Yue Xuan pulled himself together, preparing to continue, when he suddenly sensed something. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the Kaiba brothers. Having finished their work on the computers upstairs, Kaiba and Mokuba had come down at some point and were now standing side-by-side, quietly watching the duel.
They seemed unexpectedly calm regarding the fact that he had encountered an enemy.
Yue Xuan began to have a vague suspicion.
"My turn, draw!" Yue Xuan declared. "I activate the Spell Card, Foolish Burial! I send one monster from my Deck to the Graveyard."
"A card for precise graveyard dumping, is it? Searching out any monster from the Deck... it would be bad if you sent something troublesome down there," the masked man said in a low voice.
"Then I activate my face-down card! Trap Card: Back to the Front! I Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard in Defense Position!"
Yue Xuan narrowed his eyes. "The monster discarded by Graceful Charity last turn?"
"Correct. And the one I'm bringing back is this..."
The masked man drew a card as it ejected from his Graveyard slot and slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk.
"Spell Canceller!"
A metallic, mechanical apparatus materialized on the field, taking up a defensive stance as it loomed across the masked man's front row.
[Spell Canceller, DEF 1600]
"That thing, huh..."
Yue Xuan was usually the one using that card to screw over others; being on the receiving end for once felt a bit strange.
"While Spell Canceller is on the field, Spell Cards cannot be activated, and all Spell effects on the field are negated," the masked man said coldly. "Therefore, Foolish Burial is negated. You cannot send a monster from your Deck to the Graveyard."
Spell Canceller hummed, manifesting its absolute power to suppress magic. Under the operation of the cancellation device, all magical energy was snuffed out. The light of the Spell Card faded and shattered, vanishing from the field.
His move negated, Yue Xuan didn't immediately follow up. He glanced at the composed Kaiba brothers, then looked back at the person standing before him.
"Let me guess..." Yue Xuan began. "You're Alister, aren't you?"
The masked man's eyelid twitched. He was clearly taken aback.
A second later, however, he let out a short laugh and reached up, tearing away his disguise in one motion.
Sure enough, it was Alisterone of the former Three Musketeers of Doma and the rival who had held a deep-seated grudge against Kaiba.
In the original story, this man had first defeated Pegasus and then posed as him to duel Kaiba, even skillfully using Pegasus's Toon Deck. Once his ruse was exposed, he had abruptly switched to a Fire Deck. To be able to mix a borrowed Toon archetype with his own Deck and ultimately force Kaiba into a draw where both their Life Points hit zero spoke volumes of his strength.
Of course, he had still lost to Kaiba during their second encounter.
Back then, none of the Three Musketeers of Doma were pushovers.
After those events, Alister had learned that his childhood tragedies were actually orchestrated by his own leader, Dartz. His hatred for Seto Kaiba had been largely instilled by Dartz's intentional manipulation, leading the two rivals to eventually reach a reconciliation.
Even when he had been full of hate for Kaiba, Alister had never held any ill will toward Mokuba. In fact, he had once seen Mokuba as a reflection of his own beloved younger brother and had even entrusted his brother's legacya toy robotto Mokuba's care.
Given Kaiba's personality, the number of people he considered friends was exceptionally small. Combined with that anime-exclusive Spell the opponent used last turn and now Spell Cancellera card Yue Xuan loved, but which originally belonged to Alister in the original seriesYue Xuan had pieced together his identity.
"I was wondering what kind of genius youth it would take to earn the recognition of a stuck-up guy like Seto Kaiba," Alister said, his voice becoming much more amiable once the disguise and voice changer were gone. He smiled at Yue Xuan. "Seeing you today, you are indeed extraordinary. To think you actually saw through me? You have a sharp mind."
Kaiba, standing nearby, spoke up coldly, "I never said I recognized him."
Alister gave a hearty laugh, signaling that those who knew, knew, and there was no need for further words.
"So, you're the leader of those duelist groups?" Yue Xuan asked.
"Of course," Alister smiled. "Who else could it be?"
So the White Dragonmaid Group was your idea too... Truly wicked taste.
"So this isn't a Shadow Duel, right?"
"Of course not. I was interested when I first heard about you, and after looking into your duel records, I became even more intrigued." Alister laughed as he glanced at the Spell Canceller on the field. "You seem to have quite a history with this card, don't you? I've been thinking since before you arrived that I needed to find an opportunity to test you. Posing as a villain was just to create some tension to help you perform better."
Yue Xuan: "..."
So after all that, it was just an ally.
Tsk, how boring.
He had just been thinking that the cards the man used last turn were pretty good. If he was an ally, it meant Yue Xuan couldn't "loot" them. Damn it...
At that moment, Mokuba spoke up: "Many of the cards Alister uses were made with Doma's technology from back then; even we hadn't seen them at the time. However, their organization has its own research team now, and they've successfully replicated most of the Doma-produced cards, right? I assume you wouldn't mind if KaibaCorp purchased a batch?"
"Haha, of course not," Alister replied readily.
Yue Xuan's eyes lit up.
As expected of Mokubanot only did he understand Yue Xuan, but he was also an expert at catching the main point. Yue Xuan's fighting spirit was instantly restored.
"The duel continues. It is still my turn."
"Hmm? Oh, certainly," Alister said.
He wasn't sure if it was just an illusion, but he felt like the boy who had looked bored a moment ago was suddenly brimming with fighting spirit again.
"Battle! Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, attack Annihilator Archfiend!"
Gorz leaped forward, his sharp blade slashing through the air. The flash of the blade split the giant demon's body apart, causing it to explode.
[Alister: LP 4000 → LP 3300]
"Next, the Emissary of Darkness Kaien Token attacks Spell Canceller!"
[Spell Canceller, DEF 1600]
The Kaien Token struck as well, its long blade carving a massive rent through the machine. With a deafening boom, the apparatus erupted into a ball of fire.
"With that, the Spell restriction is lifted," Yue Xuan said. "I enter Main Phase 2. I activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity. I draw three cards from my Deck, then discard two."
Yue Xuan drew three cards, scanned them quickly, and discarded two to the Graveyard.
"I activate the effect of Jinzo - Returner which was just sent to the Graveyard! When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon Jinzo from my Graveyard! Awaken from the depths, the bane of traps, the King of PsychicsJinzo, summon!"
[Jinzo, ATK 2400]
The spirit of Jinzo appeared on the field, crossing his arms with an overbearing presence. Sensing that he was facing an unusual opponent, he was determined to give a top-tier performance.
In the real-life card game, a Jinzo summoned by Returner would self-destruct at the end of the turn, but the original version had no such restriction.
"Next, I haven't used my Normal Summon this turn," Yue Xuan continued. "Therefore, I Tribute Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and the Kaien Token for a Tribute Summon! Descend now, glorious artificial angelAngel O7, summon!"
From the collection Yue Xuan had obtained from Industrial Illusions, one of the aces once used by Yako Tenma appeared: Angel O7!
[Angel O7, ATK 2500]
"Finally, I activate the Spell Card, Monster Reborn, to revive a monster from either Graveyard."
Yue Xuan raised his arm, and a giant ankh symbol of rebirth manifested above him.
"I'm bringing back the card in your GraveyardSpell Canceller!"
[Spell Canceller, ATK 1800]
Alister's pupils constricted. He quickly realized what was happening, and his expression shifted drastically. "These three monsters... this formation..."
"It seems you've figured it out," Yue Xuan said with a slight smile.
According to its original effect, while Angel O7 is on the field, the effects of all monsters on the opponent's field cannot be activated.
While Spell Canceller is on the field, neither player can activate Spell Cards, and all Spell effects are negated.
While Jinzo is on the field, neither player can activate Trap Cards, and all Trap effects are negated.
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