"This…"
The crowd around the Duel arena grew larger and larger. A few Duelists who had just squeezed their way in took one look at the field and immediately went slack-jawed.
Not long ago, they had all been convinced Ichiro had this in the bag.
A perfect lock: summon lockdown, effect lockdown, triple Counter Traps, monster-effect negation, pop effects, plus twenty facedown cards. No matter how hard they racked their brains, they could not imagine a way to break through it.
Yet in the time it took them to circle around, the entire situation flipped upside down.
On Ichiro's field, not only were the monsters gone—twenty-two Spell/Trap cards in the back row had been wiped out in an instant.
And on Yusaku's side, [Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad] stood shoulder to shoulder with [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder].
There were only two monsters, but the pressure they radiated was beyond anything ordinary monsters could compare to. Even from far away, the onlookers could feel the terrifying power contained within their frames.
When someone spotted [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder] on Yusaku's field, he froze for a moment, then turned to a nearby Duelist and asked:
"A Rank 12 Xyz Monster!? I thought monsters at that Rank were insanely hard to Summon. Did he stack it using a Level 12 monster or something?"
"Six materials!" another Duelist swallowed hard, disbelief written all over his face.
"Was it stacked from six Level 12 monsters? But there are only five monster zones—how could you even have six materials? And since when were Level 12 monsters that easy to put on the field?"
The Duelist being asked was staring blankly at the machine on Yusaku's field, mouth wide enough to fit a fist.
Hearing his friend's question, he shook his head in a daze.
"Y-You're asking me? I don't know either! I saw it with my own eyes—this Rank 12 came from ranking up straight off that pile of monsters!"
"What?!"
The late-arriving onlookers instantly froze in place.
They understood every word individually, but once those words were put together, it stopped making any sense.
Someone could not help blurting out:
"What do you mean a Rank 4 turned into a Rank 12? That's jumping eight Ranks at once—how is that even possible?!"
Hearing all the shocked cries, the players nearby folded their arms, wearing the kind of smug smile that said, "If you know, you know," laughing to themselves.
Rank 4 to Rank 12 is impossible? Rank 1 to Rank 12 is possible.
Do you even understand what "the endpoint of Xyz" means?
That is the sheer value of [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder].
On the field, Ichiro was still trapped in the shock of having his monsters erased, his mind a blank slate.
He subconsciously looked toward Yusaku's field. When he saw [Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad] still standing there without wavering, he suddenly snapped back to himself and demanded harshly:
"You said that effect sends all monsters on the field except [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder] to the GY. Then why is [Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad] still on the field?!"
Yusaku gave a mysterious smile.
"Why it's still on the field… you'll find out in a moment."
With that, he pulled out a card and set it onto the Duel Disk.
"I set one card. End my turn!"
Blue particles flashed, and a facedown card appeared faintly on his field.
Ichiro swept a glance over his hand and the resources in his GY.
Four cards in hand, and he would draw one more. His Graveyard still had plenty of usable resources. The field had been broken, yes—but he still believed he could rebuild.
With that in mind, he looked at Yusaku.
"That's it? Just two monsters?"
"Two monsters are enough." Yusaku folded his arms, his tone carrying a faint trace of contempt.
Ichiro let out a cold laugh.
"Just two monsters on the field? Do you not realize I still have four cards in hand? And I have plenty of resources in the Graveyard."
Yusaku glanced at him and replied flatly.
"I know. So what?"
Ichiro paused for a beat, then snorted.
"So I'm being underestimated. Fine. You'll pay for that arrogance. Two monsters? I can deal with them however I want!"
"Oh?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow and gestured with a "go ahead" motion. "Then please, start your performance."
Ichiro snorted, placed his hand on the Duel Disk, and declared:
"My turn. I draw!"
The moment the card slid free of the Deck, he flicked his eyes across its face. His pupils shrank sharply—then a burst of ecstatic light exploded in his gaze. He immediately raised the card high.
"Yusaku, Yusaku… looks like luck is on my side this time!"
Before the words even finished, he slammed the card onto the Summon zone with force, the crisp clack of metal ringing out.
"I tribute the [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder] on your field to Special Summon the [Santa Claws] in my hand!"
After playing the card, Ichiro folded his arms, lips curling into a proud smile, eyes locked on Yusaku's monster zone as he waited for that thunderous beast to be taken off the field.
But two full seconds passed.
[Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder] still stood there, unchanged. The lightning on its frame did not even flicker. There was no sign of it being tributed at all.
Ichiro's expression stiffened. He lowered his head and rapidly checked his Duel Disk, then—after confirming it was not a device issue—he yanked the card back up and slammed it down again, urgency seeping into his voice.
"I tribute the [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder] on your field to Special Summon the [Santa Claws] in my hand!"
Still nothing.
The Duel Disk indicator lights blinked once, then returned to calm. The monsters on the field did not change in the slightest.
"Does that monster prevent itself from being tributed?" Ichiro thought, a thin sheen of sweat forming at his temple. "Fine—then I'll switch targets!"
He snatched the card up again and slapped it down a third time, barking the command:
"I tribute the [Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad] on your field to Special Summon the [Santa Claws] in my hand!"
This time, Ichiro's gaze nailed itself to Rhongo, even his breathing unconsciously slowing—afraid he might miss the instant it dissolved into light.
But the scene he imagined never came.
The crowd around them all froze, craning their necks toward Yusaku's back row. It was empty—there was not even a single Spell/Trap that looked like it could be preventing tributes.
So why could those monsters not be tributed?
Staring at the two unmoving monsters on Yusaku's field, Ichiro's face filled with confusion. His brow knitted tightly as his fingers unconsciously rubbed the edge of the Duel Disk. For a moment, he could not figure out where the problem was.
"Don't tell me… both of them prevent tributing?"
Yusaku remained silent, arms still folded, a faint smile at the corner of his lips—as if he were watching an amusing show and waiting for Ichiro to keep going.
Meanwhile, the players who knew what [Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad] actually did wore the unmistakable expressions of people enjoying a good spectacle—like some bizarre metaphor of a farmer hiding a nine-toothed rake behind his ear.
Seeing Yusaku refuse to explain anything, Ichiro snorted and pulled a card out from his Graveyard, holding it up.
"Then I activate the effect of [Invocation] in my Graveyard! I shuffle this card back into the Deck, and add [Aleister the Invoker] from my banished cards to my hand!"
After adding it to his hand, he pulled out another card, his fingertips trembling from how hard he was gripping it.
"I activate the Spell Card—[Invocation]! I banish [Aleister the Invoker] from my hand and your LIGHT monster in the Graveyard—[Utopic Onomatopoeia]—as Fusion Materials!"
"Fusion Summon! Come forth, [Invoked Mechaba]!"
Ichiro slapped the Fusion down.
And waited.
But the Duel Disk still did not react. No reading. No projection. Nothing.
Only then did Ichiro realize how serious the situation was. He looked up in disbelief and asked:
"Your monsters… they lock Summons?!"
"Not continuing your combo?" Yusaku's arms remained folded, his tone openly teasing. "But you really can't build a board anymore."
"Like you said, my monsters do have a lockdown effect. Not only do they lock Special Summons—they lock Normal Summons too."
"In other words, right now, you can't do anything except Set cards."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Ichiro's darkening expression.
"And as for your board breakers—Raigeki, Lightning Storm, those kinds of cards—don't bother."
"My monsters are unaffected by other cards' effects. The value of that kind of protection… I don't think I need to explain it to you."
"Do you still think two monsters can't suppress you?"
Yusaku did not say outright which monster had that protection. As for which effect belonged to which monster—he was content to let the opponent guess.
Sometimes, making your opponent unable to read your field is part of the pressure.
Yusaku's words hit the crowd like a thunderclap.
When they heard "locks both Special and Normal Summons + unaffected by effects," everyone froze in place, unable to react for several full seconds.
Only after a long stretch of silence did a chorus of synchronized disbelief rise from the crowd:
"Huh???"
Every single person was dumbstruck, mouths wide open, staring blankly at the monsters on Yusaku's field.
Some even pinched their own arm hard, wondering if they had misheard.
As Duelists, they had seen plenty of powerful monsters.
But a monster that simultaneously locks both kinds of Summoning and has full protection like that?
This was the first time.
That effect… are you serious?!
On the Duel field, Ichiro fell into deathly silence.
He looked down at the five cards in his hand. His Graveyard was piled with usable resources.
And yet he could not make a single Summon—could not start a single line.
He gripped one card so tightly his thumb wrinkled its surface, then lifted his head to stare at the monsters standing like mountains on Yusaku's field. A flash of unwillingness passed through his eyes.
He still did not want to give up.
"What if… what if his monsters don't have negation?"
With that thought, Ichiro took a deep breath, then suddenly raised his head to meet Yusaku's eyes. His voice carried the desperate resolve of a last gamble.
"Monsters might be invincible, but Duelists aren't! I refuse to believe your monsters can suppress me this hard and still have negation effects!"
Then he clenched his teeth and declared:
"Enter the Battle Phase—Battle Phase end!"
The instant the Battle Phase ended, he practically reflexed, flinging the card from his hand. It slapped onto the Duel Disk with a sharp crack.
"I activate the Trap Card—[Evenly Matched]!"
"This card can be activated from my hand if I control no cards! My field is empty right now, so I can activate it!"
"Its effect is: if you control more cards than I do, at the end of the Battle Phase, you must banish cards from your field face-down until you control the same number of cards as I do!"
"This targets the Duelist, not the monsters—so your monsters' protection is useless!"
He stared hard into Yusaku's eyes, heart pounding, desperate to see whether his idea would finally work.
Yusaku met his gaze with a slight smile, his tone calm.
"My monsters indeed don't have a negation effect."
The moment Ichiro heard that, the tension in his chest released. He exhaled heavily, then sneered.
"No negation, huh? Then choose."
"That lockdown has to be the combined pressure of both monsters. Once you're forced to keep only one, your lock naturally collapses!"
"You think so?" Yusaku's smile deepened.
He did not bother to explain that the lockdown effect actually came from only one monster. He simply snapped his fingers lightly.
In the next second, the single card he had set flipped up, rising into view—its artwork clear under the light.
"Did you forget what I searched at the start?"
"My monsters don't negate, sure. But I have a Counter Trap."
Ichiro's face abruptly changed, as if he had remembered something. The relaxed posture he had just regained snapped tight again, his expression turning ugly.
"[Unbreakable Xyz Barrier]—its effect is: if I control an Xyz Monster, I can negate the activation of any monster, Spell, or Trap Card."
Yusaku pointed at the two monsters on his field.
"I control two Xyz Monsters right now."
"So I negate your [Evenly Matched]!"
The instant the words fell, the Counter Trap behind Yusaku unleashed a searing red-brown bolt of lightning. Like a blade, it pierced straight through the Trap Card that had just risen on Ichiro's side.
With a violent crack, [Evenly Matched] was negated and destroyed on the spot, shattering into fragments that scattered across the field.
Watching Ichiro go hollow-eyed, Yusaku raised the last card in his hand, his tone laced with amusement.
"Do you remember why I said at the start that even if you set Counter Traps, I could still resolve [Dark Ruler No More]?"
"That's because I have a Counter Trap in my hand that can be activated from the hand—[Red Reboot]."
"So even if you try to block me with Counter Traps, I can still push [Dark Ruler No More] through."
"Even if you had another [Evenly Matched] in your hand right now, I could still negate it."
Yusaku paused, his eyes settling on Ichiro's pale face as he spoke with open mockery.
"So all that 'building a board' you just tried to do? In my eyes, it was nothing but a stupid struggle."
"Oh, and to make you lose in a way you cannot argue with… I'll tell you [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder]'s real effect."
"On the opponent's turn, you can detach 2 materials from this card to send all other cards on the field to the Graveyard."
He emphasized each word deliberately.
"This effect has no once-per-turn limit, and it can be activated multiple times in the same Chain."
"Right now, you're being suppressed by my monsters. You can only survive by setting cards."
"But [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder] can wipe your set cards clean—leave you with nothing."
"My [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder] still has 6 materials."
"Go ahead. Do the math. How many times can it erase your back row?"
"T-This… how is that possible…"
Hearing Yusaku's words, Ichiro fell into complete despair. His body went limp, and he dropped to his knees in a daze, the cards in his hands spilling everywhere with a loud clatter.
The moment the cards hit the ground, the Duel Disk let out a sharp beep—declaring the Duel officially terminated.
The staff member serving as referee looked from Yusaku, arms folded, to Ichiro slumped on the ground, then raised a hand and announced loudly:
"Contestant Ichiro Kuki has forfeited resistance. According to Duel rules, contestant Yusaku wins!"
(End of Chapter)
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