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"Chapter 538: A Timeless Classic - I Summon Myself
Because of the effect of "Spiral Spear Strike", "Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion", while destroying "Invoked Mechaba", also inflicted piercing battle damage to Crowley. However, since "Invoked Mechaba"'s ATK and DEF were relatively balanced, it only inflicted a mere 500 points of damage.
However, inflicting damage was enough. Hayato's finger rested on top of his Deck, and he drew two cards: "When 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion', which is treated as 'Gaia the Dragon Champion', inflicts damage to my opponent due to the first effect of 'Spiral Spear Strike', I draw two cards from my Deck, then discard one card from my Hand."
"Then, I Set one card and end my turn."
It wasn't that Hayato didn't want to perform more additional actions; it was simply that he had no resources in his hand to use.
"Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" negated Crowley's search, and although "Harpie's Feather Duster" cleared the Trap Card like "Mirror Force", it triggered "Invoked Mechaba". To prevent "Polymerization" from being negated, he even had to use "Change of Heart" to bait out a negate. After that sequence of plays, Hayato truly had no resources left.
If not for the "Cards from the Sky"-like effect of "Spiral Spear Strike", Hayato wouldn't even have been able to Set that card in his Spell/Trap Zone.
[Hayato: 4000LP, Hand 0]
["Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion": ATK 2600]
["Spiral Spear Strike", Set Card]
"Phew, that was truly impressive. Well, it's my turn again. Draw!" Crowley said casually. "'Prescient Planter''s effect has passed one turn. In two more turns, I'll be able to increase my hand size by three cards in one go."
"However, there's also a certain probability that I won't even get to activate 'Prescient Planter''s effect, because before that, I might have already defeated you."
As he spoke, Crowley activated the card he had just drawn onto the field: "I activate the Equip Spell Card 'Broken Bamboo Sword' that I just drew, and equip it to my 'Magical Merchant' on the field. It increases its ATK by 0."
As Crowley inserted the card into his Duel Disk, a tattered bamboo sword, broken halfway down the blade, appeared in the hands of the 'Magical Merchant'. Just holding it made one worry about breaking it, let alone using it in battle. It was no wonder it didn't increase ATK at all; it was good enough if it didn't get in the way.
However, this seemingly meaningless Equip Spell Card had another purpose.
"Then, because I have a 'Bamboo Sword' Equip Spell Card on my field, I activate the Spell Card 'Golden Bamboo Sword', which was added to my hand earlier by the effect of 'Cursed Bamboo Sword'. I draw two cards from my Deck. Oh, good luck! I'll activate the second 'Golden Bamboo Sword' I drew, and draw two more cards."
As if by sheer luck, after activating the "Golden Bamboo Sword" he searched, Crowley actually drew the same card again. Because of this card's effect, his hand size instantly grew to a total of three cards.
Pulling out one of the cards from his hand, Crowley had a helpless expression, but it looked annoyingly smug: "Oh dear, oh dear. I wanted to maintain the dignity and elegance of a mage, but the first person to inflict damage wasn't me. Such a shameful thing! I can't help but get serious now."
"Therefore, I will perform a Normal Summon. The target is myself!"
As Crowley spoke, he flipped over the card in his hand to show it: "Attack Position Summon 'Aleister the Invoker'!"
Raising his hand above his head, Crowley spread his fingers, and a staff that had previously appeared on "Invoked Mechaba" materialized in his hand. Crowley—or rather, Aleister Crowley—stepped onto his field, standing beside "Magical Merchant".
["Aleister the Invoker": Level 4 / DARK Attribute]
[Spellcaster / Effect Monster]
[1000 / 1800]
Hayato watched Aleister Crowley perform a classic Yu-Gi-Oh! World maneuver—I Summon Myself—without much surprise, as he had already guessed his identity before.
Aleister Crowley, or rather, "Aleister the Invoker", is named after a real-life occultist from Hayato's previous world. He was known by titles like "The Great Beast," "The Beast of the Apocalypse," and "The Wickedest Man in the World," which sound profound yet also full of chuunibyou flair, making one want to quote the classic lines of the famous anti-chuunibyou expert, Miss Hatoko.
Based on such a figure, "Aleister the Invoker" is naturally not a benevolent sort. In the card art story of Duel Monsters, he is a powerful magician, even once called the "Great Sage of the Code," ranking among the "Three Great Sages."
The other two of the "Three Great Sages" are the absolute king of the 'Magical' Decks that focus on Spell Counters, the "Great Sage of Sacred Magic," "Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic". One of the Field Spell Cards Hayato possesses, "Magical City Endymion", was established by him and named after him.
The other is the "Great Sage of Crystals," "Witchcrafter Master Verre", the "big sister" of the 'Witchcrafter' Decks, who excels at activating Spell/Trap Card effects from the Graveyard. She was a great beauty in her youth and somehow became younger with age, also a magic master.
Beyond the card art story of Duel Monsters, "Aleister the Invoker" is also widely known. The reason is that he belongs to a system that focuses on Fusion Summon, but his only lower-Level monster is himself, "Aleister the Invoker". However, the 'Invoked' monsters he can Fusion Summon generally only have restrictions based on Attribute.
This makes the "Aleister the Invoker" system, which is incredibly small, best used as an engine in various messy deck builds, especially since he can search for his own Fusion Cards and has excellent recycling ability, making him incredibly generic.
Furthermore, because Decks that engine "Aleister the Invoker" are often composed of 'waifu' cards like "Sky Striker Ace", "Shaddoll", "Trickstar", "Dogmatika", "Witchcrafter", and even "Dragonmaid", "Aleister the Invoker", who performs "Contact Fusion" with "Ecclesia the Dracobringer" today and gets close with "El Shaddoll Nephilim" and "El Shaddoll Midrash" tomorrow, has earned the title of "Scumbag."
Although, Hayato has actually seen the "signature move" of engineering "Aleister the Invoker" in a Deck full of unspeakable alien reptiles like "Worm". It was so weird that Hayato even took a few extra glances at the time.
What's even more worth mentioning is that "Aleister the Invoker" once also received the honor of "He changed Fusion," but he was always in the process of competing for this glory with another powerful card that appeared in the same pack: the invincible "Predaplant Verte Anaconda".
Both have battled on the Forbidden & Limited List, entering the Forbidden/Limited List one after another, repeatedly jumping between Limited, Semi-Limited, and Unlimited. Ultimately, the struggle ended with "Predaplant Verte Anaconda" becoming an unusable Forbidden Card.
"When I Normal Summon or Flip Summon successfully, I add one 'Invocation' from my Deck to my hand."
Aleister Crowley didn't know that Hayato was mentally criticizing him. Instead, he searched for a card from his Deck and added it to his hand. "'Invocation''s effect is that I can send the Fusion Material monsters determined by a Fusion Monster from my hand to the Graveyard and Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck."
"However, as my most proficient magic, 'Invocation' has a special enhancement when used to Summon the 'Invoked' monsters. I can choose Fusion Materials from my field and from both players' Graveyards, and banish them to perform a Fusion Summon."
"I activate 'Invocation'! I will banish your 'Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon' from your Graveyard, which is a DARK Attribute monster, and myself from my field!"
Slapping the 'Invocation' card into his Duel Disk, Aleister raised his staff above his head. A massive magic circle was constructed out of thin air above him by mystical power. Within the magic circle, a special six-pointed star, similar to but different from the 'Orichalcos Barrier', shone brightly!
"By my magical name 'The Great Beast', infuse the wildness, nature, and desire, pour in the pitch-black mystical power, and call forth the demon beast with the power of rebellion!"
"Fusion Summon! 'Invoked Caliga'!"
The power of "Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon" in Hayato's Graveyard was extracted by the 'Invocation' magic circle. The color of the formation suddenly changed to an ominous dark red, sweeping down from above onto Aleister Crowley himself. His body drastically changed—
Amidst the dark red lightning, Aleister's robes were instantly ripped apart by rapidly expanding muscles, revealing his increasingly crimson, strong body. The dark red energy directly poured into Aleister's body, causing a pair of winding ram horns to even grow from his head. The staff in his hand, named "Aiwass," automatically flew out and stabbed into his own body from behind!
In just a few breaths, the hooded youthful mage from just now, after absorbing the DARK Attribute mystical power of Hayato's "Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon", had transformed into a tall figure covered in strong red muscles, with bat wings on his wrists, spines on his back, a dragon tail dragging behind him, and ram horns growing from his head—a demon!
["Invoked Caliga": Level 4 / DARK Attribute]
[Beast / Fusion / Effect Monster]
[1000 / 1800]
Whether it was Level, Attribute, or ATK and DEF, the demonic beast before him, "Invoked Caliga", was identical to "Aleister the Invoker" himself. Even without seeing the entire process of change like Hayato did, one could somewhat guess the relationship between the two, not to mention that "Invoked Caliga" was even draped in Aleister Crowley's torn clothes.
Hayato looked at the appearance of "Invoked Caliga", feeling confused. Because in his impression, while Aleister did indeed Summon the demon before him in the card art story.
But after that, Aleister himself completely went berserk, and with his magical name "The Great Beast," he Fusion Summoned all of his 'Invoked' monsters in one go, calling forth his ultimate strongest 'Invoked' monster, a god-like giant 'Invoked' monster named after the afterlife world in Greek mythology, "Elysium"—'Invoked Elysium'.
Aleister himself, during the berserk Summon, first fused with "Invoked Caliga" to become one, further transforming into "Invoked Purgatrio" and falling into slumber. Then, he was taken away by his old acquaintance, "Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic", and remodeled into "Spellbook Library of the Crescent", with Aleister himself becoming like a battery deep within, being used.
What was going on with the Aleister before him? Which time period was he in? Why could he Summon "Invoked Caliga" without going berserk?
Or was this the moment he was about to go berserk?!
But just then, Hayato saw that the magic circle beneath "Invoked Caliga"'s feet suddenly began to reverse, tracing back to the staff "Aiwass" that was stabbed into its back. The staff expanded and changed into a Passage, and an "Aleister the Invoker", identical to the one before, actually crawled out from inside!?
"Hehehe, how about that? Were you scared by my cool 'Invocation'? You know, this is almost an exclusive spell formula of mine; others simply can't use it," Aleister Crowley said proudly, hands on his hips. He didn't look abnormal at all, and even showed a card: "Although I, as the Invoker, was banished from the game along with 'Invocation', I didn't want to leave the field so easily."
"The second effect of 'Invocation' can only be used once per turn. 'Invocation' in the Graveyard returns to the Deck, and one 'Aleister the Invoker' that was banished from the game is added to my hand. Therefore, Lord Crowley, revive!"
Aleister Crowley looked energetic, and Hayato temporarily put aside the confusion in his heart. After all, if he really wanted to know, he could just ask his opponent slowly after winning the duel. "An excellent recycling system. Next turn, you'll be able to Normal Summon yourself again and then search for 'Invocation', right?"
"Although your system's loop is excellent, don't forget that the 'Invoked Caliga' you just Fusion Summoned is just a weak monster with 1000 ATK and 1800 DEF. It can't possibly block the attack of my 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion'."
"Heh heh, that's not necessarily true," Aleister chuckled, glancing at the three cards in his hand. Among them, "Aleister the Invoker", which was himself, couldn't be used this turn because he had already been Normal Summoned. Of the other two cards in his hand, one was a Trap Card that needed to be Set, but the other Spell Card could be used to take down that "Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion".
"I will use the Spell Card 'The Force', and activate its effect targeting your 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion' on your field and my 'Invoked Caligula' on my field."
"I will decrease 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion''s ATK by half, which is 1300, and then add that decreased ATK value to my 'Invoked Caligula', increasing its ATK!"
Aleister said proudly, "Now, in terms of ATK, I'm stronger! Enter Battle Phase!"
"'Invoked Caligula' attacks 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion'!"
"Claws of Rebellion!"
Because of the effect of "Spiral Spear Strike", "Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion", while destroying "Invoked Mechaba", also inflicted piercing battle damage to Crowley. However, since "Invoked Mechaba"'s ATK and DEF were relatively balanced, it only inflicted a mere 500 points of damage.
However, inflicting damage was enough. Hayato's finger rested on top of his Deck, and he drew two cards: "When 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion', which is treated as 'Gaia the Dragon Champion', inflicts damage to my opponent due to the first effect of 'Spiral Spear Strike', I draw two cards from my Deck, then discard one card from my Hand."
"Then, I Set one card and end my turn."
It wasn't that Hayato didn't want to perform more additional actions; it was simply that he had no resources in his hand to use.
"Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" negated Crowley's search, and although "Harpie's Feather Duster" cleared the Trap Card like "Mirror Force", it triggered "Invoked Mechaba". To prevent "Polymerization" from being negated, he even had to use "Change of Heart" to bait out a negate. After that sequence of plays, Hayato truly had no resources left.
If not for the "Cards from the Sky"-like effect of "Spiral Spear Strike", Hayato wouldn't even have been able to Set that card in his Spell/Trap Zone.
[Hayato: 4000LP, Hand 0]
["Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion": ATK 2600]
["Spiral Spear Strike", Set Card]
"Phew, that was truly impressive. Well, it's my turn again. Draw!" Crowley said casually. "'Prescient Planter''s effect has passed one turn. In two more turns, I'll be able to increase my hand size by three cards in one go."
"However, there's also a certain probability that I won't even get to activate 'Prescient Planter''s effect, because before that, I might have already defeated you."
As he spoke, Crowley activated the card he had just drawn onto the field: "I activate the Equip Spell Card 'Broken Bamboo Sword' that I just drew, and equip it to my 'Magical Merchant' on the field. It increases its ATK by 0."
As Crowley inserted the card into his Duel Disk, a tattered bamboo sword, broken halfway down the blade, appeared in the hands of the 'Magical Merchant'. Just holding it made one worry about breaking it, let alone using it in battle. It was no wonder it didn't increase ATK at all; it was good enough if it didn't get in the way.
However, this seemingly meaningless Equip Spell Card had another purpose.
"Then, because I have a 'Bamboo Sword' Equip Spell Card on my field, I activate the Spell Card 'Golden Bamboo Sword', which was added to my hand earlier by the effect of 'Cursed Bamboo Sword'. I draw two cards from my Deck. Oh, good luck! I'll activate the second 'Golden Bamboo Sword' I drew, and draw two more cards."
As if by sheer luck, after activating the "Golden Bamboo Sword" he searched, Crowley actually drew the same card again. Because of this card's effect, his hand size instantly grew to a total of three cards.
Pulling out one of the cards from his hand, Crowley had a helpless expression, but it looked annoyingly smug: "Oh dear, oh dear. I wanted to maintain the dignity and elegance of a mage, but the first person to inflict damage wasn't me. Such a shameful thing! I can't help but get serious now."
"Therefore, I will perform a Normal Summon. The target is myself!"
As Crowley spoke, he flipped over the card in his hand to show it: "Attack Position Summon 'Aleister the Invoker'!"
Raising his hand above his head, Crowley spread his fingers, and a staff that had previously appeared on "Invoked Mechaba" materialized in his hand. Crowley—or rather, Aleister Crowley—stepped onto his field, standing beside "Magical Merchant".
["Aleister the Invoker": Level 4 / DARK Attribute]
[Spellcaster / Effect Monster]
[1000 / 1800]
Hayato watched Aleister Crowley perform a classic Yu-Gi-Oh! World maneuver—I Summon Myself—without much surprise, as he had already guessed his identity before.
Aleister Crowley, or rather, "Aleister the Invoker", is named after a real-life occultist from Hayato's previous world. He was known by titles like "The Great Beast," "The Beast of the Apocalypse," and "The Wickedest Man in the World," which sound profound yet also full of chuunibyou flair, making one want to quote the classic lines of the famous anti-chuunibyou expert, Miss Hatoko.
Based on such a figure, "Aleister the Invoker" is naturally not a benevolent sort. In the card art story of Duel Monsters, he is a powerful magician, even once called the "Great Sage of the Code," ranking among the "Three Great Sages."
The other two of the "Three Great Sages" are the absolute king of the 'Magical' Decks that focus on Spell Counters, the "Great Sage of Sacred Magic," "Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic". One of the Field Spell Cards Hayato possesses, "Magical City Endymion", was established by him and named after him.
The other is the "Great Sage of Crystals," "Witchcrafter Master Verre", the "big sister" of the 'Witchcrafter' Decks, who excels at activating Spell/Trap Card effects from the Graveyard. She was a great beauty in her youth and somehow became younger with age, also a magic master.
Beyond the card art story of Duel Monsters, "Aleister the Invoker" is also widely known. The reason is that he belongs to a system that focuses on Fusion Summon, but his only lower-Level monster is himself, "Aleister the Invoker". However, the 'Invoked' monsters he can Fusion Summon generally only have restrictions based on Attribute.
This makes the "Aleister the Invoker" system, which is incredibly small, best used as an engine in various messy deck builds, especially since he can search for his own Fusion Cards and has excellent recycling ability, making him incredibly generic.
Furthermore, because Decks that engine "Aleister the Invoker" are often composed of 'waifu' cards like "Sky Striker Ace", "Shaddoll", "Trickstar", "Dogmatika", "Witchcrafter", and even "Dragonmaid", "Aleister the Invoker", who performs "Contact Fusion" with "Ecclesia the Dracobringer" today and gets close with "El Shaddoll Nephilim" and "El Shaddoll Midrash" tomorrow, has earned the title of "Scumbag."
Although, Hayato has actually seen the "signature move" of engineering "Aleister the Invoker" in a Deck full of unspeakable alien reptiles like "Worm". It was so weird that Hayato even took a few extra glances at the time.
What's even more worth mentioning is that "Aleister the Invoker" once also received the honor of "He changed Fusion," but he was always in the process of competing for this glory with another powerful card that appeared in the same pack: the invincible "Predaplant Verte Anaconda".
Both have battled on the Forbidden & Limited List, entering the Forbidden/Limited List one after another, repeatedly jumping between Limited, Semi-Limited, and Unlimited. Ultimately, the struggle ended with "Predaplant Verte Anaconda" becoming an unusable Forbidden Card.
"When I Normal Summon or Flip Summon successfully, I add one 'Invocation' from my Deck to my hand."
Aleister Crowley didn't know that Hayato was mentally criticizing him. Instead, he searched for a card from his Deck and added it to his hand. "'Invocation''s effect is that I can send the Fusion Material monsters determined by a Fusion Monster from my hand to the Graveyard and Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck."
"However, as my most proficient magic, 'Invocation' has a special enhancement when used to Summon the 'Invoked' monsters. I can choose Fusion Materials from my field and from both players' Graveyards, and banish them to perform a Fusion Summon."
"I activate 'Invocation'! I will banish your 'Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon' from your Graveyard, which is a DARK Attribute monster, and myself from my field!"
Slapping the 'Invocation' card into his Duel Disk, Aleister raised his staff above his head. A massive magic circle was constructed out of thin air above him by mystical power. Within the magic circle, a special six-pointed star, similar to but different from the 'Orichalcos Barrier', shone brightly!
"By my magical name 'The Great Beast', infuse the wildness, nature, and desire, pour in the pitch-black mystical power, and call forth the demon beast with the power of rebellion!"
"Fusion Summon! 'Invoked Caliga'!"
The power of "Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon" in Hayato's Graveyard was extracted by the 'Invocation' magic circle. The color of the formation suddenly changed to an ominous dark red, sweeping down from above onto Aleister Crowley himself. His body drastically changed—
Amidst the dark red lightning, Aleister's robes were instantly ripped apart by rapidly expanding muscles, revealing his increasingly crimson, strong body. The dark red energy directly poured into Aleister's body, causing a pair of winding ram horns to even grow from his head. The staff in his hand, named "Aiwass," automatically flew out and stabbed into his own body from behind!
In just a few breaths, the hooded youthful mage from just now, after absorbing the DARK Attribute mystical power of Hayato's "Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon", had transformed into a tall figure covered in strong red muscles, with bat wings on his wrists, spines on his back, a dragon tail dragging behind him, and ram horns growing from his head—a demon!
["Invoked Caliga": Level 4 / DARK Attribute]
[Beast / Fusion / Effect Monster]
[1000 / 1800]
Whether it was Level, Attribute, or ATK and DEF, the demonic beast before him, "Invoked Caliga", was identical to "Aleister the Invoker" himself. Even without seeing the entire process of change like Hayato did, one could somewhat guess the relationship between the two, not to mention that "Invoked Caliga" was even draped in Aleister Crowley's torn clothes.
Hayato looked at the appearance of "Invoked Caliga", feeling confused. Because in his impression, while Aleister did indeed Summon the demon before him in the card art story.
But after that, Aleister himself completely went berserk, and with his magical name "The Great Beast," he Fusion Summoned all of his 'Invoked' monsters in one go, calling forth his ultimate strongest 'Invoked' monster, a god-like giant 'Invoked' monster named after the afterlife world in Greek mythology, "Elysium"—'Invoked Elysium'.
Aleister himself, during the berserk Summon, first fused with "Invoked Caliga" to become one, further transforming into "Invoked Purgatrio" and falling into slumber. Then, he was taken away by his old acquaintance, "Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic", and remodeled into "Spellbook Library of the Crescent", with Aleister himself becoming like a battery deep within, being used.
What was going on with the Aleister before him? Which time period was he in? Why could he Summon "Invoked Caliga" without going berserk?
Or was this the moment he was about to go berserk?!
But just then, Hayato saw that the magic circle beneath "Invoked Caliga"'s feet suddenly began to reverse, tracing back to the staff "Aiwass" that was stabbed into its back. The staff expanded and changed into a Passage, and an "Aleister the Invoker", identical to the one before, actually crawled out from inside!?
"Hehehe, how about that? Were you scared by my cool 'Invocation'? You know, this is almost an exclusive spell formula of mine; others simply can't use it," Aleister Crowley said proudly, hands on his hips. He didn't look abnormal at all, and even showed a card: "Although I, as the Invoker, was banished from the game along with 'Invocation', I didn't want to leave the field so easily."
"The second effect of 'Invocation' can only be used once per turn. 'Invocation' in the Graveyard returns to the Deck, and one 'Aleister the Invoker' that was banished from the game is added to my hand. Therefore, Lord Crowley, revive!"
Aleister Crowley looked energetic, and Hayato temporarily put aside the confusion in his heart. After all, if he really wanted to know, he could just ask his opponent slowly after winning the duel. "An excellent recycling system. Next turn, you'll be able to Normal Summon yourself again and then search for 'Invocation', right?"
"Although your system's loop is excellent, don't forget that the 'Invoked Caliga' you just Fusion Summoned is just a weak monster with 1000 ATK and 1800 DEF. It can't possibly block the attack of my 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion'."
"Heh heh, that's not necessarily true," Aleister chuckled, glancing at the three cards in his hand. Among them, "Aleister the Invoker", which was himself, couldn't be used this turn because he had already been Normal Summoned. Of the other two cards in his hand, one was a Trap Card that needed to be Set, but the other Spell Card could be used to take down that "Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion".
"I will use the Spell Card 'The Force', and activate its effect targeting your 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion' on your field and my 'Invoked Caligula' on my field."
"I will decrease 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion''s ATK by half, which is 1300, and then add that decreased ATK value to my 'Invoked Caligula', increasing its ATK!"
Aleister said proudly, "Now, in terms of ATK, I'm stronger! Enter Battle Phase!"
"'Invoked Caligula' attacks 'Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion'!"
"Claws of Rebellion!"
