Yūki watched the storm sweep toward him.
"Hold on!"
Tachibana Shingo frowned.
Yūki flipped over his rightmost face-down card.
"I activate the Counter Trap Card, Dark Bribe."
In the projected card art, a figure wearing a sly grin slipped a gleaming gold coin into someone's sleeve, depicting an act of bribery.
"This card negates and destroys a Spell or Trap Card activated by my opponent. In exchange, my opponent draws one card."
"Heavy Storm's activation is negated."
"And then, it's destroyed."
A gold coin flew out and struck the center of the storm.
The raging winds stopped abruptly.
The projection of Heavy Storm shattered into fragments of light and vanished in midair.
The smile froze on Tachibana Shingo's face.
"Dark Bribe, of all things."
"A Counter Trap!"
The male commentator raised his voice. "Fujiwara has used one face-down card to protect his two remaining back-row cards! Tachibana's Heavy Storm has been negated!"
"But Dark Bribe lets Tachibana draw a card. This counter wasn't without a cost."
Tachibana Shingo drew a card from his deck.
He looked up.
Ultimate Tyranno had three thousand attack points, and Yūki had no monsters on his field. Once he entered the Battle Phase, a direct attack would cut those four thousand LP down to one thousand.
"I enter the Battle Phase."
Ultimate Tyranno hunched its body, its sharp claws gouging deep furrows into the ground.
"Ultimate Tyranno, attack directly!"
The enormous beast charged, a mass of scorching orange-red flame forming inside its gaping maw.
Yūki flipped over his second face-down card.
"I activate the Continuous Trap Card, Gravity Bind."
In the card art, an enormous net covering the sky descended, a heavy iron ball hanging from every strand.
"As long as this card remains on the field, monsters of Level 4 or higher cannot attack."
"Ultimate Tyranno is Level 8."
"So its attack won't reach me."
An enormous black grid descended over the main field.
The instant Ultimate Tyranno struck the net, it was as though an entire mountain had pressed down on its body.
It charged forward two more steps before gravity dragged its limbs into the ground, and the flames in its mouth dispersed before reaching their target.
It roared in frustration, but could only retreat to the front of Tachibana Shingo's field.
"The attack has been stopped!"
The female commentator blurted out, "Gravity Bind targets precisely this sort of high-level powerhouse monster, like Ultimate Tyranno!"
"Fujiwara's counters link together one after another. First, he played Level Limit - Area B to draw out his opponent's destruction, then let his opponent's Heavy Storm run straight into Dark Bribe. Only then did he reveal Gravity Bind, the real card locking down attacks!"
"This will be painful for Tachibana. No matter how high Ultimate Tyranno's attack points are, it can't attack."
Tachibana Shingo's hand paused over his Duel Disk.
He looked at Gravity Bind, then at the largely unchanged expression on Yūki's face.
This guy had already worked it all out.
Level Limit - Area B wasn't a line of defense.
It was bait.
Heavy Storm wasn't the hardest part to deal with, either.
The real roadblock was this Gravity Bind.
He suppressed his irritation.
"Turn end."
Yūki drew a card.
"My turn. Draw!"
The instant the card reached his hand, he slapped it into his Spell & Trap Zone.
"I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Wave-Motion Cannon."
In the projected card art, a massive silver-white cannon rose from underground, its barrel extending section by section as blue energy gathered within.
"Each time one of my Standby Phases passes, this card stores one charge of energy."
"Then I can send it to the Graveyard to deal you one thousand damage multiplied by the number of charges."
Yūki looked at Tachibana Shingo.
"If you don't deal with it, I'll fire once it's charged enough."
Tachibana Shingo's expression changed.
Gravity Bind kept Ultimate Tyranno from attacking.
And Wave-Motion Cannon was like a countdown sitting in plain sight.
He had to clear this field as soon as possible.
Even more troublesome was that Yūki could destroy Wave-Motion Cannon himself.
Once he made it through four of his own Standby Phases, Yūki could deal four thousand damage outright.
Though his LP was still at four thousand now.
He couldn't let this game drag on.
Yūki made no further moves.
"Turn end."
Tachibana Shingo drew a card from his deck.
"My turn. Draw!"
When he saw the [Royal Decree] he had just drawn, his pent-up frustration finally found an outlet.
This Continuous Trap could negate every other Trap Card on the field.
The problem was that a Trap Card couldn't be activated on the same turn it was Set.
He still had to wait one turn.
Next turn.
As long as I make it to next turn, once Royal Decree flips over, Gravity Bind and Yūki's remaining face-down card will both lose their effects.
Then Ultimate Tyranno can attack directly.
Yūki still has four thousand LP.
One hit won't be enough, but another monster on the field can finish him off.
Tachibana Shingo pulled a Monster Card from his hand.
"I summon Swordhorned Dragon in Attack Position!"
A brown dinosaur with an enormous horned crest stepped onto the field, the muscles along its back bulging as its foreclaws tore up the ground.
[Swordhorned Dragon, ATK 1900]
"I Set one card."
Royal Decree settled face down in the back row.
"Turn end."
The two dinosaurs stood on the field, separated by Gravity Bind.
One had three thousand attack points, the other nineteen hundred.
Both could hit hard.
Neither could attack.
Tachibana Shingo lowered his hand and repeated inwardly.
Next turn.
I'll win next turn.
Yūki drew a card.
"My turn. Draw!"
After looking at the card he had drawn, he raised his head and gave Tachibana Shingo a strange look.
There was no particular emotion in that gaze.
Yet Tachibana Shingo felt a little uncomfortable down his back.
Yūki flipped over his last face-down card.
"I activate the Normal Trap Card, Just Desserts."
A gorilla suddenly lunged out and grabbed at the two monsters on Tachibana Shingo's field, tearing off two chunks of flesh and stuffing them into its mouth to chew and swallow.
Swordhorned Dragon and Ultimate Tyranno let out agonized roars.
"This deals damage based on the number of monsters on your field. For each monster, you take five hundred damage."
"You have Ultimate Tyranno and Swordhorned Dragon on your field."
"Two monsters."
"So you'll take one thousand effect damage."
The projections of the two dinosaurs couldn't help going berserk from the pain.
The flying rubble blasted straight into Tachibana Shingo.
[Tachibana Shingo LP: 4000 → 3000]
Tachibana Shingo's expression darkened.
Yūki pulled another Monster Card from his hand and held it between two fingers.
"I'll give you another high-level powerhouse with attack points equal to Blue-Eyes White Dragon's."
Someone in the stands drew a sharp breath.
Yūki had Gravity Bind on his field.
And he was giving his opponent a monster with three thousand attack points?
What kind of play was this?
Yūki raised the card in front of him.
In the card art, a crimson lava demon stood in the center of a volcanic crater, holding chains in both hands, surrounded by churning magma.
"This card cannot be Normal Summoned."
"I'll Tribute the two monsters on your field to Special Summon it to your field."
"Ultimate Tyranno, Swordhorned Dragon."
"Become sacrifices to the lava."
Yūki delivered that last line a little stiffly.
Mostly because the line really was far too Marik.
For a regular Duelist like him, shouting it out was a little embarrassing.
Before you continue