CHAPTER 436: CHAPTER 435: MIRROR KNIGHT (BONUS)

"Ritual Spell ’Orichalcos Mirror’!" the Arbiter declared. "Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels are 6 or higher to Ritual Summon the Ritual Monster ’Mirror Knight Calling’ from your Deck!" (Anime card)

The Arbiter sent one card from his hand to the Graveyard.

"Tribute the Level 6 ’Timeater’ from my hand to Special Summon ’Mirror Knight Calling’ from the Deck."

What appeared on the field was a monster shaped like a prism, its body reflecting clear, crystalline light. It had a bizarre appearance and didn’t seem to have any combat power.

[Mirror Knight Calling, ATK 0 → ATK 500]

"When Mirror Knight Calling is successfully Summoned, you can Special Summon any number of ’Mirror Knight Tokens’ to your field."

The Arbiter chuckled lightly.

"And ’Orichalcos Tritos’ inherits the effects of the previous two barriers. You haven’t forgotten the effect of the first barrier, have you?"

"The Monster Zones and Spell/Trap Zones are shared," Kira said.

"Correct."

The Arbiter raised his arm high.

"Therefore, I have up to eight remaining zones where I can Summon monsters! Special Summon eight ’Mirror Knight Tokens’!"

Weird arcs of light reflected from the towering prism, splitting into eight beams that landed in the eight empty zones on his front and back fields.

Each beam transformed into a knight clad in armor, like a medieval knight covered in plate mail. One hand held a gleaming longsword, the other a square shield. The shield’s surface was smooth as a mirror, clearly reflecting the opponent’s field situation—Kira and his controlled Cyber Twin Dragon were distinctly mirrored on that reflective surface.

[Mirror Knight Token, ATK 0 → ATK 500] x8

Midori was stunned: "Summoning eight monsters at once?"

What kind of card is this that defies common sense!?

Kira didn’t speak, but in his heart, he thought, as expected of the Orichalcos arc—full of fake cards. The anime’s Orichalcos Chapter is overflowing with overpowered fake cards that are countless.

Of course, some of those that players once thought would never become real cards have gradually been released over time.

So, even these remaining unreleased ones seem ridiculous, but it’s possible that Konami might suddenly remember them one day, add some self-restriction, and release them.

"The strongest enemy a duelist will face in their lifetime is always themselves—no one is exempt," the Arbiter said. "And the Mirror Knights are the embodiment of the reflective mirror that reveals the true self within."

The Arbiter waved his hand.

"Then, ’Orichalcos Tritos’ activates the effect gained from the second barrier. It can absorb life from the monsters I control!

Once per turn, recover LP equal to the number of monsters on my field x 500."

Everyone was shocked.

"Oh no, he has ten monsters on the field now!"

"Correct," the Arbiter said calmly. "Therefore, I recover 5000 LP."

[Arbiter, LP 4000 → LP 9000]

Kira also frowned slightly.

9000 LP.

"Set two cards face-down in my back row, then enter the Battle Phase."

The Arbiter raised his hand.

"First, the first ’Mirror Knight Token’," the Arbiter said. "Attack ’Cyber Twin Dragon’."

Jaden’s heart tightened: "Attacking with a monster that only has 500 ATK?"

But he immediately remembered—no, it’s not 500 ATK. That 500 is the barrier’s boost; in other words, these Tokens originally have 0 ATK.

And as everyone knows, 0 ATK monsters are a hotbed for overpowered effects.

Sure enough, the Arbiter continued: "When a Mirror Knight Token battles an opponent’s monster, it can copy that monster’s ATK value for the battle.

Cyber Twin Dragon has 2800 ATK, so the Mirror Knight’s ATK becomes the same."

[Mirror Knight Token, ATK 500 → ATK 2800]

"It can even copy ATK!?" Zane was astonished.

Summoning eight monsters at once, each with the effect to copy the opponent’s ATK...

"Activate Continuous Trap," Kira said. "’Dimension Guardian’! Select one monster on my field; as long as this card remains on the field, that monster cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects."

It was one of the three red pitfall cards Yugi Muto used in the movie to create an infinite loop and defeat the Blue-Eyes.

"Protect ’Cyber Twin Dragon’ with ’Dimension Guardian’," Kira said. "The Twin Dragon protected by this card cannot be destroyed in any way."

The Mirror Knight leaped forward and slashed with its sword, but it struck a transparent protective barrier. The rebound force immediately knocked the knight back, failing to hit the Twin Dragon itself.

"Great, now the Twin Dragon is invincible!" Jaden said. "And with equal ATK, if it can’t be destroyed here, then only the Mirror Knight will be destroyed!"

Sure enough, the Twin Dragon, upon being attacked, counterattacked automatically. The Cyber Dragon heads opened, electricity surged from its mechanical parts, quickly gathering in its mouth and erupting as a dazzling evolutionary flame!

But just as the Mirror Knight was about to be engulfed by the flame, it suddenly raised its left arm, blocking with its mirror-like shield. The evolutionary flame washed over the mirror surface, and after a brief stalemate, it shattered the shield like hammered glass into fragments, but the knight itself remained unharmed.

"The Mirror Knight wasn’t defeated?" Midori frowned.

The Arbiter said coldly: "The Mirror Knight’s shield can substitute for it, blocking one destruction."

In more standardized Konami language, these Mirror Knights’ shields should be "Shield Counters," which can be removed as a substitute when the knight would be destroyed.

"By the way, ’Mirror Knight Calling’ has another effect. Once per turn, it can repair the shields of all Mirror Knights on my field whose shields have been destroyed," the Arbiter said.

"Such an outrageous ability!?" Midori was shocked inwardly.

The Mirror Knights can copy the ATK of the battling monster, and during battle, they can use their shields as a substitute for destruction. Then, the destroyed shields can be repaired once per turn.

And there are eight such Mirror Knights on the field.

With just these eight knights, it’s already close to invincible!?

Whether it was Midori or Jaden, they increasingly realized that in Arbiter’s previous duels against Koyo and Jaden, this person hadn’t exerted himself at all. His strength was unfathomable, indeed not something a regular duelist could face.

Only Kaiba remained calm and composed. After all, they had encountered the Mirror Knights back then and suffered quite a bit.

In fact, Dartz had once sealed the souls of the captured Yugi, Pegasus, Mai, and Joey into several Mirror Knights as hostages, making Atem hesitant to act, until Kaiba broke the stalemate.

In comparison, the situation Kira faced now was less dire than theirs back then.

But back then, Atem and Kaiba had teamed up against Dartz, while now Kira was facing the Arbiter one-on-one. No teammates to rely on, no one to assist from the side—this made it tougher than their experience.

Though Kaiba wasn’t on the stage, watching the duel progress, he couldn’t help subconsciously comparing himself to Kira. Though they had just settled their score, his duelist’s soul couldn’t suppress its restless urge.

"Battle continues," the Arbiter said in a hoarse voice. "The second ’Mirror Knight Token’ attacks ’Cyber Twin Dragon’."

"Huh?"

Mokuba was greatly surprised.

Even knowing the attack is meaningless, he’s still going for it?

PS: Bonus Chapters at 2000 PS