"Duel!" x2
In the first round of the Duel City Top Eight, Yugen faced off against Mizuki Mackenzie, the top general of Little Lobster Tragodia, and the battle began.
The other contestants temporarily gathered around the field to watch the match.
"I'll go first, draw a card!" Mizuki took the first turn.
Before she could clearly see her hand after drawing the card, she felt a cold breeze behind her neck, and a somber voice whispered in her ear.
"Take him down, Mizuki. He has something important, win it with a Dark Duel."
Mizuki's movements momentarily halted awkwardly.
A Dark Duel...?
The girl frowned slightly, a trace of disgust appearing on her face as if covered in frost.
"Heh heh, don't forget who gave you your power and whose hands your fate lies in,"
the voice mocked coldly.
"This is an order, not a suggestion on what you should do."
Mizuki: "..."
She took a deep breath, looking at Yugen again, her eyes now flashing with a hint of fierceness.
Sorry. We have no personal enmity, but I just want to survive, that's all.
At that thought, darkness loomed in her eyes, and a faint black fog began to gather around the field.
"Brother!" Keihei exclaimed, "This woman... something's wrong with her too."
"Yeah."
Kaiba responded calmly.
"As expected, those who made it to the final stage aren't easy to deal with... but don't worry."
Kaiba glanced at Yugen, chuckling.
"This guy isn't that easy to handle."
As he spoke, he cast a sidelong glance at the Judge on the other side of the Duel field. The Judge stood there with arms crossed, also wearing a relaxed, watchful expression.
Loren muttered, "This power, this woman is..."
"A puppet of Tragodia, perhaps," the Judge replied, "It's a shame Luca didn't bring back that guy; if we could gain its power, things would be much simpler... but never mind.
Through its puppet, maybe we can gauge how much of its power has recovered."
"Activate the Continuous Magic 'Celestial Court'!" Mizuki exclaimed.
A golden ring appeared in the air, with two Little Angels, halos on their heads, circling it, as Holy Light projected down from the halos.
"Then summon 'Holy God Parmar' in Defense Position from my hand!"
[Holy God Parmar, Defense Power 300]
This was also the Monster Mizuki used in the original work, a Level 1 Angel Race with 200 Attack Power and 300 Defense Power.
"Celestial Court's effect allows me to Special Summon an Angel Race Monster from my hand once per turn when a Level 1 Angel Race is present on the field."
Mizuki drew a card from her hand.
"Special Summon 'Light God Tethys'!"
A sacred white Angel descended slowly from the halo, pure white wings unfurling behind her, releasing feathers fluttering.
[Light God Tethys, Attack Power 2400]
As expected in the original work, Mizuki uses a deck composed almost entirely of Angel Race. Celestial Court is also a card she used in the original work, realized in Physical Card form, with the added limitation of only using its effect once per turn, but generally faithful to the original.
"Next, activate the Magic Card 'Handwriting Erasure'!" Mizuki declared, "Both sides discard all cards in their hands and then draw the same number of cards."
Yugen glanced at his hand, discarding everything and drawing new cards.
Mizuki also drew cards, but as she drew them, Light God's wings spread, and a dazzling white light burst forth from them.
"At this moment, the effect of 'Light God Tethys' activates," Mizuki said, "When I draw a card, if I draw an Angel Race Monster, I reveal that card to the opponent, then draw one card from the deck."
Light God's wings spread as she held her hands over her chest. A card emerged under the glow in her palm, revealing its appearance.
"I drew the Angel Race's 'Angel O1'," Mizuki stated, "Therefore, I draw a card from the deck."
After drawing a card, she quickly selected two more cards from her hand.
"Set a card, turn end."
"You've set up quite fiercely right from the start," Yugen smiled.
Mizuki snorted, not saying a word.
But it's only natural. Although not her will, this is a life-and-death duel. Either defeat the opponent or die, there's no other choice.
"My turn, draw a card." Yugen glanced at the card he drew, "Oh, I've drawn a good card indeed. Against an Angel user, it's the most suitable card."
Mizuki: "?"
Against Angels... the most suitable card?
Though she didn't understand what he meant, she suddenly had an ominous feeling...
Yugen swept his arm, placing a face-down card on the field.
"I'll cover a card in the face-down defense position."
Immediately, a vortex opened up in the graveyard, and the image of a Monster Card emerged from it.
"The effect of 'AD Changer' in the graveyard. By banishing this card from the game, I can change the position of one monster on the field."
Yugen extracted the "AD Changer" from the graveyard, and then pointed to his own face-down monster in the front field.
"I flip the face-down card to Attack Position.
Light Spirit Master Lena!"
The covered Monster Card flipped over, revealing a white-haired loli Mage holding a Magic Staff on the field.
[Light Spirit Master Lena, Attack Power 500]
"The effect of Light Spirit Master Lena allows me, when this card is flipped, to select one Light Attribute monster on the opponent's field."
Yugen smiled.
"...take control of that monster."
Mizuki: "!!!"
Take control of Light Attribute...oh no!
"Lena's effect, take control of 'Light God Tethys'!" Yugen smiled, "I appreciate that you summoned such an advanced Angel right in the first turn, but I won't be polite about it.
Light God Tethys, come over here."
Lena waved her Magic Staff, releasing Light Magic. Light God Tethys then leaped and flew to Yugen's side of the field.
"You... you rascal..." Mizuki gritted her teeth.
To run right into a Light Spirit Master, it's truly unfortunate. Her deck is specialized in Angel Race, over ninety percent of it is Light Attribute...
Of course, at that moment, Mizuki considered this as bad luck on her part, without realizing it was no coincidence.
Even though Yugen's deck often changes with various inexplicable components, he normally doesn't have Light Spirit Masters. This was a special surprise package prepared for her.
That's the benefit of dueling with characters from the original work. One doesn't need to deliberately gather intelligence or have prior knowledge of the opponent's duel. The characteristics and countermeasures for their deck are already well understood.
"Light Spirit Master Lena, attack 'Holy Spirit Parmah'."
Although Light Spirit Master only has 500 Attack Power, the other side is even weaker; Holy Spirit Parmah only has 300 Defense Power. Lena's Magic Staff instantly shattered the Little Angel into pieces.
And at this point, her only barrier left on the field was this 'Holy Spirit Parmah'. Once breached, it was foreseeable that the next attack would come directly from her own 'Light God Tethys'.
Mizuki gritted her teeth.
If she were to be taken down, it would be truly laughable.
The Dark Game was initiated by her, and the monsters were summoned by her. It felt like she was harming herself...
She couldn't let that happen.
"Counterattack Trap 'Attack Powerlessness'!" Mizuki shouted, "Negate the attack of the opponent's monster, then forcibly end the battle phase!"
The trap released a transparent energy, forming a whirlwind shield. Light God's attack was absorbed by the vortex, dealing no damage.
"I've managed to defend for now."
Yugen wasn't concerned either.
This was just the beginning.
"Set three cards, turn end."
Yugen smiled, gesturing invitingly.
This duel still has more surprises awaiting you, young lady, for you to gradually discover.