So It Was You!

When light fills the world, shadows always spread.

When evil dominates the world, light will ignite once more.

When a monster, not of the undead, usurped power, imposing tyrannical rule through violence and selfish desires, a soul acknowledged by the Black Dragon fell into this world.

On the crimson battlefield, where flames and blood mingled, the dark paladin swore with his blade to the Red-Eyes:

"I will save you all, and this world."

Beneath a sky shrouded in miasma, a crimson reflection stretched out.

The world seemed unchanged, and under the immense pressure, heroes willing to resist fell one after another. Piled corpses formed mountains, and flowing blood merged into raging rivers, emitting a strong stench.

Yet, this very place was now the last refuge for the brave souls willing to fight against the cruel tyranny and oppose the Necromancer King.

"New Domino City, what a mouthful."

Hades, the former Pluto, merely sneered.

"Paladin, I'd like to see how long you can hide!"

Beneath his hood, his crimson eyes revealed the most primal wickedness. That thick, boiling malice seemed no longer suppressible, finally blossoming from his withered fingertips.

"Go, Five-Headed Dragon, raze that place to the ground!"

With that most primal and brutal command, the five-headed Evil Dragon flapped its wings and soared into the sky.

"Elemental Burst."

Earth, fire, wind, water.

Four distinct elements converged and mixed, ultimately causing a violent explosion.

BOOM

Of course, it also heralded the arrival of war.

"The city is under attack."

"The city is under attack."

Amidst violent tremors, emergency commands echoed throughout the city.

"All duelists, take your positions immediately."

"All duelists, take your positions immediately."

The once-bright lights had long been replaced by alarm lights. In that crimson glow, a boy in white walked unhurriedly into the central control room, hands behind his back.

Normally, this place would be filled with elite individuals, but here, conventional logic didn't apply.

Looking around, there was almost no one taller than the intricate machines.

Just as the Big Five once complained, this place was managed by a group of children—children under ten years old.

"Noah, you're here."

"Mhm."

Though he didn't look much older than them, Noah stroked their heads like an adult.

"You've all worked hard."

He walked all the way to the central control console.

"Miruko, what's the situation?"

As he asked, the robot in the very center lifted its head, its eyes reflecting clear light.

"All duelists are in position, and all mecha units have been activated. Sonia and Julian have also sealed off the factory, and I'm moving their sectors to the center."

From its massive mechanical body came a voice as young as a child's:

"Additionally, all the cards the duelists requested have been delivered."

"It seems our efforts over the years haven't been in vain. The inventory from all these years should be a great help to them."

"But it seems we couldn't help him."

Noah was momentarily stunned.

"What do you mean?"

"He only requested conventional cards like 'Pot of Greed' and 'Graceful Charity'. Neither the mecha defense perimeter we developed nor the Gear monsters I asked you to showcase appeared on his requested list."

"Is that so..."

"Rather than our help, he'd rather risk using those demonic cards. And during today's meeting, he threw out so many topics and left such obvious contradictions, but he didn't engage with them. Is it because..."

"Don't overthink it."

Noah reached out and patted the metal lump beside him.

"Even if he appears a bit more cynical on the surface, he's still the person you once imagined him to be."

Meeting the wildly flickering lights in the robot's eyes, the boy in white curved his lips into a smile:

"During the duel, I could already feel it—proud yet gentle, cold yet meticulous. Every move was perfectly planned, each action performed with elegance… It's truly admirable."

"Achoo!"

A sudden, inexplicable itch made Yu Ming instinctively cover his nose. The loud sneeze made everyone nearby turn to look.

Even Keith couldn't help but shift a few seats away, even wiping himself down.

"What's wrong with you? You're sneezing even here?"

"I don't know. If dead people didn't get hungry or tired, I'd think I was sick from exhaustion."

He touched his nose, which wasn't even runny, and after confirming the strange itch had vanished, he began examining the cards in his hand again, gently rubbing them in his palm.

"But back to what I was saying."

"What?"

"I didn't expect you to be the one to back me up."

He looked at the American man beside him.

"Well, there was no choice. I wanted an easier job, but I couldn't…"

Keith instinctively crossed his legs, but before he could lean back, a white Allied robot stood before them, its head display showing an angry face.

[○｀Д○]: "Entering launch orbit in one minute. Please sit upright and fasten your seatbelt."

"Tch, you robot trying to tell me what to do?"

If it had been a regular flight attendant, Keith's tantrum might have worked, as Americans often value their freedom.

But unfortunately, he was dealing with a robot.

It didn't care about human emotions or social etiquette, only rules.

[○｀Д○]: "Please sit upright and fasten your seatbelt."

Watching the unchanging emoticon, Keith finally put his legs down.

After the Allied robot walked away, the American, his mood interrupted, no longer felt like putting on an act. He obediently fastened his seatbelt, then sighed:

"It's all because everyone else's specialties are too obvious. Both Mako's Sea deck and Nine-Tailed Fox's Yokai deck are easy targets. Only I, old man Keith, am suitable to protect you."

"True. You play Machine-types, so you don't attract much attention on the battlefield."

"But, is everything really alright on your end?"

"Huh? What did you say?"

Suddenly, Keith's lowered voice made Yu Ming pause.

He looked at the American, whose rough face showed seriousness, and behind his dark sunglasses, there was even a hint of worry… or perhaps doubt.

"I saw earlier that the supplies you requested from Kaiba's kid didn't include anything valuable. Is that really okay?"

Seeing the serious expression on Keith's face, Yu Ming couldn't help but look at the cards in his hand.

Pot of Greed Graceful Charity Card of Demise

How should he put it?

"Are you serious?"

"Otherwise?"

Keith rolled his eyes.

"I haven't seen their mechs, nor any other kind of weaponry…"

"No, most of the stuff here is EARTH-attribute, Machine-type. Wouldn't I just brick if I brought them out?"

"…"

Under Yu Ming's confused gaze, Keith merely stood with his mouth open.

He seemed to want to say something but only made a strange sound:

"Brick?"

"Yeah."

"You?"

"What's wrong?"

"Do you want to remember what you originally were?"

"Dark-attribute trap beatdown, of course."

"…"

Keith looked like he wanted to complain about something else, but in the end, his mouth just twitched.

An eerie silence began to spread until a broadcast voice broke it:

"Launchpad three is ready."

"Whatever. Victory justifies everything. I couldn't care less about your thoughts or ideas."

Keith glanced at the changing scenery around them, then snapped back to attention, sitting up straight.

"But..."

"What is it?"

"This war... this duel, it's a one-shot deal. So, it never hurts to have more tricks and strategies up your sleeve."

So that's why you DM animators only put one copy of each card in a deck, with no main strategy, just playing small combos?

"Also..."

"What else?"

"Thank you for helping out in the Five-Headed Dragon battle."

"Huh?"

What does that mean?

"Path clear, preparing to launch."

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Oh, was it you, the noob, who lost to those five idiots?"

"Hey, no, you kid..."

My relatives came to visit, so I've been quite busy. I apologize for not being able to update on time.

There might be another chapter tonight!

Anyway, on a different note:

Theoretically, because the original series was still in the early stages of rule development and conceptualization, and the anime originals closely followed the real card game's progress, characters in GX were the first to grasp the concept of a main strategy.