"Mm."
"Then..."
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
Yukikaze: 4000 LP
Nero: 4000 LP
"Beep!"
"I'll take the first turn." Yukikaze raised her blue Duel Disk.
Hara Shichi had always helped her. This time, it was her turn to help him!
"I enter the Main Phase and Normal Summon Rosemary of the Six Flowers." Yukikaze placed the card in her hand onto her Duel Disk. Soon, a little girl with long blue hair appeared on the field, holding a flower-shaped umbrella. "Next, I activate Rosemary of the Six Flowers' effect and add Flower Princess Snowdrop from my deck to my hand."
"Then I activate Snowdrop's effect. I tribute the Rosemary of the Six Flowers on the field to Special Summon Heather of the Six Flowers and this card from my hand."
The blue-haired little girl was sent to the Graveyard, replaced by two vibrant, beautiful young women appearing on the field.
"I Set one card and end my turn."
"Alright!" Mina could not help getting excited as she looked at the two monsters on Yukikaze's field. "She summoned Heather with 2400 ATK and Snowdrop with 2600 DEF on the very first turn. That's Yukikaze for you. Let's see how this brat deals with it."
"She got it wrong." A sigh sounded beside Mina. She turned around and found that her childhood friend Aoshi had appeared beside her at some point, his face dark.
Without another word, Mina drove her elbow hard into Aoshi's side. "What do you mean by that? Did you come here just to contradict me?"
"Stop, stop! No violence!" Aoshi hurriedly pleaded. "You guys were making too much noise. It's not just me—lots of people came over."
Only then did Mina notice that the people around them had stopped practicing and were slowly gathering nearby.
"Won't the teacher do anything about them crowding around?" Mina said irritably. She had seen how annoying onlookers could be. They would chatter endlessly and say all kinds of ugly things.
"The teacher said that if it's a duel involving Nero Arisa, they're sure to learn a lot from it," Aoshi said helplessly.
"What? Someone with such awful character? No matter how cute she is or how good she is at dueling, I'd never want to watch her duel!" Mina huffed.
"This is Duelist Academy, after all." Knowing his childhood friend's temperament, Aoshi quickly patted her back. "Just turn a blind eye to it."
"Forget that. What did you mean when you said she got it wrong?" Mina narrowed her eyes.
"The strategy was wrong." Aoshi's dark green eyes remained fixed on the duel field. "From what I found out, this young miss of the Arisa Family seems to specialize in going second. Yukikaze choosing to go first played right into her hands."
"Going second? What kind of deck does she use?" Mina asked blankly.
"Did you forget? The Arisa Family is a Ritual family." Aoshi seemed to have already foreseen the outcome of this duel.
"Don't talk in riddles!"
"Ahem! Soul Birds—her deck is a Soul Bird deck!" Aoshi raised both hands in surrender. "If Yukikaze had chosen to go second, she might have been able to quickly finish her off with her high ATK. But since she went first... she'll probably just get OTK'd."
Perhaps because he was too emotional, Aoshi's voice reached the ears of the others—and the duel field as well.
"Soul Birds? What kind of deck is that?"
"Never heard of it... Wait, I remember a Professional Duelist once used a Soul Bird deck?!"
"You're kidding, right? A student is using a Professional Duelist's deck?"
"..."
"Soul Birds?" Hearing the unfamiliar term, Yukikaze was also confused. She had never heard of that deck.
"Someone actually knows my deck?" Nero murmured. She was indeed using a Soul Bird deck, though it was incomplete for certain reasons. Still, against students... it was enough.
"My turn. Draw."
Nero casually drew a card, then inserted one into her black Duel Disk. "I enter the Main Phase and activate the Spell Card—Preparation of the Rites."
"Its effect lets me choose one Ritual Spell Card from my deck, then choose one Ritual Monster whose name is listed on that Ritual Spell Card from my deck or Graveyard. I add those two cards to my hand." As she spoke, Nero continued operating her Duel Disk. "I add Ritual of Descension and Shinobaron Peacock to my hand."
"Tch, she opened perfectly," Aoshi muttered. "Here it comes."
"I activate the Spell Card—Ritual of Descension. I send Thunder King Rai-Oh from my hand to the Graveyard and Ritual Summon—Shinobaron Peacock from my hand." Nero calmly slapped the Ritual Monster onto the field.
Yet unlike her composed expression, a dazzling and enormous mysterious green light emerged across the duel field. Then, a man dressed in peacock robes appeared, sword in hand.
"Th-That's a Ritual Summon?" Mina's little face was filled with surprise.
"She summoned something with 3000 ATK that easily... No, ATK isn't the important part." Yukikaze felt an invisible pressure from the monster on the field. There was no mistaking it. That feeling... this monster definitely had a powerful effect!
"Next, I activate Shinobaron Peacock's effect..."
"This card can only be activated when this card is Ritual Summoned. Return up to three monsters on your opponent's field to their owner's hand. Then, you can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Spirit monster from your hand, ignoring its Summoning conditions."
"Chain!"
At that moment, Yukikaze flipped open her Set Card. "I activate the Trap Card Breakthrough Skill, targeting your Shinobaron Peacock and negating its effect!"
"That was close!" Mina, watching from the side, nearly felt her heart leap out of her throat.
She had not expected it to be an untargeted bounce effect like Tiramisu's. Combined with its 3000 ATK, if its effect went through, the opponent would practically have no way to fight back.
"It's not over yet." Aoshi could not help speaking up. "Don't forget, she's only used two cards from her hand so far. She still has five cards' worth of resources in hand. Shinobaron Peacock isn't once per turn. If she Ritual Summons another Shinobaron Peacock..."
"She has more than one monster card that powerful?" Mina's small mouth hung open.
"Cards that powerful... only seem powerful to us," Aoshi said calmly. "To the Arisa Family, Shinobaron Peacock probably isn't anything special. It's possible she runs three copies."
Nero did not run three Shinobaron Peacocks. To avoid a Hand Trap Accident, she only ran two.
But sometimes, a bad hand was still a bad hand. Nero looked at her cards and frowned slightly. "I enter the Battle Phase. Shinobaron Peacock attacks Heather of the Six Flowers."
Yukikaze: 4000 LP → 3400 LP
"Then I end my turn."
"Could she be... bricked?" Aoshi watched Nero's plays suspiciously.
"She bricked? Serves her right!" Mina snorted. "She must have done too many bad things, so this is karma!"
"Uh, I don't think... bricking has anything to do with that." Aoshi seemed to recall something, and his expression became somewhat unnatural.
"Then why doesn't everyone else brick?"
"..."
While the two discussed it, the duel had already reached Yukikaze's turn.
"My turn. Draw." Yukikaze's eyes lit up when she saw the card she had drawn. She immediately inserted it into her Duel Disk. "I activate the Spell Card—Terraforming, adding the Field Spell Card Marincess World to my hand!"
"Next, I activate the Field Spell Card Marincess World. All WATER monsters on the field gain 500 ATK and lose 400 DEF!"
"Next, I Normal Summon Lone Fire Blossom. I tribute Lone Fire Blossom to Special Summon—Rikka Princess from my deck!"
"Because of Marincess World's effect, Rikka Princess's ATK rises to 3100!"
"Now her ATK is higher than Shinobaron Peacock's!" Mina waved her small fists, looking delighted.
"It's not over!" Yukikaze said as she inserted another card into her Duel Disk. "I activate the Normal Spell Card—Dark Hole!"
"Its effect destroys the monster with the highest DEF on your field!"
As Yukikaze's words fell, the whispering spectators immediately erupted.
"Huh?!"
"Wait, Dark Hole?!"
"If that's the case... doesn't that mean she can finish her off?!"
"Is there going to be an upset?"
"I knew that young miss from the Arisa Family wasn't much. I could win easily if it were me."
"Yukikaze... had a card like that?" Mina was stunned. She had known Yukikaze for so long—how had she not known Yukikaze possessed such a powerful card?
The old Yukikaze naturally did not have that card. It had belonged to that man in black, Number One, but now it belonged to Yukikaze.
"Since you only have Shinobaron Peacock on your field, Shinobaron Peacock will be destroyed and sent to the Graveyard."
"Next, I switch Flower Princess Snowdrop on my field to Attack Position, then... I enter the Battle Phase!" Yukikaze switched Snowdrop on her Duel Disk to Attack Position.
3100 + 1700 = 4800. I've won this duel!
"I attack you directly with Snowdrop and Rikka Princess!"
A massive impact surged straight toward Nero's fragile body, kicking up a cloud of white smoke across the enormous duel field.
"She won!" Mina could not help shouting.
"Wait!" Aoshi hurriedly grabbed Mina, who was about to rush onto the duel field. "The duel isn't over yet!"
Even Yukikaze, who had believed victory was assured, suddenly sensed something was wrong. Only after the smoke dispersed did she see that petite figure still standing straight in place.
Nero: 4000 LP.
An eerie silence spread through the training room. After a long while, someone finally could not help asking:
"Hey, isn't something wrong? Shouldn't her LP have been reduced to zero?"
"I don't know. She clearly had nothing on her field. Wait, what's with that monster? When did she get another monster on her field?"
"I don't know! Was it Shinobaron Peacock's last words?"
"Should we say... that's the Arisa Family for you?" The moment Aoshi saw the monster on Nero's field, he understood the situation and gave a bitter smile.
"What exactly happened?! Shouldn't Yukikaze have reduced her LP to zero? What's with that monster on her field?" Mina was utterly confused.
"No monsters on the field, no Set Cards. In that situation, the only thing that could activate would be that, right?" Yukikaze had realized it too. After all, she had seen it with her own eyes.
At that moment, Nero spoke. "When you declared your attack, I activated Battle Fader from my hand. Its effect can only be activated when an opponent's monster declares a direct attack. I Special Summon this card from my hand, then end the Battle Phase. When this card Special Summoned by this effect leaves the field, banish it."
"So it really was a hand trap?" Yukikaze bit her lower lip and stared unwillingly at the Battle Fader on Nero's field. She had been so close to winning, yet after giving it everything she had, she had not even touched her opponent's LP?
"With only 4000 LP, isn't it natural to run an Attack Declaration Trap in your deck?" Nero did not understand why everyone around her looked so surprised.
I'd like to run them too, but I don't have the cards!
Aoshi could not help grumbling inwardly.
"She can activate effects from her hand..." This was Mina's first time witnessing a hand trap firsthand, and she had not recovered from her shock. "Didn't they say only Professional Duelists, or even top-tier Duelists, had cards this powerful? Why would a student like her..."
"Mina." Aoshi took Mina's hand. "Some people stand at the summit from the moment they are born. There's nothing we can do about that."
"But... but isn't this too unfair to Yukikaze? This is a duel between students. Why would cards this powerful appear?!" Mina could not understand.
Aoshi did not know how to explain it to his childhood friend, because in a sense, he and Nero Arisa were the same kind of person.
As the second son of an old Red-Eyes family, although his family had gradually declined, the assets passed down through generations still allowed him to possess many rare cards that ordinary Duelists could never obtain. He had started dueling at five, mastered Polymerization at seven, and learned Synchro Summon at twelve. In a few years, once Xyz Summon became widespread, he would likely master Xyz Summon as well.
Of course, this was not because he was exceptionally talented. It was because his family had continuously piled resources onto him. Without his family's support, he might not even own a single Fusion Monster now.
Thus, under Mina's questioning gaze, he could only grit his teeth and say helplessly:
"There is no fairness in dueling."
I'll Give It Everything I've Got!
"You shouldn't have any usable cards left in your hand, right? Can you end your turn now?" Nero looked calmly at Yukikaze.
An outstanding Duelist had to constantly calculate both their own resources and their opponent's resources, using them to determine their next move and even predict their opponent's strategy. Right now, Yukikaze had no cards left in her hand. Both monsters on her field were Level 8. Even if she had a Tuner, she could not Synchro Summon a Level 16 monster. The only Graveyard resource she had was Breakthrough Skill.
In this situation, aside from Xyz Summon, Yukikaze had no way to deploy any more resources.
"I... end my turn."
As expected, she could not Xyz Summon.
A trace of disappointment appeared in Nero's eyes.
"My turn. Draw."
Before you continue