Chapter 122: Chaos Dragon vs. Dark Magician

"My turn, draw!"

To inflict damage on me first—that is just like you, Yu-gi-oh! However, my Blue-Eyes and I will not be left far behind! Now, witness my ultimate ritual monster!

"I activate the ritual spell, Chaos Form! By offering one Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my field as a tribute, I summon—come forth, Chaos Dragon!"

The pre-evolution form of the "Sword-Wielding Dragon" appeared, its physique rounder and smaller than its evolved counterpart.

"Yugi! The moment my monster enters the Battle Phase, your Dark Paladin is forced from Attack Position to Defense Position by the effect of Chaos Dragon!"

Earlier, Yugi had used the spell card "Earthquake" to shift his three monsters into Defense Position; now, Kaiba was returning the favor, using his monster's effect to force Yugi’s Dark Paladin into a defensive stance.

"When Chaos Dragon is ritual summoned using 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' as a tribute, all monsters on the opponent's field are shifted to Defense Position, and their attack and defense points are reduced to zero!"

"What?!"

From the crystals on its wings, a barrage of thin, piercing beams refracted outward. Before Yugi’s shocked eyes, the Dark Paladin, struck by the light, slowly lowered its twin lances as the power of the Magician Knight within it was temporarily sealed away.

"Finally! Chaos Dragon shares the same effect as your Dark Paladin—it inflicts piercing damage equal to the difference when attacking a defense-position monster!"

With the defense points reduced to zero, this piercing effect meant that if the attack landed, Kaiba’s other Blue-Eyes White Dragon would seal the match.

"Take this, Yugi! Attack, Chaos Dragon! Destruction Burst of Chaos!"

"ROAR—!"

With a thunderous dragon's cry, a pillar of blue-white energy erupted from the dragon's maw, streaking forward with the speed of a loosed arrow.

Just as the blast was seconds away from obliterating the Dark Paladin and dealing 3,000 points of piercing damage to Yugi, a massive turtle with a gray-green shell suddenly appeared on the field, intercepting the dragon's breath.

"What is this?"

Though the attack was blocked, a thick cloud of smoke obscured the field. Still, Kaiba caught a glimpse of his attack being thwarted.

"The effect of the effect monster 'Electromagnetic Turtle.' By banishing this card from my graveyard, I can forcibly end your Battle Phase. It functions much like the counter trap 'Negate Attack'."

As the smoke cleared, Yugi’s voice drifted through the haze. Once the dust settled, Kaiba saw the fading phantom of the gray-green shell.

"I discarded Electromagnetic Turtle from my hand using 'Graceful Charity' right at the start of this duel."

After explaining how the turtle reached the graveyard, Yugi drew a card from his deck. Kaiba had no cards left in his hand, and his Battle Phase had been forcibly ended, so the turn naturally passed to Yugi.

"Spell card, 'Monster Reborn'! I revive 'Dark Magician' from my graveyard! Then, I activate the quick-play spell 'Dark Magic Veil,' targeting the revived 'Dark Magician' to special summon 'Dark Magician of Chaos' from my deck!"

Back on Duelist Kingdom, Yugi had used the ritual spell "Black Magic Ritual" to summon the advanced form of the Dark Magician, which was his strongest spellcaster at the time. Now, he used a quick-play spell featuring that very monster to evolve his ace into the standard effect version, Dark Magician of Chaos.

"Effect of Dark Magician of Chaos, activate! When successfully special summoned, I can select one spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand."

Yugi sought to recover the "Pot of Greed" to replenish his hand. With no resources left, he knew that if he did not prepare now, the next turn would surely be the end of the duel.

"Spell card, 'Pot of Greed'! Draw two cards!"

My deck! Answer the call of my heart! Everything in this duel is riding on this moment!

"Spell card, 'Secrets of Dark Magic'! I banish 'Dark Paladin' from my field and the ritual monster 'Magician of Chaos' from my graveyard! Fusion Summon—The Dark Magicians!"

Following the Dark Paladin, Yugi summoned a brand-new "Dark Magic" fusion monster. This time, both master and apprentice were on the field together! Unlike a standard summoning of the two, they appeared as a single, combined fusion monster.

Facing Kaiba's puzzled gaze, Yugi revealed his new ritual monster: "The ritual monster 'Magician of Chaos' is treated as 'Dark Magician' while on the field or in the graveyard. As for why it was in the graveyard? Kaiba, do you remember the counter effect my Dark Paladin used earlier?"

Kaiba recalled the moment he activated his trap card "Destiny Travel" to protect his Union monster, only for Yugi to negate it. He remembered that the effect required Yugi to discard a card as a cost, though Yugi hadn't specified what the card was at the time.

Seeing Kaiba realize when it had been sent to the graveyard, Yugi explained his second fusion monster: "The Dark Magicians requires one Spellcaster-type monster and either 'Dark Magician' or 'Dark Magician Girl' to perform a Fusion Summon."

As he spoke, Yugi slotted his final card into the spell/trap zone of his duel disk. This was all he could do. Everything now depended on whether the chain combo between this set card and The Dark Magicians could summon a miracle during Kaiba's turn.