But Ushio recovered quickly.
It was fine. He still had that face-down card.
"Then I enter the Battle Phase."
Dio declared it calmly. He knew there were still two set cards on the other side, so there was definitely risk involved, but he had no back-row removal in hand. He had no choice except to push forward.
"Scrap Archfiend, attack that face-down Defense Position monster!"
Scrap Archfiend strode across the field and slammed its massive metal claw down, flipping over Ushio's set monster.
The card turned face-up, revealing its true form—
Big Shield Gardna!
Big Shield Gardna / Warrior / EARTH / Level 4 / ATK 100 / DEF 2600
"That defense is huge!"
Crow could not help exclaiming.
"And it's only Level 4 too. Just what you'd expect from a Security-issued deck. That defense is like a turtle shell."
By the rules, when you attack a face-down Defense Position monster, it is first flipped face-up into Defense Position, and only then is damage calculated.
And at the exact instant Big Shield Gardna was revealed, Ushio's moment had come.
"Now! I activate my set card!"
Ushio shouted, his face full of triumphant satisfaction.
"I activate the Trap Card D2 Shield! I target 1 face-up Defense Position monster I control, and that monster's DEF becomes double its original DEF!"
"I choose Big Shield Gardna!"
A heavy energy barrier immediately reinforced the already enormous tower shield in Gardna's hands. Metallic light flashed across its surface, and the shield itself visibly swelled larger.
Big Shield Gardna DEF: 2600 → 5200!
Almost at the same moment, Scrap Archfiend's heavy punch came crashing down against the reinforced shield.
"BOOM—!!"
A thunderous blast rang out, and shockwaves rolled through the room.
Big Shield Gardna did not budge an inch.
Instead, Scrap Archfiend was staggered backward by the recoil.
Dio LP: 4000 → 1500
"Tch..."
Dio clicked his tongue softly.
So it was that annoying Trap—one of the classic combinations: a high-DEF monster paired with a defense-doubling card.
Meanwhile, Daigorō began jumping around in excitement.
"Did you see that, Officer?! He's not that amazing after all! That so-called legend about his Life Points never going down—wasn't that broken just now?!"
Dio himself remained calm.
This kind of thing was extremely common in card games. He had simply walked into a trap, that was all.
He lifted his gaze toward Ushio and said in a matter-of-fact tone,
"You're strong, Officer."
To Ushio, those words sounded like recognition.
But to Daigorō, they sounded unbearably harsh.
The clear implication, at least in Daigorō's mind, was that anyone who had failed to make Dio lose Life Points was weak.
His face immediately darkened.
The truth always hurt most—especially when it was a truth he had largely imagined for himself.
"Hmph. Of course I am!"
Though Ushio relaxed a little after successfully defending and striking back, Dio's calm attitude—and the still-formidable monster remaining on his field—kept him from letting his guard down in the slightest.
"By Big Shield Gardna's effect, when this card is attacked, it changes to Attack Position at the end of the Damage Step."
A flash of light ran over the monster. The shield-bearing warrior rose from its crouched defensive posture and shifted into Attack Position.
Its ATK was a miserable 100, of course—but next turn it could always go back to Defense again.
"Main Phase 2."
"I set two cards and end my turn."
The pressure now swung back to Ushio's side.
He had dealt a heavy blow to Dio, yes, but he still had no way to get past Scrap Archfiend.
And on top of that, Dio now had two face-down cards in his back row.
What was he supposed to do, set a second Big Shield Gardna and try the same thing again? His opponent was not an idiot.
He could only wait and see what he drew.
"My turn—draw!"
Ushio pulled a card forcefully from the top of his deck. The moment his eyes landed on it, delight spread across his face, and he slammed it onto his Duel Disk without delay.
"I Normal Summon Search Striker in Attack Position!"
A monster shaped like a Security officer in black tactical gear appeared on Ushio's field, wielding a combat blade in each hand.
Search Striker / Warrior / WIND / Level 4 / ATK 1600 / DEF 1200
"This monster has a powerful effect!" Ushio straightened proudly and explained in a loud voice. "When it attacks a face-down Defense Position monster, it can destroy that monster without damage calculation, while it is still face-down!"
"But Dio doesn't have any face-down monsters on his field right now, does he?" Crow asked from the sidelines, puzzled. "Scrap Archfiend is in Attack Position."
Dio felt a little speechless inside.
Don't jinx it like that...
The opponent was obviously explaining the effect on purpose. That practically screamed that he had a key card in hand—or set—that could turn a monster face-down.
Sure enough, a scheming grin spread across Ushio's face.
"Heh heh heh, exactly! Which is why I'm activating my other set card right now—the Quick-Play Spell Book of Moon! I target your Scrap Archfiend and change it to face-down Defense Position!"
A phantom moon appeared over the field, and its cold silver light bathed Scrap Archfiend's massive body.
Under that moonlight, the demon let out a low, unwilling growl. Its body gradually curled inward, until it finally became a single face-down card resting in Dio's Monster Zone.
"And now I enter the Battle Phase!"
Ushio swept out his arm triumphantly.
"Search Striker, attack that face-down Defense Position monster and destroy it!"
Search Striker lunged forward with swift precision, driving its short blade straight into the set card. The card cracked apart at once and dissolved into particles of light.
"Yes!"
Daigorō immediately leapt up and shouted arrogantly at Dio,
"See that?! This time you're the one getting your field broken apart with ease! Hahaha! So much for the so-called leader of Team Satisfaction—you're still just Satellite trash in the end! You can't even put up a proper counterattack!"
Ushio froze for a second, then turned toward Daigorō in surprise, frowning deeply.
"Hey. Don't you think that's going too far?"
At this point in his life, Ushio was still a rookie full of simple, straightforward ideals of justice. He could not understand at all how someone born and raised in Satellite could speak with such vicious contempt toward others from the same place.
Daigorō was completely choked off by Ushio's openly disapproving rebuke and fell silent.
Dio, meanwhile, slowly shook his head and looked straight through him.
"You live in Satellite too, and yet you despise other people from Satellite that much?"
"T-that's completely different!"
Daigorō reacted like someone whose tail had just been stepped on, shouting back in agitation.
"I'm a proud member of the Gear Gang!"
"I'm part of the duel gang that rules this area! I'm completely different from trash like you, digging through garbage just to eat! I'm supposed to be your ruler!"
"How ridiculous."
Dio's brows drew tightly together.
People like this—people who gained the slightest scrap of force and immediately decided that made them superior to everyone else—filled him with sincere disgust.
"Someone like you doesn't deserve to be called a duelist at all," Crow snapped, glaring furiously at Daigorō.
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