The golden firelight illuminated the Clockwork Man’s face; it seemed like he was feeling the difficulty of the problem for the first time. He propped his bronze staff on the ground, and under the cloak, the clock kept ticking, seemingly operating at high speed and contemplating a certain problem. Ultimately, he issued a command, and dozens of Guardians of Defeat instantly abandoned the front lines, ignoring Elaine’s summoned creatures’ pursuit, and turned to dash towards those golden pillars of fire.

The scene was extraordinarily heroic.

Creatures born in darkness surged towards the golden flame like moths to a flame, turning to ashes in the blink of an eye. Just because of one command, even if they could only stall for a moment, they would stop the advance of the Holy Sword. A moment was enough, the Clockwork Man had already withdrawn the remaining dozen Nightmare Furnace Constructs at the final stage.

"You’re crazy, Clock Monster, Destiny Card is not meant to be used like that!" Elaine couldn’t help but frown, and she whispered to herself, "That wooden brain has messed up the situation, little guy, push a bit harder, victory is within reach."

This woman.

Brand found women to be incomprehensibly contradictory for the first time, but he nodded because it was indeed time to push harder now.

"What do you know," the Clockwork Man glanced over here coldly, "This is the Travel Mage’s chessboard, every move is made with the most precise timing. Like the passage of time, precise to every minute and second, this is the most beautiful art our master has taught us for thousands of years, yet you do not understand——today, I will show you why this deck is called Adversity."

The words of the Clockwork Man made Brand’s eyebrows slightly raise. He looked at the other’s expression. It wasn’t the kind of desolate expression of failure, but a fierceness that grew stronger as the battle progressed. Brand frowned for a bit; this wasn’t the demeanor of someone about to lose. Could it be the opponent had a killing move? He dared not neglect; the probing had ended. The opponent was even using Creature Cards to block his Holy Sword Skill, which was no doubt a sign heralding the final offensive horn. He raised his vision; the Wind Spirit Spider also raised its angle of attack, aiming the golden sharp sword in midair at the Gear Ball above the Clockwork Man’s head this time.

Strike the enemy with one blow.

"I command my summons to move forward." At the same time, the Deer Demon Sister issued the command for a total attack.

The expression of the Clockwork Man remained calm, as if it would never admit defeat until the last moment. He raised the bronze staff; the Guardians of Defeat fell one by one in front of him, and at this moment, the Eroconia Weavers, exhausted from being tapped before, stood up again. The Clockwork Man was resetting these weavers and extracting new Light Elements for himself, while the Nightmare Furnace Constructs began to grow again.

"Not good!" Elaine’s eyebrows locked tightly together: "It’s sacrifice, this is the power of the Eroniknia Adversity Furnace, this guy is accelerating the cycle, he’s really life-threatening, quickly limit the number of Nightmare Furnace Constructs!"

But at this moment, Brand could no longer stop. The golden light pillar had long been locked on a target; he was single-mindedly aiming to break through the Gear Ball. As long as the core was broken, the Clockwork Man would be utterly powerless, even if he summoned more Nightmare Furnace Constructs. Victory hinged on this moment; he didn’t believe the Clockwork Man had any other tricks up his sleeve.

The Gear Ball dodged in mid-air, but the downpour of blazing steel rain was slowly stretching forward, just a line away from hitting the target. Yet no matter how Brand thought, suddenly a wall stood between him and the final victory.

This wall was the indifferent-faced Clockwork Man.

The Clockwork Man stood amidst the flames, gazing at Brand and the Deer Demon Sister with the disdain of a victor—

But what truly made Brand’s eyes widen was that this guy actually took down its magic defense himself, relying only on its life value to endure this blow. The flames burned through its cloak in an instant, causing half of the Clockwork Man’s body to practically disintegrate into ashes from the strike, but it disdained to show even a shred of a pained expression, even keeping its right hand tightly gripping the bronze staff resting on the ground.

"You’re crazy!"

The Deer Demon Sister was shocked, unable to help but scream; she never dreamed the Clock Monster would act so decisively. But what truly puzzled her was why the opponent would voluntarily take down magic defense. As the companion that had followed the great master for thousands of years, she knew very well the opponent’s power; if the opponent went all out to block this blow, he should not have suffered any harm.

But the Deer Demon Sister’s exclamation only earned a disdainful laugh.

The Clockwork Man’s incomplete body stood amidst its summons, offering a disdainful laugh, though himself nearly crumbling, yet in that laugh contained the utmost disdain for its enemies: "It seems you have forgotten the first lesson taught by the master, Elaine. At the moment of deciding victory, a Travel Mage has to sacrifice itself to protect its most important and vulnerable card on the field; if you don’t count yourself in the chess game, you miss the most crucial piece."

"Now, you have lost——" The Clockwork Man proudly lifted its chin; over forty Nightmare Furnace Constructs were already behind it, which was its final capital.

At this moment, the Gear Ball above it began to spin rapidly, then gradually enlarge, eventually forming an unimaginably vast steel gate. And from behind this gate, a colossal figure gradually emerged, resembling an airborne hill. Infinite twisted thoughts and bizarre bodies mutated and combined on this hill, forming a chaotic scene undergoing eternal transformation. This mountain seemed to possess some kind of life; hovering there, it sent forth a chilling gaze from atop the mountain, oppressing everyone present.

Brand’s face turned pale upon seeing this thing; this was the legendary Ancient Abomination, one of the strongest Divine Calamities in Myth during Twilight, Eternal Wound Imoku.

...

Note:

Eternal Wound Imoku (Adversity Heaven XXII), 500 any; [Creature—Legendary Creature/Eldrazi]; Effect: Eternal Wound Imoku is immune to all forms of physical attack. When you cast Imoku, your time erosion is halved. Flying. Anti-colored Spell Protection. Immune to all Elemental Spells. Annihilation 6. When Imoku is placed in any graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his/her graveyard into his/her library.

Anti-colored Spell Protection: Immune to all colored spell effects (requiring related cards of light, dark, nature, and Four Elements) and cannot be dealt any damage by Creature Cards (requiring light, dark, nature, and Four Elements summons).

Annihilation 6: With every attack of Eternal Wound Imoku, remove six cards categorized as creatures, divine artifacts, ground, or other permanent cards from the target player’s field. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my biggest motivation.)