. "This Yugen Fujiki… is he really a newcomer?"
Takeshi Sasaki was also left speechless for a moment.
"I set two cards on the field."
Two more face-down cards appeared at Yugen's feet. He glanced at the Continuous Spell in Rex Raptor's back row and sighed softly.
This deck he was using had three copies of wind removal spells in it. If he had drawn even one, he could have blown away that Mirage of Nightmare before the Standby Phase. It would not guarantee a win, but it would clearly improve his odds.
Unfortunately, he had not drawn a single one.
Another day of wanting to learn god-tier topdecks.
"Turn end," Yugen said.
"Damn it, you really dare to play like this," Rex Raptor muttered through clenched teeth.
"My turn. I draw."
After the draw phase came Rex Raptor's Standby Phase.
"At this time, the side effect of Mirage of Nightmare activates. Normally, I would need to discard four cards from my hand. But!"
Rex Raptor flipped his back row without hesitation.
"At this moment, I activate my set Trap Card Reckless Greed first!"
"I draw two cards from my deck, but I have to skip my draw phases for the next two turns."
Huge reward, and just as huge a risk. Using this, Rex Raptor drew two more cards.
"Then I immediately activate the Quick-Play Spell Emergency Provisions!"
His second set card was flipped face-up as well.
"I can send any number of Spell or Trap Cards on my field, except Emergency Provisions itself, to the Graveyard. For each card sent, I recover 1000 Life Points."
"I send the currently resolving Reckless Greed and Mirage of Nightmare to the Graveyard, and recover 2000 Life Points!"
The two cards vanished together in a flash of golden light from the back row, turning into energy that flowed into Rex Raptor.
Rex Raptor, LP 800 to LP 2800.
"Oh, that was a nice move," Wataru Komatsu said. "First activate Reckless Greed, then chain Emergency Provisions."
"Even though the Trap has already been activated, it still remains on the field when Emergency Provisions resolves, so it can be used as cost to recover Life Points."
"Exactly. At the same time, he used Emergency Provisions to send Mirage of Nightmare to the Graveyard, avoiding its discard side effect in the Standby Phase."
Takeshi Sasaki nodded in approval.
"Rex Raptor is still Rex Raptor. His dueling skill is beyond doubt."
Rex Raptor rubbed his nose, clearly pleased with his high-level play. "What a shame. Looks like all that offense you put out last turn was for nothing."
However, Yugen felt nothing in his heart.
He did not think it was that impressive, but he really wanted to ask where Rex Raptor bought that glue. He had wanted to ask for a long time why, in animated duels, Mirage of Nightmare and Emergency Provisions were always stuck together, and nobody ever seemed to draw just one without the other.
"So we move on to my Main Phase."
Rex Raptor let his fingers brush across his freshly refilled hand and gave a cold laugh. His eyes were sharp as he looked straight at his opponent. "You were pretty arrogant last turn, kid. But this is where it ends. This turn, the duel is over!"
He revealed three cards from his hand in one motion. "I activate the Spell Card Polymerization! I fuse the monsters in my hand, Swiftfoot Velociraptor and Savage Wing Dragon, with Polymerization!"
The Spell Card appeared as the dinosaur forms were released from his hand and dragged into the pitch-black vortex of Polymerization. Black lightning burst out and struck the field, blowing up thick clouds of smoke. "The ruler of abyss and hell awakens from endless darkness. Polymerization Summon!"
"Level six, Hell Horned Dragon!" "This is an anime-only card."
Hell Horned Dragon appeared with an attack power of 2000. It was one of Rex Raptor's new trump cards after losing Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Evil Knight Dragon in succession back in the DM era.
"I'm not done yet!" Rex Raptor continued.
"I activate the Spell Card Monster Reborn! With this card, I revive a powerful dinosaur sleeping in my Graveyard!"
A holy mark appeared in midair, and a card shot out from the Graveyard zone of the Duel Disk in a burst of golden light. "I Special Summon from my Graveyard the absolute king of dinosaurs!"
"Ultimate Tyranno!"
The jet-black dinosaur burst out of a vortex from the Underworld, threw back its head, and roared. Its massive tail slammed into the ground, kicking up a towering cloud of dust. Ultimate Tyranno stood on the field with an attack power of 2600.
"Eh? Ultimate Tyranno?" Wataru Komatsu said in surprise. "When did that kind of monster even appear?"
"Back when he first used Graceful Charity, I'd say," Takeshi Sasaki replied. "So he planned all the way to this point from the very beginning. After being crushed like that, he still managed to launch such a fierce counterattack on the very next turn."
"That really lives up to the name of a Legendary Duelist."
"I see, it really is impressive," Wataru Komatsu said, then frowned. "But why not revive Tri-Horned Dragon instead? Its attack power should be higher."
Takeshi Sasaki gave a knowing smile. "Heh, because Rex Raptor already has a way to finish things. Just watch."
With two massive monsters on the field, Rex Raptor burst into laughter again. "Well? This is the power of my dinosaurs! Supreme offense, crushing the opponent with absolute force. This is my duel now!"
"I'm not the same as I was before. I'm stronger than ever!"
However, as Yugen looked at the dark, hulking Ultimate Tyranno, only one thought crossed his mind.
Rex Raptor, why are you using cards from Judai Yuki's sidekick Kenzan?
His only memory of that dinosaur was Kenzan's debut ace in the anime, the one that once pushed Judai Yuki into a hard fight. Of course, that ended with a miracle draw and a comeback, after which Kenzan was taken in as a follower.
"Next, I activate a Spell Card from my hand, Attack Lock!" "This card forces one of your opponent's Attack Position monsters to change to Defense Position!"
Rex Raptor pointed straight at the machine Machina Fortress on Yugen's field. "I switch Machina Fortress to Defense Position!"
The machine's stats shifted from 2500 attack to 1600 defense.
"I get it," Yugen said calmly. "Ultimate Tyranno can attack the player directly when there are no Attack Position monsters on the opponent's field. That's your plan."
"Oh? You know your stuff for a rookie," Rex Raptor said with a light snort, rubbing his nose. "That's right. And my Hell Horned Dragon can also attack directly this turn, but only on the turn it's summoned by Polymerization!"
The audience erupted into noise once again.
"Two direct attacks, one with 2600 and one with 2000 attack!" Wataru Komatsu exclaimed. "And they ignore monsters! Isn't that an instant OTK?"
"That's exactly Rex Raptor's strategy," Takeshi Sasaki said. "Pure power and total suppression. It really is overwhelming."
Two dragons attacking directly, back to back. How could that possibly fail?
"Go! First, Ultimate Tyranno!" "By its effect, it attacks the player directly, bypassing the machine Machina Fortress!"
Ultimate Tyranno roared and charged forward, its tail whipping up thick clouds of dust as it leapt past Machina Fortress and lunged toward Yugen.
"I flip my face-down card and activate the Trap, Earthbound Spirit's Temptation!" Yugen raised his hand. "When your monster declares an attack, I can choose a new attack target!"