Timeline Shift

Aster dropped to his knees, staring at his hands, almost unable to accept the reality before him.

He had actually lost?

Lost to a student who had only just graduated from Duel Academy? A complete newcomer to the league?

More importantly, Saiō's prophecy had been broken?

Where was his Chariot? Where was his destiny of certain victory?

For a moment, Aster was dazed, as though he were dreaming. Then the tournament host's voice seemed to drift in from somewhere far away, yanking him back to reality.

"The winner is Zane Truesdale!"

"Kaiser has defended his throne and maintained his Undefeated Myth! Meanwhile, Aster Phoenix's Thirty Consecutive Wins have come to an end!"

He could no longer hear much of what followed. Even the waves of cheers and applause from the audience around him began to feel unreal.

It felt as though a mouthful of clotted blood had lodged in his chest, leaving him unable to breathe. A thousand words converged in his heart into a single sentence—

—This was fucking bullshit.

Cyber Style itself was not some impossibly rare school of Dueling; he had naturally researched it beforehand. The Cyber Style had always represented all-out offense, a powerful Deck that pursued the ultimate attack and crushed its opponent with thunderous force in the shortest possible time.

But what the hell had he run into today?

Four set cards right out of the gate to establish dominance, then directly targeting his Fusion monster. When that failed, Zane followed up with a Warrior Elimination, making the Targeting intent painfully obvious.

Fine, he could let all that slide. But what the hell was that Cyber Style Ultimate Secret Technique at the end?

Forcibly using monsters on the opponent's Field as Fusion Material—such an effect had been unheard of throughout the entire Dueling World.