Chapter 204: The Greatest Fireball in History
Chapter 204: The Greatest Fireball in History
Having ended his turn, Alpha looked up at You Xuan, remaining silent for a while.
Then, he suddenly asked, "With your level of strength, you're undoubtedly a top-tier Duelist in the world today. Why... why are you helping Seto Kaiba?"
He paused, lowering his voice.
"...Why are you aiding him?"
You Xuan met his gaze expressionlessly.
"You seem to have misunderstood something," You Xuan replied calmly. "I'm not 'aiding' Seto Kaiba. As I've told many people, I'm not that acquainted with him.
But I suppose I don't have a reason to join you all either?"
Alpha fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Seto Kaiba is not the person you think he is nowadays."
"Oh? In what way?"
"A great Duelist, a pathfinder... perhaps those descriptions are accurate, but he's not just that," Alpha said coldly. "Seto Kaiba is a criminal with blood on his hands, the most vicious and evil in history.
He wasn't even worthy of the name 'Kaiba' and was once worthless.
He was pulled out of the depths of hell, from a forgotten world. He was given a noble surname, an identity, and everything that ordinary people could only dream of.
But how did he repay the person who gave him all this, taught him to read and write, and provided him with these resources? He took everything from that person, drove him to desperation, and let him die in agony. Then, he usurped the entire Kaiba Corporation.
At the same time, on his climb to the pinnacle of power, he stepped on countless corpses."
"Yes, I know," You Xuan nodded.
Alpha was interrupted mid-sentence by You Xuan's acknowledgment.
"You know?"
"Of course," You Xuan shrugged. "Isn't this common knowledge?"
For a child from an orphanage to climb to his current status, no one would believe that he didn't use any underhanded means or that his hands were clean.
Only Seto Kaiba himself could understand the intrigues and darkness he experienced on his road to the top.
"You know?" Alpha asked, "Knowing all this, do you still not care?"
"Yes," You Xuan said calmly. "But what does it have to do with me? Or rather, at least from my perspective, Seto Kaiba has made this world a better place."
Initially, Seto Kaiba and Gozaburo had their own agendas when they first came into contact, but in the end, Gozaburo lost—it was that simple. While the CEO's unscrupulous methods might prevent him from being considered a purely good person, he was still better than Gozaburo.
"Seto Kaiba made a promise with his little brother at the orphanage. They vowed to build a paradise that would bring joy to people all over the world.
Although he may have used unscrupulous means and done many things he might not be proud of, at least looking at Seto Kaiba today, I can see that he hasn't forgotten his beginnings.
Even to this day, even after going through hell, that dream remains unchanged."
You Xuan spoke with a calm demeanor.
"I only see someone trying to make the world a better place."
Alpha gritted his teeth, "You—"
"My turn, drawing a card," You Xuan interrupted. "I'll place one card face-down on the field.
Then, I activate the Magic Card, 'Graceful Charity.' Until I have five cards in my hand, I can draw cards from my deck." (Original effect)
"Seto Kaiba's card," Alpha said coldly. "But this card has a side effect."
Ah, that's right, there's a side effect. You Xuan made a pained expression, "But after five turns, I must discard all cards in my hand."
He thought to himself, "If you didn't remind me, I almost forgot about this huge risk."
Alpha glanced at the card You Xuan had placed face-down on the field.
That face-down card was likely "Butterfly Dagger - Elma," the core of the Iron Knight combo his opponent was using.
However, it didn't matter, as he had a countermeasure.
You Xuan: "I would normally summon 'Blast Held Girl.'"
[Blast Held Girl, ATK: 1500]
"Then, I activate the Continuous Magic Card, 'A Chivalry's Pride.' As long as this card remains on the field, each time an Equip Magic Card is equipped to a monster, the controller recovers 1000 Life Points.
Additionally, whenever an Equip Magic Card leaves the field, the controller takes 1000 points of damage."
Alpha: "Each time an Equip Magic Card is activated... Masaka (you don't mean)!?
"That's right," You Xuan continued. "I activate the Equip Magic Card, 'Butterfly Dagger - Elma,' and equip it to 'Iron Knight Gia-Gearfried.' At this moment, due to the effect of 'A Chivalry's Pride,' I recover 1000 Life Points."
[You Xuan, LP: 2800 → LP: 3800]
"Then, at this moment, the effect of 'Blast Held Girl' activates," You Xuan explained. "Whenever I recover Life Points while Blast Held Girl is on the field, my opponent takes 500 points of damage."
The girl waved her staff, unleashing a fireball that blasted Alpha in the face.
"Ugh!"
[Alpha, LP: 5000 → LP: 4500]
"After that, because of the effect of the Iron Knight, the Butterfly Dagger equipped to him is destroyed," You Xuan continued. "Since the equipped card is destroyed, due to the effect of 'A Chivalry's Pride,' I take 1000 points of damage."
[You Xuan, LP: 3800 → LP: 2800]
"However, when 'Butterfly Dagger - Elma' is destroyed, it returns to my hand," You Xuan said calmly as he revealed the card again. "Then, I can activate Butterfly Dagger again."
"Another infinite loop..." Alpha clenched his teeth.
As he had expected, You Xuan knew.
Every time Butterfly Dagger was activated, the effect of 'A Chivalry's Pride' allowed You Xuan to recover LP, triggering Blast Held Girl's effect and dealing 500 damage to Alpha. Then, Butterfly Dagger would be recycled, creating an infinite loop of damage! Alpha felt his breath quicken as he faced this oppressive combo. If this loop continued, even with the 'Absorb Shield' he had activated last turn, his infinite Life Points would still be whittled down to nothing.
However—
"End this infinite combo right here!" Alpha shouted. "I activate my face-down card, the Quick-Play Magic Card, 'Cosmic Cyclone'! By paying 1000 Life Points, I can banish one Magic or Trap Card on the field!"
[Alpha, LP: 4500 → LP: 3500]
He pointed at the Butterfly Dagger on You Xuan's field.
"Chaining to your activation of 'Butterfly Dagger - Elma,' I banish this card from the game!"
Butterfly Dagger could only recycle itself when it was destroyed and sent to the graveyard. If it was banished, it couldn't activate its effect.
Therefore, as long as he got rid of this crucial card, the loop couldn't continue, and any combination would fall apart.
You Xuan shrugged nonchalantly. "However, although you banished Butterfly Dagger, it was activated once more. According to Chivalry's Pride's effect, I recover 1000 life points first, and then when the equipped card leaves the field, I take 1000 points of damage, leaving my life points unchanged. But in this process, due to 'Blast Held Girl's' effect, you will take 500 points of damage."
[Alpha: LP 3500 -> LP 3000]
A mere 500 points of damage was nothing to Alpha.
Watching the Butterfly Dagger card fly into the black vortex along with the cyclone, Alpha's anxious heart finally calmed down a bit, and he coldly smiled.
"Your combo has been broken. It was indeed a powerful combo that gave me a scare, but it ends here."
He paused for a moment, a hint of mockery in his voice.
"You talk big, saying that I'm just a third-rate, fourth-rate imitator. What do you think now?"
You Xuan paid no heed and drew another card. "Then, I activate the Magic Card, 'Forced Transfer.' Each player selects one face-up monster they control, and those monsters switch control."
Alpha: "?"
Forced Transfer? What's the point of using that now?
"I see, so now that the loop is broken, you're aiming to suppress me with the powerful effects of my own Dragon-type monsters? Hmph."
Alpha thought for a moment.
'Gravity Strike Dragon' had the ability to send his own continuous magic card to the graveyard and destroy an opponent's monster. If 'Gravity Strike Dragon' was given to his opponent and there happened to be a continuous magic card on his field, then the situation would be very unfavorable.
"I choose 'Darkflare Dragon,'" Alpha said.
"Then, I choose 'Iron Knight Gia-Gearfried.'"
The Iron Knight leaped to Alpha's field, while the Darkflare Dragon flapped its wings and landed on You Xuan's side.
"You've given up on the Iron Knight." Alpha coldly smiled. "So, now that you know the loop has been broken, you've also given up on the other crucial component?"
"Is that so?" You Xuan smiled.
Alpha's heart trembled.
That devilish smile of his gave him a bad premonition once again.
"I activate the Equip Magic Card, 'Catastrophic Gear.'"
You Xuan revealed another card in his hand.
"The ATK of the monster equipped with this card decreases by 600 points for each monster on the field."
Alpha: "!"
So that was it!
If he equipped 'Catastrophic Gear' to 'Gravity Strike Dragon' on his field, then its attack would decrease by 1200. 'Darkflare Dragon' destroying 'Gravity Strike Dragon' would deal 1200 battle damage in one go.
Then, due to 'Darkflare Dragon's' effect, it would inflict additional damage equal to the original ATK of 'Gravity Strike Dragon,' which was 2400 points. This attack would deal a total of 3600 points of damage and win him the game.
What a treacherous kid!
However,
Alpha glanced at his remaining face-down card and inwardly smirked.
His last face-down card was 'Messenger of Peace,' which made all battle damage he took this turn become 0, and his monsters couldn't be destroyed by battle. It was an absolute defense.
His opponent's move was quite clever, but it was a pity that it would still fail.
"I equip 'Catastrophic Gear' to your 'Iron Knight Gia-Gearfried,'" Alpha declared.
Alpha: "???"
What was happening? Equipping the card to the Iron Knight that had been transferred to him?
But the effect of the Iron Knight was...
"That's right, the effect of the Iron Knight destroys all equip cards attached to it." You Xuan smiled. "But before that, since an equip card was activated, the continuous magic card 'Chivalry's Pride' also activates again. The controller of the equip magic card, that is, me, recovers 1000 life points. And at this moment, due to 'Blast Held Girl's' effect, you take 500 points of damage."
[Alpha: LP 3000 -> LP 2500]
"Then, the effect of Iron Knight Gia-Gearfried destroys 'Catastrophic Gear' equipped to it. Of course, due to the effect of 'Chivalry's Pride,' I take 1000 points of damage." You Xuan waved his hand. "But 'Catastrophic Gear' has another effect. When this card is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can choose an opponent's monster and equip this card to it."
Alpha's eyes widened in shock. "What did you say?!?"
Sending it to the graveyard and then equipping it to an opponent's monster?
The opponent's monster was none other than...
He looked at his field in astonishment and saw the Iron Knight, standing tall and proud as if it were an inside job, boldly meeting his gaze.
"You...!"
"Catastrophic Gear is equipped to Iron Knight Gia-Gearfried again due to its own effect. Then, because of 'Chivalry's Pride,' I recover 1000 life points. And due to 'Blast Held Girl's' effect, you take 500 points of damage."
Alpha's expression turned extremely ugly.
Another infinite loop?!
Even after blowing away Butterfly Dagger, couldn't this loop be stopped?!
He lifted his head with difficulty and looked at You Xuan, feeling that the boy's figure was becoming increasingly blurred in the moonlight.
This guy...
Who exactly was he?
". . . Infinite loop judgment passed. After an infinite number of loops, the damage inflicted on you is infinite." You Xuan stated, "Therefore, take the damage from Blast Held Girl's effect. . . the damage of an infinite fireball."
The girl raised her staff, and the rolling flames converged into what was possibly the biggest and most exaggerated burning fireball she had ever created.
Alpha: "Waaaaah!!!!"
[Alpha: LP 2500 -> LP 0]
(End of Chapter)
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