"Voltanis the Adjudicator, direct attack!"
In the instant of the final blow, it was as if the gates of heaven had been blasted open. Holy light poured down like a waterfall. The track was swallowed by blinding white radiance, and through it, one could vaguely see a massive illusory figure raising a hammer of judgment and slamming it down with overwhelming force.
"Aaaahhh!"
Life Points hit zero.
The Duel Runner erupted with transparent steam. Victor involuntarily slowed down on the track until he came to a complete stop.
"OH MY GOD!!!"
The spiky-haired commentator shot up from his chair, his microphone trembling violently in his hand. "He did it! He really did it! Single-handedly crushing the North American champion team, Team Psychic! Director Fujiki Kira, making his public debut in the World Racing Grand Prix as a complete rookie, is practically a god of war!!!"
The roar of the crowd erupted like a tsunami. Spectators in the front rows stood up in unison, knocking over entire rows of seats. Popcorn and drink cups spilled everywhere, but no one cared. Commentators from various countries shouted simultaneously in different languages across the broadcast booth; the German commentator even snapped his headphone cord.
On the large screen showing close-ups of both teams, Kira calmly slowed down amid cheers and fireworks bursting along the track, forming a stark contrast with the stunned, life-questioning expressions of the Team Psychic members beside him.
Victor's face was filled with dejection.
They had really lost.
They were the proud North American team champions. When they arrived at the WRGP, they had set their sights on the title. They believed that with their three members' strength, they should at least be able to make a name for themselves under team rules. Who could have imagined…
Lina and Black also came over to his side.
The three of them gathered around the still-steaming Duel Runner and fell silent for a moment.
Only today did they truly understand that there are always people stronger than you, and heavens beyond the heavens.
The gap between duelists could be this vast.
In fact, among the three of them, Captain Black had once visited New Domino City before. He had challenged the king of New Domino at the time, Jack Atlas, and lost.
Jack's power had felt immense back then, but it was completely different from today. Jack's strength was overt—overwhelming, crushing opponents head-on with raw force.
But this Director was different.
Throughout the entire duel, it had mostly been Team Psychic launching frenzied attacks, one after another. They deployed high-speed setups and kept Synchro Summoning powerful monsters. Yet when summarizing the process, it basically boiled down to a repeating cycle of "Team Psychic charges in → Team Psychic gets GG'd."
The opponent had shown almost no offensive intent from start to finish.
The overall pace of the duel felt slow and sluggish. But the moment you attacked, you would discover that the other side was nothing but pit after pit. His pits could even spawn more pits, growing endlessly—like an infinite lineage with descendants without end.
The more they fought, the more frustrated they became.
In this relay race, it was three against one. In theory, they had three times the resources. Yet in the end, they felt as if they were stepping on more and more endless counter traps. It seemed endless. By the finale, it no longer felt like they were fighting three-on-one. Instead, it felt like the three of them were facing thousands of troops—no, thousands of pits.
Counter-trap angels.
They suddenly recalled what Kira had arrogantly said before the match began: he would let them witness the power of the angels of light and justice.
What damn light and justice!
Where was the light? Where was the justice?
The Duel Runner braked to a stop. Kira got off and walked toward the three opponents.
Following etiquette, Kira extended his hand to Captain Black: "A good duel. You guys are strong. Your pursuit of victory, your determination for the championship—I truly felt that will through the duel."
In truth, this was the kind of common courtesy one would say after a duel. If it had been someone hot-blooded like Judai, the two sides would probably have become good friends right after the match.
However, considering that Kira had just soloed all three of them in a rather peculiar fashion, hearing these otherwise normal pleasantries made the expressions of the three opponents turn extraordinarily colorful.
This… probably wasn't mockery, right?
Captain Black's facial muscles twitched.
Telling people who had just been soloed that they were strong, and praising their pursuit of victory—was this sure not sarcasm?
Or did it mean, "Don't blame yourselves; you're already very strong, it's just unfortunate that you ran into me"?
Either way, it was impossible to laugh at.
At that thought, Captain Black glanced at the team emblem on the opponent's chest.
That rather abstract smiling face, designed like a simple doodle.
Earlier, when they saw this smiling face and the ridiculous team name "Duels Should Be Fun," they had only found it comical. They thought this person was probably just participating for fun, as a casual entrant. But now it was different. Looking at the smile and team name again, they felt a nameless fire rising in their hearts, and an involuntary thought surfaced:
What the hell are you so happy about?
There were still a few more matches in today's preliminaries, but basically no one was paying attention anymore.
Most duels in the preliminaries weren't particularly exciting. At this stage, there were still some weak teams. Weak teams facing other weak teams resulted in mediocre clashes, while facing strong teams led to one-sided stomps. Neither offered much spectacle, so they didn't attract much attention.
Naturally, after today, almost every front-page headline in duel news was dominated by Kira.
"Newly Appointed Security Director Kira Debuts with a 1v3 Crushing of the North American Champions!"
"Enforcer Turns Dragon Slayer! New Director Kira's First Match Ascends to Godhood—Directly Breaking the Team Duelists' Mental Defenses On Site!"
"From Badge to Duel Disk: Sector Security Director Crosses Over to Dominate, North American Champions Request Psychological Counseling After the Match!"
"…"
Strictly speaking, Kira wasn't the only one to achieve a 1v3.
In the first preliminary match, Fudo Yusei could also be considered to have done a 1v3. However, that was because his teammates underperformed and essentially handed over the wins. Both Jack and Akiza were taken down by Team Unicorn's starter, Andre, so the opponent achieved a 1v2. As the team's anchor, Yusei was forced to fight from behind, defeating all three opponents single-handedly to secure the first victory for his team.
Additionally, Sherry LeBlanc had shone brightly in the preliminaries. Her team wasn't as extreme as Kira's solo entry, but it consisted of only her and her butler, Elsworth.
During the preliminaries, Sherry hadn't given Elsworth a chance to duel. She started first and directly pierced through all three opponents—an equally astonishing feat.
Though similar events occurred, Yusei's 1v3 was out of necessity, and Sherry at least had Elsworth as backup. Someone like Kira, who didn't even want a backup and simply entered the tournament alone, was truly unique.
Combined with the hype of a rookie debut and the position of Sector Security Director, Kira naturally stole the spotlight from the protagonists and became the absolute focus of the first week of the WRGP.
…
"Ah, I accidentally became famous again."
In the spatial domain of the Three Pure Nobles of Iliaster, Kira turned his back to his three new subordinates, resting his chin on his hand as he muttered.
"As expected, being too outstanding just draws attention. I was just messing around, playing one casual duel, and somehow I've become a star again…"
Primo and the other two remained silent behind him, but the same thought arose in all their minds at once:
Shameless bastard!
…