Vampire Lord returned from the Graveyard.
[Vampire Lord — ATK: 2000] As the monster reappeared on the field, the Dark Ritual Priest’s tall body suddenly staggered.
He broke into a violent coughing fit and nearly lost his balance.
Beneath the shadow of his hood, his face had become almost as pale as the vampire he commanded.
Yusuke understood immediately.
‘So he’s literally burning his lifespan to play cards.’ There were always people like this in Yu-Gi-Oh!.
While ordinary players spent money on the game, these lunatics spent their lives.
People who resorted to methods like this generally lacked the protagonist talent for miraculous topdecks and spontaneously printing new cards, so they had no choice but to sacrifice their own lifespan in exchange for supernatural power.
“Is it really worth going this far?” Yusuke shook his head.
“Even if this power keeps letting you win, how long can you keep winning?
How many more Duels do you think your body can survive?” “It doesn’t matter.” The Dark Ritual Priest forced himself upright, his voice cold and unwavering.
“People like us from Satellite have lives worth less than paper.
We possess no value and no meaning.
We simply repeat the same empty routine day after day, alive in body but little different from corpses.” He lowered his gaze toward the cards in his hand.
Then his voice suddenly rose.
“But the Order gave our lives meaning!
Through our supreme lord, we obtained power, but more importantly, we were given a purpose—an ideal worthy of sacrificing ourselves for!” “You mean bringing that ruler of the Netherworld into this world so it can rule humanity?” “Exactly!
Once that happens, everyone will receive eternal life.
There will be no more exploiters and no more exploited.
Only then will true equality finally exist!” A dark fire seemed to burn behind the man’s eyes.
“I don’t know what kind of being you are, possessing the body of the young man before me.
But you are not human, so you could never understand.” Yusuke’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
‘Watch your mouth.
Who are you calling not human?’ “For people like us, trapped at the bottom of society and forced to crawl through the mud, you cannot understand how fortunate it is to finally have an ideal worth believing in,” the Dark Ritual Priest continued.
“If achieving that ideal requires me to burn away my own life—even if I never survive long enough to see the day it becomes reality—I have no regrets!” “So you’re basically a fanatic willing to die for the cause.” The Dark Ritual Priest raised his voice.
“I banish Vampire Lord from my field!
Descend upon this world—Vampire Genesis!” Black mist engulfed Vampire Lord.
A wave of cold burst outward as a deep rumble rolled through the street.
From the darkness emerged a massive undead creature, its towering frame covered in bulging dark-purple muscle.
Merely standing on the field, it radiated a brutal pressure that seemed to fill the entire area.
[Vampire Genesis — ATK: 3000] “Vampire Genesis can only be Special Summoned by banishing a Vampire Lord I control!” the Dark Ritual Priest declared.
“Then I activate its effect!
Once per turn, I can discard one Zombie monster from my hand, then Special Summon one Zombie from my Graveyard whose Level is lower than the monster I discarded!” He revealed another high-Level Vampire from his hand.
“I discard the Level 6 Vampire’s Curse, then revive the Level 5 Vampire Fraulein from my Graveyard!” He raised Fraulein’s card high above his head and let out a strained roar.
“AAAAAAH!” Yusuke could clearly see dark-red energy, thick and vivid as blood, being drawn out of the man’s body and flowing into the card.
It was as though Vampire Fraulein required an offering of blood before she could awaken again.
The pale noblewoman descended lightly onto the field, holding her parasol above one shoulder.
Her crimson eyes looked weary, but she retained the same elegant composure as before.
[Vampire Fraulein — ATK: 600] The man across from Yusuke was in even worse condition after having another portion of his vitality drained away.
His vision seemed to blur, his body swaying as though he could barely remain upright.
Yusuke couldn’t help murmuring, “Playing cards really is exhausting work…” “If sacrificing this life allows me to remove an obstacle from the Order’s path, then what does it matter?” the Dark Ritual Priest said without the slightest hesitation.
“This turn will be our final battle.
This attack will carry the full weight of my resolve!” He pointed forward.
“Vampire Genesis, attack Summoned Skull!” Blood-red mist erupted around Vampire Genesis.
Then its enormous body seemed to dissolve into the haze itself, becoming a raging crimson vortex that tore across the field toward Yusuke.
“And during the battle, Vampire Fraulein’s effect activates!” the Dark Ritual Priest shouted.
“I can pay Life Points in multiples of 100, up to 3000, and convert them directly into power for my battling Zombie monster!” He raised his right hand high, almost as though offering his heart to his god.
“I’ll pay the maximum amount!” His expression hardened.
“I sacrifice 3000 Life Points and give every last one of them to Vampire Genesis!” A tremendous torrent of dark-red energy was torn from his body and swallowed by the raging bloodstorm.
The man’s face became deathly pale, but his eyes had never looked more determined.
He seemed completely convinced that the life he was sacrificing here would help lead humanity toward the future he believed in.
[Dark Ritual Priest — LP: 4200 → 1200] By sacrificing 3000 Life Points, Vampire Genesis’s already formidable 3000 ATK should have risen to a monstrous 6000.
Twice the ATK of the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Power like that should have crushed anything standing in its way.
Unfortunately, reality didn’t always reward determination.
Sometimes the strongest conviction and the greatest willingness to sacrifice meant absolutely nothing.
Faced with the blood-red storm created at the cost of its opponent’s own life, Summoned Skull simply raised one hand.
It almost seemed to be saying: ‘Sit down.’ BOOM!
Golden thunder exploded through the crimson vortex.
The suicidal charge of Vampire Genesis shattered instantly, while Summoned Skull’s Lightning Strike tore straight through the remaining blood mist and continued toward the Dark Ritual Priest.
Already barely able to stand after sacrificing so much of his vitality, the hooded man had no chance of enduring the violent impact.
Lightning struck him head-on.
His body was hurled backward and crashed heavily onto the ground.
[Dark Ritual Priest — LP: 1200 → 0] The man lay sprawled across the street, black smoke rising from his body.
His eyes were wide with complete bewilderment.
“Wh…
why…?” He had sacrificed his own life.
Vampire Genesis should have reached 6000 ATK.
That final attack should have been unstoppable!
Yet as he stared at the zero displayed on his Duel Disk, his head spun as though he’d been trapped inside a nightmare.
“What a shame,” Yusuke said calmly.
“If you hadn’t been so caught up in the beauty of your own self-sacrifice—or if draining your life hadn’t left you half-conscious—you might have noticed.” The man stared blankly at him.
“Noticed…
what?” “My Trap activated the moment you declared your attack.” Yusuke pointed toward the final card in his back row.
The Dark Ritual Priest narrowed his eyes, struggling to force his fading vision into focus.
Let him see…
Trap Card—Reverse Trap.
Until the End Phase, all effects that increased or decreased ATK or DEF…
were reversed?!
The man’s eyes widened.
Yes.
The instant Vampire Genesis declared its attack, Yusuke had activated Reverse Trap.
He simply hadn’t said anything.
After all, Yusuke had already learned from generations of protagonists that there was no reason to announce every trap you set for your opponent.
He had even deliberately placed the face-down card in the Spell & Trap Zone directly behind Summoned Skull’s Monster Zone.
When Reverse Trap activated, Summoned Skull’s massive Solid Vision projection naturally blocked much of the opponent’s view.
It was the same trick Jaden Yuki had once used when he had Neos physically obscure a Trap he activated against Yubel.
Apparently, that counted as legitimate technique in anime-style Dueling.
The Dark Ritual Priest lay there in stunned silence.
ATK increases and decreases were reversed.
Reversed…
Which meant the 3000 Life Points he had desperately sacrificed hadn’t increased Vampire Genesis’s ATK at all.
They had reduced it by 3000 instead.
So when the battle actually took place…
[Vampire Genesis — ATK: 3000 → 0] The realization finally sank in.
The Dark Ritual Priest went completely limp.
He tilted his head toward the sky.
“Pfft—!” Then he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood.