Breo was completely unsurprised when he lost.
The loop between Swords at Dawn and Arms Regeneration was enough to make the Smoke Grenade hand-disruption cycle continue forever—of course, provided that Kira paid 300 Life Points each loop due to "Recycle's" Continuous Spell effect. And as long as it continued, Nightmare Wheel would burn Breo for 500 damage every turn.
Unable to do anything, Breo could only stare helplessly as Nightmare Wheel slowly burned him to death 500 LP at a time. If this slow torture had any small benefit, it was that he had enough time to reflect on his own recklessness.
When this bizarre loop first formed, it had almost driven him to despair. His mind had only one thought—this kind of combo… was it even something a human could pull off?
But there was no room for argument. In truth, Breo himself deserved a huge amount of credit for making the combo possible—most of the opponent's Deck had been milled thanks to him.
If he hadn't helped accelerate the milling, some of the opponent's Graveyard effects and combo pieces wouldn't have reached the Graveyard so easily. Moreover, "Recycle's" effect returned one non-monster card from the Graveyard to the bottom of the Deck each turn. To ensure the returned card could always be drawn the next turn, having "only one card left in the Deck" was a necessary condition.
So Breo had contributed greatly during this process.
When the combo first formed, Breo had been furious and confused. In all his years of dueling, he had never encountered such a ridiculous board—especially the part where he was left empty-handed and unable to do anything but wait for death. It made him dizzy with rage.
However, during the slow torture, that anger gradually faded and turned into fear. Being killed by such a bizarre combo made him realize one thing.
In this duel, the opponent had basically just been toying with him.
This Deck, without exaggeration, was purely an "acrobatic stunt." It didn't even look like a Deck built with the goal of winning. Yet it had genuinely produced results, leaving Breo unable to play a single card and forcing him to stare helplessly as he died. This could only mean one thing.
The opponent was far stronger than him—much, much stronger.
The gap between the two duelists was so vast that even if the opponent wanted to lose, it wouldn't be easy. He could just play around casually and still crush Breo beyond recovery.
Only now did Breo recall what a certain companion had said to him before this trip.
"Fujiki Kira… This person's background is unknown, but he is unfathomably deep. He is probably not an opponent you can handle. Do not clash with him head-on—at least not yet."
Breo had casually agreed at the time but hadn't taken it too seriously. In his view, no matter how strong the opponent was, he might still have a chance to fight.
But now he understood—the warning had been right. It was just a shame he realized it too late.
"Bang—Sizzle!!!"
The front cover of Breo's Duel Runner suddenly burst open. A large amount of scalding steam gushed out, and the mechanical joints emitted a piercing metallic twisting sound under overload.
The wheels locked, and the entire Duel Runner lost control at high speed. Like a steel beast with its legs severed, it suddenly flipped sideways, scraping against the ground and sending out a shower of sparks.
"Ugh—ah—!"
Breo was flung out by the inertia, tumbling several times in the air before slamming heavily onto the ground and rolling a few more times before stopping. His goggles shattered, and his cloak was torn, but even so, he forced himself to prop up his upper body. A strange smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
Kira also braked and jumped off his Duel Runner. "Breo of the Team Unicorn… right? What exactly is your goal? Why are you interested in me?"
Breo did not answer directly. Instead, he laughed lowly, his voice carrying a mechanical cold echo: "Heh, Fujiki Kira… That's your real name, isn't it? You… are also an 'Anomalies' of this dimension, right?"
Kira raised an eyebrow.
That wasn't wrong. Kira also did not belong to the current dimension. Although he harbored no malice, to this dimension he was probably considered an "Anomalies" as someone who shouldn't exist in the original history.
"This time I was careless. But don't get too happy… Our 'companions' have already arrived in this dimension. You… have no chance."
"Huh?" Kira was about to ask more.
"Zzzt… Self-destruct protocol activated."
Breo's eyes and the Duel Runner behind him suddenly lit up with blinding red light.
The mechanical joints emitted a high-frequency electronic buzz.
The next moment, rapidly expanding flames were reflected in Kira's eyes.
"Boom—!!!"
A deafening explosion swept across the area. A blazing fireball shot into the sky. Breo's body and Duel Runner shattered in the inferno. Metal fragments scattered like a rainstorm.
Kira raised his hand to block the heatwave. When the smoke cleared, only charred wreckage remained on the ground, along with a few mechanical fragments still flickering with red light.
Just as the flames were about to engulf him, a cool silver light suddenly flashed. In the void, countless tiny light particles rapidly gathered, forming a white-robed magician. Silent Magician descended silently. With a light wave of her staff, the tip traced a brilliant trajectory.
A transparent six-pointed star magic circle rapidly expanded in front of her. Runes rotated like flowing water, constructing a semi-transparent barrier.
The inferno crashed into it but was silently neutralized. The flames split to both sides as if hitting an invisible wall. Not even a trace of hot wind penetrated the area where Kira stood.
Kira patted her silver-white head: "Thanks."
Silent tilted her head to dodge his hand and pouted.
That awkward little expression as she looked away seemed to say: Only at times like this do you remember to be nice to me.
The aftershocks of the explosion still trembled in the air. Scorching metal fragments lay scattered across the ground, emitting faint "sizzle" sounds of electricity. Kira slowly lowered the arm shielding his face. His pupils reflected the mess on the ground—charred gears, severed hydraulic tubes, exposed circuit boards…
No flesh, no screams, only cold mechanical wreckage.
Kira frowned slightly: "This guy… was a robot?"
Breo of the Team Unicorn was a robot?
No, more accurately, he was probably a robot modeled after Breo, designed based on him as a prototype. But the cards and Deck this person used were indeed identical to Breo's, and his tactical style was similar. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! world, to achieve this, one generally had to replicate the duelist's personality as well.
Just like the companions around Z-ONE—Antinomy, Aporia, and Paradox—whose original selves had long since died but were revived in mechanical bodies using Z-ONE's technology.
Thinking of this, Kira stroked his chin and looked at the shattered machine that had become a pile of wreckage. The sole of his boot ground against a still-smoking metal fragment.
Naturally, this kind of technology made Kira think of Z-ONE.
Should he pack up these parts and go ask about it?