On the Duel field, amid swirling particles of energy, the Super Doom King on Genya's field was drawn toward the center.
Yusaku's fingertips slid across the Duel Disk. He drew three cards in one motion, then flipped one onto the field. The blue-green Duel light sharpened the lines of the card in his hand until they looked almost blade-like.
The moment Genya saw it, his pupils shrank.
"Can't you Duel me head-on for once? All you ever do is use this kind of underhanded trash!"
"I have to say, you Fusion Dimension people are unbelievably hypocritical." Yusaku looked at him and sneered. "A minute ago you were saying victory is everything and acting like honor doesn't matter at all. Now you're complaining that my cards are dirty?"
"And besides, how are these 'dirty cards'? If the rules allow them, then they're legitimate Duel cards."
He paused, then looked at Genya's darkening face with open mockery.
"There's one thing you said that I really liked: victory is everything. So now I'll give those words right back to you."
With that, Yusaku slammed the three cards in his hand down onto the Duel Disk one after another.
"I activate the Equip Spell Snatch Steal, targeting your D/D/D Abyss King Gilgamesh and equipping this card to it to take control of that monster!"
A brilliant band of magical light instantly wrapped itself around the Abyss King on Genya's field. The dark energy around the monster shattered at once, and it broke free from its former master before leaping across the field as a black streak and bowing at Yusaku's side.
"The real show is only just beginning." A pale violet glow bloomed in Yusaku's palm as he shouted again, "I activate the Spell Card Mind Control! I target one monster on your field and take control of it until the End Phase!"
Then he pointed straight ahead.
"With that effect, I choose your Link-3 D/D/D Sky King Zeus Ragnarok!"
The thunder-wreathed Sky King let out a low, unwilling roar, but the spell forcibly dragged it across the field. With a blast of energy, it landed on Yusaku's side beside the Abyss King. By now, Genya's face was black as ink, his knuckles crackling as he clenched his fists.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card Change of Heart!"
Yusaku's voice rang out cold and clear.
"This card lets me target one monster my opponent controls and take control of it until the End Phase."
He looked at Genya, whose face had gone completely dark, and the corner of his mouth curled upward.
"I choose your D/D/D Wave High King Caesar. Until the End Phase, I take control of it!"
The moment the effect resolved, the Wave High King was forcibly pulled over to Yusaku's field as well.
"Uh..."
Seeing the state of the field, the Takeuchi Dojo students who had come with Yusaku, along with the unaffiliated Duelists nearby, all stared with their mouths hanging open.
In less than a minute, the entire field had been flipped upside down. A moment ago, Genya's side had been completely filled. Now he was down to a single monster.
And Yusaku still hadn't summoned a single monster of his own. Yet now he had four monsters on his field, and every single one of them had originally belonged to his opponent.
The people from Fusion Dimension all stared with wide eyes and thunderous expressions.
The players, by contrast, were thrilled. One after another, they started chiming in with shameless delight.
"That's brutal. I can't even watch!"
"Hah, I guarantee the guy's completely broken inside right now. He worked so hard to build that field, and in the end it all got stolen. This is insane!"
"Hell yes. NTR time!"
"I'm dying. He's definitely thinking, 'Stop stealing my monsters! Stop! Or at least steal me too while you're at it!'"
"..."
Amid the players' laughter, Yusaku's voice rang out once more.
"Appear, the circuit that guides the future!"
The instant those words fell, a massive Link Circuit opened in the sky above the field.
The players visibly jolted.
"Holy shit, he's going for a Link Summon!"
"No kidding. That's obvious. The real question is what he's summoning."
"Sky Striker Link Monsters can only be Link Summoned using Sky Striker monsters. Yusaku-senpai doesn't have any on the field right now, so if he's Link Summoning, what else could it be besides their in-archetype boss, Accesscode Talker?"
"Oh, come on. Since when did Accesscode become a Sky Striker card? And it's Accesscode Talker, not 'Accesscode Maiden'!"
On the field, the moment he saw the giant Link Circuit appear overhead, Genya's face turned uglier still.
He had never imagined Yusaku would use his monsters as Link Material.
Then Yusaku raised his arm high, his voice cutting through the roar of the field's energy.
"Link Arrows confirmed. The Summoning condition is two or more Effect Monsters!"
The instant those words fell, the entire battlefield trembled. A colossal Link Circuit spread across the sky, covering nearly half the heavens, golden streams of energy flowing through it like living veins.
"I use the Link-3 D/D/D Sky King Zeus Ragnarok and the Link-2 D/D/D Abyss King Gilgamesh as Link Material!"
With a deafening roar, the two monsters on the field transformed into four dazzling pillars of white light. Red and blue particles danced through them like sparks as they streaked upward like meteors into the enormous Link Circuit, flooding it with radiance and driving its energy reading to the limit.
In the next instant, four Link Markers lit up at once, radiating a suffocating pressure that made the entire space shudder.
"Circuit combine. Ride the gale that connects the unknown world beyond links. Link-4!"
"Accesscode Talker!"
The golden energy inside the circuit instantly boiled over. A towering figure slowly took shape within the blinding light.
In his hand he held a gleaming golden lance, its tip shining with a brilliance sharp enough to pierce darkness itself. The oppressive aura rolling off him was enough to freeze the whole battlefield in place. The air turned heavy. Even time itself seemed to slow.
The moment he fully descended, the energy of the entire battlefield erupted. Fine cracks spread through the ground, and golden shockwaves rippled out from him in every direction, scattering even the dust hanging in the air.
[Accesscode Talker]
[Cyberse / Effect / Link]
[ATK: 2300]
"I activate Accesscode Talker's effect!"
Yusaku's voice echoed over the field.
"When this card is Link Summoned, I can target one Link Monster that was used as its Link Material. This card gains ATK equal to that monster's Link Rating times 1000."
"I target the Link-3 D/D/D Sky King Zeus Ragnarok that I used as Link Material. Accesscode Talker gains 3000 ATK!"
[Accesscode Talker]
[ATK: 2300 -> 5300]
"Next, I activate a Quick-Play Spell!"
A Quick-Play Spell?
The players froze for a beat.
Then, the moment they saw the card in his hand, their eyes went wide.
"Holy shit! He's really going to steal this guy to the bitter end!"
As soon as that sentence dropped, Yusaku shouted:
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Autonomous Action Unit! By paying 1500 Life Points, I can target one monster in my opponent's Graveyard, Special Summon it to my field in Attack Position, and equip this card to it!"
"I activate that effect!"
[Yusaku, LP 8000 -> 6500]
"I target the Link-3 D/D/D Sky King Zeus Ragnarok in your Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field!"
[D/D/D Sky King Zeus Ragnarok]
[ATK: 2300]
The instant the monster appeared on the field, Yusaku continued without pause.
"Then I activate Accesscode Talker's effect. I can banish one Link Monster from my field or Graveyard, then destroy one card my opponent controls!"
"I activate that effect by banishing the D/D/D Sky King Zeus Ragnarok I just summoned, and I destroy your D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried!"
Hearing that, the players all stood there with their mouths open.
"Holy crap. He used the opponent's monster to Link Summon Accesscode, and now he's using the opponent's monster to fuel Accesscode's effect too. He's not just killing him, he's humiliating him!"
"Hah! That's downright evil!"
The moment that player finished speaking, Genya suddenly moved.
He slapped a card from his hand onto the Duel Disk.
"Then the instant you activate Accesscode Talker's effect, I activate the effect of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit from my hand! When a monster on the field activates its effect, or when a face-up Spell or Trap already on the field activates its effect, I can send this card from my hand or field to the Graveyard and destroy that card on the field!"
After throwing down the card, Genya burst into wild laughter.
"Hahahaha, Yusaku! I've been waiting for this moment for a long time! Let's see what you do now!"
But even after three full seconds, the monster on Yusaku's field remained completely untouched.
Genya froze, then instinctively looked at Yusaku.
At that moment, Yusaku was watching him like he was enjoying a show.
The players were all staring at him the same way one would stare at an idiot.
Finally, one of them couldn't help speaking up.
"This guy doesn't know that Accesscode Talker's effect can't be responded to?"
"Cut him some slack. Watching all his own monsters get stolen probably broke his brain."
"..."
Hearing that, Genya's pupils contracted violently.
"This monster's effect can't be chained to?!"
He hurriedly looked down at the Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit on his Duel Disk, only to realize its effect had never even been read.
"A meaningless struggle."
Yusaku flicked a glance at Genya, then raised his hand again.
"So, with Accesscode Talker's effect, I destroy your D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried!"
Accesscode Talker's gaze was sharp as a blade. His arm snapped forward, and the golden lance in his hand hummed as it tore through the air. The spearhead blazed with golden energy, dragging a brilliant tail behind it as it screamed forward like a falling comet and slammed straight into Genya's Cursed King.
Boom!
The instant it struck, the armor covering Siegfried's body shattered apart. Golden energy detonated inside him and exploded outward into a giant vortex several meters wide, grinding the monster into a storm of sparks.
"And with that, you don't have a single monster left on your field."
Yusaku pointed forward.
"Battle!"
"Accesscode Talker, direct attack!"
The moment the words fell, Accesscode Talker's eyes sharpened, and with another violent motion of his arm, the golden lance tore through the air and hurtled straight toward Genya.
Watching the spear fly at him, Genya suddenly yanked out another card and slammed it onto his Duel Disk with a crazed expression.
"Yusaku, I refuse to believe that monster of yours called Accesscode Talker has a negate effect too!"
Then he shouted:
"I activate the effect of Battle Fader from my hand! When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack, I can Special Summon this card from my hand, then end the Battle Phase!"
A card stood upright in front of Genya, glowing with a dim red light.
Seeing the card he'd played, Yusaku's lips curved into a faint smile.
"Did you forget? My monster doesn't have a negate effect. Yours does."
Hearing that, Genya's pupils shrank violently as he hurriedly looked at the D/D/D Wave High King Caesar standing on Yusaku's field.
At that exact moment, Yusaku's voice rang out.
"D/D/D Wave High King Caesar's effect: when a monster effect, Spell, or Trap Card that includes an effect to Special Summon a monster is activated, I can detach one material from this card to negate that activation and destroy it!"
"So I activate that effect and detach one material!"
[D/D/D Wave High King Caesar]
[Xyz Materials: 2 -> 1]
"I have to say, your monsters really are useful."
At those words, Genya's vision went black for a second. He looked like he might genuinely pass out from anger.
Then Yusaku pointed again.
"I activate D/D/D Wave High King Caesar's effect to negate and destroy your Battle Fader!"
The instant his words fell, lightning burst from Wave High King Caesar's body. A bolt crashed down, negating the card in front of Genya and blasting it to pieces.
"And since your Battle Fader was negated, my Accesscode Talker's attack goes through!"
The moment those words landed, golden light exploded around Accesscode Talker. A gigantic lance, three times thicker than before, formed in his hand. The runes engraved across its shaft lit up at full power, and torrents of golden energy poured through it like a waterfall.
With one violent throw, the lance ripped forward under a pressure that felt strong enough to destroy the world itself, whipping up broken stone and chaotic currents of energy as it roared across the field.
The lance passed straight through Genya's body without resistance. The force of the impact drove him back several staggering steps.
[Genya, LP 6000 -> 700]
"For the final blow, I'll use your own monster to send you off." Yusaku's tone was calm. "D/D/D Super Doom King Bright Armageddon, direct attack!"
Thunder erupted wildly around the white fiend's body, turning into a surging torrent of lightning that swept forward with apocalyptic force. Golden light instantly swallowed Genya whole, and inside that blinding brilliance he let out one last furious scream.
"Damn you, Yusaku!"
Even at the very end, he couldn't understand it.
From start to finish, Yusaku had only summoned a single monster, and even that had been made using Genya's materials. The attacks that finished him had come from Genya's own monsters too.
He had lost completely.
And humiliatingly.
[Genya, LP 700 -> 0]
(End of Chapter)
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