"Crafty Earthlings."
The Cosmic People seemed a bit annoyed, and snorted heavily.
"But the Light Source Beast isn't so easily defeated!
Activate the Magic Card 'Resurrection of the Dead'! It can resurrect a monster destroyed this turn.
Return to the field, Light Source Beast Gandila Dragon!"
A thunderous roar, a burst of strong light. The double-headed dragon spun in the light, descending once more amidst the thunderous booms.
[Light Source Beast Gandila Dragon, Attack Power 4000]
"This Light Source Beast symbolizes the great purification of all things by light, and is the universe's purest Power of Destruction!" the Cosmic People proclaimed proudly, "It won't be beaten by mere Earthly insects!"
"Is that so... Then it seems I need to step it up a bit."
Judai rubbed his nose and smiled.
"Then this turn let me show you the power of cosmic companions, the brand-new hero!"
These words also caught Keihei's attention.
"Judai, are you planning to use the power of the Cosmic People as well?"
Yugen just smiled, "Just watch."
"My turn, draw a card!" Judai declared, "Activate the Continuous Magic 'Netherworld's Treasure Scroll.' In the case of an upper-level summon using two or more monsters, I can draw two cards."
Then he gestured to his derivatives on the field.
"Use the two 'Cotton Wool Derivatives' as a sacrifice!
Appear, the singular, miraculous Elemental HERO that embraces the Dark Fluctuation of justice and arrives from the distant New Space—
—Elemental HERO Neos!"
The two derivatives transformed into points of light and dissipated, followed by the sky appearing filled with stars and the Galaxy that divided heaven and earth. A ball of light descended like a meteor, crashing onto Judai's field, raising a dust storm that reached the heavens.
Elemental HERO Neos, summoned!
[Elemental HERO Neos, Attack Power 2500]
Even though Dandelion Lion is a frequent guest on the Forbidden Card list, the actual card has been somewhat weakened. In the animation, there is no restriction on using a derivative monster as a sacrifice for an upper-level summon, whereas the actual card requires "the derivative monster summoned that turn cannot be used as a sacrifice."
Of course, Judai's derivatives were summoned last turn, so even for actual cards, there is no impact here.
"The effect of the Netherworld's Treasure Scroll, draw two cards from the card deck!"
Judai drew cards.
"Next, activate the Magic Card 'Magic Flowerpot,' send the Continuous Magic 'Netherworld's Treasure Scroll' on the field to the graveyard, and draw two more cards." (Original effect)
"Then activate the Continuous Magic 'Soul Sharing'! Choose a monster on the field, then Special Summon a 'New Space Hero' from the hand. The attack power of the chosen monster increases by the attack power value of that 'New Space Hero.'
I want to summon this new partner from my hand—
—New Space Hero: Water-colored Dolphin!"
[New Space Hero: Water-colored Dolphin, Attack Power 600]
The moment Brother Dolphin landed, the researchers became even more excited.
"It's reading elves again! This too is an elf!"
"Cosmic People! They truly are cosmic elves!"
"..."
Nevertheless, Judai was too focused on the duel to pay attention to anything else.
"The attack power of Neos increases by the attack power of Water-colored Dolphin!"
[Elemental HERO Neos, Attack Power 2500 → Attack Power 3100]
"Even so, it's still far inferior to Gandila Dragon!" shouted the Cosmic People.
"Hehe, don't rush." Judai chuckled, "The effect of Water-colored Dolphin! This card can select a monster in the opponent's hand by discarding a card from the hand.
If there's a monster on my field with higher attack power, the selected monster is destroyed, and the opponent takes 500 points of damage."
Judai discarded a card to the graveyard and shouted, "Water-colored Dolphin's effect, Echolocation!"
Brother Dolphin let out a loud shout, sound waves from its mouth sweeping towards the opponent's hand.
Looking at your hand?
"Located your hand's 'Interdimensional Scout,' its attack power is less than Neos." Judai shouted, "Thus, destroy the card in hand and deal 500 damage!"
The Cosmic People's card in hand shattered under Brother Dolphin's echo impact.
[Cosmic People, LP 4000 → LP 3500]
[Light Source Beast Gandila Dragon, Attack Power 4000 → Attack Power 3000]
After being actualized into a physical card, Brother Dolphin's effect was modified to "once per turn," but in fact, the original animation didn't have this restriction. As long as there's enough hand ammo to discard, it can be activated as many times as desired per turn.
Unfortunately, Echolocation shows that there are no other Monster Cards in the opponent's hand. So there's no point in activating it again.
"But next, I'll make 'Elemental HERO Neos' and 'New Space Hero: Water-colored Dolphin' undergo Contact Fusion!"
"Contact Fusion?" Keihei was shocked.
"Neos' fusion doesn't require 'Fusion' magic, it allows monsters to perform Contact Fusion directly from the field!" Judai raised his hand, "Miraculous Elemental HERO, evolving with the power of New Space partners into a new form. Reappear in the form of water—
—Elemental HERO Aqua Neos, summoned!"
Neos flew into the galaxy vortex in the sky, merged with Brother Dolphin, transformed into a water-blue body, and soon reappeared.
[Elemental HERO Aqua Neos, Attack Power 2500]
"The effect of Aqua Neos, once per turn, discard one card from your hand to randomly destroy two cards in the opponent's hand!" (Original effect)
Of course, the physical card version was nerfed, changed to discarding one card to destroy one card, a major downgrade.
The original animation version was much stronger, but later it seems the writers realized that effect was a bit too unrealistic. Moreover, from the perspective of duel composition, to keep up with the duel, the characters' hand count requires a lot of original draw engines for the plot. This frequent two-card destruction effect was a headache for the duel composition, so after the debut, the writers outright banned it from appearing again in the later episodes.
But in a way, it also acknowledges the overpowered strength of this Neos.
Hand reduction is the most ruthless effect type in the Yu-Gi-Oh! system, who can withstand destroying two cards at a time?
This cosmic duelist was quickly honored as the first to experience the hand reduction demo card.
[Light Source Beast Gandila Dragon, Attack Power 3000→Attack Power 1000]
With only one card left in hand, Gandila Dragon's attack power was reduced to 1000, shrinking from a Blue-Eyes White Dragon level of strength to being comparable to Elemental Hero Wingman...
"Damn..."
The cosmic opponent gritted his teeth.
Gandila Dragon's attack power has been reduced to 1000. At this rate, it's going to be defeated...
However, to his surprise, it wasn't.
"Aqua Neos will return to the Fusion Card Deck at the end of the turn," Judai said, "But I activate the Equipment Magic 'Simple New Space' from my hand to equip Aqua Neos.
Equipping this card means it doesn't need to return to the Fusion Card Deck at the end of the turn.
End of the turn."
Cosmic opponent: "?"
Huh?
This guy isn't attacking? Not defeating Gandila Dragon?
So courteous?
Wait...
The cosmic opponent's pupils shrank as he suddenly realized why.
Aqua Neos has an attack power of 2500, even if it attacks, it can only deal 1500 damage, far from lethal.
But as long as Gandila Dragon is on the field, he can never draw a card.
His hand was almost wiped clean by Brother Dolphin last turn...
Only now did the cosmic opponent realize the severity of the problem.
What the...!?
Doesn't this mean the opponent just has to keep not attacking Gandila Dragon, and he can only do nothing?
The cosmic opponent immediately realized the severity of the problem.
His last card is the Magic Card "Attack Seal," which can switch a monster on the field in attack position to defense... It's useless. And the opponent already saw it last turn due to Brother Dolphin's effect, so he can't even bluff.
Switch Aqua Neos to defense, and its defense power is also 2000. Once this last card is used up, Gandila Dragon's attack power becomes 0, making it impossible to defeat the opponent.
Should I let Gandila Dragon suicide attack?
No, that won't work. Suiciding would result in 1500 damage, reducing his LP to 2000. Next turn, a direct attack from Neos would finish him.
"Damn..."
The cosmic opponent gritted his teeth.
It seems he actually has no choice left.
"Switch Gandila Dragon to defense position."
"End... end this turn..."
Yes, that's all that can be done. Switching Gandila Dragon to defense may at least block one attack.
As long as the opponent destroys Gandila Dragon next turn, he might still have a chance to draw a card on the following turn...
"My turn, draw."
Judai said.
"I summon Elemental Hero Flame Lady in defense position."
[Elemental Hero Flame Lady, Defense Power 1000]
"End of turn."
Cosmic opponent: "?"
Aren't you attacking again? Ending the turn again?
But then Judai smiled.
"Flame Lady's effect. At the end of your turn, deal damage to your opponent equal to the number of Elemental Heroes on your field times 200.
I have two Elemental Heroes on my field, so that's 400 damage."
[Cosmic opponent, LP 3500→LP 3100]
Cosmic opponent: "........."
Only now did this cosmic duelist let go of his last shred of hope.
And he realized profoundly what it means when "some people live, but they're already dead."
It was speaking of himself.