Chapter 1254: The Sacred Spear

Attacking all monsters on the field—this description was, of course, non-standard and impossible under the rules. Still, everyone present understood what Fake Jack meant.

Red Dragon Archfiend’s monster effect, "Demon Meteor," allowed it to destroy all Defense Position monsters on the opponent’s field when it attacked a Defense Position monster.

At that moment, Kira’s field had the Des Frog that had been forcibly switched to Defense last turn, along with Fishborg Blaster. There should have been "Substitoad" as well, but Substitoad had been Special Summoned via the Continuous Trap "Limit Reverse." Monsters revived by Limit Reverse would self-destruct when changed to Defense Position, so only two monsters remained on Kira’s field.

Adding the two tokens Fake Jack had just gifted him with "Revival Gift," that made four monsters in total.

Red Dragon Archfiend reared its head and let out a deafening roar. Its amber vertical pupils suddenly contracted into dangerous slits. It spread its lava wings that blotted out the sky, flames erupting from every gap between its scales.

"Absolute Power Suppression!"

Following Fake Jack’s furious shout, the dragon’s spinal segments suddenly burst with blinding red light. Twelve chains of molten lava shot out from the void, seemingly locking all four monsters on Kira’s field at once.

The spiral crimson breath erupted into a pillar of fire. The moment it touched the first target, a chain reaction ignited. The melted monsters didn’t even have time to scream before they turned into countless sparks within the spreading flame storm.

Four monsters—incinerated in an instant!

"Finally, I activate my Set card, Trap Card ’Lineage of Destruction’!" Fake Jack laughed loudly. "In the turn your opponent’s Defense Position monsters are destroyed, you can target one Level 8 monster on your field. This turn, that monster can attack a number of times up to the number of Defense Position monsters destroyed!" (Anime effect)

True Jack gritted his teeth. "As expected, even the fake is using this Jack Atlas’s combo..."

This was a combination Jack had often used back when he was King. Revival Gift revived a Tuner from the Graveyard for Synchro Summoning Red Dragon Archfiend, while leaving two Defense Position tokens on the opponent’s field—perfectly synergizing with Red Dragon Archfiend’s ability to "destroy all Defense Position monsters."

Add "Lineage of Destruction" on top, which granted additional attacks based on the number of Defense monsters destroyed. With that, it wasn’t difficult for Red Dragon Archfiend to attack two or three times in one turn, easily finishing off the opponent.

"Therefore, this turn Red Dragon Archfiend can attack four times!" Fake Jack roared. "Die! First strike!"

Kira: "Then I activate my Set card, Trap Card ’Nutrient Z.’ When you take 3000 or more battle damage, I gain 4000 Life Points."

[Kira, LP 4000 → LP 8000 → LP 5000]

"Heh, so you had a defensive card like that hidden? But it’s useless! Red Dragon Archfiend still has three attacks left—more than enough!"

Fake Jack shouted.

"Second strike!"

However, before Red Dragon Archfiend could unleash its second consecutive attack, a dazzling white light exploded across the field, blinding everyone.

"What the... Nani!?"

By the time Fake Jack opened his eyes again, he was shocked to see that the phase on his Duel Runner had already switched to "End of Turn."

What was going on? My turn ended? How did I not know?

Then he saw the Trap Card Kira had activated.

"Sorry, I also activated Trap Card ’Flashbang’ just now," Kira smiled. "Flashbang can only be activated when your opponent’s direct attack succeeds. It forcibly ends this turn’s Battle Phase and moves directly to the End Phase."

"Tch."

Forcibly ending the opponent’s turn—how convenient.

This meant he couldn’t even set up anything in Main Phase 2 for the next turn.

Well, it didn’t matter. The effect of "Discord Counter" was still active. Next turn, the opponent wouldn’t even be able to Summon monsters. There was no real threat.

"My turn, draw," Kira said. "First, ’Sinister Serpent’ from the Graveyard returns to my hand during the Standby Phase."

"Next, I activate Spell Card ’Card of Adversity.’ If your opponent has Special Summoned monsters on their field and you have no monsters on yours, draw two cards from your Deck."

Fake Jack sneered. "Struggle all you want. But right now, you can’t even Summon a monster."

"Not necessarily," Kira said leisurely. "I activate Quick-Play Spell ’Turn Jump.’ Both players’ field conditions remain unchanged, and the turn advances by three turns. If this card is chained to another effect’s activation, that effect is negated."

Fake Jack: "!"

Advancing the turn by three turns naturally removed the restriction preventing him from Summoning monsters.

Fake Jack gritted his teeth.

"Tch, but taking down my Red Dragon Archfiend won’t be that easy."

"Oh?" Kira smiled. "In your eyes, this is already the realm of a King? Then such a King is truly cheap."

Fake Jack: "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing much. I’m just sighing that people who have never seen the true summit are so easily satisfied," Kira said calmly. "Let me show you what a real peak looks like.

I Normal Summon ’Rescue Cat’."

[Rescue Cat, ATK 300]

"Rescue Cat’s effect: Send this card to the Graveyard to Special Summon two Level 3 or lower Beast monsters from the Deck.

I Special Summon Level 3 ’Gladiator Beast Samnite’ and Level 3 Tuner ’X-Saber Airbellum’."

[Gladiator Beast Samnite, ATK 1600]

[X-Saber Airbellum, ATK 1600]

"Level 3 Tuner ’X-Saber Airbellum,’ Level 3 ’Gladiator Beast Samnite,’ tuning!"

[3 + 3 = 6]

"Aesir stars condense on the blade’s tip—the piercing winter spear that pierces the heavens! Synchro Summon——Level 6, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!!!"

This time there were no accidents or interference. Brionac successfully appeared.

[Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, ATK 2300]

Both Jacks’ expressions shifted slightly.

Rescue Cat could turn into two Level 3 monsters by itself. All you needed was one Level 3 Tuner and one non-Tuner—making a Level 6 Synchro incredibly easy.

So as long as you drew Rescue Cat, it was basically equivalent to "Normal Summon Brionac." The power of this seemingly unremarkable monster was truly astonishing.

And this was only the beginning.

Kira continued: "I activate Equip Spell ’Premature Burial.’ Pay 800 Life Points to Special Summon ’Rescue Cat’ from the Graveyard."

[Kira, LP 5000 → LP 4200]

[Rescue Cat, ATK 300]

"Continuous Spell ’Card of Safe Return.’ Since I Special Summoned a monster from the Graveyard, I draw one card from the Deck."

Kira drew a card.

"Next, I activate ’Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier’s’ effect. Discard any number of cards from your hand to bounce that many cards from the field back to their owners’ hands."

Fake Jack’s expression tightened.

Was he going to bounce my Tamashi Red Dragon Archfiend...?

Kira: "I discard one card from my hand to bounce ’Premature Burial’ on the field back to my own hand."

Fake Jack: "!"

That’s right—Premature Burial only said the equipped monster is destroyed when "this card is destroyed." It didn’t say the equipped monster is destroyed when this card is bounced back to the hand.

"I activate Rescue Cat’s effect again," Kira said. "Send Rescue Cat to the Graveyard to Special Summon ’X-Saber Airbellum’ and ’Gladiator Beast Samnite’ from the Deck."

"Then I activate ’Premature Burial’ from my hand again. Pay 800 Life Points to revive ’Rescue Cat’ from the Graveyard."

"’Card of Safe Return’s’ effect—I draw one card from the Deck."

"Brionac’s effect—I discard one card from my hand to bounce ’Premature Burial’ back to my own hand."

"Activate ’Premature Burial’ once more."

Fake Jack was stunned.

True Jack was stunned too.

This... this...

Premature Burial revives Rescue Cat → Rescue Cat turns into Brionac → Brionac bounces Premature Burial → Premature Burial revives Rescue Cat again.

Oh right, every time Rescue Cat was revived, Card of Safe Return let him draw one card—perfectly offsetting Brionac’s discard cost.

Was this some kind of perpetual motion machine?!

Once this combo was set up, theoretically, as long as there was enough space on the field, Kira could bring his entire Graveyard onto the field.

Of course, by this point, anyone with eyes could see that Fake Jack was already dead. The only question was what kind of death Kira wanted to give him.

And Kira had just said he would show him a realm he had never seen before.

It was also the perfect chance for Kira to test the results he had gained during his time in the Synchro Dimension.

"Level 3 Tuner ’X-Saber Airbellum’! Plus two Level 3 ’Gladiator Beast Samnite,’ tuning!"

[3 + 3 + 3 = 9]

The moment the ice-crystal rings formed in the air, the entire battlefield fell into dead silence. The three monsters turned into azure and silver auroras shooting straight into the sky.

"O sacred spear released by the Destruction God—now pierce the demonic city completely! Synchro Summon! Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

As the summoning chant rang out, the rings suddenly burst with dazzling blue-white light. A blizzard of ice crystals rained down from the sky.

When Trishula slowly descended from the center of the blizzard, even time itself seemed frozen. Its body was covered in armor carved from thousand-year-old ice. The left head suddenly exhaled absolute-zero breath.

[Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, ATK 2700]

The whole field felt like ten miles of frozen tundra. The bone-chilling cold felt so real that Jack’s body seemed frozen. He looked at the domineering dragon in shock: "This dragon, could it be..."

A thought flashed through his mind.

Kira was now the holder of the "Dragon Head Mark," one of their companion Signers. And each Signer had a dragon that represented them personally.

The "Ice Barrier Dragon" archetype—the earlier Brionac, and now Trishula—could it be...

"Trishula’s effect," Kira said. "When this card is Synchro Summoned, banish one card each from your opponent’s hand, field, and Graveyard!"

Red Dragon Archfiend, still in its flame-spewing pose, was instantly frozen solid. Its magma-like scales let out a teeth-grinding cracking sound as they crystallized. The middle head let out an ethereal cry, and one card in Fake Jack’s Graveyard shattered within the ice crystals. The right head stared at the opponent’s trembling right hand—a card in his hand turned into ice shards and scattered before he could even see it clearly.

When Trishula fully spread its ice-crystal wings, the frozen Red Dragon Archfiend had become a transparent ice sculpture, then vanished from the battlefield like an illusion.

Fake Jack: "My Red Dragon Archfiend... Impossible, how is this possible..."

"That’s what I said. What you thought was the peak was only something of this level. The funniest part is calling yourself King with only this much power."

Kira chuckled lightly.

"Brionac, Trishula—direct attack on the false King!"

Trishula’s three heads roared in triple sonic booms. The blizzard spiraled inward with the Duel Runner at its center. The left head’s freezing breath turned the engine into an ice sculpture. The right head delivered the final blow—absolute-zero breath crystallizing the entire vehicle along with the cockpit.

The frozen Phoenix Whirlwind immediately toppled and spun wildly toward the edge of the track.

Fake Jack: "Aaaaaah—!"

[Fake Jack, LP 3600 → LP 0]

...