Zane Truesdale's roar echoed through the arena.
Yet, at the very instant Zane was about to swing his arm down to declare his attack...
His gaze happened to sweep over the three face-down cards lying neatly and quietly in Yūki's back row.
Their pitch-black backs stood out sharply amid the red light filling the air.
In that instant, Zane's raised arm froze in midair.
The hot blood surging wildly through him felt as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.
An utterly humiliating, utterly stifling memory suddenly sprang from the depths of his mind without warning!
When facing Yūki, he had likewise built up an earth-shattering amount of ATK, convinced victory was in his grasp, only to slam straight into his opponent's back row...
Two colorful magic cylinders decorated with clowns had made a complete fool of him.
Zane shuddered involuntarily, a bead of cold sweat forming at his temple.
Calm down.
I have to calm down!
This sly, devious junior of mine has three cards set in his back row. There's no way they're all decorations!
Any one of them could be hiding Mirror Force, Dimensional Prison, or even... Magic Cylinder!
But...
The arrow is already on the string. I have to fire!
If he did not attack this turn, [Power Bond] would inflict four thousand points of backlash damage during the End Phase, while [Limiter Removal] would destroy his End Dragon. His remaining five hundred Life Points would go up in smoke on the spot!
Besides...
Zane took a deep breath, glancing out of the corner of his eye at a card in his hand.
He was not entirely unprepared!
"Battle!!"
Zane forcibly suppressed the lingering dread of Trap Cards in his heart. His gaze turned ruthless again as he raised his hand