092 The Spirit Board That Summons Death

"When did you activate the Spell Card?"

Dark Marik only then noticed that a Spell Card was already face-up on Yugi's field, having been activated. Could the reason his Life Points had not been restored be because of that card?

"Heh-heh! The moment I realized Magician's Rod wasn't continuing its attack, I activated my set card right then and there!"

Yugi said with a smile. The instant Magician's Rod halted in midair, he sensed something was off and fired off that Quick-Play Spell.

Dark Marik found the whole thing ridiculous, but the problem was that the Duel System acknowledged that Yugi had indeed activated the Spell before he declared the effect, thereby avoiding every subsequent change that might have occurred!

"Quick-Play Spell, Illusion Magic! I tribute the Magician-type 'Magician's Rod' on my field and send it to the Graveyard, then add my ace monster, 'Dark Magician,' from my Deck to my hand."

A Quick-Play Spell, a Spell Card with speed 2, sent the object the spirit had possessed—Magician's Rod—to the Graveyard before the damage could even take shape, making the attack fail. And with the possessed monster no longer on the field, the spirit's effect could no longer be activated.

"Tch! So it was a Quick-Play Spell that could be activated during the opponent's turn!"

Dark Marik could only swallow this loss. A spirit could possess only one monster per turn, and once it had done so, it could not change targets again that turn. Not even if the possessed monster left the field for some other reason afterward.

"Because of Illusion Magic, I drew my ace monster, so at this moment I activate another set card!"

After explaining how Illusion Magic had dodged the damage, Yugi activated the other set card on his field, the Trap Card he had previously searched from the Deck using Magician's Rod's effect.

Magician's Navigation was activated, and Yugi slapped his ace monster, Dark Magician, straight into the Monster Zone of his Duel Disk, Special Summoning it in Attack Position without tribute!

Now that Dark Magician had appeared, his only disciple in the world of magic, Dark Magician Girl, followed her master as she flew out from the Deck as well!

"Magician's Navigation lets me Special Summon one Dark Magician from my hand without any conditions. After that, I can also Special Summon one DARK Spellcaster monster with Level 7 or lower from my Deck."

That was why master and disciple had arrived together.

"Continue Battle Phase! Dark Magician! Attack Dark Marik!"

A Trap Card had Special Summoned a monster during the Battle Phase, so the newly arrived monster could naturally attack.

"Heh, trying to shave off my Life Points? Not a chance!"

With my dream opening hand, Dark Marik had never imagined he would lose even a single point of Life by Yugi's third turn.

"Trap Card, Mirror Force, activate!"

The classic attack-activation Trap, Mirror Force, was the life-saving card Dark Marik had prepared for his supernatural deck.

"Now then, Yugi! Take the impact of this sublime power!!"

Dark Magician's magical attack, under the effect of Mirror Force, not only grew stronger, but also split into two through its mirror image and rebounded, destroying Dark Magician and Chimera on Yugi's field!

"Good thing I Special Summoned Dark Magician Girl in Defense Position! Otherwise..."

Looking at the one remaining monster on his field, Yugi quietly breathed a sigh of relief. When resolving the follow-up effect of Magician's Navigation and Special Summoning Dark Magician Girl, he had thought of Dark Marik's three face-down cards, and in case one of them was a nasty response to monster attacks, he had Special Summoned the girl in Defense Position.

It seemed that move had been the right one after all!

At the same time, Yugi could not help thinking that in the past he had always been the one to turn aside enemy attacks and destroy the opposing monsters on the field. He had never expected that today, his own monsters would be the ones sacrificed instead.

"Even though you destroyed my battle monsters, that also means Chimera's death effect can activate! Come forth, the Fusion Material, Baphomet!"

A classic scene. In the original anime, Baphomet was almost always brought out by Yugi using the effect of the Fusion Monster Chimera; it seemed he had never once been Tribute Summoned from the field by his own hand.

"I'll set two cards. End turn."

With Dark Marik's two remaining face-down cards still unopened, Yugi could not be sure whether they were also Traps meant to respond to monster attacks. So he chose to Special Summon Baphomet in Defense Position, refrain from continuing the Battle Phase, set two cards, and try to end the turn.

Yugi wanted to end the turn, but Dark Marik did not want his second turn to begin so soon.

"Yugi! The very moment you declared the end of your turn, I activate my third Trap Card!"

"What?"

Under Yugi's puzzled gaze, the third set card on Dark Marik's field—the same Trap Card as the first two—also activated.

Destiny Board.

A wooden board marked with the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0 through 9, and the word "GOODBYE" in English, appeared out of thin air above Dark Marik's head.

Aside from the letters and numbers, there was also a blue hand gripping a metal pointer with a round hole in its center. It looked very much like the right hand of Nicolophia, the one sent to the Graveyard earlier.

"What in the world is that weird board?"

From below the Duel stage, Joey, watching the match on a small television, stared at the Destiny Board in confusion.

"It's an object often used in Western spiritualism. Kind of like a spirit board, a ouija board, or a medium board here."

That was about all Yugi knew about Destiny Board.

"Destiny Board..."

On the Duel stage, Yugi stared at the floating board above Dark Marik's field with a look of confusion and curiosity.

"Heh-heh! Then let me explain it to you, Yugi!"

"The so-called Destiny Board is an object used to communicate with souls. By harnessing the resentment of those souls and using the letters of the alphabet to drive the board, it reveals the thing I wish to express."

"Um... that's it?"

After hearing Dark Marik's explanation, Yugi could only think: that's all?

Well, of course there was more to it than that.

"Yugi! Open your eyes and watch closely! This is the combo that trumps you in my supernatural deck!"

As Dark Marik laughed, a sound like an ancient wooden door slowly opening echoed from the Destiny Board. The blue hand began to slide the metal pointer across the board. A few seconds later, the hole in the pointer settled on the letter D.

"The letter D?"

Yugi gasped in surprise as a giant ghostly three-dimensional projection of the letter D appeared above the Destiny Board.

"Heh-heh! Not just D! From now on, every time you declare the end of your turn, E, A, T, and H will appear one after another on my field. Four letters in total!"

Pointing at the Destiny Board overhead, Dark Marik explained its effect with a grin.

"D, and then E, A, T, H... 'Death'!"

The nameless Pharaoh, whose English was excellent, instantly grasped the key point of this Continuous Trap Card's effect.

"Could it be that once these five letters are completed, you win the Duel outright? Is that it, Dark Marik?"