Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh!-Chapter 305 -

"Behold—the dragon of vengeance, shrouded in the flames of hell—[Black Dragon, Avenger Dragon]!!"

"Roooooar!!"

The dark, vengeful form of Critias roared fiercely in the direction Kaiba pointed.

Hoshino's face twitched slightly, unsure how to express their current feelings.

"This Kaiba... he really pulled it off, huh. An 'Avenger Dragon'... I don't know whether to praise Kaiba's creativity or The Fang of Critias' OP ability."

[Black Dragon, Avenger Dragon ★★★★★★★★★★(Level 10)][DARK][Dragon/Fusion/Effect][ATK 2700/DEF 2500]

[①: As long as this card remains face-up on the field, the effects of Trap Cards on the opponent's field are negated.]

Kaiba immediately initiated the attack phase, targeting Rafael's Guardian Elma.

[Guardian Elma ATK 1600]

"That nonsense about not sending monsters to the graveyard—dueling isn't your platform to preach beliefs! It's a cruel battlefield where honor is at stake. Turn to ash under the flames of vengeance! Attack, Avenger Dragon—Infernal Hellfire!!"

The fiery attack tore through the ground, blazing a destructive path and consuming Rafael's Guardian Elma.

[Rafael LP 1500 → 400]

"Now your graveyard has monsters in it, Rafael!"

Kaiba, smirking mischievously after the attack, seemed like he'd vented some pent-up frustration. It was clear that Rafael's defeat of Yugi still weighed heavily on Kaiba's mind.

Rafael, however, showed no signs of anger despite Kaiba's provocation. On the contrary, he remained unusually calm.

"Childish. Was that your final counterattack, Kaiba? Then I'll just say this duel ends here. The God Cards must come with me."

"Of course, it's not over! The Avenger Dragon's effect allows me to reveal a Trap Card from my hand, enabling it to attack again once per turn. But that's not the effect I'm relying on."

Kaiba raised his duel disk high, its glowing lights processing a complex calculation.

"The Avenger Dragon's victory-determining effect—during battle, it flips cards from the top of my deck until a Trap Card that meets activation conditions is revealed. That Trap Card is immediately activated, and the remaining flipped cards are sent to the graveyard."

Even Hoshino was seeing this effect for the first time. Although the dragon was fused with Edmond, this specific ability was quite different, focusing on traps rather than Edmon's usual showcase effects.

"Flipping cards until a trap that meets the conditions appears... that's quite difficult to pull off."

After all, most traps in this era required activation in response to an opponent's actions, such as declaring attacks or summoning monsters. With Kaiba initiating the attack, finding a suitable trap seemed nearly impossible.

As expected, Kaiba's duel disk dramatically flipped cards one by one from his deck, sending them to the graveyard. Nearly half of Kaiba's deck was now depleted, yet he showed no concern, instead savoring the crisp sound of cards hitting the grave.

"Rafael, you claim that not leaving monsters in the graveyard will bring you victory? Let me tell you—so long as victory is possible, I'll send my entire deck to the graveyard if I have to!"

"You actually..."

For the first time, Rafael's expression wavered. For someone like Rafael, who viewed the graveyard as a cold and desolate place, seeing Kaiba recklessly deplete his deck was a direct challenge to his principles.

Hoshino sighed softly. "Still such a terrible personality, Kaiba..."

[Trap Card [Crush Card Virus] – Activation conditions not met ✖]

[Trap Card [The Ultimate Creature of Destruction] – Activation conditions not met ✖]

[Trap Card [Sakuretsu Armor] – Activation conditions not met ✖]

"How many useless traps did you even bring, Kaiba?! What kind of nonsense traps are these?!"

After Hoshino's quiet complaint, Kaiba's deck-flipping finally ceased.

[Return from the Different Dimension | Trap Card Effect: Pay half your Life Points. Special Summon as many of your monsters as possible that were removed from play. These monsters are banished at the End Phase.]

At last, the Return from the Different Dimension trap card activated through the Avenger Dragon's effect, reducing Kaiba's and Hoshino's already razor-thin Life Points to nearly nothing.

[Hoshino & Kaiba LP: 100 → 50]

Hoshino exclaimed, "You're literally at the limit, Kaiba! Is this the possibility you were talking about for achieving victory!?"

Thanks to Return from the Different Dimension, the previously banished Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Paladin of White Dragon, and Vorse Raider filled the field, a sight so dazzling that even Hoshino couldn't help but be amazed.

"Tch, setting one card face-down. Turn end!"

After Hoshino's brief admiration, Kaiba clicked his tongue in frustration and slammed down his duel disk, watching as the monsters summoned were banished again.

"That wasn't the one after all..."

Hoshino dropped their head in disappointment.

"My turn! Draw!"

Drawing his card, Rafael's usually calm tone betrayed an unusual trace of anger.

"Kaiba, are you mocking me with this clownish behavior? This time, because of Hoshino's presence, I won't activate the Seal, but don't think for a second that you, chosen by the Legendary Dragons, can escape Orichalcos' judgment!"

Wielding the Celestial Sword - Eatos, Rafael's Guardian Eatos, summoned in the previous turn, finally unleashed its attack. With nearly 10,000 ATK, the sword of light pierced the darkness, slashing toward the blazing Avenger Dragon.

"Along with your foolish behavior, meet your defeat, Kaiba!"

"The foolish one is you, Rafael!"

As Kaiba shouted in confident defiance, the Avenger Dragon spread its wings and soared high.

"I know my deck better than anyone. With Return from the Different Dimension out of the way, only the path to victory remains! During battle, Avenger Dragon's effect activates again—keep flipping cards until a suitable trap appears!"

Kaiba's deck, now almost empty, was flipped at lightning speed, with every card sent to the graveyard. Finally, Kaiba's last remaining card in the deck revealed itself, activating—!

"The final Trap Card in my deck is activated—[Ring of Destruction]!"

Placing the last revealed card into his Duel Disk, Kaiba's deck zone was now completely empty.

"Your foolish ideals will perish alongside this vengeful flame! End this duel, Black Dragon, Avenger Dragon!"

Responding to Kaiba's victorious roar, the Avenger Dragon soared high, encircled by a ring of black flames that exploded like a fiery halo.

Hoshino froze momentarily before recalling the effect of Kaiba's Ring of Destruction.

"Select one monster on the field to destroy, and both players take damage equal to its ATK, huh? Let me remind you, Kaiba, our Life Points are already hanging by a thread."

The black-flamed halo plummeted, engulfing the field in a blazing inferno centered on Guardian Eatos. Trapped within, Eatos could only await its impending destruction.

"Kaiba, to think you would go so far, sacrificing every monster in your deck just for victory!"

Feeling the fire of vengeance before him, Rafael's emotions boiled over, his anger ignited by Kaiba's ruthless actions.

"For someone like you to be chosen by the Legendary Dragons...! This world's so-called light is exactly as Lord Dartz foretold—a fake, hideous illusion!"

Kaiba scoffed and flipped his face-down card with disdain. "That's just the wail of a loser. Quick-Play Spell activated—[Ring of Defense]! Thanks to its effect, I take no damage from Trap Cards. Drown in your naive delusions, Doma scum!"

[Ring of Defense Effect: Reduce the effect damage to you from a Trap Card to 0.]

Judging from its placement in his hand earlier, this was a card Kaiba had drawn at the start of the duel. Yet, he hadn't set it until the last possible moment.

"Kaiba, so you deliberately took the damage from my Magic Cylinder earlier!"

Hoshino's realization hit her like a bolt. In the first turn, Kaiba could have used Ring of Defense to negate Magic Cylinder's reflected damage but chose to endure it instead, waiting for the perfect moment to execute his decisive play. No wonder his expression had been so peculiar when she complained about him taking unnecessary damage.

Kaiba smirked, his gaze steely. "Hmph. This is a duel I absolutely cannot afford to lose. If we fall here, the God Cards will return to Doma, and KaibaCorp will have no chance of recovery."

Clenching his fist tightly, his voice trembled with rage. "So even if I have to sacrifice my entire deck, even if I have to give up all my Life Points, I will protect KaibaCorp. I will protect Mokuba!"

"You can protect nothing," Rafael interjected coldly, his previous anger now replaced with an abyssal darkness. "In the face of Doma's absolute power, your world's ugly facade will be obliterated, just as Lord Dartz foretold!"

Before Hoshino and Kaiba could react, Rafael activated the Quick-Play Spell Card he had just drawn.

"When monsters on both sides are battling, I activate [Forbidden Scripture]!"

[Forbidden Scripture Effect: Negate all other card effects on the field until the end of the Damage Step.]

"With this, your Ring of Destruction's effect is negated. My Eatos will not be destroyed by your Trap Card!"

The sudden reversal left Hoshino and Kaiba stunned—not just by Rafael's endurance, but by the unsettling shift in his demeanor.

"However," Rafael continued coldly, "when Forbidden Scripture is activated, damage calculation is conducted using the monsters' original ATK."

[Guardian Eatos ATK 9300 → 2500]

Hoshino remarked, "With its original attack power, Eatos still can't defeat the Avenger Dragon."

[Black Dragon, Avenger Dragon ATK 2700]

Despite Ring of Destruction being negated, the battle concluded with Eatos engulfed in the Avenger Dragon's infernal flames. Trapped in the fiery storm, the Guardian let out a desperate cry before being reduced to ashes.

[Guardian Eatos destroyed.]

[Rafael's LP 400 → 200]

Hoshino frowned. "Knowing Eatos couldn't win, why would Rafael make that move? That's not like him at all."

"Vengeance, darkness, false justice..." Rafael's voice was chilling. "Hoshino, tell me, what truly is the right path?"

"Rafael, you..."

The oppressive atmosphere thickened as the flames of vengeance dissipated, leaving only scorched earth and the Avenger Dragon descending to claim its victory.

"This tension..." Hoshino muttered. "Why does it feel so ominous?"

Kaiba's sharp eyes scanned the field. "Be cautious. Something is coming."

Like a scene from a nightmare, the charred ground where Guardian Eatos had fallen began to churn. Wrapped in bandages, a pair of pitch-black hands clawed their way out of the dirt.

"When Guardian Eatos is destroyed by battle or effect and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card from my hand," Rafael declared.

Placing a monster onto his Duel Disk, Rafael's once-righteous gaze was now cold and hesitant, yet unwavering.

"This is the vengeful spirit of Guardian Eatos. Kaiba, Hoshino, behold the pinnacle of monsters' resentment from the depths of the graveyard! I Special Summon [Guardian Dreadscythe]!"

[Guardian Dreadscythe ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][DARK][Fiend/Effect][ATK 2500/DEF 2000]

Clawing its way onto the battlefield, the masked Dreadscythe radiated none of Eatos' former light. Instead, it exuded a freezing malice and an overwhelming sense of dread.

"With the same ATK and DEF as Eatos, it still can't defeat the Avenger Dragon!" Hoshino pointed out.

"Kaiba," Rafael declared, "you'll regret abandoning all your monsters. Their resentment will tighten around your throat! I activate the effect of Guardian Dreadscythe—when this card is Special Summoned, I equip it with Reaper Scythe - Dreadscythe from my Deck or Graveyard!"

A massive, sinister scythe materialized in Dreadscythe's bandaged hands, its very presence unsettling Hoshino.

"Reaper Scythe - Dreadscythe can only be equipped to Guardian Dreadscythe. It increases its ATK by 500 for each monster in both Graveyards! Kaiba, prepare for your ultimate punishment!"

(*****)

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