Chapter 19: Card Gunner
Chapter 19: Card Gunner
"Trap Card—Judgment of Yanmo, negating the revival of the 'Mechanized Fortress'!"
"Who would've thought that Ryuzaki had this trick up his sleeve as well!" exclaimed commentator Kodoku, his enthusiasm evident.
"It seems that even the resurrection of the fortress was anticipated, and due to it being a counter trap, You Xuan has almost no room for recovery. The rhythm of the duel has been forcefully interrupted.
It seems difficult for him to continue his counterattacks. Can he still uphold his declaration of ending the match in this turn?"
However, faced with this situation, You Xuan's only thought was:
"You've got the Sword Mountain card, but how do you also have the Mizawa cards?!?"
Indeed, the "Judgment of Yanmo" was a well-known card used by the minor character Daichi Mizawa in the original GX anime. It was originally an exclusive trap for the Undead archetype. By banishing five Undead-Type monsters from your graveyard, you could Special Summon Undead-Type monsters from your deck.
Obviously, Ryuzaki, with his Dinosaur-themed deck, had no use for Undead monsters. Nonetheless, in this world, it could still serve as a decent substitute for a pitfall trap, given the duelists' limited freedom in deck construction. If one happened to pull this card from a booster pack, even non-Undead deck users might consider including it.
The fortress returned to the graveyard, but You Xuan remained unfazed. Another card in his graveyard glowed with golden light and rose once more.
"The effect of 'Mechanized Battalion - Ultra Transformation' in the graveyard," You Xuan announced, revealing the card that had been banished from the field.
"'Mechanized Battalion - Ultra Transformation' can be Special Summoned by banishing 'Mechanized Battalion - Fortress' from the graveyard, provided that this card is in the graveyard and your 'Mechanized Battalion - Fortress' is sent to the graveyard."
The destroyed fortress reappeared on the field as a semi-transparent, ghostly figure, surrounded by a flickering golden light that soon dissipated.
"Thus, I banish the 'Mechanized Fortress' from my graveyard to Special Summon 'Mechanized Battalion - Ultra Transformation'!"
The glowing specks of light from the fortress coalesced into a solid form once more. The ethereal heavy armor began to transform, and massive metal feet stomped onto the floor with a dull thud. The heavy treads shifted to the sides, the main cannon was hoisted onto the shoulder, and the alloy fortress slowly morphed into a heavily armored robot.
"Autobots, transform!"
Mechanized Battalion - Ultra Transformation: [ATK 2600]
"I never expected that You Xuan had another trick up his sleeve!" exclaimed a flushed Kodoku, his excitement surpassing even that of the dueling players.
"This was the cost of discarding 'Mechanized Battalion - Fortress' from his hand a few turns ago. You Xuan has been planning this move for quite some time!
Could today truly be the day we witness the rise of a new star?!"
Commentator Sasaki silently wiped away the spit that had landed on his face, subtly inching away from his overly enthusiastic colleague.
As the transformation of the fortress neared completion, the massive machine suddenly staggered and fell to one knee with a thunderous crash. Its body began to flicker, alternating between brightness and darkness, before gradually fading away until it completely vanished like a puff of smoke.
"What?!?" exclaimed Kodoku, his eyes widening in surprise.
"What's going on? Where's the Ultra Transformation?!" he asked, his voice filled with confusion and disbelief.
"Hahahaha!" Ryuzaki's laughter filled the arena. "I anticipated your backup plan in the graveyard. Perhaps you did calculate a few steps ahead, but my dueling experience far surpasses yours!
The moment you activated the effect of 'Mechanized Battalion - Ultra Transformation,' I chained this card!"
All eyes in the arena turned to the face-up trap card in Ryuzaki's backrow.
Trap Card - Loss
"Loss is a trap card that allows me to banish a card of my choice from your graveyard. Therefore, before your machine could be resurrected, I banished your 'Mechanized Battalion - Ultra Transformation' from the game!"
Ryuzaki's laughter echoed with triumph.
"What now? Can you still claim that this is your final turn? Your mechanized behemoth has been shattered, and all your strategies have been thwarted one by one. Meanwhile, my Dark Hex-Sealed is still invincible on the field!"
Sasaki nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Although You Xuan has played his backup cards well, Ryuzaki of the Dinosaurs is no pushover.
It's unfortunate, but regardless of the tactics he had prepared, they would likely be futile against such a formidable setup."
Ryuzaki clearly shared this sentiment.
"After taking two hits, can you still hope to defeat me instantly?
Can you still charge at my face with Dark Hex-Sealed and hope to overpower me?"
"Come on, go ahead and try to defeat me instantly. If you have the guts, go for the GKD! I'll be waiting right here," Ryuzaki taunted.
You Xuan pondered for a moment.
"Hmm, that's certainly an odd request."
Since his opponent had made such a demand...
"I activate this face-down card," You Xuan said, pointing to the backrow.
Continuous Trap Card - Restrict Resurrection: "You can Special Summon 1 monster from your graveyard in face-up Attack Position that has 1000 or less ATK.
When that monster is changed to face-up Defense Position, destroy that monster and this card."
Ryuzaki raised an eyebrow.
"With this card, you can only resurrect monsters with an attack of 1000 or less, and they can't switch to defense mode. So, they're all just cannon fodder."
"The card I will revive is this one," You Xuan said, taking the card that had popped up from his graveyard.
"Card Gunner!"
Card Gunner: [ATK 400]
"You'll see if I'm a weakling or not very soon. I'll continue by playing this spell card from my hand," You Xuan replied, waving his hand.
A green spell card appeared before him as he spoke.
"Spell Card - Mechanical Replication: Select one Machine-type monster with an ATK of 500 or less on your field. Special Summon up to two monsters with the same name from your deck. Of course, my choice is the Card Gunner with an ATK of 400!"
He drew two more cards from his deck, having searched them out.
"Special Summon two more Card Gunners!"
Card Gunner: [ATK 400] x3
"Three monsters at once?!?" Ryuzaki exclaimed, trying to suppress the unease in his heart.
"But weaklings are weaklings, no matter how many come."
"Card Gunner's effect," You Xuan continued his play, "Once per turn, Card Gunner can send the top three cards of your deck to the graveyard. For each card sent to the graveyard this way, this card gains 500 ATK until the end of the turn. So, I activate the effect of all three Card Gunners, sending a total of nine cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard!"
A large number of cards were discarded from You Xuan's deck, one after another, landing in the graveyard zone of the duel disk.
"Each Card Gunner gains 1500 ATK!"
Card Gunner: [ATK 400 -> ATK 1900] x3
"And now, for my final play of this turn," You Xuan declared as he played the last card.
"Quick-Play Spell - Limit Break! All Machine-type monsters on my field double their ATK until the end of this turn!"
"Wha-What?!?" Ryuzaki exclaimed in shock. The commentators and the audience were equally stunned, their exclamations creating a wave of noise that seemed to shake the entire arena.
With all Machine-type monsters on the field doubling their attack, the three Card Gunners...
Card Gunner: [ATK 1900 -> ATK 3800] x3
"Three-thousand-eight-hundred attack, times three?!?" Commentator Kodoku felt his mind going blank from the sheer surprise.
"Who even pulls off moves like this?!" Sasaki drew in a sharp breath, feeling his heart pounding with excitement.
As the restrictions were lifted, the three tiny Card Gunners grew rapidly, their bodies crackling with electricity. They transformed from minuscule creatures to towering mech-like armor, reminiscent of the mighty Gundams.
The once-menacing Dark Hex-Sealed now had to look up to these towering mechanical behemoths, and it couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, cowering in fear.
"First up, the first Card Gunner attacks 'Dark Hex-Sealed'!"
BOOM! BOOM! The cannons fired, piercing the black dinosaur clean through its body, causing it to explode with a loud bang.
Ryuzaki: "Ugh!"
[Ryuzaki: LP 2800 -> LP 1600]
With his back row completely depleted and his resources exhausted, Ryuzaki had no means of defense left.
"And now, the remaining Card Gunners will attack Ryuzaki directly!"
The cannons locked on, electricity dancing across their surfaces. The twin cannons of the Card Gunners roared to life, spinning projectiles trailing black smoke as they flew straight toward Ryuzaki.
In the glare of the cannon fire, Ryuzaki's vision blurred, and for a moment, the figure of his opponent across from him seemed to overlap with another figure from his memory.
Amid the roar of the cannons, he thought he heard the voice of a familiar figure from the past.
The original King of Games, Yugi Mutou.
"Every card has its value, no matter what it is."
"Even the weakest monster has its purpose. To dismiss a card as a 'weakling' and deny its potential is unworthy of a duelist."
". . ."
Having endured the double trap activation, You Xuan still managed to set up this overwhelming formation. This was the kind of power and aggressive dominance he sought.
The Card Gunner, with its meager 400 ATK, was an unassuming weakling, yet it could unleash a devastating chain of attacks like this.
For a fleeting moment, he almost felt as though he were facing Yugi Mutou of old. But the illusion quickly faded, replaced by the overwhelming firepower that engulfed his opponent.
[Ryuzaki: LP 1600 -> LP 0]
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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