Perfect Machine King and Robotic Knight could only watch as the two small monsters flew over their heads and slammed their owner into the ground. The monsters were angry witnesses, but there was nothing they could do.
Makoto Kajiki, LP 2300 to LP 1000
Makoto Kajiki said nothing, but veins bulged on his hand and forehead, his temper close to boiling over.
"I set one card. Turn end."
"My turn."
Makoto Kajiki took a deep breath.
Calm down, stay calm. Just like his master at Duel Dojo always said, the more dangerous it gets, the more you must not panic. Until the final second of a duel, you never know the result.
Believe in your deck and remember the daily draw training. Now was the time to see if that training paid off.
Makoto Kajiki closed his eyes and muttered to himself.
Just one more wind.
"Draw!"
The next moment, Makoto Kajiki almost jumped in place.
This draw created a miracle.
"I activate the Spell Heavy Storm from my hand!" Kajiki Ryota raised the card like a ritual offering. "Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field!"
Heavy Storm, the strongest back row cleaner, flipped the table without discrimination.
"You really did draw the wind this turn," Yugen muttered. "So even background characters get miracle draws in the anime world?"
But then Yugen snapped his fingers.
"Flip my set card. Counter Trap, Judgment of Anubis."
Kajiki Ryota was still laughing. "Useless! Heavy Storm is the ultimate enemy of Spells and Traps. Nothing can stand before the storm, un, wait, what is that?"
"Judgment of Anubis can only be activated when your opponent activates a Spell that includes the effect of destroying Spell or Trap Cards," Yugen explained calmly.
"Discard one card to negate that Spell's activation and destroy it. Then select one face-up monster your opponent controls, destroy it, and inflict damage equal to that monster's attack. (ANIME EFFECT)"
Kajiki Ryota narrowed his eyes.
Negate the storm and then destroy a monster for damage equal to its attack.
"."
What?
Under the invisible curse, the storm vanished. Dark energy spread across the field and formed the savage image of Anubis, glaring at Kajiki Ryota's side.
"By this effect, I destroy your Perfect Machine King," Yugen said with a wave. "Take damage equal to its attack, 3700."
Anubis opened its jaws, and black breath poured out. Machine King melted instantly within it, and the violent current surged onward and swallowed Makoto Kajiki as well.
"Argh!"
The impact equal to thirty-seven hundred damage slammed Kajiki Ryota flat onto the ground. Even as he fell, his eyes were wide open, as if he refused to accept it.
As if to say that even nailed into a coffin and buried in the earth, he would still shout with a rotten voice that he had never seen someone so determined to take revenge on the world.
Makoto Kajiki, LP 1000 to LP 0
"Hello to our dear viewers. You are watching the finals of the Moonlight Cup. I am Wataru Komatsu."
"And I am Takeshi Sasaki."
The tournament logo flashed across the live broadcast before the two commentators appeared on screen to warm up the crowd. The arena lights swept over the stands, and the noise of the audience rolled through the venue in steady waves.
"After several days of fierce matches, the tournament has finally reached its conclusion today," Wataru Komatsu said. "To be honest, this year's event has brought us quite a few surprises."
"Indeed," Takeshi Sasaki agreed. "A legendary figure who had been silent for many years has returned to the stage. Legendary Duelist Rex Raptor crushed his way into the finals, and I doubt anyone here finds that surprising."
"But what nobody expected," he continued, "is that the one standing in the finals to challenge this legend is not any of the seeded favorites. Instead, it is our No. 39, Yugen Fujiki, a newcomer with no prior record that anyone could find."
Wataru Komatsu nodded as he spoke. "And by now everyone should know that this player not only lacks any match experience, but his Duelist rank is only one star."
"To be honest, when I first saw the roster during the Main Event, I thought it had to be a typo," Takeshi Sasaki added. "I remember thinking, what, a one star player, is this a joke? But when I checked the system, it was real."
"Sometimes things like this do happen," Wataru Komatsu replied. "There have been rare cases where duelists avoid arenas and public matches for years, training in isolation, only to burst onto the scene all at once."
"That is true, but it is still very rare," Takeshi Sasaki said. "All we can say is that we are lucky this year to witness the rise of such a dark horse. In other years, he might even have taken the title, but unfortunately."
He stopped himself just in time and took a slow breath. Saying too much before the duel, or hinting at strange forces deciding the outcome, was not something a professional commentator should do.
Even so, his thoughts were much the same as everyone else's. No matter how impressive the dark horse was, could he really defeat a legendary Duelist in a single match?
Running into someone like Rex Raptor in a small tournament was extremely unlikely. Normally, a figure of that level would not appear in a lower tier event like this, and it seemed more likely he was testing the waters after years away from competition.
For the Moonlight Cup, however, his presence was overwhelming. The newcomer's strength was eye catching, and he had clearly prepared carefully to seize this chance to make a name for himself, but fate had placed a mountain in his path.
"Alright, the countdown has begun," Wataru Komatsu announced. "Both duelists should now be entering their final preparations. Will the rising dark horse keep charging forward, or will the legend return as king? Let us watch and find out."
Yugen stood on the stage, facing the legendary Rex Raptor as they shuffled their decks. The man before him looked different from the image he remembered from the animated duels of his past life.
Back then, Rex Raptor had seemed much smaller, part of a short and scrappy pair. Now, years after those battles, he had clearly grown taller and carried himself with more weight.
Even though Yugen had to tilt his head slightly to meet his gaze, the pressure from the other man did not weaken at all. There was a calm confidence about him, the kind that came from standing above others for a long time.
While Yugen was quietly comparing memory and reality, Rex Raptor noticed his look and smiled, striking the pose of a seasoned master. "No need to be nervous. Just duel like you normally do. Don't carry any burden, participation is what matters. Show your style."
Yugen froze for a moment before realizing that the other man probably thought he was intimidated by a legend. The line about participation sounded like he had already been written off.
He smiled and went along with it. "Thank you, but I'm fine. I just remembered watching you duel on television back when I didn't even know how to duel yet, especially during the Duel King national matches."
Rex Raptor brightened instantly, clearly pleased, and his posture straightened. "So I ended up being half of your guide into dueling, huh?"
"Yes, yes," Yugen said sincerely. "I was especially impressed by your ace, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. That red dragon of possibility left a deep mark on my young heart."
The moment those words left his mouth, Rex Raptor's expression darkened. Red-Eyes Black Dragon had once been his pride, but anyone who had watched those matches knew he lost it in his very first duel to the gambler Katsuya Jonouchi.
There was no way the kid did not know that. Bringing it up like this felt like deliberate provocation, and Rex Raptor fell silent, already imagining how he would crush this ignorant rookie once the duel began.
"Oh right, and later you went on to compete in the Duel City tournament," Yugen continued, his expression pure enough that even he almost believed it himself. "I followed that as well."
"Especially when you summoned Red-Eyes Dark Dragon there. That was amazing."