Kaihara Ryusuke suddenly seemed to understand, and a trace of fear appeared on his face.
"'Night Assailant' returns a Flip Effect monster from the Graveyard when sent there. And 'Night Assailant' itself is a Flip Effect monster.
So, 'Night Assailant A' in the Graveyard activates to retrieve 'Night Assailant B', and 'Night Assailant B' activates to retrieve 'Night Assailant A'."
Kira explained, revealing both cards at once.
"So I can return both 'Night Assailant' cards from the Graveyard to my hand."
"And I just used 'Magical Stone Excavation' to retrieve a second copy of itself from the Graveyard."
"So now I activate 'Magical Stone Excavation' number two from my hand, discarding those two just-retrieved 'Night Assailant' cards as the cost, to return 'Magical Stone Excavation' number one from the Graveyard."
Kira showed the two 'Night Assailant' cards in his hand, then discarded them to the Graveyard. A burst of golden light shimmered in the Graveyard as the first 'Magical Stone Excavation' returned to his hand.
"And, since I activated another Spell Card, 'Rapid-Fire Magician's' effect triggers again. Every time I activate a Spell Card, you take 400 points of damage."
By this point, not only Kaihara Ryusuke, but everyone watching from the dark web market understood.
Infinite LOOP!
'Magical Stone Excavation' A and B recover each other, providing Kira with infinite Spell Card "ammunition." The two 'Night Assailant' cards recover each other, serving as an infinite cost to activate the Spell. Finally, 'Rapid-Fire Magician' converts the loop into direct damage—400 points per cycle.
This guy just pulled off an infinite FTK loop on his first turn.
FTK—a first-turn kill—is so rare that most duelists have never seen it, especially one involving an infinite loop. Everyone was stunned.
Isn't this guy invincible? You never even get a chance to play!
Indeed, this was a brutal loop. Later, Konami would limit 'Night Assailant' to one copy and change the text so it couldn't recover itself, breaking the combo. But back then, there were no such restrictions, and it was the perfect pair with 'Magical Stone Excavation.'
Kaihara's face darkened, but he didn't surrender. He revealed a card, and said in a deep voice:
"I discard 'Hanewata' from my hand. This turn, all effect damage I take becomes zero. This effect can be activated in your turn as well."
He sent the monster from his hand to the Graveyard, and the Hanewata appeared on the field, blocking the damage from 'Rapid-Fire Magician.'
"Oh? You have something like that?" Kira's eyes lit up.
A rare hand trap indeed—even he hadn't seen it before.
"Alright, since 'Hanewata's' effect is in play, I'll stop looping for now."
Kira shrugged.
"But, the two 'Night Assailant' cards I just discarded still activate, returning each other to my hand.
Next, I activate the Spell Card 'One Day of Peace'—both players draw a card, and until the end of the next turn, all damage becomes zero."
Both players drew a card.
"Then I set a card and end my turn."
Kaihara wiped the sweat from his brow.
He had heard Revolver was dangerous, but he didn't expect him to be this dangerous. If he'd been careless, he would have lost instantly on turn one. He realized now: this might be the most terrifying opponent he'd ever faced.
"My turn—draw!"
Kaihara took a deep breath.
No room for error—he had to go all out from the start.
"I activate the Field Spell 'A Legendary Ocean'!"
The scene changed, water filling the space, and the two stood in a massive underwater palace.
"'A Legendary Ocean's effect: All WATER monsters in hand and on the field lose 1 Level. So Level 5 WATER monsters in hand become Level 4."
He raised a card.
"So I Normal Summon—come forth,
----Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"
A colossal whale fortress appeared, like a biological battleship in the water!
[Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, ATK 2100]
"And WATER monsters gain 200 ATK in A Legendary Ocean!"
[Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, ATK 2100 → 2300]
"Attack 'Rapid-Fire Magician'!"
Torpedoes roared and exploded across Kira's field.
"'One Day of Peace' is active, so I take no battle damage," Kira noted.
"But your 'Rapid-Fire Magician' is destroyed!" Kaihara said.
That was the key. He knew Kira still held 'Magical Stone Excavation' and two 'Night Assailant'—the infinite loop threat remained. If 'Rapid-Fire Magician' stayed on the field, next turn the loop could happen again—and he no longer had 'Hanewata' to block it.
"Not so fast."
Kira snapped his fingers.
"I activate the Trap 'Time Machine.' When a monster is destroyed in battle, it returns to the field in the same position.
Come back, 'Rapid-Fire Magician.'"
[Rapid-Fire Magician, ATK 1600]
Kaihara: "..."
Spectators: "..."
Clearly, it was all pointless—the loop was still possible. Next turn, if that 'Rapid-Fire Magician' survived, it was over.
Kaihara gritted his teeth.
A mere Level 4 magician could beat him? Wouldn't that make him, a dark web manager, look like a total chump?
"I set two cards and end my turn," Kaihara said.
"My turn. Draw. In the Standby Phase, 'Take Over 5' in the grave banishes itself and a copy in my deck, then I draw a card."
Kira drew, glanced at it, and smiled at Kaihara.
"And of course, 'Rapid-Fire Magician's' effect—activating a Normal Spell inflicts 400 damage."
[Kaihara, LP 3600 → 3200]
"Let's skip the warm-up and get to the main event," Kira continued.
"I discard two 'Night Assailant' from my hand to activate 'Magical Stone Excavation'..."