The three great Fallen Angels, descend!
In just an instant, the three great Fallen Angels were summoned once again. Pitch-black angels stood all across the field, each spreading their wings and floating in midair beneath the black heavens, and behind them loomed that Evil God of darkness condensed from pure fear.
Judai's expression grew grim. "The next Evil God… is coming."
"Correct."
The Evil God said coldly.
"And it's not just 'one of the Evil Gods.' The one that will descend today… is the God who holds the supreme position even among the Three Evil Gods!"
When he raised that card in his hand high into the air, the thick darkness released from it seemed to swallow up all sense of direction.
"Shadow Creation! The gathering of all the world's sins, the ultimate Evil God—
—Evil God: Divine Incarnation, Summon!!!"
Everyone's vision went pitch-black in that instant, and the sound of their own breathing exploded in their eardrums. The formless pressure felt as if it seeped through their spines from all directions, a fine burning pain blooming across the surface of their skin, like thousands of needles plucking the nerves of fear.
Then that mass of darkness burst open.
What descended onto the field was an enormous sphere of grotesquely exaggerated size, like a sun gnawed by a celestial hound, exposing its hideous core, its chaotic surface rippling with waves like liquid metal.
Clearly it was nothing more than a pitch-black sphere, yet it felt as though it contained an entire world within. A world devoured by fear and despair, a world that made one's body tremble.
"It's finally shown itself." Kaiba focused his gaze. "The final Evil God."
This was not his first time seeing it, but back then he'd only ever had a single brief encounter. Yet even with that one glimpse, the pressure it exuded was unforgettable for a lifetime.
Evil God: Divine Incarnation, descends!
[Evil God: Divine Incarnation, Attack Power ?]
Judai: "Another Monster with unknown Attack Power…"
But by now he had seen plenty, and understood well that the more something looked like this, the harder it usually was to deal with. Especially when this God's appearance was such a bizarre sphere, which at first glance inevitably brought to mind Yugen's egg card.
Of course, the egg was originally the Sun God, the supreme existence among the Phantom Gods, while the Divine Incarnation occupied a position among the Evil Gods that stood opposed to the Winged Divine Dragon. The Winged Divine Dragon is a golden egg, the Divine Incarnation a black egg; in that sense, the two do mirror each other.
"Evil God: Divine Incarnation's Attack Power is indeterminate."
As its true form was summoned to the field, the aura of the Evil God conducting the Duel surged once more, and he said arrogantly,
"But the Divine Incarnation's Attack Power will forever be higher than its opponent's.
Its Attack Power automatically becomes the highest Attack Power on the field +1!"
Yes, it's always "highest Attack Power on the field +1," as if paying homage to the Winged Divine Dragon's effect of "reducing the Duelist's Life Points to 1 and converting them into Attack Power."
If these two Gods were to face off, and the Winged Divine Dragon's side happened to have just sacrificed its Duelist's Life Points into Attack Power, then the Divine Incarnation appeared and its Attack Power became exactly the Winged Divine Dragon's Attack Power +1… the result of their battle would, without question, be that the Duelist on the Winged Divine Dragon's side would take precisely 1 point of battle damage. No more, no less, not a single point of overflow or waste—clean decapitation.
It's an ability that practically points at the Winged Divine Dragon's nose and mocks it.
Of course, the Physical Card version of the Divine Incarnation was also modified. The Physical Card Divine Incarnation's Attack Power is the highest Monster's Attack Power on the field +100, and it was additionally given the effect "after it is summoned, the opponent cannot activate any Magic Trap Card for the next two turns," which, back in the day, made it quite the self-locking lockdown tool if you could actually bring it out.
But the price for the Physical Card gaining this self-lock effect was that it lost all the resistances it had in the original work, and even its noble Divine Attribute was changed to Dark Attribute. Its unique "Evil Divine Beast Race" in the original was changed to "Demon Race"—you could say all its dignity and cool factor were completely stripped away.
At this moment, Yugen had no Monster on his side of the field; the Monster with the highest Attack Power on the field was Root of Fear.
Thus they saw that dark sphere float to one side of Root of Fear and slowly descend. Then its chaotic, smooth surface suddenly bulged with twisted spikes, in an instant transforming into a layer of bones wrapping its body. The black spherical center split open, changing into the form of a gigantic Demon; legs sprouted beneath it, and with a heavy crash, it landed on the ground.
[Evil God: Divine Incarnation, Attack Power ? → Attack Power 4001]
"This Evil God has the ability to change its form at will," Judai said. "It actually turned into the shape of its comrade?"
Of course, Evil God: Root of Fear's effect applies to the entire field, halving the Attack Power of all Monsters except itself, friend and foe alike. But the Divine Incarnation that just appeared is the big brother of the Evil Gods, the Evil God with the highest rank. The effect of a lower God is completely ineffective against a higher God.
"Battle!" the Evil God shouted. "Both great Evil Gods are unaffected by any Trap Card's effect, and even if you had another Trap like last turn that negated battle damage, it'd be pointless. You can block the first blow, but not the second.
Evil God: Divine Incarnation, direct attack!"
The Divine Incarnation, in its Root of Fear form, took the first step forward, its bone-covered fist tearing through the air in a straight punch. Even without a direct hit, the Divine Power carried by the fist's momentum alone was enough to batter the soul.
An ordinary Duelist, even if they had a way to respond, would not possess enough Spiritual Power to activate it in the face of a God of this caliber.
Yugen, of course, was no ordinary Duelist.
"Then I activate my Cover Card!" Yugen said. "Trap Card 'Precise Defense.'
Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Monster from the Graveyard in Defense Position back to the field!"
A streak of golden light shot out from the Graveyard on Yugen's Duel Disc.
"From the Graveyard, Special Summon 'Iron Knight - Jia Fried' in Defense Position!"
The black iron-armored knight raised that steel Shield in front of him with unyielding resolve. The Evil God's heavy fist slammed straight into that tiny Shield, the fist's diameter even larger than Iron Knight's entire body.
"Using a miscellaneous Monster to block is useless," the Evil God said. "There's still Root of Fear's strike!"
Yugen said, "The Monster Special Summoned by Precise Defense cannot be destroyed in any way this turn."
"Nani?"
The Power of Evil God surged mightily from that fist, blasting past Iron Knight's body. The black knight swayed on his feet, but stubbornly held his ground and did not fall.
The Evil God narrowed his eyes.
"Cannot be destroyed by battle during this turn"—this effect applies to Iron Knight, not to the Evil God, so Trap resistance is useless here. Iron Knight's body itself had become an absolute defensive Shield that even a God could not pierce.
"Then the turn ends," the Evil God said coolly. "Looks like you've bought yourself one more turn of life."
"That's right." Yugen smiled. "And every extra turn I get… makes things worse for you, doesn't it?"
"Hah."
The Evil God let out a cold laugh.
"Now that my true body has been successfully summoned, I have two great Evil Gods on my field. What good is it even if you live one more turn?"
"Well… that's hard to say."