"—Special Summon! The Winged Dragon of Ra! 'God·Immortal Phoenix'!"[The Winged Dragon of Ra] Level 10│DIVINE│Divine-Beast│0 ATK
Special Summoned from the Graveyard, the Winged Dragon of Ra's golden surface was instantly cloaked in searing crimson flames. Fire engulfed its entire body as it lifted its head and cried out, sublimating into the fully resistant form of God·Immortal Phoenix.
Because the duel was taking place indoors—even though the imperial banquet hall was spacious enough that full-scale combat could be carried out without concern—it was still, in the end, a limited space. For Ra's summoning, the flames that burned heaven and earth were compressed here, nearly swallowing the entire venue.
"How is this possible?!"
Amid the surging flames, Sylvia's gaze contained shock, confusion, delight, and disbelief—her emotions tangled to the extreme.
"So this is… the true Card God!"
And it truly was the real thing. After all, the card face plainly displayed the DIVINE Attribute and the Divine-Beast race.
"Why… why can Miles summon a god?"
This boy, whose soul was entwined with multiple demons, had initially been defined by Sister Sylvia as a filthy existence that blasphemed the divine.
Yet all of that had merely been Sylvia's assumption.
A demon that blasphemed the gods? Sorry. Miles himself was a Duelist who could command even gods.
Granted, this god was not the same god. The Sun God and the Numerounius God Sylvia worshipped were not identical.
But for one who served the faith, reverence and respect for gods were shared all the same.
To treat a Duelist who held a God Card as a demon? Perhaps she herself was the one committing blasphemy.
"Ugh… n-no… you should just count me as blaspheming."
The sheer volume of info all at once, combined with the scorching heat of the divine flames around her, made Sylvia feel as though her mind was overheating.
"It's actually… the Winged Dragon of Ra, one of the Three Egyptian Gods!"
Those shaken by the god's descent were far from limited to Sylvia alone.
Karina, head of the Diane family; Bach, head of the Gate family; even Miles's own side—Crown Prince Homar Kaiser—were all wearing expressions of astonishment.
A royal guard of Livorden capable of commanding a god? Such an earthshaking piece of information—and yet not the slightest hint of it had ever circulated.
Was Livorden's secrecy simply that airtight?
Prince Homar could only think: I don't know either!
By all rights, the Winged Dragon of Ra should have been Royal Duel Knight Aisha Carlos's God Card.
In the Battle of the Royal Capital, at the final moment, Ra's flames had dispelled the fog and burned away the darkness.
From that battle on, Aisha Carlos rose to fame in a single stroke. In Livorden's royal capital, almost no one was unaware of Ra's existence.
And yet this God Card, supposedly bound to Aisha Carlos, was now in Miles' hands.
And standing against Ra at this very moment was the Chaos Ranked-Up Disaster Leo, whose every effect was obsessively engraved with victory.
"The Winged Dragon of Ra… you're not just some ordinary guard, are you?"
Facing the flames head-on, Ryan Gate's expression finally became grave and focused.
Even if one were a princess's guard, there was no such thing as an ordinary guard who could wield a God Card.
"But summoning a god now is too late! The 4000 effect damage of [Number C88: Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo] has already been activated!"
"Not late at all! I leave it to you, God·Immortal Phoenix!"
Receiving Miles' command, beneath the shroud of searing heat, Ra in its Immortal Phoenix form spread its massive wings of flame and collided head-on with the roaring 'Maximum Calamity' unleashed by Disaster Leo.
"The lion's effect damage… was actually negated?"
"Calamity cannot pass through the phoenix's flames. This is the effect of Ra after revival!"
[For this turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle, is unaffected by other card effects, and all damage its controller would take becomes 0.]¹
The strongest shield of the Three Egyptian Gods—God·Immortal Phoenix.
On the turn it is Special Summoned by revival, it not only gains complete card-effect immunity, but also shields its controller from all damage.
This was precisely the calamity barrier Miles had prepared by borrowing Ra from Aisha.
Nova recalled, "I remember that God·Immortal Phoenix can also send an opponent's monster to the Graveyard by paying 1000 Life Points, right?"
Having blocked Maximum Calamity, Miles's Life Points were still a full 4000. If he wanted to pay the cost to blow something up, he had more than enough to spare.
But that was only if it could actually be blown up.
After the Chaos Rank-Up, Disaster Leo didn't merely possess resistance to effect destruction—it had the protection of 'unaffected by other monsters' effects.'
With full monster-effect immunity, even God·Immortal Phoenix—whose effect sends rather than destroys—couldn't take it out. Miles had already tested this with The Wicked Avatar before.
"Using a god to negate effect damage? An admirable stratagem indeed. But don't think that blocking effect damage means you've blocked Disaster Leo!"
Directly inflicting 4000 damage was already outrageous enough.
Yet this was merely the prelude to the power of [Number C88: Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo].
By detaching its sole Xyz Material through that effect, the Chaos Ranked-Up Disaster Leo would finally bare its true fangs.
[At the end of the turn, if this card has no Xyz Materials, you win the Duel.]
No flowery wording—just a rule that stabbed straight toward victory.
"After activating its effect, [Number C88: Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo] no longer has any Xyz Materials! Now, all I need to do is declare the end of the turn to trigger the final effect!"
No matter how many times one saw it, Disaster Leo's effect was absurd in the extreme.
If not for Lost's initial sacrifice that allowed Miles to prepare a countermeasure, this first-time kill from Chaos Rank-Up would indeed have been exceedingly troublesome.
"The condition has been met. The hands of fate now point to victory. This is Disaster Leo's final roar!—'Final Crackdown'!"
Within the blazing banquet hall, the power of calamity shook the ground, sending violent tremors through the entire building.
"We've won." Duke Bach Gate's face was filled with pride.
Although Miles summoning a God Card had far exceeded everyone present's understanding,
for the Gate family—materialists who rejected divine faith and worshiped overwhelming firepower—defeating a god here and now was undoubtedly a brutal show of force against the Diane family, who upheld divine authority.
"Give them a good look at our strength, Ryan!"
"Yes, Father! I declare the end of the tu—"
Just one step away from fulfilling the special victory condition, Ryan Gate suddenly froze.
It wasn't that he didn't want to win—he simply couldn't declare the end of the turn.
"Celebrating a little too early, aren't you?" Miles's lips curved into a mysterious smile. "Before the turn ends, there's still something that must be done."
Correspondingly, Miles flipped open the second card he had set in his back row.
"—Continuous Trap Card [All-Out Attacks]!"
[If a monster(s) is Special Summoned while this card is face-up on the field: Change that monster to face-up Attack Position, and must attack, if able, during the turn they are Special Summoned.]
Because of this Continuous Trap, all monsters on the field that could attack were forced to do so.
In other words, Ryan had no way to skip the Battle Phase and go straight to declaring the end of the turn.
"When you fight a god, don't even think about running away at the last second!"
"You…!"
Dragged forcibly into the storm of flames, if Ryan wanted to end his turn properly, he had no choice but to launch an attack with Disaster Leo.
"If you insist on fighting, then I'll see it through! Battle—!"
Ryan decisively declared entry into the Battle Phase.
Judging purely by stats, the two monsters on Miles' field—Koga with 3000 ATK, and the Winged Dragon of Ra with 0 ATK—were both weaker than Disaster Leo's 3500 ATK.
And Ryan could also confirm that there were no other HERO monsters in Miles' Graveyard that would allow [Masked HERO Koga] to reduce an opponent's Attack.
"Meaningless stalling. I'll wipe out the Masked HERO with this blow!"
Ryan chose his attack target. Since Ra in its Immortal Phoenix state could neither be destroyed nor take damage, it made far more sense to crush the seemingly undefended Koga instead.
The golden lion charged forward, slashing its claws toward Koga's position.
And yet… nothing was destroyed.
"It vanished?!" Ryan exclaimed.
"I told you already—when you fight a god, there's no escape!"
Miles would never allow Ryan to freely choose [Masked HERO Koga] as the attack target.
To counter the near-cheating Disaster Leo, Miles had placed the entire core of his strategy on the Winged Dragon of Ra.
That naturally included this forced battle, where neither side had any retreat.
"The effect of [The Winged Dragon of Ra] allows me to Tribute any number of monsters I control, and this card gains Attack equal to the total Attack of the Tributed monsters!"
Amid the enveloping flames, Masked HERO Koga transferred all of its power into the god's blazing wings.
[The Winged Dragon of Ra, ATK: 0 → 3000]
From 0 to 3000—a qualitative leap. Empowered with Attack, the Immortal Phoenix caused the flames on the field to surge even more violently.
With the attack redirected, and forced by the Trap's effect to conduct battle, Ryan now had no choice but to target God·Immortal Phoenix.
"Even against a god, Disaster Leo's Attack is still higher!"
A clash representing the pinnacle of both sides' combat power—lion versus phoenix. Roars and cries echoed throughout the space.
"The color… changed?"
Rubbing her eyes, Sylvia initially thought it was an illusion caused by the overwhelming flames around them.
But this was no illusion.
As if dyed by golden fire, Miles's hair and pupils shifted into a blazing palette of crimson and gold—the very hues of the Immortal Phoenix.
Irena cried out in delight, "That's… a deification state!"
The change in hair and eye color was proof that the Duelist's soul had linked directly with the Winged Dragon of Ra.
Before this, even when activating effects, Miles had only entered deification by using Aisha's body as a medium.
This was the first time Miles himself had entered a deified state through a direct connection with the Sun God's soul.
"So… so cool…" Aisha blushed.
"This is the effect of the Winged Dragon of Ra when its soul is burned to the absolute limit!"
[Pay Life Points until you have 1 remaining; this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the amount paid.]
[Miles, LP: 4000 → 1]
[The Winged Dragon of Ra, ATK: 3000 → 6999]
After absorbing all of Koga's Attack and then all of Miles's Life Points,
the god that had revived from the Graveyard with 0 Attack achieved a complete reversal under the weight of double buffs.
"Staking everything on the power of the God Card, I won't let Disaster Leo survive this Battle Phase!"
Advance and live. Retreat and die.
If Disaster Leo made it through this Battle Phase intact, it would be Miles's defeat.
If not, then this burning god was the path to survival.
"—Divine Might Blaze·Cannon!!"
The collision between lion and firebird ended with the Winged Dragon of Ra—having gathered every last resource—overpowering its foe.
Waves of divine flame engulfed the golden lion.
[Number C88: Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo] destroyed
Miles succeeded. Against a Chaos Rank-Up whose effects bordered on cheating, he negated the damage with a God Card combo, forcibly dragged the battle into the combat phase, and slew the lion in a decisive counterattack.
….
¹ Searched, and apparently no version of Ra has that kind of effect, hmmm, maybe in the manga, but still not sure
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Chapter 529: 529: DSMW [529]
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