"A Hero Emerges!"
"When the opponent declares an attack, I choose a random card from my hand. If it's a monster, it is Special Summoned directly to the field. If not, it's sent to the Graveyard."
Jaden currently had four cards in his hand, all of which had been drawn this turn through the effect of Mirage of Nightmare. This meant his current defensive line couldn't have been set up during the previous turn. In theory, whether he would draw a monsterand which monster that might bewas entirely random.
Of course, to a true Duelist, everything was inevitable.
"Are you still that confident in your luck?" Yugen asked with a smile.
"Haha, definitely. But just to be safe..." Jaden continued, "I chain the Quick-Play Spell, Emergency Provisions! By sending Spell and Trap cards from my field to the Graveyard, I gain 1,000 Life Points for each.
"I'll send Mirage of Nightmare and the currently active A Hero Emerges to the Graveyard to recover 2,000 Life Points!"
[Jaden, LP 3300 → LP 5300]
This was his second layer of insurance. This way, even if Yugen didn't select a monster card and Jaden had to take Silent Magician's magical blast head-on, he wouldn't lose immediately.
"Of course, since the effect of A Hero Emerges has already been activated, the cards leaving the field won't affect the resolution."
Jaden grinned and held up his four cards. "Go ahead, pick one."
Yugen pointed casually. "The second one from the left."
"Nice! It's a monster card!" Jaden cheered. "Therefore, I Special Summon Card Blocker in Defense Position!"
[Card Blocker, DEF 400]
Jaden laughed confidently. "I'm actually pretty good at this. I've never lost a game of Old Maid in my life."
"In that case, Silent Magician LV8, attack Card Blocker," Yugen commanded.
"Card Blocker's effect activates! When this card is targeted for an attack, I can send up to three cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard. For each card sent, his Defense increases by 500 points."
Jaden drew three cards from the top of his Deck in one swift motion.
"I'm sending all three! Card Blocker's Defense increases by 1,500!"
[Card Blocker, DEF 400 → DEF 1900]
Naturally, that amount of Defense made no difference in the face of Silent Magician. His goal hadn't been the defensive boost itself, but rather to blindly mill three resources into his Graveyard.
BOOM!
The magical blast descended, instantly shattering the small shield and causing Card Blocker to explode.
"I'll set two cards and end my turn," Yugen said.
"Alright, my turn! Draw!"
Jaden glanced at the card he just drew and played it immediately.
"The Spell card, Fifth Hope! I shuffle five Elemental HERO monsters from my Graveyard back into the Deck, then draw two cards from the Deck!"
One by one, the cards popped out of his Graveyard in a flash of golden light.
"I shuffle Elemental HERO Avian, Burstinatrix, Clayman, Bubbleman, and Bladedge back into my Deck!"
The five cards returned to his Deck, and Jaden performed a lightning-fast shuffle before sliding it back into his Duel Disk.
"And now, I draw two cards!"
"Appropriate's effect activates," Yugen intervened. "When the opponent draws a card outside of their Draw Phase, I draw two cards as well."
"I activate Pot of Greed!" Jaden immediately revealed another card from his hand. "I draw two more cards!"
Yugen beamed. "Then I'll draw two more as well."
Yugen felt more and more that his judgment had been spot on. This Continuous Trap, which remained obscure in the real-world card game, was incredibly powerful in the anime world. In a relatively slow environment where Special Summons weren't constant, it was even more useful than the most notorious handtrap of later generations, Maxx "C".
Furthermore, the situation Jaden faced was similar to the classic competitive dilemma: "Should I play into Maxx 'C'?"
Without a combo to break the current deadlock, Jaden would likely be defeated next turn if he did nothing. If he accelerated his drawing, he might find a breakthrough, but he risked handing his opponent a massive hand advantage.
In a way, this card was the anime-limited version of Maxx "C".
Jaden scanned the new combination in his hand and smiled again. "Ha, my Deck is telling me it's really enjoying this Duel. You're really strong, Yugenscary strong. but that just makes me fire up even more!"
"You're not bad yourself," Yugen replied with a chuckle.
It wasn't empty flattery; he genuinely meant it. To use such bizarre combinations so naturally... he could only say that Jaden truly possessed a terrifying, innate talent for cards.
"I have to be. To do justice to this Duel we've been waiting for, I have to get stronger and do better. Watch closely, Yugen! Through this Duel, I'm going to try... to surpass myself!"
He waved his hand, slapping another card onto his Duel Disk.
"I activate this card once againthe Spell card, Fusion Birth!"
Yugen frowned. That one again?
The spectators were equally shocked. In this situation? He's using it now?
"Fusion Birth! I send the top five cards of my Deck to the Graveyard. If the materials for a Fusion Monster are among them, I can perform a Fusion Summon using those materials!"
Chumley looked baffled. "B-but... the last time he used Fusion Birth, the materials were returned to the top of the Deck by another card. This time..."
"This time, he's relying entirely on fate and the luck of the draw," Bastion said, narrowing his eyes before a slight smile appeared. "Interesting. Can you really pull it off, Jaden Yuki?"
The previous combo, using Soul Return to stack the top of the Deck before using Fusion Birth, was difficult to execute but still fell within the realm of a standard play in this world. After all, Duelists here seemed to have certain cards glued together in their hands by default.
But to mill five cards blindly and expect to hit the exact Fusion Materials...
That sort of thing could only be left to the "Invincible Hand of God."
"It's fine," Syrus said with mysterious confidence. "Because Big Bro's draw is the strongest."
"..."
"Now, by the effect of Fusion Birth, I send five cards from my Deck to the Graveyard!"
Jaden drew five cards all at once, catching a glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye. Immediately, a fire seemed to ignite within his gaze.
"It worked!"
Jaden displayed the cards he had milled.
"The cards I sent were the ones I just shuffled back: Elemental HERO Avian, Burstinatrix, Clayman, and Bubbleman! Therefore, I perform a quadruple fusion of the four attributesEarth, Water, Fire, and Wind! Appear now Elemental HERO Electrum!!!"
The entire arena erupted in an uproar.
"What?!"
Even the teachers and students who had grown accustomed to Jaden's "miracle draws" were stunned.
Blindly milling five cards and hitting the exact materials for a quadruple fusion? And it just so happened to be the four HEROs he had just shuffled back into his Deck?
Did you actually shuffle those cards??
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