Chapter 417: A Soul's Sprite
Chapter 417: A Soul's Sprite
Yu Xuan didn't understand why, but it seemed like something had ignited within the CEO as the duel progressed.
It was peculiar.
However, the situation on the field had indeed become tense. With an attack power of four thousand and five, and essentially invincible complete resistance, this monster wasn't unbeatable in the future Yu-Gi-Oh! environment, but it was certainly a challenge for most mainstream decks to overcome.
In the context of the current era, there was no doubt that it was a supermodel; it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Kaiba had the strength to sweep through the contemporary dueling world.
But even in this era, it wasn't invincible.
Of course, as Yu Xuan's hand was currently empty, and his field had been swept clean, drawing a purely defensive monster wouldn't be enough to withstand Kaiba's upcoming turn.
Most of the defensive, counter, or trap cards he typically relied on would be useless now. The Ultimate Dragon possessed an immunity that surpassed even that of the Illusion Gods, rendering most traps ineffective against it.
However, this seemed only natural.
Seto Kaiba was never an opponent one could hope to defeat with tactics alone.
To win this duel, one had to take a step further.
Yu Xuan closed his eyes gently, his fingers resting on his deck.
As Judai had said, he didn't think about what his next draw would bring.
He didn't consider the possible outcomes of this draw. He didn't hope for a particular card, nor did he fear not getting what he wanted. He didn't think; he simply felt.
As a pure duelist, he lived in this moment, feeling the instant. He sensed the energy flowing through his deck, like a connection through blood, feeling the pulse of each and every card, each sprite within.
Yu Xuan drew his card.
With his eyes closed the entire time, he didn't even glance at what he had drawn.
In a swift motion, without looking, he inserted it into his Duel Disk.
"I activate the magic card—
—Graceful Charity!"
A dazzling rainbow shot into the sky, dispersing into a brilliant display of colors, as if the charity of the card had taken on a physical form and was raining down upon them.
The spectators couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"How did Yu Xuan know what he drew without even looking?!"
Kyupei was astonished.
He immediately recalled that something similar had happened before, with Yugi. Even Kaiba had found that incident incredible.
However, Judai, seated below, felt it was only natural.
"Of course," Judai smiled. "True duelists are spiritually connected to their decks. Sometimes, you can feel the response of your deck without even looking."
The jellyfish-haired boy seemed to think it was a basic skill, nothing to be surprised about.
Kaiba narrowed his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips once more.
It was that guy's card.
Exactly the same, without a doubt.
Back then, he had also used this card to push Atem into a corner, even going so far as to laugh triumphantly and arrogantly declare victory. But before the champagne could be fully poured, that guy had done it again—a miraculous draw of Graceful Charity at a critical moment.
This was that feeling!
Kaiba's chest swelled with emotion, his eyes burning with a fiery intensity. For a moment, the image of the young duelist before him overlapped with that of his old rival, as if the King of Games himself were wielding the cards.
"Until both players have six cards in their hand, draw from your decks!"
Kaiba drew along with Yu Xuan, a broad smile on his face.
However, as the card was drawn, Yu Xuan seemed to sense something extraordinary.
A strange pulsation emanated from one of the cards he had drawn, as if an extraordinary power was rippling within it.
It was unlike the Chaos Soldier, nor the Silent Magician, nor any of the other spirits he had acquired.
It is said that there is a mysterious affinity between Duelists and their monster spirits. The inherent "power" of a Duelist can attract spirits, and sometimes, a card that was once ordinary can naturally give birth to a spirit after prolonged use.
And at this moment, Yu Xuan seemed to sense that newfound spirit power—a power that had awakened through his countless battles, a power that was uniquely his own.
With a slight uplift of his lips, he drew his card.
It had arrived.
"First, I summon this guy," Yu Xuan smiled as he revealed a monster card in his hand, "Torture Giant."
"Huh? You're directly summoning an eight-star monster?" Kyupei exclaimed in surprise.
"But not on my field," Yu Xuan explained, "Instead, on President Kaiba's field, your field. Torture Giant can be Special Summoned on the opponent's field by Special Summoning two 'Torture Tokens' in attack position on my field."
Two tokens appeared on Yu Xuan's field.
[Torture Token, ATK 0] x2
"Then, 'Torture Giant' is Special Summoned on President Kaiba's field."
A vortex of storm winds swirled, and a sinister metallic giant slowly rose on Kaiba's field, its body adorned with terrifying instruments of torture.
[Torture Giant, ATK 3000]
"Oh ho, Yu Xuan has summoned another monster that looks like a villain!" Judai teased.
The spectators were equally puzzled.
Why give the opponent such a powerful monster? What was the purpose behind this move?
This card was also an anime-exclusive card from the GX era, but surely no one back then could have predicted that this ancient card would end up behind bars over a decade later.
The reason was simple. As the Torture Giant could be Special Summoned on the opponent's field by summoning tokens on one's own field, in the Link era, it could easily be combined with a Link Monster that had the ability to return monsters to the hand. By repeatedly returning Torture Giant to the hand and then re-summoning it, one could quickly fill their field with tokens and gain a significant resource advantage.
Of course, in the early environments, this card hadn't drawn much attention, and its usage was also different.
Kaiba furrowed his brows, and combining his understanding of Yu Xuan from the past six months, he seemed to guess something.
"You... Are you planning to—"
Yu Xuan smiled.
"The Ultimate Dragon with complete resistance is too strong—it's the power that President Kaiba possesses now.
Then let me show you my trump card as well, President Kaiba—my strongest monster that houses my soul!"
He drew the card from his hand.
"By tributing President Kaiba's 'Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon' and the 'Torture Giant' I just summoned to your field, I Special Summon this powerful monster to your field!
Awakening from the molten depths of the abyss, a force of destruction and rebirth—
—Level Eight, Lava Demon!!!"
(End of Chapter)
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