The fusion limitlifted!
"As expected, Jaden isn't a duelist who's so easily pinned down," Bastion Misawa chuckled softly. "He found a way out after all."
"It's Jaden, after all," Chumley Huffington agreed with a nod. "He wouldn't be himself if he were suppressed that easily."
"Alright!" Jaden shouted. "From my hand, I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization!"
Fusion Unit No. 2!
"My HEROes are just starting to show their strength," Jaden declared. "The real battle is only just beginning..."
"Activate face-down."
Yuexuan calmly flipped another card in his backrow.
"Continuous TrapNarukami's Waterfall," Yuexuan stated. "As long as this card is on the field, neither player can send monsters from their hand to the Graveyard!"
Jaden stared at the card, lost in thought for a few seconds.
Then, his pupils contracted, and his mouth slowly fell open.
"Nani!?" Jaden cried in shock. "Can't send cards from the hand to the Graveyard? That means..."
"Exactly." Yuexuan's lips curled into a smirk. "I'm sorry, Jaden, but it looks like you still can't perform a Fusion from your hand."
The onlookers, who had been praising Jaden's quick thinking just a moment ago, fell silent.
After several seconds, Chumley finally spoke. "Well... Jaden might be Jaden, but Yuexuan is still Yuexuan."
"True," Bastion agreed. "If he were so easy to overcome, he wouldn't be Yuexuan."
...
Another Polymerization had become a dead draw. Jaden scratched his head. "Geez, you really came prepared with enough countermeasures. At this rate, I'll have to gather all the monsters on the field before I can fuse..."
However, the field was currently completely under Yuexuan's control. With the powerful Chaos Sorcerer standing guard on Yuexuan's side, gathering materials on the field was no simple task.
And yet...
Jaden glanced at his hand, and that irrepressible, excited grin returned to his face.
A way to break through... he still had one!
"I activate the Spell Card, Return Soul!" Jaden yelled. "I return two Warrior-type monsters from my Graveyard to the top of my Deck in any order!"
Two cards slid out of the Graveyard slot, and Jaden briefly revealed them.
"I'm recovering Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix from the Graveyard."
He slid the two cards onto the top of his Deck.
"And they return to the very top!"
"Oh?" Yuexuan asked with interest. "Returning them to the top of the Deck... what do you plan to do with that?"
"Hehe, you'll find out soon enough."
With a sweep of Jaden's hand, another Spell Card appeared in his backrow.
"Spell CardFusion Birth! I send the top five cards of my Deck to the Graveyard. If the monsters required as Fusion Materials are among them, I can Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster!"
The onlookers were stunned. "What!?"
Even the crowd outside the field was taken aback.
There was such a move? Fusing straight from the Deck?
"Hoh." Yuexuan narrowed his eyes.
As expected of the Fusion Dimension's top dog, Jaden Yuki really had a lot of fancy ways to fuse.
"Therefore, I send five cards from the Deck to the Graveyard!"
Jaden pulled five cards in one go. The top two were, of course, the Avian and Burstinatrix he had just recycled.
"Now, according to the effect of Fusion Birth, Avian and Burstinatrix fuse!"
A swirling fusion vortex appeared above Jaden's head. He held the two cards high, and the hardworking couple appeared, turning into green and red spirals as they were drawn into the vortex.
A fiery storm surged as flames rained down like meteors. Pure white wings unfurled, and a hero bathed in fire descended.
"Appear now, my favorite hero!"
"Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, Fusion Summon!"
[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, ATK 2100]
"So you managed to summon Flame Wingman even in this situation," Yuexuan smiled. "But don't forget, even for your beloved Flame Wingman, his ATK is still lower than Chaos Sorcerer's."
"Of course."
Jaden smiled confidently and flipped another card held between his fingers.
"Field SpellSkyscraper!"
A bustling city of skyscrapers rose from the ground like towering giants, standing tall against a sky where starlight and city lights intertwined. Moonlight draped over the neon steel jungle like a silver ribbon, and golden searchlights pierced the night sky, reflecting off glass walls like jewels embedded in the darkness.
"Just as I thought." Yuexuan wasn't surprised at all.
"A hero needs the perfect stage," Jaden said. "Battle! Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, attack Chaos Sorcerer!"
Flame Wingman flipped through the air, his body enveloped in searing heat. From the peak of a skyscraper, he dove down against the moonlight like a blazing meteor, delivering a flying kick.
"The effect of Skyscraper! When an Elemental HERO on my side of the field battles a monster with higher ATK, their ATK increases by 1000 points during damage calculation!"
The real-world card had been weakened to only work when attacking, but the original version triggered whether attacking or being attacked. In the anime, it had saved Jaden more than once.
[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, ATK 2100 -> ATK 3100]
Under the boost of Skyscraper, Flame Wingman was known as the "3000-Killer," possessing an ATK exactly one hundred points higher than even the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It was terrifying. Chaos Sorcerer was no match; he was sent flying by the kick and quickly incinerated by the surrounding flames.
[Yuexuan, LP 3600 -> LP 2800]
"I'm not done yet! Yuexuan, I'm sure you haven't forgotten Flame Wingman's effect," Jaden laughed. "When Flame Wingman destroys an opponent's monster by battle, he inflicts damage to the opponent equal to the original ATK of the destroyed monster!"
The successful Flame Wingman spun and landed in front of Yuexuan, his arm raised as flames churned within his palm.
If this strike connected, it would deal a massive 2300 damage, instantly reducing Yuexuan's LP to a mere 500flickering like a candle in the wind!
Boom!
The flames exploded right in front of Yuexuan's face, but they didn't hit him directly. At the critical moment, a shield materialized out of thin air before him. The surging fire slammed into the shield and washed away along its edges.
"Eh?" Jaden was surprised.
"Counter TrapDamage Polarizer," Yuexuan said. "It negates the activation of an effect that deals damage, then both players draw one card from their Decks."
Yuexuan drew his card.
"Don't be in such a hurry. It's still anyone's game."
"Haha, you're right."
Jaden also drew a card, his confidence unwavering.
"Though I can't tell which way the wind is blowing yet, I'll be the one winning in the end."
"Is that so?" Yuexuan chuckled. "Then I'll look forward to it."
Jaden glanced at his newly drawn card, then pulled the rest of the cards from his hand in one sweep.
"I set three cards. Turn end."
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