"Malefic Rainbow Dragon! Attack ’Agent of Force - Mars’!"

Paradox yelled out.

He’d long since been annoyed by that Agent. Earlier, the LP difference had him on the ropes, but now the tables had turned, and his first target was that angel.

Kira made no attempt to defend. Paradox’s Rainbow Dragon unleashed a prismatic beam, engulfing the Agent. Deprived of his effect by Skill Drain, the angel could only watch helplessly as the seven-colored blast tore him apart.

[Kira, LP: 14,900 → 10,900]

Four thousand damage in an instant. With The Sanctuary in the Sky destroyed by Malefic World, there was no more shield against battle damage. The rainbow blast shredded the angel and smashed Kira directly, as if it were a direct attack.

Kira staggered back from the impact, slamming into the edge of Malefic World’s barrier. Transparent ripples and black lightning exploded at the contact, sending sparks and shockwaves across the field.

Paradox, pleased with his attack, sneered. "How’s that?"

Kira dusted himself off and smiled. "Not bad."

Paradox froze.

A 4,000-point hit, and all he got was "not bad"? Then again, with this guy’s LP still over 10,000, maybe it wasn’t that outrageous.

Paradox felt a little frustrated, scoffing coldly. "Let’s see how long you can keep up that act."

He gestured again.

"Next, ’Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon’ attacks ’Marshmallon’!"

Black flames surged from the earth, converging into Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon’s maw. Its eyes glowed with magma, and it spat a Malefic Black Flame at Marshmallon.

Marshmallon looked helplessly at Kira. "With Skill Drain, for once I’m not faking it, I really can’t do anything this time..."

"No worries," Kira smiled. "Take a break."

Marshmallon: "Then I’ll be going!"

Boom—

The black fireball obliterated Marshmallon, the shockwave scattering him to pieces.

With Skill Drain, Marshmallon was just a vanilla monster and couldn’t withstand the blast.

"And now, ’Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon’!" Paradox declared. "Attack ’Archlord Kristya’!"

The Blue-Eyes roared, a blinding white light blasting from its mouth, smashing into Kristya’s chest.

But this time, although Kristya was rocked, he still stood firm, shrouded in a golden light. The destructive beam washed over him, but he remained unharmed.

Paradox: "NANI?!"

Kira pointed to his back row. "Trap Card—’Impenetrable Attack.’

I can choose to reduce all battle damage to zero this turn, or make one monster unable to be destroyed by battle.

I choose to protect ’Archlord Kristya’ from being destroyed."

Paradox gritted his teeth.

With so much LP, Kira clearly valued keeping Kristya on the field over losing a bit of life.

Archlord Kristya was a powerhouse in the Agent Angel deck, even in the late Synchro era, when most decks relied on constant special summons and long-winded combos. With Kristya on the field, many meta decks simply stalled out—without special summons, they couldn’t even get a monster with 2,000+ ATK on board.

Paradox was feeling the pressure. Even with Skill Drain suppressing Kristya’s effect, its presence on the field was a major threat.

"But the battle damage still applies," Paradox muttered.

[Kira, LP: 10,900 → 10,700]

A negligible amount—barely a scratch.

Paradox: "Next, I activate the spell card ’One Day of Peace.’ Both players draw a card, and until the end of the next turn, neither player takes any battle damage."

Kira drew a card as a golden barrier separated the two duelists, making them temporarily invulnerable.

Kira joked, "Even with Rainbow Dragon, Blue-Eyes, and Red-Eyes all out, you’re still afraid I’ll OTK you?"

Paradox said nothing.

It was just trash talk, but somehow, he really did feel uneasy. Maybe this guy really could OTK him next turn, even through this board.

Better play it safe.

"I set a card. Turn end," Paradox said.

Kira: "My turn. Draw."

"I activate ’Graceful Charity’—draw three cards, then discard two."

After refreshing his hand, Kira narrowed his eyes and spoke mysteriously. "Looks like you’re not having much luck."

Paradox’s heart skipped a beat.

What new trick did he have up his sleeve now?

"In my hand, ’Angel O1’s effect activates," Kira said. "By revealing a Level 7 or higher monster in my hand, I can Special Summon Angel O1."

He revealed another card from his hand.

"I reveal Level 8 Fairy ’Splendid Venus,’ and Special Summon ’Angel O1’!"

A cute little angel, with stubby arms, legs, tiny wings, and a shining halo above its head, hovered in the air.

[Angel O1, ATK: 200] 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Kira said, "Skill Drain only affects monsters on the field, not those in the hand."

Paradox remained silent, but he took note of the monster Kira had just revealed.

Splendid Venus—a Fairy from the Planet series.

For some reason, he had a bad feeling about what might come next.

"Continuous Spell ’Court of Justice’ effect: Once per turn, if you control a Level 1 Fairy, you can Special Summon any Fairy monster from your hand."

Kira raised his right hand.

"I immediately Special Summon the just-revealed card—descending now, from the Planet series—Splendid Venus!"

As the name suggests, a radiant angel with four white wings, a golden body bathed in light.

[Splendid Venus, ATK: 2,800]

"Court of Justice has done its job," Kira said. "Next, I activate the spell card ’Magic Planter’—send a Continuous Spell to the graveyard to draw two cards from the deck.

I send Court of Justice to the graveyard and draw two."

Kira drew two cards and smiled.

"With that, preparations are about complete. Now for the main event."

...