Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Jaden Yuki: "...Duel!"

(Amnar LP: 4000)

(Yujo Judai LP: 4000)

"...I'll go first, draw a card!"

Amnar, who took the initiative, drew a new card from his deck.

He gestured in the direction of Jaden Yuki, then raised his arm high, thrusting one of his cards into the side of the Duel Disk and activating it: "First up... Field Spell [Stage of the Royal Battle] activated! Jaden Yuki... come with me to the location of the World Tree!"

-

[The Stage for the King's Battle]

(Field Spell Card)

Effect: You can only use the second effect of this card once per turn.

①: Once per turn, if your opponent adds a card from their Deck to their hand: You can Special Summon 1 "King of War" monster from your Deck in Defense Position.

②: This effect can be activated if you successfully Special Summon a "King's War" monster during your opponent's turn. Special Summon as many "King's War Team Tokens" (Fairy/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1500) as possible to your field in Attack Position. Destroy these Tokens during the End Phase.

-

As the magic card was activated, the scene instantly shifted from the underground alchemy laboratory to the World Tree in Norse mythology.

Nine circular particles, each representing one of the nine worlds on the World Tree, floated above everyone's heads, radiating a silent awe.

"...Wang Zhan?" Looking around at the pure white world bathed in light, Jaden Yuki repeated Amnar's words.

A look of confusion appeared on his face at this name he had never heard of before.

“That’s right, the King’s War… This is the stage for the King’s War, the intersection of the nine worlds, and the place where all stories begin.” Pointing to the pure white ground beneath his feet, which radiated light, Amnar smiled and said, “Next, I will Normal Summon a Level 4 monster from my hand in Attack Position—【King’s War Shadow Lopto】(Angel/Fire/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1500).”

-

Lopte, the Shadow of Kings

(Angel/Fire/4-star/Attack 1500/Defense 1500)

Effect: You can only use the ③ effect of this card once per turn.

①: Only one "Lopto, the Shadow of Kings" can be present face-up on your field.

②: The ATK and DEF of any "King of Kings" monsters you control increase by 1000 during your opponent's turn.

③: During your or your opponent's Main Phase, you can Tribute 1 "King of War" monster you control to activate this effect. Special Summon 1 Level 9 "King of War" monster with a different name from that monster from your Deck.

-

Lopte is Loki, the god of mischief in Norse mythology.

The blond youth, who possessed countless transformation techniques, revealed his figure from the circular point above everyone's heads.

With a frivolous and mocking smile on his face, Lopte held his right hand across his body and solemnly struck a polite bowing pose.

However, given his expression, the gesture looked rather comical.

"Three cards are laid in ambush. Turn ends."

Without engaging in any spectacular or explosive actions, Amnar simply ended his turn after summoning a monster.

This seemed like nothing special, which really puzzled Jaden Yuki; he couldn't understand how Jaden had defeated Asuka and Manjoume.

"...What exactly is this guy planning to do?"

While pondering Amnar's plans, Jaden Yuki, whose turn it was, drew a new card from his deck: "Never mind... My turn, draw!"

Amnar: "At this moment, the effect of [The Stage of the King's Battle] activates!"

Jaden Yuki: "What...?!"

Aiming at the moment Jaden Yuki draws a card, Amnar waves his hand to activate the effect of the Field Spell Card: "Once per turn, if your opponent adds a card from their Deck to their hand, you can Special Summon 1 [King of War] monster from your Deck in Defense Position."

"Using this card's effect, I Special Summon [King Nidhogg, the Ice Realm Warlord] from my Deck!"

In Norse mythology, the black dragon that gnawed on the World Tree flapped its sky-covering black wings and descended upon Amnar along with a blizzard.

-

King Nidhogg, the Ice King

(Phantom Dragon/Water/9-star/Attack 2100/Defense 2600)

Effect: This card's second effect can only be used once per turn.

①: Only one "King Nidhogg" can be face-up on your field at a time.

②: You can activate this effect by Tributing 1 "Warlord" monster or a Mythical Dragon monster on your field when your opponent Special Summons a monster. Negate that Special Summon, and destroy that monster.

-

"It's actually... a special summon?"

"King Nidhogg, the Ice Realm War King... a 9-star high-attribute monster right off the bat? Could it be... Amnar's ace monster?"

Speculating on Amunas's plans, Marufuji Sho and Maeda Hayato, who were watching, each offered their own opinions.

This is a series never seen before, and cards never seen before.

Like Jaden Yuki, they also felt a sense of awe towards him.

While filled with fear, they also eagerly anticipated the monster that would appear next.

"Wang Zhan... his deck is actually this one... which means..."

Stroking his chin and recalling this somewhat obscure series, Yusei muttered to himself, "Emmm... if I remember correctly, this should only be the beginning... a whole bunch of monsters will appear soon."

King Monsters encompass the six basic attributes of Duel Monsters, as well as the kings of various realms in the World Tree.

Giants, elves, dragons, undead, dwarves, gods, humans...

There are nine points of matter on the World Tree, which means that... there are at least nine monsters in the King's War series!

Lopto, with its fire attribute, and Nidhogg, with its water attribute, are just two of them.

"Watch closely, this is where the real action begins!"

"Since I Special Summoned a monster during your turn, the second effect of the Field Spell Card—[Stage of the Royal Battle]—will also be triggered..."

Pointing in the direction of Jaden Yuki, Amnar continued, "...I can Special Summon as many [Royal Team Tokens] as possible in Attack Position on my field."

Amnar had three open spaces left in the attacking third, so three white-glowing derivatives appeared in front of him.

These derivatives are considered normal monsters. When they leave the field, they are neither sent to the graveyard nor returned to the deck; instead, they simply disappear.

"...A derivative monster with an attack power of 1500? What's the use of these?"

"Could it be that he's planning to pull out a bunch of human shields to protect himself from the onslaught of attacks?"

Unable to understand Amnar's actions, Marufuji Sho and Hayato raised this question.

If that's all there is to it, then Amnar is nothing special.

“No, that’s not it.” Shaking his head, Yusei explained, “...You two shouldn’t forget that besides these tokens, he also has [Lopto, the Shadow of Kings] on his field.”

Besides the monsters, Amnar also has three hidden trap cards on the field.

"That's right. When [Lopto the Shadow of Kings] is on the field, during my opponent's turn only, all [Kings] monsters on my field will gain 1000 ATK and DEF..."

Tapping his Duel Disk, Amnar added, "In other words, the attack power of these derivatives will increase from the original 1500 points to the current 2500 points, and the attack power of other [King's War] Effect Monsters, including [King's War Shadow Lopto], will also receive the same increase."

(【Wang Zhan Team Derivative】*3 Attack Power: 1500→2500)

(【Lopt, the Shadow of Kings】Attack Power: 1500→2500)

(【King Nidhogg】Defense Power: 2600→3600)

"Hiss...! Four monsters with an attack power of 2500... all at once!!! And that black dragon with a defense power of 3600..."

Sho Marufuji gasped in shock as he looked at the monsters lined up in front of Amnar.

I didn't feel anything when it was 1500, but now that it's jumped to 2500, the difference... is immediately apparent.

"Oh! 2500 attack power? That's impressive... King-level monster!" Unlike Marufuji Sho, Yuki Judai's face only showed the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent, and not much despair.

"...Hmm?" Seemingly not getting the response she wanted, Amnar looked in the direction of Jaden Yuki: "No panicked expression, which means, do you have a solution to this situation, Jaden Yuki?"

"Well! Who knows!" Jaden Yuki wiped his nose and gave a mysterious smile.

Those with attributes below 3100 are nothing but ants!

My Flame Winged Man is the best at dealing with this kind of monster!

"I'm thinking... could it be that you're planning to fuse with the [Elemental Hero Flame Winged Man] and then attack me?" Amnar tentatively voiced his guess.

"Uh……"

Feeling a little embarrassed that his inner thoughts had been guessed, Jaden Yuki scratched his cheek.

It must be admitted that he did have that thought just now.

"...So, you were planning to merge them!"

"Then let's deal with these disturbances first!"

Amnar, having gleaned the information from Jaden's reaction, smiled and opened the two face-down cards in front of him: "Continuous Trap Card [Fragrance of the Enchanted] activated! As long as this card is in the Spell & Trap Zone, neither player's Spell Cards can be activated unless they are face-down, and cannot be activated until the next turn of the player who set it."

A pitch-black incense burner, radiating intense malice and featuring a large face on its front, appeared before Amunas as the words fell.

A faint white mist drifted out from inside the incense burner.

"Holy crap! It's... [The Fragrance of the Sealed Demon], are you deliberately targeting me?" Realizing Amnar's intentions, Jaden Yuki protested by raising his arm.

Can a hero without magic cards or fusion cards still be called a hero?

"Heh...then I'll continue with the chain [Fragrance of the Enchanted Realm] and activate the Continuous Trap Card in the back row—[Cosmos]! As long as this card is on the field, cards sent to the Graveyard are not sent to the Graveyard, but are banished directly!"

The root of all evil, the card that directly led to Asuka and Manjoume's first encounter with the killer, was simply flipped over and activated by Amnnar.

As this trap card was activated, the sky above everyone's heads began to vaguely reflect the shape of the universe.