Yu-Gi-Oh!: Starting with an Underworld Deck, Depressing the World
[ATK: 1700] [DEF: 1650]
"Although the rules of a tag duel say none of the four players can attack on the first turn, I'm not stopping after summoning just one monster!" The dark-green-clad Paradox Brother's eyes burned with fighting spirit. He gave Jiang He a crooked grin and was about to activate something else from his hand. "I didn't think you'd end after summoning just one monster, either. So at this moment, I activate my face-down card, the trap [Magical Cylinder]!" Just then, Jiang He raised his hand first, gesturing toward one of the three face-down cards on his field. A trap card depicting a blue, green, and red toy gun flipped over!
"This trap's effect deals damage directly to the opponent equal to 200 times the total number of cards in their hands and on their fields!" "A trap that directly cuts down our life points?" Both Paradox Brothers looked startled. "Magical Cylinder?"
Even Alexis Rhodes couldn't help looking a little curious.
Clearly, she had never heard of the trap Jiang He was using!
Was it a card she had never seen before, like the Spell Card [One Day of Peace] in the Exodia the Forbidden One deck he had used to defeat Chazz Princeton in one turn earlier?
Jaden Yuki, Crowler, and the others watching from the sidelines all looked equally surprised, having never seen it before. "According to [Magical Cylinder]'s effect, the older Paradox Brother has five cards in his hand and one [Blast Juggler] on his field, while the younger brother also has five cards and one [Kaiser Sea Horse] on his field. That means the damage is based on twelve cards in total."
Bastion Misawa spoke as he calculated.
"Jiang He's life-point-cutting trap is a perfect fit for a tag duel. It massively increases the amount of damage in one go!"
Zane Truesdale nodded slightly in agreement beside him.
Meanwhile, on the duel field, Jiang He spoke with a faint smile.
"Two hundred damage per card, twelve cards in total. That means you take a total of 2,400 damage!"
"[Magical Cylinder], open fire!"
As Jiang He raised his hand with a mischievous flourish and gave the command, a huge blue, green, and red toy machine gun emerged from the trap in a faint glow and began rattling away at the Paradox Brothers across the field.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!"
A barrage of cylindrical wooden plugs in various colors shot out, pelting the ground in front of them like rain and causing a slight sting!
"Urgh!!"
Both Paradox Brothers raised their hands to shield themselves, letting out muffled groans.
Their [8000 LP] rapidly ticked down to [5600 LP].
[Ding, Paradox Brothers (yellow/green) Emotion Points +400!]
"Damn it...!" Both the dark-green-clad and earthy-yellow-clad Paradox Brothers gritted their teeth.
When they looked at Jiang He, the fighting spirit burning in their eyes flared even brighter!
Not only had they lost 2,400 LP in one shot, but being sprayed by a toy machine gun like that also left them feeling humiliated and furious, as though Jiang He had been making fools of them!
"A splendid trap attack. Now, the Paradox Brothers' counterattack continues!"
The dark-green-clad Paradox Brother took out the card he had been about to activate before Jiang He's trap briefly interrupted him and placed it on his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card [Puppet Ritual]!"
"This card's effect lets me tribute one monster on our field, then special summon a level-seven monster from my hand!"
As he spoke, the dark-green-clad Paradox Brother glanced at his older brother in earthy yellow a short distance away.
After his older brother nodded, he grinned crookedly again. "I tribute my brother's [Blast Juggler] to special summon [Kazejin] from my hand!"
"Come forth, [Kazejin]!"
"Whoosh!!"
A fierce white wind swept up from the field in front of the dark-green-clad Paradox Brother. Soon, a monster resembling a green toad emerged from it, hovering with its arms spread. It had only a dark green spherical body and a pair of green arms, with the character "wind" inside a circle on its forehead!
[Kazejin] [Level: 7] [Attribute: Wind] [ATK: 2400] [DEF: 2200]
"...No matter how I look at it, it's still one ugly green toad..." Jiang He couldn't help commenting.
Paradox Brothers: Do you have any manners?!
That was their signature monster!
But Jiang He soon noticed that Alexis Rhodes, a short distance beside him, looked somewhat grave.
"Although this monster really is a little ugly, he tributed his tag-duel partner's monster, which originally had a negative effect, to summon a powerful monster. They managed a chain of summons with that level of coordination in a single turn."
Alexis Rhodes spoke with a somewhat grave expression.
From that simple setup in a single turn, it was clear that their decks truly had plenty of combinations designed for tag duels.
There would surely be more to come!
"Don't worry. When it comes to coordination, we're not bad ourselves." Hearing her, Jiang He raised an eyebrow meaningfully.
Alexis was briefly stunned by his words, but she soon smiled as if she understood something.
She glanced at the face-down card on her field and thought to herself.
Although they hadn't had time to discuss it beforehand, did it seem this guy had already guessed roughly what kind of trap she had deliberately added when she adjusted her deck to work with his?
That was right, they weren't completely without coordination, or... something like a bond!
At that thought, Alexis Rhodes looked back at the Paradox Brothers' moves, full of confidence once again.
Jiang He felt that Alexis's reaction seemed a little peculiar, but he didn't think much of it for the moment.
He also turned his attention back to the Paradox Brothers' next move!
Chapter 69: What Are You Getting Fired Up About?!
She was under pressure, yet that brat's words immediately put her at ease... that young lady...
The dark-green-clad Paradox Brother thought to himself as he watched Jiang He and Alexis Rhodes.
But when it came to bonds, he and his brother would never lose to that hateful brat!
"I'm truly sorry, big brother, for using your monster as a tribute just now." For some reason, the dark-green-clad Paradox Brother's fighting spirit also flared up on that front as he spoke to his brother.
"It's nothing. If it's for you, I don't mind making a few sacrifices." The older, earthy-yellow-clad Paradox Brother responded easily, immediately understanding his brother's feelings.
Jiang He watched, unable to keep a mass of black lines from appearing over his face.
For a moment, he didn't even know where to begin commenting.
Wait, what did they have to get fired up about on that front...?!
Even Alexis Rhodes watched with a face full of black lines, and her sudden desire to crush them grew much stronger!
"But I can't rest easy without repaying you in some way." The dark-green-clad Paradox Brother continued, getting to the point.
He took another card from the three remaining in his hand and placed it on his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card [Dark Designator] from my hand."
"This card's effect lets me designate a target. If the opponent's deck contains the monster I name, that card can be added to their hand."
"The monster I choose is [Sanga of the Thunder]!"
As he spoke, the dark-green-clad Paradox Brother pointed at his older brother in earthy yellow.
Clearly, his older brother was the target of his Spell Card [Dark Designator].
"Heh heh heh, thank you. Of course my deck contains [Sanga of the Thunder]!" The older Paradox Brother in earthy yellow chuckled with a crooked grin.
He then took Sanga of the Thunder from his deck, showed it to Jiang He and Alexis Rhodes, and added it to his own hand.
When he returned the deck to his Duel Disk, the disk automatically shuffled it.
"And with that, I end my turn!"
The dark-green-clad Paradox Brother looked at Jiang He and Alexis Rhodes as he spoke.
"Although you're ahead in life points right now, we have the advantage on the field. Let us use this duel to show you the essence of tag dueling!"
"It's too early to say who has the advantage on the field! My turn, draw!"
Full of fighting spirit, Alexis immediately drew a card from the deck on her Duel Disk.
After glancing at Jiang He and seeing him signal that she could attack without worry, Alexis smiled and slapped the card she had just drawn onto her Duel Disk.
"I summon [Cyber Tutu] in attack position!"
"Hey!"
As a faint light shone, a girl with short-to-medium pink hair and red-and-white clothing playfully cried out and leaped from it.
She appeared on the field in front of Alexis!
She stood beside Cyber Blader, a mature woman in crimson clothing with long, straight black hair.
[Cyber Tutu] [Level: 3] [Attribute: Earth] [ATK: 1000] [DEF: 800]
"Your teamwork succeeded in using the older brother's negative-effect monster as a tribute to summon a powerful monster like [Kazejin] in a single turn. But because of that, the older of you two brothers has no monsters on his field at all right now, leaving him without any defense!"
As Alexis spoke, she pointed at the older Paradox Brother in earthy yellow.
"[Cyber Tutu], attack directly!"
"Hey!!"
The pink-haired girl let out a playful cry, then leaped into the air and spun rapidly as she flew at the older Paradox Brother in earthy yellow with a kick.
"They seized that tiny opening!"
Both Paradox Brothers' expressions grew a little more serious.
"Ah!"
As [Cyber Tutu]'s spinning flying kick landed in front of the older Paradox Brother in earthy yellow, he let out a muffled groan at the slight pain.
The brothers' remaining [5600 LP] ticked down by another 1,000 LP, dropping to [4600 LP].
"Tch, just as I thought, we couldn't bait out [Kazejin]'s special effect." Jiang He clicked his tongue in disappointment as he watched.
Although the opponents appeared to have left an obvious gap and opening, with no defenses on the field in front of the older Paradox Brother,
he knew that [Kazejin] on the dark-green-clad younger brother's field had a special effect that could reduce the damage caused by an opposing monster to zero once per turn.
In other words, at most, only one of the two monsters on Alexis's field could land an effective attack.
If the opponents had activated [Kazejin]'s effect when [Cyber Tutu] attacked just now,
then [Cyber Blader]'s attack would definitely have worked.
Unfortunately, the two brothers had earned the title of legendary tag duelists, after all, and were no fools.