Yusaku drew his opening hand from his Deck. After thinking it over for a moment, he picked out one card and flipped it face-up.
"First, I activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards from my Deck."
As he added the cards to his hand, Yusaku couldn't help but feel a rush of satisfaction.
As expected of a forever-forbidden card. A pure +1 with no conditions is just too much value. It's been in my Deck for so long, and I finally drew it.
He glanced at the cards he'd drawn and pulled one out.
"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Branded Opening!"
"The effect of this card: I discard 1 card from my hand. Then I can either add 1 'Despia' monster from my Deck to my hand, or Special Summon it in Defense Position."
Yusaku revealed the card he was discarding.
"I choose to send Branded Sword from my hand to the Graveyard, and Special Summon Aluber the Jester of Despia from my Deck in Defense Position!"
Aluber the Jester of Despia
[Level 4 / Fairy / Effect]
[DEF: 0]
"The effect of Aluber the Jester of Despia," Yusaku continued.
"When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add 1 'Branded' Spell or Trap from my Deck to my hand."
"I add the Spell Card Branded Fusion from my Deck to my hand."
After adding the searched card, he kept going without missing a beat.
"Next, I activate the effect of Bystial Lubellion in my hand. I can send this card from my hand to the Graveyard to activate its effect and add 1 'Bystial' monster, other than this card, from my Deck to my hand."
"I send it to the Graveyard and add Bystial Magnamhut from my Deck to my hand."
Bystial?
Hearing the monster's name, Kazuki frowned. According to the intel he'd gathered, Yusaku had never used those cards before.
Just how many engines does this guy have in his Deck?
Doesn't he ever brick?
But… ultimately, he decided it didn't matter.
He glanced at one particular card in his own hand. For this match, he'd even brought out the dojo's treasured ace.
With that card in hand, he was confident that no matter what kind of board his opponent built, he could break it.
"Next, I Normal Summon Guiding Quem, the Virtuous!" Yusaku's plays continued to flow.
Guiding Quem, the Virtuous
[Level 4 / Spellcaster / Effect]
[ATK: 1500]
"Then I activate the Spell Card Branded Fusion! I Fusion Summon 1 monster whose materials are 'Fallen of Albaz' plus a Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast monster."
Yusaku fanned out two cards that popped out from his Deck.
"I send the Winged Beast monster Tri-Brigade Mercourier and Fallen of Albaz from my Deck to the Graveyard as Fusion Materials!"
"Fusion Summon! Level 8—Brigrand the Glory Dragon! I place it in my Extra Monster Zone!"
The two monsters turned into radiant light and spiraled into the Fusion vortex hanging in the air.
A moment later, a massive mechanical dragon, as if forged entirely of steel and outfitted with high-output thrusters on its back, shot out from the vortex and crashed heavily onto the field.
Brigrand the Glory Dragon
[Level 8 / Dragon / Fusion]
[ATK: 2500]
"I'm not done yet!"
Yusaku pinched another card between his fingers and raised it.
"I activate the effect of Bystial Magnamhut in my hand. I target 1 LIGHT or DARK monster in either player's Graveyard, banish it, and Special Summon this card from my hand."
"I banish the DARK-Attribute Tri-Brigade Mercourier from my Graveyard and Special Summon this monster!"
Bystial Magnamhut
[Level 6 / Dragon / Effect]
[ATK: 2500]
"I activate Bystial Magnamhut's effect, then chain the effect of the banished Tri-Brigade Mercourier, and on top of that, chain the effect of Branded Sword in my Graveyard!"
Chain 1: Bystial Magnamhut → Chain 2: Tri-Brigade Mercourier → Chain 3: Branded Sword.
"First is the effect of Branded Sword," Yusaku explained.
"I can banish this card from my Graveyard, then target 1 of my banished 'Fallen of Albaz' or a monster that mentions it. I add that monster back to my hand."
"So I return Tri-Brigade Mercourier, which mentions Fallen of Albaz, from the banished zone to my hand."
After retrieving the card from the banished zone, Yusaku continued.
"Next is Tri-Brigade Mercourier's effect. If this card is banished, I can add 1 'Fallen of Albaz' or 1 monster that mentions it, other than this card, from my Deck to my hand."
"I add Cartesia, the Virtuous from my Deck to my hand, which also mentions Fallen of Albaz."
"And finally, Bystial Magnamhut's effect. When this card is Special Summoned, I can activate its effect: during the End Phase of this turn, I add 1 Dragon monster, other than this card, from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand."
Hearing this, the spectators couldn't help but click their tongues.
"He just stacked a three-card chain, and every link is a search effect. This Deck's resource engine is insane!"
"Most Decks lose more and more cards as they play. But with his Deck, he doesn't just not run out of resources—he actually gains more the longer the turn goes. And the worst part is, his Deck can move on the opponent's turn too!"
"What a bunch of country bumpkins." Candle in the Wind crossed his arms, smug. "Don't you get it? No matter how the meta shifts, anything with 'Branded' in its name has weight. As long as you know how to pilot it, this Deck goes at least fifty-fifty into anything!"
"I seriously don't know where those Red Sun Dojo guys got the confidence to challenge our senpai."
"Kid, I've put up with you long enough!"
The four trainees from Red Sun Dojo all had veins bulging on their foreheads after hearing Candle in the Wind's running commentary.
"You've been yapping nonstop since the first two Duels started. Duel me! I wanna see how good you actually are!"
Candle in the Wind's eyes lit up.
Since he wasn't one of the official participants, no one here had been willing to Duel him so far. He'd just been looking for a chance—yet he hadn't expected someone to walk straight up and offer themselves.
"Bring it on, see if I'm scared!" Candle in the Wind said excitedly.
Watching Candle in the Wind snap his Duel Disk open, face shining with excitement as he walked toward an open spot, Kouki couldn't help but shake his head.
"That guy really lives for the grind, huh…"
On the field—
Kazuki's brow furrowed slightly. Based on the information he'd gathered from the earlier matches, he'd assumed his opponent was running a going-second Deck.
Otherwise, how else could he play so much on the opponent's turn?
But now, it clearly wasn't that simple. His going-first board looked anything but weak.
Yusaku glanced over at Candle in the Wind, who was happily starting another Duel in the distance, and gave him a silent thumbs-up in his heart.
A truly excellent stalk of leek. Even if you don't water it, it still grows all on its own.
(End of Chapter)
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