As Yusaku's command fell, a gigantic mechanical dragon projection—its body laced with intricate circuitry—rose behind him. Its crimson eyes flared as it opened a steel maw lined with fangs.
A ghostly blue bolt, alive like a serpent, snapped forward and struck Karasu's monster with pinpoint precision. The instant the current detonated, the monster's glow dimmed to a near-dead flicker.
The remaining electricity surged like an enraged viper, sweeping down the entire column.
Karasu's Forbidden Lance—the one standing in that same column—lost its light the moment the current touched it, dissolving into scattered starlike sparks and vanishing completely from the field.
"Next, Ryzeal Detonator's effect!"
At Yusaku's order, the mechanized war-god sprang up, its massive metal fist wrapped in molten heat and crackling voltage, then slammed down into Karasu's field.
"BOOM—!"
After the blast, the crystal mine cavern on Karasu's side collapsed instantly. Countless crystal spikes shattered into powder, and the Field Spell Adamancipator Laputite was completely destroyed, revealing the original stone-paved street beneath it.
"Now that your Forbidden Lance got negated, my Piercing the Light can negate the effect of your Block Dragon and banish it!"
A white beam streaked across the field, caught Block Dragon in its pull, and flung it straight into the banished zone.
"Then Ryzeal Detonator's effect resolves—destroy your Adamancipator Seeker!"
The mech swung again and smashed down on the now-effectless Seeker. With a crisp crack, Seeker burst into glittering motes and was sent to the Graveyard.
"Finally." Yusaku glanced at the Graveyard where Adamancipator Seeker lay, then looked back at Karasu. "Because of Infinite Impermanence, its effect can't activate. Which means you don't get to excavate."
Karasu clenched his teeth, ripped his last card from his hand, and slammed it onto his Duel Disk. "Then I activate Foolish Burial!"
"This card sends 1 monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I'm sending Crusadia Arboria!"
"Pointless struggle." Yusaku's voice dripped with disdain. "I chain—Baronne de Fleur. Negate your activation, and destroy it."
Baronne de Fleur raised her blade high. A brilliant rose-colored light bloomed along the edge, threaded with fluttering petals and razor thorns. With one sweeping slash, a crescent shockwave screamed through the air and blew Foolish Burial apart, negating it completely.
"Finally… finally!!!"
The moment Yusaku used Baronne's effect, Karasu suddenly bowed his head and let out a low, unhinged laugh, his shoulders shaking violently. "You finally gave up your last interruption!"
At that, Kazetaro visibly shuddered.
Standing nearby, Kazetaro stared at Karasu with a weird expression—and couldn't help glancing at the packed field of monsters on Yusaku's side.
Last one? This guy's not just tilted—he's broken.
The spectators started murmuring too, looking at Karasu like he'd lost it.
"Did he get his brain melted? He's been negated into the dirt and he's still laughing?"
"Gurus members are all unhinged. Nothing they do surprises me anymore."
"Yeah, yeah. Either way, he's done…"
On the field—
Karasu snapped his head up. His grin was pure mania as he slowly reached toward his hand—one last card remained. He raised it high.
"Yusaku! Your last interruption is gone! You can't stop me anymore! Everything up to now was just paving the road for this one card!"
He slammed it down.
"I activate the Spell—That Grass Looks Greener! Its effect—"
"I thought you were about to do something scary." Yusaku cut him off, unimpressed. "It's just Grass. Don't hype it like it's the end of the world. And you don't need to explain the effect—because you're not resolving it anyway."
Karasu's smile froze. "What…?"
Yusaku snapped his fingers. "I chain. I activate the effect of the other Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon on my field—discard 1 card, negate the activation of your That Grass Looks Greener, and destroy it. Then this card gains 1000 ATK."
Karasu's pupils shrank to pinpoints. "That monster…"
"I know what you're going to say." Yusaku's gaze was merciless. "You think it already used its effect, so it can't activate again. Sorry—Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon doesn't have a 'once per turn' clause tied to its name."
"So both of them can do it. You think I summoned two just for fun?"
With a casual wave, Yusaku finished, "Your turn ends here. Go on—say it."
The second Dragoon lifted its blade, red magic wrapping the black edge once more. A crescent slash of power tore through the air, carved straight through That Grass Looks Greener, and shredded it into fragments.
Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon
ATK: 3000 → 4000
After destroying the card, Yusaku folded his arms and looked at Karasu. "Now you've got no cards in hand, and you banished your own Graveyard resources dry. So what—still planning to keep 'excavating'?"
"If you stall until your Duel Disk timer hits zero, the rules say we win."
Karasu squeezed his fist, shaking with frustration, but in the end he could only choke down his pride and end his turn.
"Finish it," he said bitterly.
As Karasu ended his turn, it passed to Kazetaro and Nishimura Yuta.
At the instant the turn ended, Slifer the Sky Dragon returned to the Graveyard because of its own effect.
Nishimura Yuta froze when he heard Karasu's words. He looked at the five monsters on Yusaku's field, and his face turned ugly.
Two Red-Eyes Dark Dragoons—at minimum, two omni-negates—both sitting at 4000 ATK.
Ryzeal Detonator, still holding two Xyz Materials—meaning the slightest move would get something blown up.
And a Link Monster in the Extra Monster Zone he still didn't even know the effect of.
But he couldn't say much. If he were the one staring down Yusaku, he'd be in the same hopeless spot.
Compared to him, Kazetaro looked relaxed—almost delighted. "So this is what it feels like to get hard-carried."
He glanced at his own field, then at the empty board across from them.
Nishimura had nothing left. They could win just by swinging. No need to overextend.
With that, Kazetaro barked, "Battle Phase!"
"Battle!"
He pointed at Baronne de Fleur, excitement in his voice. "Baronne de Fleur—direct attack!"
Baronne slashed. The rose-colored light on her sword scattered into countless razor petals, weaving into a brilliant stream that surged straight toward Nishimura Yuta.
Nishimura blinked—then burst into ecstatic laughter. "You didn't summon one more monster before attacking? Hah! Then this duel isn't over!"
He slapped a card down. "When you declare the attack, I activate the effect of Smoke Mosquito from my hand!"
"During damage calculation, when I would take battle damage from an opponent's monster's attack, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. That battle damage becomes half, and after that damage step ends, the Battle Phase ends!"
Kazetaro frowned and pulled a card free.
"Then I activate Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon. Discard 1 card—negate your effect."
Dragoon's power flared, negating Smoke Mosquito and destroying it, and its ATK climbed again.
Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon
ATK: 4000 → 5000
With Smoke Mosquito stopped cold, Baronne's strike landed cleanly. The rose-lit stream pierced Nishimura's body, and he felt his whole frame seize in numb shock as his Duel Disk's LP plummeted.
Karasu, Nishimura Yuta — LP 16000 → 13000
"Next—Ryzeal Detonator, attack!"
Karasu, Nishimura Yuta — LP 13000 → 10000
"Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax, direct attack!"
Karasu, Nishimura Yuta — LP 10000 → 7000
"And now—Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon, attack!"
Kazetaro shouted, "Direct attack!"
The moment the command was issued, Nishimura's voice rang out. "Then I activate Kuriboh from my hand! I send it to the Graveyard—this battle damage becomes 0!"
"Negated!" Kazetaro slammed his card into the Duel Disk. "I activate the effect of the other Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon—negate your activation and destroy it!"
The second Dragoon's effect flared, crushing Kuriboh's attempt into nothing.
Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon
ATK: 4000 → 5000
The attack went through. Dragoon carved the air with a crimson crescent slash that ripped straight through Nishimura. The impact finally broke him—his body flew back like a snapped kite-string and slammed hard into the ground.
Karasu, Nishimura Yuta — LP 7000 → 2000
Kazetaro crossed his arms, grinning down at Nishimura as he struggled back up. "Now you're at 2000 LP. Go on—show me another Kuriboh."
Nishimura threw his head back and laughed. Then he revealed a card in his hand.
"Bet you didn't see this coming! I actually do have another Kuriboh!"
"If you'd summoned even one monster with over 2000 ATK at the start, this duel would've ended ages ago! But you got cocky. You trusted your senpai's monsters to finish it all by themselves!"
Then he flashed another card, eyes wild with glee. "And to make the comeback perfect—I'm on a Spell Counter deck too! Right now, in my hand, I've got Toxic plus Dark Ruler No More!"
"No matter how insane your monsters are, in front of Dark Ruler No More, they're just scrap!"
The crowd groaned in unison, beating their chests in frustration.
"Damn it, damn it—how did you let your guard down?"
"Ugh, if they'd just summoned one more monster earlier, this turn would've ended the duel!"
"This is bad… Dark Ruler No More blanks the whole field, and you can't chain monster effects to it!"
On the field—
Kazetaro's expression turned ugly fast. He hadn't expected Nishimura to actually be holding another Kuriboh. Even Karasu—who'd already accepted defeat—looked like a dying flame had suddenly reignited in his eyes.
Could they… actually turn it around?
But then Yusaku's voice hit them like ice water, snuffing the fantasy instantly.
"You done laughing?"
A beat of silence.
Then, cold and final:
"If you're done laughing, then it's time to die."
Nishimura Yuta: "Huh???"
Karasu: "What???"
The spectators froze, then turned toward Yusaku almost in sync.
Did he still have something else?
Yusaku looked at Kazetaro and gave him a small, easy smile. "Remember last turn, when I used Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon's effect? Do you remember what card I sent to the Graveyard?"
Nishimura, Karasu, and the onlookers all frowned, trying to recall.
But Kazetaro's eyes widened—he remembered instantly. "I've got it."
Yusaku's smile sharpened. "Then do it."
Kazetaro rubbed his hands together, thrilled, and pulled a card from the Graveyard to slap onto his Duel Disk.
"I activate the effect of Transaction Rollback in my Graveyard—banish it, and pay half my LP."
Yusaku, Kazetaro — LP 16000 → 8000
The arena exploded.
"No way—he really left a backdoor win!"
"That's disgusting levels of planning. He locked them out going first and still gave his teammate a safety net!"
"So what's Transaction Rollback copying?" someone shouted, dying to know.
Kazetaro smiled, calm and certain. "What do you think? There's only one answer."
He shouted, "I choose to apply this card as the effect of The Revived Sky God!"
The Revived Sky God…?
Nishimura and Karasu went rigid. Their pupils contracted as understanding struck—and both of them collapsed to their knees, faces drained of all color.
In the roaring wind, Yusaku's coat snapped like a banner as he raised his arm and called out:
"When the heavens thunder in chaos, assemble the ancient spellbooks within the chain—let their power reach infinity!"
"Descend once more—Slifer the Sky Dragon!!!"
A lightning bolt, even more blinding than before, tore down from beyond the sky and detonated behind Yusaku. With an ear-splitting crack of thunder, the draconic god returned to the arena, radiating overwhelming pressure.
Slifer the Sky Dragon
ATK: 0 → 6000
Yusaku folded his arms. "End this."
Kazetaro nodded so hard he looked like he might shake apart. He couldn't believe he was the one giving the final command to a god. His whole body trembled under Slifer's oppressive presence.
"Slifer the Sky Dragon—direct attack!"
"Ultra Discharge: Thunderstrike Cannon!"
Slifer reared back, its colossal head lifting as its mouth opened wide. Gold lightning—wilder than anything before—boiled and condensed inside its jaws, becoming a raging torrent of thunderlight.
The beam roared forward with apocalyptic force, swallowing Karasu and Nishimura in a flood of radiance.
Inside the blinding surge, Karasu screamed hoarsely, voice cracked with fury and despair.
"Damn you, Yusaku! In my turn… you still had a backup plan waiting… I can't accept this—AAAGH!!!"
Karasu, Nishimura Yuta — LP: 2000 → 0
(End of Chapter)
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