
"That means your trap and Mash's attempt to redirect Obelisk the Tormentor's attack will have no effect!"
"What the hell, Kaiba?! The card doesn't say anything about that! Isn't this just you making up rules as you go?!"
"Unaffected by trap cards and monsters below 10 stars? What kind of overpowered card is this?!" Hearing Kaiba's claims, Jonouchi showed a face full of disbelief. "There's no way this isn't just something Kaiba made up to bluff, right?"
However, as Kaiba said, the duel disk, which had anti-cheating measures just like the Duel Arena, recognized the effect Kaiba was claiming.
Obelisk's gigantic fist bypassed Mash's shield and struck directly at Lily's petite frame.
"Ugh, how cruel!" The surrounding students couldn't help but express their dismay.
"A fist that big hitting such a girl."
"Is the duel over now? The transfer student seems to be out of Life Points."
"Turns out even the King of Duelists can't compete with Kaiba, who buys super rare cards with money."
"Hmph, such a shame, Hoshino. No matter how resilient your Heroic Spirit deck is, it's still crumbled before the gods."
Confident that he'd won, Kaiba began to put away his sparking duel disk.
"But at least I got to thoroughly test my new duel disk. It seems it still struggles with processing complex effects when there are many at once."
[Warning! Duel cannot be terminated prematurely!!]
"??!!"
"Kaiba, what gave you the confidence that you've already won?" From the smoke caused by Obelisk's blow, Hoshino, holding a duel disk in critical condition, looked unfazed by the sparks flashing from it.
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP: 500]
"Heh, so that's how it is, huh?" After glancing at Hoshino's remaining Life Points, Kaiba quickly understood the situation. "You're as persistent as ever. Only your refusal to give up makes you troublesome."
"Huh? How did the transfer student survive that? Wasn't all her Life Points supposed to be wiped out?"
"Because Mash appeared on my field, Lily's attack power increased by 500 points at the last moment, just barely allowing her to withstand Obelisk's attack!" Reluctantly placing Lily's card into the duel disk's graveyard, Hoshino had narrowly clung to the last thread of survival.
"I'm sorry, Senpai. I couldn't block the attack for you this time." The once confident Mash now looked a little ashamed. "I still let Lily get destroyed."
"Mash, if it weren't for you, I would've lost already," Hoshino reassured her, reaching out to gently pat her shoulder. "You did great holding off Obelisk's attack. At least now, we still have a chance."
Mash looked up, her expression softening with relief. "Thank you, Senpai. I'm glad I could be of help."
Hoshino turned her attention back to Kaiba, who was standing with his arms crossed, his duel disk still crackling with static. "Kaiba, you don't have any cards left in your hand. So, it's my turn now, right?"
"Yes," Kaiba sneered, his usual arrogance unwavering despite his surprise at Hoshino's survival. "I'll admit, you barely survived in front of a god. Although my Blue-Eyes still hasn't attacked, it can't break through Mash's shield on its own."
He gestured grandly with his hand. "So I'll give you one last turn. Try your best to struggle before the god."
"A god that's unaffected by traps and monster effects... It's safe to assume spells won't have much of an effect either." Hoshino thought aloud, her fingers hovering over her deck. "If Obelisk's immune to everything... then the only way to beat him is with pure attack power."
Hoshino replayed the previous turns in her mind. She had fought powerful monsters before, but nothing like this—a god card with abilities beyond even her strongest Heroic Spirits. Her fingers tapped the edge of her deck thoughtfully.
"In this situation, a monster capable of surpassing a god..." She hesitated, feeling the weight of the decision before her. Her thoughts swirled, replaying every battle against Kaiba, Pegasus, and even the Duelist Kingdom itself.
"It's truly difficult." After much deliberation, Hoshino smiled bitterly as her fingers rested on the top card of her deck.
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed in her mind, cutting through her uncertainty. "Master~"
"Huh?" Hoshino blinked in surprise. It was a voice she recognized well—one that instantly brought a sense of warmth and reassurance. "Karna?"
"Yes, Master." Karna's voice was calm, yet filled with absolute confidence. "Please leave the rest to me. If not, we'll lose."
Hoshino couldn't help but smile at the sheer certainty in his tone. "You're so reliable, Karna! Well, I won't hold back then!"
She placed her fingers firmly on her deck, her determination renewed. "My turn, draw!"
As if responding to her resolve, the warmth from Karna's presence seemed to flood the field. The oppressive weight of Obelisk began to lighten, the shadows it cast fading as the golden light from Karna's card began to push back against the darkness.
"Has Hoshino found a way to deal with a god?" Even Yugi, who had been carefully watching the duel, couldn't predict what Hoshino had drawn. In a situation like this, with Kaiba's Obelisk dominating the field, even Yugi was unsure of how she could turn things around.
Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon remained on the field, looming as a secondary threat, but it was clear that in the presence of Obelisk, even the Blue-Eyes was overshadowed.
"Now! Let me use the strongest Heroic Spirit to surpass a god!" Hoshino declared, slapping the glowing card onto her duel disk.
"Special Summon, [Heroic Spirit – Karna]!!"
The field erupted in golden light, brighter and stronger than before, completely dispelling the dark clouds that had been looming over the courtyard. The oppressive presence of Obelisk was momentarily pushed back as Karna's radiance filled the air.
"Huh, the weather cleared up all of a sudden?" One of the students in the crowd looked up in confusion, shielding their eyes from the sudden sunlight.
The crowd murmured in awe. "That transfer student just summoned a monster that looks strong..."
"But doesn't a high-level monster like that need tributes?" another student questioned.
[Heroic Spirit – Karna ★★★★★★★★★★ (10 stars)][Fire] [Warrior/Effect][ATK 2800/DEF 2500]
[Effect: This card can Special Summon itself from the hand by banishing 3 [Heroic Spirit] monsters from the graveyard.]
"I banish the last three Heroic Spirits from my graveyard—Artoria, Artoria Lily, and Vlad III—from the game!" Three gentle lights flashed from the graveyard as the banished Heroic Spirits left the field, fulfilling the summoning condition for Karna.
"The true name Karna, responding to Master's call, arrives to slay your opponent!" The golden-armored Heroic Spirit appeared, his spear raised high, flames dancing along its length. Karna's eyes locked onto Obelisk with no sign of fear, despite the towering figure of the god.
"Hahaha, is this your last desperate attempt, Hoshino?" Kaiba burst out laughing, though his arrogance had waned slightly as he observed Karna's arrival. "A monster like this isn't even worthy of standing before Obelisk. Even if it fights, it'll be shattered by Obelisk's Fist!"
"Karna, show him what you're made of!" Hoshino commanded, her confidence unwavering. The sunlight that bathed the field seemed to strengthen her resolve, and Karna's presence beside her filled her with warmth and certainty.
"I will not disappoint you, Master. With you and me together, this spear is invincible!" Karna declared, his voice steady and sure. With a flash of flames, he charged toward Obelisk, the heat from his spear leaving a trail of fire in his wake.
"Because of Obelisk the Tormentor's effect, when he's on the field, any attack or effect targeting another monster can be redirected to him!" Kaiba shouted, his confidence surging as he declared the god's seemingly invincible ability.
"Kaiba, if you make up one more thing, I'll have gramps shove Obelisk's fist in your mouth!" Hoshino snapped, her eyes narrowing in irritation at Kaiba's constant bending of the rules. (The Obelisk effect is inconsistent in the anime.)
(*****)
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