"You're saying there's a way to break through Revival Jam's barrier, Hoshino?"
After taking another look at the set cards in Hoshino's back row—and recalling her actions at the start of the turn—Atem immediately understood.
"I see now, Hoshino. If it's this move, it'll definitely work!"
Continuing the Battle Phase, after Mahad's radiant attack vaporized Revival Jam, Atem declared Okita's attack once more.
"I'm counting on you, Okita!"
"Leave it to the invincible Okita! You can relax completely, Starfish-head!"
With speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, Okita dashed forward, her sword reflecting the dim light of the underworld as it sliced through the air.
"You should know this level of attack is useless!"
Activating the Continuous Trap and Revival Jam combo again, Marik formed a viscous wall of water before him.
"Effect of Jam Defender—any attack you declare will be redirected to my Revival Jam!"
Swinging with full force, no matter how sharp and fast Okita's blade was, cutting into liquid meant she couldn't sever it cleanly.
[Revival Jam] destroyed
"Even though it's destroyed, you really can't cut liquid completely…" Okita frowned. "And that slime regenerates even after being vaporized by Mahad—slashing it won't work either, Starfish-head!"
"That's all we needed, Okita!"
Before Okita even launched her attack, Hoshino had already flipped her set card. The moment the destruction was confirmed, she reached into the Graveyard slot of her Duel Disk and pulled out a card.
"—Trap Card Beyond the Azure Sky! When Heroic Spirit – Okita Soji battles this turn, it becomes an Equip Card attached to her!"
The Trap Card that Okita had searched and set last turn transformed into a jet-like Shinsengumi-style armament, appearing behind her like a summer sky soaring overhead.
[Okita ATK 2500 → 3000]
"That's… attack power rivaling Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Eve exclaimed. "As expected of Ace Okita, so coo—"
"Cough!"
[Weakness] Counter +1
[Okita ATK 3000 → 2900]
Eve: "…so lame…"
Okita: "You were about to call me cool, weren't you?! Don't take it back!"
[After this card battles, place 1 "Weakness" Counter on it. This card loses 100 ATK for each "Weakness" Counter.]
"And with Beyond the Azure Sky equipped, Okita gains this effect—once per turn, when she destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can Special Summon 1 'Heroic Spirit' monster from your Graveyard with the same Level as that monster."
"Revival Jam is Level 4… and a Level 4 Heroic Spirit… don't tell me?!" Marik's expression darkened as Hoshino reached into her Graveyard.
"That's right!" Hoshino revealed the card. The only Level 4 Heroic Spirit in her Graveyard was the one she had discarded earlier.
"—I Special Summon Heroic Spirit – Marie Antoinette in Defense Position!"
[Heroic Spirit – Marie Antoinette ★★★★ (Level 4)][LIGHT][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 1400]
"Marie, who loves everyone, has arrived! Now, together—Vive la France!"
Pure white lily petals scattered as Marie descended gracefully onto the field.
"And now Marie's effect activates—when this card is Normal or Special Summoned, target 1 face-up monster on the field and change its battle position!"
Pointing at the newly reformed Revival Jam on Marik's field, Hoshino activated Marie's effect.
"Soft and cute Mr. Slime, please!" Marie winked playfully.
The pale blue slime trembled excitedly, as if stirred by Marie's charm, its body quivering as though ready to pounce at any moment.
["A queen and a slime… if this weren't a duel, this would be heading into very different territory."]
"The fact that you can even enter the Elf World says more about those Elves than it does about me!"
[Revival Jam ATK 1500]
"Oh! By switching the slime to Attack Position, attacking it will now deal damage!" Mokuba realized.
"Exactly—this is the strike that breaks absolute defense!"
At this point, the only monsters left on Hoshino and Atem's field that hadn't attacked were the 500 ATK Fuuma Token—and the Level 8 powerhouse Marik himself had given her: Lava Golem.
[Lava Golem ATK 3000]
"If this attack lands, it'll deal 1500 damage!" Mokuba calculated. "But the opponent still has 1900 Life Points left… otherwise, that would've been game!"
"I'll make up the missing damage!" Atem threw a Quick-Play Spell into his Duel Disk, activating it in sync with Lava Golem's blazing attack.
"—Quick-Play Spell Blind Spot Strike!"
[Target 1 face-up Defense Position monster your opponent controls and 1 face-up Attack Position monster you control; your monster gains ATK equal to that opponent monster's DEF until the end of the turn.]
On Marik's field, after the slime had been forcibly switched positions earlier, the only face-up Defense Position monster remaining was the Trap Monster that had blocked Jeanne's attack—Zoma the Spirit.
[Zoma the Spirit DEF: 500]
"Effect of Blind Spot Strike—I add Apophis's 500 DEF to Lava Golem's ATK!"
[Lava Golem ATK 3000 → 3500]
Eve exclaimed in amazement, "Not only are you counterattacking using Lava Golem, but even the opponent's final safeguard—Blind Spot Strike—is being turned against them with a Quick-Play Spell!"
"That's what you call giving them a taste of their own medicine!"
Even while trapped inside the iron cage of Lava Golem, Hoshino felt as though she were freely commanding the fiery giant—like wielding the Crown of Wisdom itself with effortless flair.
"I think I remember the name of this attack… that's right—go! Jonouchi Flame!!"
Eve: "(°ヘ°)? 'Jonouchi Flame'? Why does it have a name like that?!"
Putting aside whether the move was actually named after Jonouchi, the scorching wave of magma infused with 3500 ATK was very real—enough to completely evaporate Revival Jam and Marik's remaining Life Points.
"Damn it—activate my set Trap Card! Slime Explosion!"
Following Jam Defender, Marik flipped yet another Trap Card, causing Revival Jam to expand several times over—until it rivaled Lava Golem in size.
"Effect of Slime Explosion—when Revival Jam is attacked, I can Tribute both the slime and the attacking monster!"
The massively expanded slime lunged toward Lava Golem, its liquid body engulfing the blazing giant.
Water and magma collided—intense heat gave rise to thick steam that spread across the land of the dead, shrouding the once bleak and lifeless battlefield in swirling mist.
[Revival Jam] Tributed
[Lava Golem] Tributed
Tributing is not destruction—even Revival Jam could not regenerate this time. Instead, both monsters truly perished together in mutual annihilation.
"Not a finishing blow, but at least the situation isn't bad," Kaiba nodded.
With Hoshino and Atem at only 500 Life Points, if they failed to win this turn, Lava Golem's 1000 burn damage during the next Standby Phase would be fatal.
Worse still, due to the Field Spell Zombie World, they couldn't Tribute Summon using non-Zombie monsters—meaning they had no way to remove Lava Golem through conventional means.
So using this method to eliminate both Lava Golem and Revival Jam together was, as Kaiba said, not a bad outcome at all.
"Prison life, huh… finally free at last. Phew…"
After being trapped inside Lava Golem's iron cage for two turns, Hoshino tugged at her sweat-soaked clothes and let out a long sigh.
"Let's not do that sauna experience again."
"The Battle Phase isn't over yet, Hoshino…" Atem averted his gaze slightly, a faint blush crossing his face.
"But we don't have any monsters left that can attack," Hoshino said, glancing at the field. "Don't tell me you're relying on the Fuuma Token? With 500 ATK, I suggest switching it to Defense Position instead."
"You'll never know unless you try!" With a smile, Atem played one final Quick-Play Spell during the Battle Phase.
"—Activate Monster Recovery!"
[Target 1 monster you control that you originally owned; shuffle that monster and all cards in your hand into the Deck, then draw the same number of cards.]
"Using this effect, I shuffle Mahad on my field and my remaining four cards in hand back into the Deck!"
Mahad vanished in a flash of white light, and all five cards were returned to the Deck. After shuffling, the King drew five new cards.
"You sent Mahad back just to reshuffle? Did you brick, Yugi?" Hoshino wondered at first.
But the moment she saw the golden aura erupt beneath Atem's feet again as he drew his five cards, she once more understood what it meant to draw like the Pharaoh.
A true Pharaoh controls even the order of the Deck.
["A fake Pharaoh just goes 'HAHAHA.'"]
"These are the cards I've drawn!" Atem revealed one of them—Mahad.
[When this card is drawn, you can reveal it to Special Summon it from your hand.]
"Special Summon—Palladium Oracle Mahad!!"
[Palladium Oracle Mahad ATK 2500]
Descending once again in radiant golden light, Mahad returned to the field during the Battle Phase. Being shuffled back into the Deck and immediately summoned again—this was the first time Hoshino had seen such a tactic.
["So that's how you get extra attacks… did you learn something, aibo?"]
"Yeah… learned absolutely nothing…"
No way—that was basically magic.
"Once more, let the light of victory shine—Mahad!" Raising his arm, Atem pointed at the DARK attribute Zoma and declared Mahad's second attack.
"And don't forget—when battling a DARK monster, Mahad's ATK doubles!"
[Palladium Oracle Mahad ATK 2500 → 5000]
Just like before, Mahad's overwhelming 5000 ATK prepared to unleash a decisive blow against the Dark Soul Jeanne.
"Enough of this farce—return, Golden Lord!"
After silently observing for so long, Hela finally intervened, Special Summoning Eldlich the Golden Lord back onto her field.
[Eldlich the Golden Lord DEF 2800]
"The moment you re-summoned Mahad, I activate Trap Card Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine!"
[Special Summon 1 Zombie monster from your Deck or GY, but if you control no "Eldlich" monsters, you can only Special Summon "Eldlich" monsters with this effect.]
"With its effect, I Special Summon Eldlich the Golden Lord from my Deck!"
Almost simultaneously, as Mahad descended in radiant light, the Golden Lord reappeared on the battlefield, bathed in dazzling golden brilliance.
"But Eldlich doesn't have an effect like Revival Jam to block attacks!" Hoshino pointed out immediately.
"I never said I would block it—Trap Card Conquistador of the Golden Land!"
Hela revealed yet another set card—one of the resources she had recycled from the Graveyard last turn—using it without hesitation.
[Special Summon this card as a Normal Monster (Zombie/LIGHT/Level 5/ATK 500/DEF 1800) (this card is also still a Trap), then, if you control "Eldlich the Golden Lord", you can destroy 1 face-up card on the field.]
"Crush and conquer, Golden Lord!" Pointing her skeletal finger at Mahad, Hela declared, "By this Trap's effect—destroy Palladium Oracle Mahad!"