"I add the Ritual Magic 'Super Soldier Ritual' from my Card Deck to my hand!"
Youyu immediately flashed the Ritual Magic he had just searched to his hand.
"Ritual Magic 'Super Soldier Ritual' activate!" Youyu raised the card above his head. "Tribute Monsters from my hand and field whose total Levels equal eight, and Ritual Summon the 'Black Luster Soldier' Ritual Monster from my hand!"
At the same time, a card popped out from Youyu's Graveyard.
"Effect of 'Arisen Gaia the Fierce Knight' in the Graveyard: when a 'Black Luster Soldier' Monster is Ritual Summoned, this card in the Graveyard can substitute as Ritual Material and be banished from the game!
So I use the Level 1 'Super Soldier Soul' in my hand and the Level 7 'Arisen Gaia the Fierce Knight' in the Graveyard as tributes to Ritual Summon—
—Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier, descend!!!"
Another Ritual Summon, a third descent!
The Strongest Warrior seemed to gain power beyond power through successive tempering. The Swordsman dropped from the heavens, Longsword swinging as Sword Qi crisscrossed, constructing a domain of chaos!
[Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier, ATK 3000]
After two back-to-back negations, the Light Dominator's ATK had already dropped below that of Black Luster Soldier!
"Battle!" Youyu swung his arm. "Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier, attack 'Arcana Force EX - The Light Ruler'!"
The Super Warrior slashed his sword, the time-rending Sword Qi tearing into the Light Dominator's body. The twin-headed dragon let out a shrill, mournful scream.
And Saiou's last Trap, as expected, flipped up: "Trap Card 'Hierophant's Staff'! Negate Destroy on the Light Dominator!"
"But battle damage still has to be calculated."
[Saiou, LP 5850 → LP 4850]
Saiou pulled a full-on reaction-face and jeered: "Too weak, far too weak! This so-called 'Strongest Warrior' is nothing more than that. Before the mighty Light Dominator he's not even worth mentioning!
Well then, I suppose that was your final means of attack, wasn't it? It really was a very pretty offensive, I'll give you that. But just relying on humans to try and shake the colossal force of destiny was never possible to begin with..."
"Oh? Really?" Youyu smiled. "Since you claim you can see through destiny, then you must also know what my last Set Card is, right?"
He pointed at the Set Card at his feet.
Saiou: "!"
He had no choice but to admit that he flinched for a moment, panic flashing through him.
"...Hmph, whatever it is doesn't matter." Saiou started talking tough. "Fate... sometimes doesn't let me see every tiny detail... but that's irrelevant!
The final destination of destiny will not change. In the end everything will turn to 'nothing' under the light of annihilation..."
"Tiny details, huh? I get it." Youyu nodded. "So it seems you actually don't know why I kept having Black Luster Soldier attack again and again, only to be defused by you again and again."
"?"
Saiou sensed the mood was going somewhere very wrong.
"I kept Summoning new Black Luster Soldiers, probing your setup and defenses while also draining your strength. Every time you neutralized one of my attacks, the ATK of 'Light Dominator' dropped... and at the same time more Trap Cards piled up in your Graveyard."
"...So what?"
"So that leads directly to this result right now."
Youyu swept his arm, sliding two cards into the Duel Disc.
"I Set two Trap Cards on the field."
Saiou's eyelids twitched.
Why specifically emphasize that they're Trap Cards?
"I send the Continuous Trap 'Magicians' Defense' on my field, along with the two Set Trap Cards, to the Graveyard as tribute, to call forth the Phantasm that rules over Traps—
—Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, Summon!!!"
"A Phantasm!?"
Saiou's eyelids jolted hard, his expression tightening in an instant.
Flames roared skyward like an erupting volcano! A pillar of searing heat ripped through the arena, a fire-dragon-like column twisting upward, crimson ash swirling across the sky!
A crimson dragon burst from the smoke, looming high above. Its roar exploded into a wave of red-hot sound, sweeping everything away!
Uria, Lord of Searing Flames—Summon!!!
"A Phan... Phantasm!?" Some of the spectators began to cry out.
"D-don't panic, it's destiny, all of it is destiny! Everything is within Lord Saiou's plan!"
But Saiou himself... yeah, he was panicking!
Saiou's face turned as ugly as it could get.
Pulling out a Phantasm at the final moment like this... destiny never mentioned anything about that, old man!
Come to think of it, destiny hasn't told him squat this time around...
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames' ATK becomes the number of Trap Cards in my Graveyard x 1000." Youyu said. "Right now I have three Traps in my Graveyard, so its ATK is 3000!"
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, ATK 3000]
Uria let out a proud roar, domineeringly taking position in front of Youyu, like it finally got a chance to come out for a stroll and had resolved to seize this opportunity to show off and earn some points with its master.
In other words, this Phantasm was very real. Back when Youyu first stuffed it in his pocket it was all "no way no way" and dead set against it, but somehow now they were all obedient as can be, even fighting to steal the spotlight...
Saiou quickly calmed himself.
Nothing to panic about. Even if it is a Phantasm, its ATK is only three thousand...
"Quick-Play Magic 'Raid from the Dark'!" Youyu said. "This card can only be activated after the end of the Battle Phase. Choose a Monster you Summoned this turn; you can conduct one more Battle Phase this turn, and only that Monster can attack one more time!" (Anime card)
Youyu swung his arm again.
"Battle! Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, attack 'Arcana Force EX - The Light Ruler'!"
Uria opened its jaws, spewing flames. The fire pillar spiraled forward, its twin wings beating with blazing heat.
"Muda!" Saiou shouted. "The Light Dominator cannot be destroyed this turn!"
"Battle damage still has to be calculated!"
"Heh, another mere thousand damage is completely insignificant..."
But before he could finish, Youyu flipped his final Set Card!
"Continuous Trap 'Hyper Blaze'!" Youyu declared. "When 'Uria, Lord of Searing Flames' battles, send 1 Trap Card from your Card Deck to the Graveyard!
This turn, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames' ATK becomes the total number of Trap Cards on both players' fields and in both Graveyards x 1000!"
"The total number of Traps on both sides... times a thousand!?" Saiou's expression instantly warped. "Nani!!??"
Trap after Trap surfaced in the air, each one ignited by the blaze in turn! They burned rapidly, like volcanic ash swirling around erupting magma, all of that power flooding straight into Uria's body!
Sixth Sense, The Material Lord, Spiritual Path, plus the 'Hierophant's Staff' and 'Reversal of Fate' Saiou had just activated this turn.
Oh, and 'Hyper Blaze' itself, along with the Trap Card it had just pitched from the Card Deck by its effect.
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames' ATK increases... by a total of 7000 points!!!"
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, ATK 3000 → ATK 10000]
"ATK... ten thousand!!??" Saiou was completely dumbstruck.
The flames in Uria's maw suddenly swelled several times over, the fire pillar piercing straight through the Light Dominator in a single blast! The power of annihilation was instantly suppressed before the Phantasm; that so-called ultimate Arcana Force looked like nothing but a joke under Uria's might!
"Impossible... impossible!"
Saiou's face twisted under the blast of heat, his voice breaking into a strangled scream.
"Destiny is fixed, it was decided long ago. It's impossible for me to...
...Aaaaaaaah!!!"
[Saiou, LP 4850 → LP 0]