This… is your end board…?
Ushio stared at Yusaku's field, rubbing his eyes as if to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
The students behind Ushio were dumbstruck for a heartbeat—then burst into laughter.
"I thought he'd make something scary. Turns out his field is just two Level 4 small fry."
"Exactly my stereotype of their dojo—weak skills, loud mouths!"
"Quit laughing. This is probably his limit already."
On the field—
"So this is… your final board? Silent Magician plus a 1500-ATK filler—Toy Soldier!"
"Didn't you say mixing different Extra summons in one deck makes it stronger? Where are your Fusion, Synchro, Xyz… those monsters?"
Yusaku smiled faintly. "That depends on you."
"…?"
Ushio frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Yusaku only gave a mysterious smile and said nothing.
"Playing coy, huh. After that speech I thought you had some chops. You 'unified' all the summons… and ended on these two?"
"Looks like you're just a third-rate duelist—big theory, no results. Whatever." Ushio swept his arm; his blue coat flared. "I'll end this!"
"My turn—draw!"
He glanced at his draw, and the corner of his mouth lifted.
After adding it to his hand, he scanned Yusaku's backrow, then the monsters on board.
"You know… I think I've figured you out."
"Oh?" Yusaku raised a brow. "Enlighten me."
"You deliberately left a 1500-ATK Toy Soldier to bait my attack. Your backrow is probably all battle-phase traps—Negate Attack, Magic Cylinder, stuff like that.
And that's why you summoned Silent Magician—
I know Silent Magician: once per turn she can negate a Spell. You brought her out to stop me from drawing something like Harpie's Feather Duster that would wipe your backrow, right?"
"Nice analysis!" Yusaku clapped. "Shame it's all wrong. If I told you I'd actually rather you destroy my set cards, would you believe me?"
"Do you think I would?" Ushio snorted. "No way you built that field just to have it blown up. Maybe someone else would struggle with you—but you ran into me."
"Silent Magician stops Spells? Then I'll remove her before using my Spells. As for your backrow—I can clear it without Feather Duster."
"My turn—Standby, Main!"
He flicked out a card.
"Escher the Frost Vassal—if the opponent controls 2 or more Spell/Trap cards, I can Special Summon this from my hand."
"Your field meets the condition, so I Special Summon Escher the Frost Vassal!"
A monster in an orange mantle, body of blue-white ice, seated upon a lotus of crystal, appeared.
Escher the Frost Vassal
[Level 4 / Aqua / Effect]
ATK 800
"I Tribute Escher to Normal Summon a monster from my hand!"
Ushio removed Escher, then slammed down another card.
"By thunder's judgment—Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, Normal Summon!"
Thunder cracked. Escher vanished in lightning; a towering figure strode forth amid peals of storm.
Zaborg the Thunder Monarch
[Level 6 / Thunder / Effect]
ATK 2400
Oh? Monarchs? Interesting.
Yusaku arched a brow.
"Zaborg—on Tribute Summon, it must target 1 monster on the field and destroy it!"
"Say goodbye to your monster!" Ushio pointed. "Disappear—Silent Magician!"
A lance of lightning swallowed the magician; with a sharp crack, she shattered into motes and vanished.
"Now your only Spell negate is gone. Your backrow just lost its shield." Ushio flashed a confident grin and threw another card.
"I activate Pantheism of the Monarchs!"
"I send 1 'Monarch' Spell/Trap from my hand to the GY; then I draw 2."
He revealed another card. "I send the Continuous Trap The Prime Monarch to the GY, then draw 2!"
He peeked at the draws and smirked, flipping one up. "Drew Mystical Space Typhoon. Simple—destroy 1 Spell/Trap. But…"
He paused, then continued.
"Why stop at one? I'm going to blow away your backrow together!"
"Oh? I get it. Hurry up," Yusaku waved, bored.
"...?"
Ushio's face darkened at the attitude. "You won't cry till you see the coffin, huh? Let's see what you set!"
He thrust out a hand and shouted.
"I banish Pantheism of the Monarchs from my GY: reveal 3 'Monarch' Spells/Traps from my Deck. You pick 1 for me to add; the rest go back."
He fanned out three identical cards toward Yusaku.
"Choose."
"Ah—" Yusaku's mouth twitched. "You could've just told me you wanted The Monarchs Stormforth. Do we really need to pretend-pick three copies?"
"Cut the chatter. Pick."
"They're the same anyway." Yusaku tapped one. "First."
Ushio added it, then slammed it down. "Quick-Play Spell—The Monarchs Stormforth!"
"This turn, if I would Tribute Summon, I can Tribute 1 monster your opponent controls as if it were mine. And then…"
He flashed another card.
"I activate Double Summon—I can Normal Summon again this turn. Since I played Stormforth, I can use one of your monsters as Tribute!"
He pinched out a card and looked across at Yusaku.
"I Tribute your Toy Soldier to Tribute Summon from my hand!"
"Come forth—freeze the world! Mobius the Frost Monarch!"
Toy Soldier dissolved in a blizzard; in its place, a hulking emperor of ice descended, each step frosting over the ground as cold swallowed the air.
Mobius the Frost Monarch
[Level 6 / Aqua / Effect]
ATK 2400
"Mobius—the turn it's Tribute Summoned in Attack Position: destroy up to 2 Spells/Traps on the field!"
"I target your two set cards! And at this moment—"
Ushio snapped out another card.
"I chain Mystical Space Typhoon—that makes three of your backrow gone!"
His eyes flashed. "I target the three set right at your feet—destroy!"
Yusaku's set cards frosted over and shattered with crisp cracks.
"As expected of Ushio-senpai—he reduced the field to just one set in a few moves!"
"Do we even need to watch? I declare Ushio-senpai the winner."
"Yeah, suspense is dead!"
"I'll let my juniors speak for me," Ushio said, brimming with certainty as he looked at Yusaku. "Still as calm as before?"
"Don't speak too soon," Yusaku smiled. "Are you sure you don't want to check what you destroyed?"
"…Huh?"
Ushio glanced at the GY—then his pupils tightened.
The students behind him froze as well.
Even the Asahi Dojo students—who had little hope for Yusaku—gaped when they saw the cards.
The Asahi Master also blinked, then managed, "Good lad."
The Dojo Master's face, by contrast, went black. He hadn't expected someone to run that card—let alone open all three!
"I told you, I wanted you to destroy my sets. You didn't believe me—that's on me, though…"
Yusaku paused.
"I didn't have to summon Silent Magician. I could've just set four and passed. I summoned her so you'd think I was protecting my backrow—when I never intended to protect it at all."
He smiled. "Sometimes dueling requires a little brain."
Asahi's students looked sour—whiplashed from elation to frustration in under a minute.
"Damn it, this guy's heart is pitch black!"
"So dirty—he set three copies of Waking the Dragon and baited the pop!"
The Asahi side fired back, snickering.
"Dirty? That's called tactics. He's right—dueling takes brains!"
"Yeah, and he literally told you he hoped you'd pop them. He was honest—you just didn't like it!"
—
"You actually have Waking the Dragon—and three copies?! That card's rare even in the Tops, and you opened all three!"
Ushio's expression soured, but remembering his bold words earlier, he kept his chin up.
"So what if all three Waking the Dragon resolve? The strongest monsters still have summoning restrictions. Whatever you bring out off Waking, I can out it!"
"Oh? That confident?" Yusaku arched a brow.
"Waking the Dragon—if this Set card is sent from the field to the GY or banished by your opponent's effect: you can Special Summon 1 monster from your Deck or Extra Deck."
"All three just went to the GY by your effects. You wanted to see my deck philosophy? Let me show you."
Yusaku swept his hand; three cards from his Extra Deck snapped into the Disk.
"Per Waking the Dragon, I Special Summon a monster!"
"—Appear, the circuit that guides the future!"
"Link!?" Ushio jolted.
"A Link Monster?!"
The crowd stared as a glowing circuit opened in the sky.
"Arrows confirmed. Materials: 2+ monsters with different names. But thanks to Waking, I can ignore the cost!"
One Waking in the GY flared, then burst into four blue streams that fed the circuit.
Yusaku raised his arm high.
"Circuit combine—let a new gale carve the world! Link Summon, Link-4—Knightmare Gryphon!"
"Link-4?!" Ushio's eyes narrowed.
The [↑][←][→][↓] arrows lit in sequence; a steel-violet gryphon crashed from the circuit.
Knightmare Gryphon
[Link-4 / Fiend / Link / Effect]
ATK 2500
"The second monster! Come—Naturia Exterio!!"
The earth buckled; cracks spidered outward until the ground burst. A green, plated beast with corded muscle and feral red eyes erupted with a roar.
Naturia Exterio
[Level 10 / Beast / Fusion / Effect]
ATK 2800
"And the last one—The Last Warrior from Another Planet!"
A vortex of dark red and black tore open—only to be ripped wider at once. Churning chaos fountained from within; a steel-and-flesh war god stomped out from the rift.
The Last Warrior from Another Planet
[Level 7 / Warrior / Fusion / Effect]
ATK 2350
(End of Chapter)
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