The sunglasses-wearing judge seems to finally understand why the previous duelist was so intent on asking if the judge's mood would affect his test score.
Because if he could, he'd be overcome with the urge to draw a giant "X" on this duelist's file and tell him to get lost.
It's only the first turn, not even half a hand, and the field is still empty. On top of that, a "Sakuretsu Armor" was discarded without even a chance to be set. This powerful trap, which can directly destroy an attacking monster, was directly sent to the netherworld before it even had a chance to be used.
Of course, that thought was fleeting.
The sunglasses-wearing judge temporarily suppressed that impulse.
Calm down, he had to calm down. His current identity was that of a judge, a professional one. No matter what happened, he couldn't get angry.
Yugen, with the number 001, entered the arena. His match was already the most anticipated among the current contestants. After this turn, more eyes began to converge on his dueling field, and many people grew curious about him.
"That guy named Yugen is this year's top student, huh?" Tenjoin Asuka leaned against the railing. "How should I put it, his duel... it feels a bit different from what I imagined the top student would be like."
"..."
Over by Manjome.
Underling A: "It's starting, it's starting! That Yugen is about to begin!"
"Exactly! That's the feeling!" Underling B also said. "This kind of strategy, this progression... It feels like even Big Brother Manjome got thoroughly screwed!"
"You guys are exaggerating."
Manjome muttered.
He clearly struggled for a few turns before falling into the abyss of the netherworld.
Then, a grim, eerie expression appeared on his face.
"But if they think this is all of it, they're too naive. For that dog, this is just the beginning."
The two underlings looked at him with sympathetic expressions.
"Big Brother Manjome really has experience, huh?"
"Yeah, it's heartbreaking to see."
Manjome: "So annoying (just die)!"
"..."
"My turn, draw!"
Yugen calmly placed another card onto the Duel Disk.
"Spell Card 'Delinquent Duo'! Pay 1000 Life Points, discard one random card from your opponent's hand, then your opponent discards one more card from their hand."
[Yugen, LP 3000 → LP 2000]
Two blue and red devils flew out in parallel. One embraced a card from the judge's hand, laughing mockingly as they swaggered away.
Judge: "..."
Secret Technique: Hand Vaporization Jutsu.
He pushed up his sunglasses and lowered his head, glancing at the last remaining card in his hand.
[Continuous Spell - Kishido Spirit.
Effect: Monsters on your side of the field are not destroyed by battle with monsters that have the same ATK.]
Completely meaningless garbage.
Essentially, he had no cards left to play.
If this were in an anime, the sunglasses-wearing judge would already be close to the boiling point of a volcano, with steam erupting from his head.
The only reason he didn't angrily flip the Duel Disk and storm off was his incredibly rigid professionalism and constant self-reassurance.
"I am a professional, I cannot get angry, I cannot."
Yugen: "Normal Summon 'Witch of the Black Forest'."
[Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100]
"Witch of the Black Forest, direct attack!"
[Judge, LP 4000 → LP 2900]
The judge stood there with a dark expression, unmoving, taking the attack. His posture was as if he was accumulating a rage meter.
"Turn end."
"..."
From the stands, Underling A: "It's just like Big Brother Manjome said, huh?"
Underling B also shook his head, even starting to feel a bit sorry for the unfortunate judge.
Manjome didn't say a word, but his fingers were intertwined, and he intently watched the duel's progress. Unconsciously, a smile bloomed on his face.
"Hmph hmph. Hmph hmph hmph."
Manjome couldn't suppress the rising corners of his mouth.
To be honest, he didn't know why.
But seeing that judge suffering down there, just like he did yesterday...
Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
It was only then that he suddenly realized that when he wasn't on the receiving end, netherworld duels could be so enjoyable.
Underling B, secretly watching his gradually exaggerated smile from behind, couldn't help but whisper, "Big Brother, your smile is really perverted."
"..."
"My turn, draw!"
The judge composed his breathing, trying his best to focus his attention on the duel.
"I activate the Spell Card 'Silent Doom' from my hand. It can Special Summon a Normal Monster from the Graveyard in Defense Position, but the monster Special Summoned by this effect cannot attack.
I want to Special Summon the card you discarded to the Graveyard last turn."
The judge picked up the card from the Graveyard zone of the Duel Disk.
"Millennium Shield!"
A gigantic shield emerged from the vortex of the underworld, stretching across the judge's field.
[Millennium Shield, DEF 3000]
"It's Millennium Shield!"
A student immediately gasped in surprise.
It was rumored to be a legendary shield passed down from the ancient Egyptian royalty, capable of protecting even against the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon's Burst Stream of Destruction, earning it the title of an unbreakable legendary monster.
"Turn end."
Although he really wanted to make more moves, the judge had no more cards to play. But this was Millennium Shield, with Blue-Eyes White Dragon-level defense. It shouldn't be easily broken through like that.
He could hold on until the next turn and still have a chance.
"My turn," Yugen said. "I activate the Equip Spell 'Wonder Wand' from my hand. Only Spellcaster-Type monsters can be equipped with it.
I equip it to 'Witch of the Black Forest'. The equipped monster's ATK increases by 500."
[Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100 → ATK 1600]
"Next, 'Wonder Wand''s second effect activates. By sending the equipped monster and this card to the Graveyard, I can draw two cards.
I send 'Witch of the Black Forest' and 'Wonder Wand' to the Graveyard and draw two cards."
With two new cards drawn, Yugen immediately revealed a card from his deck.
"'Witch of the Black Forest''s effect. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can add a monster with 1500 or less DEF from my Deck to my hand.
I add this card from my Deck to my hand."
He held up a card between two fingers.
"Maha Vailo, DEF 1400, added to my hand," Yugen said. "Next, Normal Summon 'Maha Vailo' in Attack Position."
[Maha Vailo, ATK 1550]
Maha Vailo was originally in Yugi Muto's deck and was later given by Yugi to Anzu Mazaki, playing an important role in the anime.
"Then, I activate the Equip Spell 'Big Bang Shot' from my hand."
Yugen inserted another card into the Duel Disk, and the image of the spell card appeared on the field behind him.
"'Big Bang Shot' increases the equipped monster's ATK by 400 points," Yugen said. "Also, when the equipped monster attacks a Defense Position monster, if its ATK exceeds that monster's DEF, it inflicts piercing battle damage."
The judge understood: "So that's it. By equipping it to increase its ATK, you want to break through my defense monster and inflict piercing damage, huh?"
But Millennium Shield has 3000 DEF. Breaking through it wouldn't be easy, let alone inflicting effective damage.
To pierce through Millennium Shield and achieve a direct kill, this student would need to accumulate 5900 ATK in one go, which was almost impossible.
"Who said I wanted to equip it to my monster?"
Yugen smiled, pointing to the opponent's Millennium Shield.
"The target I want to equip is... 'Millennium Shield'!"
[Millennium Shield, ATK 0 → ATK 400]
Judge: "?"
Equip it to the opponent's monster? What does that mean?
Does he think this Yugi doesn't just allocate resources to himself, but also to his opponent?
"Then, I activate the Quick-Play Spell 'Mystical Space Typhoon'. It can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field," Yugen said. "The card I want to destroy is my own 'Big Bang Shot'."
Judge: "? ?"
He understood less and less what kind of confusing play this was.
He couldn't possibly think he was just stably gifting him two cards to show friendliness, could he?
The black Mystical Space Typhoon lifted Yugen's back-row spell card into the air, and a bolt of lightning struck it, shattering it.
"That's pointless," the judge couldn't help but say. "Even if you do that, my Millennium Shield will still—"
"Nani! !?"
He widened his eyes, utterly astonished to see that his field was inexplicably empty.
Millennium Shield was gone.
No...
Where's my shield?
Where's that big shield?
He couldn't help but ask aloud: "Where did my shield go?"
Yugen smiled: "I sent it to a different dimension."
Judge: "? ? ?"
What the heck? Do you think I won't send you to a different dimension?
Seeing the judge once again approaching the brink of a red-hot explosion, Yugen patiently explained: "Equip Spell 'Big Bang Shot' not only increases the equipped monster's ATK and grants piercing damage capability, but it also has a side effect, teacher.
That is, when this card leaves the field, the monster it was equipped to is banished from the game."
As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding crowd immediately burst into an uproar.
"Equipping the opponent's monster with an ATK-boosting spell, and then using its side effect to get rid of the monster..." Asuka's eyes were complex. "How should I put it, it's certainly very powerful, but..."
She couldn't find the right words to describe it.
But the thought in her mind, summarized repeatedly, was probably just two words.
Shady tactics.
"That's the feeling, it really does seem like the kind of strategy this guy would think of."
Even though Manjome was startled by this combo at first glance, he quickly accepted this premise.
"Hmm, because the one standing opposite him is a dog, after all."
It seemed only natural that such a strategy and such a usage would come to mind.
Yugen calmly revealed two more cards.
"Equip Spell 'Axe of Despair', Equip Spell 'Mage Power' activate. Equip them to 'Maha Vailo' respectively."
The black spellcaster on the field slowly opened her eyes. A demonic axe head floated beside her, and golden magical energy enveloped her entire body.
"'Axe of Despair''s effect increases the equipped monster's ATK by 1000 points.
'Mage Power''s effect increases the equipped monster's ATK by 500 points for each Spell/Trap Card on my field. I have two equips on my field, so it increases by 1000 points.
The two equips together increase ATK by 2000 points."
[Maha Vailo, ATK 1550 → ATK 3550]
"Then, 'Maha Vailo''s own effect!" Yugen pointed to the spellcaster on the field. "For each card equipped to her, this card's ATK increases by 500.
Because two cards are equipped in total, its ATK increases by another 1000."
[Maha Vailo, ATK 3550 → ATK 4550]
The arena once again erupted in gasps of surprise.
"4550 ATK!?"
A certain still-unplayed duelist, Marufuji Ryo, was dumbfounded: "Compared to the legendary Obelisk... No, it's even higher than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's ATK!"
It was also the highest ATK ceiling seen in the entire arena today.
"Can this guy just casually reach such high ATK?"
Underling B almost fell out of his chair.
Manjome, on the other hand, wasn't completely surprised, but his expression grew even darker.
Yes, he had realized early on that that dog wasn't just good at screwing people over.
Manjome had long suspected that the reason he was so good at screwing people over was simply because he enjoyed it.
Or rather, playing with people's mindsets was also part of his strategy.
But in reality, even putting that aside, this guy...
Was also very strong.
Because with a little thought, he knew that the judge had no cards to reveal, no defensive measures. Even with Millennium Shield's defense, he could still be defeated. But Yugen chose not to.
Clearly, he found it more fun to banish the judge's Millennium Shield to a different dimension.
"Maha Vailo," Yugen said. "Direct attack!"
[Judge, LP 2900 → LP 0]