As they stared at the state of the field, the people from Fusion Dimension all froze in place. Their pupils contracted sharply, and their faces were filled with disbelief.
Of course, they had heard of the earth-shattering power of Accel Synchro. They had seen the overwhelming force of Quick Xyz. And not long ago, they had even witnessed the mind-bending spectacle of accelerated Fusion.
But they had never imagined that Ritual Summoning could accelerate too.
And not just accelerate. It had been forcefully completed during the opponent's turn, and while it was happening, it had blown the opponent's entire field to pieces.
On the field, Ichiki stared at his completely empty Monster Zones, and his eyes slowly widened until they looked ready to split apart.
In the blink of an eye, every monster he had been so proud of was gone. His Duel Disk had not even had time to display a chain prompt. He had not gotten a single chance to resist with a monster effect.
"What the hell did you do?!" Ichiki screamed, his voice full of disbelief.
"What did I do?"
Yusaku looked at him.
"It was the effect of Ame no Murakumo no Mitsurugi. When this card is Ritual Summoned, it can activate and destroy every monster on your field. That monster you were relying on, Dogmatika Alba Zoa, really can ignore the effects of Extra Deck monsters."
He spoke each word slowly and clearly. His voice was as light as a cold wind brushing past the ear, yet it carried a chill sharp enough to freeze the marrow.
"But it can't stop the effect of a Ritual Monster."
As soon as he finished, Yusaku folded his arms and fixed Ichiki with a gaze as sharp as a blade.
"You have no cards left in your hand. Of the two face-down cards on your field, one is Wonder Xyz, which you already exposed yourself. But now you do not even have the shadow of a monster on your field, so Xyz Summoning is out of the question. Which means the only life-saving straw you have left..."
Yusaku's gaze drifted lightly to the final set card at Ichiki's feet, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a mocking smile.
"...is that last face-down card under your feet."
At those words, Ichiki froze for a moment. Then he suddenly threw a hand over his face, his shoulders shaking violently.
The next second, he lowered it again, his face twisted in a savage grin.
"A set card? Yusaku, Yusaku... You really think I'm out of tricks? I already told you!"
He laughed like a madman, his voice ringing across the entire duel field.
"The power of my Deck is beyond what a frog at the bottom of a well like you could ever imagine! As a duelist from Fusion Dimension, you can't seriously be naive enough to think that all the cards I sent to the Graveyard just now were worthless scraps of paper, can you?!"
Before the echo of his words had even faded, Ichiki roared:
"My turn ends!"
"End Phase!"
He snatched a card from his Graveyard and held it up in front of Yusaku.
"This is the effect of Albion the Branded Dragon, which I sent to the Graveyard during the Main Phase! During the End Phase of the turn it was sent to the Graveyard, I can add 1 Branded Spell or Trap from my Deck to my hand, or Set it directly on the field!"
"I choose to Set the Counter Trap Branded Retribution from my Deck!"
Set Branded Retribution?
Yusaku glanced at the cards in Ichiki's Graveyard. After a brief moment of thought, he spoke calmly.
"Then I'll chain your effect with the effect of Ame no Murakumo no Mitsurugi."
"The effect of this card is this: when your opponent activates an effect, they must discard 1 card from their hand. If they do not, that effect is negated immediately."
He let his gaze settle on Ichiki's empty hand, and a trace of amusement entered his tone.
"So under the rules of that effect, if you want Albion the Branded Dragon's effect to resolve, you have to discard 1 card. But you don't have so much as a single card left in your hand. Which means your effect is destined to be negated."
The moment those words fell, Ame no Murakumo no Mitsurugi, towering on the field like the incarnation of Yamata no Orochi, suddenly raised its heads and roared. Its mouth opened wide, and a brilliant blade of light tore through the air, slamming straight into the Albion the Branded Dragon in Ichiki's hand and crushing its effect to pieces.
Looking at the negated card in his hand, Ichiki frowned slightly and glanced at the Ame no Murakumo no Mitsurugi on Yusaku's field.
"So it wipes the whole board and comes with a three-way interruption too?"
After muttering that to himself, he looked back at Yusaku.
"I didn't expect your card to have disruption on top of that. But I'm guessing that effect can only be used once per turn, which means you can't stop me!"
"I activate the effects of Despian Luluwalilith, Sprind the Irondash Dragon, Brigrand the Glory Dragon, and Titaniklad the Ash Dragon in my Graveyard!"
Ichiki stared at Yusaku and explained each word with deliberate emphasis.
"All four of these cards have effects that activate during the End Phase of the turn they were sent to the Graveyard!"
"First, the effect of Titaniklad the Ash Dragon. I can add 1 Dogmatika monster or Fallen of Albaz from my Deck to my hand, or Special Summon it directly!"
After saying that, Ichiki looked over Yusaku's monsters.
Since Fallen of Albaz needed an Extra Deck monster to fuse, he thought for a moment, then shouted:
"Then by Titaniklad the Ash Dragon's effect, I Special Summon Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous from my Deck in Defense Position!"
[Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous]
[DEF: 1500]
"Next is the effect of Brigrand the Glory Dragon!"
Ichiki's voice did not pause for even a moment.
"During the End Phase of the turn it was sent to the Graveyard, I can add 1 Dogmatika or Tri-Brigade card from my Deck to my hand!"
"I choose to add Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted from my Deck to my hand!"
After tucking the searched card into his hand, Ichiki continued.
"Then, by the effect of Sprind the Irondash Dragon, I add Fallen of Albaz from my Deck to my hand!"
As his words fell, two cards popped out from the Deck area of his Duel Disk, and Ichiki grabbed them both in one motion.
After securing them, he looked at Yusaku again.
"And finally, the effect of Despian Luluwalilith! During the End Phase of the turn it was sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a LIGHT Spellcaster from my hand or Deck with equal ATK and DEF!"
"I choose to Special Summon Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous from my Deck in Defense Position!"
The moment he finished speaking, brilliant light flared across the duel field, and a white-haired saintess in a reddish-brown dress, holy sword in hand, slowly appeared.
[Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous]
[Level 4 / Spellcaster / Tuner / Effect]
[ATK: 1500] [DEF: 1500]
"My effects are resolved!" Ichiki folded his arms across his chest. "Your turn!"
Hearing that, Yusaku let his gaze sweep over the two new monsters on Ichiki's field, and a dismissive smile curled at his lips.
"You talked your Deck up like it was the greatest thing ever made, but at the end of the day it's just a Monarch-Branded pile with a Dogmatika package and a little Galaxy-Eyes engine mixed in. There's nothing original about it."
"That is Fusion Dimension's understanding!"
Ichiki smiled confidently.
"The engines I added all work together. Unlike your Extra Deck, which was just there for decoration."
"For decoration?"
Yusaku glanced at him.
"Then if you lose to a Deck whose Extra Deck was just decoration, wouldn't that mean your build is even worse than a Deck that treats its Extra Deck like an ornament?"
At that, Ichiki's face darkened, and he let out a cold snort.
"Enough talking. It's your turn. After all the recovery I just made, to be exact, winning is still-"
Before he could finish, Yusaku's eyes sharpened.
"When your Counter Trap is activated, I can negate that activation and Set that Trap back on the field. After that, my opponent can Set 1 Trap from their Deck to their Spell and Trap Zone. However, after this card resolves, my opponent cannot activate Trap Cards for the rest of the turn!"
The instant he finished speaking, Yusaku slammed the Counter Trap from his hand onto the Duel Disk, his tone absolutely decisive.
"I pay half my Life Points and activate this effect!"
[Yusaku, LP 8000 → 4000]
As the alert tone for the LP deduction rang out, Yusaku looked at the pale-faced Ichiki and let a mocking smile curve across his mouth.
"That line from earlier belongs to me now. Counter Traps can only be chained by Counter Traps. So if you've got the ability, go ahead and activate one from your hand right now..."
He deliberately paused there, his eyes sweeping over the two cards left in Ichiki's hand.
"But both of those cards are public knowledge. One is Fallen of Albaz, and the other is Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted. You don't have a single card that can chain."
At that instant, the Counter Trap in front of Yusaku erupted with brilliant red light. A beam of energy tore through the air and struck the Solemn Judgment at Ichiki's feet, forcing the Trap back face-down onto the field.
"Since Solemn Judgment was negated, you can now Set one more Trap from your Deck according to the effect." Yusaku folded his arms and looked at Ichiki calmly. "Once you finish setting it, Ame no Murakumo no Mitsurugi's effect will officially resolve. So choose. Will you discard a card, or let the effect be negated?"
Ichiki snorted, face full of unwilling fury. He pulled a Trap from his Deck and Set it on the field, then gritted his teeth and finally sent Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted from his hand to the Graveyard.
After doing so, his eyes turned vicious as he glared at Yusaku.
"My effect resolves! By Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous's effect, I send itself and the Fallen of Albaz in my hand to the Graveyard as Fusion Material!"
"Fusion Summon! Level 8 - Albion the Branded Dragon!"
The next moment, a dragon's roar exploded across heaven and earth. A crimson dragon engulfed in roaring flames burst from the Fusion vortex, carrying a sea of fire with it. Its ruby-bright scales gleamed, its wings spread wide enough to blot out the sky, and an overwhelming pressure swept across the whole field.
[Albion the Branded Dragon]
[Level 8 / Dragon / Fusion / Effect]
[ATK: 2500]
(End of Chapter)
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