"—Ritual Spell activated: Chaos Form! I offer the Level 7 Heroic Spirit – Okita Soji as tribute to Ritual Summon Magician of Black Chaos!"

"Huh? Using me… as a ritual tribute?" ×2

The two Okitas looked at each other, then repeated Atem's words. The pair, who had just been fighting side by side in perfect sync, each took a step in opposite directions.

"You mean you!" ×2

"When disaster strikes, even birds from the same forest fly their separate ways." At a time like this, they wouldn't even hold back against themselves.

However, as the Ritual Spell touched the Duel Disk and activated, the original Okita was already being enveloped by the power of the Chaos ritual.

Sakura Okita: "Yay, Okita wins! That's the privilege of being the new card!"

"W-Why me?! Do old Heroic Spirits have no rights anymore?!" Okita complained tearfully to Hoshino. "Master, you're not the kind of person who benches old 5-stars the moment you pull a new one, right?!"

Feeling a tiny bit guilty, Hoshino recalled that she actually was that kind of person (bond max → storage), but still gave a serious-sounding explanation:

"Can't be helped. You were Special Summoned with your effects negated, after all. Yugi probably has his reasons~"

Light and darkness intertwined into a chaotic form. From the shattered ritual effect, the two aces were replaced, and a magician resembling Atem's Dark Magician appeared on the field—

[Magician of Chaos ★★★★★★★ (Level 7)][DARK][Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect][ATK 2500/DEF 2100]

[Must be Ritual Summoned with "Chaos Form".]

"So cool… now that's what an ace monster should feel like! Trading one Okita for this totally feels worth it," Sakura Okita said, relieved she survived.

["Did you forget you're also Okita?"]

"Finally, I set two cards and end my turn!"

[Atem: 1 Hand Cards | 2 Set Cards]

After ending his turn, Atem looked toward Queen Hela. From the very beginning, she hadn't said a word—even after the Egyptian Gods appeared, her expression hadn't changed in the slightest.

"Hey, you old woman, hurry up and start your turn already!" Eve urged impatiently when Hela showed no movement.

Prompted by Eve, Queen Hela slowly opened her eyes, raised her bone Duel Disk, and uttered a single phrase: 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Is that it?"

"…Huh?" Hoshino raised an eyebrow, clearly annoyed. "I've never seen someone this arrogant in my life."

That single "Is that it?" fully displayed Hela's confidence and pride—naturally rubbing Hoshino the wrong way.

"So this is all human 'gods' amount to? That old fool Harr, losing to monsters of this level… I actually had expectations for him. How disappointing."

"Harr?" Kaiba frowned. "I see… so the defeated King of Shadows hasn't disappeared after all."

"My turn—draw!" As Queen Hela began her turn, she activated a set card Marik had placed the moment she drew.

"Marik, after wasting so many Life Points, it's about time you recovered some of them. Trap Card—Life Absorbing Machine!"

[Continuous Trap: During your Standby Phase, gain Life Points equal to half of the total Life Points you paid during your last turn.]

"Since we paid 6000 Life Points last turn, we recover 3000 this Standby Phase."

[Hela & Marik LP 2000 → 5000]

"So you barely recovered your Life Points… but the three Gods you paid such a huge price to summon have already been wiped out by Hoshino and that starfish head!" Eve mocked without restraint.

Hela sneered back. "To me, those so-called Gods are no different from a useless shrine maiden like you. I'll prove it to you now!"

Opening the hidden slot of her Duel Disk, after the destruction of Mound of the Bound Creator, Hela placed a new Field Spell.

"A cursed land no living being can escape. Appear—Field Spell, Cursed Eldland!"

A massive golden castle materialized, replacing the Duel Tower surroundings. The ground beneath them turned into a vast desert, heavy and ominous.

"As long as Cursed Eldland is on the field, monsters that are not Zombie-type cannot declare attacks."

"That restriction?!" Mokuba said uneasily. "Do Hoshino and Yugi even have Zombie monsters in their decks?"

Eve analyzed, "Not sure about starfish head, but Hoshino—I warned her beforehand. She should've prepared some Zombie-type counters."

Given that Eve had already explained Hela's undead strategy earlier, Hoshino should have adjusted her deck accordingly.

"I won't let Cursed Eldland take hold—effect of Magician of Chaos!" Atem declared, immediately responding. Chaotic power surged, forcefully suppressing the golden land while it was only halfway formed.

[Once per turn, when a Spell/Trap is activated, target 1 card on the field; destroy it.]

"The moment Cursed Eldland activates, I destroy it with Magician of Chaos! Collapse—illusory golden kingdom!"

[Cursed Eldland] destroyed

"As expected of Yugi—nice one," Hoshino praised.

"You think destroying the Field Spell stops the curse of the Golden Land?" Queen Hela's lips curled into an eerie smile. "Effect of Cursed Eldland!"

[If this card is sent from the Spell/Trap Zone to the Graveyard: send 1 "Eldlich" monster or 1 "Golden Land" Spell/Trap from your Deck to the Graveyard.]

Hela took a card from her bone Duel Disk and sent it to the Graveyard. Instantly, her Graveyard glowed with a brilliant golden light.

"I send the monster Eldlich the Golden Lord to the Graveyard—and activate its effect!"

[If this card is in the Graveyard: send 1 Spell/Trap you control to the Graveyard; add this card to your hand. Then, you can Special Summon 1 Zombie monster from your hand. The summoned monster gains ATK/DEF and cannot be destroyed by effects until the end of the opponent's turn.]

"I send Life Absorbing Machine to the Graveyard… and from the ruins of the collapsed Golden Land, I summon forth the undying undead!"