The Duel begins.
The sky above the Critical Point slowly starts to drizzle.
Judai and the Dragon Lord face each other, gritting their teeth, their uniforms billowing in the fierce wind like capes.
"It's my turn, draw."
Judai goes first and draws a card.
"Summoning in Defense Position, Elemental Hero Bubbleman."
The classic big-chinned hero lets out two hearty laughs, appearing before Judai.
Only by using Bubbleman can you know who the star of this duel is.
"Bubbleman's effect, when this card is summoned·special summoned, if there are no other cards on my field, I draw two cards."
Judai swiftly draws two cards.
"Spell Card, Polymerization!"
"I fuse the Bubbleman on the field with the Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin in my hand!"
Ding! Ding!
A thick white mist suddenly appears in the air.
The rain freezes into small icicles before it hits the ground, making a clear sound as they fall.
A pure white hero swings his cape and descends in the most standard hero arrival pose.
Elemental Hero Absolute Zero, LV 8, Water Attribute, Warrior-Type, ATK 2500.
"Set a card, end turn."
"Good, not bad for a first turn." O'Brien observes from the vehicle, handgun in hand, occasionally glancing at the demons around them as he watches the duel. After the turn Judai completed, he says, "Not only increased his hand, he even conducted a Fusion Summon for Absolute Zero, which can destroy all opposing Monster Cards. Plus, he prepared a Set Card, a perfect balance of offense and defense."
As a mercenary, his first thought is, of course, about the battle conditions.
"Heh, the worst first turn." The Mad King grins sinisterly, "You still don't know the power of the Dragon Lord!"
"Is this the duel of The Supreme King? That's laughable." The Dragon Lord chuckles and shakes his head.
"What?" Many students exclaim in shock.
In their eyes, this opening is already perfect. Being able to interfere with an opponent's Monster during their turn is very rare in this world. A card like Absolute Zero, which can destroy all an opponent's monsters as soon as it leaves the field, is practically an amulet's existence. Yet they still call it weak?
"My turn." The Dragon Lord extends a massive claw and draws a card from the deck. Glancing at it, he places it back in his deck, "Activate the Spell Card, Dark World Dealings."
It extends a finger in front of it: "Both sides draw 1 card from their decks. Then, the players who drew a card discard 1 card from their hand."
"Hmm..." Judai had already learned about the Dark World series of tactics from Tenjo Hikari and had dueled against several Dark World Archfiends, so he wasn't too surprised to see this card.
However, other students were still baffled when they saw it.
What's the point of this card?
The two of them each draw a card and discard a card from their hand. Judai discards a useless card, while the Dragon Lord chuckles, "The effect of Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, when this card is discarded to the Graveyard by an effect, draw a card."
Drawing and discarding one is effectively no loss?
So, it's essentially to discard a hand card!
Watching the Dragon Lord finish drawing, Judai's breathing gets more rapid.
He's afraid.
He's in fear.
He's not afraid of death.
He's afraid of something else.
Before coming to this dimension, Judai had thought about what he would do if something happened here.
Yes.
After experiencing the Seven-Star Incident, witnessing Daitokuji disappear before his eyes, and seeing Tenjo Hikari being interrogated by Kaiba Company due to the Fusion Army incident, Judai had been worried.
If something happened again, what should he do?
Like last time, watch Mitsuzawa get hurt while he was powerless and only full of regret?
If something were to happen in this world, what about the school principal and teachers, who host this tournament?
Despite his daily adventures, such thoughts lingered in his mind.
Especially when he watched the legendary Burst Flame Incinerator burn him to ashes, making these thoughts even more profound.
So, when something really unexpected happens, he tries his best to protect everything he sees.
He doesn't want any more lives to vanish before him.
Originally, everything was still within his tolerance range.
Although painful and exhausting, he and his newly met friends and former partners defended a camp together.
But now...
"Hahaha, it's coming." The Dragon Lord glanced at the drawn card, humming a sinister laugh, "Activate the Field Spell, The Gates of Dark World!"
Boom!
Boom!
In the distance, the giant gate opens with a loud noise. Seeing this, Reign's face instantly becomes gloomy: "Careful, Lord Supreme King, this is the core of our Dark World tribe!"
The core...
A huge gate phantom slowly opens behind Grapha, and it says in a venomous voice under the strange white light: "While The Gates of Dark World is on the field, Dark Attribute monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF.
Once per turn, banish 1 Fiend-Type monster from your Graveyard, discard 1 Fiend-Type monster from your hand, then draw a card from your deck."
"What I'm discarding is... hahaha... it's me—
Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!"
What?
Discard himself?
Grapha slowly sends its card to the Graveyard, draws a card, and then starts laughing, "Then, my effect triggers! When discarded by an effect to the Graveyard, targeting one card on the opponent's field, destroy it!"
"Terrible!" Jim shouts in horror, "No matter how strong Absolute Zero is, its effect can only trigger once. If it's destroyed early, it's a sheer waste."
"Vanish, so-called... [Hero], disappear before my absolute power!"
The Dragon Lord raises its claw high, waving it at Absolute Zero. At the moment Absolute Zero falls, a terrifying cold sweeps the battlefield, even stopping the rain momentarily, but it's all in vain.
"Now, the field is empty for Brother! It's too dangerous!" Kenzan grips the railings, shouting anxiously.
On the other side, the Mad King traces a claw across a fleeing student's face, laughing terrifyingly, scaring the student into fainting from terror.
"Normal Summon, Blom."
The Mad King, hearing its leader's summons, chuckles twice before moving in front of the Dragon Lord.
Brron, Mad King of Dark World, LV 4, Dark Attribute, Fiend-Type, ATK 1800→2100.
"2100 points, still acceptable!"
"But, if this attack lands, will those Archfiends kill those students?"
"No, don't—"
Hearing such possibilities, the captive students scream.
Judai hears this, freezes for a moment, and then becomes more tense.
"It's not that simple, Supreme King—my effect from the Graveyard!"
"Return 1 Dark World monster from your field to your hand to Special Summon me from the Graveyard!"
!?
What—
Judai is shocked.
Isn't that "Eternal Life"?
A small Dragon Lord flaps its wings, emerging from the darkness and landing on the Dragon Lord's field.
Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, Dark Attribute, LV 8, Fiend-Type, ATK 2700→3000.
"ATK 3000!"
"Comparable to Blue-Eyes White Dragon—"
"Moreover... with a Dark World monster, it can resurrect infinitely!"
"Go, my clone, show this foolish Supreme King my strength!"
The Dragon Lord of Dark World leaps high, spreading its wings wide like a bat, skimming across the sky.
Simultaneously, the students' screams echo and explode.
Boom!
The powerful force blasts all surrounding ice shards away, the intense demonic flame even steaming the prisms, engulfing the entire battlefield.
"Hahaha, Supreme King, how do you like it!"
The Dragon Lord laughs maniacally, its Archfiends led by the Mad King also begin to laugh maniacally.
Once the smoke dissipates, the Dragon Lord's smile suddenly freezes.
Yuki Judai, LP: 4000.
"What?" it gasped.
Did not use any Set Cards?
"Supreme King Supreme King, who are you talking about—I'm Yuki Judai, Yuki Judai of Duel Academy!"