Chapter 16: You Xuan's Misdeeds Know No Bounds

“My turn!”

Ryuzaki drew a card and immediately revealed it.

“Magic Card: Angel’s Mercy. Draw three cards from the deck, then discard two cards from your hand.”

After refreshing his hand, he quickly took out two more cards.

The first was slapped directly onto the duel disk.

“I special summon this card: Swiftfoot Velociraptor!”

[Swiftfoot Velociraptor, ATK 1400]

“Oh, Ryuzaki is starting off with a special summon!”

Commentator Kogawa promptly explained to the audience.

“Swiftfoot Velociraptor is a monster card that can be special summoned directly from the hand. However, when using this ability, the opponent can choose one monster from their graveyard to special summon as a side effect.”

“Of course, whether to use this effect is up to the opponent. And since this is only the first turn, Yuugen has no monsters in his graveyard, so this effect cannot be used now,” added commentator Sasaki.

Ryuzaki continued and revealed the second card: “Then, I special summon the second Swiftfoot Velociraptor!”

[Swiftfoot Velociraptor, ATK 1400]

During the days Ryuzaki was out of the public eye, he hadn’t been idle. Although now hailed as the “Legendary Duelist,” this title was merely a reflection of his past duels with Yugi Mutou, Katsuya Jonouchi, and others. Especially Jonouchi—back when they first met, Ryuzaki looked down on the ordinary fighter, but time had passed, and now he found himself relying on the reputation of “having been thrashed by Jonouchi” to stay relevant.

To reclaim his peak, he revamped his tactics, searching for the perfect strategy centered around dragons and dinosaurs.

In the end, he settled on the fast-paced, aggressive suppression style epitomized by the world’s most famous dragon tamer, Seto Kaiba.

“Dragons are the strongest beings; a dragon tamer must wield overwhelming power to dominate completely!” Ryuzaki declared.

“And swift rush attacks perfectly suit the dragon’s rhythm. Feel the power of dragons! Battle! First, attack the face-down monster with the first Swiftfoot Velociraptor!”

The first dinosaur charged forward. Yuugen flipped the face-down monster in his back row to reveal a small red Machine-type.

[Machina Peacekeeper, DEF 400]

Machina, an old deck series originating in the Duel Monsters era, first appeared in the spin-off manga Yu-Gi-Oh! R. Though old in this world, it still held considerable strength in the current environment.

With only 400 defense, the Machina was easily destroyed. Calmly, Yuugen sent it to the graveyard and said, “Machina Peacekeeper’s effect activates. When this card on the field is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you can add one ‘Machina Ally’ monster from your deck to your hand.”

He drew a card from his deck and showed it to Ryuzaki.

“I add the Ally monster ‘Machina Skeletal’ to my hand.”

“Machina?” Ryuzaki frowned slightly.

This was a card series Yuugen had never used in previous matches.

“Is he deliberately holding back this deck until the finals? So, he hasn’t been using his main deck this whole time? That’s quite confident,” Ryuzaki was surprised. Duelists who intentionally concealed their main decks on the field were not uncommon, but it was rare to reach the finals without revealing their true strength.

After all, a duel was a one-shot victory—there was no chance to switch decks midway. If someone’s main deck was hidden but their substitute deck got stolen and knocked out, they’d be the laughingstock of the community forever.

“But it doesn’t matter. Under the overwhelming power of my dinosaurs, it makes no difference,” Ryuzaki shouted. “Battle continues—attack directly with the second Swiftfoot Velociraptor!”

“Flip summon.”

Yuugen activated a trap card in response.

“Trap Card—Magic Cylinder!”

Ryuzaki was shocked. “Magic Cylinder?”

Commentator Sasaki was excited. “Oh, Magic Cylinder! The ace trap from the deck of the former Duel King Yugi Mutou! It can negate the attacking monster’s attack and deal damage to the opponent equal to that monster’s attack points!”

Magic Cylinder, though less effective in today’s 4000 Life Points environment, was still a formidable card and had become less rare by the GX era. It never had many appearances in the anime but made cameo appearances in several decks, including Jaden Yuki’s and even some minor duelist decks.

It was also one of the few cards Yuugen’s predecessor had painstakingly crafted and found somewhat acceptable.

Ryuzaki took the counterattack damage, swaying slightly and letting out a soft snort.

[Ryuzaki: LP 4000 → LP 2600]

“The first blood in the finals goes to Fujiki Yuugen!” commentator Kogawa announced. “Who would have thought the first turn would inflict such heavy damage on Ryuzaki’s dinosaurs! Looks like even Ryuzaki will have to get serious now.”

Ryuzaki snorted but showed no concern.

This was within expectations. He had long known that Yuugen favored trap-heavy strategies. Starting off with two low-level dinosaurs to attack quickly was no accident—it was meant to bait him.

Traps were annoying, but ignoring them completely was impossible. After all, they were always there, and no one could just stand by and wait forever for the perfect moment.

Using low-level monsters with only 1400 attack to trigger a powerful trap like Magic Cylinder was acceptable.

“Then, the battle phase ends,” Ryuzaki continued. “I will use both Swiftfoot Velociraptors as tributes to perform an advanced summon! From the endless darkness, emerging from its cocoon, I summon—”

“—Level 7, Trihorn Dragon, summon!”

Both Swiftfoot Velociraptors vanished into a swirling vortex of energy. Golden claws and fangs emerged, and the massive dragon’s footsteps shook the arena, the entire ground trembling under the vivid visual and physical effects.

[Trihorn Dragon, ATK 2850]

“Trihorn Dragon!” commentator Kogawa exclaimed. “Not only did Ryuzaki unleash a fierce two-hit combo in the first turn, but he also summoned a powerful advanced monster! This shows his respect for his challenger’s strength and his determination to fight with full force!”

With the dragon’s arrival, Ryuzaki stood amid the summoning storm, feeling his aura soar as if his height had grown an extra foot.

“See this? This is my new dragon, Trihorn Dragon! Stronger than the Red-Eyes Black Dragon and the Evil Knight Dragon that were once taken from me. It symbolizes my rebirth through fire!”

“Hmph…”

Yuugen wanted to say, “That’s just a seven-star wannabe.”

But then he reconsidered. In that era before the various Red-Eyes series support cards existed, both Red-Eyes and Evil Knight Dragons required two tributes too…

Alright, no point arguing.

However…

He snapped his fingers.

“Flip summon. Trap Card—Bottomless Trap Hole. When your opponent summons a monster, change that monster to face-down defense position, and it can never change its battle position again.”

In plain terms—

—I’m sending your Trihorn Dragon straight to the graveyard!

The majestic Trihorn Dragon barely had time to stabilize before slipping and falling into the massive pit, disappearing without a sound.

Ryuzaki: “…”

The two commentators: “…”

Looking at Ryuzaki across the field, still frozen in his summoning pose, a cold wind blowing, giving him a somewhat desolate aura, Yuugen suddenly had an inexplicable feeling.

He felt as if he had done something terribly wrong.