"Duel!" x2
[Yugen, LP 4000]
[Judai, LP 4000]
The arena was packed early on the weekend, with students from more than half the Academy coming to watch. Yugen and Judai had already made names for themselves as famous newcomers in the school. Now that the first semester was more than halfway through, both had proven their unique talents among this year's freshmen.
So this duel would not only decide the representative for the headquarters but also determine who truly deserved the title of Newcomer King this year.
"I get the first move. My turn, draw!"
Judai drew a card, then immediately picked one from his hand.
"Magic Card - E Emergency Call! Add one 'Elemental Hero' from the deck to my hand."
Judai searched his deck and pulled out a card.
"I add 'Elemental Hero Bubbleman' to my hand... then Normal Summon Bubbleman in Defense Position!"
[Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Defense Power 1200]
"When Bubbleman is successfully summoned and there are no other cards on the field, I can draw two cards from my deck!" (Original Effect)
Starting with Strong Desire Hero, Judai replenished his hand with two more cards.
"Then I activate the Magic Card 'Take Over 5', sending the top five cards of my deck to the graveyard." (Original card)
This is an original animation card, one of Judai's commonly used cards. It sends the top five cards from the deck and allows drawing one card next turn by banishing this card and another card with the same name from the graveyard, making it extremely powerful.
Yugen saw the card and smiled strangely, squinting his eyes: "This card... interesting."
"My turn ends," Judai said with a smile. "This semester, I've dueled with all sorts of people, including quite a few strong ones. But the one I really want to duel is you, Yugen."
He glanced at the cards in his hand, his deck.
"Honestly, your duels always give me a lot of inspiration, Yugen. I feel I've learned a lot and became much stronger... But I also feel that only by dueling with you can I truly verify that."
"Interesting, I feel the same way," Yugen replied with a smile.
For him, a duel with Judai was also the best test of the progress he'd made this semester.
"My turn, draw!"
Yugen said in a deep voice.
"I will activate the same card..."
With a wave of his hand, the image of a Magic Card appeared in front of him.
"Magic Card 'Take Over 5'! Send the top five cards of my deck to the graveyard!"
Judai: "!"
The audience started to stir as well.
"The same card as big brother!" Sho Marufuji exclaimed in surprise.
"This semester, Judai and Yugen have been learning from and influencing each other. So it's not surprising that they have similar card choices," commented Mitsuzawa, the ace commentator, who was already in position.
Asuka smiled, "That's wonderful."
"..."
Yugen also sent the top five cards of his deck to the graveyard. Judai smiled and rubbed his nose, "Surprising, the same card as me. Didn't I say? Strong duelists are bound to have similar choices."
Yugen smiled faintly and did not reply, continuing, "Then I Normal Summon 'Lance Demon'."
[Lance Demon, 1600]
"Lance Demon attacks 'Elemental Hero Bubbleman,'" Yugen declared with a wave of his hand.
Lance Demon charged forward, his dual blades slashing toward the crouching Strong Desire Hero.
"At this moment, Lance Demon's effect activates. When attacking a Defense Position monster with higher Attack Power, it can inflict piercing damage once per turn," Yugen said. "Thus, Lance Demon destroys 'Elemental Hero Bubbleman' and inflicts piercing damage!"
The blade sliced through Bubbleman's form, making it explode with a bang.
[Judai, LP 4000→LP 3600]
"Then I set two cards in the back field, ending my turn."
"Then it's my turn, draw," Judai said. "At the beginning of the Preparations Phase, I banish 'Take Over 5' in the graveyard and another card with the same name from the deck to draw a card!"
The Magic Card's image resurfaced from the graveyard, disappearing in a flash of ethereal golden light. Judai then drew another card.
Accelerating the card draw, after seeing the card he drew, he couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth rise, his eyes glistening with excitement.
Yugen recognized that look.
That look always appeared when Judai was about to summon his glamorous heroes or show off the great monsters he was proud of to the audience.
"Here it comes!" Judai raised the card in his hand and announced, "Activate the Magic Card 'Fusion'! Summon my Elemental Hero to the field..."
Yugen smiled.
"Sorry, Judai, but that's not happening."
"Huh?"
"As I said, to give it my all, not making some targeted adjustments would be a disrespect to my opponent," Yugen said with a smile. "So I specially prepared this card today—
—Continuous Trap 'Fusion Forbidden Area'!
As long as this card is on the field, neither player can perform a Fusion Summon in this duel!"
Judai gasped.
What?
No... Fusion!?
The audience outside the arena couldn't help but buzz.
Students who knew Judai understood that he used an all-subordinate-monsters Hero Card Deck, with his main big shots residing in the Fusion Card Deck. Without the ability to use Fusion, most of his combat power was essentially sealed.
And this was much more overwhelming than the original series where "Seal of Demon Exorcism" was used to ban Fusion Magic.
In the animation, Mitsuzawa merely banned the Magic Card "Fusion," but in reality, Judai's deck also had Field Spell "Gate of Fusion" and "Miracle Fusion" allowing heroes in the graveyard to fuse, and so on. Even if Fusion is banned, he still has various ways to perform fancy fusions.
But the Fusion Forbidden Area is not so limited, directly prohibiting the Fusion Summon itself. It doesn't matter if you have a Gate of Fusion or Miracle Fusion, all those flashy tricks are nullified.
"Well... It's definitely that Yugen," Mitsuzawa pondered. "That truly is his style."
Moreover, the Fusion Forbidden Area is quite rare in this world; not just anyone can get it. But with Yugen, everyone knows of his good relations with the two major card sellers of this era...
"Eh? Now big brother can't perform Fusion Summons," Sho Marufuji was dumbstruck, "How can he fight now? This is... so frustrating, right?"
He imagined if he were on the field, he'd probably already be demoralized, angry yet cowardly—commonly known as powerless rage. Half-conceded in his mind already, the second half of the duel wouldn't even need to be played.
But after all, it wasn't Sho Marufuji on the field, but Judai.
Only to see Judai lowering his head, brewing for a few seconds.
And then he suddenly lifted his head, excitedly stating, "Indeed! Truly amazing, Yugen. Targeting the weakness of my Elemental Heroes. Haha, that's the way it should be; this is what your duels are all about."
He said with a big grin.
"Otherwise, it wouldn't be interesting."