"Hmph—so what?" Kisaragi snorted. "This duel ends this turn!"
"What?! Impossible!" Rex shouted. "I still have Black Tyranno on the field with 2600 ATK—there's no way you can beat me!"
"My turn—draw." Kisaragi didn't even glance at the card she drew. Instead, she flipped over a face-down card immediately.
"I activate the Trap Light of Judgment! As long as The Sanctuary in the Sky is on my field, by discarding one LIGHT monster, I can look at your hand and either send one card from it to the Graveyard—or choose one card on your field and send it to the Graveyard!"
Rex froze—he already understood what she was about to do.
"Your hand is empty, so I'll use the second option. I send Black Tyranno to the Graveyard!"
A beam of light descended from the sky and shone onto Black Tyranno. Its body dissolved slowly inside the radiance until it vanished completely.
"Next, I switch The Agent of Creation — Venus to Attack Position!"
"Battle! Venus—direct attack!"
"You won't get away with it!" Rex roared. "I activate the Trap Survival Instinct! I can banish any number of Dinosaur monsters from my Graveyard. For each one banished, I gain 400 Life Points!"
"I banish four Dinosaurs—recover 1600 LP!"
"I told you—this turn, you don't have a chance," Kisaragi said coldly.
"What?!"
"I flip my set card—Counter Trap Divine Wrath! If The Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, when a monster effect, Spell, or Trap is activated, I can negate that activation and destroy it!"
"Therefore, Survival Instinct is negated—you recover nothing!"
The heavenly light vanished, replaced by crimson lightning—like divine punishment—shattering Survival Instinct on the spot.
"Ah—!!"
Rex Raptor: 1100 → 0 LP
Kisaragi Aoi wins!
"Duel end! Quarterfinal Match One—winner: Kisaragi Aoi! She advances to the semifinals!" the referee declared.
Kisaragi, hearing the result, returned directly to the competitors' lounge.
The Crowd Turns Completely
"Did you see that?! That girl isn't a beginner at all—she's the real deal!"
"Yeah! Rex couldn't last more than a few turns! And her deck is insane—those are monsters I've never even seen before. Are they ultra-rare cards or something?!"
In the VIP section, Seto Kaiba lost interest the moment her match ended and stood up to leave.
"Kaiba, President—aren't you watching the rest?" the tournament representative asked nervously.
"The duels after this are kids' juggling acts," Kaiba said without looking back. "Not worth watching. I'll come back when Kisaragi's match starts."
Maximillion Pegasus also rose from his seat.
"Pegasus-sama… you too?"
"Of course!" Pegasus replied. "The remaining matches aren't very entertaining. I'm interested in that girl—Kisaragi Aoi."
The organizer could only swallow hard. Two legends showed up to 'sit in'—and both left for the same duelist… Who exactly is she?
He immediately phoned staff with urgent orders: station people around Kisaragi's lounge and fulfill any request she made.
Lounge Room: Kaiba Visits
Inside her room, Kisaragi leaned back in her chair, eyes closed, resting.
Knock knock knock.
"Come in."
The door opened—Kaiba entered.
"Tired?" he asked.
"Not really. The players here are just too weak," Kisaragi replied. "They lose in only a few turns."
"I told you—entering this tournament is basically you going fishing with dynamite," Kaiba said.
"Yeah… but I already joined. If I quit halfway, people will talk." She smiled faintly. "Honestly, dueling you was a lot more interesting."
Kaiba's mouth curved upward—like he'd made up his mind about something.
From the TV in the lounge came the referee's announcement:
"Quarterfinal Match Two—winner: Joey Wheeler! He advances to the semifinals!"
"So my semifinal opponent is Joey," Kisaragi said.
"That incompetent?" Kaiba scoffed. "I can already see the outcome."
"Maybe," she said, starting to sort her deck. "But you can't know the result until the very last moment. I could still slip up here. If Joey made it this far, he's got real skill."
Kaiba didn't interrupt—he simply held his phone, seeming to give Ishizu Ishtar… no—wait—Isono instructions (the story implies he's talking to Isono, his aide).
Quarterfinals Wrap Up, Then Everything Changes
The quarterfinals ended quickly. Because the first match left such a deep impression, the next three duels couldn't keep the crowd's energy up.
But that mood didn't last.
The instant the first semifinal was about to begin, the arena's atmosphere snapped back to full heat.
"Both duelists, enter the field!" the referee called.
Kisaragi Aoi and Joey stepped out from opposite sides of the arena—and the stadium erupted in cheers.
Pegasus, sipping red wine in his seat, smiled. "How extraordinary—one duel, and she's already pulled the crowd completely to her side."
"Of course," Kaiba said. "She's a duelist I chose."
Yugi's House: Watching on TV
"This has totally become Kisaragi's home court," Téa Gardner said anxiously. "Will Joey be okay?"
"Joey won't be intimidated by the atmosphere," Honda replied. "He just… can't win."
"Right," Yugi added quietly. "In that duel against Rex, Kisaragi was actually holding back."
"Huh? Why?" Téa blinked.
"She could've activated Divine Wrath the moment Rex played Super Evolution Pill," Yugi explained. "If she did, Rex would've been doomed immediately. But she didn't."
"So that means…?"
"Yeah," Yugi said. "She deliberately let Rex summon his strongest monster—then crushed it anyway. At that point, it's less like she's dueling… and more like dueling is just a game to her. You can't do that without overwhelming skill."
Téa sighed. "Then Joey is basically just here to go through the motions. He'd better not embarrass himself too much on national TV… or I might seriously want to cut ties with him."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 80)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter50)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter50)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter50)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 10
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 10
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