Yugioh [870-872] (Patreon)

Chapter 870: Blue-Eyes–Class Power

Mystic Tomato, destroyed!

The Venom Snake coiled around the tomato, its sharp fangs sinking in with a bite. Mystic Tomato burst apart with a pop—but immediately after, a beam of golden light shot out from Kira's deck.

"From my deck, I Special Summon in Attack Position a DARK monster with 1500 or less ATK—'Witch of the Black Forest.'"

A witch in a black robe appeared on the field, eyes gently closed, long purple hair cascading softly down.

[Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100]

Viper said, "I set one card. My turn ends."

"Then it's my turn. Draw." Kira said, "I Normal Summon 'Don Zaloog.'"

The one-eyed bandit leader's card flashed, and the monster emerged from the golden glow released by the card. He crouched low, cowboy-style, twirling his revolver with practiced flair, then struck a cool pose as he landed.

[Don Zaloog, ATK 1400]

"Zaloog, attack 'Venom Snake.'"

"Heh, leave it to me!"

Zaloog puffed his chest and strode forward. His revolver barked twice—bang, bang! The bullets pierced the Venom Snake's thick scales, and it burst apart with a snap.

[Viper, LP 4000 → LP 3800]

"Barely a scratch," Viper snapped. "I activate my set card, the Trap Card 'Snake Whistle'! This can only be activated when a Reptile monster you control is destroyed. Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Reptile from your Deck."

Viper pulled out his deck, spread it, and searched for a card.

"I Special Summon 'Venom Cobra'!"

He slapped the card onto his Duel Disk. A massive cobra covered in hard scales appeared on his field, its body coiled into a mound—when it lowered itself, it almost looked like a fortress.

[Venom Cobra, DEF 2000]

Adrian adjusted his glasses from the side. "Professor Viper's Duel Disk is an older model—you have to manually search and shuffle."

Viper shot him a sidelong glance, puzzled. "So what?"

"Nothing," Adrian smiled. "The new models are better."

A lesson paid in blood.

Adrian had decided—on the way back, even if he had to leverage every connection in his conglomerate, he was going to buy a new auto-shuffling Duel Disk from KaibaCorp.

Otherwise, you're at such a disadvantage against certain… dark-hearted, twisted types.

 "Makes no sense," Viper muttered.

"Two thousand DEF, huh? Impressive. That means my Witch of the Black Forest can't beat it," Kira said. "But Don Zaloog's effect:

When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent, you can either make them send the top card of their deck to the GY, or discard 1 random card from their hand."

Kira crook-ed his finger.

"I'll take the latter. Come now, Professor—destroy a card in your hand."

Zaloog had been itching. He snickered. "Been waiting for this."

He drew his revolver and fired—bang!

The bullet punched a transparent hole through one of the cards in Viper's hand; in the projection, it shattered into golden fragments.

"Tch. Just as underhanded as the rumors say."

Viper snorted.

"My turn, then. Draw."

He glanced at the card he drew, didn't add it to his hand just yet, and looked up at Kira before activating anything.

"This turn, I'll show you the terror of my Venom Deck!

 First, I activate the Spell Card 'Snake Rain'!

 By discarding 1 card, I can send 4 Reptile monsters from my Deck to the GY!"

Another "broken on description alone" card—across the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! pool, few are this degenerate. A single card to freely dump four specific monsters?

If it were for Warriors or Dragons, it would be sky-high busted.

And yet, despite power on the level of a tactical nuke, this Spell has stayed out of the banlist for years. Which tells you just how trash Reptiles have been in the meta—so bad that even with a card like this, Konami shrugged.

 Viper sent four Reptiles from his deck to the GY, then said:

"Also, the card I discarded was the Spell 'Card of Compensation.' When this card is sent from the hand to the GY, draw 2 cards." (Anime card)

 Viper drew two.

Zaloog gritted his teeth. "Damn it, I worked so hard to knock just one card from his hand…"

"That's how the draw engines in this world are," Kira said, long used to it—not just used to it, perfectly adapted.

"Next, I activate the Equip Spell 'Sacrifice of Grave Goods.']

 "Equip it to 'Venom Cobra.'

A monster equipped with this card, when used as Tribute for a Tribute Summon, can treat this Equip Spell as an additional monster for the Tribute!" (Manga card)

 Viper drew another card.

"And now the Continuous Spell 'Precious Cards from Beyond'!

 Each time you Tribute Summon using 2 or more Tributes, draw 2 cards."

Preparations complete, Viper clenched his right fist.

"Therefore, I Tribute 'Venom Cobra' and the Equip Spell itself as two Tributes!

From the pitch-black, venomous marsh, the incarnation of despair and deadly toxin descends. Appear—

—Level 8, Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes!!!"

A bog-like mire opened, green bubbles rising, looking deadlier than poison. Horrific darkness surged up; amid the coiling toxic miasma, a form condensed.

A cobra-like head—with another small snake head at its crown. Eerie eyes glowing red, a cloak trailing behind. Its upper body stood upright like a humanoid; its lower half was still a winding serpent. Its crimson cape looked as if soaked in blood.

[Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes, ATK 0]

"There it is—the Venom King," Kira said. "Professor Viper's ace."

Though Professor Viper only fought once in the entire anime saga, the deck he used—or more accurately his ace monster—caused quite a stir, even inspiring a legion of paper players trying to recreate the circus build to summon it in real life.

Why was Viper's deck so beloved?

Leaving that aside, the fact that this Level 8 boss has both 0 ATK and 0 DEF already tells you how it really fights.

"Since I Tribute Summoned using two Tributes, 'Precious Cards from Beyond' activates—I draw 2 cards."

Viper drew two.

"Vennominon's ATK is 0, but it gains 500 ATK for each Reptile in my GY!

 I currently have Venom Snake, Cobra, and four Reptiles sent by 'Snake Rain,' so Vennominon's ATK becomes…"

[Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes, ATK 0 → ATK 3000]

In one surge, it reached Blue-Eyes White Dragon–class power!

Chapter 871: Vennominon

Vennominon, descend!

"So that's Professor Viper's ace, huh? Impressive, impressive."

Kira offered ungrudging praise.

"It does seem to be a monster of extraordinary power."

Viper snorted.

"You'll soon understand Vennominon's might. Battle!

Vennominon, attack 'Don Zaloog'!"

Vennominon cackled, five fingers snapping out like springs—on closer look, they weren't fingers at all but five bent little snakes, each wearing the same sinister grin as the king, tiny tongues flicking.

Kira's face was blank. "Zaloog, intercept."

Zaloog looked at him with a crying face.

Huh? Me, fight the Venom King? For real?

 Orders are orders.

 Forced into overtime, Zaloog had no choice. He gritted his teeth, drew his revolver, and fired. Of course, the result was obvious. The opponent didn't bother to guard or dodge; the bullets pinged harmlessly off Vennominon's scales.

The little snakes immediately wrapped Zaloog up, biting again and again into his dark muscles. He howled—venom quickly flooded the wounds, turning his skin purplish black before he exploded.

"But at this moment I activate the Trap 'Defense Draw'." Kira said. "I take 0 battle damage, and draw 1 card."

A defensive barrier blocked the impact. Kira drew.

Zaloog, back in ghostly form, slunk off, only to be immediately supported by his Dark Scorpion comrades.

"Boss? You okay?"

"Tch, I'm fine. I just let my guard down." Zaloog ground his teeth. "Otherwise that damn snake was done for."

His goons squinted at him. Boss's strength ain't much, but his mouth sure is.

"I activate the Continuous Spell 'Damage Off Zone'," Viper said. "While this card is face-up, all battle damage both players take is halved." (Anime card)

 He then fanned out two cards.

"I set two cards. Turn end."

Vennominon folded its arms, tongue hissing, its cold grin looking downright mocking and provocative.

Spectator Adrian frowned slightly.

"Vennominon must have some hidden trick. It looks like a monster with a terrifying latent power," he murmured, then glanced at Kira. "Faced with an unknown threat, how will the Duel King respond?"

To Kira, however, it wasn't unknown. He knew Vennominon's ability well.

Viper smirked inwardly.

If a 3000-ATK beater could stump him, Duel King would be a joke. He had no doubt the opponent could beat Vennominon.

But Viper didn't mind—in fact, he welcomed it.

Vennominon's hidden ability: when this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY, by banishing Reptiles from your GY, it can revive itself infinitely. In other words, it has as many lives as you have Reptiles.

But that's not the point.

The reason Vennominon is my pride is that it's the medium for something far more terrifying. When Vennominon is destroyed, the Trap Card "Rise of the Snake Deity" can summon the truly invincible demon god, "Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes."

That's the real trump card—once it hits the field, the duel is more than half won: a godlike, unbeatable monster!

Viper narrowed his eyes.

"Come on, destroy my Vennominon. Smash it with a big monster, pop it with an effect—I don't care how. The moment you take it down will be the moment of your defeat!"

Of course, that was all inside voice. The professor's nerves were iron; his face stayed stone-still.

"My turn. Draw."

Kira drew, then immediately revealed the card.

"I equip the Spell 'Wonder Wand' to my 'Witch of the Black Forest.'

This card can only be equipped to a Spellcaster. The equipped monster gains 500 ATK."

[Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100 → 1600]

"Then I use Wonder Wand's second effect. Send both the equipped monster and this card to the GY to draw 2 cards."

The witch and wand vanished from the field; Kira drew two.

"Now, Witch of the Black Forest's effect. When this card is sent to the GY, add 1 monster with 1500 or less DEF from your Deck to your hand."

Viper clicked his tongue.

Last turn, he'd specifically attacked Don Zaloog first to avoid triggering the witch's search. He didn't want to give the opponent a free tutor.

In hindsight, not only did the opponent still get the search, he also drew two extra. Maybe it would've been better to pop the witch first after all.

"From my Deck, the monster with 1500 or less DEF is…"

Kira smiled mysteriously and plucked out the card the deck auto-ejected.

"I add 'Abyss Soldier' to my hand."

He revealed the card, the deck auto-shuffled, then immediately slapped that monster onto the Duel Disk.

"I Normal Summon 'Abyss Soldier'!"

Clear water burst forth, taking the shape of an aquatic warrior. He looked like a deep-sea creature standing upright, golden trident in hand. With each sweep of the trident, the water obeyed, swirling at his command.

[Abyss Soldier, ATK 1800]

"Abyss Soldier's effect—by discarding a WATER monster from my hand, I can choose any card on the field and return it to its owner's hand."

Kira showed a monster from his hand.

"I discard the WATER monster 'Sinister Serpent' to the GY and bounce your ace, 'Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes,' back to your hand!"

Viper: "!"

The professor's pupils tightened; he grit his teeth.

Not battle. Not effect destruction. A bounce…

 You've got to be kidding.

"Rise of the Snake Deity" only triggers when Vennominon is destroyed, and Vennominon's own zombie-revive only matters if it gets beaten down. But a send-back to hand…

 Abyss Soldier swept his trident; the water surged like a dragon, swallowing Vennominon in an instant, as if washing even the venom away.

Vennominon roared, but turned into light and flew back to its master's hand.

"Battle." Kira raised his hand. "'Abyss Soldier,' attack Professor Viper directly."

Abyss Soldier strode forward, feet stepping upon flowing water. Energy spiraled around the trident like an enchantment, then thrust straight at Viper's chest.

"Ugh…"

Viper staggered back half a step.

"'Damage Off Zone' halves my battle damage!"

[Viper, LP 3800 → LP 2900]

"Then I activate my set Continuous Trap 'Damage = Reptile'!"

Even taking a heavy blow, Viper operated immediately.

"Once per turn, when battle involving your Reptile monster causes you to take battle damage, you can Special Summon from your Deck 1 Reptile with ATK less than or equal to that damage!"

Chapter 872: The Abyss Combo

"'Damage = Reptile' resolves—searching a Reptile to the field!"

Viper went back into his deck, quickly pulling out a monster.

"I took 900 damage, so I Special Summon a Reptile from my Deck with ATK less than or equal to that number.

I Special Summon a second 'Venom Cobra'!"

The thickly white-scaled cobra returned—long body, lashing tail, tongue hissing. It looked truly fearsome.

[Venom Cobra, ATK 100]

"At this moment—"

Kira revealed a card in his hand.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell 'Demise of the Land'!

 When your opponent successfully Special Summons a monster, activate this to choose and activate a Field Spell from your Deck."

The field shifted at once. The sun, veiled by clouds, cast a hazy light over the barren ruins.

Then, like a tsunami, a great tide surged over the ruins, flooding the entire space. The seabed trembled, the earth cracked, ancient buildings rose with bubbling water and swirling dust.

"From my Deck, I activate the Field Spell 'A Legendary Ocean'," Kira said. "It increases the ATK/DEF of WATER monsters by 200, and reduces the Level of WATER monsters in both hands and on the field by 1."

[Abyss Soldier, ATK 1800 → 2000]

Viper fell silent.

That troublesome soldier is now at 2000 ATK. It's only 200 more, but it elevates him from a lower-level beater to near upper-level thresholds—much more annoying.

Kira: "I set two cards to my back row. Turn end."

Adrian watched without a ripple.

Abyss Soldier—the bounce monster. Its ability seems tailor-made to counter Viper's Vennominon.

Choosing this monster as the core of his plan—did the Duel King intend this from the start?

 Could it be he already knew Professor Viper's strategy?

"My turn. Draw—"

Viper stood and spoke in a low voice.

"You—did you already know Vennominon and the characteristics of my Venom Deck? Otherwise why would you just happen to…?"

"Well now… whether I knew or not…"

Kira wore a playful smile.

"What do you think?"

Viper ground his teeth.

Strength aside, the Duel King is as punchable as the legends say…

 He'd also heard that provoking anger is part of the King's dueling. Lose your cool in front of this guy, and you've fallen into his pace—defeat won't be far.

"I activate the Spell 'Fiend's Sanctuary'!" Viper declared. "I Special Summon a 'Metal Fiend Token' to my field!"

A magical sigil opened on the ground; a little metal demon figure like a doll appeared within it.

[Metal Fiend Token, ATK 0]

"Then I Tribute 'Venom Cobra' and the 'Metal Fiend Token'—once more, descend—

—Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes!!!"

Two Tributes reassembled on the field were swallowed by the dark mire. Then a cloud of poison burst out; countless little snakes formed first—Vennominon's fingers—then those dangerous eyes, the upright serpent's form, and the regal crimson cloak.

[Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes, ATK 0]

"And with more Reptiles in my GY, Vennominon's power rises again!"

[Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes, ATK 0 → ATK 3500]

"Also, my Continuous Spell 'Precious Cards from Beyond' activates again!" Viper said. "I used two monsters to Tribute Summon, so I draw 2 cards!"

Viper drew hard.

Then he looked up at Kira's field, voice cold.

"Planning to bounce Vennominon again next turn with that disgusting soldier? I won't let you! Now I'll show you the true, unshakable authority of the Venom King!

Go, Vennominon—tear that Abyss Soldier to pieces!"

Vennominon screeched, clearly furious at the water warrior that had embarrassed it, and charged as if for revenge.

Kira: "I activate the Continuous Trap 'Gravity Bind.'

Neither player can attack with Level 4 or higher monsters!"

A gravity wave crashed down. Vennominon, mid-charge and full of momentum, was slammed to the ground by an invisible force, hissing in pain, unable to move.

"I see!" Adrian's eyes lit up. "'Gravity Bind' seals Viper's attacks. Abyss Soldier was originally Level 4, but thanks to 'A Legendary Ocean,' it's reduced to Level 3—so it isn't affected."

Thus only Viper is locked out of attacking, while Abyss Soldier can discard a card each turn to bounce something, then swing in with a solid 2000 ATK for pressure…

 As expected of the Duel King's tactics.

Viper clenched his fist. "You even sealed my attacks…"

"What's wrong, Professor? Weren't you going to show me Vennominon's unshakable authority?" Kira teased. "If you don't swing at me, I can't feel a thing."

Viper's face stayed cold.

"Don't get cocky, brat!"

He glanced at a card he'd just drawn.

Though his offense was blocked again, the two draws from Vennominon's Tribute Summon and "Precious Cards from Beyond" offered another path.

"I set one card. Turn end."

Viper's voice was icy.

"My turn. Draw."

Kira drew, then paused.

"At this moment, I activate the effect of 'Sinister Serpent' in my GY.

If this card is in your GY, during your Standby Phase, return it to your hand."

A green snake's phantom flashed. Kira revealed the monster card exiting his GY and added it back to his hand.

Viper's frown deepened.

Sinister Serpent is WATER, perfect as Abyss Soldier's cost. Each turn he discards it, and next turn it recovers itself…

 A bouncer that returns cards every turn, a one-sided lock trap, and now infinite ammo…

 How utterly degenerate!

 This was a strategy Kira had used back at the Academy, but it was Viper and Adrian's first time seeing it. Adrian, as a spectator, was eye-opened; Professor Viper, as the victim, mostly felt stifled.

"Now I discard the 'Sinister Serpent' that just returned to my hand as the cost, to activate 'Abyss Soldier.'"

Kira pitched the card to the GY.

"I bounce 'Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes' back to your hand—again!"