"Then I activate the effect of [Lunalight Kaleido Chick] I just Summoned!"
"Once per turn: You can send 1 'Lunalight' monster from your Deck or Extra Deck to the GY; this turn, if you use this face-up card as Fusion Material, you can treat it as having the same name as the monster you sent!"
Mizuki sharply drew a card from his Extra Deck. "I send [Lunalight Leo Dancer] from my Extra Deck to the GY. This turn, [Lunalight Kaleido Chick]'s name becomes [Lunalight Leo Dancer]!"
"Now, I'll show you the real power of the newest Lunalight monsters our academy has developed!"
With that, he pulled out a Fusion Spell Card. "Activate Spell Card—[Polymerization]!"
"I send [Lunalight Kaleido Chick] (treated as [Lunalight Leo Dancer]), [Lunalight Gold Leo], [Lunalight Black Sheep], and [Lunalight Cat Dancer] to the GY as Fusion Materials!"
"Fusion Summon! Level 12—[Lunalight Liger Dancer]!!!"
A deafening Summon sound effect shook the arena as the four monsters became four dazzling streams of light, plunging into a swirling Fusion vortex.
In the next instant, blinding golden radiance erupted from within. A beast-eared warrior vaulted out, gripping a golden longblade and clad in lion-crested armor. Golden aura coiled around her like flame, nearly setting the entire Duel Platform alight, the pressure alone making the air tremble.
[Lunalight Liger Dancer]
[Level 12 / Beast-Warrior / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 3800]
"Not done yet!"
Mizuki's voice rose sharply as the cards in his GY shimmered with a deep, eerie blue. "At this moment, I activate the effect of [Lunalight Black Sheep] that was sent to the GY as Fusion Material—then I Chain the effect of [Lunalight Kaleido Chick] that was also sent to the GY!"
"First, [Lunalight Kaleido Chick]'s effect! When this card is sent to the GY by a card effect: Target 1 [Polymerization] in your GY; add it to your hand. I take back [Polymerization]!"
After adding it to his hand, Mizuki didn't pause for even a beat.
"Next, [Lunalight Black Sheep]'s effect! When it's sent to the GY as Fusion Material, I can add 1 'Lunalight' monster from my Extra Deck to my hand!"
"I retrieve [Lunalight Gold Leo]!" Before the last word even landed, he slapped the recovered [Polymerization] onto his Duel Disk. "And thanks to [Lunalight Masquerade], I can use monsters in my GY as Fusion Material!"
"I banish [Lunalight Leo Dancer], [Lunalight Emerald Bird], [Lunalight Black Sheep], and [Lunalight Kaleido Chick] from my GY—Fusion Summon! A second [Lunalight Liger Dancer]!!"
Golden light detonated, and the lion-armored goddess descended once more.
[Lunalight Liger Dancer]
[ATK: 3800]
"Finally." Mizuki set two cards face-down in his back row. "I Set 2 cards. Turn end!"
He folded his arms and raised his chin toward Yusaku, his eyes filled with arrogant certainty. "Come on. Your turn!"
"Finished?" Yusaku swept a glance over Mizuki's field. "You brought out these two yesterday, didn't you?"
Mizuki gave a confident grin. "Two is enough. You're not getting through anyway."
"That sure is certain." Yusaku slid his fingers across his Deck and drew a card into his hand. "Then my turn. Draw!"
The instant the card touched his hand, Mizuki's voice exploded again.
"Now I'll show you my real endboard! I flip my Set card and activate the Continuous Trap [Mask of Restrict]! Then I Chain my other Continuous Trap—[Imperial Order]!"
Both face-down cards snapped open at once. A sinister dark-red glow spilled from their surfaces, weaving into a warped, shield-like barrier in front of Mizuki.
"[Mask of Restrict] + [Imperial Order]?" Yusaku raised an eyebrow.
"That's right!" Mizuki's laughter was practically manic. "To stop your damned [Lava Golem], I'm running three copies of each! Now my invincible field is complete!"
He pointed at the two goddesses on his field, his voice surging higher. "They're unaffected by card effects except 'Lunalight' cards—full immunity! And they can Quick Effect wipe your entire field of Special Summoned monsters! With [Imperial Order] protecting everything, [Mask of Restrict] can't possibly be destroyed!"
"Two 3800-ATK fully immune towers, can't be Tributed, plus Quick Effect board wipe. I don't even know how I could lose!"
Seeing the board state, plenty of players in the crowd scratched their heads.
"Damn, this one's rough."
"Two 3800 towers with full immunity, can't be Tributed, and a Quick Effect wipe? That's nasty."
"If that [Imperial Order] wasn't there, maybe. With it on board, I can't think of a way through."
"…"
Hearing that only made Mizuki smugger. He glanced sideways at Yusaku with a cold sneer. "This time you're finally out of moves, Yusaku!"
"This field of yours… feels kind of weak." Yusaku let out a quiet snort.
Mizuki: "?"
Before Mizuki could demand an explanation, Yusaku directly revealed a card from his hand.
"[Dinowrestler Pankratops]. If your opponent controls more monsters than you do, you can Special Summon it from your hand."
The moment the card hit the Duel Disk, golden vines twisted and coiled as a hulking dinosaur stomped into existence, its body rotting and warped with savage power.
[Dinowrestler Pankratops]
[Level 7 / Dinosaur / Effect]
[ATK: 2600]
"Dinowrestler?" Mizuki frowned, then waved dismissively. "Whatever. I'll just blow it up. I activate the effect of one of my [Lunalight Liger Dancer]—once per turn, during either player's turn, I can send 1 'Lunalight' monster from my Extra Deck to the GY; destroy all your opponent's Special Summoned monsters!"
"I send [Lunalight Panther Dancer] from my Extra Deck to the GY—destroy your [Pankratops]!"
"You're firing it off already?" Yusaku's lips curled into a faint smile. "Makes sense. If you don't use it now, you won't get the chance later."
Mizuki: "?"
Yusaku continued, calm as ever.
"Then I Chain to your effect: [Dinowrestler Pankratops]. During either player's turn: You can Tribute 1 'Dinowrestler' monster; target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy it."
"It's got a Quick Effect too, and it Tributes itself… but it doesn't matter. My two [Lunalight Liger Dancer] are unaffected by anything except 'Lunalight' cards!"
But before he could finish savoring that thought, Yusaku shook his head.
"Who said I'm destroying a monster?" Yusaku pointed straight at Mizuki's back row. "It destroys any card on the field. That includes Spell and Trap Cards. I'm destroying your [Imperial Order]!"
"What?!" Mizuki's pupils constricted.
The Dinowrestler became a streak of emerald light and slammed into the core of the dark-red barrier. With a thunderous crack, [Imperial Order] shattered, and the twisted shield dissolved along with it.
"Which means your Spell lock is gone."
Yusaku immediately played another card from his hand.
"Activate Spell Card [Lightning Storm]! Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards you control!"
"Not happening!" Mizuki reacted instantly. A card in his GY lit up. "[Lunalight Silver Hound]'s effect! When a Spell/Trap effect is activated: I can banish this card and 1 'Lunalight' Fusion Monster from my GY; negate that activation! I banish [Lunalight Silver Hound] and [Lunalight Perfume Dancer]—negate your [Lightning Storm]!"
A silver-gray energy cyclone surged out of the GY and collided head-on with Yusaku's lightning, the two forces canceling out in a blinding flash.
"Didn't expect that, did you, Yusaku?" Mizuki sneered. "I've got a card in my GY that can negate Spells!"
"How could I not expect it?" Yusaku glanced at him and drew out another card. "But whether you have it or not doesn't matter. Besides Lightning Storm, I've got this too."
Mizuki's grin froze.
On the revealed card, a wing-spanning harpy whipped up a storm of glittering feathers. "Activate Spell Card [Harpie's Feather Duster]! Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards you control!"
A sweeping gale of green magic tore through Mizuki's back row, and the remaining [Mask of Restrict] was shredded into fragments.
"Now your Tribute lock is gone."
"Go say hi to an old friend." Yusaku's voice was steady, but the pressure behind it was absolute. "I Tribute both of your [Lunalight Liger Dancer]—Special Summon my Level 8 descent!"
"Appear—[Lava Golem]!!!"
"???"
Mizuki's mind went blank.
A scorching tidal wave of magma surged from nowhere and swallowed the two Lunalight goddesses in an instant. Amid shrieking metal and collapsing light, their forms melted away inside crimson pillars of flame. Firestorm and sparks blasted upward, exploding into a brilliant, lethal rain.
A towering giant wreathed in flames crashed down behind Mizuki. Every step split the virtual ground into molten cracks, and the iron cage embedded in its chest glowed dark red, barely containing its ferocity.
[Lava Golem]
[Level 8 / Fiend / Effect]
[ATK: 3000]
Watching his "invincible board" turn into an enemy monster, Mizuki went livid. His face turned iron-blue, knuckles whitening as veins bulged at his temple. "Six cards! Four of them are board breakers! Is your Deck nothing but board breakers? Do you even build a board?"
"I've also got [Dark Hole] in hand." Yusaku casually revealed another card. "As for building a board… didn't I tell you? The more people obsess over building fields, the more they forget the essence of a Duel."
"Winning doesn't require clinging to building a field. If you strip your opponent of the ability to Duel, you still win." Yusaku's voice rose sharply, his card catching the sunlight with a strange crimson gleam. "So I'm not building a board anymore—I'm going beyond building a board!!!"
The moment the crowd saw that card, they froze for half a second, then erupted.
"Holy hell—it's Numeron!!!"
Hearing that, Mizuki jolted, instantly thinking of a certain strategy. His pupils shrank. "Mathmech?"
His question hadn't even finished when Yusaku slammed the card onto his Duel Disk.
"Activate Field Spell—[Numeron Network]!!!!"
Blood-red patterns spread from the Duel Disk's center like a spiderweb, flooding the entire field. Sinister crimson lotus shapes bloomed between the lines as countless red energy threads intertwined in the air.
A massive blood-colored flower disc unfolded beneath Yusaku's feet, lifting him into midair. His coat tails snapped in the turbulent flow of power.
Yusaku spread his arms wide. Behind him, a vast shadow of black wings unfurled, blotting out the air itself with crushing pressure. The arena went dead silent.
"Witness the power of Numeron."
"[Numeron Network]'s effect—once per turn, during my Main Phase, I send 1 [Numeron] Normal Spell from my Deck to the GY, and this card's effect becomes that Spell's effect."
Yusaku drew a card from his Deck, briefly showed it, then sent it to the GY.
"I'll use—[Numeron Calling]!"
In an instant, the blood-colored flower disc beneath his feet detonated, becoming an infinite surge of golden brilliance that shot into the sky and formed a gigantic vortex overhead.
"These four monsters are the earliest of the 'Number'—the Earth's guardians who watch from the ground!"
"Come forth—[Number 4: Numeron Gate Catvari]!"
"Next—[Number 3: Numeron Gate Trini]! [Number 2: Numeron Gate Dve]!"
"And finally, the pinnacle of Numeron—descend, [Number 1: Numeron Gate Ekam]!"
A storm of golden light swept the entire arena as Yusaku's coat roared in the gale. He shouted:
"When the unbreakable, sky-scraping gates of hell open—discard your last shred of hope!"
From the vortex, enormous metallic gates slowly descended, stacking one after another behind Yusaku until four gates fused into a single "Gate of Hell" that spanned heaven and earth. Numeron sigils etched across the surface pulsed with ominous red light.
[Number 1/2/3/4: Numeron Gate Ekam/Dve/Trini/Catvari]
[Machine / Xyz / Effect]
[ATK: 1000]
Staring at the massive gates, Mizuki blurted in disbelief, "You Special Summoned four Number Xyz monsters at once?!"
"Battle Phase." Yusaku's command was razor-clean. He pointed at the Lava Golem. "Numeron Gate Ekam, attack!"
Blood-red lightning gathered at the top of the gate and crashed into Lava Golem.
A 1000-ATK monster crashing into a 3000-ATK monster made the crowd frown, and even Mizuki froze. "Are you insane?!"
The moment the lightning struck, arcs exploded across Lava Golem's body and the attack rebounded straight back to Yusaku's side.
"BOOM—!"
A towering blast swallowed Yusaku's field, and even the massive gate was buried in smoke.
[Yusaku, LP 8000 → 6000]
From within the smoke, Yusaku's voice rang out clearly.
"All [Numeron Gate] monsters can't be destroyed by battle. And after the Damage Step ends, I can detach 1 material to double the ATK of all [Numeron] monsters I control until the end of the turn!"
"Double it all you want. Your Numeron monsters don't have any Xyz Materials!"
"As long as I have [Numeron Network], when my Numeron monsters activate their effects—there's no need to detach materials." Yusaku glanced at him. "So all my monsters' ATK doubles."
The red patterns on the ground flared as a torrent of energy surged into the smoke. The gates' crimson glow intensified.
[Number 1/2/3/4: Numeron Gate Ekam/Dve/Trini/Catvari]
[ATK: 1000 → 2000]
"Numeron Gate Dve, attack Lava Golem!"
Red lightning surged again. The ATK was still lower, and the attack bounced back.
[Yusaku, LP 6000 → 5000]
But the gates' crimson glow spiked again.
[Number 1/2/3/4: Numeron Gate Ekam/Dve/Trini/Catvari]
[ATK: 2000 → 4000]
"Numeron Gate Trini, attack!"
This time, the 4000-ATK lightning finally tore through Lava Golem's defense.
The deep-red fiend let out a despairing howl before exploding into fragments. As the debris dissipated, the remaining shockwave slammed into Mizuki and knocked him flat.
[Mizuki, LP 8000 → 6000]
"Activate [Numeron Gate Trini]'s effect—double our ATK again!"
[Number 1/2/3/4: Numeron Gate Ekam/Dve/Trini/Catvari]
[ATK: 4000 → 8000]
Seeing that blinding number, Mizuki's face drained of color. "Impossible… Xyz monsters that don't need materials to activate effects… this isn't real!"
Yusaku didn't bother responding. Calmly, he issued the final command.
"Numeron Gate Catvari. Direct attack."
An 8000-ATK beam speared straight through Mizuki. The ensuing explosion launched him backward, and his Duel Disk's Life Points hit zero instantly.
"Aaaaargh!!"
[Mizuki, LP 6000 → 0]
(End of Chapter)
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