The dark Masked HERO, leaping through his transformation, darted nimbly across the canyon cliffs.
This was the 'most vicious' HERO Miles had brought out specifically to counter Homar's Exodia Deck.
The strongest Graveyard-loading card, [Painful Choice], instantly changed in nature the moment [Masked HERO Dark Law] took the field.
From the five cards, Miles chose one to add to Homar's hand, while the remaining four were directly banished.
Now, the one who truly tasted bitterness was the one who activated the card—Homar himself.
"Let me think… which four cards should be banished. No, I suppose it's which one I should let you keep."
"So damn dirty!" Aisha, Irena, Alice, and Nova exclaimed in unison from the sidelines.
From the opening turn up to now, Homar felt smothered… constantly hard-countered, unable to move an inch, every card he played feeling miserable.
Miles was already troublesome enough when playing normally. Once he started targeting specifically, the experience was nothing short of prison.
"In that case, I choose [Left Arm of the Forbidden One] to add to your hand."
In the end, the choice Miles made was to deliberately leave Homar with a single lifeline.
That meant the remaining four cards should have been sent to the Graveyard by [Painful Choice]'s effect.
But at the very moment those cards were about to hit the Graveyard, the agile Masked HERO Dark Law intercepted them midair, flicked them downward, and banished all four straight into another dimension.
"It's not over yet! [Masked HERO Dark Law]'s other effect!"
[Once per turn, if your opponent adds a card from their Deck to their hand outside of the Draw Phase: randomly banish 1 card from your opponent's hand.]
Dark Law's two effects could be said to grind the A-rank forbidden card [Painful Choice] into the dirt. Not only were the cards meant for the Graveyard banished, even the card added to the hand wasn't guaranteed to survive.
Having just thrown away four cards, Dark Law leapt once more—this time straight at Homar—snatching one card at random from his hand.
However, since the selection was random, this time it did not banish an Exodia piece.
[Graceful Charity] banished.
Well then… having Graceful Charity banished was still more than enough to make Homar's heart ache. It wasn't much better than having it dumped into the Graveyard by Little Blue (Laundry).
At this point, of Exodia's five components: one was clenched in Miles's hand, one in Homar's own hand, one lay in the Graveyard, and the remaining two were sitting in the banished zone.
Scattered like stars across the sky—assembling all five pieces in hand, this duel was plainly impossible.
More importantly, because [Painful Choice] failed to load the Graveyard, the [The Legendary Exodia Incarnate] on the field still had only 1000 Attack.
"Lastly, the effect of [Elemental HERO Shadow Mist], which was sent to the Graveyard by [Mask Change]! When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can add one HERO monster from my Deck to my hand!"
After a brief moment of thought, Miles chose one of the four elemental vanilla HEROes—Clayman—and added it to his hand.
"…So that's how it is."
With an expression more serious than ever, Homar found himself locked into a brutal struggle from the very opening… something he never would have imagined before the duel began.
"'I'm afraid big brother will lose and embarrass the royal family.'"
So his sister hadn't said that merely through a filter of affection.
The boy named Miles before him, though young, gave off an unfathomable presence in battle—one that even seemed to surpass Homar's own dueling experience.
"I can only bet everything on this card!"
With an expression like someone staking it all, Homar played the second card of his turn, radiating a do-or-die resolve.
"Spell Card [Roll of Fate], activate!"
[Roll one die, then draw cards equal to the result. After that, banish face-down from the top of your Deck a number of cards equal to the result.]
Comparable in power to the three great treasure cards, [Roll of Fate] determined how many cards you drew based on a die roll.
A roll of 2 matched Pot of Greed, while a roll of 6 was an unbeatable, exclusive version of Card of Sanctity. Only a one-in-six chance produced a result worse than Pot of Greed.
Since it was an Exodia Deck, Miles had already expected it. With the royal family's extravagant stockpile of rare cards, the draw engine was obviously maxed out.
However, the side effect of [Roll of Fate]—banishing cards from the top of the Deck face-down—made it dangerous.
With a bit of bad luck, one might banish Exodia pieces face-down.
That was why Homar dared to activate it only after [Painful Choice], once he could guarantee there were no Exodia pieces left in the Deck.
The die representing fate slowly came to a stop above their heads.
Die result: 6
The maximum draw of six could be said to instantly recover the disadvantage Homar had suffered at the hands of the 'friendship HERO'.
"Draw! Six cards!"
For Miles, the good news was that no matter how many cards Homar drew, he still couldn't assemble all five Exodia pieces for an instant rule-based victory.
The bad news was that after massively replenishing his hand, the weariness that had plagued Homar from being hard-countered was swept away.
"These specialized tactics aimed only at Exodia can't show true strength. So this duel is only just beginning!"
Shaking off his slump, Homar activated the Spell from his hand that pried open the gates to another dimension.
"—Spell Card [Dimension Fusion], activate!"
"Again?" Miles frowned.
From the start until now, every single card Homar had activated was an A-rank forbidden powerhouse.
Sure, the royal family was wealthy… but stacking forbidden cards like this was a bit unfriendly, wasn't it?
[Pay 2000 Life Points. Both players Special Summon as many of their banished monsters as possible.]
[Homar, LP: 4000 → 2000]
Just like Miles, Homar voluntarily dropped his Life Points to 2000 early on. Under Dimension Fusion's effect, the four monsters that had just been banished by [Masked HERO] were all Special Summoned back to the field.
[Right Leg of the Forbidden One, ATK: 200]
[Exodia the Forbidden One, ATK: 1000]
[Treasure Panda, ATK: 1100] ×2
The two [Treasure Panda] monsters floating on the field looked normal enough.
Meanwhile, seeing two of Exodia's components—a head and a leg—Special Summoned separately was undeniably bizarre.
Especially that lone floating head, identical to the head of [The Legendary Exodia Incarnate] beside it, creating the uncanny illusion of 'split-head operations'.
Alice asked curiously, "Your Highness, what exactly are you trying to do?"
In an instant, flooding the field with dismembered parts was certainly a dramatic display.
Albeit no matter how one looked at it, Exodia acting 'independently' on the field still shouldn't have any real combat power.
"Spell Card [Double Summon]! I gain one additional Normal Summon this turn!"
"An additional Normal Summon?"
"Then, I Tribute all five monsters on my field! I Tribute Summon—[Exodia, the Legendary Defender]!"
Blinding white light of release swept across the field. This absurdly excessive Tribute Summon used five monsters as sacrifices—more than even a God Card.
"Forge your massive body into the walls of the kingdom! Seal, then release—[Exodia, the Legendary Defender]!"
[Exodia, the Legendary Defender] Level 10│DARK│Spellcaster│? ATK│? DEF
[This card cannot be Special Summoned. ①: This card can also be Summoned by Tributing 5 monsters.]
Replacing [The Legendary Exodia Incarnate], chains of shattered seals whipping wildly, the colossal body of [Exodia, the Legendary Defender] stood in overwhelming majesty within the cliffside space of Dragon Ravine.
"This is the effect of Exodia, the Legendary Defender!"
[This card's Attack and Defense become the total of the original Attack and Defense of the monsters Tributed for its Summon.]
An effect similar to The Winged Dragon of Ra—absorbing the power of its sacrifices. However, since it totaled original values, [The Legendary Exodia Incarnate], whose original Attack was ?, was treated as having 0 Attack.
That meant Homar's five-tribute Summon totaled the following Attack values: 1100 from the two Treasure Pandas, 1000 from the head, and 200 from the right leg.
[Exodia, the Legendary Defender, ATK: 3400]
A final Attack of 3400—higher than Dark Law's.
And Exodia, the Legendary Defender also possessed a special victory condition.
[If this card Summoned by its ① method destroys in battle a DARK Fiend monster originally owned by your opponent, you win the Duel.]
When [Exodia, the Legendary Defender] Summoned using five Tributes destroys a dark fiend in battle, the Duel is immediately won.
At this point, Miles was rather glad he hadn't used a D/D/D Deck.
After all, the vast majority of D/D/D monsters were DARK Fiends. If any one of them were destroyed by Exodia, the Legendary Defender, the Duel would end on the spot.
"This is the kingdom's guardian deity that eradicates all darkness!"
After the magnificent Summon of [Exodia, the Legendary Defender], Homar, standing on the opposite cliff, raised his hand and declared the Battle Phase.
"Go! Destroy that utterly evil dark Masked HERO, Exodia!"
After being brutally countered by Dark Law, Homar had subjectively labeled the 'friendship HERO' as an embodiment of absolute evil.
Of course, to clarify—Dark Law only looked evil. He was a perfectly legitimate, righteous Masked HERO, and a Warrior.
The truly evil HEROes were the Fiend-type Evil HEROes.
If Miles had been fielding an Evil HERO and it were destroyed by Exodia, the Legendary Defender, the special victory condition would have immediately triggered.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
"—Exodia Flame Cannon!"
Demonic flames gathered in the giant palms, crimson heat warping the very space of Dragon Ravine as [Masked HERO Dark Law] was instantly reduced to ashes.
[Masked HERO Dark Law] destroyed
[Miles, LP: 2000 → 1000]
With Dark Law destroyed, Homar's Graveyard was finally unsealed.
"—Trap Card, activate [Hero Signal]!"
The instant Dark Law was destroyed, Miles flipped his Set card, projecting an H-shaped emblem calling forth a HERO across the canyon sky.
[When a monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower 'Elemental HERO' monster from your hand or Deck.]
"I Special Summon in Defense Position—[Elemental HERO Woodsman]!"
[Elemental HERO Woodsman] Level 4│EARTH│Warrior│1000 ATK│2000 DEF
With the same defensive value as Clayman—the strongest defensive low-level HERO—Woodsman answered Hero Signal's call and descended onto the canyon battlefield.
"A monster with 2000 Defense won't be able to stop Exodia!"
Even after being heavily countered, Homar had flipped the situation through the Roll of Fate. With complex emotions, he ended his turn.
"I Set two cards and end my turn. Your move, Miles."
Despite Dark Law's debuffs, the Legendary Defender still stood tall with 3400 Attack—like a war god dominating Dragon Ravine, seemingly impossible to overcome.
"My turn. Draw!"
However, calling forth Woodsman with [Hero Signal] had been precisely to deal with this situation.
Heroes fought in their own way.
"During my Standby Phase, [Elemental HERO Woodsman]'s effect activates!"
[Once per turn, during your Standby Phase: You can add 1 'Polymerization' from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.]
"I add the Spell Card [Polymerization] from my Deck to my hand!"
Breaking past the limits of low-level power through Fusion—that was the HERO way of fighting.
At this moment, Miles controlled the EARTH-Attribute Woodsman, and in his hand was the EARTH-Attribute Clayman previously searched by Shadow Mist.
"—Spell Card [Polymerization]! Combine the power of the earth here and create a brand-new HERO!"
A spiraling Fusion effect emerged, drawing Woodsman and Clayman in as materials.
At the same time, back at the Fusion Academy classroom, Ren suddenly felt the Spirit Eyes burn intensely.
"Eh?" As light surfaced, Ren watched in disbelief as a card suddenly appeared within her Spirit Eyes—despite not having been loaded into her Deck.
This was reverse card imprinting.
Through the Millennium Puzzle as a link, not only were newly acquired cards synchronized to Miles' Spirit Eyes, but cards Miles imprinted during duels were also synchronized back into the hosts' Decks.
"Could it be… Miles is using my Deck to duel?!" Ren realized instantly. "He's thinking about me!!"
"Elemental HERO who shakes the earth, take the Legendary Defender's power into your own hands! Fusion Summon—[Elemental HERO Gaia]!!"
[Elemental HERO Gaia] Level 6│EARTH│Warrior│Fusion│2200 ATK│2600 DEF
['Elemental HERO' monster + EARTH monster]
The gigantic earth-element HERO crashed down into the canyon, occupying the remaining half of the battlefield. Its massive arms locked in a contest of strength against the equally massive Legendary Defender.
[If this card is Fusion Summoned: Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; until the end of this turn, that monster's Attack becomes half, and this card gains that amount.]
"Absorb the Legendary Defender's power, Gaia!"
[Exodia, the Legendary Defender, ATK: 3400 → 1700]
[Elemental HERO Gaia, ATK: 2200 → 3900]
---
If you want to support, please consider Patreon and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going! [Patreon.com/RedZTL]