Yugen narrowed his eyes.
Just as he suspected. This abnormal phenomenon was likely the work of a supernatural power, and his opponent was no amateur.
Sure enough, Silent Magician drifted out from his side, hovering protectively with a look of concern.
"You're trying to say this person is unusual, aren't you?" Yugen nodded. "I understand. Don't worry, I know."
He had followed Kaiba out here primarily to find someone to play cards with, but he wasn't above "restocking" his collection if the opportunity arose. Moreover, the masked man's Duel Disk had a unique design Yugen hadn't seen before, and he couldn't help but wonder if his opponent's deck held any treasures.
"Then let's begin."
Yugen expanded his Duel Disk. "The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."
"Ho? No nerves at all, and so confident?" The masked man smiled. "Confidence isn't a bad thing in a young man, but whether you have the strength to match it remains to be seen."
The implication was clear: his skill was still an unknown variable.
"Duel!" they cried in unison.
[Yugen, LP 4000]
[Masked Man, LP 4000]
"I'll take the first turn. Draw!"
Yugen drew two cards to add to his hand. "I set one monster face-down in the front row and set one card in the back row. Turn end."
"My turn, draw!" the masked man said, his voice raspy. "First, I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed. I draw two cards from my deck."
Immediately after drawing, he played another card from his hand. "Next, I activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity. I draw three cards, then discard two."
Yugen raised an eyebrow.
In the GX Era, the "Greed-Charity" combo was a staple for almost everyone, but seeing two Forbidden Cards played back-to-back right at the start was still a rare sight.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, Toy Robot Box!" the masked man continued. "By discarding one card from my hand, I Special Summon three Robot Tokens!"
A card hit the Graveyard, and three small, toy-like robots hopped onto his field.
[Robot Tokens, DEF 0]
"These Tokens cannot attack, but they can be used as Tributes," the masked man said coldly. "Therefore, I Tribute two Robot Tokens to Tribute Summon! Source of chaos, demon of calamityCalamity Fiend, come forth!"
The two robots dissolved into points of light. Thick black clouds swirled across the sky like a massive curtain of darkness. A storm began to howl, sweeping up fallen leaves and dust as it roared with a deafening boom.
The earth split open, spewing forth rolling magma and black smoke, painting the field in the hues of the apocalypse. A tall, dark demon covered in hardened scales rose from beneath the ground, its eyes burning with the black flames of hell.
[Calamity Fiend, ATK 2000]
"The effect of Calamity Fiend! Once per turn, I can destroy one card on my field and one on yours," the masked man shouted. "I destroy my third Robot Token and your face-down card in the back row!"
The Calamity Fiend let out a furious roar as two jets of hellfire spiraled upward. The third robot on the masked man's field melted into the black flames, while Yugen's face-down card was swept up and incinerated into ash.
It was the Trap Card, Magic Cylinder.
Yugen raised his arm to shield himself from the aftershocks of the black flames.
"Magic Cylinder, I see. If I had attacked recklessly, I would have been the one taking massive damage," the masked man noted indifferently before revealing another card. "Next, the Spell Card, Shield Crush. It destroys one monster in Defense Position. I destroy your set monster!"
A green bolt of magical energy pierced through the field, shattering Yugen's face-down monster. The card was Magical Merchant.
"A monster with a Flip Effect. If I had attacked, it would have triggered," the masked man's voice remained calm. "Dumping massive resources into the Graveyard while performing an imprecise search for Spells or Traps... quite troublesome."
"Hmph, you know your stuff," Yugen nodded.
"I am not like the third-rate characters you usually deal with. Treat me like one of them, and you will suffer for it." The masked man waved his hand dismissively. "Calamity Fiend, attack him directly!"
The Calamity Fiend leaped over Yugen's empty field, its claws descending without obstruction. Yugen raised his Duel Disk to block, but the impact of the Solid Vision passed through the device and hit him, forcing him to stumble back.
[Yugen, LP 4000 → LP 2000]
"Hmm?" Yugen noticed something.
The pain... was that all?
The impact didn't carry the searing agony he expected from a Shadow Duel. It felt like the tactile feedback of a standard, high-end regulation duel.
But this man definitely possessed powerful dark energyeven Silent Magician had warned him just now.
Yugen glanced at the masked man with a strange look. He hasn't actually started a Shadow Game? Why?
"I told you," the masked man said coldly. "If you don't show your true strength against me, this will be over in an instant."
Yugen smiled faintly. "Perhaps. But what makes you think that clearing my monsters and backrow is the same as breaking my defense?"
"Oh?"
The masked man frowned. Suddenly, a shadow flickered across the empty ground in front of Yugen.
A bizarre, unsettling shadow began to writhe on the ground. It slowly crawled upward, twisting unnaturally until it morphed into a humanoid shape. Finally, it solidified into the image of a warrior wielding a great sword.
"From my hand, I activate the effect of Gorz the Emissary of Darkness," Yugen said, flipping the card over. "When I have no cards on my field and take battle damage, I can Special Summon this card. And then, I Special Summon one Emissary of Darkness Kaien Token. The ATK and DEF of the Token become equal to the damage I took."
[Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, ATK 2700]
[Emissary of Darkness Kaien Token, ATK 2000]
This was another card used by Yugi Muto, originating from the side-story manga. Once it was released as a real card, it sent shockwaves through the competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! environment, becoming a mandatory "Hand Trap" for nearly every deck.
The ability to jump onto the field with 2700 ATK the moment you took damage made it a phenomenal card that rewrote the meta. Duelists of that era were forced to assume that if an opponent left their field wide open, they were holding a Gorz. Many times, players were too afraid to attack an empty field if they couldn't handle a 2700 ATK body appearing out of nowhere.
Because of this, players would often bluff, intentionally passing with an empty field even if they didn't have Gorz, just to trick their opponents into holding back.
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness remained limited to a single copy for years, from the late GX Era through the end of the Xyz Era, which was a testament to its sheer power.
"I see. You kept your true trump card in your hand. It seems I underestimated you." The masked man chuckled, though the voice changer made the sound eerie. "I set one card. Turn end."
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