"Another Rank 13 Xyz Monster?!"
Staring at the mechanical falcon looming in the sky, the spectators froze in place one after another, mouths hanging open in shock, faces filled with disbelief.
At the same time, people all across Domino City—whether they were dueling or not—couldn't help but look up. The energy radiating from that sky-covering mechanical eagle was far too terrifying; even from far away, they could sense it clearly.
"Holy hell, another Rank 13 Xyz Monster? Didn't people say Xyz Monsters only go up to Rank 12? What the hell is that thing up there? Twice now!"
"Huh? It's another monster being summoned from that same place. Who is it? That's brutal—getting beaten down by two Rank 13 Xyz Monsters in under an hour!"
"Interesting. Two Rank 13 Xyz Monsters in less than an hour… could it be that a successor of the Burose clan has finally surfaced?"
Seeing this, the people in Domino City who weren't dueling immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed toward the duel site, eager to see who exactly was dueling here.
On the field.
Under the crushing pressure of [Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon], Ichiro struggled to raise his head, trying to speak—only for his words to be drowned out as Yusaku's voice detonated across the field like thunder.
"Effect of [Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon]!" Yusaku swept his hand out. "When this monster is successfully Summoned, destroy all cards on your opponent's field, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total original ATK of the monsters destroyed!"
"W-What?!" Teppei and Ichiro's pupils shrank to pinpoints, their voices cracking from sheer shock, cold sweat instantly soaking through the backs of their Duel wear.
"You control [Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss] with 3200 ATK, and [Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon] with 3000 ATK—6200 effect damage in total. Take it!"
The instant Yusaku finished speaking, the steel falcon snapped its wings open and released a screech that made everyone's eardrums throb. Countless silver-violet bolts erupted along the edges of its wings, surging forward like a raging sea of lightning. Wherever they passed, the air ionized into a pale blue veil of light.
The moment the lightning touched the two dragons, it shredded their bodies into a storm of fragments. Scalding scales and pitch-black blood evaporated in the crackling radiance. The remaining shockwave didn't slow—slamming into the ground with a thunderous blast that threw up towering fire and shattered stone, making the entire duel arena quake violently under the impact.
Teppei and Ichiro were thrown hard by the shockwave, tumbling across the ground several times before they managed to stop in a sorry heap. The Life Point numbers on their Duel Disks began to plummet.
[Teppei, Ichiro, LP 16000 → 9800]
They had only just braced themselves and staggered upright when Yusaku's icy voice pierced through the smoke and dust again.
"It's not over!"
"I activate [Rank-Up-Magic Soul Shave Force] that [Raidraptor - Wise Strix] Set at the start!"
"This card's effect lets me pay half my LP, then target 1 'Raidraptor' Xyz Monster in my GY. Special Summon that monster, then Xyz Summon from my Extra Deck by placing 1 Xyz Monster that is 2 Ranks higher on top of it!"
"I pay half my LP!"
[Yusaku, Kazetaro, LP 15900 → 7950]
As the LP were paid, Yusaku revealed a card from his GY.
"I target the Rank 7 [Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon] in my GY, and Xyz Summon by placing a monster that is 2 Ranks higher on top of it—Special Summoned from my Extra Deck as an Xyz Summon!"
Then Yusaku raised a card glowing with red light high above his head.
"Storm that tears open the heavens! Great waves that sink the earth! Demonic dragon that slaughters the divine—awaken in chaos and offer me the wailing of ten thousand souls!"
His voice carried an overwhelming duelist's will as it echoed through the entire arena.
"[True King of All Calamities]!!!"
In the instant those words fell, the sky split open into a massive golden vortex, chaotic energy surging within. The Arsenal Falcon in the GY turned into a streak of light and shot into the vortex.
The next moment, a golden demonic dragon covered in pitch-black scales and bearing wings vast enough to blot out the sky descended with a catastrophic impact. Its roar shook the heavens, and spiderweb cracks spread across the ground beneath it.
[True King of All Calamities]
[Rank 9 / Wyrm / Xyz / Effect]
[ATK: 3000]
The players froze for a beat—then erupted in a storm of screams.
"Holy hell! Holy hell! Holy hell!"
"Holy hell—what am I looking at?! VFD!!"
"T-This… this full lockdown board of [Raidraptor - Rising Rebellion Falcon] plus [True King of All Calamities]—what can the other side even do?! Just scoop already!"
Kouki pushed up his glasses, arms crossed, the corner of his mouth lifting in an amused smile.
"You're getting this excited over just two monsters? If I told you Yusaku-senpai still has an even more disgusting trump card in hand that he hasn't shown yet, would you faint on the spot?"
Without waiting for anyone to respond, he looked toward the field and continued.
"Didn't you notice? Yusaku-senpai deliberately left [Raidraptor - Arsenal Falcon] on the field with no materials. What that monster is about to evolve into, I don't need to spell it out. And there's also [Verte Anaconda] on the field—what do you think he's going to Fusion Summon?"
The moment Kouki's words ended, Yusaku's voice rang out again across the field.
"I activate [Predaplant Verte Anaconda]'s effect! I pay 2000 LP. I send 1 'Fusion' Normal Spell or Quick-Play Spell from my Deck to the GY—this effect becomes that Spell's effect when that Spell is activated."
"I activate that effect!"
[Yusaku, LP 7950 → 5950]
"I send [Red-Eyes Fusion] from my Deck to the GY, making Verte's effect become [Red-Eyes Fusion]—then I send [Dark Magician] and [Red-Eyes B. Dragon] from my Deck to the GY as Fusion Materials!"
"Spellcasting knight from beyond the galaxy! Dragon bloodline sleeping in the astral realm! Now is the moment of awakening—show me a miracle that transcends dimensions!"
"Awaken, Level 8—Red-Eyes' miracle! [Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon]!"
A deafening dragon roar shook the sky as an enormous vortex of magic formed out of thin air. Lightning raged within it, and purple-black flames surged like a tide. A gigantic dragon claw clad in gleaming silver armor thrust out from the vortex, the tips of its talons flashing with a cold light that seemed able to tear space itself.
Then, Dragoon's massive body slowly emerged. Gold and black patterns interwove across its armor, and a pair of enormous dragon wings spread behind it, radiating overwhelming majesty and pressure. The very air around it warped under the sheer density of its magic.
[Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon]
[Level 8 / Spellcaster / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 3000]
"Finally, I Set one card. My turn ends."
As Yusaku's words fell, the players stared blankly at his field.
Teppei and Ichiro didn't know what he had Set in the back row—but the spectators did.
Leaving an Arsenal Falcon with no materials on purpose, plus a mysterious Set card behind it—there was only one possibility.
Kali Yuga.
Kali Yuga, True King of All Calamities, Rising Rebellion Falcon, Final Fortress Falcon, and Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
That end board was simply leaving no one a way to live.
Thinking of that, the players looked at Teppei and Ichiro with strange expressions. The moment they imagined what would happen next, they wanted to laugh.
But they couldn't laugh yet.
They had to hold it in—otherwise they might miss the two of them making those perfect faces.
Seeing the crowd looking at him with pity, Ichiro frowned slightly, unable to understand why they were staring at him like that.
He didn't dwell on it. After glancing at Yusaku's monsters, he spoke up.
"So that's your end board? Most of them have 3000 ATK or more. Not bad. Even if I don't recognize most of them… I still don't think there's any reason your monsters can beat me!"
"Oh?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow. "That confident?"
Teppei let out a cold laugh. "Know why we proposed the shared Extra Deck rule at the start? Because Ichiro and I are using the same Deck. He's already loaded the GY with tons of resources for me, so now I can build a board whenever I feel like it."
He pressed a hand to his Deck, eyes sharp as a blade.
"My turn. Draw!"
He pulled a card, glanced at it—and his eyes lit up instantly. Then he looked straight at Yusaku.
"I may not recognize most of your monsters, but I do recognize your [Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon]. It's got that one omni-negate. That should be the only omni-negate on your field, right? So no matter how ridiculous the rest of your monsters are, the first thing is whether you can even keep them on the field!"
He slapped the card down.
"Hand over your negate! I activate [Raigeki]—destroy all monsters you control!"
In an instant, storm-black clouds swallowed the sky above the duel arena. The muffled rumble of thunder boomed like war drums, while purple lightning serpents wriggled through the clouds.
A moment later, a dazzling bolt of lightning as thick as a barrel ripped open the heavens and came crashing down toward Yusaku's monsters with the might to annihilate everything.
Watching the lightning swell larger and larger in his vision, Yusaku merely glanced at it, then turned calmly to the Kazetaro at his side, who was already struggling to contain himself.
"Activate it. Don't mess up the chain order."
"Don't worry, senpai!" Kazetaro rubbed his hands together, so excited his voice trembled. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time!"
Hearing their exchange, Teppei and Ichiro instantly felt something was wrong. Unease rose in their chests, as if something terrifying was about to happen.
Before they could make sense of it, Kazetaro slammed his palm down, thrilled beyond restraint.
"First, I flip the Set card!" Kazetaro slapped the Quick-Play Spell onto the Duel Disk. "I activate Quick-Play Spell [Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force]! Then I chain the effect of [True King of All Calamities] on the field!"
"This monster is once per turn—I can detach 1 Xyz Material and declare 1 Attribute!" Kazetaro's voice grew more and more impassioned. "All face-up monsters on the field become that declared Attribute! And monsters in my opponent's possession with that Attribute can't attack and can't activate their effects!"
Teppei and Ichiro both froze. It was the first time they had ever heard an effect like this, and for a moment, they didn't fully grasp how oppressive it was.
As they tried to process it, Kazetaro looked at Yusaku and asked, "Senpai, which Attribute should I declare?"
Before Yusaku could answer, the audience exploded.
"Kouki, what are you doing just standing there?! Declare DARK!"
"Yeah! They're on a Dragon Link Deck—everything's DARK. Declare DARK and you choke off all their plays!"
"You seriously need to ask that?"
"Kouki, has your dueling gotten worse?"
"I know!" Kazetaro's face flushed red as he hurried to defend himself. "I just wanted to confirm with senpai. First time coordinating—can't afford a mistake!"
Yusaku smiled faintly, tone relaxed. "Declare DARK."
"Got it." Kazetaro nodded hard. "Then I activate the effect—detach one Xyz Material!"
[True King of All Calamities]
[Xyz Materials: 2 → 1]
"I declare DARK. All face-up monsters on the field become DARK Attribute."
The demonic dragon released a roar that shook the world. An invisible DARK Domain erupted from it and swept across the entire field in an instant. A dark-purple sheen rose over every monster's body; even monsters that weren't originally DARK were forcibly converted into DARK Attribute.
Arms crossed, Kazetaro looked at the two opponents—still stunned—and spoke with a smug calm.
"So now, any DARK monsters in your hand, your GY, even your banished zone can't activate their effects. Even if you Summon them to the field, they'll become DARK—and they won't be able to attack, either!"
Hearing that, Teppei and Ichiro finally understood just how insane the effect was, their pupils tightening sharply.
Teppei grit his teeth. "Even if you locked our DARK monsters' effects, Ichiro's Raigeki wasn't negated. So your monsters will still all be destroyed!"
Kazetaro's mouth curled into a mocking smile. "You didn't seriously think your Raigeki was going to resolve, did you?"
"What do you mean?!"
"Watch closely!" Kazetaro shouted. "Effect of [Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force]!"
"During either player's Main Phase: You can target 1 DARK Xyz Monster you control with no Xyz Materials; Special Summon from your Extra Deck 1 DARK Xyz Monster that is 1 Rank higher, by placing it on top of that monster as an Xyz Summon, then attach this card beneath it as Xyz Material!"
He turned his head toward Yusaku, his eyes blazing with excitement.
"Senpai, from here on out—it's on you!"
Because the Extra Deck resources were shared, Yusaku could Summon the Extra Deck monster that met the condition during Kazetaro's turn.
Yusaku pinched a card between two fingers and pressed it to the Duel Disk.
The instant it touched, dazzling blue currents erupted, and a vast, formless power surged skyward, colliding with the black storm clouds above.
In a heartbeat, the wind screamed and thunder roared. Yusaku's coat whipped violently as he lifted his gaze to the rolling clouds, raising his arm high. His voice carried a thunderous authority.
"When the twin suns rise together, the horizon of a new age shall be opened!"
A massive golden vortex appeared within the storm clouds.
"Xyz Summon! Rank 8—[D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga]!!!"
From within the golden vortex came a low, majestic laugh. Then a giant clad in reddish-brown heavy armor, eyes blazing with golden light, slammed down into the center of the duel arena while seated upon a throne carved with complex dark patterns, radiating a cataclysmic presence.
The ground shook violently. Stones blasted upward. Kali Yuga's aura pressed the surrounding airflow into a standstill, and that kingly, world-suppressing pressure made everyone present feel like they were suffocating.
[D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga]
[Rank 8 / Xyz / Effect]
[Xyz Materials: 2]
[ATK: 3500]
"Effect of [D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga]!" Yusaku looked at them with a faint curve to his lips. "When this monster is Xyz Summoned, the effects of all other cards on the field cannot be activated, and are negated!"
"What?!"
Teppei and Ichiro's faces turned deathly pale, their eyes filled with hopeless disbelief. A full-field lock—every other card on the field negated, and their effects can't even be activated?!
Behind them, the so-called genius academy and Gurus members stood rigid, mouths gaping, trembling uncontrollably as they stared at the dignified Kali Yuga behind Yusaku.
This wasn't a duel.
This was a one-sided execution.
Was it… still possible to regret it in time?
In the sky, [Raigeki]'s lightning dimmed the instant Kali Yuga's effect took hold, collapsing into a weak current that fizzled out into nothingness without even stirring a ripple.
(End of Chapter)
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