The spotlights inside the arena shone a stark white.
A faint smell of ozone hung in the air, accompanied by the soft hum of machinery.
The light screen on Zane Truesdale's Duel Disk reflected in his pupils. In those deep, icy eyes burned an utterly pure and razor-sharp fighting spirit.
"I'll go first."
Zane rested his long fingers on top of his deck, then swept his arm out, drawing a card in a sharp, clean arc.
"My turn. I draw!"
After glancing at the card he had drawn, Zane neatly spread out his hand. His gaze crossed the field and pierced straight toward Yūki.
"Yūki, I lost to you in our last duel."
Zane's voice was low, carrying a coldness and resolve like metal scraping against metal.
"I haven't forgotten that defeat for a single day."
"It wasn't just a challenge to my strength. It was a trial of the bond between Cyber Dragon and me."
He raised his chin, the hem of his blue Obelisk coat lifting slightly in the airflow.
"But today, I will win!"
Listening to that resounding declaration of victory, Yūki couldn't help letting the corners of his mouth lift.
Well, well.
Senior Kaiser's fighting spirit really was hotter than a sweet potato fresh from the oven in winter.
But in the craft of playing cards, the tougher you talked, the more easily your resolve cracked when your monsters got stolen afterward.
Yūki folded his arms and answered with a smile.
"Senior Zane, ambition is a good thing. A Duelist who refuses to accept defeat is what I'd call a proper duelist."
"But isn't our dojo's tradition all about winning people over with virtue? Coming out this bloodthirsty, you've got me thinking I wandered onto the wrong set and ended up in Mortal Kombat."
Zane ignored