Because He's a Dog, It's Perfectly Normal

The Sunglasses Examiner now seemed to be starting to understand why this candidate had deliberately asked before the duel whether the examiner's mood could affect his test results.

Because if it could, he currently had the urge to draw a huge "X" across this candidate's file and tell him to get as far away as possible.

It was only the first turn. Half his hand was gone, yet his field was still completely empty. On top of that, he had lost a Sakuretsu Armor without even getting the chance to set it. A powerful Trap that could directly destroy an opponent's attacking monster, and it had been sent straight to the graveyard before he even had the chance to set it down.

Of course, the thought only flashed through his mind.

The Sunglasses Examiner temporarily suppressed that impulse.

Stay calm, stay calm. He was an examiner now—a professional one. No matter what happened, he couldn't get angry.

Kira had entered with the number 001, so his test had already drawn the most attention among the candidates on the field. After this turn, even more gazes began converging on this dueling area, and quite a few people grew curious about him.

"So that boy named Kira is this year's top-ranked student." Asuka Tenjouin leaned against the railing. "How should I put it? His dueling feels a little different from what I imagined a top student would be like."

"..."

Over by Manjoume's side.

Little Brother A said, "It's starting, it's starting! That Kira is at it again!"

"That's it! That's the feeling!" Little Brother B added. "This setup, this direction... it feels like even Brother Manjoume got dragged into a bottomless pit!"

"You're exaggerating way too much."

Manjoume muttered.

He had clearly struggled for several turns before falling into the abyss of the graveyard.

Then his expression turned dark and terrifying.

"But if they think this is all there is to it, they're being far too naive. For that dog bastard, this is only just beginning."

The two little brothers looked at him sympathetically.

"Brother Manjoume really does have experience."

"Yeah, it's almost heartbreaking how well he understands."

Manjoume: "Shut up!"

"..."

"My Turn, draw."

Kira calmly inserted another card into his Duel Disk.

"Spell Card, Mischievous Twins. Pay 1000 Life Points to randomly discard one card from the opponent's hand, then the opponent chooses one more card from their hand to discard."

Kira, LP 3000 → LP 2000

One blue and one red demon flew out together, each clutching one of the examiner's cards. Laughing mockingly, they flew away.

Examiner: "..."

Secret Technique: Hand Evaporation.

He pushed up his sunglasses and looked down at the final card remaining in his hand.

Continuous Spell—Chivalry Spirit.

Effect: Monsters on your field are not destroyed when battling monsters with the same ATK.

Something utterly incomprehensible.

Rounding up, he practically had no cards left to play.

If this were an anime, the Sunglasses Examiner would have been at the point where steam was shooting from his head like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

The only things stopping him from angrily throwing down his Duel Disk and rolling up his sleeves were his solid professional ethics and his constant self-reassurance.

I'm a professional. I can't get angry. I can't.

Kira said, "Normal Summon Witch of the Black Forest."

Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100

"Witch of the Black Forest, Direct Attack."

Examiner, LP 4000 → LP 2900

The examiner stood there with a black expression, taking the attack without moving an inch. He looked as though he were building up an anger meter.

"End Turn."

"..."

Little Brother A, up in the stands, said, "It really is just like Brother Manjoume said."

Little Brother B shook his head as well, beginning to feel a little sorry for the unlucky examiner.

Manjoume said nothing. But with his fingers interlaced, he leaned forward to watch the duel's progress, and without realizing it... a smile appeared on his face.

"Heh. Hehehe."

The corners of Manjoume's mouth rose uncontrollably.

Honestly, he did not know why.

But seeing the examiner suffering down there, just like he himself had yesterday...

He suddenly felt an inexplicable thrill.

Only then did he abruptly realize that when he wasn't the one sitting across from them, underworld duels could actually be this much fun.

Little Brother B peeked at his increasingly exaggerated smile from behind and couldn't help whispering, "Big Brother, your smile looks so creepy."

"..."

"My turn, draw!"

The examiner steadied his breathing and did his best to focus on the duel.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Silent Doom' from my hand. It revives a Normal Monster from the Graveyard in Defense Position, but the monster summoned by this effect cannot attack.

"The card I'm reviving is the one you discarded to the Graveyard last turn."

The examiner took the card ejected from his Duel Disk's Graveyard.

"Millennium Shield!"

A massive shield emerged from a vortex of the underworld, stretching across the examiner's field.

Millennium Shield, DEF 3000

"It's actually Millennium Shield!"

Students immediately cried out in surprise.

It was said to be a legendary shield handed down from the royal family of Ancient Egypt. Even the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon's Burst Stream of Destruction was supposedly unable to break through it. It was a legendary monster renowned for its impregnable defense.

"I end my turn."

Though he wanted to make more plays, the examiner had no more cards to use. Still, this was Millennium Shield, with defensive power on par with Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It shouldn't be broken through so easily.

If he could hold on until the next turn, he would still have a chance.

"My turn," Kira said. "I activate the Equip Spell 'Magical Wand' from my hand. Only Spellcaster-Type monsters can equip it.

"I equip it to 'Witch of the Black Forest.' The equipped monster gains 500 ATK."

Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100 → ATK 1600

"Next, I activate Magical Wand's second effect. By sending the equipped monster and this card to the Graveyard together, I can draw two cards.

"I send Witch of the Black Forest and Magical Wand to the Graveyard and draw two cards."

After drawing two new cards into his hand, Kira pulled another card directly from his Duel Disk and played it.

"Witch of the Black Forest's effect. When this card is Sent to the Graveyard from the field, I can add a monster with 1500 or less DEF from my Deck to my hand.

"I add this card from my Deck to my hand."

He held up a card between two fingers.

"Maha Vailo, DEF 1400, added to my hand," Kira said. "Then I Normal Summon 'Maha Vailo' in Attack Position."

Maha Vailo, ATK 1550

Maha Vailo had originally been in Yugi Mutou's deck. Later, Yugi gave it to Anzu, and it had also played an important role in the anime.

"Then I activate the Equip Spell 'Blaze Accelerator' from my hand."

Kira inserted another card into his Duel Disk, and the image of the Spell Card appeared in his back row.

"The equipped monster of 'Burst Flame Penetration' gains 400 ATK," Kira said. "Also, when the equipped monster attacks a monster in Defense Position, if its ATK exceeds that monster's DEF, it inflicts Piercing Damage."

The examiner understood at once. "I see. You're boosting your monster's ATK in one go, breaking through my defensive monster, and dealing Piercing Damage?"

But Millennium Shield had a full 3000 DEF. Breaking through it would not be easy, let alone dealing meaningful damage.

To pierce through Millennium Shield and finish him in one blow, this student would need to stack up 5900 ATK at once. That was practically impossible.

"Who said I was equipping it to my monster?"

Kira smiled faintly and pointed at Millennium Shield on the opponent's field.

"The target I'm equipping is... 'Millennium Shield'!"

Millennium Shield, ATK 0 → ATK 400

The examiner: "?"

He was equipping the opponent's monster? What did that mean?

Did he think this game required not only knowing how to allocate resources to himself, but also how to allocate resources to his opponent?

"Then I activate the Quick-Play Spell 'Mystical Space Typhoon.' It can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field," Kira said. "The card I'm destroying is my own 'Blaze Accelerator.'"

The examiner: "??"

He was understanding less and less of these baffling plays.

Could it be that he thought he had already secured victory, so he was giving him two cards for free as a gesture of goodwill?

A black whirlwind swept the Spell Card from Kira's back row into the air, and a bolt of lightning descended from above, shattering it to pieces.

"What you're doing is meaningless," the examiner couldn't help saying. "Even if you do this, my Millennium Shield still...

Nani?!

He stared wide-eyed in utter disbelief at his field, which had somehow become completely empty.

The Millennium Shield was gone.

No—

Where was his shield?

That huge shield, where had it gone?

He couldn't help asking aloud, "Where did my shield go?"

Kira smiled. "I sent it to the Different Dimension."

Examiner: "???"

What the hell? Believe it or not, I'll send you to the Different Dimension myself!

Seeing the examiner once again on the verge of going berserk at Red Temperature, Kira patiently explained, "The Equip Spell 'Blaze Accelerator' doesn't just increase the ATK of the Equipped Monster and grant it piercing damage, sir. It also has a Side Effect.

"When this card leaves the field, the monster equipped with it is banished from the game."

The spectators immediately erupted into an uproar.

"So he used the Side Effect of a spell that buffs the opponent's monster to get rid of that monster instead..." Asuka's expression was complicated. "How should I put it? It's definitely impressive, but..."

For a moment, she couldn't find the right words.

But the thoughts in her heart could be summed up in two words.

Underworldly.

"That feeling, yeah. It really does seem like the kind of tactic this guy would come up with."

Although Manjoume had been startled at first glance by the Combo, he quickly accepted it.

Well, because the one standing across from him was that dog.

It somehow felt perfectly natural for him to think up a tactic like this, to use the cards this way.

Kira calmly revealed two more cards.

"Equip Spell 'Axe of Despair' and Equip Spell 'Mage Power,' activate. Equip them both to 'Maha Vailo.'"

The black-clad spellcaster on the field slowly opened her eyes. An axe with a demonic head floated beside her, while golden magical power enveloped her body.

"The effect of Axe of Despair increases the Equipped Monster's ATK by 1000.

"The effect of Mage Power increases its ATK by 500 for every Spell or Trap Card on my field. I have two Equip Spells on my field, so that's another 1000.

"The two Equip Spells increase its ATK by a total of 2000."

Maha Vailo, ATK 1550 → ATK 3550

"And then there's Maha Vailo's own effect!" Kira pointed at the spellcaster on the field. "For every card equipped to her, this card gains 500 ATK.

"Since she has two cards equipped, her ATK rises by another 1000."

Maha Vailo, ATK 3550 → ATK 4550

Another wave of shocked cries swept through the exam hall.

"4550 ATK?!"

Sho Marufuji, a contestant who had yet to take the field, was stunned. "That's higher than the legendary Obelisk—no, it's even higher than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

It was also the highest ATK that had appeared anywhere in this entire examination venue today.

"Can this guy casually reach such ridiculous ATK?"

Little Brother B nearly fell out of his seat.

Manjoume wasn't particularly surprised, but his expression only grew darker.

Yes, he had seen it long ago. That bastard wasn't merely good at screwing people over.

Manjoume had long suspected that screwing people over was simply something he enjoyed.

Or rather, messing with people's mentality was part of his tactics.

But even putting that aside, this guy...

Was strong.

Because it only took a little thought to realize that the examiner had no cards left and no defensive measures whatsoever. Even with piercing damage, the Millennium Shield could have finished him off. But Kira refused to do that.

Clearly, he found it more enjoyable to duel by sending the examiner's Millennium Shield to the Different Dimension.

"Maha Vailo," Kira said. "Direct Attack."

Examiner, LP 2900 → LP 0