Cannot Duel At All

"Based on the effect of 'Card of Demise', I draw from my deck!"

Genichiro drew a card and immediately revealed one from his hand.

"I tribute the two Tokens summoned by 'Fire of Doomsday' on my field to Tribute Summon!"

A storm of tributes swirled, and a massive figure flickered within the storm. Genichiro paused briefly, then broke into a smug grin.

"Heh, Ryuzaki used to own this card too, but that idiot lost it in Battle City! But I would never allow it to leave my deck.

Watch this, the dragon born from the interplay of light and shadow, residing within the heart of an evil knight—

—Level 7, Evil Knight Dragon, summon!"

[Evil Knight Dragon, ATK 2350]

Yeah, don't worry, it won't be leaving your deck, Kira thought. Because I'm taking it all.

But he still gave his opponent some face and put on a show of surprise.

"It's 'Evil Knight Dragon'! Ryuzaki's former ace, a rare card second only to 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'!"

Its ATK was exactly 50 less than Red-Eyes. Yeah, it was definitely second only to Red-Eyes.

Genichiro grew even more smug, hands on his hips. "Being surprised now is just the beginning. Tremble, shiver, and then bow down before my power—"

"So strong, too strong. That's why I activate my Set card."

Kira flipped a card in his back row.

"The Trap Card 'Bottomless Trap Hole'. When a monster with 1500 or more ATK is summoned, it is destroyed and banished from the game."

A vortex opened on the opponent's field. Evil Knight Dragon's summoning effect hadn't even finished before the entire dragon plunged violently, falling into the bottomless abyss and dropping all the way to the Different Dimension.

Genichiro: "..."

At this moment, he was still holding his hands-on-hips pose, which looked somewhat comical in the scene where his field had just been wiped clean.

To put it nicely, this guy is now considering auditioning for a role opposite Batman in Gotham.

What he wanted to say was, You had this in your back row the whole time, and you were saying 'so strong' like a damn idiot?

Was it fun to mess with me?

Genichiro, who had been smirking non-stop since the duel began, finally found it hard to smile. Losing two big monsters in one turn, even someone with his mindset couldn't help but start to feel annoyed.

But it still didn't matter.

"Hmph, you have some skill. But don't get cocky, next you'll witness the true darkness of despair!"

Although he was still saying this, Genichiro probably didn't even realize his smile had vanished at some point.

"I flip my Set card, the Magic Card 'Foolish Burial'!" Genichiro declared. "This card allows me to send one monster from my deck to the Graveyard.

I send 'Balloon Lizard' from my deck to the Graveyard."

He pulled out his deck, retrieved the monster card, and sent it to the Graveyard.

"Then I activate another Set card, the Continuous Trap 'Limit Reverse'!" Genichiro said. "This allows me to Special Summon one monster with 1000 or less ATK from my Graveyard in Attack Position.

I revive 'Balloon Lizard', which I just sent to the Graveyard!"

[Balloon Lizard, ATK 500]

"Then I activate the Magic Card 'Super Evolution Pill' from my hand!" Genichiro continued his plays. "By Tributing one Reptile-Type monster on the field, I Special Summon one Dinosaur-Type monster from my hand!

I tribute the 'Balloon Lizard' on the field!"

Golden light burst from the Super Evolution Pill Magic Card, enveloping the lizard on the field. The small lizard began to evolve rapidly under the influence of the magic, its size growing at a visible speed. In just a moment, it had grown to a height of over ten meters.

"From the depths of time, breaking free from the shackles of endless ages, now descend here! Evolution Summon, Level 8—

—Super Ancient Dinobeast!!!"

[Super Ancient Dinobeast, ATK 2700]

Despite hitting multiple traps, he managed to summon another ace monster within a single turn!

Could anyone else do this? Could that Ryuzaki do it?

Genichiro suddenly felt immensely proud, almost wanting to burst into laughter again.

Could you possibly pull out another Bottomless Trap Hole to trap me?

"I flip my Set card, Trap Card - Trap of Darkness." Kira calmly snapped his fingers again. "This can only be activated when my Life Points are 3000 or less.

By paying 1000 Life Points, this card's effect becomes the same as a Normal Trap Card in my Graveyard."

[Kira, LP 3000→LP 2000]

"The one I choose is, of course, this one—"

His Set Trap Card rapidly transformed with a stream of data, changing into a different appearance.

"Trap Card - Bottomless Trap Hole! When a monster with 1500 or more ATK is summoned, destroy it and banish it from the game!"

Genichiro: "!!!"

He opened his mouth wide, desperately reaching out towards the large monster he had worked so hard to bring out, as if trying to hold onto it. But what couldn't be held onto clearly couldn't be. Super Ancient Dinobeast seemed to give him a helpless look, then its body tilted, and it plunged into the deep pit, following Evil Knight Dragon's footsteps to the Different Dimension.

Ryuzaki: "."

Another Bottomless Trap Hole, seriously, another one?! Do you run a trap hole wholesale business or something?!

Ryuzaki started putting on his suffering face.

It looked like the sun wasn't going to shine for him anymore.

Speaking of which, it was a bit strange. Clearly, of the two people present, he was the Dark Duelist, the one who was supposed to bring darkness and suffering to his opponent.

Yet, after half a duel, he suddenly realized the suffering face was actually on his face.

This was the first time since becoming a Dark Duelist that he'd discovered his opponent was even darker than him!

In comparison, he suddenly felt that his own darkness had always just been superficial, merely tormenting opponents to the brink of collapse through mental and physical damage.

But his opponent was something else. This guy didn't need any external help at all; it was as if his darkness was innate, bone-deep. He didn't need any Supernatural Power whatsoever; he could just play cards and duel him into collapsing.

This situation made him genuinely want to say, Look, pal, I might be a Dark Duelist, but I think the way you play is a bit too dark.

If this son of a gun ever became a Dark Duelist, what would even happen?

"I'll set two cards face-down on the field, and that ends my turn," he said gloomily.

There wasn't much else he could do.

But there was still a chance.

Although he'd been trapped into helplessness, he still had confidence in his back row. His defenses wouldn't 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 I activate this card, I cannot activate any other Spell Cards besides this one." (Anime Card)

He drew two cards.

"Next, I'll flip the face-down monster on my field.

'Witch of the Black Forest' is Flip Summoned."

[Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100]

"Then I'll tribute 'Witch of the Black Forest' to Special Summon this card from my hand..."

Kira drew a card from his hand, paused slightly, and turned his head to look beside him.

The shadow-like figure, wrapped in a robe, floating beside him like an illusion, still had that cool, expressionless pale face, but she gave him a slight nod.

Perhaps it was due to some transcendental connection between master and spirit, but although there were no words, he seemed to understand what she meant.

So Kira also nodded gently.

"I'm counting on you."

He turned back, his attention returning to the duel.

"By Tributing 'Witch of the Black Forest', I Special Summon—

—'Silent Magician'!"

An ancient magic circle with pale blue patterns, moonlight like water, a rippling halo of light spreading out, and a slender, cool figure appeared wrapped in a white robe, silver hair cascading down, her staff shimmering with a deep, star-like radiance.

[Silent Magician, ATK 1000]

"She appeared, the spirit."

Ryuzaki cautiously eyed the Silent Magician that had appeared on the field. However, she was as calm as water, looking straight ahead as if completely unconcerned with him.

"Silent Magician cannot be Normal Summoned; she can only be Special Summoned by Tributing a Spellcaster-Type monster on your field," Kira said.

"And at this moment, the effect of 'Witch of the Black Forest', which was Tributed and sent to the Graveyard, activates.

When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can add one monster with 1500 or less DEF from my Deck to my hand."

Its condition was 1500 or less DEF, an incredibly powerful search effect that once made her a Forbidden Card. In today's Real Card Environment, Witch of the Black Forest was nerfed with the restriction that "the card added to the hand by this effect cannot be activated this turn," but naturally, such a restriction wouldn't exist in this early anime world.

But Ryuzaki just snorted when he heard that, completely unconcerned.

"Heh, monsters with 1500 or less DEF, you say? Aren't those all just scraps and riff-raff..."

Kira: "I add 'Jinzo' from my Deck to my hand."

Ryuzaki almost coughed up blood.

"...That thing has less than fifteen hundred DEF?!"

[Jinzo, ATK 2400, DEF 1500]

This was 'Jinzo', one of Vanilla Monster Jonouchi's ace cards in the anime, a new card from the supply pack Takeuchi Master had just given him. Its DEF just barely scraped by, exactly fifteen hundred.

This was the power of Witch of the Black Forest. You could never guess what kind of fiends and monsters were lurking in the Card Pool with 1500 or less DEF.

"The effect of 'Candy Clown' in my hand allows this card to be Special Summoned to my field in Attack Position."

[Candy Clown, ATK 0]

"Next, I'll Tribute Candy Clown to Tribute Summon—

—Level Six, 'Jinzo'!"

Candy Clown's form dissolved into particles of light, then gathered into a swirling summoning storm. A massive energy erupted from the storm, revealing a metallic body, the sound of grinding machinery, and crackling electricity.

Summon, Jinzo!

[Jinzo, ATK 2400]

Onizuka Genichiro felt utterly shattered at this moment.

As the ace monster Joey Wheeler famously used to devastate opponents back in the day, few people didn't recognize Jinzo. It was famous for its absolute oppressive power of 'Trap Lockdown,' so it was clear that as long as this thing was on the field, Onizuka Genichiro's backrow trap setup was completely useless.

But the part that truly shattered him was...

And this big-eyed brute only has 1500 DEF?

Exactly 1500? Not a point more or less?

Onizuka Genichiro even briefly couldn't help but wonder if his opponent had secretly altered the card's stats on the spot just to pull off this combo.

"Silent Magician's ATK increases by 500 for each card in my hand," Kira said. "I have two cards in hand, so her ATK increases by 1000."

[Silent Magician, ATK 1000 → ATK 2000]

With that, the total damage reaches 4400. If this total attack goes through, Onizuka Genichiro is finished.

"Battle," Kira announced.

"Silent Magician, Jinzo, direct attack!"

Milky white magical light swirled around Silent Magician's staff, and energy began gathering between Jinzo's palms, electricity crackling and sparking.

"Not so fast!" Onizuka Genichiro roared. "Flip face-down card! Quick-Play Spell, 'Half Shut'! Select one monster on the field and halve its ATK, and it cannot be destroyed by battle this turn!"

"I choose your 'Jinzo'! Its ATK is halved!"

Although his traps were locked down, he could still use Spells. While this wouldn't completely stop the attack, it would reduce the total damage to 3200, at least letting him cling to life.

"Useless."

Kira snapped his fingers.

"Silent Magician's effect activates! Once per turn, when a Spell Card is activated, I can negate its activation!"

Onizuka Genichiro: !

There's that kind of effect?!

Wait a minute...

Spell activations are negated, and because Jinzo is on the field, Traps are completely locked down...

Isn't that both Spells AND Traps sealed?!

Only then did he belatedly realize how terrifying this setup was.

Witch of the Black Forest, a Spellcaster-Type monster, could Special Summon Silent Magician, and when the Witch is sent to the Graveyard, she can search Jinzo. Silent Magician on the field can negate Spells, while Jinzo directly locks down Traps.

How the hell am I supposed to fight this?

Half Shut's activation was directly shackled by Silent Magician's magical power, shattering into fragments.

Realizing in his heart that all was lost, Onizuka Genichiro made one last desperate attempt to flip his remaining backrow card.

"Activate! Activate, damn it! Mirror Force, send it back! Send the damn thing back...!"

But Jinzo on the other side crossed its arms, a red light flashing in its mechanical eyes, as if saying—

—Sit down.

An invisible wave of psychic energy swept across the field. Mirror Force, which had just shown signs of activating, was immediately suppressed, showing no further movement.

Onizuka Genichiro despaired.

Heh.

This is negated, that's negated...

How am I supposed to fight...?

I can't duel at all, only my opponent can.

I've been stripped of the right to duel.

Silent Magician and Jinzo unleashed their final assault in succession. A mighty surge of light swept across Onizuka Genichiro's entire field, engulfing the tearful Onizuka Genichiro along with the light wave.

[Onizuka Genichiro, LP 4000 → LP 0]