NOVEL WEB Chapter 451
"Go, Karna!"
"Yes, Master!"
Clad in golden armor, Karna leapt from the flames, wielding the Equip Spell Card "O Sun, Become My Armor," obtained by sacrificing the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. His spear pointed directly at the Spirit of the Pharaoh, which now boasted 20,000 ATK.
As he stood amidst the swarm of Pharaoh monsters, Karna noticed a familiar figure.
"Hey, isn't that Nitocris standing over there?"
"Uh, well, something kind of awkward happened... Anyway, if we win this duel, we should have enough Saint Quartz!"
"Ah, so you ran out of money, Master!" Karna said with a chuckle. "Relax. If this is all I'm up against, there's no way I'll lose."
...Why does it sound like I've become someone trying to rob a convenience store because I forgot my wallet?
"A monster summoned by sacrificing three Blue-Eyes White Dragons..." Nitocris murmured, slightly shaken by Karna's overwhelming presence.
To her, the fact that a regular human could control three Blue-Eyes was already a miracle. Yet this girl—who had barely registered a presence until now and had even tried to chat her up earlier—seemed to be hiding far more power than she let on.
"No, no, no—what am I doing getting spooked by a robber? Immature. Very immature."
Shaking her head, Nitocris dismissed her doubts. With a flick of her scepter toward Karna, she gave the Spirit of the Pharaoh its next command.
"The great guardian of the Pharaoh shall not lose to a mere sinner! Show your divine might!"
"Vasavi Shakti... strike down the Pharaoh!"
With their battle cries declared, flames and light clashed violently, detonating within the Pharaoh's tomb.
Even though the Spirit of the Pharaoh, empowered by ten sacrificed minions, far surpassed Karna in raw stats, none of its attacks could pierce the radiant golden armor. Each blast of divine light was completely neutralized.
Nitocris blinked in disbelief.
"How... How is this possible? The Spirit of the Pharaoh should completely overpower him...!"
Hoshino Alter clenched her fist in triumph. Her gamble had paid off—servants summoned through this era's Duel Disks could fully replicate the power of their Noble Phantasms.
"MUDA MUDA MUDA! Even the might of the Spirit of the Pharaoh is useless before Karna!"
That armor—an ultimate defensive Noble Phantasm fused with Karna's body and glowing with solar brilliance—was composed of literal light. Even gods found it nearly impossible to destroy.
It nullified all forms of hostile interference, reducing any damage Karna received to just one-tenth.
[O Sun, Become My Armor – Equip Spell Effect: Activate before damage calculation when the equipped monster battles an opponent's monster. That opponent's monster's ATK becomes its original value until the end of the Damage Step.]
"When battling Karna, equipped with O Sun, Become My Armor, the Spirit of the Pharaoh's boosted ATK is useless! It can't break through the armor of the sun!"
[Spirit of the Pharaoh – ATK: 2500]
[Karna – ATK: 2800]
"It's time to finish this, Karna!"
His spear pierced through the brilliance of souls. Using the armor's unmatched defensive power, Karna closed the gap between himself and the Pharaoh. Flames burst forth from his eyes—pure crimson rage.
"Brahmastra!!"
The blazing beam erupted from Karna's eyes, tearing through the Pharaoh's massive body. It blasted a hole in the tomb floor, the flames reaching up to the golden tip of the pyramid before finally vanishing.
"...Yikes. I might've overdone it and accidentally damaged the tomb..." Hoshino Alter muttered sheepishly.
With the Pharaoh defeated, the energy of countless souls dispersed from Nitocris's body. From her grimacing expression, it was clear that losing this trump card monster hurt far more than the earlier loss of ten minions to Blue-Eyes.
Though in a normal duel, the latter would've caused more Life Point loss.
Yet despite being the attacker, Hoshino Alter also felt the sharp sting of recoil ripple through her body.
"So even I lose energy in the process?"
It became clear—controlling and summoning monsters in this era consumed soul energy, whether attacking or defending. And Noble Phantasms, being of Heroic Spirit caliber, burned through tremendous amounts. Still, the opponent suffered more.
"Sacrilege! This is sacrilege! To damage the Pharaoh's eternal resting place—unforgivable!"
Nitocris shouted in fury. Using the tomb's unique Field Spell effect, she revived the Spirit of the Pharaoh once again.
In this place, Undead-type monsters with "Pharaoh" in their names could be revived endlessly. And unlike the Pharaoh's Servants, this Spirit of the Pharaoh wasn't bound by the usual End Phase resurrection restrictions.
"A truly immortal Pharaoh's Soul, huh... Looks like we'll just have to see whose soul energy lasts longer, Nitocris!"
"Draw strength from your servants once more and rain down divine judgment, guardian of the Pharaoh!"
As she gave the command, the newly revived Spirit of the Pharaoh had lost all of its previously absorbed ATK boosts. Nitocris was forced to sacrifice her minions once again.
But—
"Not this time! Karna's effect—activate!!"
With a dramatic flourish, Hoshino Alter unleashed a torrent of soul energy into Karna's body. The golden armor peeled away, as though set ablaze, revealing an overwhelming magical aura.
[Karna Effect: Send 1 Equip Card from this card to the Graveyard; banish all opponent's monsters with ATK lower than this card.]
"In exchange for the golden armor, I summon the strongest god-slaying spear! This is the strike imbued with all of my power—my soul's very essence. Go, Karna!"
"—Vasavi Shakti!!"
If the previous eye blast had been powerful enough to pierce the tomb's floor, then this attack possessed the might to obliterate the entire pyramid.
Formed from lightning and flame, the ultimate spear surged forward, transforming into a massive, spiraling pillar of fire. It engulfed all ten of Nitocris's Pharaoh's Servants and the recently revived Pharaoh's, which hadn't yet had time to boost its attack.
The fiery column tore through the ceiling, blasting out from the pyramid's apex. Its solar brilliance lit up the desert beneath the night sky.
[Pharaoh's Servants ×10 destroyed]
[Spirit of the Pharaoh destroyed]
"AAAAHHH!"
The phantasmal monsters she summoned were wiped out in a single blow, and the loss of soul energy nearly drained Nitocris entirely. Bent forward and barely able to stand, she clutched her staff tightly, her ragged breath laced with faint moans.
Meanwhile, on Hoshino Alter's side, the cost of Karna's ultimate Noble Phantasm left her staggering as well.
"Are you alright?"
Even Kaiba, impressed by the devastating strike, noticed her weakening from soul depletion. For a moment, he hesitated, contemplating whether to offer support.
But pride held him back. He chose to wait until the moment she collapsed.
Unfortunately for him, Hoshino Alter swayed like a drunken master—refusing to fall—until she finally regained her balance. Her soul recovery rate was clearly beyond normal.
"I'm fine. It was a massive drain, but the result was more than worth it!"
She pointed to the ceiling, now featuring a gaping hole torn open by the fire pillar. Through it, one could just barely glimpse the starry night sky above the desert.
"The Tomb has been destroyed. That means the pharaohs' resurrection ability—which relied on their environment—should be affected too!"
Marlene exclaimed in disbelief, "You demolished a pharaoh's pyramid just for that… Hoshino, you're even more dangerous than a bounty hunter."
Even if it was only a possibility, Nitocris's troubled expression confirmed that destroying the tomb had an effect. The strongest evidence? Pharaoh's, which could previously resurrect endlessly at no cost, had not returned.
"To think I can't even protect the eternal resting place of the Pharaohs… I truly am a disgrace of a Pharaoh. But I will not be defeated here! For the sake of the Pharaoh's pride—I will use my own soul energy to revive Pharaoh's once more!"
Resolute, Nitocris poured her remaining strength into her staff and invoked a dark ritual that mirrored the state of her soul.
"—Mirror of Corpses, Mirror of Darkness. Become a doorway and bring terror here. Anpu Neb Ta Djeser!!!"
A mirror that does not reflect reality. It lacked the optical properties of a true mirror. From its depths, a tall, terrifying figure emerged—not the radiant holy form of Pharaoh's, but a warped, dark abomination reborn on the battlefield.
[Spirit of the Pharaoh ★★★★★★ (Level 6)][DARK][Zombie/Effect][ATK 5000/DEF 4000]
"ROAAARRR—!"
With a roar akin to an evil god's, its frigid aura pierced the soul, causing everyone present to shudder.
Sid trembled, his legs shaking. "T-This terrifying thing… can you really still call it a Pharaoh…?"
Having spent the last of her energy, Nitocris collapsed like a sack of cotton. But as she saw the Pharaoh's summoned at the cost of her soul, a satisfied smile crossed her face.
"Despair, evildoers. The vengeful spirit of the Pharaoh will erase you all!"
"So this is that 'twice as strong when corrupted' trope, huh...? Nitocris, you really gave it your all as a Pharaoh."
Watching her opponent's final desperate attempt, Hoshino Alter's expression grew serious.
"But this won't be our grave! Let's fight back with the soul we have left! Activating the effect of O Sun, Become Armor!"
[O Sun, Become Armor Equip Spell effect: When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard due to the equipped monster's effect, you can add 1 O Sun, Obey Death from your Deck to your hand.]
"This is my final Ripple, Karna! Equip Spell activate—O Sun, Obey Death!"
A golden card slid across the Duel Disk as Hoshino Alter squeezed out the last of her soul energy.
"Master's strength… I've received it fully! —As long as my heart blazes, this spear shall never know defeat!"
With O Sun, Become Armor shed and a new Equip Spell bestowed, Karna surged with magical energy and charged the undead Pharaoh.
[O Sun, Obey Death Equip Spell effect: Equip only to "Heroic Spirit – Karna." Increase the equipped monster's ATK by its DEF, then set DEF to 0.]
[Karna ATK 2800 → 5300 / DEF 2500 → 0]
With his spear, Karna lunged—piercing through the Pharaoh's arm and shoulder in a single thrust.
"Feel the mercy of the King of Gods. You will be destroyed with this one strike… Watch, Indra! I will burn it all—Vasavi Shakti!!!"
The corrupted monster's expression twisted from feral rage to stunned disbelief. It hadn't expected to be so easily impaled. Flames from the superheated spear ignited its decayed organs from within.
"It was inevitable," Karna said calmly as he withdrew his flaming spear, watching the burning corpse of the wraith collapse.
"In the end, I lost… but I gave it everything I had…"
With Pharaoh's defeated, Nitocris finally lost her grip on her staff and fell unconscious.
"Thank goodness… we won…"
Hoshino Alter wasn't doing much better. Though still conscious, she fell backward like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Kaiba moved to catch her, but Marlene, faster on her feet, reached her first and caught Hoshino Alter in her arms.
"You're amazing—seriously amazing, Hoshino! You defeated a Pharaoh in a spirit monster duel. I'm about to cry!"
Overwhelmed with emotion from surviving the ordeal, Marlene hugged the limp Hoshino Alter close—pressing her against her soft, ample chest.
Despite everything, Hoshino Alter's thoughts were too full of conflict to truly rest.
"So this… is what they call heaven and hell at the same time? That fanservice came out of nowhere…"
"…"
"I can't breathe, Marlene. If you don't let go, I might actually die."
"…Welp. Though if I went out this way, maybe I wouldn't have any regrets."
"And to think I just said something cool like 'this place will never be my grave.'"
(*****)
If you'd like to read 25 chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/ANeet. Your support means a lot. Thank you!