Lars clutched his chest and winced slightly as Wildheart brought his sword down on him, reducing his life points to 6500. Off to a really good start here, he thought sarcastically in his head. He soon shrugged it off though, knowing it wasn't wise to start getting frustrated early. Breathing in, he drew his next card and set it down on the backrow.
"Don't think that just because I did the same thing last turn, I'll do the same thing now," Lars said as he selected another card in his hand.
"I'll summon a monster of my own! Come here, Evilswarm Castor!"
Seconds after Lars had slapped the card on his duel disk, a large, hulking, metallic monster shimmered onto the field. The single eye on its head glowed red as it extended a blade from its hand and brandished it at Peter and Wildheart.
"Castor was originally a Constellar warrior before the Iswarm Virus overtook his body and mind," Lars explained as the monster drove its blade into the ground and conducted a strange magic through it.
"He does remember a few things about his old life though, and that's that Constellars should never fight alone. When I summon Castor to the field, I'm allowed one more summon of an Iswarm monster!"
Lars' eyes grew determined as he summoned his second monster, Steelswarm Caller. The insectoid creature burst up from the large wound in the earth Castor had created with its weapon and flew around Wildheart, snapping its metallic teeth before flying next to Castor to await further commands.
"Now time for the advance! Caller, destroy Wildheart! Castor, follow up his attack by striking my opponent directly with your Crush Blade!"
The Steelswarm monster buzzed its wings as it dashed towards Wildheart, intending to rip him to pieces as its arms and wings powered up with purplish energy....
As he saw Wildheart being attacked, Peter looked at those two backrow his opponent had, Wildheart was immune to them, but his face down Mask Change wouldn't be, nor would Dian when he came to the field. Then he saw the two big brutes coming for him.
"Crap..." Did he save it for later when he could guarentee Dians safety? Or pop it now and save Wildheart...
"There is a way..." said Neos, next to him. "When his monster attacks, during the battle phase, use it... he will only be able to use Counter Traps and Quick spells... That won't necessarily save Dian, but it'll be the safest time to summon him." Peter pumped his fist.
"Alright." he grinned. As the battle phase started and the attack was declaired Peter pressed the button on his duel disk. Immediately, Wildheart's face began to glow, as did the rest of him. A large mask appeared and covered Wildhearts face, finally, the light burst and Dian burst out of the cocoon, flourishing his sword.
"Go, Masked HERO: Dian!!!" yelled Peter.
Steelswarm Caller hissed as he stopped his advance short when Dian appeared. Sliding to a stop, the steel insect hissed and spat venom at Dian before dropping on all fours, circling the creature like a lion ready to pounce. Caller still wanted to battle, but Lars knew the Steelswarm would be easily outmatched by the Masked Hero's 2800 attack strength.
"So soon?" Lars asked Peter. "Good, this actually proves beneficial to me! Reveal face down, Compulsory Evacuation Device!"
Steelswarm Caller buzzed his wings as he called for more of his allies, and seconds later, a swarm of Steelswarm Callers appeared from a rift in the air and headed en masse towards Dian. Such a swarm would easily strip the hero down to the bone, and knowing this, Dian fled the field for safety. The swarm of Callers shouted in anger as they returned to the rift from whence they came.
"Now I'll replay my attack! He's wide open my Iswarms, attack him directly, both of you!"
Castor rushed at Peter with an extended arm blade, causing the ground to quake beneath every step it took. Caller was quicker, flying towards Peter before abruptly swerving behind the duelist and striking him with a strong kick towards the back. The Steelswarm then restrained Peter's arms in what seemed to be a Nelson lock, allowing Castor a brutal direct attack with his Crush Blade. Steelswarm Caller seemed to laugh in sadistic satisfaction as he pushed Peter away towards the ground, to which Castor acted in response by pushing the duelist over on his back before leaping back towards Lars.
"Excellent job Castor... and Caller," Lars said with a cruel grin as both monsters returned to his side of the field.
"Thanks for fully revealing to me what your deck focuses on," Lars told Peter as he signaled towards both of his monsters.
"Granted though, it was pretty obvious from the start what that was. Castor, Caller, create your infested Overlay Network to bring forth another of your allies!"
The Steelswarm monster jumped on the Evilswarm's back, prompting both of their Iswarm crests to flash brightly and release a surge of energy that caused both monsters to shimmer together and disappear. A rift was left behind in their disappearance, and from the darkness of the portal, a creature roared as the sharp claws of an Evilswarm stabbed through onto the field. The head soon followed, revealing malicious eyes and a sharp beak that looked like it could tear anything to pieces.
"Behold one of the infected dragons of the Ice Barrier, Evilswarm Ophion!"
Ophion screeched as it jumped through the portal to reveal the rest of itself. Its body was seemingly made of black and grey ice from which two blue and red wings extended from. The Evilswarm smashed its tail onto the ground, causing black ice to begin spreading across the field and behind both duelists. Fanning its icy wings, Ophion caused the ice to reach upwards, forming jagged pillars of blue and red ice behind Peter and Lars. Lars smirked.
"I won't reveal Ophion's ability now, but you'll find it'll put a dent in all your plans! I activate his first effect by detaching one XYZ monster from my monster! To the grave, Evilswarm Castor!"
Castor appeared briefly on the field before vanishing and shooting a card at Lars' hand. He revealed it to his opponent, showing Infestation Infection before setting it face down on the field.
"I now end, but not before activating my field spell. I play Abyss of Infestation!"
The Iswarm symbol traced itself along the ground in fissures until it was fully formed. Then, it released a blaze lf power to constantly glow on the field as stone walls rose up around the field. Ophion screeched as it was empowered by the energy released from the fissures, causing its attack to be raised to a good 3050.
Lars: 6500
Peter: 4550