Chapter 160: Water Bro: Say it again! Kuribo is the eternal god!! (4,000-word super-sized chapter)

"This guy... actually turned himself into a monster?!"

Gazing at Paradox, who had merged into one with the True Dragon before him, Jaden was reminded of that eccentric fellow from the past who had used a self-made Field Spell, "Mound of the Bound Creator," to control a replica card of "The Winged Dragon of Ra," one of the three Phantom Gods.

That man had once fused himself with the replica of "Ra"—just like Paradox and his True Dragon right now!

"Level 12! Both ATK and DEF are 5,000, making it a supreme monster... Such power can only be rivaled by the Fusion Monsters 'Five-Headed Dragon' and 'Dragon Master Knight'!"

Seeing the data panel presented by the True Dragon, Yugi immediately associated it with two monsters from his own era that matched the True Dragon in level and power—though they were not normal Effect Monsters, but the Fusion Monsters "Five-Headed Dragon" and "Dragon Master Knight"!

"Fusing with a monster... rather reminds me of that gloomy fellow."

Kaiba recalled Marik Ishtar, the dark-skinned youth who had fully unleashed the abilities of the highest Phantom God card during the quarter-finals on the Duel Blimp.

"Hum-hahahaha!"

After fusing himself with the True Dragon, Paradox could clearly perceive just how powerful their combined form truly was!

"Even if you, Yugi, are the world's strongest duelist, before the might of our combined form, your only end is defeat!"

After delivering this fierce declaration, Paradox continued his turn, still holding two unused cards in his hand.

"By sending the Synchro Monster 'Red Dragon Archfiend' from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard, I Special Summon 'Malefic Red Dragon Archfiend' from my hand!"

Yusei's Stardust Dragon had become the Synchro material for Paradox Dragon, and Crow's Black-Winged Dragon had been used as tribute for Malefic Truth Dragon's third attack; now, Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend became Paradox's second backup attacker on the field.

"Enter the Battle Phase! My body! Crush the Masked HERO of President Yugi! Truth Burst Wave!!"

A crimson beam of destruction surged from the mouth of Malefic Truth Dragon, targeting Yugi's Masked HERO Anki, which was undergoing its secondary transformation.

"At this moment, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, 'Mask Change'!"

Seeing Anki become the target of the True Dragon's attack—and realizing that his meager ATK of over two thousand wouldn't even be a light snack for the opponent—Yugi hurriedly activated the second "Mask Change" he hadn't used in the previous turn.

"I return the Fusion Monster 'Masked HERO Anki' to the Extra Deck, and then Special Summon a Level 8 'Masked HERO' Fusion Monster of the same level as Anki from the Extra Deck!"

As the power of "Mask Change" acted upon him, the pitch-black chest armor of Anki flashed with a brilliant golden light, radiating the light of another HERO of a different attribute.

"Come forth! The light HERO that illuminates the darkness—Masked HERO 光牙 (Kouga)!"

A HERO embodying elemental forces opposite to Anki, clad in white and gold armor, equipped with spike-like golden arm blades on both arms.

Kouga, making its entrance!

"Hmph! Transforming from a powerful HERO into a weak one, what is the meaning of this?"

Though facing a newly transformed HERO with altered attributes, upon seeing that Kouga's ATK was 300 points lower than Anki's, Paradox could not help but sneer in mockery.

"Kouga's own power is indeed slightly inferior to Anki's, but..."

"Hm?"

Amidst Paradox's confusion, Kouga's power instantly surged higher and higher!

"What is happening? Why has Kouga's power increased by 1,000 points?!"

Without seeing Yugi activate any card to increase monster ATK, Paradox was left with a head full of question marks.

"It is Kouga's own effect! The more enemies there are, the stronger its combat power becomes!"

Although the imagery of the Masked HEROes was derived from the tokusatsu series "Kamen Rider," Kouga's effect reminded Yugi of another pillar of Japanese tokusatsu, residing right next door to riders—"Ultraman"!

Specifically, the fourth member of the "Ultra Brothers" from the Showa era, who always struggled in one-on-one fights, but whose overall attributes instantly increased by over fifty percent the moment the number of enemies exceeded one—Ultraman Jack!

"For every monster on the opponent's field, Kouga's power increases by 500 points!"

"...Hmph! So what if it increased by 1,000 points? Do not forget! My body possesses a power that reaches the highest numerical value ever explicitly described on a Duel Monsters card—5,000 points!"

Until the era in which Paradox lived was destroyed, among all monster cards that had ever appeared with explicitly marked numerical values, the highest was "5,000 points"! Not a single monster's original stated data had ever exceeded this threshold!

"A difference of 1,500 ATK is still fatal to you, whose Life Points are currently only 50!"

Unexpectedly, Yugi smiled and shook his head, reaching out to take a card from his Graveyard zone and flipping it face-up to show Paradox.

"Kouga's power is not limited to just this much!"

"Its second ability activates! Once per turn during either player's turn, I can banish a 'HERO' monster from my Graveyard, then target 1 face-up monster the opponent controls! Until the end of the turn, that targeted monster's ATK decreases by the ATK of that banished 'HERO' monster."

Yugi currently had a mountain of HEROes in his Graveyard, and the one with the highest power among them was the target he intended to banish this time.

"I banish the Fusion Monster 'Elemental HERO Ion-Claw Blaster' from my Graveyard, reducing the power of 'Malefic Truth Dragon' by 2,600!"

After Anki transformed into Kouga, Paradox still had the True Dragon continue its attack against the "Masked HERO." Therefore, as the True Dragon's power was reduced to 2,400, even Kouga—whose power wasn't boosted by its own effect—could counterattack using its original ATK!

"You wish to counterattack and defeat my body? Futile!"

Roaring, Paradox slammed his final card from his hand into the Duel Disk and activated it:

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell 'Shrink'! Kouga's original ATK is halved!"

Kouga's original ATK was 2,500; after "Shrink," it dropped to 1,250. However, this did not prevent it from regaining a 1,000-point boost due to its first effect. When facing the True Dragon anew, the dynamic of the field inverted once more.

"This is fine! This allows the battle to continue!"

2,400 > 2,250. The resulting battle damage would be 150 points, which was fatal to Yugi, whose Life Points were currently a mere 50!

"At this moment, I activate the Continuous Trap 'Soul Barrier'! As long as I control a monster, all battle damage becomes 0!"

This trap card, which had accompanied Yugi ever since Duelist Kingdom, once again provided him with the ultimate protection in this cross-time battle!

"Tch!"

Seeing the battle damage blocked by Soul Barrier, Paradox curled his lip in displeasure, but upon remembering the effect of his ace monster, the True Dragon, the corners of his mouth turned upward once more.

"The effect of Malefic Truth Dragon activates! When a monster with 'Malefic' in its card name that exists on our field destroys an opponent's monster by battle, all other monsters on the opponent's field are destroyed by the effect of Truth Dragon!"

The spectators' quartet: "Nani?!"

Destroying a single monster by battle results in a board wipe? What an overpowered effect!

This time, Yugi had no means to block it!

"Bang-boom!" "Bang-boom!" "Bang-boom!"

With three consecutive explosive blasts, Yugi watched helplessly as his three HEROes—Elemental HERO Tornado, Elemental HERO Grand Man, and Destiny HERO Disk Commander—were pierced completely through by the storm of needle-like beams unleashed by the True Dragon!

"Heh-heh! In that way, Truth Dragon's follow-up effect can be activated!"

Saying this, Paradox watched as those needle-like attacks shifted their trajectory, assaulting Yugi directly as the duelist!

"For each of the opponent's monsters destroyed by Truth Dragon's effect, inflict 800 points of damage to the opponent's Life Points!"

Three heroes meant 3 x 800 = 2,400 points of effect damage!

Not to mention that Yugi currently had only 50 Life Points left, this wave of attacks would have dealt a devastating blow even at full health!

Paradox: President Yugi! What use is it to block the battle damage? Could you possibly block this wave of effect damage as well?!

Well, as it happens, it was blocked right before his eyes—

"2,400 points of damage, you say? ...Hmph! Just in time to recover a wave!"

"Nani?"

Amidst Paradox's astonished gaze, Yugi's final set card flipped open:

"Trap Card 'Damage Vaccine Ω AX'! When you take battle or effect damage, you can use this card to convert that damage value into recovery value!"

"Kisa-ma!!"

Both consecutive waves of damage had been evaded! This...

However, upon seeing Red Dragon Archfiend on his field, Paradox smiled once again.

"What good is recovery? Before my 'Malefic Red Dragon Archfiend,' whose ATK reaches as high as 3,000, as long as your Life Points do not exceed 3,000, everything is useless!"

"Go! Malefic Red Dragon Archfiend! Scarlet Burn Garrison Burst!!"

This time, it could be said to truly be Paradox's final strike of the duel! His hand was completely empty, his Graveyard had no resources left, and the only attack-capable monster on his field was Red Dragon Archfiend right before him!

"Master... is he going to lose?"

Jaden stared with disbelieving eyes at the solitary figure on the field, who, just like Paradox, had zero cards in hand, while his own duel field was completely devoid of cards—at least Paradox still had two high-ATK monsters.

"No! Impossible! How could Yugi possibly lose?!"

Kaiba immediately retorted. As the one who had defeated him and Yugi successively in the city finals and ultimately retained the title of "King of Games," how could Yugi possibly lose to this fellow who still hadn't removed his mask or dared to reveal his face!

"That's right! Yugi-kun won't lose so easily!"

Yugi also agreed with Kaiba's sentiment. In the final match, even when facing the overwhelming power gap of over ten thousand against "The Winged Dragon of Ra" under his control, Yugi had not surrendered, and had gone on to pull off a brilliant comeback!

"With no hand resources and no field resources, what about the Graveyard? Is there a life-saving card there?"

Yusei, hailing from the future "Synchro Era," brought up a crucial point; perhaps some effect could still be activated from the Graveyard.

While the quartet of observers debated whether Yugi would lose, on the field, looking at Yugi standing motionless to welcome his final strike, Paradox finally removed his mask.

Pointing his finger at Yugi and the four behind him, Paradox unleashed a powerful taunt, roaring with an expression of intense facial contortion (aniki-face/yandere expression):

"You duelists believe that humanity has the power to change a despairing future, do you? Then, before this final strike of mine, what on earth can you change?!"

Facing this impending final attack, Yugi smiled. He had waited for this moment for a very long time!

"Paradox! The power to change the future—we certainly possess it! Now, I shall show it to you!"

"Nani?!"

Things had reached this stage, and there was still a possibility of a counterattack?!

"The effect of the Effect Monster 'Cleanse Kuriboh' in the Graveyard activates!"

Saying this, Yugi reached out and pulled a card from his Graveyard. Much like Paradox's "Sphere Kuriboh," it belonged to the "Kuriboh" family.

"When I take a direct attack, I can banish this card from my Graveyard to activate this! I draw one card from the top of my Deck! If that card is a monster card, as long as there are no Summoning restrictions, I can Special Summon it to the field! Then, I redirect that direct attack to that Special Summoned monster to calculate damage!"

The purple Cleanse Kuriboh had been in his hand since the duel began. As for when it entered the Graveyard? During Yugi's own first turn, when he Fusion Summoned Dark Magician Girl (or Piercing/Liquid HERO), Liquid HERO—used as one of the materials—had entered the Graveyard, and through its second effect, sent Cleanse Kuriboh straight in.

"Special Summon a monster card? Hmph! Such a thing cannot happen so easily! Hope does not exist!!"

Paradox sneered. Leaving aside whether he could actually draw a monster card, even if he managed to draw one and Special Summon it, it would merely stall for this single turn! To his knowledge, among the lower-level monsters of the "HERO" series, none possessed ATK or DEF capable of resisting the attack of Malefic Red Dragon Archfiend! Even the likes of Bladedge or Neos would only meet a fate of destruction!

"Hope? It certainly exists! And have you forgotten? In my Deck, there are not only 'HEROes'! Knowing history as you do, you should understand what cards I have once possessed, right?"

With Yugi giving such a reminder, coupled with the thorough investigation he had conducted into Yugi's Deck before time-traveling, Paradox understood what his opponent was referring to in less than a second of thought.

"No! Impossible! Even if the duel has progressed this far and the Deck's thickness has been reduced by so much, drawing Him is not so easily done!!"

Until now, Paradox stubbornly refused to yield, refusing to believe that Yugi could trigger a so-called "miracle."

Hearing these words, the four observers behind—especially Yugi and Kaiba—smiled and shook their heads.

It seemed Paradox did not understand what was meant by "the bond between a duelist and their Deck"! Had he known, he could never have uttered such words.

"Then, the moment that decides fate has arrived! Fall—"

A blue light flashed fleetingly in mid-air, the atmosphere of the entire arena instantly plunging into a dead silence, as if the very air had frozen.

"Masaka..."

Cold sweat beaded on Paradox's forehead, while Jaden and Yusei grew excited and thrilled, for in their era, the true forms of those "Three" no longer existed in the world!

Without even looking at the card, Yugi slammed it directly onto his Duel Disk!

The abruptly sounding BGM of the descent of a god, the violently shaking earth, the cracked terrain, and the pillar of blue light piercing down from the firmament—everything represented the arrival of one of the supreme beings existing only in this era!

"When descending upon the earth, scorching gale winds howl and rage, and all life shall vanish! Descend! The Earth-Destruction God—Obelisk the Tormentor!!"

That majestic, colossal body—standing there motionless—was enough to instill boundless fear in the hearts of beholders!

"Obelisk... the Tormentor... One of the Phantom Gods whose legends alone survive in the future world..."

At this moment, the light had vanished from Paradox's eyes. This entity, which existed only in legend, had truly been summoned right before his eyes—at the very moment when victory seemed within his grasp—by Yugi, the strongest duelist in history!

"Paradox! Accept the judgment of a god! Go! Obelisk the Tormentor!"

Clenching his right hand into a fist and gazing at the man from the future era, the God of Torment swung down his gigantic iron fist without a moment's hesitation.

"God Hand Crusher!!"

Transcending time and space, the duel that decided the future concluded beneath the single strike of a god...