"My turn. Draw." The Bishop muttered gloomily.
"At the moment of this Standby Phase," Aster snapped his fingers.
"Effect of Destiny HERO – Dogma!
During the opponent's Standby Phase, halve their LP!"
Dogma's eyes glowed red, and a surge of energy erupted. The Bishop let out a low roar as his LP plummeted again.
[Bishop, LP 1500 → LP 750]
"You little brat..."
The Bishop steadied himself, glaring coldly.
Who the hell taught you to play HERO like this?
Is this the legendary power unique to rookie pros with Destiny HERO?
"Time is passing, and so is your life." Aster chuckled, his gaze momentarily sharp and sinister. "And... your fate."
The surrounding black-robed onlookers looked at each other, none daring to speak.
But they were all thinking the same thing:
Will the Bishop really be burned to death like this?
That would be such an embarrassing way to go...
"Enough nonsense, kid." The Bishop barked. "The duel isn't over yet!
I Flip Summon 'Des Lacooda' again!"
[Des Lacooda, ATK 500]
"When Des Lacooda is Flip Summoned, I draw a card!"
The Bishop drew another card, then picked up the monster card from his Duel Disk.
"I tribute 'Des Lacooda' for a Tribute Summon!
I summon the knight who wields the power of shattered dimensions—
—Divine Knight Ishzark!"
A dazzling white light burst forth, and the holy white knight, sword in hand, descended. Countless particles of white light danced around him like sprites.
[Divine Knight Ishzark, ATK 2300]
"Battle!" shouted the Bishop. "First, Divine Knight Ishzark attacks 'Destiny HERO – Dogma'!"
The holy knight raised his sword, charging forward, the blade wrapped in white light, as if part of the sacred radiance itself, slashing down at Dogma.
"Suiciding with a weak monster?" Aster frowned, but then smiled. "Interesting. I'll accept that challenge.
'Destiny HERO – Dogma', fight back!"
Dogma roared, his eyes flashing red in anger at being challenged by a weaker knight, and he punched back in retaliation.
But just before the clash, the Bishop quickly pulled a card from his hand.
"Quick-Play Spell 'Blind Spot Strike'!
Select one face-up Defense Position monster on your opponent's field and one Attack Position monster on your field.
Until the end of the turn, your monster gains ATK equal to that monster's DEF!"
Aster: "My Defense Position monsters are Captain Tenacious and Dunker..."
"Correct. I choose 'Destiny HERO – Dunker'," said the Bishop. "Dunker has 1700 DEF, so Divine Knight gains 1700 ATK!"
[Divine Knight Ishzark, ATK 2300 → ATK 4000]
Empowered, the Knight surged ahead, slashing Dogma straight through the chest with a single blow, exploding Dogma into fragments!
[Aster, LP 4000 → LP 3400]
"Divine Knight Ishzark's effect: any monster destroyed by this card in battle is banished. So 'Destiny HERO – Dogma' is banished again!"
The Bishop spoke solemnly.
"Disappear into another dimension again, blood-draining dark HERO!"
He then raised his Duel Disk as a golden light shone from his Graveyard.
"Then, the effect of Zeta Reticulant in the Graveyard!
When an opponent's monster is banished, I Special Summon an 'Eva Token'!"
[Eva Token, DEF 500]
"Burn me, will you? Let's see you burn again." The Bishop's eyes were bloodshot. "And that Dunker should die too!
Zeta Reticulant, attack 'Destiny HERO – Dunker'!"
Zeta's claws tore the air, leaving three transparent slashes that pierced right through Dunker, who then exploded.
The Bishop let out a long breath.
He still hadn't dealt with the indestructible Captain Tenacious protected by D-Shield, but at least those two annoying burn monsters were gone. That gave him a breather.
"Aster Phoenix, I don't know why you're against my Church, but this is the biggest mistake of your life." The Bishop said gravely.
"Why?"
Aster closed his eyes and smiled.
"Yeah, if it was me last year, I'd never have imagined doing all this now, in this place. But if I have to give a reason... I suppose it's to repay a debt."
"What?" The Bishop frowned.
Aster continued, almost to himself:
"Now that I think about it, my whole earlier life was stuck on that one day as a child. The day my father died, my time stopped too. After that, my life was all about revenge—nothing more.
If I lost that, I probably wouldn't even know why I exist anymore."
"Oh?"
The Bishop's eyes lit up.
Genius duelist Aster Phoenix—was this his inner darkness?
A duelist with darkness in his heart—the Church's favorite.
"Is that so?" The Bishop smiled. "Revenge? That's understandable. There's so much injustice and evil in this world. Within my Church, countless brothers and sisters have suffered as you did..."
Aster looked at him for a moment, then laughed.
"If you're trying to recruit me to your cause, sorry, you're too late."
"What?" The Bishop frowned.
"Because I've already boarded someone else's ship, and I'm afraid I'll never get off it in this life."
Aster glanced at his Duel Disk and deck.
"If it weren't for that person, I'd never have learned that part of my father still survives in this world, nor found a new purpose in life and moved forward."
"From now on, my time finally moves forward again. My life can continue."
Aster shook his head, a smile returning to his face.
"Sorry, but I doubt trash like you would understand, even if I explained. Doesn't matter, it'll be over soon anyway."
He smiled coldly.
"Don't worry, it'll be quick. You won't feel pain for long.
My turn—draw!"
Aster declared.
"During this Standby Phase, the effect of 'Destiny HERO - Captain Tenacious' activates!
If it's on the field during your Standby Phase, you can Special Summon a 'Destiny HERO' destroyed by battle last turn from the Graveyard."
Bishop: "!"
So this damn thing is not just indestructible with absolute defense, but it can revive allies too?
With D-Shield, Captain Tenacious is immortal, and as long as it's on the field, it can revive an ally every turn.
And what Aster wants to revive is, of course—
Come on! Destiny HERO – Dunker!"
[Destiny HERO – Dunker, DEF 1700]
The Bishop twitched.
Damn it, do your Destiny HEROes ever stay in the Graveyard?
"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Doctor D'.
By banishing one 'Destiny HERO' from the Graveyard, I can revive another 'Destiny HERO' from the Graveyard."
Aster called out.
"I banish 'Destiny HERO - Doom Lord' from the Graveyard and revive the card that Dunker sent to the Graveyard last turn—
—Come forth, Destiny HERO - Disk Commander!"
[Destiny HERO - Disk Commander, DEF 300]
"Disk Commander's effect: when Special Summoned from the Graveyard, draw two cards from the deck."
Aster drew two cards, then looked up, calm.
"The final blow—this ends it.
'Destiny HERO – Dunker's effect: discard a Destiny HERO from my hand to inflict 500 damage to you.'"
The Bishop's heart skipped, but he tried to stay calm: "What? My LP is still 750, that's more than enough..."
But Aster cut him off: "I discard these two cards from my hand in succession:
'Destiny HERO - Defender', 'Destiny HERO - Dasher'. Each one inflicts 500 damage.
That's a total of 1000 damage."
The Bishop: "!"
So Dunker's effect isn't even once per turn!?
With two Destiny HEROes discarded, Dunker powered up.
The Bishop's face twitched uncontrollably, contorting in a comical grimace.
What kind of HERO are you!?
Dunker slammed down his fist, sending two spheres of light flying at the Bishop's face, exploding with a thunderous blast.
[Bishop, LP 750 → LP 0]