16 Rise From Defeat

'Oy, oy, oy. What in the nine layers of hell?!' If there was one thing Joachim knew at that moment, it was that he was fucked. That card was literally the worst thing in existence for his Deck. It wasn't a card that was very well known. In fact, most people would consider it an 'og' card, which, in a sense, it was.

He didn't remember much from the original animation, especially the fillers. However, there was something that he still remembered because of how bullshit it was, and how much it would fuck an entire relatively popular type if it was ever released.

Its effect was bullshit, as to what exactly it was...

"Thanks to Enchanted Sword Nothung, the moment it is equipped, all Dragon-Type monsters are banished! Not only that, but my monster also gains 400 attack!"

Amazoness Empress ATK: 2800 —> 3200.

The white-bastard sword of the tanned monster changed to a more European-style one. The moment it did, she slashed the skies open, creating a rift that absorbed the three dragons who could only roar in helplessness.

'This... this... I... It's unfair...'

"Amazoness Empress, it's payback time! Crush him with your might and leave nothing behind!" Gloria's excited shout got him a little scared. The youth didn't know if she was trying to kill him or not. In any other situation, he might have agreed with that thought wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop the incoming pain.

The monster shot forward with her sword raised. There was no form—only a wild swing that he felt would cut him in half. Joachim used his arms to guard his body, but the impact still threw him away.

His body impacted the ground repeatedly before coming to a stop once the momentum of the hit was gone. Even so, he still remained lying on the ground for a bit longer. Despite it being a 'slashing attack' it didn't feel like he was cut. That said, it still felt like he was hit by a whip. The most painful part was the times he crashed against the stone streets, though.

'I feel like I am going to die—Ugh...' He felt a bit nauseous as if he had overexerted his body beyond what it could withstand. It was something to really think about how people could shrug off things like these as if they were nothing. No, to begin with, the Solid Vision they use normally is probably toned down from what he was experiencing. This... This was the real deal; what they used to conquer dimensions. There was no way they would be lenient with the people they were trying to conquer, after all. Still, he was thankful for his body being so weirdly resilient.

Marik — LP: 800.

"What happened? Is that all?" Gloria's taunt managed to get a dry chuckle out of him. Was she really asking that? She really possessed no mercy.

"Weren't you the one who asked your monster to quote-unquote "Leave nothing behind"? She certainly got your message, though." Joachim coughed some dust that had gotten into his system before getting up, albeit a bit shakily.

The blonde-haired woman cleared her throat at this comment. "I don't know what you are talking about. Now properly stand up; I set a card, and I am ending my turn."

"Before that, I will activate True Light once again. However, this time, I will its second effect and I am going to set The Ultimate Creature Of Destruction on my side of the field." At the voice command, a card popped out from the Duel Disk, which he didn't hesitate on placing.

Gloria — LP: 4000 x0

'This is bad. Not only that thing has a powerful effect as soon as it is summoned, but it also can destroy a monster before damage calculation if it is Dragon-Type. It is the ultimate counter if I can't use XYZ monsters.' He really felt like he had gotten the short end of the stick.

Raising to his full height, he took a deep breath before placing his hand on the top of his deck. His Life Points were really low, he only had one card on his hand, and two face-downs which he couldn't use plus True Light.

Unknowingly, he looked directly into Gloria's eyes. At any other time, he wouldn't have minded losing. It would be the same for him either way. But now... Now he didn't want to lose. He didn't want to see the victorious' face of his opponent.

'I won't let you win, Gloria. Not this time.'

"My turn, draw!" His action caused a brief breeze to blow around him. It only took a moment after glimpsing at the card to know he hadn't been abandoned. If his Deck resonated with him or not, he didn't know. 'It's here!'

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Monster Recovery! By shuffling all my monsters on the field as well as my entire hand into the Deck, I can draw five new cards. Since I have nothing on my field, only what I have in my hand gets shuffled."

It was one of the cards he got in that shop. He didn't think it would be in a place like that, but he was thankful for it since it was one of the best drawing cards at least anime-wise. The good thing was that it didn't even touch the backrow, so he still got his two face-downs and True Light.

Once he got everything, he began his play after a quick look at his new resources. "I activate Return of the Dragon Lords to Special Summon Blue-Eyes Solid Dragon from my Graveyard in defense position!"

Blue-Eyes Solid Dragon DEF —> 2000.

"And you know his effect! When he is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target and negate the effects of an opponent's monster!" Crystalized light showered on Amazoness Empress' once again, causing her to slightly drop her sword and grunt in annoyance.

"That annoying little..." Gloria frowned with displeasure. That monster made her Empress look like a joke with only high attack power. "It doesn't matter. A monster who is only good for defense will never beat my warrior."

"Who said he will be the one to destroy her?" Joachim, despite the pain, allowed himself a smirk. There was no way he was done with just that.

"What did you say?!" The blonde-haired girl showed a small crack in her facade. He couldn't mean...

"Allow me to show you, Gloria. The undying fighting spirit of these Dragons." It was that desire to always win and never lose that caused them to not really 'get along' with him. However, now that they were of the same mind—a desire for victory so tremendous that it was blinding.

"Card open: Chaos Form!" The card that he had set in the first turn finally had a chance to shine now.

"I will use Blue-Eyes Solid Dragon as a sacrifice to bring out a more powerful monster!" Joachim lifted the card that was going to be summoned next into the sky. The creature transformed into a ball of light that shot toward Joachim's direction, exploding behind him soon after. When that occurred, a strange gate manifested from the burst—gate that soon began to open before Gloria's very eyes.

"The collision from the stars in the deep beyond will awaken the power of the Ultimate Dragon. Roar. Burn Everything. Show your unrelenting might to those that oppose your light! Ritual Summon! Come forth, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon (Light/Dragon/Ritual/Effect/ATK: 4000/DEF: 0/Level: 8)!"

Dark clouds converged into the sky. Lightning rained down onto the ground. The earth was torn asunder as blue fire rose up to showcase the advent of a powerful creature.

From the gate, an enormous beast filled with metallic scales roared. The world trembled before the appearance of the Dragon. Its manifestation left no one indifferent, not even Gloria.

"Ritual... Summon?" Although not unknown to her, it was so rare to see someone using that summoning method. Seldom anyone opted to go for that instead of Fusion. Even so, there was no way that monster was an ordinary one taking into account its presence alone. That was why she decided to act quickly.

"Trap Card, open! Amazoness Onslaught! As long as this card is face-up on the field, I can banish a monster that battled one of my monsters after damage calculation!" She was aware of what his face-down trap did, but her strategy was meant to bait him into using it.

"I will humor you. I use The Ultimate Creature of Destruction and select Chaos MAX as the target." The youth showed the card that he had previously gotten with True Light, immediately using it to coat the blue beast in a storm of white winds.

"Not only that but I will also Normal Summon Assault Wyvern to the field (Light/Dragon//Effect/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000/Level: 4)!" With the appearance of the 'x' shaped monster, his formula for victory was completed.

"Marik, I will admit it. You have found a way to crush a trap that was seemingly impossible to overcome." Gloria genuinely praised him, something that made the gold-haired man feel quite weird inside. Although, before the said praises could get to his head, she spoke again. "However, your Life Points are only 800, and you seem to have used up all of your resources. You didn't summon another Blue-Eyes with your trap card, so that means you don't possess the third one in your hand. If you destroy my Empress, the damage you will cause is negligible at best, even with that extra monster you just brought out."

"You talk big for someone who has no cards in their hand, and their whole field revealed." Joachim let out a humorous chuckle at her words. She really liked to appear strong even if the situation was not to her advantage. Still, that was quite charming in its own way.

For an instant, a brief trace of disappointment flashed through her eyes. "Do you really think I won't be able to turn things around with my next draw?" It seemed she hadn't been as throughout as she thought when it came to teaching him that the battlefield was ever-changing.

At her words, he gained a more serious look, yet he still adorned a faint smile. "No. Of course not. You made me play against you so many times that I, better than anyone, know not to underestimate you. To not think you are defeated until your Life Points reach 0."

"Then—"

"That's why... That's why there won't be a next turn." His interruption was accompanied by the activation of a new card. "Quick-Play Spell, Book of Moon. I can target a face-up monster on the field and change it to face-down defense position. My objective is naturally Amazoness Empress."

Gloria watched as her monster disappeared little by little and in her place, only the back of a card perpendicular to her remained. Not only that; but now that Empress was no longer face-up, Enchanted Sword Nothung lost its target, so it was destroyed. Even so... "Why would you do that? Now you are not even going to cause me any damage!"

The way she said it made it seem like she wanted to lose Life Points... she was that perplexed by his actions.

"Battle." The reason for his actions, she would know soon. "Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, attack! Maximum Burst of Chaos!"

'Also, please tone it down a bit, I don't want to carry her home and have to explain why she became bruised...' He didn't forget to send a silent message to his monster, something the Dragon acknowledged with a grunt of annoyance.

Blue energy converged in its maws at the same time that numerous lasers of the same color shot from its wings in all directions, destroying everything around them so much that even he cringed a little.

"At this moment, Chaos MAX Dragon's effect activates!" Gloria narrowed her eyes, paying close attention to know where that feeling of uneasiness came from. "When he attacks a monster in defense position, he deals double piercing damage!"

"Wha...t?"

The attack connected before her surprised gaze. Despite covering herself with her arms, she still was pushed back a couple of meters, leaving a shallow trail into the floor.

Gloria — LP: 800.

It looked as if it was made on purpose to mock her for the words she said earlier, but now both had the same amount of Life Points. However, that wouldn't last for long. "Assault Wyvern, attack her directly."

'You too, go easy.'

The smaller Dragon didn't have any problems obeying him fully, so it just hovered over Gloria before flapping its wings, sending a somewhat decent gale — enough to put an appearance — that finally ended with the duel.

Gloria — LP: 0.

Marik Wins!

At the announcement, both Chaos MAX and Assault Wyvern started to disappear, although the former made sure to release a strong roar to assert its dominance, something that made Joachim roll his eyes for its showoff behavior.

He approached Gloria with steady steps, who by this point was heaving a sigh of frustration for having lost the Duel, even with something that heavily countered his Dragon-filled Deck.

"Thanks." The blonde-haired girl rose her eyebrows at the strange words that came out of his mouth. "For what?"

"Just thanks." He got a hit on the shoulder for being stupid.

"Don't be a smartass. Now let's go, it's getting late and I definitely don't want to be nagged by my mom. That would be the ending to this day."

'Okay, but you didn't have to hit me though...' As he was rubbing the affected part, he kept looking at the disaster they caused with their Duel.

"Don't you think we kind of overdid it?" Gloria gave him a look before marching to her house, uncaring for any repercussions their actions might cause to normal people in the future.

"Don't worry about it."

"But—"

"I said don't worry about it."

"Okay..."

This. This was why he never wanted to win. She always got so moody that it was insufferable. He was already regretting going all out.