027 The Great Hero of World War II—The Shadow Radiance Knight!

"The ‘Medusa’s Revenant’ and the ‘Dragon Zombie’—Fusion!"
As the saying goes, everything can be fused!
One is the serpent-haired Medusa, the other, a mutated member of the Dragon Clan turned zombie—an Undead. While both are Undead monsters, they had no relation in Ground Dragon’s previous life! Even though Ground Dragon became a zombie, what connection could there possibly be between a serpent woman and a zombie dragon?
Yugi couldn’t quite grasp it, but despite that, the fusion of these two monsters still birthed a brand-new creature, with even higher stats on its data panel!
"Come forth! The strongest monster of the Underworld! The Golden Mammoth!"
A deep, thunderous trumpeting resounded as a mammoth charged out from the swirling fusion vortex!
Given that it was created from two Undead monsters as materials, its own race was also, naturally, Undead. Beneath the shape of the mammoth, its golden bones assembled into a "Mammoth" that perfectly fit the designation "Undead."
(Golden Mammoth, Level 6, ATK: 2200 → 3080)
With a 30% boost from the "Graveyard" field, plus an additional 10% from the Pumpkin King’s tendrils, its attack power soared to 3080—enough to rival the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
"Heh heh heh! Ha ha ha ha! My deck’s ultimate trump card! The power of the ‘Golden Mammoth’ matches the legendary White Dragon!"
Gazing at the colossal mammoth on his field, as large as two sedans stacked atop one another, Bonz couldn’t help but erupt into wild laughter.
An attack strength of 3080, 80 points higher than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
Bonz declared boldly: with this power, how could he possibly lose? There was no way he could be defeated!
"Furthermore, because one of Golden Mammoth’s fusion materials is ‘Dragon Zombie,’ which was resurrected and modified by ‘Call of the Haunted,’ the mammoth also inherits the zombie’s effect! That means, no matter how you try to destroy it, it can resurrect endlessly! And with each revival, it grows even stronger!"
Death and revival, plus resurrection enhancement, plus the Pumpkin King’s boost—guaranteed victory!
"Charge! Mammoth Trample!"
The beast thundered forward, and without any fancy tricks, raised its golden skeletal leg and smashed the Sparkman into oblivion!
(Yugi: 2000 LP → 680 LP)
"Ha ha ha ha! Your Life Points are flickering like a dying candle! Defend all you like; with each passing turn, my mammoth will only grow stronger!"

He boasted with the confidence of a "candle in the wind" flag, for Bonz had every reason to be bold!
Even if Seto Kaiba showed up with his Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it would still bow before Bonz’s mammoth! Legendary White Dragon? Ha! It’s still no match for my mammoth!
"Heh heh! So, what will you do now?"
"What?!"
While Bonz was busy making declarations, Yugi had already completed his draw for the third turn—and this card was the key to his comeback—
"From my hand, I activate the Spell Card ‘Warrior’s Return!’ I recover Sparkman from the graveyard."
A classic move—using Warrior’s Return to retrieve a Warrior-type monster from the graveyard. Next, Yugi played the key card he had just drawn:
"The Spell Card ‘Polymerization’! I fuse ‘Elemental HERO Necroshade’ and ‘Elemental HERO Sparkman’ from my hand!"
Bandit Keith and his crew: ???
Wait! Did we hear that right, or did Yugi misspeak? He’s fusing monsters from his hand?!
"Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Darkbright!"
Last night’s hero, Darkbright, once again made his mark in this duel!
"Next, I activate the Spell Card ‘H – Heated Heart!’ Until the end of the turn, Darkbright’s attack increases by 500 points. Then, I equip ‘Spark Blaster’ to Darkbright!"
With Heated Heart powering up Darkbright, Yugi immediately equipped him with Sparkman’s signature magic.
"Because my Darkbright was fusion summoned using Sparkman as material, and his appearance still clearly shows Sparkman’s features, Sparkman’s exclusive spell, ‘Spark Blaster,’ can be equipped to him!"
You, Bonz, aren’t you just making things up about your mammoth inheriting the zombie’s undead revival ability? Fine! Today I’ll do some improvising myself—Darkbright, born from the fusion of Sparkman and Necroshade, gets Sparkman’s unique equipment!
It was clearly a serious-sounding piece of nonsense, yet the four on the other side grew stern and did not object. They pondered Yugi’s intent in pulling off this sequence—could he really hope to defeat the mammoth head-on?
"Now, I activate Spark Blaster’s effect! I can target one monster on your field and change its battle position."
No need to ask which one—naturally, the target is the strongest, the mammoth.
"Heh! I don’t know what scheme you’re plotting, but even if my mammoth is set to Defense Position, it’s still undead! Destroying it will only make it stronger!"

Bonz wasn’t the least bit worried about his monster being defeated—in fact, he was hoping for it to be destroyed and then revived, even stronger! That would push his odds of victory closer and closer to one hundred percent!
"Heh, you forgot to mention—both Darkbright himself and the spell card ‘H – Heated Heart’ used to power him up, they share a common effect: ‘Piercing Damage!’"
The four: !!!
It’s actually that rare effect—Piercing Damage!
At the mention of those words, everyone grew solemn. This effect, which would become commonplace in later years, was, at this point in Duelist Kingdom, extremely powerful and rare! Granting such an effect to a high-attack monster meant it would be unstoppable—no god or Buddha could stand in its way!
Imagine if Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes had this effect; would the outcomes of those duels in the original anime or game have been the same?
"B-but! Even if you have ‘Piercing Damage,’ the harm you inflict will amount to only a few hundred points!"
Thinking of the mammoth’s defense, Bonz relaxed a little. So what if you deal piercing damage? After the attack, my Life Points will still be higher than yours, Yugi!
Without further words, Yugi commanded Darkbright to attack the mammoth, now in Defense Position.
As Darkbright raised the Spark Blaster, channeling his power into the weapon for a ranged assault, Yugi began his (justified-sounding) improvisation!
"Elemental HERO Darkbright was born from the fusion of the Light-attribute ‘Sparkman’ and the Dark-attribute ‘Necroshade!’ Both are hero warriors born from two of the great elemental forces! Thus, their fusion—Darkbright—embodies both ‘Holy Brilliance’ and ‘Dark Destruction’ in his attacks!"
Bonz: "And so?"
"And so, at the moment of attack, the holy radiance that counters the Undead rises by 30%! The destructive power of darkness also brings a 30% boost!"
(Elemental HERO Darkbright, ATK: 2710 → 3910)
Bonz & the three: ?!!!!
3910 – 2340 = 1570 > Bonz’s 1355 LP
The victor: Yugi!