"It’s about time for the main event."

Paradox tensed up again.

What now?

Kira: "I use ’Pot of Greed’ to draw two more cards."

"First, let’s talk about that annoying ’Skill Drain’," Kira looked at Paradox’s back row. "Malefics can swarm high-ATK monsters, and with Skill Drain, all effects are silenced.

It’s a nasty combo—can’t use effects, can’t out-muscle you either."

He sighed, as if forced into a corner.

"No choice. I’ll just have to use this."

With a wave of his hand, a trap card materialized in his back row.

"Continuous Trap—Royal Decree!

All trap effects except this card’s are negated!"

Paradox: "!!!"

Royal Decree?

It shares the same effect as Jinzo and is king among anti-trap cards. Often used to counter degenerate strategies, but sometimes itself becomes part of those strategies.

This card was a huge problem for his Skill Drain setup, but what truly shocked Paradox—

—Why can you activate a trap from your hand!?

But next moment, he understood. An eerie monster spirit appeared behind Kira, its floating form, a single Horus eye, and executioner’s blades for hands.

"Makyura the Destructor!" Paradox recognized it.

"Makyura the Destructor allows me, the turn it’s sent to the graveyard, to activate traps from my hand," Kira said. "Royal Decree negates ’Skill Drain’!"

Degenerate meets degenerate—Skill Drain’s light faded. The field-wide effect was lifted, replaced by an unseen lockdown on both back rows.

Paradox’s face darkened. "With Skill Drain negated, that means monster effects—"

"Correct." Kira smiled. "Now, ’Archlord Kristya’s’ effect is live again. Which means no more Special Summons."

Paradox bit his lip, silent and sullen.

"We’re not done yet," Kira said. "I Normal Summon a second ’Angel O1.’"

[Angel O1, ATK: 200]

"The Special Summon effect of ’Angel O1’ can be used only once per turn, so the second one had to be Normal Summoned."

Kira continued, "But as long as a Special Summoned Angel O1 is on the field, I can Tribute Summon a Level 7 or higher monster in addition to my regular Normal Summon!"

He picked up both O1s from his Duel Disk.

"So, I Tribute both ’Angel O1s’ to Tribute Summon—

Level 7, Guardian Angel Joan!"

The two little angels transformed into points of light. Amid a summoning whirlwind, a nearly transparent figure with outspread wings descended in a blaze of light.

[Guardian Angel Joan, ATK: 2,800]

"Three angels at once, huh?" Paradox said coldly. "But they’re still no match for my Malefics."

"Don’t be so sure." Kira smiled. "Splendid Venus’s monster effect:

While Venus is on the field, all non-Fairy monsters lose 500 ATK and DEF!"

Paradox frowned.

Non-Fairy... His Malefics weren’t Fairies.

[Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon, ATK: 3,000 → 2,500]

[Malefic Rainbow Dragon, ATK: 4,000 → 3,500]

[Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon, ATK: 2,400 → 1,900]

"Next, I activate ’Card of Heaven and Earth.’ If I’ve Tribute Summoned this turn, I can draw two cards. But the drawn cards can’t be used this turn, unless I can set one."

Kira drew, glanced at his cards, then played another from his hand.

"I activate ’Soul Taker.’

Destroy one of your monsters, then you gain 1,000 Life Points.

I destroy ’Malefic Rainbow Dragon’!"

A demonic claw snatched Rainbow Dragon, forcibly extracting its soul and shattering its body.

[Paradox, LP: 1,500 → 2,500]

Paradox shielded himself from the explosion, expression even darker.

Kira waved his hand. "Battle Phase.

Guardian Angel Joan attacks the weakened ’Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon’!"

A golden sword cleaved the dragon in two, golden energy erupting from the wound and swallowing the dragon.

Paradox said, "With ’One Day of Peace,’ I don’t take battle damage even if my monster is destroyed."

Indeed, the dragon fell, but the explosion was blocked by a transparent barrier before it could harm Paradox.

"I know," Kira smiled, "but Guardian Angel Joan’s monster effect activates:

When she destroys a monster by battle, I gain Life Points equal to that monster’s original ATK." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Original ATK..." Paradox muttered. "Malefic Blue-Eyes’s original ATK is 3,000."

"Correct. So I gain 3,000 Life Points!"

The energy released by the destroyed dragon was absorbed by Kira.

[Kira, LP: 10,700 → 13,700]

Paradox gritted his teeth.

He really felt like the more he fought, the higher his opponent’s LP got.

But that wasn’t the real issue. The problem was that his hard-earned Malefics were about to get wiped out in a single turn. With Skill Drain suppressed, Kristya’s effect was back, so he couldn’t even Special Summon next turn.

Although Paradox tried to look calm, he was actually panicking inside.

Wait a second—

What kind of timeline is this?

Why am I up against a Duel King like this?+

...

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