Chapter 789: What's the Panic?
Chapter 789: What's the Panic?
Volcano is a name that should be quite familiar to many veteran Yu-Gi-Oh! players.
This deck was once a legendary force, even considered by Yugo as the "strongest deck" during his time with his childhood friends.
Back then, everyone played with their friends, unaware of official tournament banlists. Their only knowledge of Yu-Gi-Oh! came from the anime, so naturally, they followed the rules depicted there.
For instance, like in the anime, everyone started with a base Life Points (LP) of 4000.
For many Duelists, LP was insignificant, only existing as a binary state of "having" or "not having" them. But for decks like Volcano, at least during its heyday, Volcano in a 4000 LP environment and an 8000 LP environment were two entirely different concepts.
The reason is simple—it's a burn deck that almost literally had "self-disabling" written all over it.
When one mentions Volcano, the first thing that comes to mind is its signature weapon, the "Flame Cannon." From the basic "Flame Cannon" to the upgraded "Flame Cannon - Trident," and later the even more upgraded "Volcano Flame Cannon" in the physical card game, these cards formed the core of the Volcano deck.
The common feature of these cannons and the fundamental strategy of the Volcano deck is to discard Pyro-Type monsters as ammunition, destroying the opponent's cards on the field and directly inflicting damage to burn LP.
Including other monsters in the Volcano archetype, most have the shared characteristic of directly burning LP.
Furthermore, since the Flame Cannon has the restriction of "cannot attack this turn" after its use, this deck naturally has good synergy with various lockdown strategies.
Thus, a legendary deck that combined burn, lockdown, and countertrap elements, all self-disabling features, was born. Especially in the 4000 LP environment of their offline friend groups, it was akin to a nuclear weapon, leading to a point where they eventually decided, "Whoever uses Volcano won't be allowed to play with us."
So, the Volcano specialists had no choice but to promise not to use their Volcano weapons first to continue playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with their friends.
This self-disabling deck naturally gained the favor of slow-paced environment players who enjoyed retaliating against society. Not to mention, the deck's debut in the anime and its impressive performance there further boosted its popularity.
In the anime, the Volcano user was Ossein O'Brien, a mercenary who appeared in the Yu-Bel arc.
From his first appearance, he displayed a different artistic style compared to most other supporting characters in the series. The anime explicitly stated that his strength surpassed that of the protagonist, Yugo Takeuchi.
O'Brien, as a mercenary, took on a commission to bring out Yugo's full potential, but the client requested that he lose gracefully, making the victory hard-earned for Yugo.
So, O'Brien intentionally let Yugo win, but based on the duel's progression, he could have very well been the victor.
Unlike Eddie Phoenix, who also defeated Yugo earlier—Eddie peaked at his debut, consecutively defeating the show's powerhouse, Kaiser, and Yugo, but subsequently, his performance plummeted, especially after obtaining Blood Mefist.
However, O'Brien, armed with his Volcano deck in the Dimensional Arc, managed to achieve a one-for-one exchange with the Tyrant Yugo, a feat that has kept him on the list of "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX's Best Supporting Character" nominees among fans for years.
After working with Yugo for so long and observing numerous duels, Keihei had gained some insight into Yugo's dueling philosophy.
So, after a quick glance at the deck, Guiping immediately grasped Yuxuan's intentions.
His expression turned peculiar as he handed the deck back to Yuxuan and asked, "So, which unlucky soul will be the next to experience the might of your new deck?"
"It's hard to say," Yuxuan shrugged, then added, "But I have a feeling I might need it soon."
"Oh? You already have a target in mind?"
Guiping silently apologized to the unknown victim he had never met.
"Sort of. I might face a slightly challenging opponent soon, and this deck will come in handy. Hold on, let me take a call."
Yuxuan took out his personal terminal. As a public figure, his contact information was kept confidential, and only a select few could reach him directly.
Yuxuan swiped open the screen and saw it was Kenji Machidashi.
"Mr. Machidashi, how did your meeting with President Bercas go?"
Yuxuan had heard from Yugo Takeuchi about Machidashi's trip to the Duel Kingdom island.
"That's the thing. It's complicated, but in short, Bercas seems to have been manipulated by some sort of Cosmic Light."
Yuxuan raised an eyebrow.
"Light of Annihilation? Bercas?"
"Yes. And we just had a duel."
Yuxuan nodded, "You're still talking to me, so it seems Bercas didn't have much luck."
"Hahaha, you've seen right through me."
Machidashi couldn't help but touch his nose proudly, recalling how he had just defeated Bercas, but he quickly shook his head.
"That's not the main point. Bercas is unconscious now, but before he passed out, he told me something important. He mentioned a significant card, something like a 'Battle Sword Card.'"
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"Huh?"
Yuxuan was taken aback.
A Battle Sword Card completed with Bercas's power. Which one?
"Also, Bercas mentioned that they're targeting that kid."
"Who?"
"Yugi Takeuchi!" Machidashi exclaimed, "They say Takeuchi is close to the Root of Darkness, and the Cosmic Light faction seems to be concerned about him."
Yuxuan pondered for a moment.
Hmm, Takeuchi gained the power of Ultraman and was already a holder of the Cosmic Dark Power. Now, with the addition of the God Hand Power, if a Cosmic Light entity were to look down upon Earth from above, Takeuchi might indeed appear as a walking black hole on the surface.
It's reasonable for him to be targeted.
"I've tried contacting Takeuchi, but all communication seems to be cut off. I can't reach him, not even through the Duel Academy island."
Machidashi sounded anxious.
"I fear something has already happened, and I'm rushing back. You should..."
"Stay calm," Yuxuan interrupted, "You know Takeuchi's abilities, and you've witnessed the might of the God Hand. So, do you think it's something to worry about if someone were to try and ambush Takeuchi on the island while we're away?"
Machidashi paused, then thought for a couple of seconds.
He then absentmindedly touched his head.
Oh, what's there to worry about?
What am I panicking about?
(End of Chapter)
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