He made a polite request. "Would you be willing to have a Duel with me as well?"
Yugen was taken aback.
Younger brother?
Wait.
"And you are?"
"Oh, I am Gekko Tenma, the twin brother of Yako Tenma."
Tenma Yuelin, the twin brother of Yako Tenma. In the side story, when he first appeared, even Yugi Muto and the others mistook him for Yako Tenma, though that Student Council had actually been under Yako Tenma's mental control at the time. At the same time, he was the one Maximillion Pegasus once called the "perfect Duelist."
Daichi Misawa and Asuka Tenjoin held their breath. A Duel had suddenly begun, and the opponent was a legend. Before enrolling, they might have instinctively believed that facing such figures meant no chance of victory.
But things were different now. When they thought about it carefully, more than one or two legends had already been beaten down by Yugen. The most representative victims were the Meikyu Brothers, who probably had not wanted to touch cards for quite a while after that.
In their eyes, Yugen had somehow upgraded from a "maverick top student" to someone for whom "beating legends is nothing strange." Daichi Misawa was also very curious about where this guy's limit truly lay.
"Duel!" x2
[Tenma Yuelin, LP 4000] Yugen, LP 4000]
"Then I will go first, Card Draw."
Tenma Yuelin played two cards from his hand. "I set one monster in face down Defense Position, then set one card to the Back Row. End of turn."
"My Turn!, Card Draw." Yugen.
After drawing, he immediately slapped down a card in a gesture of respect toward Professor Chronos de Medici.
"Spell Card 'Pot of Greed', Draw two cards from the Deck."
After drawing, he Normal Summoned his first monster.
"Summon 'Blade Knight'!"
Blade Knight, ATK 1600]
It might be hard for modern players to imagine, but this unassuming Blade Knight had once been a popular powerhouse when it was first released. With a base ATK of 1600, it was barely acceptable as a beater. Its first effect raised its ATK by 400 when its controller had one or fewer cards in hand.
Blade Knight thrived during the era when Hand Destruction ran wild, and it was common for a Duelist's hand resources to be wiped out. In many cases, it would hit the field with 2000 ATK, making it a high quality attacker. It also had a second effect that negated the effects of Flip monsters it destroyed by battle.
In early Yu-Gi-Oh!, Flip monsters were extremely important. Cards like Morphing Jar, Fiber Jar, and Magician of Faith were once infamous for turning games around on their own, while many others destroyed cards or bounced monsters on flip. In that environment, Blade Knight's second effect was quite practical.
Another key point was that it was a Light attribute monster. With all these advantages combined, Blade Knight easily earned a place in Light Dark themed Chaos Deck builds.
Yugen declared, "Blade Knight attacks the set monster."
Tenma Yuelin's set monster flipped face up. It was a sharp eared, glasses wearing Spirit girl with a short skirt and stockings, holding a magic book in her arms.
Card Trooper, DEF 400]
In the original work, Tenma Yuelin used many monster that were never printed in real life. Unlike his brother Yako Tenma, whose The Three Wicked Gods and original Beast King Barbaros LV Series received physical releases early on, most of Tenma Yuelin's Deck remained anime only.
"Effect of Card Trooper. If this card you control is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I draw one card from my Deck," Tenma Yuelin said. "Since she is not a Flip monster, her effect is not negated by Blade Knight."
The short lived glasses Spirit fell under the merciless blade, and Tenma Yuelin drew a card.
Yugen glanced at the fading points of light where she vanished. The effect of Card Trooper only needed it to be destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. That actually seemed pretty decent.
He then drew four cards in one breath. "I set four cards to the field. End of turn."
"Four set cards..." Tenma Yuelin frowned slightly.
"During the End Phase, I activate my set card," he said. "Trap Card - Sixth Sense!
Declare two numbers between 1 and 6. Your opponent rolls a die. If the result matches one of the declared numbers, draw that many cards. If not, send cards from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard equal to the result."
Yugen nodded. "Declare your numbers."
"Five and six," Tenma Yuelin said.
The die rolled twice before stopping at 4.
"One third probability. Looks like I missed," Tenma Yuelin said calmly. "Then I send the top four cards of my Deck to the Graveyard."
He sent four cards into the Graveyard of his Duel Disk. "My turn, Card Draw. I activate a Spell Card! 'Graceful Charity', draw three cards, then discard two."
Even in the original work where power cards were everywhere, Tenma Yuelin stood out for his love of Graceful Charity. He was one of the rare characters to use two copies in a single Duel.
"Next, Normal Summon 'Chiron the Mage.'"
[Chiron the Mage, ATK 1800]
"By discarding one Spell Card from my hand, Chiron the Mage can Destroy one card on the field," Tenma Yuelin said. "I Destroy your second set card from the left."
He discarded a card, and red light gathered at Chiron the Mage's staff, locking onto one of Yugen's set cards in the Back Row.
"Then I activate my set card," Yugen said. "Trap Card 'Breakthrough Skill.' Negate the effect of one monster on the field until the end of the turn. I negate Chiron the Mage's effect!"
The Trap flipped, and the red glow around the centaur sage's staff faded.
"You avoided it. However, the card I discarded was Pot of Greed. By its effect, I draw two cards." (ANIME EFFECT) Tenma Yuelin drew. "Next, I activate a Spell Card! 'Monster Reborn'! I revive 'Darklord Superbia' from my Graveyard!"
"Sending a monster with Sixth Sense just to set this up?" commentator Daichi Misawa said. "He is going for a high level monster this early?"
Darklord Superbia was a Level 8 Fairy with ATK 2900, only 100 less than the noble Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It was terrifying.
"Counter Trap - Solemn Warning!"
Yugen did not hesitate to call upon the invincible old man.
"Pay 2000 Life Points to negate the Summon of a monster, or a Effect Activation that includes Special Summon of a monster, and Destroy it! Negate 'Monster Reborn'!"
Yugen, LP 4000 to 2000]
The divine figure raised his hand as if to say no. Thunder struck from above, shattering the revival symbol. The angel failed to appear and dissolved back into light.
"So you negated Darklord Superbia's arrival. Very decisive," Tenma Yuelin murmured. Just as rumored, a Duelist who valued interference and layered defenses.
"Then I activate this card."
He raised another card high.
"Spell Card 'Premature Burial'! All Equip Spells and Trap Cards in my Graveyard are treated as monsters with 500 ATK and 500 DEF, and are Special Summoned!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Daichi Misawa blinked. Asuka Tenjoin also stared in confusion.
Turn Equip cards into monsters?
"By this effect..." Tenma Yuelin said.
Four cards in his Graveyard slid out at once.
"I Special Summon the Equip Spells 'United We Stand,' 'Axe of Despair,' 'Sword of Deep-Seated,' and 'Mage Power' as monsters!"