Holographic barriers roared upward on either side of the Dueling Arena, slicing the air into an icy blue.
"I'll go first. Draw."
Yūki rested his fingertips on top of his Deck and casually drew his sixth opening card.
In this innocent, wonderful age of GX, the player going first could not only draw on the first turn, but also enjoy a full six cards' worth of resources.
[Stealth Bird], [Level Limit - Area B], [Wave-Motion Cannon], [Negate Attack], [Magic Cylinder], and the sixth card he had just drawn-[Pot of Greed].
His hand was as orderly as armor plating fresh off the production line.
Yūki glanced at Kurosawa across from him.
Kurosawa held his Duel Disk in one hand, his cards spread into a neat fan, his chin slightly raised, his eyes brimming with the superiority of an expert looking down on a beginner.
"Go ahead and set up, junior."
Kurosawa even gave him a considerate smile. "You can't attack going first. Just Set any monster. Don't be too nervous."
Yūki did not so much as twitch an eyebrow.
He casually pulled out the card with the big green face and slid it into his Duel Disk:
"I activate the Normal Spell, [Pot of Greed]."
A huge, grinning green face appeared in midair. Its mouth opened wide, and two new cards whisked into his hand.
"I draw two cards from my Deck."
A [Giant Soldier of Stone] and a Normal Trap, [Just Desserts], joined his hand.
Next, Yūki took out a Monster Card and placed it horizontally facedown in his Monster Zone:
"I Set one monster."
An enormous, dark card back appeared in midair, planted solidly sideways before Yūki.
Then Yūki pulled out a Continuous Spell and slid it into a card slot:
"I activate the Continuous Spell, [Wave-Motion Cannon]."
Rumble!
The ground behind the Dueling Arena abruptly sank. With the heavy grinding of interlocking steel gears, a pitch-black cannon as thick as an industrial smokestack burst from the earth! Its dark muzzle pointed diagonally into the sky, while the energy gauge at its rear gave off a faint glow.
"During my Main Phase, I can send this card to the Graveyard to activate it."
Yūki was as calm as a weather forecaster. "Each time my Standby Phase passes, it gains one counter. When it fires, each counter costs you 1,000 Life Points."
Kurosawa's eyebrow twitched violently.
It stores up 1,000 points every turn?
If that thing survives four turns, it'll send me straight to the afterlife with one shot?
"Trying to stall me to death with a countdown? Naive!"
Kurosawa scoffed. "With nothing but that flimsy defensive monster in your front row, you think you can survive four turns?"
"Don't rush, senior. I haven't finished renovating."
Yūki pulled out another card and slid it into his back row.
"I activate the Continuous Spell, [Level Limit - Area B]."
Vmmm-!
A dark-red gravitational field abruptly erupted from the ground in a ring. It was as though the air across the entire Dueling Field had instantly filled with mercury, so heavy it made everyone's knees ache!
"As long as this card remains on the field, all monsters Level 4 or higher are changed to Defense Position, and they can't change their battle positions."
Finally, Yūki casually slipped two cards from his hand into the back row:
"I Set two cards in my back row and end my turn. Senior, please begin your performance."
A facedown Defense Position monster occupied his front row, a countdown cannon stood primed in his back row, a gravitational field that forced all the big monsters to their knees lay beneath his feet, and two pitch-black Set cards waited in ambush behind him.
The entire setup fit together without a gap, radiating the unmistakable air of an illegal construction.
The smile on Kurosawa's face finally froze completely.
Every monster Level 4 or higher gets forced into Defense Position?!
How was he supposed to steamroll him with high-Level monsters now?!
The club members watching below the platform were stunned too:
"Holy shit... what kind of cursed play is this?"
"Everything Level 4 and up has to kneel? Can Kōshin's Spirit Reaper still get an attack through?!"
"What are you panicking for? It's just a cheap trick!"
Kurosawa gritted his teeth and slammed his fingers onto the top of his Deck:
"My turn! Draw!"
After seeing the card he had drawn, Kurosawa's lips spread into a cold grin again:
"Fujiwara, your understanding is far too shallow! In this age, the might of a big monster isn't something one lousy Spell can seal away!"
"I Normal Summon [Kaiku the Ghost Destroyer]!"
A high monk in deep-blue robes descended upon golden light, runes swirling around his demon-subduing staff, his presence imposing!
[Kaiku the Ghost Destroyer]
[Level 4 / DARK Attribute / Spellcaster]
[ATK: 1800, DEF: 1050]
Yet the instant Spirit Reaper's toes touched the tiles, the surrounding dark-red gravitational halo slammed downward!
Before the monk could even strike a stylish spellcasting pose, his knees buckled. With a thud, he dropped to one knee on the spot, holding his staff across his chest in both hands, forced into a defensive stance.
[Battle position changed: Attack Position → Defense Position (DEF 1050)]
A wave of sharp gasps rose from below the platform.
"He... he really knelt!"
"An ace with eighteen hundred ATK came out and immediately dropped to his knee to wish the opponent a happy New Year?!"
Kurosawa's back teeth ground audibly, but as a 3 Stars vice president, he thought quickly and immediately found a way through:
"Monsters Level 4 and higher are suppressed by gravity, but monsters Level 3 and below aren't affected!"
"I activate the Spell Card [Double Summon] to perform my second Normal Summon this turn!"
Light burst forth again.
"Come forth, Level 3 warrior, [Dark Blade]!"
A swordsman clad in black armor charged out of black mist, his twin blades gleaming coldly!
[Dark Blade]
[Level 3 / DARK Attribute / Warrior-Type]
[ATK: 1800, DEF: 1500]
"I'm not done yet!"
Kurosawa's gaze was icy as he slapped the Equip Spell in his hand precisely toward the newly summoned black-armored swordsman:
"I activate the Equip Spell [Axe of Despair] and equip it to [Dark Blade], who can attack freely!"
"Possessed by demonic power, Dark Blade gains 1,000 ATK, soaring to 2,800!"
Boom!
A vicious-looking heavy axe wreathed in crimson bloodlight landed in the black-armored swordsman's palm. Brutal demonic energy instantly pushed his ATK to a suffocating peak!
[Dark Blade, ATK 1800 → 2800]
The club members below erupted into frenzied cheers:
"Holy shit! Twenty-eight hundred ATK!"
"That's our vice president! With Ghost Destroyer pinned down, he just hands the axe to a Level 3 monster! Twenty-eight hundred ATK will crush him!"
"Fujiwara's dead this game!"
Laughing wildly, Kurosawa jabbed his hand toward the horizontal Set monster before Yūki:
"Tear his turtle shell apart! Dark Blade, Black Flame Demon Slash!"
The black-armored swordsman roared and swung his double-bladed heavy axe, demonic flames coiling around it. With savage force that could split mountains and shatter stone, he brought it viciously down toward the head of Yūki's Set monster!
Yet facing the towering flames crashing toward him, Yūki kept both hands in his pockets and did not even change his stance.
He merely tapped the ground lightly with his toe, a harmless smile curving his lips:
"Senior, charge too hard, and it's very easy to hit the brakes."
Yūki casually pointed with a finger of his right hand. The first Set card in his back row abruptly flipped faceup, and dazzling crimson light shot skyward!
Counter Trap-[Negate Attack]!
"When an opponent's monster declares an attack, I can activate this."
Yūki's voice was as calm as though he were reading an instruction manual. "That monster's attack is negated, and-your Battle Phase is forcibly ended."
"Nani?!" Kurosawa's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints!
Boom-!
An enormous vortex of space-time currents opened out of nowhere in the very center of the Dueling Arena!
The demonic battle-axe, so invincible a moment ago and wrapped in a full 2,800 points of destructive demonic flame, was forcibly swallowed whole by the violently spinning space-time vortex less than half a meter from Yūki's Set monster!
Not only that, but the overwhelming blast of recoil sent the black-armored swordsman himself staggering several steps backward. The demonic battle-axe clanged to the ground, and the vicious demonic flames filling the air went out instantly!
It had not even brushed the tiniest corner of clothing!
All the cheers and shouts of praise abruptly stopped, as though someone had forcibly seized everyone by the throat.
The club members below nearly dislocated their jaws:
"F-forcibly ends the Battle Phase?!"
"That rampaging battle-axe with twenty-eight hundred ATK didn't even touch his security door before it got shut down?!"
"You've got to be kidding! That's a Counter Trap?!"
Kurosawa Kōshin stood rooted in place, his entire right arm frozen in midair. His chest heaved violently, a breath trapped in his throat until his whole face turned red. He nearly spat blood on the spot!
It felt like charging up a peerless ultimate move for ages, just about to smash the opponent's skull with one punch, only to slam headfirst into a tempered-glass door-and get disqualified and ejected on top of it!
"You... you bastard!"
Kurosawa clutched his last two cards, his knuckles turning white, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
No matter how fierce the big monsters in his front row were, with his Battle Phase confiscated outright, they could not even kick a single hair!
Meanwhile, on Yūki's half of the field.
That mysterious Set monster remained perfectly unharmed, lying sideways in defense.
His back row still held a countdown cannon primed to fire, along with an unknown Set card whose depths were impossible to fathom!
"Senior, are you still attacking?"
Yūki even tilted his head considerately and reminded him politely, "If not, it's time to announce the end of your turn."
Kurosawa's back teeth ground together with a clatter. He practically squeezed each word through the gaps between his teeth:
"I Set two cards in my back row... and end my turn!!"
Before you continue