"Sword Fighting Beast?"
Yugen's eyes lit up.
When asked if he's ever heard of this deck, of course, he absolutely has. As an old Yu-Gi-Oh! player, how could he not have heard of it?
It's especially unforgettable for Yugen.
The emergence of Sword Fighting Beast in the Yu-Gi-Oh! environment is definitely a significant milestone in history. For players like Yugen, who lived through that era, the name "Caesar" casts a psychological shadow.
Of course, this doesn't refer to the Cyber Dragon from GX, but rather the ace of Sword Fighting Beast that year, which upon release elevated Sword Fighting Beast to a new level of strength. That ace was Sword Fighting Beast Caesar.
The Fusion condition is "Sword Fighting Beast - Gun Fight" combined with any monster whose name includes "Sword Fighting Beast." By returning monsters on the field to the deck, it can be Special Summoned directly from the Fusion Card Deck without Fusion Magic Cards, similar to the contact Fusion mode of Neos.
When Caesar is Special Summoned successfully, up to two cards on the field can be destroyed. At the end of the battle phase in which this card has battled, it returns to the Fusion Card Deck, and then two Sword Fighting Beasts, excluding Gun Fight, can be Special Summoned from the Card Deck.
It can destroy two cards upon entry, immediately deemed overpowered at the time of release. But that's not the main point.
The main point is that this card is a Fusion Monster.
Sword Fighting Beast is a deck with features that allow it to constantly search and replace monsters during battle. All Sword Fighting Beasts have a shared effect—after the battle phase in which they have battled, they return to the deck, and another Sword Fighting Beast can be searched and summoned from the deck.
The core idea of Sword Fighting Beast is to use this system—superior to contemporaneous decks—to gain an advantage through combat and searching. This system also makes it easy to access Caesar's Fusion Materials.
Caesar can destroy two cards upon entry, never needing to be drawn into the hand for Fusion—this once overlooked feature was a key element giving it an edge in crucial competitive environments back then.
Back then, top decks like Dark Armed Dragon, Emperor Series, and others required you to draw the main boss first to summon.
But not Sword Fighting Beast Caesar. As long as there were two random Sword Fighting Beasts in the deck, and the "battle successful" condition was met, triggering the Sword Fighting Beast's deck search, accessing Gun Fight and Fusion Summoning Caesar was easy.
Oh, by the way, when "Sword Fighting Beast - Gun Fight," a necessary Fusion Material for Caesar, is Special Summoned, it can also destroy one Magic Trap Card on the field. So in most situations, summoning Caesar can destroy three cards.
Furthermore, after Caesar leaves, any two Sword Fighting Beasts can again be summoned from the deck, easily widening the card advantage over the opponent.
Therefore, this deck naturally won the world championship. And Sword Fighting Beast was the last world champion deck before the Synchro Era, possibly representing the highest level of pre-Master Rule era decks.
"Is there such a deck?"
Yugen felt tempted. But then he remembered how particularly attentive he had been to famous competitive decks, especially world champion decks. Yet, he had never heard of Sword Fighting Beast until now.
"It's normal that you haven't heard of it."
Pegasus Moonwalker smiled.
"Earlier, we only found some records in old documents that let us know of their existence. Over the years, our team has been trying to uncover more clues."
Yugen: "And then you found it now?"
"Correct," Moonwalker smiled, "in a certain European ruin. After many years of excavation, our team finally found the stones where these ancient, powerful warriors are housed."
He pushed a stack of document materials across the table to Yugen and Keihei.
"These are the relevant information we've integrated from the ruins and various earlier documents."
The two took it and glanced through.
"Ancient Roman Empire..." Keihei raised an eyebrow, "Did ancient Romans also duel?"
Yugen silently flipped through the files, saying nothing, though in his mind thinking how unsurprised he was.
In this world, how could ancient Romans rule without knowing how to play cards?
No, or perhaps, the Sword Fighting Beasts belonged to them. No wonder the Roman Empire was so strong.
Holding a champion deck to conquer the world, how could anyone play against them?
"The documents don't actually state that, but our researchers speculate that Sword Fighting Beast might have been the deck used by the rulers of the Ancient Roman Empire, with imagery akin to the traditional Roman Colosseum.
Lower monsters consist of gladiators from the arena and some beast slaves, while upper levels and fusions mostly feature famous historical imperial rulers.
The stones seal the most powerful warriors of the Empire's prime, born for battle. But as the Empire declined, the Sword Fighting Beast tournament also gradually faded.
The once glorious warriors were sealed along with their proud arena."
Yugen swiftly finished reading through the files and asked, "Then, where are these stones now?"
"I knew you would be interested."
Moonwalker smiled.
"They are still in Europe, stored in the branch of the Illusion Association, undergoing further tests."
"You know, many things excavated from ruins can be dangerous. Sometimes there are ancient monsters, other times dangerous elves, or persistent spirits over thousands of years, or objects carrying curses…"
"I understand." Yugen nodded.
The world of cards is diverse, which means there are various types of dangers. Especially archaeological excavations, known as disaster engines, require utmost caution.
"But don't worry, after initial tests show no issues, the stones will be transported here to headquarters in two days."
Moonwalker stated.
"We've signed an agreement with Kaiba Company for the joint development of the Sword Fighting Beast stones. If you are willing to provide guidance and help, it would be greatly appreciated."
"Okay." Yugen readily agreed.
Once again, a champion deck.
He definitely won't miss this.
...
...
Takuma Saiou slowly flipped another Tarot card.
He saw it clearly, pondered for two seconds, and then suddenly roared in fury, flipping the table angrily.
"Why... won't you... obediently accept destiny!?"
One after another, that's how it is. Suddenly, it seems like all his chess pieces on the board have their own thoughts.
He managed for so long, feeling on the verge of a critical moment, but things seem to derail like an out-of-control train.
And in that instant.
"Who!?"
Saiou furrowed his brow and turned around abruptly.
But suddenly froze.
His pupils contracted as if he saw… light.
"You are…!?"