"The moment the altar is completed will be the moment you die!"
Ludger paused for a beat, then said coldly.
"Well, that aside, because of 'Spider Web's effect, my 'Earth's Arachne' attacked last turn, so this turn it still can't change its battle position."
But in the next instant he shifted his tone, grinning viciously.
"But even so, its effect can still be activated!
Earth's Arachne, effect activate! Once per turn, choose one face-up monster on your opponent's field, and absorb it as an Equipment Card for this card.
Absorb 'Great Saturn' for me as well!"
The spider-woman monster once again fired out strands of Spider Silk, quickly binding the limbs of Great Saturn on the opponent's field. With overwhelming force she yanked Saturn's massive body along with its ring over, wrapping it up into a round, fat cocoon and binding it beneath her.
"Damn it!" Leo felt it was a waste. "We finally summoned such a strong monster, and it got absorbed again..."
Ludger burst out laughing: "Right now you're exactly like prey that's fallen into the very center of the web. The more you struggle, the tighter the Spider Web will bind from all directions. In the end you won't be able to do anything but watch helplessly as the Earth-Bound God descends from this altar of god."
He paused, then chuckled: "Well, by that time it won't matter who you are. In the end you'll all just become sacrifices for the Earth-Bound God."
The others, watching this situation unfold, more or less felt nervous on "Godwin's" behalf. Only Akiza, who had personally experienced Saturn's terror, seeing the opponent absorb Great Saturn exactly as she expected, faintly felt she could already foresee what was coming next.
This leader of the Dark Markers seemed completely unaware, but if anyone here was the prey caught in the web, it might well be him.
He just hadn't realized it yet.
"Well, Earth's Arachne can't attack this turn. Then I'll set two more cards, and end my turn."
With a sweep of Ludger's hand, two more Cover Cards appeared in his back row.
Leo grew even more agitated: "Damn it, in this Spider Web Field Spell the battle tempo is being dragged out. At this rate we'll just have to watch the Earth-Bound God be summoned..."
"Calm down, Leo." Yusei said. "If it's that Godwin, he'll definitely have a way to deal with it."
Yugen: "My turn, draw!"
"In this turn's Standby Phase, I activate the effect of the Magic Card 'Take Over 5' from the Graveyard. Remove this card in the Graveyard and its same-name card in the Card Deck from the game, then draw one card from the deck."
Yugen drew again.
"Next, since there is a Special Summoned monster on the opponent's field and no monster on my own field, I activate the Magic Card 'Adversity's Treasure Scroll', and draw two more cards from my Card Deck."
"Then the effect of 'Speed Attack Synchroist' in my hand," Yugen said. "By sending one Monster Card from my hand to the Graveyard, Speed Attack Synchroist can Special Summon itself."
Yugen discarded a card from his hand to the Graveyard.
"Special Summon 'Speed Attack Synchroist'!"
What appeared on the field was a small robot wearing a wide-brimmed hat, with the look of a western cowboy, holding a cowboy-style Revolver in its hand, a red cape billowing behind it in the wind.
[Speed Attack Synchroist, Attack Power 700]
Jack: "Another monster the same as Yusei's?"
Yusei said nothing. Indeed, Speed Attack Synchroist was also one of his favorite core low-levels.
Yugen: "Next I Normal Summon 'Harmony Supporter'!"
A tiny robot with a pot-lid haircut was summoned to the field, a yellow scarf covering most of its face, leaving only a pair of small green eyes visible.
[Harmony Supporter, Attack Power 100]
"Then I activate the effect of the Continuous Trap 'Blood Compensation'."
With a sweep of Yugen's hand, the Continuous Trap in his back row flashed gold again, as though fresh blood was dripping down from the Katu.
[Yugen, LP 3500 → LP 3000]
"I pay 500 Life Points to Normal Summon another monster from my hand." Yugen said. "Normal Summon 'Screw Hedgehog'!"
A cute golden hedgehog appeared, its back covered in screws.
[Screw Hedgehog, Attack Power 800]
"Level 5, Adjusted Monster 'Speed Attack Synchroist'!
Level 2, Screw Hedgehog!
Level One, Harmony Supporter!
Star-Tuning!"
[5+2+1=8]
"Gathered fighting spirit shall awaken the roaring Demon God, and become a radiant road of light!"
Yugen raised his arm high.
"Synchro Summon! Shatter everything——
——Waste Destruction King!!!"
Waste Destruction King was a mecha with extremely high face value, sporting a Gundam-style head design and heavy armor. Its four steel fists were all clenched, each one gathering burning energy inside.
Yusei's eyes lit up: "Good! Waste Destruction King's power can break through this situation!"
The three low-levels he'd just used for Synchro, and now the Waste Destruction King that appeared, were all cards Yusei favored. This person's card choices were so similar to his own that Yusei couldn't help but feel a stronger sense of kinship.
"Harmony Supporter's effect." Yugen said. "When this card is sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material, I draw one card from my Card Deck."
Yugen drew one more card from his deck.
"Then Waste Destruction King's effect activates!"
Yugen swept his hand.
"When Waste Destruction King is successfully Synchro Summoned, based on the number of non-Adjusted Synchro Materials used to summon it, I can destroy up to that number of cards."
Ludger frowned.
"Non-Adjusted Synchro Materials... in that Synchro just now, the non-Adjusted materials were Screw Hedgehog and Harmony Supporter."
"Exactly. So I can choose up to two cards on the field to destroy."
Yugen pointed at the giant web in the sky.
"First card: the Field Spell 'Spider Web'!"
"Oh, oh, he's taking out that annoying Field first!" Leo said. "Without the Field, even if he summons the Earth-Bound God it's just a tiger with its fangs pulled—nothing to be scared of!"
"And the second card I'm going to destroy is..."
Yugen pointed to the back row on the opponent's side, that huge block of metal bound tight by Spider Silk.
"Destroy 'Great Saturn'!"
The instant he declared this, almost everyone was taken aback in surprise... everyone except Akiza Izinski.
Even if he didn't want his monster being exploited by the opponent, this seemed a bit stupid. No matter how you looked at it, he should be blowing up that spider-woman monster. If that spider monster is destroyed, the equipped Great Saturn will naturally be destroyed as well.
Meanwhile Akiza only thought, There it is.
Only she knew that blowing up that spider wouldn't work. Because Great Saturn's effect only triggers when it's destroyed by the effect of a card controlled by the opponent.
If Yugen chose to destroy 'Earth's Arachne', then with the equipped monster destroyed, Great Saturn as an Equipment Card would automatically be destroyed due to its equip target being lost, which does not satisfy the condition of "destroyed by opponent's effect", and the self-destruct tactic wouldn't go off.
Having once been burned by Saturn herself, Akiza at this moment even felt like laughing, a little eager to see how this Dark Markers leader would react next.
"When Great Saturn is destroyed by the opponent's effect and sent to the Graveyard, both players take damage equal to its Attack Power." Yugen said.
Ludger was startled.
"A suicide strike... you want mutual destruction?"
"Ahaha, sorry, mutual destruction is way too lame."
Yugen snapped his fingers with a grin.
"Activate Cover Card, Trap Card 'Natural Reflection'!
For this turn, all effect damage inflicted to my Life Points by the opponent is reflected back entirely at the opponent!"
Ludger: "!!!"
Damage reflection... this is bad!
Originally, Great Saturn's self-destruct would make both sides take 2800 damage each. If the opponent's share of that damage is reflected back at him...
Wouldn't that be an instant 5600 points!?