Kira Does All the Bad Things

"My Turn!"

Ryuzaki drew a card, then immediately revealed it.

"The Spell Card 'Graceful Charity'. I draw three cards from my Deck, then discard two cards from my Hand."

He replaced his Hand, then immediately pulled out the other two cards he held.

He first slammed one of them directly onto the Duel Disk.

"I Special Summon this card, Swift Velociraptor!"

[Swift Velociraptor, ATK 1400]

"Oh, Ryuzaki starts right off with a Special Summon!"

Commentator Xiaodu seized the moment to explain to the audience.

"Swift Velociraptor is a Monster Card with the ability to Special Summon itself directly from the Hand. But when using this ability to Summon it, there's a side effect where the opponent can choose one monster in their Graveyard to Special Summon."

"Of course, the opponent has the discretion whether or not to use this Effect. And since it's only the first turn, Kira's Graveyard doesn't have any monsters. So naturally, it can't use this Effect," Commentator Sasaki added.

Ryuzaki continued, revealing the second card: "Next is the second one, Special Summon 'Swift Velociraptor' Number Two!"

[Swift Velociraptor, ATK 1400]

Ryuzaki hadn't been idle during his time away from the public eye. Although people now called him a "Legendary Duelist," it was merely thanks to the light shed by his past Duels against Yugi Mutou, Katsuya Jonouchi, and others. Especially Jonouchi; back then, he'd looked down on that Vanilla Monster user, but now, times had changed, and he had actually fallen to a point where he had to rely on the resume of "getting thrashed by Jonouchi" to make a living.

To return to his peak, he had specifically improved his tactics, searching for the strategies most suitable for his Dragon Type and Dinosaur Type monsters.

What he finally settled on was the oppressive, fast-attack strategy represented by Seto Kaiba, the most famous Dragon Type user in the world today.

"Dragons are the strongest creatures! A Dragon Type user must exert complete dominance with ultimate power!"

Ryuzaki roared.

"And swift, fast attacks are the rhythm most suited for Dragons! Feel the power of the Dragon Type! Battle! First, I'll use the first 'Swift Velociraptor' to attack that Set monster!"

The first Dinosaur charged forward. The monster Kira had Set in his Back Row flipped face-up, revealing a small, red Machine Type.

[Machina Peacekeeper, DEF 400]

Machina, an old Deck type born in the DM era, first appeared in the DM spin-off manga, Yu-Gi-Oh! R. However, even though it was created early in this world, it possessed considerable combat power in the current environment.

With a defense of only four hundred, the Machina was naturally easily destroyed. Kira calmly sent it to the Graveyard and said, "The Effect of 'Machina Peacekeeper' activates.

When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard while on the field, I can add one Union Monster from my Deck to my Hand."

He drew a card from his Deck and showed it to Ryuzaki.

"I add the Union Monster 'Machina Mech-Frame' to my Hand."

"Machina?" Ryuzaki frowned slightly.

This was a Deck series Kira hadn't used at all in previous matches.

Did he intentionally save it to use only in the finals? Does that mean the Decks he's used up until now weren't even his main ones? Is he that confident?

Ryuzaki was a bit surprised. Duelists who intentionally hid their strength by using non-main Decks in tournaments weren't unheard of, but it was truly rare for someone to make it all the way to the finals without showing their true abilities.

After all, Duels were one-match deciders; there was no opportunity to switch Decks mid-match. If someone held back their main Deck only for their substitute to get defeated and eliminate them outright, pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger but ending up a real pig, they would truly become a laughingstock in the community for millennia.

"But it doesn't matter. Under the absolute power of my Dinosaur Type monsters, there's no difference." Ryuzaki roared, "Battle continues! I'll use 'Swift Velociraptor' Number Two to Direct Attack!"

"Flip Set Card."

A Trap Card sprang up in front of Kira.

"Trap Card - Magic Cylinder!"

Ryuzaki was startled: "Magic Cylinder?!"

Commentator Sasaki also became excited: "Oh oh! It's Magic Cylinder! The ace Trap used by the former Duel King, Yugi Mutou, in his Deck!

It can negate the attack of the attacking monster and inflict damage to the opponent equal to that monster's ATK!"

A card like Magic Cylinder, which was obviously powerful in the current 4000 Life Points environment, naturally had a high market price, but by the GX Era, it wasn't considered rare anymore. Although it didn't have many formal appearances in the anime, it made several minor appearances; it could be seen in Judai's Deck when he was building them in the dorm, Sho Marufuji used it when Dueling against a random person, and even some other random people had it in their Decks.

This was also one of the few cards Kira's previous self had grinded for that he thought was decent.

Ryuzaki took the counter damage head-on, his body swayed slightly, and he let out a quiet scoff.

[Ryuzaki, Life Points 4000 → Life Points 2600]

"Getting the first blood in the finals is Fujiki Kira!" Commentator Xiaodu said, "I never expected him to deal significant damage to Dinosaur Ryuzaki on the very first turn!

It seems even Ryuzaki might have to get serious now?"

Ryuzaki snorted, not taking it to heart.

This level of damage was within expectations. He had long known the opponent was the type who favored various Trap Cards, and summoning two low-Level Dinosaur Type monsters to attack right away was partly intended to trigger traps.

While traps were annoying, you couldn't avoid them entirely. After all, if you never triggered them, they'd just stay there. You couldn't just stare at them and wait for an eternity, could you?

Using only 1400 ATK lower-Level monsters to trigger a powerful Trap Card like Magic Cylinder was an acceptable outcome.

"Then, I end the Battle Phase," Ryuzaki continued. "Next, I Tribute my two 'Swift Velociraptor' monsters to Tribute Summon!

Break free from the endless darkness, appear here and heed my call—"

—Level Seven, Tri-Horned Dragon, Summon!

The two Swift Velociraptors vanished together in a vortex of air currents. Golden claws and fangs extended, the massive demonic dragon's feet landed, and the ground of the entire stadium seemed to tremble under the realistic visual imagery and sensory effects.

[Tri-Horned Dragon, ATK 2850]

"Tri-Horned Dragon!" Commentator Xiaodu exclaimed. "Not only did he launch a fierce two-hit combo in the first turn, but he went even further and summoned such a powerful Tribute Monster!

It seems this is also Ryuzaki's acknowledgment of the challenger's strength, indicating he intends to fight with all his might!"

As the demonic dragon appeared, Ryuzaki stood within the summoning storm, feeling his entire aura surge like a rainbow, as if even his height had increased.

"See? This is my new dragon, Tri-Horned Dragon! It's even stronger than the Red-Eyes and Evil Knight Dragon that were taken from me back then, a true symbol of my rebirth from the ashes!"

"Hmm."

Kira originally wanted to say, That thing of yours is just a Level Seven Vanilla Monster.

But on second thought, back in that era when there weren't all sorts of Red-Eyes series derivative cards, it seemed Red-Eyes and Evil Knight Dragon also required two Tributes and were Vanilla Monsters.

Alright, guess there's really no arguing with that.

However.

He snapped his fingers.

"Flip face-up Set Card. Trap Card - Bottomless Trap Hole. When your opponent summons a monster, change that monster to Face-down Defense Position, and it cannot change its battle position permanently."

In simpler terms, that means—

—I'm sending your Tri-Horned Dragon straight to The Netherworld!

The majestic Tri-Horned Dragon hadn't even found its footing before its feet slipped, and it tumbled into that giant pit, falling silent.

Ryuzaki: "..."

The two commentators: "..."

Looking at Ryuzaki across from him, who was still holding his summoning pose and seemed a bit desolate as the cold wind blew, Kira suddenly had a weird feeling.

A feeling that he had done something completely wicked.