More and more students gathered outside the Duel Club, their heads packed tightly into the window gaps as they watched.
"The double-captain lock! They both draw attacks to themselves-an ironclad formation that completely shuts down attacks!"
"That's our vice principal! Absolute dominance from an old-school duelist right out of the gate!"
At the center of the dueling field, Sato Renshan swept his arm out with overwhelming presence:
"Enter the battle phase! Charging Captain, attack the face-down monster!"
The silver-armored swordsman's blade shot up, tracing a brilliant line of death through the air as it viciously slashed toward the horizontal card back on the ground!
Facing the oncoming blade, Yūki did not even blink. His right index finger snapped down on a button on his Duel Disk.
"When you declare your attack, I activate my face-down card."
At the center of his back row, the crimson Trap that had remained face-down for an entire turn flipped upright.
"Normal Trap, [Holy Barrier - Mirror Force]."
The sneer at the corner of Sato Renshan's mouth froze instantly.
Boom!
Five silvery-white curtains of light erupted in succession at the center of the field, forming one indestructible prism wall after another!
The first Charging Captain charged too hard. The instant his sword tip touched the mirror, the blade shattered into dust. A violent wave of white light surged back over him, instantly vaporizing warrior and armor alike!
The second captain did not even have time to fall back before the same explosion of white light swallowed him whole amid his screams!
Crack!
The two silver-armored warriors, each with twelve hundred attack points, dissolved into a shower of blue data fragments without so much as touching Yūki's face-down monster.
Meanwhile, the face-down monster in Yūki's front row remained lying horizontally on the field, completely unscathed and glowing with a mysterious light.
The entire room fell deathly silent for two seconds.
Someone outside the window gasped so loudly it sounded like a leaking tire.
"M-Mirror Force?!"
"Both captains got wiped out?!"
"The absolute ironclad lock the vice principal so carefully prepared just got smashed by a single Mirror Force?!"
Sato Renshan slowly raised his head from behind his Duel Disk, his gold-rimmed glasses slipping down half an inch.
At that moment, his worldview seemed to undergo a massive earthquake.
He had specifically added Mystical Space Typhoon to his deck to remove back-row cards, and had even precisely taken out Yūki's Trap Hole, only for another Holy Barrier to be hiding right beside it!
"You actually... had Mirror Force hidden too."
Sato Renshan's voice dropped a full eight octaves, and he looked as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.
His front row was empty, and so was his back row.
He had started with six cards, yet by the second turn, only two lonely cards remained in his hand.
Sato Renshan took a deep breath and announced through gritted teeth.
"My... turn is over."
"Finally, it's my turn."
Looking relaxed, Yūki placed his fingers on top of his deck and stylishly drew a card.
He turned it over, revealing a huge green face grinning broadly. It was [Pot of Greed]!
"I activate the Normal Spell, [Pot of Greed]!"
An image of a greedy green pot appeared in midair, and Yūki smoothly whisked two cards off the top of his deck!
They were none other than the core component of Hand Destruction, [Mischievous Twins], and his ultimate ace, [Yata-Garasu]!
Yūki glanced at the two remaining cards in Sato Renshan's hand, and his smile grew exceptionally bright, even taking on a hint of benevolence.
Two cards in hand.
No more, no less. Just enough to give Delinquent Duo a full meal.
"I pay 1,000 Life Points."
Yūki slapped the Spell Card into its slot. "I activate the Normal Spell-[Mischievous Twins]."
[Fujiwara Yūki, LP 3000 → 2000]
Two palm-sized little demons flapped their fleshy wings and sprang out of the card, one red and one blue, swooping over Sato Renshan's Duel Disk with cheeky grins.
The red demon bared its teeth while the blue demon narrowed its tiny eyes, letting out a sleazy cackle.
A vein throbbed violently on Sato Renshan's forehead. "What are those things?!"
"First, the red demon randomly picks a card and bites it to pieces."
The red demon plunged into the holographic images of Sato Renshan's hand, grabbed a card at random, and tore it to pieces with a crunch!
"Then comes the blue demon. Vice principal, please choose a card yourself to send to the graveyard."
Yūki gestured for him to go ahead.
Sato Renshan looked down at the last card in his hand, his entire hand trembling slightly.
He had no choice.
The blue demon gleefully scooped up the final card, turned into a streak of light, and darted into the graveyard.
An empty field.
An empty back row.
Cards in hand: 0.
His master-level six-card opening had been stripped clean with surgical precision, leaving not even a scrap, without touching Yūki's face-down monster once since the duel began!
The students watching outside the door were utterly silent, not even daring to breathe loudly.
This was far too cruel!
He had even been stripped of his underwear!
Yūki lightly tapped his monster zone.
"I Flip Summon my face-down monster."
The card flipped upright.
A little yellow ball of fur bounced across the floor, its three black eyes rolling around.
[Sangan] [Level 3 / DARK Attribute / Fiend-Type] [ATK: 1000, DEF: 600]
Yūki pulled out the final Monster Card he had just drawn with Pot of Greed, his gaze shifting slightly.
With his opponent trapped with an empty field and an empty hand, this little bird with two hundred attack points was torture in its purest form, beyond even modern medicine's ability to cure.
"I Normal Summon [Yata-Garasu]."
An eerie purple light flickered.
A little crow covered in deep purple feathers, with three feet, flew out of the card. It flapped its wings twice before landing lightly on Yūki's shoulder, even tilting its head to preen its feathers.
[Yata-Garasu] [Level 1 / WIND Attribute / Winged Beast / Spirit] [ATK: 200, DEF: 100]
Sato Renshan stared hard at the little bird, his brows drawn into a tight knot.
A lousy little Level 1 bird with two hundred attack points?
It was neither a Warrior nor a Dragon, and it did not even have high attack. Was bringing out something like this supposed to be a joke?
Yata-Garasu hopped down from Yūki's shoulder and landed beside Sangan.
A little yellow furball and a little purple crow, boasting a combined attack of twelve hundred points, stood brazenly before the five-star vice principal's empty half of the field.
"Enter the battle phase."
Yūki raised his right hand, commanding calmly. "Sangan, attack the vice principal directly."
Sangan's three large eyes lit up at once, and three dazzling beams blasted Sato Renshan square in the chest!
[Sato Renshan, LP 4000 → 3000]
The shock wave sent Sato Renshan's suit flapping, but he did not take even one step back, his gaze fixed firmly on Yata-Garasu.
"Next, Yata-Garasu, attack directly."
The little purple bird spread his wings and took flight, becoming a purple blur as he skimmed lightly past Sato Renshan's ear. The tip of a feather even brushed off one of his hairs.
[Sato Renshan, LP 3000 → 2800]
Two hundred points of damage.
It was so slight that it felt no different from a mosquito bite.
Sato Renshan snorted coldly and was about to offer a few mocking words.
But Yūki raised an index finger first, smiling as he gently read out the verdict.
"[Yata-Garasu]'s monster effect activates."
"When this card inflicts battle damage on the opponent, the opponent's next draw phase is skipped."
Yūki blinked and added with an innocent expression:
"Put simply, vice principal, on your next turn... you don't get to draw."
Sato Renshan's mouth, which had just been about to open, stopped dead halfway.
His whole body resembled a statue frozen by a pause button.
"Oh, and there's the effect shared by Spirit Monsters."
Yūki retrieved the card with a turn of his hand. "During the end phase, Yata-Garasu returns to my hand."
The little purple bird dissolved into a wisp of smoke in midair and drifted obediently back into Yūki's palm.
Only Sangan remained in the front row, still rolling its eyes around without a care.
"I... can't draw next turn?"
Sato Renshan's voice sounded as though it had been scraped across sandpaper, so dry it barely sounded normal.
"Correct. You can't draw."
Yūki nodded in confirmation.
Sato Renshan stiffly lowered his head and looked at his utterly empty Duel Disk.
Front row: 0.
Back row: 0.
Cards in hand: 0.
Right to draw: revoked.
Then, when Yūki's turn came, he would play that bird again, peck away another two hundred points, and take away another draw phase...
This was a perpetual-motion death loop with absolutely no theoretical solution!
Sato Renshan jerked his head up, his eyes filled with an unprecedented sense of absurdity and shock.
He had taught dueling for thirty years. He had seen miraculous draws turn games around, huge monsters overwhelm opponents, and even mutual destruction.
But never in his life had he seen such a disgusting way to play!
Was this a deck a respectable high school student could print?!
"My... turn."
Sato Renshan stretched his trembling right hand toward the top of his deck.
His fingertips abruptly stopped a millimeter before touching the top card.
I can't draw.
He stared fixedly at the stack of cards, a fine layer of cold sweat forming on his forehead. In the end, he could only withdraw his hand dejectedly.
An empty field, an empty hand, and no drawing.
He, a five-star instructor certified by the Kaiba Corporation and vice principal of City No. 3 High School, stood before his Duel Disk without even the right to move a finger!
"My... turn is over."
Sato Renshan forced those words through his teeth, feeling as though all the strength had drained from his body.
Yūki did not even bother taking a sip of water:
"My turn. I draw!"
"I summon [Yata-Garasu] again."
Purple light flashed, and the devilish little bird descended once more.
One thousand from Sangan, two hundred from Yata-Garasu.
[Sato Renshan, LP 2800 → 1600]
Yata-Garasu's effect activated, depriving him of his draw phase again, and the bird obediently returned to the hand at the end of the turn.
Sato Renshan stood where he was, his expression having shifted from anger to numbness.
Once again, he called out, "My turn begins," stood there doing nothing for three seconds, then numbly called out, "My turn is over."
Immediately afterward came another round.
Draw, summon the bird, peck his face.
[Sato Renshan, LP 1600 → 400]
Looking at the mere four hundred Life Points remaining on his Duel Disk, Sato Renshan finally closed his eyes.
He took a deep breath and silently pressed the button to fold up his Duel Disk.
Click.
The metal blades folded together, and the holographic projections went completely dark.
Under the official rules, voluntarily folding up one's Duel Disk counted as surrender.
The five-star vice principal, usually so stern and imposing, slowly pulled out a plastic chair in the Duel Club's front row and sank into it, looking like a deflated ball.
The entire Duel Club was so quiet that a pin dropping to the floor would have been audible.
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