"My turn, draw a card!"
Though he says he's drawing a card, Participant Marik has already adopted the local customs and started drawing slabs.
"Magic Card 'Silent Doom'!" Marik waved his hand to reveal a slab, "This card allows you to special summon a normal monster from your Graveyard in defense position.
Rise again, Armored Zombie!"
A mass of dark, gooey substance churned on the ground, and the zombie clad in tattered armor struggled to climb out of the murky pit, its green face dry and wrinkled like parched earth.
[Armored Zombie, Defense Points 0]
"Monsters sent to the Graveyard by 'Dark Sacrifice's' effect?" Dark Yugi contemplated.
Marik continued and targeted another slab in his hand: "Next, I sacrifice 'Armored Zombie' and 'Revival Jam' as tributes for the Tribute Summon—
—Red Ogre!"
Ominous currents swept across the field, and the crimson devil wielding a spiked Wolf Fang Club crashed heavily to the ground. Its fierce expression revealed two rows of sharp white fangs.
[Red Ogre, Attack Points 2800]
"Can this man summon such a powerful demon?" Priest Set muttered.
Not only Thief King Bakura, but there are others outside their group of priests who possess such formidable power?
"Red Ogre's effect allows you to send any number of cards from your hand to the Graveyard and return the same number of cards from your Graveyard to your hand."
Marik selected a slab to send to the Graveyard.
"Return 'Quintet Magician' to my hand!"
Red Ogre swung its massive iron club, unleashing an eerie black whirlwind. Quintet Magician quickly summoned a magic array to withstand it, but the ominous wind was too strange; the monster with "Destroy Resistance" couldn't resist this power and disintegrated into golden specks.
Since it's a Fusion Monster, Quintet Magician doesn't return to the hand but goes back to the Card Deck.
"Your field is empty now," Marik growled menacingly, "Attack, Red Ogre! Direct attack on Yugi!"
Red Ogre leaped into the air, the dust burst from its departing steps expanding like waves. The Wolf Fang Club, lifted high, crashed down with a mighty force.
"In this moment, activate Set Card - Power Boost! Discard a card from my hand; until the end of this turn, a monster on the field gains 1500 Attack Points!
I increase Red Ogre's attack strength!"
[Red Ogre, Attack Points 2800 → Attack Points 4300]
Attack power capable of a single lethal strike!
With the only "Quintet Magician" sent back to the hand, if this attack goes through, it will be Yugi's defeat!
"Pharaoh!" Some priests were starting to cry out.
Yugi's eyes sharpened, and he spoke in a deep voice, "Activate Set Card, Counter Trap Dark Bribe! Negate and destroy the activation of a magic or trap, allowing the opponent to draw a card as compensation."
He pointed to the slab among Marik's trap cards.
"Negate the effect of 'Power Boost'!"
[Red Ogre, Attack Points 4300 → Attack Points 2800]
Boom!
The spiked black iron club slammed into Yugi, fracturing the ground with a resounding crash, scattering countless stones outward.
[Yugi, LP 4000 → LP 1200]
"Pharaoh!"
Mahad eagerly tried to help but found himself blocked by an invisible barrier—the black transparent shield had somehow isolated the dueling pair from the priests outside.
The realm of the Darkness Game, where none can tread until the battle is decided.
The severe pain converted to physical damage made Yugi stagger a few steps back. The thwarted lethal attack left Marik disgruntled.
"Tch, always the lucky one," he sneered, "But due to 'Dark Bribe's' effect, I draw a card."
"At this moment, the effect of 'Gorz the Emissary of Darkness' in my hand is activated," Yugi said, "When you have no cards on your field and receive damage from the opponent, this card can be special summoned from your hand!
Come forth, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness!"
A black vortex swirled, and the emissary with flowing red hair and dark armor appeared magnificently, blades mounted on the back of its hand.
[Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Attack Points 2700]
"Gorz's subsequent effect," Yugi continued, "When this card is successfully special summoned due to this effect, if the damage received was battle damage, you can special summon an 'Emissary of Darkness Token'!"
Beside Gorz, a black vortex opened, and a female emissary with white armor appeared, wielding a gleaming white longsword.
"The Attack and Defense Points of the Emissary Token are based on the amount of battle damage I received," Yugi continued, "I took 2800 points of damage, so the Token's attack strength is 2800!"
[Emissary of Darkness Token, Attack Points 2800]
"Indeed, worthy of a Pharaoh," Priestess Isis said, "Even in adverse situations, he immediately summons such powerful minions to organize a counterattack..."
"Tch, just someone who failed to die,"
Marik sneered. Due to the effect of "Dark Bribe," a new slab was summoned to the field. He glanced at it and chose to activate it immediately.
"The drawn card is 'Pot of Greed,' I'll draw two more cards."
Having drawn two more slabs, Marik glanced at them and instantly opted to set them.
"I'll set two cards face down and end the turn."
A fleeting cruel smile emerged as he glanced at the covered cards by his feet.
The two cards he set are 'Malevolent Catastrophe' and 'Torture Wheel.'
'Malevolent Catastrophe,' a trap card that destroys all monsters at the moment of an opponent's attack declaration. (Anime effect)
No matter what kind of monster Yugi summons in the next turn, or how he attacks, this card has the ability to instantly annihilate the entire field!
And the other card, Torture Wheel, is the kind of Continuous Trap typical for introverted types.
This card selects a monster on the field, preventing it from attacking or changing its battle position, and deducts 500 Life Points from the controller of that monster during each preparation phase.
Yugi's Life Points are only 1200, and losing 500 per turn is quite painful.
"Simply killing you would be too dull," Marik licked his lips again, coldly laughing to himself, "I want to slowly torture you, making you experience your icy demise bit by bit!"
"My turn." Yugi placed his fingers on his Card Deck, "Draw card!"
A draw like golden stars illuminating the darkness.
Yugi's gaze shifted; upon drawing the card, he felt a mysterious tremor.
Fragments of an image flickered through his mind—
An eternal dark world, a majestic man stood on the ground, a cone-shaped golden pendant hanging from his chest, facing a massive demon soaring like a mountain.
The world crumbled, deities fell, and desperation shrouded all creation...
In a fleeting lapse, he quickly returned to the present.
Just now... were those my lost memories?