In just a few moves, the Spell Canceller and Jinzo that had been locking down Alister were now on his field. While he didn’t have Angel O7, he still had Brain Golem, which negated all LIGHT monster effects.
"Magician of Faith is LIGHT, Silent Magician is LIGHT... If the deck’s chaos-themed, at least half the monsters are LIGHT," Mokuba said, clearly worried for Kira.
"So now, isn’t he..."
"Hmph," Kaiba remained calm. "Just watch."
He turned his attention from Alister to Kira.
You’re not the kind of duelist to be stumped by this, are you?
"No wonder you’re a legendary duelist," Kira said with a wry smile. "This is a headache."
"Is it?" Alister grinned.
"You don’t look too troubled to me."
"I am, though," Kira smiled. "My turn—draw."
He drew and quickly scanned his hand as if searching for a solution.
"Spells, traps, and LIGHT effects all locked down... This is tough. I guess I have to use ’that move.’"
"Hmm?" Alister frowned.
Why does this feel like he’s about to play his trump card?
"All right, here goes," Kira said, pulling out a card. "I tribute your ’Spell Canceller’ and ’Brain Golem’ to Special Summon a powerful monster to your field!
Awaken from the abyssal lava, bringer of ruin and rebirth—
Level 8, Lava Golem!"
Alister’s eyelid twitched.
Using my monsters as tribute...
Molten lava surged, and both the Spell Canceller and Brain Golem vanished. A massive hand reached out of the lava, followed by a burning, mountainous body towering over Alister’s field.
[Lava Golem, ATK 3000]
Mokuba, who had just been worried, was now slack-jawed.
Spell/trap/effect lockdown?
Alister stared at the big lump on his field, face twitching—
But quickly forced a smile.
"Ahahaha... That’s a creative way to break a lockdown!"
No wonder he’s a legendary duelist—he’s got nerves of steel.
"True, this instantly breaks my lockdown. But now I have a monster as strong as Blue-Eyes on my field—a huge risk."
Indeed, Lava Golem’s 3000/2500 stats match Blue-Eyes exactly.
But Kira smiled, "He’s my soul, my ace. As long as I need him, he’ll naturally return to my side."
"Alright, time to come home after you’re done eating."
Lava Golem grunted, then lumbered across the field back to Kira’s side.
Wait, you’re joking, right? How can he just leave after eating my monsters?
Is this just an all-you-can-eat buffet for your monsters?
Worse, Alister watched as even Jinzo, patted his butt and quietly followed Lava Golem back to Kira’s side.
"See? That’s the bond between me and my monsters," Kira declared. "The original King of Games said: the power of bonds brings miracles in duels."
Alister pondered. That sounded suspiciously like a convenient excuse...
But then he noticed the card Kira had quietly played in his backrow.
Spell Card—Owner’s Seal.
"All monsters on the field return to their original owner’s control."
"I see," Alister realized. "Lava Golem and Jinzo were originally yours, so control returns to you."
With Lava Golem back, Alister’s lock was broken. But he noticed that although Lava Golem returned, Kira wasn’t locked up like he had been.
So that big goofball only puts the opponent in jail, huh?
"Amazing!" Mokuba cheered. "He broke Alister’s powerful lockdown in an instant, and now Alister’s down to just one monster!
If Kira attacks now, he can win this turn—a comeback victory, big bro! So cool!"
"Hmph, not bad," Kaiba said, smiling in approval.
"Battle," Kira declared. "First, Lava Golem attacks Gigantes!"
Lava Golem’s fist smashed Gigantes to pieces in a fiery explosion.
[Alister, LP 3300 → 2200]
When Gigantes is destroyed by battle, all spells and traps on the field are destroyed. But both players’ backrows were empty, so it didn’t matter.
"Jinzo, direct attack!"
Jinzo’s hands charged an energy ball that blasted forward.
"Kira wins!" Mokuba cheered.
"Not yet," Alister smiled. "I’m not that easy to beat.
From my hand, ’Juragedo’—I can Special Summon it during either player’s Battle Step and gain 1000 LP!"
He revealed the card.
"Special Summon ’Juragedo’!"
[Alister, LP 2200 → 3200]
The energy blast destroyed Juragedo, but not before Alister healed 1000 life points, so Kira’s finishing combo only dealt a net 100 damage.
"Too bad, just a little short," Alister grinned.
"Yeah... End of Battle Phase," Kira said. "I activate ’Advance Draw,’ tributing a Level 8 or higher monster to draw two cards. This update is available on novel⸺fire.net
I tribute Lava Golem to draw two."
Lava Golem burst into flames and vanished as Kira drew.
Didn’t you just call that your ace and soul? This is how you treat your soul?
After drawing, Kira revealed another card: "Equip Spell ’Amplifier’—equip to Jinzo.
Now, my traps aren’t blocked by Jinzo’s effect anymore."
Alister frowned: "So only I can’t use traps?"
"Looks like it," Kira said, setting three cards.
"Set three in the backrow, end turn."
PS: First bonus Chapter at 100 PS.