Chapter 309: Yugi's Infinity
'The infinitely reviving [Regenerating Slime], combined with the infinitely activatable [Card of Safe Return], gives Marik an [Infinite Hand].'
'[Infinite Hand] further removes his [Hand Size Limit], and [Slifer the Sky Dragon]'s [ATK] can also increase infinitely.'
'[Slifer the Sky Dragon] automatically activates [Thunder Force] to destroy monsters, which can also be activated infinitely.'
'Infinity...'
Thinking this, Yugi's eyes lit up. He had already thought of a way to defeat Marik!
Yugi: "My turn, drawing cards!"
Even though Yugi was at a disadvantage across the board – in terms of the number and quality of monsters on the field for both players, the resources in their hands, and their life points – seeing the confidence in his expression as he drew cards, Marik almost thought *he* was the one in crisis?
"The duel has progressed this far, it won't do if I don't replenish my hand, right, Marik?" Yugi showed the card he added to his hand. "Activate Spell Card, Card of Demise! Because of its effect, both players draw cards until they each have 6 cards in hand."
This card should have been able to replenish a large number of cards in hand, but because Marik's hand already had seven cards at this time, unable to draw more, he could only watch as Yugi drew to his heart's content, drawing exactly six cards from his deck and adding them to his hand.
Glancing at the cards he drew, Yugi already had a complete counter-strategy in mind, and a confident smile appeared on his face: "Marik, you just said you were going to end me on your next turn, right? What a shame, I'm afraid you won't be able to. Because I plan to end this duel immediately, on my turn!"
"Quick-Play Spell Card, Tribute to the Doomed, activate by targeting one face-up monster on the field. Destroy that face-up monster, and as a cost, I skip my next turn's draw phase."
Saying this, Yugi raised his hand and pointed at Marik's Slifer the Sky Dragon: "The monster I target is Slifer the Sky Dragon! Fall from the divine altar, God!"
"Too slow, too slow, Nameless Pharaoh! Only now do you think of using a Spell Card to try and bury a God? It's too late!" Marik laughed loudly. "I thought you had some new trick up your sleeve, but it's just this old-fashioned move? Do you think I wouldn't be prepared for this? Regenerating Slime isn't just for show!"
The bandages of Tribute to the Doomed emerged from the ground like a dense forest, wrapping towards Slifer the Sky Dragon coiled around the "[S.S. Anne]" airship.
But just as the bandages were about to entangle Slifer the Sky Dragon, the volume of Marik's Regenerating Slime suddenly expanded, transforming into a barrier that firmly blocked the bandages of Tribute to the Doomed and Slifer the Sky Dragon!
"What?!" Joey Wheeler, who had been watching Yugi play his card with such confidence and was even ready to cheer for him, saw Regenerating Slime actively blocking Slifer the Sky Dragon and looked astonished. "Why did Regenerating Slime move? It wasn't even the target!"
"Hmph, idiot."
Kaiba didn't even look at Joey Wheeler beside him, staring coldly at the field.
More accurately, at a card that Marik had opened in his backrow.
"Bond between monsters? Loyalty of a servant monster to a god? It's not such a boring thing. That Marik actually considered even this situation. Aside from Slifer the Sky Dragon, he does have some dueling talent."
Following Kaiba's gaze, Joey Wheeler also saw the card Marik had opened—
"Although the Three Egyptian God Cards themselves have the protection that 'they cannot be destroyed by Monster Effects or Spell Cards of Level 10 or lower, and other effects only last for one turn', to completely cut off your hope, I use this card."
"Jam Defender. This card is one I specifically prepared for this situation. After all, Slifer the Sky Dragon isn't the strongest Ra. Once it's sent to the graveyard, it becomes weaker. I've been prepared for you all along," Marik said with a sinister grin. "When a monster on my field becomes the target of an effect or attack, I can use its effect, any number of times, to transfer the effect and attack to Regenerating Slime!"
Hearing Marik mention again that "Ra is the strongest" and "Slifer the Sky Dragon is inferior to Ra", Slifer the Sky Dragon subtly glanced at Marik, snorting disdainfully, which was conveniently covered by the sound of thunder in the sky.
As Marik activated Jam Defender, Regenerating Slime was like a teammate misled and sold out by a hunter. Tribute to the Doomed's hostility towards Slifer the Sky Dragon was completely transferred onto it. In an instant, it was completely entangled by the bandages, dragged underground, and destroyed in the graveyard.
Then, in the next moment, Regenerating Slime revived on Marik's field, completely unharmed. Although the Equip Spell Card Steel Shell equipped to it was destroyed and sent to the graveyard because it left the field, the effect of Tribute to the Doomed was perfectly blocked. Marik even drew three more cards due to the effect of Card of Safe Return.
Slifer the Sky Dragon [ATK7000→10000]
"This is bad. I really didn't expect that Marik would prepare such a card that perfectly fits Regenerating Slime," Mai Valentine sighed. "Like this, even if Yugi can summon some super powerful monster next, one that can even destroy Slifer the Sky Dragon despite its Thunder Force, that Marik guy can use Jam Defender to redirect attacks to Regenerating Slime infinitely."
"Like this, won't that Marik guy's defense on the field be completely invincible? Who can break through this!" Joey Wheeler was a little anxious, even punching the railing, then covering his hand with a distorted expression because his knuckles hit the hard metal.
At this moment, Hayato laughed: "If you want victory, you don't necessarily have to break through the opponent's field, Joey Wheeler."
"Hayato-kun, did you see something?" Ishizu turned her head, looking at Hayato with some confusion. She used the Millennium Necklace to look into the future. Although she couldn't see the final outcome of the future, Slifer the Sky Dragon was still on the field until Iso raised his hand to announce the end of the duel.
Hayato nodded, and his words were standard King's Blade rhetoric: "I can only say that Yugi has completed his strategy. Those who understand have understood. For those who don't, it won't make sense even if I explain it."
"But using infinity to counter infinity, it's all Traitor Dragon's fault after all."
Marik, who had activated Jam Defender, had a smug look on his face. His gaze fell upon Yugi, who was looking down on the opposite field, and he spoke arrogantly: "Cards like Tribute to the Doomed are completely unqualified to destroy a God. They can only destroy weak monsters like Regenerating Slime."
"Oh no, that's not right. Because Regenerating Slime can revive infinitely, hahahaha!" Marik laughed with a distorted expression. "So, Nameless Pharaoh, can you tell me how you feel right now? Desperate because you have no moves left? Furious? Or afraid of your impending death?"
"Happy."
Yugi spoke. On his face as he looked up, there was a confident smile.
"I'm very happy, Marik, because your counterattack was completely within my plan!"
"Just like the antidote to a potent poison is often found near it, Marik, you haven't noticed at all, have you? The method to defeat Slifer the Sky Dragon, which possesses infinite power, is actually right beside it—that is, Regenerating Slime, which also possesses infinite revival power!"
"What?!" Marik didn't understand what Yugi meant yet.
"Tribute to the Doomed was the card I used to deal with Slifer the Sky Dragon? Not at all. It was just a smokescreen. Just like the most important thing in magic is Misdirection, my real purpose was just to test the set card in your backrow."
Yugi pointed at the Jam Defender Marik had activated. "I was just lucky that the set card in your backrow was this card, and not a Troublesome Card like Solemn Judgment."
"I'm starting to understand the 'Baiting Traps' mindset Hayato mentioned to me before."
"There's a saying, I don't know if you've heard it, 'The Unknown is the Greatest Fear'. With all your set cards on the field completely revealed, you now have no means to counter me, Marik!" Saying this, Yugi played a card from his hand. "I activate Spell Card Brain Control! I can gain control of one monster on your field until the end of the turn!"
"Although I didn't understand what you meant, there's something I forgot to tell you. Among the common effects of the Three Egyptian God Cards, one is that their Control cannot be changed. That is to say, even if you use Brain Control on Slifer the Sky Dragon, it's useless!"
After Marik finished speaking, he was surprised to find that the light waves released from the Brain Control card hadn't been aimed at his Slifer the Sky Dragon from the start. The chosen target was clearly the Regenerating Slime that had just been revived onto the field?
"The target to take control of is that weak monster?"
In Marik's confused gaze, Yugi took control of Regenerating Slime, then activated another card from his hand: "The second to last step towards victory, Spell Card Magical Stone Excavation! I discard the last two cards in my hand to recover one Spell Card from the graveyard."
"The card I recycle is Tribute to the Doomed," Yugi said, recycling the card from the graveyard into his hand, then playing it again. "This is my final step towards victory! Activate the effect of Tribute to the Doomed again, the specified target is—"
"The Regenerating Slime whose control has been transferred to my field!"
Seeing that Yugi actually targeted Regenerating Slime with Tribute to the Doomed, Marik couldn't help but sneer: "You've gone insane from despair, Nameless Pharaoh? What use is destroying Regenerating Slime?"
"After being destroyed and sent to the graveyard, it will return to your field again due to its own effect. It's simply a futile effort."
Just as Marik said, Regenerating Slime, which had just been transferred to Yugi's field and seemed like it could finally rest from bouncing back and forth between the field and graveyard, was dragged underground again by the bandages of Tribute to the Doomed, and then revived again in the next second.
Similarly, because a monster was special summoned from the graveyard, Marik also triggered the effect of Card of Safe Return, drawing three cards.
"See, idiot? What you called the 'final step towards victory' was just a waste of effort, and it even provided me with more cards in hand!" After Marik drew his cards, he suddenly felt something was wrong. His voice wasn't as arrogant, but half-filled with confusion, he said, "My hand size increased, and Slifer the Sky Dragon's ATK increased again..."
Slifer the Sky Dragon [ATK10000→13000]
"And then? After Regenerating Slime is special summoned to my field, what happens, Marik?" Yugi asked.
Marik's eyes suddenly widened. He abruptly looked up at Slifer the Sky Dragon coiled around the airship: "Because there's a monster special summoned on your field, Slifer the Sky Dragon will automatically activate Thunder Force?!"
"No! Wait, wait a minute!" Only then did Marik understand what Yugi was trying to do. He anxiously shouted loudly at Slifer the Sky Dragon above his head, "Stop it, Osiris! Stop!"
However, Slifer the Sky Dragon merely glanced contemptuously at the terrified Marik. Its mouth opened, and a "Thunder Force" was spat out, hitting the Regenerating Slime that had just revived on Yugi's field.
The rules of Duel Monsters cannot be violated by Marik's unilateral will. Slifer the Sky Dragon's strength lies in its "Thunder Force", which can reduce any monster's Attack Points or DEF by 2000, but its biggest flaw is that its "Thunder Force" is mandatory, infinitely activatable.
Tribute to the Doomed was like the match that lit the fuse of a firecracker. The 'bomb' embodied by the Regenerating Slime Yugi set up exploded with a bang as it was 'ignited'. "Thunder Force" easily destroyed Regenerating Slime and sent it to the graveyard, then Regenerating Slime revived on the field again, and simultaneously, under the takeover of the Dark Game's restraining force, Marik was forced to draw three cards from his deck.
Then, "Thunder Force" fell again.
[ATK16000]
[ATK19000]
[ATK22000]
As Marik's hand continued to increase due to the effect of Card of Safe Return, Slifer the Sky Dragon's ATK became increasingly terrifying. In this seemingly infinite combo, its ATK surged towards 'infinity'.
However, whether it was Card of Safe Return, Slifer the Sky Dragon's "Thunder Force", Marik's Hand Size Limit, or Regenerating Slime's revival, they were all infinite. The only thing restraining this infinite combo was Marik's limited deck.
Under the repeated bombardment of "Thunder Force", Marik's specially stacked deck rapidly decreased. At this moment, gathered in his hand, were many powerful cards—Solemn Judgment, Divine Wrath, Forbidden Chalice, etc. Even if Marik had set any one of them on the field, he would have had an opportunity to interrupt the infinite combo Yugi had played.
But, there are no 'ifs'. The current situation was that he had no moves left for the situation on the field and could only let the number of cards in his deck decrease. As the number of cards in his deck decreased, Marik's eyes narrowed, seemingly plotting some scheme again.
9 cards,
6 cards,
3 cards,
0 cards.
It only took four times for Regenerating Slime to revive, and the number of cards in Marik's deck finally reduced to zero. After he drew three cards, the Regenerating Slime, which had just revived and looked exhausted, saw Slifer the Sky Dragon open its mouth again, preparing to spit out "Thunder Force".
"This is the end, Marik. This strike is the final one." Yugi looked at Marik, whose face was gloomy. "Come on, Slifer the Sky Dragon! The final, 'Thunder Force'!"
Even though it was Marik's monster, Yugi used Slifer the Sky Dragon as if it were completely under his control.
"Thunder Force" fell. Amidst Regenerating Slime's broken expression (although a slime has no expression), it was sent to the graveyard again and then revived. Marik's hand reached for the deck zone on his Duel Disk, but he touched nothing. Holding a thick stack of cards in his hand, which was more like a deck than a hand, Marik was like someone walking through the desert with gold, possessing wealth but unable to use it, and declared defeat because he couldn't draw cards.
"Hmph, Nameless Pharaoh, as expected, you are a troublesome guy." Marik's expression was a little annoyed, but having lost the duel, he suddenly started laughing. "Speaking of which, I forgot to tell you something."
"You haven't forgotten that this duel is a Dark Game, have you? The person who loses the duel must offer their soul to the darkness of the duel!" In Yugi's surprised gaze, Marik gripped the Millennium Rod that had been tucked into his waist during the previous duel. Then, with a twist of the handle, he pointed the sharp tip of the Millennium Rod at his own chest and plunged it in fiercely!
"Cough! Ughhhhh!"
In the previous duel, Marik had always looked pleased even when taking damage, but now his face was full of pain and like muscle spasms, both halves of his face simultaneously showed completely different expressions!?