On the sidelines, Hayato wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Whoa... Yūki only has twenty-two hundred Life Points left! And that Continuous Spell on Jinzo's field can burn him every turn. If this drags on..."
"No, Hayato."
Jaden stood beside him, his expression turning exceedingly strange. He even instinctively took half a step back.
The instant he had seen Yūki search that three-legged crow into his hand, Jaden had gone numb.
"Yūki... never planned to let Jinzo drag this out..."
On the field, Yūki brushed the snow off his uniform and placed his hand on top of his Deck.
"My turn. I draw."
A card slid into his hand.
Yūki glanced at the card he had just drawn, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, then casually slipped it into a back-row slot.
"I Set one card in my back row."
Then, without any hurry, Yūki slapped the card he had just searched onto his Monster Zone!
"Next, I Normal Summon [Yata-Garasu] from my hand!"
"Caw!!"
A shrill, hollow crow's cry, as though rising from the deepest reaches of hell, suddenly tore through the curtain of snow!
Cold, purple-black deathly energy spread wildly across the field. A pitch-black crow, small in size but sporting three withered, sharp-clawed feet, slowly descended on flapping wings.
Its eyes, pale as those of a dead fish, held not a trace of life. Its feathers resembled withered dead leaves, and a visibly sinister mist coiled around its body.
[Yata-Garasu] [Level 2, WIND, Fiend-Type/Spirit] [ATK: 200, DEF: 100]
"Caw?"
Brimming with murderous intent, Jinzo stared at the palm-sized, strange bird with only two hundred Attack Points, stunned for a full two seconds.
"A Spirit Monster with two hundred Attack Points?!"
The corners of Jinzo's metal mouth twitched uncontrollably, and he burst into wild