The heavy rain, now, seemed to have become the whetstone atop the spire; every drop that smashed against the deck carried a chilling, murderous cold.
"My turn, draw!!"
Sasori suddenly swung his right arm, his fingertips slicing across the top of the Deck and scattering a string of fine water droplets. His breathing was as heavy as an overworked steam engine, and his golden vertical pupils locked onto the card that surfaced.
"Hisaki Kuga… you're no longer human!"
His voice was hoarse, like two rusted iron plates grinding hardly against each other.
He looked at that 'Winda'... a grotesque form stitched together from purple threads and rotting flesh. That was Yumi, that was Yumi whom he would recognize even if reduced to ashes.
Watching her being hung midair like a mere tool, his heart felt as if it was being crushed by a claw full of barbs.
Trash like this… letting him exist for even one more second is a stain upon the air itself!
"Sa↑so↓ri, it seems you still haven't understood the situation, huh?"
Hisaki stood at the edge of the magic circle, spreading his arms exaggeratedly as the rain drenched his expensive shirt. As if he had heard the greatest joke in the world, his twisted expression grew even more grotesque under the flashing lightning.
"Before you finish that boring 'speech of justice,' I'll generously explain Winda's effect! El Shaddoll Winda, second effect—so long as this child is on the field, each player can only perform one Special Summon per turn! In other words, those sewer frogs of yours won't even get a chance to crawl out!"
Sasori did not respond. He merely lowered his head slowly, his disheveled purple hair covering his expression. Only the black mist seeping from the edge of his Duel Disk hinted at the terror about to erupt.
Hisaki adjusted his glasses, assuming the defeated dog before him had given up all resistance.
"What's wrong? Crushed by despair? Don't worry, I'll let Yumi personally send you to—"
"I activate the Spell Card, [Shield & Sword]!!!"
Sasori suddenly raised his head, his furious roar tearing apart Hisaki's mockery.
"What?!"
"When this card is activated, all face-up monsters on the field switch their original Attack and Defense until the End Phase!"
Golden light burst through the rain. Winda, who had stood like an immovable mountain, emitted a piercing metallic distortion. Her once absolute 2200 Attack collapsed instantly under the forced distortion of the rules!
[El Shaddoll Winda, ATK: 2200 → 800]
"Tch, so it's this kind of outdated tech card, huh?"
Hisaki spat disdainfully onto the ground, the smile on his face turning extremely sinister.
"Only a fool like you, hiding in the gutters and playing with frogs, would use such a stupid card.
"Your strategy is as nauseating as sewer frog piss, Sa↗so↘ri↗!"
"Shut your mouth and watch closely!"
Sasori's finger slammed heavily onto the Duel Disk.
"I activate the first effect of [Swap Frog] in my hand: I discard one WATER monster from my hand, and Special Summon this card! I send [Ronintoadin] to the Graveyard—appear, Swap Frog!!"
A surge of azure water exploded across the deck, and a strange frog carrying a massive scroll leapt out from the curtain of rain.
"Next, its second effect: when it is Normal or Special Summoned, I send one Level 2 or lower Aqua monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I send [Substitoad] to the Graveyard!"
Sasori's gaze was cold without the slightest ripple, his fingertip pointing toward the pitiful figure entangled in threads.
"Battle Phase! Swap Frog, attack Winda!! Get out of Yumi's body… right now!!!"
"GRAAAAH!!"
Swap Frog let out a thunderous roar, its powerful hind legs bursting forward as it slammed into that metallic body like a cannonball.
Right then, Sasori closed his eyes.
Yumi, forgive me… with this form, you… should never exist in this world!
BOOM!!!
The shockwave of the explosion carried the rotten stench of Shaddoll energy as it scattered outward. Winda's frail body shattered instantly under the impact of 1000 Attack, breaking into countless severed purple threads that drifted away into the storm.
[Hisaki Kuga, LP: 8000 → 7800]
"Ah… AAAAAH!!!"
Hisaki suddenly bent over, clutching his face as he let out a horrifying scream. It was the soul feedback brought by the Shadow Duel, the searing pain rushing through his nerves straight into his brain.
"Wonderful… what wonderful pain! This feeling like my soul is being torn apart… is this the 'price' of failing to protect your younger sister as an older brother? Amazing!!
"But Sasori boy, this level of tickling won't save you!"
He suddenly straightened up, his expression twisted to its limit, trembling fingers pointing at Sasori.
"Next, it's my turn—"
"You won't have a next turn."
Sasori coldly interrupted his delusion. The black mist on his Duel Disk had thickened to an almost liquid state.
"Wha… what? At the end of the Battle Phase, what can trash like you possibly do?!"
Sasori did not answer. He simply revealed a card that had just been sent to the Graveyard at the edge of his Duel Disk. His gaze was like that of someone looking at a corpse.
The torrential rain gathered at the top of the tower into a rapid drumbeat, each strike like a funeral bell tolling upon the soul.
"My turn isn't over yet."
Sasori's voice was frighteningly low. Within the surging dark purple mist, he slowly drew a card, his movements mechanical and precise.
"Spell Card—[Monster Reborn]. Come back, shadow lurking in the mire—[Substitoad]!"
With a shrill croak, the pink-and-black frog that had just been sent to the Graveyard leapt back onto the field. Its viscous skin glistened with a sickening sheen in the rain, but to Sasori now, it was the perfect executioner.
"Substitoad's effect activates! I Tribute one monster on my field to Special Summon a monster with 'Frog' in its name from the Deck. And this effect… has no once-per-turn limit!"
Sasori's finger suddenly pointed toward Swap Frog on the field, his gaze devoid of any human warmth.
"I Tribute Swap Frog! From the Deck, Special Summon the second—[Swap Frog]!"
"Not over yet! The second Swap Frog's effect activates—I send the second [Ronintoadin] from the Deck to the Graveyard! Then I activate Substitoad's effect again, Tribute Swap Frog, and Summon the third [Swap Frog]! Send the third [Ronintoadin] to the Graveyard!"
The muscles on Hisaki's face twitched, the twisted smile freezing upon his pale face. He unconsciously took half a step back, watching as Substitoad tirelessly devoured, expelled, and devoured again on the field.
It was an endless ouroboros.
"Tribute! Special Summon! Third Ronintoadin to the Graveyard!"
"Tribute! Special Summon—[Poison Draw Frog]!"
"Tribute! Special Summon—[Poison Draw Frog]!"
At this moment, the flow of time seemed to be shredded by this series of monotonous yet insane actions. Sasori was like a precise execution machine, constantly pulling from the Deck, constantly dumping those green cards into the Graveyard.
One, two, five… until the Graveyard piled up with a full twenty-four cards bearing the name "Frog," the viscous darkness almost taking on physical form.
"Ha… haha…"
Hisaki suddenly let out a few dry laughs. Forcing himself upright, he pointed at Sasori's seemingly fragile frogs and loudly mocked him.
"What kind of circus act are you putting on, Sa↑so↓ri!
"After all that, you're just hopping around non-stop!
"Even if you fill that stinking Graveyard, trash monsters like these can't even touch a single hair on me! This is just pitiful bluffing before death, isn't it?!"
Sasori slowly raised his head, rain sliding down from the tip of his nose. Reflected in his golden pupils was Hisaki's face, already beginning to crumble from fear.
"Bluffing? You won't be laughing for long.
"—From my hand, I activate the Continuous Spell, [Mass Driver]!"
WOOOOM!!
With the shaking of the ground, a massive cannon radiating cold silver metallic light rose from the earth. The electromagnetic beam surging within its barrel locked onto Hisaki's chest.
"Mass Driver's effect: each time I Tribute a monster on my field, you take 400 damage. And the 'trash' in my Graveyard… are now the fuel that will send you to hell."
Sasori extended his hand, his fingertips gliding through the air as if plucking invisible strings.
"The second effect of [Ronintoadin] in the Graveyard activates: I banish one 'Frog' from the Graveyard to Special Summon this card. I banish [Treeborn Frog]—descend here, Ronintoadin!"
A glowing green frog appeared within the firing chamber of the Mass Driver.
"Then—activate Mass Driver's effect, Tribute the Special Summoned Ronintoadin! Take this, Hisaki Kuga!"
BOOM!!!
The cannon roared, and a silver energy projectile carved a long trail through the rain before striking Hisaki Kuga square in the abdomen.
"AAAAAAH!!!"
Amid a scream as his soul was scorched, Hisaki was slammed against the edge of the tower by the force, a trace of dark red seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"By the way… Ronintoadin's self-revival, and Mass Driver's firing effect… neither has a once-per-turn limit."
Sasori's voice was flat, without fluctuation, yet it filled Hisaki with unprecedented terror.
"W-What?! These outdated cards… this kind of loophole-like loop…"
"Despairing? When you turned Yumi into that thing, you should have expected a day like this."
Sasori once again pulled two cards from the Graveyard, his movements still astonishingly steady.
"First banish—Special Summon Ronintoadin.
"Second banish—Special Summon Ronintoadin… how many souls do you have left to feed this machine? Twenty times? Or thirty?"
"Impossible! How could something like this be allowed!! Someone… save me…!!"
Hisaki's glasses fell to the ground in the chaos, the lenses instantly shattered by the nonstop rain.
He desperately clutched the railing, watching the purple-haired boy step closer and closer, as the world before his eyes began to collapse under violent electric shocks.
"Prepare to die, Hisaki Kuga. I will eliminate you here… right now!"
Sasori slammed down the firing trigger on his Duel Disk for the final time.
...
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