"As expected, a duel using such weak, zero-attack monsters is meaningless."
From her car, Phinis watched with a trace of unidentifiable disappointment. Even though Nikaido was on her side and had a crushing advantage, she wasn't happy. Though she didn't know Zero, seeing him use such weak cards made her feel a sense of "shared plight."
"Meaningless, huh..."
Despite her words, she opened the car door and stepped out to get a better look. The setting sun painted her red hair in a brilliant light. Because she also used a "weak" deck, she hoped for the underdog. She hoped for a miracle.
"You can really do it?" Yuu asked, doubtful.
"I can!" Zero emphasized.
"Then go back and hit him!" Shio gave him a shove back into the arena. To an outsider, she looked like a "terrible sister" forcing her brother back to get hit by a club.
Nikaido ended his turn with his two monsters on the field. Zero's field was empty again. His Turn 3 was no different from the others.
"I set one monster in Defense Position. Turn end."
"I've had enough," Nikaido said, losing his patience. "I thought you had some trick, but this is just a pathetic farce. I'm ending this now!"
He drew his card and slammed a third monster down.
"I summon [Warrior Lady of the Wasteland] in Attack Position!"
A woman in light, sexy armor and a fluttering black cape appeared, holding a long sword.
[Warrior Lady of the Wasteland] [Level 4 / Earth] [Warrior / Effect] [ATK: 1100 / DEF: 1200]
Her attack was low, but she had an effect that allowed her to special summon another Warrior when destroyed. In Nikaido's eyes, he wouldn't even need that effect. Zero's trash monsters couldn't destroy anything he had.
This was the final turn. With three warriors on his field, crushing any low-level duelist would be easy, let alone a slum kid.
"Let's end this joke, Amano!"
Entering the Battle Phase, all three monsters charged at Zero's face-down card. To be safe, Nikaido led with his strongest, Barbarian #2. Once the last obstacle was gone, the remaining two could wipe out Zero's LP.
"ROAR—!!"
The Barbarian let out a terrifying roar as it swung its club at the hidden card.
"It's over!" Jie Yi covered her eyes.
"Not yet!" Zero swiped his finger across the disk, flipping his card face-up. "I leave it to you, Steel-Plate Priestess!"
On Zero's field, a blue watery effect condensed into a transparent shield, protecting the slender girl who materialized behind it.
"Block them, Eve!"
[Chosen by the World Chalice] [Level 2 / Water] [Spellcaster / Normal] [ATK: 0 / DEF: 2100]
"(╬￣皿￣) WHO ARE YOU CALLING A STEEL PLATE?!"
A girl's blush is better than any confession... unless it's a blush of pure rage.
Rage aside, the "Steel-Plate" Priestess wasn't just flat-chested; her defense was among the best for low-level monsters.
"And YOU! You're too noisy!" The spirit Eve turned her anger toward the attacking Barbarian. "A priestess being beaten by an orc... that only happens in those 'special' books!"
She raised her hand, gathering water into a shield that reflected the impact, sending the massive Barbarian #2 flying backward.
When a defending monster's DEF is higher than the attacker's ATK, the difference is dealt as damage to the attacker. The sharp burst of water slashed across Nikaido's face, leaving a light bloody scratch right across his old scar, forming a cross.
Nikaido LP: 4000 - 300 → 3700.
"I... I actually took damage?"
Not just LP damage—his body actually felt it. Nikaido realized with shock that Zero had blocked his assault. His strongest monster only had 1800 ATK; it couldn't break through the Priestess's 2100 DEF. Attacking further was useless.
"I... I end my turn," Nikaido spat, gritting his teeth. He noticed Phinis was out of the car watching. He had wanted to impress her, but instead, she was seeing him get humiliated by a slum brat. "Amano, you'll regret this."
"You're the one who's going to regret it, Nikaido. My turn, draw!"
In the fading light of the sunset, the card Zero drew seemed to cut a red arc through the air. The final piece of the puzzle was in his hand.
"I set three cards in the Spell and Trap zone!"
"Eh?"
This was a complete departure from his previous three turns. Zero hadn't summoned a monster; he had set cards—and three of them at once.
"Amano's set cards... could they be...""Shush!" Wasagawa Yuu quickly covered Jie Yi's mouth, stopping her from speaking further.
Zero had bought all his Spell and Trap cards from Jie Yi's shop. Even she was utterly bewildered by what Zero was trying to do.
"Turn end. It's your move, Nikaido."
His brow furrowed, Nikaido stared at the three face-down cards on Zero's back row.
"Traps? Don't think you can scare me with that! My turn, draw!"
With the meager finances of a slum brat, what kind of powerful traps could he possibly pull out? A relatively versatile and strong Trap card like [Sakuretsu Armor] cost 10,000 Eva points. Higher-tier "Ultra Rare" staples like [Mirror Force] or [Magic Cylinder] were so rare they were practically non-existent in the lower sectors.
"Setting a few pieces of junk and hoping to stop my assault? In your dreams!"
Facing the 2100 DEF of Chosen by the World Chalice, Nikaido decided to Tribute his [Warrior Lady of the Wasteland] for this turn's summon.
"I Tribute [Warrior Lady of the Wasteland] to Tribute Summon my Level 5 monster—[Barbarian #1]!"
[Barbarian #1] [Level 5 / Earth] [Warrior / Effect] [ATK: 1550 / DEF: 1800]
The ATK and DEF of Barbarian #1 were the exact opposite of Barbarian #2. Normally, a monster with lower attack couldn't break through the Priestess's defense. However, under the setting sun, the two Barbarians shared a synchronized fist-bump.
Nikaido smirked. "The special effect of Barbarian #1 and #2: when both are on the field together, their ATK increases by 500!"
A roar of primal, "bromantic" rage erupted as both monsters' stats soared.
[Barbarian #1] [ATK: 1550 + 500 → 2050]
[Barbarian #2] [ATK: 1800 + 500 → 2300]
This display of raw power had the lackeys cheering in admiration.
"As expected of Knife Bro's ultimate combo!" "2300 ATK is enough to crush almost any monster!" "Show this arrogant brat a lesson he'll never forget, Knife Bro!"
Soaking in the praise and knowing the Young Miss was watching, Nikaido felt invincible. He entered the Battle Phase with a loud declaration.
"Don't think a 2100 DEF monster can stop me!"
Syncing his shout with his master's command, Barbarian #2 charged.
"Crush that monster, Barbarian #2!"
The giant club swung with such force that the crimson air of the sunset seemed to scream.
Nikaido roared, "It's over, Amano Zero!"
Yuu looked at Jie Yi. "Is it over?" Jie Yi looked at Shio. "Is it over?" Shio looked at Zero. "Is it over?"
Excluding Shio, who was just following the trend, the other two knew exactly what Zero's face-down cards were. Since the attack had been declared, there was no turning back.
Zero shouted back at everyone, "IT IS OVER!!"
Zero flipped his first Trap.
"Trap Card, activate—[D2 Shield]!"
[D2 Shield] [Trap Card: Target 1 face-up Defense Position monster you control; its current DEF becomes double its original DEF.]
This was the card Zero had just bought with a month's salary. Initially, Jie Yi thought cards that only boosted defense were nearly worthless in Eden. She hadn't known then that Zero's deck hid a 2100 DEF Chosen by the World Chalice.
"With the effect of [D2 Shield], I double the defense of [Chosen by the World Chalice]!"
[Chosen by the World Chalice] [DEF: 2100 × 2 → 4200]
"4200 DEF?!" The crowd gasped in unison.
Because of the severing of dueling history and the Overkill rule that rewarded high offensive stats, most people in this world focused purely on attack power. They forgot that in Yu-Gi-Oh, defense is often the easier stat to stack.
With one "worthless" trap, the Steel-Plate Priestess had evolved into the Iron-Wall Priestess. And when defense reaches its peak while an opponent is locked into an attack, it becomes the ultimate weapon—especially with Zero's second Trap.
Yuu clenched his fist in excitement. "That 1000 points I lent you wasn't wasted, Zero!"
Zero flipped his second card. "Trap Card—[Cross Counter], activate!"
[Cross Counter] [Trap Card: During damage calculation, if a Defense Position monster is attacked and its DEF is higher than the attacking monster's ATK: The battle damage to your opponent is doubled. After damage calculation, destroy the attacking monster.]
Double the double—that was the path to victory for Zero's "trash" deck.
"4200 DEF, and the reflected damage is doubled..."
Phinis, watching from outside the car, felt her silver-grey pupils contract. Barbarian #2 had 2300 ATK. Hitting Eve's 4200 DEF would result in 1900 reflected damage. Doubling that meant 3800 damage.
Nikaido's current LP was 3700.
Because he had attacked the hidden Eve in the previous turn, taking 300 damage, Nikaido wasn't at full health. This would be an Overkill victory by exactly 100 points.
"He... he actually won?" Phinis watched the sunset, mesmerized by the boy about to complete this miracle counterattack.
Was this what she had been hoping for? Trash monsters and "useless" traps, in the hands of this boy, had miraculously toppled Nikaido and his powerful warriors.
Impressive. Truly impressive.
But Phinis's intuition told her that the boy named Amano Zero was even more dangerous than he looked. He still had a third face-down card that hadn't been revealed.
Yuu asked curiously, "Wait, what's Zero's last card?"
Even Yuu didn't know that one. In fact, only Jie Yi probably knew. And right now, Jie Yi's mouth was hanging wide open.
"Yuu, I told you... Amano bought a card from the boss last month, too." "So what card is it?" "The battle isn't just ending... Amano's opponent is going to suffer."
Jie Yi vaguely remembered that the card's effect was similar to [D2 Shield], but slightly different. Because it also only boosted defense, the price had been very low. But in this specific moment, it changed everything.
The battle wasn't over because damage calculation hadn't been finalized. Just as everyone thought Nikaido was about to lose to the 3800 reflected damage, Zero flipped his final card, shattering everyone's naive assumptions.
"Trap Card—[Rise to Full Height], activate!"
[Rise to Full Height] (Nioh-dachi) [Trap Card: Target 1 face-up monster on the field; double its DEF, but its DEF becomes 0 at the end of this turn.]
After the double and the double, Zero's final trump card provided a triple multiplier! Unlike [D2 Shield], the boost from [Rise to Full Height] applied to the current boosted value.
"This is the ultimate form: The Priestess of the Wailing Wall!"
From Steel Plate, to Iron Wall, to the Wailing Wall.
"You look so cool right now that I'll let the 'Steel Plate' comment slide this once, Amano Zero!" Eve shouted.
Bolstered by three Trap buffs, Eve's lips curled into an arrogant smile. She crossed her arms, striking a legendary "Nioh" pose. Behind her, the holographic projection began to grow massive under the sunset.
[Chosen by the World Chalice] [DEF: 4200 × 2 → 8400]
Final Defense Value: 8400!
The gigantic, blue-haired girl stood tall, her crossed arms appearing like a titan breaking the constraints of the crimson sky. Was what constrained Zero this fake sky created by Eden, or the poverty of the lower sectors?
Whatever it was, he would change it with this strike. Here and now!
Zero pointed toward the artificial sky. "This is my fight!"
"Witness my power!" the colossal Eve shouted. Her key-shaped staff, now a hundred times larger than the Barbarian's club, came crashing down.
For a Priestess, "exorcism" wasn't limited to magic. Physical salvation was still salvation.
With 8400 DEF against 2300 ATK, the difference was 6100 damage. Doubled by [Cross Counter], the final reflected damage was 12,200 points!
"How... how is this possible?!"
Since Nikaido had initiated the attack, he had no way to defend himself. He was sent flying by a shockwave that seemed to split the sky and shake the earth.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Nikaido LP: 3700 - 12200 → 0 Overkill Damage: 8500! Nikaido: BANKRUPT!
[Duel End. Winner: Amano Zero]
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Yu-ki-oh:King of the Scraps (86 Chapters – Ongoing)
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