Yugioh [876-878] (Patreon)

Chapter 876 – The Serpent God Descends

"No!"

Viper roared.

"I don't care! No matter what, I'm bringing you back. I will, I absolutely will…"

He jolted awake, and only then remembered he was still in the middle of a Duel. He snapped his head up and saw Kira standing calmly on the opposite side, watching him with an amused smile.

"Y-you…"

Viper's lips trembled for a moment, but he quickly forced himself to calm down and spoke in a low voice.

"You saw it."

Kira nodded. "I saw it."

He paused, then asked, "Who's that child?"

Viper pondered for two seconds.

"A child who deserved a much better life," Viper said coldly. "A child who died far too young because of heaven's unfairness. And I will stop at nothing to bring him back.

Don't try preaching to me, Duel King. I know the price this will cost. I know many may die because of it. But I don't care."

"I understand."

Kira nodded, then showed a provocative smile.

"But I never said I was going to preach to you. There's no need."

Viper froze. "What?"

"Because you're just about finished, aren't you?" Kira chuckled. "You can't bring him back, just like you can't beat me. Before you even get that far, you can't even attempt to summon your so-called ace.

Your Serpent God, the monster you're so confident is invincible, right? The Duel's gone on this long and it's still napping in your Deck."

Viper: "…"

"Face reality, Professor Viper. The truth is… you're just bad."

Kira said mercilessly.

"Because of your failure, you couldn't protect your child.

Because of your failure, you can't defeat me. You don't even have the ability to handle the Serpent God. You can't even summon it. That's how bad you are."

He shook his head again and again as he spoke.

Viper: "…"

His teeth ground together, veins bulged on his clenched fists, and his dark face even seemed to flush red as his blood pressure spiked from rage.

Adrian, standing in the same room, actually felt as if the temperature had risen… if it wasn't just his imagination.

He looked at Kira in shock.

He had to admit: aside from pure Dueling skill, he truly admired the King's ability to piss people off.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Viper howled like a wounded lion.

"That so? Then do your best," Kira said mildly. "The Tripper Mercury's other effect. In the same Battle Phase, this card can attack twice."

Adrian: "!"

Reduce all opposing monsters' ATK to zero and it can attack twice in one turn…

The Tripper Mercury's original ATK is 2000. In other words, once it's summoned, it can very easily deal 4000 damage in a single turn. It's a monster born to OTK.

"As expected of the Planet series," Adrian muttered. "They're never never simple."

Mercury attacked again, sword swinging!

The blade traced a blue trail in the air, accompanied by a shrill sound as it tore through the sky, the sword light crashing straight down toward Viper's head.

"Damage Off Zone, final effect!" Viper shouted. "By sending this card to the Graveyard, I can make one instance of Battle Damage become 0!"

The sword light slashed down onto a transparent force-field barrier, rippling violently as it dispersed.

"So you barely blocked it, huh."

Kira commented.

"In that case, I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Viper was breathing heavily.

"Kill you… I will kill you, Fujiki Kira," he said in a deep voice. "I will crush all obstacles. No one can stop me! No one—

 My turn, draw!"

The moment he drew, a flash of light ran across his arm. It was as if a non-human arm overlapped with his own.

Kira raised an eyebrow.

It wasn't Yubel in person, but it was definitely her power. She had given Viper part of her strength.

Viper glanced at the card he had drawn, then said in a sinister tone:

"You said I was weak. You said I couldn't control the Serpent God's power, right?

Then open your eyes and watch!"

"I activate the Field Spell, 'Mausoleum of the Emperor'!"

The surroundings shifted abruptly, the ground shaking violently. An imposing mausoleum took form, rows of torches lighting one after another, illuminating the eerie space. Countless terracotta soldiers stood towering amidst the rolling mists below, like an ancient dead army.

"Mausoleum of the Emperor: by paying 1000 Life Points, I can replace the Tribute required for a Tribute Summon!"

After being printed as a real card, the effect requires paying LP based on the number of Tributes—1000 for one Tribute, 2000 for two, and so on. But in the original anime, it didn't: you just paid 1000 LP to trigger the effect no matter how many Tributes you were substituting.

"I pay 1000 Life Points and use the soldiers within the mausoleum as my Tribute!"

Viper shouted.

[Viper, LP 1800 → LP 800]

"Descend once more, and grant me that power—

—Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes!!!"

Another day of being forced to work overtime. The Venom King emerged wearily from the darkness, lazily raising his arm of writhing snake heads, making a token effort at baring fangs and claws. Even his battle cry sounded half-hearted.

Not that it mattered, since he wasn't going to be on the field long anyway.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Dark Hole'!" Viper roared. "Destroy all monsters on the field!"

A cataclysmic celestial vortex opened, as if ready to devour even the stars. Kira's Mercury and Viper's own Venom King were both sucked into the whirlpool of the Dark Hole and instantly crushed under an irresistible pressure.

"Open your eyes and look!"

Viper clenched his fist and roared.

"The most ferocious, most powerful Venom Serpent God—now is its true moment of descent!

When 'Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes' was destroyed, my Trap had already been activated! 'Rise of the Sacred Deity'!"

The face-down card in his back row flipped up.

"From my hand or Deck, I Special Summon the final Serpent God—'Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes'!"

The Venom King vanished into Viper's own Dark Hole. As that wicked ritual activated, it was as if all darkness and despair gathered together and took form, manifesting as a living embodiment of terror.

A female-shaped upper body with voluptuous curves, Medusa-like hair made of countless small snakes. Both her arms ended not in hands, but in gaping serpent heads baring poisonous fangs. Her lower body was a long coiling serpent tail, her entire being radiating boundless evil.

Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes, descended!

"Finally…" Adrian raised his eyes to the terrifying creature. "He actually managed to summon it."

Even he felt it wasn't easy for this professor.

…Though the professor's mental state now seemed only a step away from outright insanity.

"Serpent God! Do you see? I summoned you, I did it, I summoned you!"

Viper burst out laughing.

"Effect of 'Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes'! Just like the Venom King, its ATK is determined by the number of Reptiles in my Graveyard!

Counting the Venom King that just went in, there are eight Reptiles in my Graveyard in total! So Vennominaga's ATK becomes…"

[Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes – ATK 4000]

Obelisk-class attack power!

Chapter 877 – Obsession

Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes, summoned!

Adrian: "So it's at Obelisk-level attack power…"

"And, Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes cannot be targeted by any card effects, and cannot be affected by any card effects at all!"

Viper shouted angrily.

"Now it's over! Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes, attack 'The Tripper Mercury'!"

A killing blow—carrying unstoppable might, the Serpent God's twin arm-heads blasted forward in unison!

Kira: "In that case, I activate—"

"MUDAA!" Viper cut him off, shouting, "The Serpent God does not accept any card effects!"

"I know."

Kira smiled and revealed a card from his hand.

"But what I'm activating is 'Kuriboh' in my hand. By discarding it, I can make one instance of Battle Damage become 0."

It didn't try to affect a monster, nor did it target anything. Even an invincible, fully effect-proof god couldn't do a thing about Kuriboh.

"Tch."

Viper snorted.

"But either way, Mercury's already been destroyed. And you'd better be careful."

He narrowed his eyes, voice dropping low.

"Once you're scratched by the Serpent God's venom, you die instantly. Even a tiny graze means certain death," Viper said coldly. "Once you take Battle Damage from Vennominaga, from that moment on the countdown starts. Three turns later, it's an automatic victory for me!"

A chill ran through Adrian's heart.

What a terrifying ability!

Absolute resistance to effects, sky-high ATK, and on top of that, an auto-win condition built into the rules. No wonder the Duel King repeatedly tried to prevent that monster from being summoned. No wonder Viper was so obsessed with calling it forth.

It truly was a godlike monster, one that practically ruled the entire Duel once it appeared!

Viper laughed loudly. "Do you see? This is godlike power, absolutely invincible—"

"My turn, draw," Kira cut in without mercy. "I activate the Spell Card 'The Shallow Grave'. Each of us chooses one monster in our own Graveyard and Special Summons it in face-down Defense Position."

(Anime Effect)

"From the Graveyard?"

Viper let out a cold chuckle.

"You think reducing the number of Reptiles in my Graveyard will lower the Serpent God's ATK? Heh. That makes hardly any difference.

Very well, then rise again—Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes!"

[Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes – DEF 0]

"Then I revive 'The Tripper Mercury' from my Graveyard," Kira said.

Viper snorted indifferently. "Mercury's effect needs three Tributes to activate. Besides, even if it had an effect, it doesn't work on the Serpent God. So it's completely—"

"Yeah, I know. That's not the point."

Kira smiled.

"Originally, I'd planned to do everything I could to stop your Serpent God from appearing. But the possibility you'd get it out was already within my expectations.

And since Professor has shown me your strongest monster, I'll answer by using my strongest monster."

He paused, his smile fading.

"A monster even the Serpent God can be easily defeated by—a truly ultimate, vicious evil."

Viper's eyes narrowed slightly.

Even the Serpent God could be easily beaten…

 Does something like that even exist?

No, wait, the Duel King' ace card—could it be…?

He had lost his head in anger a moment ago; now, suddenly sobering up, Viper's burning rage was wiped clean away, replaced in an instant by an indescribable, boundless terror.

"Y-you're going to—"

"I Tribute your 'Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes' and 'Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes' on your field to give you this powerful monster as a gift.

From the molten lava of the abyss it awakens, bearing the power of destruction and rebirth! Come forth, my very soul—

—Level 8, Lava Golem!"

Under Professor Viper's endless despair and fear, his eyes bulged as he watched helplessly. The surging lava roiled, magma erupted, and his Venom King—his invincible Serpent God—were both swallowed by that hopeless sea of lava.

The annihilating magma then converged upon him, forming a cage of iron. The bars, scorched red-hot, made the entire cage look as if it were on fire.

In that instant, Viper suddenly felt that this was the iron cage that bound him.

Not just in this Duel—but in his entire life. As if at some unknown point, his life had been sealed inside a tiny cage, unable to go anywhere.

And outside that cage, just opposite him, seemingly only an arm's length away—he saw that child again.

The boy stood there in confusion, slowly turning around. The look in his eyes, as he gazed at Viper, was like that of someone examining a stranger.

Viper's emotions shattered. He screamed with all his might. His left hand clutched the bars of the cage so hard that the red-hot metal seared his palm open, while his right hand stretched forward frantically. He drove his whole body against the blistering gaps as if trying to force himself through.

But it was useless. He couldn't do anything.

Right there before him, at what seemed like just an arm's length away, the lava erupted. The blazing flames swallowed the boy's features, twisting them into the shape of a fiery demon. Within the burning blaze an abstract, monstrous face emerged—huge eyes, a gaping, grinning mouth—then swelled into a colossal giant of living flame.

Lava Golem.

The very embodiment of the demonic Duelist in front of him, as if this terrifying fiend were a projection of his opponent's soul.

Viper crumpled to his knees in defeat. This broad-shouldered, hulking dark-skinned man was trembling uncontrollably now, tears rolling down his face.

"I'm not begging you… just… don't… don't take him away…"

Once more, he recalled the despair and helplessness he'd felt when he first heard the tragic news.

In an instant, the person most important to him had left his world. And there was nothing he could do.

Just like in this Duel. He couldn't win. All his attacks were pointless. Even just to summon his own ace monster had taken everything he had.

And even when he'd staked it all to summon that invincible god that carried all his hopes—it still didn't matter.

His strongest monster, his so-called guaranteed-victory god, turned out to be nothing more than a slightly larger portion of fodder.

In the end, he was still trapped in this cage, forced to stare straight at his most painful memories, utterly powerless.

"…During your Standby Phase, Lava Golem's effect activates: its controller takes 1000 damage."

Kira's calm voice sounded.

Viper knelt there, head hanging. He made no sound.

[Viper, LP 800 → LP 0]

"The child you want to save has long since died," Kira said coolly. "The dead cannot return to life. The deceased should be allowed to rest. You should have accepted that long ago. No matter if you choose to fall into demonhood, no matter how many innocents you sacrifice, it won't change a thing.

Well, it's not entirely your fault. Someone exploited the darkness in your heart and amplified it many times over… I'm right, aren't I?"

Silence for a moment.

Then, from Viper's kneeling body, a surge of evil energy suddenly welled up.

That energy concentrated, almost taking on physical form.

It was a gigantic eye, staring at Kira with a mix of curiosity and irritation, sizing him up from top to bottom.

"You. What are you?"

The voice sounded somewhat female, yet also a bit like a young boy.

That voice questioned him.

"Why did you take away my toy?"

Chapter 878 – I Run Fast

Yubel.

Though it was just a single eye, Kira recognized her the instant he saw it.

"Oh, oh, it only has one eye too!"

Big Eye popped out, very excited.

"What a coincidence, nice to meet you!"

But Yubel's eye just glanced at it once, and seemed utterly unimpressed, quickly losing interest.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Eye instantly flared up. "We're both eyes, so why are you looking down on me?"

Kira and Yubel very tacitly ignored it.

Kira quickly examined his opponent. Just as expected, this was not her true body, merely a manifestation speaking to him briefly through the leftover power inside Viper.

Kira put one hand on his hip and smiled. "What's wrong? Why not come talk to me in person? Don't worry, I'm not a bad guy. I won't eat you."

Yubel laughed.

"Hehe, you really are an interesting human."

Then she reined in her smile and said softly:

"Don't worry, I will. Sooner or later," Yubel said. "I've been watching you for quite a while. You're very interesting—you're already on my list.

It's just that not right now. Not yet."

"Oh?" Kira asked. "Since you're already that interested, what are you waiting for? Why don't you come over now so we can have a nice, long talk about life…"

"Hahaha, charming—but I'll pass. I can tell you're not ordinary. You have a power many others don't. Even I have to be cautious around you."

Yubel smiled.

"As you can see, I'm not in top form right now. But don't worry, I'll come for you soon. Very soon. After all…"

At that point, the eye's gaze suddenly sharpened, her tone turning several degrees colder.

"…you stole the most important thing from me."

Kira: "?"

Huh?

He frowned a little.

Wait, we're meeting for the first time, aren't we?

 What exactly did I steal from you?

But Yubel didn't intend to continue down that topic. She suddenly shifted the subject.

"Still, thank you for the gift," she said, glancing at Viper, who was sprawled on the ground, barely alive. "Though you broke my toy—that is quite annoying, and I will settle that debt with you later.

Even so, I didn't expect you to make the darkness in this man's heart swell to more than double during the Duel. Hehe, I really had my fill…"

Though there was only one eye, she somehow made a sound like a tongue licking across lips.

Kira replied generously, "You're welcome."

Yubel was taken aback, and her eyelid twitched slightly.

Because she suddenly had a strange feeling.

This guy… did he deliberately provoke Viper during the Duel to draw out his inner darkness and help her revive faster?

No. Impossible.

We're complete strangers—why would he help me?

After a brief silence, Yubel's eye roamed up and down Kira again.

"In your heart too, there's a vast, unimaginable darkness hidden away. Well, that's normal. The stronger the Duelist, the greater the darkness buried in their heart."

Yubel chuckled again, low and soft.

"I can't wait to savor it properly. I wonder—what flavor is the darkness in the heart of a so-called Duel King?"

"Alright," Kira nodded cheerfully. "Then I'll be sure to save up that inner darkness so I can properly treat you to it when the time comes."

Yubel was instantly at a loss for words.

He had completely thrown her off.

…So polite?

Was she supposed to say "thank you" now?

Yubel hesitated for a couple of stiff seconds.

Then she snorted.

"Then we'll meet again."

With that, the giant eye fragmented, dispersing into a cloud of black mist that faded away.

"She's really sly. To think she's not even in Viper's lab," Kira muttered to himself.

"She really knows how to cause trouble."

Eye blinked twice behind him and asked, "So… that was the real mastermind, right?"

"Yeah," Kira said.

Eye glanced at Viper, lying unconscious on the floor.

"And this guy was just being used?"

"More or less."

"So now we just sit around and wait for her to finish resting up and come looking for us?" Eye asked.

"Not necessarily."

Kira shook his head.

"Her current state is incomplete. Most of the time, she should be sticking near Viper. From how far along her resurrection looked just now, with her current power level, she probably can't move too far away from him."

What Kira didn't say was that Viper had originally planned to make all the students wear those wrist devices that absorbed their Duel energy to revive Yubel. With Viper's tech, Yubel that needed to siphon Duel energy shouldn't be able to stray too far.

Right now, she was likely only strong enough to manifest one arm physically. Her only way to travel longer distances would be to possess a host body. So chances were high she was still hiding somewhere on this island.

In the anime, Yubel hadn't fully revived even after Viper was defeated by Jaden and the entire Academy was transported to another dimension. At that point she chose to possess a first-year Ra Yellow student.

The Ra freshman, Marcel Bonaparte, was the son of the Academy's Jean-Louis Bonaparte. Marcel had grown up in a broken home; his parents divorced, and he'd lived with his mother afterward. On the surface, he came off as introverted and unwilling to show his true feelings—but deep down, years of resentment toward his parents had been brewing.

That resentment gave birth to darkness in his heart, and Yubel took advantage of it, using him as her host until she fully revived.

Kira even suspected that originally, just like in the anime, Yubel should have been inside one of the glass tanks in Viper's lab.

But perhaps she sensed Kira's approach—maybe just a sixth sense of danger—and left Viper in advance.

Now, she was likely still hiding near this old, abandoned research facility, somewhere on this island.

Kira looked around at the dense forest surrounding him.

Well, even with that guess, trying to find a powerful spirit on such a large island still sounded a lot harder than tracking down a human intruder.

"Leave it to us, Boss."

At that moment, Meanae of the Dark Scorpions stepped forward, volunteering herself.

The other Dark Scorpions appeared behind her, all striking the Dark Scorpion group pose in a flurry of arms and legs.

"No evil can escape the eyes of the Dark Scorpion Burglars!"

"Don't worry, Boss, we'll never let any invader in our territory get away!"

Kira thought for a moment.

He didn't have many spirits who could remain manifested in reality for long periods, let alone operate far from him on their own. Silence usually served as his close-guard bodyguard; for scouting work like this, those guys were indeed the best suited.

"Alright, but be careful, all of you," Kira nodded. "Just find her trail, that's enough. Try not to fight her head-on. You're not her match."

Don Zaloog muttered under his breath, a little sulky. The Boss's words were true, but they still kinda hurt.

Chick, on the other hand, thumped his chest. "Don't worry, Boss. When it comes to running away, I'm confident!"

Naturally, this immediately drew a collective look of disdain from his teammates.

Was that really something to be proud of?