At this moment, the duel arena fell into a deathly silence, with only the heavy, rhythmic tremors coming from Kali Yuga's throne.
Staring at the four overwhelmingly oppressive monsters on Yusaku's field, Ichiro clenched his teeth in frustration. He glanced at the cards in his hand, searching for a way to break the board—when his eyes caught True King of All Calamities on Yusaku's side, and a thought suddenly struck him.
He jerked his head up and glared at Yusaku.
"After D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga hits the field, it negates all monster effects across the board. That means your True King of All Calamities is negated too! So you can't lock my DARK monsters!"
Before Yusaku could respond, Kazetaro let out a snort, looking at Ichiro like he was an idiot.
"Did Kali Yuga scare you so hard you stopped thinking? True King of All Calamities applies its effect for the entire turn once it resolves. Even if it gets destroyed and sent to the GY, or even if it gets negated afterward, the lockdown it already applied still stays until the end of the turn."
Ichiro froze.
Kazetaro folded his arms and smiled with absolute confidence.
"Don't believe me? Go ahead. Try using a DARK monster effect from your hand or GY. See if it works."
"That's impossible!" Ichiro growled, as if determined to prove his point. In one sharp motion, he reached toward his GY and revealed a card.
"I activate the effect of Double Disruptor Dragon in my GY—the one Teppei sent there earlier!"
He recited through gritted teeth:
"This card's effect is: You can banish this card from your GY; add 1 Rapid Trigger or Heavy Interlock from your hand, Deck, or GY to your hand!"
Then he barked the command.
"I banish it, and add the Quick-Play Spell Rapid Trigger from my Deck to my hand!"
…Nothing happened.
The Duel Disk didn't respond at all. The command sank like a stone into the ocean.
As the silence stretched on, Ichiro's face drained to a ghastly white.
Kazetaro chuckled softly.
"Told you. True King of All Calamities is an aura-type lockdown. Once it's applied, it stays active until the end of the turn. Your cards—in your GY, in your hand, even in the banished zone—if they're DARK monsters, they can't activate their effects."
Ichiro bit down hard on his lower lip, refusing to acknowledge the mockery. He took a deep breath, looked at the remaining cards in his hand, and—still unwilling to surrender—set three cards with a grim expression.
"I set one monster. I set two Spell/Traps. End turn."
Kazetaro raised an eyebrow and laughed under his breath.
"At this point, you still won't give up? You're really going to keep struggling for nothing?"
"Struggling for nothing?" Ichiro snapped, shooting him a hard look. "Don't think you can end the duel just because I couldn't combo this turn! Get through my back row first. Who wins is still not decided!"
Hearing that, Teppei blinked—then his eyes lit up. He stared at the two face-down cards in Ichiro's back row, hope surging in his chest.
Could it be…?
If those two set cards could just carry them through the next turn, then on his turn he could use the pile of resources already built up in the GY to make a comeback. And True King of All Calamities was out of materials—next turn, it definitely wouldn't be able to lock them again!
Just as Ichiro began to indulge the image of a miraculous reversal, a cool, detached voice cut through his fantasy like ice water.
Yusaku looked at Kazetaro and casually waved a hand.
"Stop playing with them. Blow up the back row and end the duel."
Blow up the back row…?
Ichiro and Teppei's pupils shrank as they whipped their heads toward the monsters on Yusaku's field.
Seeing their panic, Kazetaro's lips curled into a teasing smile.
"You don't seriously think D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga only has that one 'blank the board' effect, do you?"
Before either of them could answer, Kazetaro suddenly raised his voice and declared each word with crisp finality:
"At the moment your turn ends—I activate Kali Yuga's other effect!"
"I detach 1 material!"
[D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga]
[Xyz Materials: 2 → 1]
"Effect resolves—destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field!"
The devil seated upon the throne slowly lifted an arm, long fingers tapping lightly against the throne's armrest.
In the next instant, a blinding golden current erupted from deep within the throne—like a roaring serpent of lightning—then surged straight into Ichiro's back row. The electric torrent wrapped around the two set cards.
A few sharp crackling sounds rang out.
The face-down cards shattered piece by piece under the current's assault, dissolving into scattered motes of light that vanished into the air.
Kazetaro glanced at the destroyed cards as they hit the GY, and the corner of his mouth lifted.
"So that's why you refused to quit. You set Threatening Roar, huh? If you could've activated it, you might've survived one more turn. Too bad—you can't activate it."
He immediately placed his hand on his Deck.
"My turn. Draw!"
As if worried the other side might scoop at any second, Kazetaro moved quickly. But before entering the Battle Phase, he suddenly remembered something and swung an arm forward.
"I activate Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon's effect!"
"During your Main Phase: You can destroy 1 monster on the field, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster's original ATK."
He pointed straight at Ichiro's set monster.
"I choose your face-down monster. Destroy it!"
At that declaration, Ichiro's expression darkened instantly.
Kazetaro caught the change and grinned.
"Heh. You didn't set something disgusting, did you? Now I'm curious."
The moment the words fell, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon raised its blade. Dense black magical power and blazing Red-Eyes flames coiled around the weapon.
A crimson, crescent-shaped slash tore through the air and crashed down on the set monster card.
The face-down card was obliterated into dust on the spot. The remaining shockwave slammed into Ichiro like a gale, knocking him back several steps—he nearly fell.
[Ichiro, Teppei, LP 9800 → 8900]
"Tch, tch, tch."
Kazetaro clicked his tongue as he glanced at the card now in the GY.
"So scummy. You set Cyber Jar."
"If it flips, its effect has to activate: destroy all monsters on the field… then both players excavate the top 5 cards of their Decks. Any Level 4 or lower monsters among them that can be Special Summoned are Special Summoned (in face-up Attack or face-down Defense), and the rest get added to the hand."
He shook his head, voice dripping with ridicule.
"You wanted to stall one more turn with that? Did you ask my senpai's Dragoon for permission?"
Then his smile vanished, replaced by cold focus.
"Alright. I'm done playing."
"Battle Phase!"
"Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon, direct attack!"
Dragoon swung again—this time the crimson arc was denser, sharper, like a meteor ripping through the sky. It slammed into Ichiro head-on.
[Ichiro, Teppei, LP 8900 → 5900]
"Next—True King of All Calamities, attack!"
[Ichiro, Teppei, LP 5900 → 2900]
Kazetaro's roar echoed across the arena.
At the same time, the massive mechanical dragon unleashed a thunderous, world-shaking bellow. Lightning erupted in a torrential downpour, crashing into Ichiro and Teppei's field!
A single deafening explosion swallowed the arena. Pillars of fire surged upward as lightning and flame intertwined into a calamity-level blast.
Ichiro had barely managed to push himself upright before the impact hurled him away again. Teppei suffered the same fate—both tumbled across the ground several times before finally stopping.
[Ichiro, Teppei, LP 2900 → 0]
The duel-end chime rang out.
And then—Kazetaro suddenly stretched his arm behind Ichiro and Teppei.
They both froze.
What, was he going to rub it in their faces?
Even the surrounding spectators went still, and even Yusaku lifted a brow, curious about what Kazetaro was about to do.
In the next moment, Kazetaro reached out as if to help them up—
Then, halfway through, his hand sharply changed direction, slipping past their shoulders with pinpoint precision. He yanked their Decks straight out of their Duel Disks, spun on his heel, and sprinted back to Yusaku's side.
Only then did he roll his eyes at Ichiro and declare, loud and bright:
"Here you go, you two! Your 'hard-earned' Decks!"
Ichiro: "?"
Teppei: "?"
Yusaku paused—then shook his head with a helpless laugh.
"One of these Decks is your reward for helping me. The other one—split it with everyone."
Both Decks were Dragon Link. They weren't particularly useful to him.
If he wanted to build one, he could do it anytime. Rather than letting them gather dust, he'd rather hand them out as rewards—and earn goodwill.
As Yusaku finished speaking, Kazetaro saw the task completion notification appear on his mission screen.
The spectators staring from the sidelines froze for a beat—
Then erupted into thunderous cheers, faces full of emotion.
"We get rewards just for watching?! That's insane!"
"W-Wow… No wonder he's the guy I wanted to follow since the closed beta. Staying near him really means you eat well!"
"Seriously. I've done other quests—those guys are stingy as hell. I run all over the place and they hand me one Lion Alligator like it's a treasure. Can you believe that?"
"From today on, I'm senpai's diehard fan! Nobody's stopping me!"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]