Chapter 1202: Desperate Duel

"Majestic Red Dragon's effect isn't just to absorb ATK, right??" Kira smiled.

Everyone: "!"

Especially Jack, whose expression turned complicated, glancing at Kira with suspicion and shock.

How did this guy know even the effect of his Majestic Red Dragon?

After all, Majestic Red Dragon was a miracle card that shouldn't have even existed in the world, forged from the Crimson Dragon's power. Jack himself only used it once before—in his duel against Dark Signer Carly.

But Goodwin shouldn't have witnessed that battle, nor was any record left behind—so how could Kira possibly know Majestic Red Dragon's effect?

Wait…if he knew its effects from the start, did it mean that even now, with Raviel defeated, everything was in his calculations?

Kira said, "Majestic Red Dragon inherits Red Dragon Archfiend's original effect and takes it even further, right?"

Jack replied in a somber voice, "Correct. When Majestic Red Dragon attacks, after damage calculation, it destroys all Defense Position monsters on the field!"

Red Dragon Archfiend only triggered on attacking a Defense Position monster—and only destroyed the opponent's Defense Position monsters. Majestic Red Dragon, however, destroyed all Defense Position monsters, regardless of side. Its effect was mandatory—it had to trigger if an attack was made, with no choice, even the controller couldn't refuse it.

Kira smiled, "Exactly, because your Majestic Red Dragon just attacked, its effect will destroy all Defense Position monsters on the field."

"So what?" Jack frowned.

At that moment, Majestic Red Dragon's effect forced itself to activate. The dragon roared, apocalyptic flames surging like a tsunami over the entire field.

Jack thought, The only Defense Position monsters are the three 'Phantasm Tokens' on Goodwin's field, so it shouldn't matter...

But the next instant, Kira declared, "I activate my Set card—the Trap, 'Windstorm of Etaqua'!

Switch all monsters on the opponent's field to Defense Position!"

A black bird appeared on Kira's field, stirring up a green tornado that swept across all three fields.

"Nani!?"

Jack's pupils shrank.

Damn—if his monsters all went to Defense Mode, then—

[Majestic Red Dragon, ATK 4000 → DEF 3000]

[Blackwing Armor Master, ATK 2500 → DEF 1500]

Crow's Armor Master was switched, too!

"You bastard!" Jack shouted. "You could have stopped my attack earlier—you didn't have to take 4000 damage!"

Indeed, Kira could have used this Trap before the attack, switching Majestic Red Dragon to Defense, canceling the attack, and sparing himself the damage.

But he'd purposely waited.

Crow gritted his teeth: "This guy deliberately took the damage. He planned all along to use Majestic Red Dragon's own effect to get rid of my Armor Master…"

The thought flashed through his mind.

Maybe that bastard didn't even consider if it was worth it or not—maybe he just thought it would be fun to have your own ace take out your teammate's monster.

Kira chuckled, "What a shame. Armor Master did so much work, blocked so many attacks for us, only to get done in by his own team in the end, eh?"

Everyone: "..."

That feeling grew stronger—this bastard really just wanted to see them sabotage themselves for fun.

Kira grinned ear to ear.

Wasn't their bond supposed to be unbreakable? Then who told you to bring along such a dangerous card?

A tide of destruction swept through the field. All three Phantasm Tokens on Kira's side, and Crow's Armor Master, were wiped out by the raging flames of Majestic Red Dragon.

Of course, Majestic Red Dragon survived—but only thanks to its inherent immunity to destruction by effects. Otherwise, it would have destroyed itself too, which would have been hilarious.

"And! When Raviel was battle-destroyed just now, this card was already set to activate."

Kira pointed at another face-down revealed from the smoke—

"The Trap Card—'Revival Ticket!' When a monster on my field is destroyed by battle, I can, for each one destroyed, destroy one Spell/Trap on my field, and then Special Summon the same number of those destroyed-by-battle monsters from the Graveyard."

'Revival Ticket'—one of the cards Yusei himself used in the anime.

Kira pointed at a Set card in his back row.

"Destroying this set, I revive from my Graveyard 'Lord of Phantasms Raviel' destroyed this turn by battle!"

"Again with the revival!?"

Everyone was numb now.

Were these fiend monsters all immortal or what? Would it ever end?

The earth split once more, and from beneath, Raviel—the Lord of Phantasms—rose again, towering as hugely as ever.

[Lord of Phantasms Raviel, ATK 4000]

"And it's not over. The follow-up effect of 'Revival Ticket'," Kira grinned. "After you revive a monster this way, you recover all battle damage that happened this turn."

[Kira, LP 1700 → LP 5700]

Everyone: "..."

Silence.

An awkward, overwhelming silence.

Especially Jack—his expression was blank, staring up at the towering form of Raviel, his eyes dazed.

Was it really hopeless?

He'd already given his all.

He burned himself dry, staked everything on 'Card of Desperation,' sending his entire deck to the Graveyard in a suicide attack. He rallied the Dragon Marks, summoned the mighty Majestic Red Dragon with the Crimson Dragon's own blessing, landed his strongest, most desperate finishing blow.

He knew, in fact, that this blow wouldn't finish it. It could deal huge damage, but he would lose to deck-out before his next turn.

Jack had already accepted he couldn't beat Kira, that at this moment, he couldn't defeat Goodwin. All he wanted was, before falling, to contribute as much as he could for the team, to deal as much damage as possible.

But in the end—he took out his own teammate's ace monster. Raviel came back as if nothing happened. Even the hard-earned damage vanished like a dream.

Jack Atlas, the former King, looked down at his hands. Since he first started dueling, he'd never felt so powerless, or doubted himself so much, as now.