088 Divine Retribution!

The massive golden divine bird loomed before him, and Yuuichi looked perfectly calm on the surface. In truth... he was perfectly calm on the inside too!

There was nothing surprising about a counterfeit Sun God.

Besides, when this copied version of the Sun God appeared, the image projected in three dimensions seemed somehow even more magnificent and domineering than the real card’s descent. The real card still required an ancient Egyptian priestly incantation, whereas the copy simply declared, “Sun God’s form.”

Turning back to face Yuuichi, Rishid spoke slowly.

“The descent of a god generally requires three monsters as offerings. Because of that, the Sun God’s attack and defense points are equal to the combined attack and defense of the three monsters used as tribute.”

“But now, the god’s descent has been forced onto the field by the special effect of the Royal Temple, ignoring the summoning conditions. Therefore, the god’s attack and defense will become the power of the sacrificial Sacred Beast, Ceraelket.”

This was why, before summoning the god, Rishid had made Ceraelket devour his two trap monsters: to increase the Phantom God’s power!

Watching the Sun God’s rising attack, Rishid pointed toward Yuuichi’s face-up trap monster, Mirror Swampman, and issued his battle command.

“Sun God! Attack the trap monster, Mirror Swampman!”

A piercing cry rang out.

A chime sounded from the Millennium Items.

The God of Wrath began to play.

In that instant, everyone in the field who possessed a Millennium Item resonated together: Yugi, bearing the Millennium Puzzle; Malik, the Millennium Rod; Dark Bakura, the Millennium Ring; Isis, the Millennium Necklace; and Yuuichi, the Millennium Eye, kept in the system bag.

The five great Millennium Items all sang in harmony at once.

“No! No, Rishid! You can’t attack with that card!”

The moment the Sun God cried out, Isis suddenly saw, through the power of her Millennium Necklace, a future connected to Rishid: Rishid being consumed by the God’s wrath.

And Malik, the one who had overseen Rishid’s summoning of the god, also sensed that something was terribly wrong from both his deck and his Millennium Item.

What is going on!?

He looked down at the deck on his left hand, inserted into the Duel Disk slot, and at the true Millennium Rod he had held in his hand ever since the duel began, hidden behind his back.

This vibration... I can feel fury and hatred in it!

Before his eyes, the Duel Disk and the Millennium Rod seemed to warp into phantoms visible only in a fever dream.

And beyond those phantom images created by the tremor, Malik could clearly feel a powerful wrath and loathing spilling forth from his deck.

Could it be coming from the true Sun God card in my deck? Impossible!

On the other side, Yuuichi, as Rishid’s opponent in this duel, sensed an abnormality much like Malik’s.

The rage of Slifer and Obelisk?

As fellow members of the Three Phantom Gods, Slifer and Obelisk had perceived, at the very instant Rishid issued his attack command, a blasphemy committed against them.

Though not the one directly involved, not the Sun God itself, to them it was simply the foolish Rishid showing grievous disrespect to the gods.

“What is it? Why isn’t the god attacking?”

Rishid, the one who had summoned the Sun God, still had not realized the danger or seriousness of the situation. He turned with a puzzled expression toward the divine bird towering behind him.

And as he stared, the Sun God’s form began to change.

“Everyone, look! The Sun God’s appearance...”

At Anzu’s cry, everyone snapped their gaze toward the Sun God, and the moment they saw it, their eyes widened as if they might burst from their sockets.

“The Sun God... is collapsing?!”

Yes. At this very moment, the Sun God was in the process of falling apart.

The divine radiance that belonged to a deity was now turning into countless black particles, drifting upward and vanishing into the surrounding space.

And with every black particle that disappeared, the godly body of the Sun God crumbled a little more.

Not only was its body disintegrating, its face had also become hideous beyond measure, twisted into a fearsome, wholly human snarl of fury.

That was not the Sun God’s true form.

Malik, the owner of the genuine Sun God card, now stared in utterly bewildered disbelief.

Wait...

The change in the counterfeit Sun God reminded Malik of scene after scene from the moments when members of the Gurus had used copied Sun God cards.

Using a copied god card brought down punishment from the heavens—thunder and lightning. That was the wrath of a god, divine retribution upon those who blasphemed against it!

In other words, from the very beginning, using a counterfeit god card had been a mistake. Whoever it was, if they used a copied god card in a duel, they would be punished by the fury of the Phantom God!

Thunder rumbled.

Heavenly lightning descended.

One after another, three bolts struck the duel field.

The God’s wrath would fall upon everyone in this duel—Yuuichi and Rishid alike.

Is fate still refusing to acknowledge me as the heir of the Gravekeepers? Do I still not have the right?

Rishid, who had now largely understood what had happened to the Sun God, closed his eyes and recalled the past.

To become a true member of the Gravekeepers, he had begged his “father” endlessly, only to be humiliated by him.

To ease the pain of Malik’s childhood, he had carved the Gravekeepers’ secret into his own face.

To fulfill Lord Malik’s plan, he obeyed and summoned the god...

Heh.

Looking back on it all now, how laughably pointless it seemed.

Boom!

Struck by the lightning, Rishid collapsed to the ground. The imitation Millennium Rod he had been holding in his hand also turned into a pile of golden dust in that instant.

With a cry, after striking down Rishid, the counterfeit Sun God, before vanishing completely, turned the heavenly lightning toward Rishid’s duel opponent—Yuuichi.

Seeing the divine lightning rushing toward him at terrifying speed, Yuuichi frowned slightly, then quickly shifted into a calm, unafraid expression.

To the bystanders, it looked like the gesture of someone unable to resist, someone forced to accept the punishment of the lightning.

But the very next moment, everyone’s worry was swept away.

A clear cry.

A thunderous roar.

At the exact instant the heavenly lightning was about to strike Yuuichi, a crimson streak and a deep-blue giant shadow suddenly appeared, directly blocking the divine punishment unleashed by the counterfeit Sun God.