Lava Golem's effect still activated.
Tachibana Shingo's pupils widened.
"Tribute two of my monsters?!"
The ground beneath Ultimate Tyranno and Swordhorned Dragon split open. Columns of scorching lava shot skyward, and chains wrapped around the two dinosaurs, dragging them into the depths of the sea of fire.
The next second, a black iron cage rose in the center of the main arena.
Twisted demonic patterns covered its bars.
Before Tachibana Shingo could react, holographic chains latched onto the cage from every direction, trapping his virtual figure in the center.
Lava poured down from the top of the cage.
A lava demon several stories tall straightened up from the sea of fire, its eyes blazing. Gripping the chains on either side of the cage, it let out a low roar.
[Lava Golem, ATK 3000]
The entire venue froze for half a beat.
"What?"
"He gave his opponent a monster with three thousand attack?"
"He gave his opponent a 3000-ATK monster just to get rid of Swordhorned Dragon?"
"That's way too big a loss!"
Most people could not understand it.
Not everyone knew about the duel between Marik and Joey Wheeler.
This card was also extremely rare. Most of the middle school students and teachers present had never even heard its name.
In the VIP seats, Mokuba Kaiba abruptly stood up.
He stared at the artwork on Lava Golem, clear astonishment appearing on his face for the first time.
"That card..."
A staff member beside him asked quietly, "Young Master Mokuba, you know it?"
"Marik's Lava Golem."
Mokuba did not sit down.
"Why does he have it?"
In the arena, Yūki looked at Tachibana Shingo, trapped inside the iron cage, and continued.
"Lava Golem has another effect."
"During each of your standby phases, it deals one thousand damage to its controller."
"Right now, it's on your field."
"So starting next turn, it'll burn you for one thousand first."
Tachibana Shingo's expression instantly darkened.
Lava Golem had three thousand attack.
It should have been a powerful monster capable of crushing an opponent.
But Gravity Bind was still on the field, and the level-eight Lava Golem could not attack at all.
Standing on his side, it was no ace.
It was a bomb that would deduct one thousand LP every turn, right on schedule.
Tachibana Shingo scanned his hand.
He still had an Advanced Dinosaur.
As long as he survived this, he could tribute Lava Golem next turn and stay alive.
But Yūki did not stop.
He pointed at the Spell Card on his field.
"I activate the effect of the Spell Card Wave-Motion Cannon."
Tachibana Shingo looked up.
His gaze passed over Gravity Bind, then Lava Golem, before finally settling on the enormous cannon on Yūki's own field.
"According to Wave-Motion Cannon's effect, when I send this card to the Graveyard, you take damage equal to the number of turns accumulated times 1000!"
"What?!"
The male commentator nearly lost his grip on the microphone.
Yūki looked at the enormous cannon, already brimming with blue light.
"As I said earlier, it accumulates energy each time it passes through one of my standby phases."
"It's already passed through two of my standby phases."
"Now, I send it to the Graveyard."
"Wave-Motion Cannon, fire."
The silver-white gun emplacement began to disintegrate.
But the blue beam that had long been building inside its barrel did not disperse. Instead, it converged in midair into a straight torrent of energy that blasted toward Tachibana Shingo.
"Based on the accumulated count, you take two thousand damage."
The blast passed through the bars of the iron cage.
Lava Golem roared behind him as the red glow of lava and the blue light of cannon fire engulfed Tachibana Shingo at the same time.
[Tachibana Shingo LP: 3000 → 1000]
The entire venue erupted.
"He's only got one thousand left!"
"Lava Golem will deal another thousand damage next standby phase!"
"Doesn't that mean it's already..."
The female commentator stopped halfway through.
It was already a dead end.
Tachibana Shingo understood that too.
During his next standby phase, Lava Golem would activate its effect first.
He only had one thousand LP left.
He would not even get the chance to see whether the card he drew could clear the field.
Yūki returned his hand to the edge of his Duel Disk.
"Turn end."
Tachibana Shingo stood motionless.
He had thought that next turn, he could flip Royal Decree, shut down Yūki's back row, and then end the duel in one go with his dinosaurs.
That set card was still there.
But now, it was useless.
There was no need to wait for it to negate Gravity Bind.
Lava Golem would burn him to death first.
In the stands, his two teammates from City First Middle School had gone pale.
Kurosawa stared at the iron cage in the arena, folding his arms more tightly.
Asakawa Suzune said softly, "He was calculating this from the very beginning."
Sato Renshan said nothing.
Looking at Yūki's utterly unremarkable face, he suddenly remembered what he had said back in the office.
Make the other schools remember Third Municipal Middle School's name.
Now, it seemed this went far beyond remembering it.
This kid was planning to carve that name onto other people's Deck Boxes.
Tachibana Shingo finally raised his hand.
"My turn, draw!"
His fingers had just touched his deck.
Lava Golem moved first.
The lava inside the cage churned, scorching liquid dripping down the bars. Firelight painted Tachibana Shingo's virtual figure red as Lava Golem bent down and unleashed a roar into the cage that weighed on people's chests.
"Lava Golem's effect activates."
Yūki finished explaining the effect for him.
"During your standby phase, its controller takes one thousand damage."
Lava poured down from the top of the cage.
[Tachibana Shingo LP: 1000 → 0]
The Duel Disk sounded its defeat alert.
The iron cage, lava, and enormous demon in the center of the main arena all dissolved into points of light.
Tachibana Shingo stood where he was, his hand still hovering over his deck.
Two seconds later, his knees buckled, and he dropped to his knees on the dueling platform.
No one in the venue spoke immediately.
On the big screen, the winner's name slowly lit up.
[Fujiwara Yūki]
Meanwhile, Tachibana Shingo kept his head lowered, staring at his empty Duel Disk, looking as though he still had not recovered from that one thousand points of effect damage.
"Fujiwara Yūki has won!!"
Only then did the male commentator find his voice, practically shouting into the microphone.
"Fujiwara Yūki has defeated Tachibana Shingo without taking any battle damage at all, earning his place in the Championship Match!"
The female commentator looked at the Duel Disk's records, speaking so quickly she could barely keep up.
"Level Limit - Area B forced out Mystical Space Typhoon, Dark Bribe stopped Heavy Storm, and Gravity Bind shut down his attacks. Then he used Lava Golem to deal with the two dinosaurs, before finishing things with two rounds of effect damage from Wave-Motion Cannon and Lava Golem."
"Tachibana followed his own pace from beginning to end, but every step forward was turned into a new victory condition by Fujiwara."
The stands remained quiet for a while before applause began.
At first, it came only from Third Municipal Middle School's section.
Jaden jumped up and clapped the loudest, nearly knocking over the seat in front of him. Kurosawa stood beside him without a word, but also raised his hands and clapped twice.
Sato Renshan kept a stern face. Only when the principal beside him looked over did he cough and put away his hands, red from clapping.
No one spoke in City First Middle School's spectator section.
Before the match, they had still been discussing how to deal with Needle Worm and how to defend against hand destruction.
Then Yūki had brought out a Lava Golem and completely dismantled Tachibana Shingo's strategy.
Just how many decks had this guy brought?
In the VIP seats, Mokuba Kaiba sat down again, his gaze still fixed on the Lava Golem card in Yūki's hand.
He told the staff member beside him, "Send the full record of this match back to the company."
The staff member glanced at him.
Mokuba added one more sentence.
"Especially where that card came from."
In the center of the main arena, Yūki took off his Duel Disk and walked up to Tachibana Shingo.
Tachibana braced his hands on his knees and rose, without looking at him.
Yūki stopped two steps away.
"Your preparations weren't bad."
Tachibana's hand paused.
"You destroyed Level Limit - Area B, forced me to use Dark Bribe, and preserved your chance to clear my back row with Heavy Storm."
"If I'd been playing Needle Worm or Hand Control, it really would have been a tough match."
Yūki fastened his Duel Disk back onto his arm.
Tachibana looked up and stared at him for two seconds.
"Are you trying to comfort me?"
"Call it a post-match review."
Yūki paused.
"Also, don't kneel for too long. The dueling platform's pretty cold."
Tachibana's face twitched, but in the end, he stood up on his own.
Before you continue