Yusaku swept his gaze over the monsters on the other side of the field.
A three-attribute omni-negate board, a summon lock, and a pop on top.
Not bad.
"Then it's my turn. Draw."
After adding the card to his hand, Yusaku thought for a moment, then pulled out a card and revealed it.
"First, I activate the Continuous Spell [Branded Lost]!"
After placing the card, he looked at Kazama. "Any response on chain?"
Kazama glanced at the card that had appeared at Yusaku's feet and said calmly, "I don't chain."
Yusaku drew another card and slammed it down.
"I activate the Spell Card [Branded in White]. I can use my hand or field monsters that are listed as materials on a Fusion Monster, including a Dragon, as Fusion Material to Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster."
After explaining the effect, Yusaku deliberately paused.
Seeing this, Kazama spoke up. "I'm not using my negates until you try to fuse using my monsters."
"You're not chaining even now? Well, even if you did, it wouldn't matter. With [Branded Lost] on the field…"
Yusaku paused and looked straight at him.
"Honestly, the moment [Branded Lost]'s effect went live, this Duel was already over."
"???"
Hearing that, question marks practically floated over Kazama's head.
He glanced down at the card Yusaku had just played, then looked back up.
"Just that card and you say the duel's over? I haven't even used a single effect yet. I still have [El Shaddoll Winda] on the field—"
He paused for a moment, then decided to spell it out.
"Fine, I'll just tell you. As long as [El Shaddoll Winda] stays on the field, each player can only Special Summon once per turn."
Hearing that, the spectators all froze for a second. Someone couldn't help blurting out:
"So that means after Yusaku Fusion Summons, as soon as that monster hits the field, he can't Special Summon anymore. His summons are just… locked."
"Exactly!" Kazama snapped his fingers. "You're absolutely right."
He looked back at Yusaku. "And whatever you summon, I can blow it up anyway. So the one whose game is over… is you, not me."
"My game is over, huh?"
Yusaku smiled faintly. "If that's how you see it, let's find out whose game really ends here."
"Then I'll resolve the effect of [Branded in White]."
Yusaku drew two cards from his hand in one motion.
"I send [Fallen of Albaz] and [Springans Kit] from my hand to the GY as Fusion Material."
"I Fusion Summon, Level 8—[Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon]!"
"And I place it in the Extra Monster Zone."
As his declaration rang out, the two monsters turned into radiant light and flew into the swirling Fusion vortex in the sky.
A moment later, a massive mechanical dragon, seemingly forged entirely of steel, with high-speed thrusters mounted along its back, burst from the vortex and crashed heavily onto the field.
[Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon]
[Level 8 / Winged Beast / Fusion]
[ATK: 2500]
"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell [Forbidden Chalice]."
"This card targets 1 face-up monster on the field. Until the end of this turn, that monster gains 400 ATK, and its effects are negated."
[Forbidden Chalice]—tiny Imperm. Back before he got isekai'd, he would always put one copy in any deck he built.
Sometimes it worked miracles. Most people never mained it, so called shots never hit it.
Against cards like Apollousa, Borreload Savage, or Winda, it was especially filthy—like right now.
Yusaku pointed across the field.
"I target your [El Shaddoll Winda]. Until the end of this turn, it gains 400 ATK and its effects are negated. You chaining anything to that?"
"Hmph."
Kazama snorted coldly. "I'll chain to your effect and activate [Invoked Mechaba]'s effect. Once per turn, when a monster effect or Spell/Trap is activated, I can send 1 card of the same type from my hand to the GY to negate and banish it."
He revealed a card in his hand.
"I send the Spell Card [Invocation] from my hand to the GY to negate and banish your [Forbidden Chalice]."
After sending the card, he stared at Yusaku.
"You could've activated that from the very start. Why wait until now?"
The corner of Yusaku's mouth curled up. "Because I was waiting for your [Invoked Mechaba] to activate."
Kazama: "???"
Yusaku swept his arm.
"I activate the effect of [Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon]. When the effect of a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Monster is activated, I can activate this card's effect: negate that activation, then I can return 1 monster on the field to the hand."
"I negate the effect of your [Invoked Mechaba]! Then I return your [Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous] to your hand."
Kazama's pupils shrank. "That monster can actually negate monster effects?!"
He immediately revealed another card from his hand.
"Then I chain to your effect and activate the effect of [Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted] in my hand! During either player's Main Phase, if there's a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck on the field, I can Special Summon this card from my hand.
And if I control another 'Dogmatika' monster, I can negate the effects of 1 face-up monster on the field until the end of the turn."
"Both you and I have monsters from the Extra Deck on the field, so I can Special Summon this card. And since I also control [Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous], I can choose 1 of your monsters and—"
Before he could even finish, Yusaku flipped up another card in his hand.
"Sorry, but that monster isn't coming out."
Kazama: "???"
"I activate the effect of [Tri-Brigade Mercourier] in my hand. This card's effect can only be used while I control a Fusion Monster that lists 'Fallen of Albaz' as material.
My [Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon] satisfies that condition. Its effect is: when your opponent activates a monster effect, I can send this card from my hand or field to the GY to negate that effect."
"I send this card to the GY and negate the effect of your [Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted]!"
"You even have another negate?!"
Kazama gritted his teeth and looked down at his face-down card.
"In that case, I won't let your monster stay either!"
He slashed his arm through the air and shouted,
"I flip my set card and activate the Trap Card [Dogmatika Punishment]! I target 1 face-up monster you control. I then send 1 monster with equal or higher ATK than that monster from my Extra Deck to the GY and destroy the targeted monster."
He quickly revealed a card from his Extra Deck.
"I send the 2500 ATK [Elder Entity N'tss] from my Extra Deck to the GY to destroy your [Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon]!"
In that instant, a six-link chain formed.
C1: [Forbidden Chalice]
C2: [Invoked Mechaba]
C3: [Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon]
C4: [Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted]
C5: [Tri-Brigade Mercourier]
C6: [Dogmatika Punishment]
The chain began to resolve. The card rising up behind Kazama fired a beam of light that pierced straight through Yusaku's [Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon], blowing it to pieces in the middle of the field.
The effect of [Tri-Brigade Mercourier] unfolded: the tiny bird knight circled around [Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted] in Kazama's hand once, cutting off its effect.
[Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon], in the final instant before it was destroyed, opened its steel jaws and fired a bolt of lightning that shot clean through the alloy war-beast on Kazama's side of the field, negating its effect.
With Mechaba's negate removed from the equation, [Forbidden Chalice] resolved successfully, negating Winda's effect.
[El Shaddoll Winda]
[ATK: 2200 → 2600]
"You've burned through everything you've got now, haven't you?" Kazama looked at Yusaku and continued, "But I still have an effect left to resolve. I activate the effect of [Elder Entity N'tss] in my GY. When this card is sent to the GY, I can target 1 card on the field and destroy it."
He pointed forward.
"I target the only card you have left on the field—your [Branded Lost]—and destroy it!"
As his words fell, a green storm surged up from the GY, shooting straight across to Yusaku's field and tearing [Branded Lost] beside him into shreds.
"Now you have no monsters on the field, and only one card left in your hand."
Kazama folded his arms and stared at Yusaku.
"I still have two monsters left on the field, and I still have [Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous] and [Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted] in hand. Next turn, they can both jump onto the field again. Combined with the two monsters I already have, their total ATK is over 8000.
Feel familiar? Last duel, your opponent was in this exact situation—but this time, our roles are reversed."
"This duel is mine."
Down below.
By this time, Ushio had also arrived at the venue. Seeing his junior from the dojo fall behind on the board, he couldn't help getting anxious. After thinking for a moment, he called out,
"Junior, it's fine even if you lose. You've already done great. If you'd bounced his [Invoked Mechaba] with [Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon] instead, you might've been able to hold out one more turn and turn it around!"
Hearing that, Yusaku could only smile wryly.
"Shishou, the duel isn't over yet. And I'm not losing."
"Not losing?" Kazama sneered. "With just one card in hand, you still think you can come back? Maybe like your senior said, if you'd bounced my [Invoked Mechaba] and I bricked and didn't draw [Invocation] next turn, you might have survived one more turn. Shame you picked the wrong target."
Yusaku smiled faintly. "Do you know why I didn't bounce that monster?"
"Hm?" Kazama frowned. "Why?"
"Because it doesn't matter what I bounce. There is no 'next turn' to begin with. Returning Ecclesia was just to give you a little hope."
Hearing that, the spectators all went silent for a second.
They glanced at Yusaku's empty field, then back at Kazama's side.
His opponent still had two monsters on the field, and two more that could jump out next turn.
Yusaku had only one card in hand. Even for a Fusion, he'd need materials.
With just one card in hand… how do you break through that?
Kazama stared at the last card in Yusaku's hand with growing unease. Could he really turn this around?
No. Impossible. How could a single card clear away two monsters with more than 2500 ATK each, while he still had 8000 LP?
With that thought, his confidence returned. He looked at Yusaku and laughed.
"If you can turn this around, I'll give you my entire deck."
"You said it yourself."
ps: Today while I was out delivering food, my e-bike battery got stolen. I ended up pushing the bike home and didn't make it back until 8 p.m. Time was a bit tight, so I could only manage about 9000 characters today. I'll make up the missing bit tomorrow, sorry about that.
If there are any spots that feel off, please point them out, bosses—I'll go back and fix them.
Also, thank you for all the Flowers and Monthly Passes!!! Much obliged!!!
(End of Chapter)
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