Chapter 18: Victory Declaration
Chapter 18: Victory Declaration
"Then, I proceed to the Main Phase of my turn."
Ryuzaki gently brushed his fingertips across his freshly drawn hand, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"You were quite arrogant in the previous turn, kid. But it ends here. This duel concludes this turn!"
He played three cards in quick succession: "I activate the Spell Card, 'Polymerization'! Fusion Summon 'Jurassic Impact Dragon' and 'Tyrant Burst Dragon' from my hand!"
A magic card materialized, and dinosaur forms emerged from his hand, swept up in a fusion of pitch-black vortices. Brilliant flashes of dark lightning erupted, striking the field and sending up plumes of black smoke.
"Ruler of the abyss and hell, awaken from the endless dark abyss. Fusion Summon—
—Level 6, Hellfire Dragon Monarch!" (Anime Card)
[Hellfire Dragon Monarch: ATK 2000]
The unmaterialized anime card was one of Ryuzaki's new aces in the DM era, after he had lost both Red-Eyes and Evil Knight Dragon.
"It's not over yet!"
Ryuzaki continued, "I activate the Spell Card, 'Monster Reborn'! With this card, I shall resurrect a powerful dinosaur from my graveyard!"
The holy mark of Monster Reborn appeared in the air, and a card flew out of the graveyard zone of the duel disk, bathed in golden light.
"I resurrect this card from the graveyard, the absolute monarch among dinosaurs—
—Black Tyranno!"
A black dinosaur roared as it burst out of the vortex of the underworld, throwing its head back and letting out a deafening bellow. Its massive tail lashed the ground, sending a cloud of dust soaring into the sky.
[Black Tyranno: ATK 2600]
"Huh? Black Tyranno?" Commentator Kodori exclaimed, "When did this monster get on the field...?"
"Probably when he first used 'Angel's Charity'," Commentator Sasaki explained, "It seems he had this setup planned from the very beginning. To be able to orchestrate such a powerful counterattack immediately after having his field broken like that... He truly is a legendary duelist."
"I see, that's impressive. But why didn't he resurrect 'Trihorn Dragon'? Its attack should be higher," Kodori asked, puzzled.
Sasaki smiled mysteriously, "Heh, it looks like Ryuzaki already has a winning strategy in mind. You'll see."
With the arrival of two more powerful monsters, Ryuzaki laughed triumphantly once more, "Witness the might of my dinosaurs! An extreme aggressive strategy, crushing my opponent with sheer force—this is my duel now!
I am no longer the same as before. I am stronger than ever!"
However, You Xuan, seeing the black behemoth that was Black Tyranno, had only one thought in mind.
Ryuzaki, how are you using Jian Shan's cards from the GX era?
His only impression of this dinosaur was as Jian Shan's ace monster during his initial appearance in the anime. It had once put Judai/Jaden at a severe disadvantage. Of course, Judai eventually turned the tables with his legendary draws, and Jian Shan subsequently became one of his lackeys.
"Now, I activate the Spell Card, 'Attack Negation' from my hand!
This card allows me to forcibly change an opponent's monster that is in an attack position to defense mode!"
Ryuzaki waved his hand, pointing at You Xuan's Mech-Fortress.
"I change 'Mech-Fortress' to defense mode!"
[Mech-Fortress: ATK 2500 → DEF 1600]
"I see," You Xuan said, understanding Ryuzaki's strategy, "Black Tyranno can ignore monsters and directly attack players when there are no monsters in the opponent's attack position. (Anime Effect)
So that's his plan."
"Not bad, newbie," Ryuzaki said, wiping his nose and chuckling, "You've figured it out.
And my 'Hellfire Dragon Monarch' on the field can also directly attack my opponent during the turn it was Fusion Summoned!"
The entire audience gasped in surprise.
"A direct attack one-two punch with 2600 and 2000 ATK! And they can ignore opposing monsters!" Kodori exclaimed, "Isn't this an OTK (One-Turn Kill) right here!?"
"Indeed, this is Ryuzaki's strategy," Sasaki said, "An absolute power play. This level of strength is truly astonishing."
Dragon Rider face, and it's a double dose at that. How can one lose to this?
"Go, 'Black Tyranno'! According to its monster effect, ignore Mech-Fortress and attack the player directly!"
Black Tyranno roared and charged forward, its tail whipping up a dense cloud of dust as it soared over Mech-Fortress, ready to tear into You Xuan.
"Then, I activate my face-down Trap Card, 'Earthbound Spirit's Enticement'!" You Xuan declared, raising his hand, "When an opponent's monster declares an attack, I can choose a new attack target for that attack."
He pointed to the Mech-Fortress on his field.
"I designate 'Mech-Fortress' as the attack target of 'Black Tyranno'."
"Hmph," Ryuzaki scoffed, "Trying to avoid the OTK with a clever trick?
But Black Tyranno still has the higher attack! So, Black Tyranno, destroy that annoying Mech-Fortress first!"
[Mech-Fortress: DEF 1600]
The fortress, now in defense mode, stood no chance against the ferocious Black Tyranno. The behemoth roared as it charged forward, tearing the massive fortress to pieces in just a few moves. Parts flew everywhere, exploding in clouds of black smoke, and within moments, the fortress was reduced to scrap metal amidst the booming explosions.
"Huh?"
Kodori frowned, puzzled.
"That's strange. Why didn't the effect of 'Mech-Frame' activate?"
According to the effect, You Xuan's Mech-Fortress should have been equipped with "Mech-Frame," which could take the destruction in place of the equipped monster.
Why didn't it activate?
Ryuzaki also felt a sense of unease, and his premonition was immediately proven correct.
"When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can select and destroy one card on my opponent's field. The card I choose to destroy is..."
He pointed to the dragon on Ryuzaki's field that hadn't attacked yet.
"Hellfire Dragon Monarch!"
The fortress' main cannon fired one last shot before its destruction, like a blast from a ruptured chamber. This final display of firepower, this last stand, struck the Hellfire Dragon Monarch square in the forehead, reducing the mighty dragon to fragments with modern weaponry.
"Damn it," Ryuzaki gritted his teeth.
"Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!"
Commentator Kodori stood up from his seat, unconsciously giving You Xuan a thumbs up.
"In just one move, he not only defended against Ryuzaki's two-part attack but also destroyed his fusion ace monster!
Ryuzaki's killer face-to-face double attack was effortlessly deflected by You Xuan. And now, You Xuan still has his full 4000 Life Points intact!
The legendary duelist's fierce assaults have failed to breach his defenses, even by a hair's breadth!"
"Indeed, completely unexpected," Commentator Sasaki added.
"Fujiki You Xuan, what an extraordinary newcomer. Even now, if someone told me he's actually a pro-league duelist in disguise, I'd believe it."
To be able to go toe-to-toe with the legendary Ryuzaki like this, it's hard to believe he's a newcomer.
"Then, I set two cards and end my turn."
Having his offense thwarted again, Ryuzaki felt a bit frustrated. However, he had regained the upper hand on the field.
His Black Tyranno had an attack of 2600, and his opponent's field was now empty. Plus, he still had a strong backrow for this turn, so he should be safe.
"Draw!"
After drawing his card, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Hmm, what a pity. It looks like you might not even get another turn."
Ryuzaki: "!"
Not only him but everyone in the audience and the commentators were shocked by his statement.
What had they just heard?
A victory declaration?
"What an incredible turn of events!"
Commentator Kodori was leaning forward, almost half his body over the table.
"You Xuan has just declared victory against Ryuzaki, the legendary duelist!"
If he had said this at the beginning of the duel, the entire audience might have been astonished and some might have mocked him for being arrogant and full of himself after just a few wins.
However, after witnessing his dominance on the dueling field in the previous turns, very few people felt that way now.
There was no sense of arrogance, and even when he made that statement, there was no hint of smugness or pride. And that was the scariest part.
When he spoke those words, his emotions were almost unreadable. It was as if he was merely stating a fact, without any hint of provocation or mockery, as if he was casually revealing an outcome he knew would definitely occur.
Ryuzaki, too, was deeply shaken. He thought his experiences had tempered him with an iron-clad mentality, but he never expected that hearing those words would make his legs tremble involuntarily, almost causing him to stumble.
It wasn't just because of what had just happened, but also because he realized that if he lost here, his much-anticipated comeback after seclusion would end in defeat at the hands of a rookie with an empty resume in a minor league.
And it was more than that.
As he heard those words, he felt that a part of him believed the declaration.
It was as if a voice in his head agreed that this turn would be his last.
"What did you say?" Ryuzaki asked, trying to shake off those thoughts.
"Impossible."
He had a strong monster on the field, defensive cards in his backrow, and his opponent had no way to turn the tables.
Yes, it must be a bluff.
"The effect of 'Mech-Fortress' in the graveyard."
You Xuan calmly retrieved the monster card from the graveyard zone of his duel disk.
"This card can be Special Summoned from the graveyard by discarding mechanical-type monsters from my hand whose total levels are eight or more."
He drew out two cards from his hand.
"I send 'Card Gunner,' a Level 3 mechanical-type monster, and another 'Mech-Fortress,' a Level 7 monster, from my hand to the graveyard, and Special Summon 'Mech-Fortress' from the graveyard."
As the two cards were sent to the graveyard, a metallic storm rose in You Xuan's field. The fortress rose again with a roaring engine, its cannons ready for action.
[Mech-Fortress: ATK 2500]
"Self-resurrection, is this the source of his confidence?" Ryuzaki narrowed his eyes, his mind racing, "So he has cards in his hand that can support his offense."
The attack of the fortress was only 100 less than that of his Black Tyranno, and it could easily break through with some equipment.
And because of the effect of "Reckless Greed" he had activated, Ryuzaki had to skip his next two draw phases. In other words, even if he survived this turn, if he couldn't keep his "Black Tyranno," it would still be game over for him.
However...
"I activate my face-down Trap Card, 'Judgment of the Yama!' which allows me to destroy an opponent's Special Summoned monster!"
A black vortex opened beneath the fortress, and just as it was about to stabilize, it was directly blown to pieces.
Ryuzaki laughed aloud, "Hahaha! Using traps isn't your monopoly! Now, what do you have to say about your victory declaration?!
(End of Chapter)
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