"Based on 'Card of Demise's effect, draw cards from the deck!"
Genichiro drew, then immediately revealed a card in his hand.
"I tribute the two 'Fires of Doomsday' Tokens on my field for a Tribute Summon!"
A storm of tributes swirled, and a massive figure flickered within the vortex. Genichiro's movements briefly paused, then he grinned triumphantly.
"Ha, that Ryuzaki once owned this card, but that idiot lost it in Duelist Kingdom! But I would never allow it to leave my deck.
Behold, this dragon born from intertwined light and shadow, residing in the heart of the Evil Knight—
—Level 7, Serpent Night Dragon, summon!"
[Serpent Night Dragon, ATK 2350]
Yugen thought to himself, 'Mmm, don't worry, it won't leave your deck. Because I want all of it.'
But he still gave his opponent some face, feigning surprise.
"It's 'Serpent Night Dragon'! Ryuzaki's former ace card, almost as rare as 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'!"
Its ATK is exactly 50 points less than Red-Eyes, so it's not "almost as rare" at all.
Genichiro became even more complacent, unable to resist putting his hands on his hips: "The awe you feel now is just the beginning; be terrified, tremble, and then submit before my power—"
"So strong, too strong. Therefore, I activate my set card."
Yugen flipped one of his backrow cards.
"Trap Card 'Bottomless Trap Hole'. When a monster with 1500 or more ATK is Summoned, destroy it and banish it from the game."
A vortex opened on the opponent's field. Serpent Night Dragon's entrance effect hadn't even finished, when the entire dragon suddenly plunged, falling into a bottomless abyss and descending into another dimension.
Genichiro: "..."
At this moment, he still maintained that hands-on-hips pose, which, under the newly created empty field, made him look somewhat like a clown.
To put it kindly, 'Dude, now I'm starting to consider going to Gotham to act as Batman's adversary.'
What he was thinking was, 'You motherfcker had this thing in your backrow, and you were still talking about how strong it was?*
Are you having fun acting this out on me, huh?
The perpetually sneering, cheerful Genichiro finally couldn't smile anymore. Being trapped and losing two powerful monsters in one turn, even someone with his mental fortitude couldn't help but feel annoyed.
But it was still fine.
"Hmph, you have some skill. But don't get ahead of yourself; next, you will witness true despairing darkness!"
Although he continued to ramble, Genichiro probably didn't even realize his smile had vanished at some point.
"Open set card, Spell Card 'Foolish Burial'!" Genichiro declared. "This card allows me to send one monster from my deck to the Graveyard.
I send 'Balloon Lizard' from my deck to the Graveyard."
He pulled out his deck, found the monster card, and sent it to the Graveyard.
"Then I activate another set card, Continuous Trap 'Limit Reverse'!" Genichiro stated. "I can Special Summon one monster with 1000 or less ATK in Attack Position from my Graveyard.
I revive the 'Balloon Lizard' I just sent to the Graveyard!"
[Balloon Lizard, ATK 500]
"Then, from my hand, I activate the Spell Card 'Ultra Evolution Pill'!" Genichiro continued his combo. "I tribute one Reptile-Type monster on the field to Special Summon one Dinosaur-Type monster from my hand!
I tribute the 'Balloon Lizard' on my field!"
The Evolution Pill Spell Card unleashed a golden light, enveloping the lizard on the field. The small lizard began to rapidly evolve under the influence of magic, its form visibly growing at an astonishing rate. In just a moment, it reached a height of over ten meters.
"From the depths of time, breaking free from countless eons of shackles, now descend upon this place! Evolution Summon Level 8—
—Super-Ancient Dinobeast!!!"
[Super-Ancient Dinobeast, ATK 2700]
Despite being repeatedly countered, he still managed to summon another ace monster in one turn!
Could anyone else do something like this? Could that Ryuzaki do it?
Genichiro immediately felt a surge of heroic spirit, unable to resist laughing loudly again.
Are you going to pull out another 'Trap Hole' to counter me?
"Open set card, Trap Card - Trap of Darkness." Yugen calmly snapped his fingers again. "Can only be activated when my Life Points are 3000 or less.
Pay 1000 Life Points; this card's effect becomes the same as a Normal Trap Card in my Graveyard."
[Yugen, LP 3000 → LP 2000]
"The one I want to choose, of course, is this one—"
His backrow Trap Card, accompanied by a rapid data scroll, swiftly transformed, taking on a different appearance.
"Trap Card - Bottomless Trap Hole! When a monster with 1500 or more ATK is Summoned, destroy it and banish it from the game!"
Genichiro: "!!!"
He gaped, reaching out in despair towards his hard-earned monster, as if desperately trying to hold it back. But what couldn't be kept obviously couldn't be kept. Super-Ancient Dinobeast seemed to glance at him helplessly, then its body tilted, and it plunged into the deep pit, following Serpent Night Dragon's footsteps into another dimension.
Genichiro: "..."
Another Trap Hole, another fcking Trap Hole! Are you selling holes wholesale, you motherfcker?!
Genichiro began to wear a mask of pain.
It seems he can't stay cheerful.
Speaking of which, it was a bit bizarre. Clearly, he was the Dark Duelist among the two, the one who wanted to bring darkness and pain to his opponent.
Yet, half the duel down, he suddenly realized the mask of pain was on his face.
This was the first time since he became a Dark Duelist that he discovered his opponent was even darker than himself!
In comparison, he suddenly felt that his own darkness had always been superficial, simply relying on mental and physical damage to torture opponents to the brink of collapse.
But his opponent was awesome. This guy didn't need any external force at all, as if it were natural, a darkness that permeated to the bone marrow. He didn't need any supernatural power; just by playing cards, he could drive him to collapse.
This situation made him truly unable to help but say, 'Dude, even though I'm a Dark Duelist, I still think your way of dueling is a bit too dark.'
If this kind of bastard became a Dark Duelist, then what would happen?
"Set two cards on the field, end turn." He said glumly.
There was nothing else he could do.
But there was still a chance.
Even though he was repeatedly countered, he had confidence in his backrow. His defenses weren't so easily broken through.
"My turn, draw!" Yugen said. "First, from my hand, I activate the Spell Card 'Card of Spell Containment'! I can draw two cards from my deck, but during the turn I activate this card, I cannot activate other Spell Cards besides this one." (anime card)
He drew two cards.
"Next, I flip my face-down monster.
'Witch of the Black Forest' Flip Summon!"
[Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100]
"Then I tribute 'Witch of the Black Forest' to Special Summon this card from my hand."
Yugen pulled a card from his hand, paused slightly, and tilted his head to look beside him.
That seemingly ethereal, floating shadow beside him, wrapped in robes, remained cold and still, her pale face expressionless, but she gave him a subtle nod.
He didn't know if it was because of some supernatural connection between master and spirit, but despite her silence, he seemed to be able to understand her intentions.
So Yugen also nodded lightly.
"Thank you."
He turned, his attention returning to the duel.
"I tribute 'Witch of the Black Forest' to Special Summon—
—Silent Magician!"
Pale blue ancient magic circles, moonlight like water, containing ripples of light spreading. A delicate, cold figure appeared wrapped in white robes, silver hair like a waterfall, and her staff in hand glowed with a deep, starlike radiance.
[Silent Magician, ATK 1000]
"Appear, spirit."
Genichiro vigilantly assessed the Silent Magician on the field. But the latter remained calm as water, staring straight ahead as if completely ignoring him.
"Silent Magician cannot be Normal Summoned/Set; she can only be Special Summoned by Tributing a Spellcaster-Type monster on my field."
Yugen explained.
"And at this Chain Link, as the Tributed monster sent to the Graveyard, 'Witch of the Black Forest's effect activates.
When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can add one monster with 1500 or less DEF from my deck to my hand."
The restricted condition was 1500 or less DEF, an incredibly powerful search effect that once led to her being a banned card. In the current real card game environment, Witch of the Black Forest was nerfed to have the restriction "You cannot activate this effect's searched card this turn," but in this anime world, such a restriction naturally wouldn't exist.
But Genichiro just scoffed, completely unconcerned.
"Ha, a monster with 1500 or less DEF? Those are all just trash fish."
Yugen: "I add 'Jinzo' from my deck to my hand."
Genichiro nearly spit out a mouthful of old blood.
"...That thing's DEF is 1500 or less!?"
[Jinzo, ATK 2400, DEF 1500]
Which is to say, one of "Jinzo" – Joey Wheeler's ace cards in the anime. A new card from the supply given by Dojo Master Takeuchi. Its DEF just barely makes the cut at exactly 1500.
This was the strength of Witch of the Black Forest. You'd never imagine what powerful monsters with 1500 or less DEF were hidden in the card pool.
"From my hand, 'Jester Confit's effect: This card can be Special Summoned in Attack Position to my field."
[Jester Confit, ATK 0]
"Next, I tribute Jester Confit for a Tribute Summon—
—Level 6, Jinzo!"
Jester Confit's body dissolved into light particles, then gathered to form a swirling Summoning vortex. Enormous energy erupted from the whirlwind: metallic bodies, mechanical grinding sounds, and crackling electrical discharges.
Jinzo, summoned!
[Jinzo, ATK 2400]
Genichiro felt utterly shattered at this point.
Almost no one wouldn't know Jinzo, the Humanoid as one of Joey Wheeler's ace cards that dominated the field back in the day. It was famous for its "trap lockdown" absolute suppression power, so it was obvious that as long as this thing was on the field, Genichiro's backrow trap lineup would become useless.
But the part that truly shattered him was still...
This broad-browed, big-eyed thing's DEF is only 1500?!
Exactly 1500, no more, no less?
Genichiro even momentarily couldn't help but suspect that his opponent had secretly changed the card's stats on the spot just to pull off this combo.
"Silent Magician's ATK increases by 500 for each card in my hand. I have two cards in hand, so her ATK increases by 1000."
[Silent Magician, ATK 1000 → ATK 2000]
With that, the total ATK reached 4400. In this single turn's total attack, Genichiro would directly be wiped out.
"Battle, finish!"
Yugen waved his hand.
"Silent Magician, Jinzo, direct attack!"
Milky-white magical light swirled around the staff, and power began to gather between Jinzo's palms, electrical sparks crackling.
"Not so easy!" Genichiro yelled. "Open set card, Quick-Play Spell 'Half Shut'! One monster on the field's ATK becomes half, and it cannot be destroyed by battle this turn.
I choose to halve the ATK of your 'Jinzo'!"
Even though his traps were locked down, he still had Spells he could use. Although he couldn't completely stop the attack, this would reduce the total damage to 3200, at least allowing him to survive by a hair.
"Muda." (Useless)
Yugen clapped his hands.
"Silent Magician, effect activate. Once per turn, when a Spell Card is activated, I can negate the Spell's activation!"
Genichiro: "!"
There's such a thing?!
Wait a minute...
Spell activations are negated, and because Jinzo is on the field, traps are completely locked down.
Doesn't that mean both Spell and Trap lockdown!?
Only then did he belatedly realize how terrifying this field setup was.
The Spellcaster-Type "Witch of the Black Forest" could Special Summon "Silent Magician," and when the Witch was sent to the Graveyard, she could search for "Jinzo." Simultaneously, "Silent Magician" on the field could negate Spells, while "Jinzo" directly locked down traps.
How the hell is this supposed to be played?!
"Half Shut"'s activation was directly suppressed by Silent Magician's magical power, exploding into fragments.
Having already realized that all was lost, Genichiro desperately tried to flip his remaining backrow card.
"Activate! Activate for me! Mirror Force, hit them back! Hit them back, goddamn it!"
But the opponent's Jinzo stood with crossed arms, its mechanical eyes only flashing red light, as if saying—
—Sit down.
An invisible wave of psychic energy swept across the field. The backrow, which had shown slight signs of stirring, was immediately pushed back down, with no further movement.
Genichiro despaired.
Haha.
This is negated, that is also negated.
How am I supposed to duel you?
I can't even duel a single point! Only the opponent can duel.
I have been stripped of the right to duel.
Silent Magician and Jinzo unleashed their final powerful attacks one after another. A surging stream of light swept horizontally across Genichiro's entire half of the field, engulfing Genichiro, who was crying tears of despair.
[Onisuka Genichiro, LP 4000 → LP 0]