"The moment you Set those cards, I activate the effect of Bystial Magnamhut from my hand!"
Yusaku's voice rang through the entire stadium.
"I can banish 1 DARK monster in your Graveyard and Special Summon this card from my hand!"
His finger shot toward Karasu's Graveyard, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.
"I choose your DARK monster El Shaddoll Apkallone! I banish it and Special Summon Bystial Magnamhut!"
"You still want to summon El Shaddoll Winda? Dream on!"
Karasu: "???"
The instant those words fell, a pillar of black light shot into the sky behind Yusaku, and a deafening dragon roar split the air.
A giant dragon covered in black diamond-shaped scales spread its wings and burst forth. Its claws slammed onto the ground, kicking up a ring of black shockwaves that crushed the holographic turf around it, and its savage draconic aura nearly overturned the entire arena.
Bystial Magnamhut
Level 6 / Dragon / Effect
ATK 2500
"Bystial Magnamhut's effect activates!" Yusaku shouted. "If this card is Special Summoned, during this turn's End Phase, I can add 1 Dragon monster, except Bystial Magnamhut, from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand!"
"Negate it!" Karasu suddenly raised his hand. "I chain the effect of my other Predaplant Ambulomelides on the field! Place 1 Predator Counter on the Bystial Magnamhut you just summoned!"
"As long as Ambulomelides remains on the field, any monster with a Predator Counter placed on it by Ambulomelides has all its effects negated!"
"You took the bait." Yusaku revealed a card from his hand. "I never intended to use that monster's effect in the first place!"
Karasu: "???"
"I activate the effect of Merry Melffys from my hand!"
Yusaku's voice suddenly rose.
"During the opponent's Main Phase, I can target 1 face-up monster I control! First, I Special Summon this card from my hand, then immediately use only that monster and this card as material for a Synchro Summon!"
"My target is the Level 6 Bystial Magnamhut on my field! Special Summon! Merry Melffys!"
A pink-and-white rabbit monster with tiny flight wings flew out from his hand, its long ears fluttering as it hovered in midair, its fluffy fur glowing softly under the arena lights.
Merry Melffys
Level 2 / Beast / Tuner / Effect
ATK 300
"Merry Melffys?!" Karasu's pupils shrank violently, his face full of disbelief. "How did you draw that card?!"
Yusaku shot him a glance.
"You Special Summoned monsters that many times, and you're asking me where it came from? Of course I drew it."
With that, Yusaku suddenly threw his hand upward and shouted:
"By the effect of Merry Melffys, I tune it with the Level 6 Bystial Magnamhut on my field!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 8 - Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon!!!"
The two beams of light became dazzling star trails and shot into the heavens. A silver-white dragon tore through the clouds, spreading its broad wings as holy radiance poured across the entire Duel Arena.
Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon
Level 8 / Dragon / Synchro / Effect
ATK 2500
"Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon?!"
Seeing the monster appear on the field, Karasu's pupils contracted. He knew exactly what that card could do.
He immediately threw up his hand and shouted:
"When this card is Special Summoned, if your opponent Special Summons a monster from the Extra Deck, I can activate the effect of Predaplant Triphyoverutum! Negate that Special Summon and destroy that monster!"
He looked at Yusaku and snorted coldly.
"I activate that effect! I negate the Special Summon of the Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon you just brought out and destroy it!"
"Sorry, but your effect isn't getting through."
Yusaku slowly pulled a card from his hand.
"I activate the effect of Effect Veiler from my hand! I target your Predaplant Triphyoverutum and negate its effect!"
A translucent blue shield appeared out of thin air, firmly enveloping the three-headed dragon as the glow of its effect instantly dimmed.
The moment the barrier appeared, Yusaku spoke again.
"I activate Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon's effect! I Special Summon the Level 2 Tuner monster Assault Synchron from my Graveyard!"
Assault Synchron
ATK 800
The moment the monster stabilized on the field, Yusaku shouted again.
"Next, I activate Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon's other effect!"
"During either player's Main Phase, I can Tribute this card to Special Summon 1 Stardust Dragon from my Extra Deck, treating it as a Synchro Summon! Then, after that Summon succeeds, I can immediately perform another Synchro Summon!"
"Appear! Stardust Dragon!!!"
Stardust Dragon
Level 8 / Dragon / Synchro / Effect
ATK 2500
"I'm still not done!" The aura around Yusaku surged sharply. "I tune Stardust Dragon on my field with the Level 2 Tuner monster Assault Synchron!"
"Synchro Summon! Level 10 - Baronne de Fleur!!!"
The two beams of light spiraled together into a twisting stellar path that shot into the sky. Across the heavens, countless star particles traced out a perfectly straight chain of ten stars, and then a dazzling rose-colored beam crashed down toward the center of the Duel Arena.
In the next second, crisp hoofbeats shattered the light itself, and a female warrior clad in silver armor, wielding a rose-engraved longsword and riding a pure white steed, charged forth from the radiant column.
Baronne de Fleur
Level 10 / Warrior / Synchro / Effect
ATK 3000
After summoning Baronne, Yusaku looked toward Karasu.
"Shaddoll monsters need an actual 'Shaddoll' monster as Fusion Material to be summoned, so the Shaddoll Schism Set at your feet may as well not exist."
He paused, then lightly pointed toward the face-down card beneath Karasu.
"And with Baronne de Fleur on the field, your Imperial Order can't activate either."
"That's not necessarily true!" Karasu suddenly roared, as if making one final desperate struggle. "I've got two Predaplant Ambulomelides on my field! Their effects don't have a card-name once-per-turn restriction! Your Baronne de Fleur can negate at most one of them! My Imperial Order can still go through!"
As he said that, he pointed toward the monsters on his field, madness creeping into his voice.
"And with all these monsters I control, it's still not certain who's going to win!"
"The monsters on your field?" Yusaku swept a glance across Karasu's side of the field, a mocking smile curling at his lips. "Sorry, but not a single one of those monsters is staying."
Karasu's pupils shrank violently. "Y-you... what do you mean?"
Yusaku gave him a mysterious smile.
"You'll know once your turn ends."
Karasu gritted his teeth and glanced at the steadily ticking countdown on his Duel Disk before snorting coldly.
"Cut the act! End my turn!"
"The moment your turn ends."
Yusaku snapped his fingers.
"The effect of Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon in my Graveyard can activate!"
He spoke each word slowly and clearly, his voice echoing through the entire stadium.
"If this Fusion Summoned card leaves the field because of an opponent, then during the End Phase of that turn, all monsters your opponent controls are destroyed!"
Yusaku looked at Karasu and added, one word at a time:
"And by the way, this effect's resolution does not start a Chain."
"What?!" Karasu's eyes widened violently, his face full of disbelief as he staggered backward several steps.
The moment Yusaku finished speaking, a brilliant blue light erupted from the Graveyard and shot into the sky, then spread into an ocean of blue that blanketed Karasu's Monster Zone.
Under that blue radiance, Karasu's two Predaplant Ambulomelides, Predaplant Triphyoverutum, and Predaplant Flytrap all instantly developed countless cracks across their bodies.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The brittle sounds rang out one after another as the monsters shattered like glass, then dissolved into countless fragments that vanished into the air.
Watching the field he had struggled so hard to build vanish in an instant, Karasu stared wide-eyed in utter disbelief, stumbling backward as a desperate howl tore from his throat.
"That's impossible! In all the intel I gathered, that effect shouldn't have existed!"
Hearing that, Yusaku's lips curved upward slightly, and his voice exploded through the arena like thunder.
"Know why? Because no one has ever managed to destroy this monster of mine before! So of course you never knew it had that effect!!!"
"And I'm still not done!"
"During your End Phase, the effect of Guiding Quem, the Virtuous, which is in my banished zone, activates and returns it to the field."
Guiding Quem, the Virtuous
ATK 2500
"Next, I activate the effect of Albion the Branded Dragon in my Graveyard!"
Yusaku's voice rang out again.
"If this card was sent to the Graveyard this turn, then during the End Phase, I can add to my hand or Special Summon 1 Dogmatika monster or 1 Fallen of Albaz from my Deck!"
"I choose to Special Summon Fallen of Albaz from my Deck!"
Summoning light flared as a dark-skinned boy in a pure white uniform slowly appeared, his white hair fluttering in the wind.
Fallen of Albaz
Level 4 / Dragon / Effect
ATK 1800
"Fallen of Albaz's effect activates!"
Yusaku's momentum never slowed for even a moment.
"When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Ecclesia from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard!"
"Special Summon Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous from my Deck!"
A blonde girl holding a dragon-headed staff appeared beside the black dragon girl, and the two rays of light intertwined as they stood side by side.
Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous
Level 4 / Spellcaster / Tuner / Effect
ATK 1500
Once all effects had resolved, the indicator lights on the Duel Disk lit up, and the turn passed to Yusaku.
"My turn, draw!"
Yusaku drew his new card, glanced at it, then calmly looked at Karasu.
"You only have 5000 LP left now. Even if your Imperial Order could activate, I could do absolutely nothing and still turn this around for the win."
Hearing that, Karasu's body shook violently. The color drained from his face in an instant, and his eyes filled with despair as he muttered to himself:
"How is this possible...? How could I lose...?"
"No... impossible! My perfect plan! How could it lose here?! This isn't real! I won't believe it!"
Yusaku shook his head, then went straight to the Battle Phase and ended the duel.
The combined ATK of the five monsters on his field - Baronne de Fleur, Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon, Guiding Quem, the Virtuous, Fallen of Albaz, and Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous - was already far beyond 5000!
"Attack!"
At Yusaku's command, Baronne and Guiding Quem launched their attacks, and light swept across Karasu's field. Karasu's Life Points plummeted like an avalanche, dropping all the way to zero in an instant.
[Karasu LP 5000 -> 0]
(End of Chapter)
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