"Times have changed! Thanks to Kuribohrn's effect—Special Summon Shiny Black 'C' Squadder!"
[Shiny Black "C" Squadder – ATK 2000]
"Even if that weakling gets revived, what waves can it possibly make?"
Blocked twice by Kuriboh, the clearly irritated Chazz slapped his final card onto the Duel Disk and ended his turn.
"My turn—draw! Now then… let the game begin. Prepare to repent for your sins!"
With a smug flourish, Minazuki slid a card onto his Duel Disk.
"This is my chivalry! I activate the Continuous Spell—Kishido Spirit!"
[Kishido Spirit – Continuous Spell
Effect: Monsters on your side of the field cannot be destroyed in battle if the monsters' ATK are equal.]
"Battle! Shiny Black 'C'! Deliver the knight's kick of justice and pierce through evil!"
Entering his Battle Phase, Minazuki targeted Chazz's VW-Tiger Catapult, which also had 2000 ATK.
"With Kishido Spirit, even if our ATK is equal, my monster won't be destroyed in battle!"
Shiny Black leapt high, its flaming Rider Kick smashing into the metallic hull of VW-Tiger Catapult and knocking the machine from the air.
"—Rider Kick! Annihilation!"
[VW-Tiger Catapult – Destroyed]
"Finally, I set one card face-down. Turn end!"
[Minazuki: 1 Hand Card | 2 Set Cards]
"Ending so quickly? At least try a full combo! This is frustrating…"
Akasha shook her head in disappointment.
"Hmph! Long, flashy combos look cool—but we look cooler!" Minazuki shot back.
"Strike hard, disengage immediately. Finishing your turn in under 10 seconds makes the opponent subconsciously feel like it's still their turn."
"You bastard… you think I'm stupid?!"
Getting his monster destroyed by a Red student—in front of Alexis, no less—set Chazz's temper ablaze.
Atticus commented in surprise,
"Didn't think a Red student could go toe-to-toe with the King of North Academy…"
Zane nodded, expression stern.
"Whether Red or Blue, a duelist's pride is the same. And that Minazuki… he's shown remarkable resilience against Chazz."
Although Chazz still controlled YZ-Tank Dragon—now boosted by Megamorph—Minazuki's Rainbow Kuriboh had equipped itself to it, preventing it from attacking.
Right now, the fusion monster was nothing more than a durable shield.
"Draw—!"
If Chazz didn't top-deck something good, he'd completely lose momentum.
"Heh heh heh… looks like the great Chazz's luck is still above yours! I Normal Summon—X-Head Cannon!"
[X-Head Cannon ★★★★ (Level 4)]
[LIGHT / Machine]
[ATK 1800 / DEF 1500]
He slapped the newly drawn card to the Duel Disk.
X-Head Cannon materialized, landing atop YZ-Tank Dragon with a heavy, metallic thud.
"Watch carefully! This is the glorious XYZ combination! I banish X-Head Cannon and YZ-Tank Dragon from my field to Fusion Summon—XYZ-Dragon Cannon!!"
[XYZ-Dragon Cannon ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)]
[LIGHT / Machine / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK 2800 / DEF 2600]
The ultimate fusion of the three Machines roared onto the battlefield.
And because YZ-Tank Dragon—restricted by Rainbow Kuriboh—was used as Fusion material and banished, the newly summoned XYZ-Dragon Cannon was now free of all attack limitations.
However, Megamorph was also sent to the Graveyard, so its ATK-doubling effect no longer applied.
"Using Fusion to escape the Equip card's negative effect… that top-deck was pretty clutch."
Hoshino noted quietly.
"But needing a lucky draw just to overcome a Red student… with his ego, that must be killing him."
"Now I'll crush your monster completely! XYZ-Dragon Cannon—Triple Destruction Cannon!!"
Triple energy blasts erupted, swallowing Minazuki's Rider-like monster in a cloud of smoke.
Akasha gasped,
"o(ﾟДﾟ)っ Smoke… but no blood! The classic 'smoke but no damage' trope! I'm a pro—I can tell this is looking good!"
[Minazuki LP: 4000 → 3200]
[Shiny Black "C" Squadder – Destroyed]
"(꒪Д꒪)ノ Why did it get destroyed?! Minazuki, are you messing with me?!"
"But it's not over—!"
From inside the smoke, Minazuki shouted with burning spirit:
"Open face-down! This is the Trap Card infused with my very soul—Rope of Line!"
[Rope of Line – Trap
Effect: When your monster is sent to the Graveyard by battle: Discard your entire hand; that monster gains 800 ATK, then Special Summon it.]
"A hero never flees the battlefield!"
"By Rope of Line's effect, I discard my entire hand and revive Shiny Black 'C' Squadder—with an extra 800 ATK!"
[Shiny Black "C" Squadder – ATK 2000 → 2800]
Barely holding together, its armor cracked and smoking, the black-armored Rider returned to the field in a battered but heroic stance.
"Chazz! Your attack ends here! My turn—draw!"
Forced to prematurely end Chazz's turn, Minazuki drew for his own.
Originally, XYZ-Dragon Cannon could discard 1 card to destroy any card on the field—but with Chazz now holding zero cards, the effect couldn't activate.
"Take the full force of my soul's counterattack—my chivalry will never fall! This is the power-up I gained from Nobleman's Lesson…!!"
The 2800 ATK Shiny Black "C" Squadder erupted in blazing light, its fiery flying kick piercing straight through the massive steel frame of XYZ-Dragon Cannon.
"Explosive—finish!!"
[XYZ-Dragon Cannon — destroyed.]
"Beautiful!" Fired up by Minazuki's hot-blooded cry, even Jonouchi couldn't hold back.
"Because of the Continuous Spell Kishido Spirit, even if both monsters have 2800 ATK, Minazuki's monster won't be destroyed!"
"This guy is way more fired up than I expected!"
"So this is what it looks like when duelists' souls crash into each other… I'm getting pumped!"
It wasn't just Jonouchi—Minazuki's reversal against an Obelisk Blue elite sent a ripple of excitement through the audience.
"Let's gooo! Both sides are amazing!"
"No wonder they're Duel Academy students—the level is insane!"
Hoshino felt quietly satisfied. She hadn't expected Minazuki vs. Chazz's duel to actually raise the Academy's reputation in the eyes of the spectators.
"Turn end!"
[Minazuki's: 1 Hand Card | 1 Set Card]
"Your counterattack was hot-blooded and all… but Minazuki, you ended your turn way too fast."
Jaden finally couldn't hold back his comment. Just like last turn, Minazuki had Shiny Black "C" throw one Rider Kick and immediately ended.
"Did your combined turn time even reach 20 seconds?"
"In a fight, speed is unbeatable." Minazuki jabbed his thumb toward Chazz. "Look—everything happened so fast he still can't process it."
Akasha muttered warningly,
"ヽ(ー_ー)ノ That's not confusion. That's the face of someone who wants to tear you limb from limb."
Grinding his teeth, Chazz trembled with rage. He had just executed a huge Ally burst combo, summoning multiple powerful machines—only to have them all destroyed by Minazuki's "random" Normal Monster.
"My turn—draw!"
The moment he saw the card, Chazz immediately played it.
"Spell Card — Pot of Greed! I draw two cards!"
The green pot bearing Professor Crowler's face shattered instantly. But it was already too late—if he'd had one more card last turn, XYZ-Dragon Cannon could've blasted Minazuki's monster to oblivion.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
However, after glimpsing the cards he drew, Chazz suddenly burst into manic laughter, arrogance restored.
"Now I'll bring down my ultimate judgment—my absolute union! You're finished, you scrub!!"
He slammed a Spell Card into his Duel Disk. His Life Points plummeted as mechanical arcs hissed across the field.
"—Spell Card: Dimension Fusion!"
[Dimension Fusion — Spell Effect: Pay 2000 LP. Each player Special Summons as many of their banished monsters as possible.]
Atticus: "Dimension Fusion—so that's his angle!"
Zane: "Monsters fuse by banishing monsters on the field. Meaning Chazz's banished zone contains all the materials he used earlier."
[Chazz LP 3200 → 1200]
Five monster cards lit up across Chazz's Duel Disk. With a dramatic sweep, he banished them once more.
"First, combine V-TIGER JET and W-WING CATAPULT to form VW-TIGER CATAPULT!
Then fuse X-HEAD CANNON, Y-DRAGON HEAD, and Z-METAL TANK into XYZ-DRAGON CANNON!
Finally, fuse VW-TIGER CATAPULT with XYZ-DRAGON CANNON for the ultimate combination!"
Fusion after fusion—an endless chain of mechanical merging.
The five transforming machines united into a form surpassing even XYZ.
"Behold! Fusion Summon! VWXYZ-DRAGON CATAPULT CANNON!!"
[VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon★★★★★★★★(Level 8)][LIGHT][Machine/Fusion/Effect][ATK 3000/DEF 2800]
"VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon's effect—once per turn, I can banish 1 of your monsters!"
Unlike XYZ-Dragon Cannon's effect, this required no cost. It instantly locked onto Minazuki's Rider-themed monster.
"Take this! VWXYZ—artillery strike!"
A blinding golden beam blasted through Minazuki's field, erasing his monster into another dimension.
[Shiny Black "C" Squadder — banished]
"And I'm not done! I activate the Spell — Hidden Armory!"
[Hidden Armory – Spell Effect: Send the top card of your Deck to the GY; add 1 Equip Spell from your Deck or GY to your hand.]
"Thanks to Hidden Armory, I add Dimension Buster Cannon – Hyper Lightning Ally to my hand—then I equip it immediately!"
[Dimension Buster Cannon – Hyper Lightning Ally – Equip Spell Effect: Equip only to VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon. It gains ATK/DEF equal to the number of Union monsters in your banished zone × 1000.](OG Card Probably)
Chazz banished Union monsters: 3
[VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon ATK 3000 → 6000]
"You're finished, Minazuki!"
The titan cannon aimed its massive dimensional annihilator. Even from a distance, the pressure felt like it could tear space apart.
"Go—Dimension Buster Cannon!! Direct attack!"
The colossal blast surged toward Minazuki—
"NOW! Kuriboh—!!"
Minazuki threw out a card, revealing yet another Kuriboh variant.
[Sphere Kuriboh — Effect: When an opponent's monster declares an attack: send this card from your hand to the GY; change that monster to Defense Position.]
Hoshino finally understood.
"So THAT'S why—Minazuki's collecting Kuribohs! No wonder he stuffed so many types into his Deck!"
Sphere Kuriboh's spherical body twisted gravity, redirecting the dimensional blast upward. It exploded harmlessly into the sky.
"Because of Sphere Kuriboh, VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon switches to Defense Position!"
[VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon — DEF 5800]
Since Dimension Buster Cannon – Hyper Lightning Ally also raised DEF, its defensive power was equally monstrous.
"Pathetic stalling! Turn end!"
If the earlier Kuriboh variants created counterattack opportunities, this one was pure survival—no wonder Chazz scoffed at it.
[Chazz's: 0 Hand Cards | 1 Set Card]
"My turn—draw!"
Minazuki stared at the card he had drawn, then at his lone Set card, torn with hesitation.
[Cup of Ace – Spell Effect: Flip a coin. Heads: draw 2 cards. Tails: your opponent draws 2 cards.]
"I hate Professor Crowler's face, so I didn't run Pot of Greed… but if Cup of Ace flips wrong, I'll hand him two free cards. Should I play it safe…?"
"Hmph!"
Seeing Minazuki hesitate, Chazz regained his swagger instantly.
"What's wrong? Where's that confidence from earlier? One turn and you're already out of gas?"
"…Huh??!!"
"Screw playing safe!!"