074 Recreation: The Illusionary God—Invincible? Alas, burdened by so many cards!

After listening to Malik’s exhaustive explanation of the Sky Dragon’s effects, the three of them wore identical stunned expressions.

Immune to the effects of any trap card—not just the opponent’s, but even its own—regardless of the nature of the trap’s ability. The effects of spell cards only last for a single turn, of course, referring to non-removal effects; for example, a direct banishment would overpower even a god. Unless a monster is of the divine class, any debuff effects from effect monsters cannot influence a divine beast. Determining what constitutes a debuff, however, is left to the discretion of the god’s controller. If the effect is one of “monster destruction,” then neither trap nor spell nor effect monster can touch the divine beast—though certain special cards are exceptions.

Whenever the opponent performs a normal, flip, or special summon, that monster is struck with a 2000-point effect damage to its attack; if either its attack or defense falls to zero, it is instantly destroyed. If the god switches to defense position, it can forcibly redirect any effect aimed at another of its controller’s monsters onto itself. And lastly, its control cannot be wrested away by any means—such unwavering loyalty!

“Nii-san! Yugi! Is there really a way? Is there truly any method to defeat ‘Slifer the Sky Dragon,’ one of the three Egyptian gods?”

Scouring all he knew of Duel Monsters, Katsuya couldn’t think of a single solution! Not only was vanquishing the Sky Dragon unthinkable, he couldn’t even imagine surviving a few turns beneath that gaping dragon’s maw!

Leaving aside the multitude of powerful effects the Sky Dragon possessed, just the combo Malik had assembled to continually increase his hand size made it impossible to challenge the Sky Dragon on the most basic level: attack and defense points. Among all Duel Monsters known, there simply wasn’t a single one capable of matching it head-on!

After all, the moment any monster appeared, it would be forced to endure the “Thunder Bullet” attack spat from the dragon’s second mouth. The instant its stats hit zero, it self-destructed on the spot!

While the group debated, Malik was once again in motion on the field.

“My ‘Invincible Divine Combination’ isn’t finished yet!”

Yugi: ?

Not finished? Could he be about to do something different from the original anime? Oh, Moshroi!

Under Malik’s command, the puppet selected four cards from his eight-card hand—one placed face-up in the Monster Zone, and three slotted face-down in the spell/trap zones.

“Spell card: ‘Double Summon!’ After summoning the Sky Dragon, I can summon again—a Level 4 Plant-type effect monster: Yellow-Flowered Unihorn!”

The three were baffled.

Yellow-Flowered Unihorn? What kind of card was that?

Even as Malik’s opponent, Yugi was momentarily startled by the name. But in the next second, with a nudge from the system, he understood what this card was.

[System prompt: Host, for your reference, here is the information about the monster Malik just summoned:

Yellow-Flowered Unihorn, Effect Monster, Type: Plant, Attribute: Earth, Level: 4, ATK: 1800, DEF: 100, Effect: (1) As long as you control another monster, this card cannot be destroyed by battle. (2) While this card remains in the Monster Zone, your face-up spell/trap cards cannot be targeted by effects.]

On the field, Malik explained his monster’s effects as a plant-type designed after the real-world flower—Yellow-Flowered Unihorn—a rarely seen card.

“And now, the two cards I just set.”

Though it wasn’t yet time to activate them, Malik went ahead and revealed their effects:

“One is the equip spell ‘Dragon Shield Armor.’ Only Dragon-type monsters can equip it, and the equipped monster cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. The other is the continuous trap ‘DNA Surgery.’ When this card is face-up on the field, you declare one monster type; all face-up monsters become the declared type! Of course, divine beasts remain unaffected.” (The equip spell ‘Super Magic Sword of Raptinus’ also grants immunity from being targeted by card effects, but it hadn’t been printed at this point.)

With the effects of the three cards clarified, everyone understood Malik’s intention: First, use “DNA Surgery” to turn the plant-type Yellow-Flowered Unihorn into a Dragon-type monster. Then, equip it with the dragon-exclusive “Dragon Shield Armor,” granting it immunity to both effect and battle destruction (it already resists battle destruction inherently). Afterward, with both immunities, use its second effect to protect Malik’s combo cards in the back row—“Infinite Cards,” “Card of Safe Return,” “Defense Slime”—thus establishing an invincible force centered around “Slifer the Sky Dragon”!

“This is the ‘Ultimate Invincible God Combo!’”

Back row destruction? Malik had already accounted for that! Besides, he still had two “Infinite Cards” left in his deck!

Invincible combo… infinite attack power… limitless strength… I see!

If victory couldn’t be achieved through special card effects, then it would come down to sheer strength!

And at that realization, Yugi and Kaiba simultaneously spotted the key to breaking through!

The Sky Dragon’s attack and defense are determined solely by the number of cards in its controller’s hand!

‘At first glance, the Sky Dragon’s attack truly seems infinite!’

Their gazes met, and each saw the same flash of understanding in the other’s eyes.

Clearly, not only himself, but the other had also perceived the Sky Dragon’s weakness!

That weakness was the very method to defeat the god!

After locking eyes for a few seconds, they each looked away, turning their attention to the silent Yugi below.

At that moment, both of them grew anxious, wishing that they could be the ones standing there!

Now that they’d realized the solution, both were eager to use it to utterly defeat “Slifer the Sky Dragon”—the supposedly invincible god—in front of Malik, the arrogant showman.

(A side note: In the original anime at this point, Kaiba deduced how to counter the god cards before Yugi did, simply because “the observer sees more clearly.” Since Yugi was dueling Slifer directly, his immediate concern was surviving the god’s pressure, not finding a counter. Kaiba, having already acquired Obelisk, had felt the might of the divine cards and could think more clearly as a bystander. This is the classic “the onlooker sees clearly, while the participant is lost.” I never understood what right Kaiba had to mock Yugi.)

“Yugi, President! Surrender! No matter how hard you wrack your brains, you’ll never devise a way to defeat the gods!”

After laughing at Yugi, Malik turned to shout at Yugi and Kaiba, who were watching from the hillside.

“Yugi! Kaiba! Once I defeat Yugi, it’ll be your turn! Obelisk will be mine! The power of the Pharaoh will be mine! Hahahaha—ugh.”

But before he could finish his triumphant laughter, a voice cut in sharply.

“Is that so?”

“What?!”

Seeing Yugi’s confident smirk, Malik was momentarily flustered, but quickly regained composure. No one could defeat a god card—except for another duelist wielding a god! No one!

Yugi! Have you realized it too?!

Seeing the confident, self-assured look on Yugi’s face, both his friend and his rival—Yugi and Kaiba—were genuinely happy for him.

As expected of a duelist I recognize (begrudgingly).

“The method to defeat the god is already in my mind! Malik, hurry and continue your turn!”

You…

Seeing that infuriating smile, if his true body were present, Malik would have loved to show Yugi just how insane his theatrics could get.

“Hmph! My turn is over!”

Yugi’s field was filled with defense-position monsters, and even if Malik attacked, he couldn’t inflict any battle damage. After all, Slifer’s effect didn’t allow piercing, and since Yugi hadn’t disrupted his tributes, Malik decided to benevolently spare his opponent for a turn.

Yugi! This is the last moment you’ll have to smile! Next turn—my turn—I’ll show you the terror of the divine!

[Malik: 4000 LP, Hand: 4, Monster Zone: Slifer the Sky Dragon, Revival Slime, Yellow-Flowered Unihorn, Spell/Trap Zone: Defense Slime, Infinite Cards, Card of Safe Return, DNA Surgery, Dragon Shield Armor]

“Phew… My turn—draw!”