"By the effect of 'Card of Demise,' I draw from my deck!"
Genichiro drew, then immediately revealed a card from his hand.
"I tribute the two tokens summoned by 'Fire of Doomsday' on my field for a Tribute Summon!"
A storm of tributes swirled up, and a massive figure flickered into view within it. Genichiro paused briefly, then bared a smug grin.
"Heh, Ryuzaki had this card once too, but that idiot lost it in Battle City! I, however, will never allow it to leave my deck.
"Watch closely. A dragon born from the interweaving of light and shadow, dwelling within the heart of an evil knight—
"—Level Seven, Evil Knight Dragon, summon!"
Evil Knight Dragon, ATK 2350
Kira thought, Yeah, don't worry. It won't leave your deck. Because I'm taking all of it.
Still, he gave his opponent some face and put on a surprised expression.
"Evil Knight Dragon! Ryuzaki's former ace, a Rare Card second only to Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Its ATK was exactly fifty points lower than Red-Eyes Black Dragon's. Wasn't that technically second only to Red-Eyes?
Genichiro grew even smugger and planted his hands on his hips. "Being amazed now is only the beginning. Fear me, tremble, and submit before power!"
"So strong. Too strong. That's why I activate my Set Card."
Kira flipped over a card in his back row.
"Trap Card, 'Bottomless Trap Hole.' When a monster with 1500 or more ATK is summoned, destroy it and banish it from the game."
A vortex opened on Genichiro's field. Evil Knight Dragon's entrance animation had not even finished before the entire dragon suddenly toppled into the bottomless abyss, falling all the way into the Different Dimension.
Genichiro: "."
He was still holding that hands-on-hips pose, but against the backdrop of being utterly trapped, he looked rather like a clown.
To put it tactfully, the guy was already considering heading to Gotham to play Batman's rival.
What he really wanted to say was, if you had something like that in your back row, why the hell were you acting like you were so strong?
Was it fun messing with me?
Genichiro, the sunny boy who had been smirking sinisterly ever since the duel began, finally could not laugh anymore. Having two powerful monsters trapped in a single turn made even him start to feel irritated.
But it was still fine.
"Hmph, not bad. But don't get cocky. Now you'll witness true despairing darkness!"
Though he was still talking tough, Genichiro probably had not noticed that his smile had vanished at some point.
"I flip my Set Card, Spell Card 'Foolish Burial'!" Genichiro said. "This card lets me send one monster from my deck to the Graveyard.
"I send 'Balloon Lizard' from my deck to the Graveyard."
He pulled a card from his deck, searched out the monster card, and sent it to the Graveyard.
"Then I activate another Set Card, Continuous Trap 'Limit Reverse'!" Genichiro said. "It can Special Summon a monster with 1000 or less ATK from my Graveyard in Attack Position.
"I revive the 'Balloon Lizard' I just sent to the Graveyard!"
Balloon Lizard, ATK 500
"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Super Evolution Pill' from my hand!" Genichiro continued. "I tribute one Reptile-Type monster on the field to Special Summon one Dinosaur-Type monster from my hand!
"I tribute the 'Balloon Lizard' on my field!"
Golden glow burst from the Evolution Pill spell card and enveloped the lizard on the field. The tiny lizard began evolving rapidly under the influence of magic, its body growing at a visible speed until it reached a height of more than ten meters in mere moments.
"From the depths of time, break free from the shackles of endless ages and descend here now! Evolution Summon, Level 8—
"—Super Ancient Dinobeast!!!"
Super Ancient Dinobeast, ATK 2700
Even after stepping on so many traps, he had summoned another ace monster within a single turn!
Could anyone else do something like that? Could Ryuzaki do it?
Genichiro immediately felt his spirits soar, and he nearly burst into laughter again.
Could you possibly pull out another Bottomless Trap Hole to trap this one too?
"I flip my Set Card, Trap Card 'Trap of Darkness.'" Kira calmly snapped his fingers again. "It can only be activated when my LP is 3000 or lower.
"I pay 1000 LP, and this card's effect becomes the same as a Normal Trap in my Graveyard."
Kira, LP 3000 → LP 2000
"Of course, I choose this one."
The Trap Card in his back row rapidly transformed as a data stream swept across it, changing into another form.
"Trap Card, 'Bottomless Trap Hole'! When a monster with 1500 or more ATK is summoned, destroy it and banish it from the game!"
Genichiro: "!!!"
His mouth fell open as he desperately reached toward the powerful monster he had finally managed to bring out after so much effort, as though trying to hold it back. But what could not be held back would not be held back. Super Ancient Dinobeast seemed to cast him a helpless glance before its body tilted and it plunged straight into the pit, following Evil Knight Dragon into the Different Dimension.
Genichiro: "."
Another Trap Hole? Another fucking Trap Hole? Did your family wholesale pits or something?
Genichiro began wearing a mask of pain.
He definitely did not look very sunny anymore.
It was rather strange when one thought about it. Of the two people on the field, he was clearly the Dark Duelist. He was the one supposed to bring darkness and pain to his opponent.
Yet after only half a duel, he suddenly realized that the mask of pain was on his own face.
This was the first time since becoming a Dark Duelist that he had discovered someone even darker than himself!
By comparison, he suddenly felt that all the darkness he had wielded until now had only been superficial. At most, he relied on mental and physical pain to torment his opponents to the brink of collapse.
But his opponent was something else. This guy did not need any outside force at all. It was as if he possessed an innate, bone-deep darkness. He did not need any Supernatural Power whatsoever—he could drive Genichiro to collapse just by playing cards.
At this moment, he could not help but think, Man, even though I'm a Dark Duelist, I still think the way you play cards is a little too dark.
If a bastard like this became a Dark Duelist, would that not be terrifying?
"I set two cards and End Turn," he said gloomily.
There was nothing else he could do.
But there was still a chance.
Though he had been trapped so badly he could barely take care of himself, he still had confidence in his back row. His defenses would not be so easy to break through.
"My Turn, draw." Kira said, "First, I activate the Spell Card 'Magical Stone Excavation' from my hand! I can draw two cards from my deck, but during the turn this card is activated, I cannot activate any other Spell Cards except this one." (Anime Card)
He drew two cards.
"Next, I flip the monster I set on the field.
"Flip Summon, 'Witch of the Black Forest.'"
Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100
"Then I tribute 'Witch of the Black Forest' to Special Summon this card from my hand."
Kira drew out the card in his hand, paused slightly, and turned to look beside him.
The illusory figure floating at his side, wrapped in mage robes, remained as cool and distant as ever. Her pale face showed no change in expression, but she gave him a slight nod.
Perhaps because there was some transcendent connection between a Master and a spirit, he seemed to understand her meaning despite the lack of words.
So Kira nodded gently as well.
"I'll leave it to you."
He turned back, focusing on the duel again.
"I tribute 'Witch of the Black Forest' to Special Summon—
"—Silent Magician!"
An ancient Magic Circle of pale blue patterns appeared. Moonlight-like radiance rippled outward, and a slender, cool figure clad in a white robe emerged. Her silver hair cascaded like a waterfall, while profound starlike brilliance shimmered from the staff in her hand.
Silent Magician, ATK 1000
"So you've appeared, spirit."
Genichiro warily studied Silent Magician as she arrived on the field. She remained calm as water, looking straight ahead as though he did not exist.
"Silent Magician cannot be Normal Summoned. She can only be Special Summoned by tributing a Spellcaster Type monster on my field."
Kira said.
"And at this moment, the effect of 'Witch of the Black Forest,' which was Sent to Graveyard as tribute, activates.
"When this card is Sent to Graveyard, I can select one monster with 1500 or less DEF from my deck and add it to my hand."
The restriction of 1500 or less DEF, combined with such an incredibly powerful search effect, had once made her a forbidden card. In the Real Card Environment, Witch of the Black Forest had been weakened with the restriction that cards searched by this effect could not be activated this turn, but such a limitation naturally did not exist in this early anime world.
But Genichiro merely snorted with laughter, completely unconcerned.
"Heh, monsters with 1500 or less DEF? Aren't those all worthless trash?"
Kira said, "I add 'Jinzo - Psychic Shocker' from my deck to my hand."
Genichiro nearly spat out blood.
".This thing has 1500 or less DEF!?"
Jinzo - Psychic Shocker, ATK 2400, DEF 1500
It was Jinzo, one of Joey Wheeler's ace cards in the anime, a new card from the supply pack Takeuchi Master had just given him. Its DEF barely met the limit, landing on exactly fifteen hundred.
That was the strength of Witch of the Black Forest. You could never guess what Monsters of the Underworld might be hiding among cards with 1500 or less DEF.
"The effect of 'Candy Clown' in my hand. This card can Special Summon itself to my field in Attack Position."
Candy Clown, ATK 0
"Next, I tribute Candy Clown for a Tribute Summon—
"—Level six, Jinzo - Psychic Shocker!"
Candy Clown's body dissolved into motes of light, which gathered into a swirling summoning storm. Enormous energy erupted from within the storm, accompanied by a metallic body, the sound of machinery grinding, and crackling arcs of electricity.
Jinzo - Psychic Shocker, summon!
Jinzo - Psychic Shocker, ATK 2400
Genichiro felt as though he was about to split apart.
As one of the ace cards Joey Wheeler had once used to dominate the field, few people would fail to recognize Jinzo. It was famed for its absolute suppression through "Trap lockdown," so as long as it was on the field, Genichiro's Trap Card setup became mere decoration.
And the part that made him want to split apart the most was—
This thick-browed thing only had fifteen hundred DEF?
Not a point more or less, exactly fifteen hundred?
For a moment, Genichiro could not help suspecting that the other side had secretly altered the numbers on the card just to pull off this combo.
"Silent Magician gains ATK equal to my Number of Cards in Hand multiplied by 500. I have two cards, so her ATK increases by 1000."
Silent Magician, ATK 1000 → ATK 2000
That brought the total damage to 4400. With an all-out attack this round, Genichiro would be finished outright.
"Battle. It's over."
Kira waved his hand.
"Silent Magician, Jinzo - Psychic Shocker, Direct Attack!"
Milky white magical light swirled around the staff, while Jinzo began gathering energy between its palms as electricity crackled and danced.
"It won't be that easy!" Genichiro shouted. "I flip my Set Card, Quick-Play Spell 'Half Shut'! One monster on the field has its ATK halved and cannot be destroyed by battle during this turn.
"I choose your 'Jinzo - Psychic Shocker'! Its ATK is halved!"
Though his Traps were locked down, he could still use Spells. It would not stop the attacks completely, but the total damage would drop to 3200. At least he could keep his miserable life.
"Wooda."
Kira snapped his fingers.
"Silent Magician's Effect Activation. Once Per Turn, when a Spell Card is activated, she can negate that Spell's activation!"
Genichiro: "!"
There was something like that too?
Wait—
The Spell's activation was negated, and with Jinzo on the field, Traps were completely locked down.
Did that not mean both Spells and Traps were sealed!?
Only now did he belatedly realize the terror of this formation.
The Spellcaster-Type Witch of the Black Forest could Special Summon Silent Magician, and when Witch of the Black Forest was Sent to the Graveyard, she could search Jinzo. At the same time, Silent Magician on the field could negate Spells, while Jinzo directly locked down Traps.
How the hell was he supposed to duel against that?
Half Shut was immediately restrained by Silent Magician's magic and shattered into fragments.
Already realizing that all was lost, Genichiro desperately tried to flip the last card in his back row.
"Activate! Activate for me! Sacred Barrier - Mirror Force, send them back! Send those bastards back!"
But Jinzo on the other side crossed its arms, and red glow flashed in its mechanical eyes as though it were saying—
"—Sit down."
An invisible wave of psychic power swept across the field. The Sacred Barrier, which had only just shown signs of stirring, was immediately forced back down and went silent once more.
Genichiro despaired.
Hehe.
This was negated, that was negated.
How was he supposed to attack you?
I can't duel at all. Only the other side gets to duel.
I've been stripped of my right to duel.
Silent Magician and Jinzo unleashed their final assault one after another. A vast torrent of light swept across Genichiro's entire field, swallowing even the tearful Genichiro in its radiance.
Onizuka Genichiro, LP 4000 → LP 0
Nine thousand words in one go! Asking once again!
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