Tenma Yuelin studied the face down cards in the Back Row and the praying girl defending the field. He noticed the card discarded to activate the search effect and fell into thought.
"My Turn! Draw." Tsukiyuki drew. "I activate a Spell Card! 'Pot of Greed' and draw two more cards."
He frowned slightly. There had to be defensive measures among those set cards, but he had nothing to clear the Back Row for now. As a Duelist, the only option was to press forward.
"Battle! 'United We Stand', attack 'Nephthys's Devotee'!"
The effect of the Spell Card 'Strong Alliance' had ended last turn. With four monsters on the field, United We Stand gained 3200 from its own effect plus its base 500, reaching 3700 ATK.
United We Stand, ATK 3700.
"I activate the Trap 'Messenger of Peace'," Yugen Do said. "This turn, my monster cannot be destroyed by battle, and I take no battle damage."
The heavy punch struck a transparent barrier and stopped.
"I see. An absolute defense Trap. Then battle is meaningless. I end my Battle Phase, but My Turn! continues."
Tsukiyuki looked at a card in his hand.
"I tribute the 'Crystal Sword' that's being treated as a monster to Tribute Summon."
"Level 5, Catapult Turtle!"
Yugen raised an eyebrow.
Another troublesome monster had appeared.
Catapult Turtle, Summon!
Yugen frowned slightly. So even Catapult Turtle had appeared. This monster had left a heavy mark in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh!, known as one of Yugi Muto's signature cards and a core piece in countless flashy first turn knockout combos.
"The effect of Crystal Sword. When this card on the field is sent to the Graveyard, I Draw one card from my Deck." (ANIME EFFECT)
It was also the original Equip Card once used in the first match between Manjoume and Yugen.
"Next is the effect of Catapult Turtle," Tsukiyuki said. "By Tributing a monster on my field, it inflicts damage to you equal to half that monster's ATK."
The key point of this effect was that it had no Once Per Turn. That was exactly why it had become a core part of so many one turn kill strategies. In this world, there was no reason for Catapult Turtle to have any such restriction.
"This is bad. Messenger of Peace can stop battle damage and battle Destruction, so he switched to effect damage instead. Yugen only has 2000 Life Points, and Maximillion Pegasus has more than enough ammunition on the field."
Daichi Misawa's expression turned serious. Asuka Tenjoin also felt her heart tighten as she looked at Yugen. Could he block this?
"First, United We Stand!" Tsukiyuki declared. "I Tribute United We Stand to inflict damage equal to half its ATK!"
United We Stand still had 3700 ATK. This alone would deal huge damage.
Yugen snapped his fingers.
"Counter Trap, 'God's Wrath'," Yugen Do said calmly. "Discard one card. Negate the Effect Activation of an effect monster and Destroy it!" (ANIME EFFECT)
He sent a card from his hand to the Graveyard. Dark clouds gathered above the field as thunder roared, and a bolt of divine lightning tore through the sky and blasted Catapult Turtle into fragments.
"Even that was stopped. Impressive."
Tsukiyuki raised his arm against the shockwave and dust, a faint smile on his face.
"However, since I Summoned Catapult Turtle this turn, from my hand I activate a Spell Card! 'Card of Sanctity'!"
A Spell Card appeared before him.
"In a turn I performed a Tribute Summon, Draw two cards from the Deck. The cards drawn cannot be used this turn, and if I Set them, I must Set at least one." (ANIME EFFECT)
He drew two cards.
"Next, I activate the Spell I just Set!"
He waved his hand.
"Spell Card 'Armed Rebirth'!" (ANIME EFFECT)
As the Spell flipped face up, several Equip Cards appeared on his field.
"A second one?" Daichi Misawa gasped.
Yugen was briefly surprised, then understood. A key card in this kind of Deck strategy would never be limited to just one copy.
"I won't repeat the effect," Tsukiyuki said. "I Special Summon 'United We Stand', 'Mage Power', and 'Crystal Sword' from the Graveyard as Equip Monsters with 500 ATK and DEF!" (ANIME EFFECT)
United We Stand, ATK 500 Mage Power, ATK 500 Crystal Sword, DEF 500
"They also gain their original Equip effects and increase their ATK! There are five monsters on the field, so United We Stand gains 4000 ATK!
I have four Equip Cards in my Front Row and one Set card in my Back Row, five Spell and Trap Cards in total. Mage Power gains 500 ATK for each, increasing by 2500!"
United We Stand, ATK 500 to 4500 Mage Power, ATK 500 to 3000
This time, the lowest ATK monster, Crystal Sword, was in Defense Position.
"I Set three more cards to my Back Row!" Tsukiyuki shouted. "For each new Spell or Trap Card, Mage Power gains another 500 ATK, for 1500 more!"
Mage Power, ATK 3000 to 4500
"In an instant, he's back to this formation," Daichi Misawa muttered. "Two 4500 ATK monsters."
Fortunately, the Battle Phase had already passed this turn. With Messenger of Peace in play, Tsukiyuki could not attack again for now.
Asuka Tenjoin said nothing, but she felt the same. A Legendary Duelist truly lived up to the name.
Her gaze drifted to Yugen. He looked exactly the same as always.
She had noticed this long ago. In every Duel, whether facing experts, beginners, or legends, he showed the same calm. It always felt as if he was simply playing casually and somehow won along the way.
"My Turn! Draw," Yugen Do said. "The moment we enter the Standby Phase, the Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys that was Destroyed last turn in the Graveyard activates its effect.
Phoenix God that was sent to the Graveyard by an effect is reborn in my next Standby Phase!"
Tsukiyuki's expression changed. "Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys? When was that..."
Then he realized. It was the card destroyed from the hand by the Devotee last turn.
"Correct. The card destroyed from my hand was Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys," Yugen Do said. "Since it was destroyed by an effect and not discarded, Phoenix God can trigger.
Be reborn in flames that burn everything!"
Tenma Yuelin frowned. "It can trigger from being destroyed in the hand..."
Blazing fire gathered in the sky, forming a burning divine bird that descended in a pillar of light.
Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, ATK 2400
Daichi Misawa immediately understood. "Right. Phoenix God can Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field. The Equip Cards he called out are still Spell Cards!"
Asuka Tenjoin nodded. "Phoenix God is the natural enemy of this Equip strategy!"
Yugen raised his arm as the flaming divine bird burned behind him.
"Effect of Phoenix God. When it is Special Summoned by its own effect, Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on your field!" (ANIME EFFECT)
"In this situation you used the Nirvana Effect to Summon the Phoenix God?" Tsukiyuki frowned. "It really is the most troublesome Monster for me right now. But..."
He raised his arm and flipped another face down card. "I activate a Trap, Fantasy Binding Curse!" The seal released from the Trap Card like a magic circle and locked around the Phoenix God's body. The flames around it dimmed at once, as if bound in place.
"Fantasy Binding Curse places a curse on one Monster on the field," Tsukiyuki said. "The cursed monster has its special abilities negated and loses 500 ATK!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, ATK 2400 to ATK 1900.
Asuka Tenjoin could not help but sigh. "So close. If the Phoenix God's effect had resolved, it would have almost cleared the field."
Yugen remained calm. Against an opponent at this level, eight cards across the Front Row and Back Row were never going to fall without resistance.
"Main Phase. I activate 'Tribute Draw'," Yugen Do declared. "I Tribute a Level 8 or higher monster I control to draw two cards. I Tribute the cursed 'Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys' and draw from my Deck."
The Phoenix God broke apart into light and scattered into the Deck. Yugen drew two cards and glanced at one of them, a faint smile forming on his lips.