Chapter 205: King versus King! The Battle of Blue-Eyes and the Crimson Lotus
"I Set one final card face-down. Turn end!"
Amano's entire first turn had consisted of summoning a 0 ATK monster in Attack Position and passing. The crowd could not make sense of it.
In Team 5D's preparation area, Yusei Fudo's expression grew more focused watching the field.
"Amano Rei ended his turn without Synchro Summoning?"
Summoning a 0 ATK Tuner in Attack Position on Turn 2 of a Riding Duel, the one turn where Spell and Trap Cards could not be activated, had given Yusei and most other observers the natural assumption: Amano was going to Synchro Summon using only monster effects.
Instead, he had simply passed.
"That monster," Crow added. "Nobody's seen it before. Did Amano put it in specifically for this match?"
Yusei watched Jack begin his turn. "Whatever the reason, Jack. Do not underestimate him."
The person who most understood exactly how dangerous Amano Rei could be, and who was least inclined to underestimate him, was Jack Atlas. He had already lost to this man once.
"My turn. Draw!"
Speed Counters: 1 to 2.
"Trying to lure me into attacking with that 0 ATK monster, Amano?"
Before committing to anything, Jack glanced at his Set card from the previous turn.
"A KING does not run. Even from a trap, I'll smash through it with overwhelming force! Hand effect of Wandering King Wildwind!"
Wandering King Wildwind. Level 4. DARK Attribute. Fiend-Type / Effect. ATK 1700 / DEF 1300.
Hand effect: If you control a Fiend-Type Tuner with 1500 or less ATK, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.
"Since I control Dark Resonator, I Special Summon Wandering King Wildwind!"
The cape-wearing Wildwind manifested at speed on the track, its deep green cloak streaming backward in the rushing wind.
"And I Normal Summon Red Mirror from my hand!"
Red Mirror. Level 1. DARK Attribute. Fiend-Type / Effect. ATK 0 / DEF 0.
The red burning mirror etched with demonic flames materialized on the track.
Jack swept his arm across the Duel Disk's monster zone and lit all three cards simultaneously.
"I tune my Level 3 Tuner Dark Resonator with my Level 4 Wandering King Wildwind and my Level 1 Red Mirror!"
Level 3 plus Level 4 plus Level 1 equals Level 8.
The entire audience erupted at once, calling the name alongside Jack as though their voices were being drawn out of them by something deeper than sound. Whatever Jack's reputation for dramatic crashes might have been, his ability to move a crowd was genuinely the finest in any Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. Amano would freely admit the gap between himself and Jack on that front.
"The king's power manifests here, witness the force that shakes heaven and earth!"
"Synchro Summon! UR GA TA MA HI!"
"Red Dragon Archfiend!"
Red Dragon Archfiend. Level 8. DARK Attribute. Dragon-Type / Synchro / Effect. ATK 3000 / DEF 2000.
The twin-winged dragon of the crimson lotus burst from the Synchro pillar, flooding both sides of the track with roaring walls of red fire.
"A KING does not run. Only advances with full force! Amano Rei, show me the hand you've been hiding!"
Red Dragon Archfiend had joined the race above the Lucky Wheel. The Battle Phase opened.
"Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Maiden with Eyes of Blue!"
"Shatter this bluffing monster!"
"Absolute Powerforce Domination!!"
The burning dragon claw wrapped in deep crimson fire came crashing down toward the 0 ATK girl floating on Amano's track.
"Is that really a bluff, Jack Atlas?!"
Amano held his D-Wheel straight and drove directly into the attack.
And the Maiden, sitting in Attack Position as the target of Red Dragon Archfiend's strike, was instantly surrounded by a surging white dragon soul that erupted from her body and threw itself between her and the incoming flame.
"The effect of Maiden with Eyes of Blue!"
When this card is targeted for an attack, negate that attack and change this card's battle position.
The white dragon soul colliding with the crimson fire nullified the full 3000 points of Red Dragon Archfiend's force.
"I switch Maiden with Eyes of Blue to Defense Position and negate Red Dragon Archfiend's attack!"
Maiden with Eyes of Blue. Defense Position. DEF 0.
"So that is the effect," Jack said, the surprise clear in his voice.
"Not done yet!"
The white dragon soul that had enveloped the Maiden did not dissolve. It solidified on the high-speed track, filling out and roaring with the voice of a true Blue-Eyes.
Then, you can Special Summon 1 Blue-Eyes White Dragon from your hand, Deck, or GY.
From the Team 5D's preparation area, Yusei's eyes widened. "She Special Summoned Blue-Eyes White Dragon using only one card's effect."
And with Blue-Eyes on the field, Maiden remained as a Tuner. A single card had generated two monsters.
Amano seized the card ejecting from his deck and drove it onto the Duel Disk.
"If this is infinite darkness, then bow before the dragon of light, and let it illuminate the dark!"
"Special Summon! BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!!"
Blue-Eyes White Dragon. ATK 3000.
The white dragon exploded out of the high-speed world alongside the crimson lotus flame. Two dragons sharing 3000 ATK, white soul against demonic fire, facing each other across the track for the first time.
In the prep area, Jaden punched the air with visible excitement. "I didn't know zero had a card like that! But if it's you, Kaiba, you must have seen this card before, right?"
Both Kaibas were silent.
"Hahaha! Blue-Eyes White Dragon, just as expected, Amano Rei! But I have already seen through your strategy!"
Jack had not ended his Battle Phase. He flipped his Set card from the previous turn.
"A king is always three steps ahead! Trap Card, Synchro Halo!"
Synchro Halo: Trap Card. When a Synchro Monster you control declares an attack that does not destroy the opponent's monster, that Synchro Monster's ATK becomes double its original ATK, and it can declare one additional attack this Battle Phase.
Whether by precise reading or genuine instinct, Jack's Set card had been sitting in perfect position the whole time, absorbing the negation and converting it into a new level of attack power.
"Burn, UR GA TA MA HI!!"
Red Dragon Archfiend. ATK 3000 doubled to 6000.
"His ATK is equal to two Blue-Eyes White Dragons combined!" In the stands, Rin Seiya shot to her feet with so much force that she startled Sakuya and the spectators on either side of her.
"Due to Synchro Halo, Red Dragon Archfiend can attack once more!"
Jack turned the Lucky Wheel and changed his target.
"Obliterate Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Absolute Powerforce Domination!"
The doubled flames detonated across the high-speed world's battlefield. The first exchange alone had already produced a wall of fire visible from every corner of the arena, and the heat felt viscerally real to everyone watching.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: destroyed.
Amano LP: 4000 to 1000.
"OOOOOH!" The announcer's voice carried the full weight of the moment. "Jack Atlas has struck first! The king has dealt a crushing blow to Amano Rei! Can Jack complete his revenge for the Fortune Cup defeat right here?!"
"I have been preparing for this moment for a long time, Amano Rei!"
Having seized a massive advantage on the very first attack exchange, Jack added one more Set card to his backrow and declared his turn over.
"I Set one card face-down. Turn end. Furthermore, Synchro Halo's effect persists permanently. Even after my turn concludes, Red Dragon Archfiend's ATK remains at 6000."
The turn passed. Amano steadied his D-Wheel through the impact of the dragon fire and reached for his next card.
"My turn. Draw!"
Speed Counters: 2 to 3.
The higher Speed Counter count pushed both D-Wheels' speed another increment up the track.
"This turn, I activate a Speed Spell!"
Going second had finally accumulated enough Speed Counters to open up the Speed Spell pool.
"Speed Spell - Speed Energy! Target 1 monster on my field; it gains ATK equal to the number of Speed Counters I control times 200."
Amano pointed Speed Energy directly at the only monster on his field: Maiden with Eyes of Blue in Defense Position.
"You're raising the ATK of a monster with 0 points?" Jack frowned.
With 3 Speed Counters, Speed Energy would only push Maiden's ATK to 600. Whatever Amano was doing, 600 versus 6000 was not a combat threat.
Jack's voice dripped with contempt. "Even if you raised her ATK, Red Dragon Archfiend's is still ten times higher."
"The ATK increase is not what I need. What I need is Maiden with Eyes of Blue's other effect."
"What? There's another effect?!"
When this face-up card becomes the target of a card effect, you can Special Summon 1 Blue-Eyes White Dragon from your hand, Deck, or GY.
"When Maiden with Eyes of Blue is selected as the target of Speed Energy, I can Special Summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my Graveyard!"
Amano raised one arm from the D-Wheel. White light detonated from beneath the track.
"Rise again! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The dragon exploded back up from beneath the high-speed world and set the entire arena off again.
The announcer's voice cracked with excitement. "Neither duelist is giving ground! Summoning monsters with 3000 ATK as though it's nothing at all! What an extraordinary battle we're witnessing!"
Amano had now used Maiden with Eyes of Blue's two different effects to revive Blue-Eyes twice at minimal cost.
"It won't work, Amano Rei!" Jack's voice cut back. "No matter how many times you summon a 3000 ATK Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it cannot beat a 6000 ATK Red Dragon Archfiend!"
"Then let me show you my king's Synchro as well, Jack Atlas."
With Blue-Eyes back on the field through Speed Energy, Amano threw one more card onto the Duel Disk.
"I Normal Summon Sage with Eyes of Blue in Defense Position!"
Sage with Eyes of Blue. Level 1. LIGHT Attribute. Spellcaster-Type / Tuner / Effect. ATK 0 / DEF 1500.
The white-haired sage with his pale staff materialized on the track alongside the soaring Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
"When Sage with Eyes of Blue is Normal Summoned, I can add 1 LIGHT Attribute Level 1 Tuner from my Deck to my hand."
After the Eyes of Blue Tuners had joined his deck following the monthly exam, the constant Tuner shortage that had plagued his Synchro setups for the past month had become a memory. And the added Tuner density had opened up possibilities in the Synchro chain that had not been achievable before.
Amano raised two fingers toward Jack. "I now have two Tuner monsters on my field. You know what that means."
"Two Tuners. Don't tell me you're going for..." Jack's expression hardened.
"Double Synchro."
"What? Double Synchro?!" Even with the possibility in his head, hearing Amano actually say it out loud produced visible shock across Jack's face.
Double Synchro was the power Jack himself had only recently awakened, the Burning Soul technique forged as his counter to the Infinity Machines and as the means to settle his score with Amano. His ace within his ace.
And now Amano was using it, too.
The field configuration was nothing like any Double Synchro Jack had seen before. Two Eyes of Blue monsters alongside a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Three cards that somehow qualified for the technique.
"I tune my Level 1 Tuner Maiden with Eyes of Blue, my Level 1 Tuner Sage with Eyes of Blue, and my Level 8 Blue-Eyes White Dragon in a Double Synchro!"
Every eye-bearing card on Amano's field lit up simultaneously. Alongside the speeding D-Wheel, Maiden and Sage each erupted into differently colored Synchro rings that cut straight through Blue-Eyes White Dragon's body as it flew past.
Level 1 plus Level 1 plus Level 8 equals Level 10.
"King and demon, now converging here! Touch the soul of the red dragon, and let out a roar that shakes heaven and earth!"
"Double Synchro! Appear! Level 10, Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant!"
Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant. Level 10. DARK Attribute. Dragon-Type / Synchro / Effect. ATK 3500 / DEF 3000.
Requires 2 Tuner monsters plus 1 or more non-Tuner monsters.
The new dragon born from Blue-Eyes White Dragon as its Synchro Material erupted in a blaze several magnitudes hotter than standard Red Dragon Archfiend. The fire that swept both sides of the track threw the entire arena's atmosphere to a rolling boil.
"Amano actually Synchro Summoned through Blue-Eyes White Dragon using the Double Synchro?!" Jaden pumped a fist in the prep area. "Synchro Summoning is really something else, isn't it, Kaiba!"
From the stands, the rare sight of Sakuya's normally composed face showing unguarded surprise appeared as she looked at Rin Seiya beside her, who was filming the duel while crying.
"Seiya-senpai. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm completely fine, Nanki'in-kouhai. I'm just moved. I'm actually watching a Red Dragon Archfiend Riding Duel in person. And the duelists are my little junior and Jack Atlas."
"Is that really that... moving?" Sakuya could not quite follow it.
Though the roaring enthusiasm of the surrounding crowd was starting to leak through her defenses regardless, and she found herself oddly wound up despite having no particular attachment to the specific cards being summoned.
"OOOOOH! Finally! The collision of souls between Amano Rei and Jack Atlas! Tamashii versus Tamashii!"
The seamless transition from Blue-Eyes to Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant, and the Double Synchro executed in a completely different configuration from anything in Jack's own playbook, struck something deep.
"Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant. So this is your new power, Amano Rei!" Jack's voice rang with genuine fire. "But in terms of ATK, my Red Dragon Archfiend at 6000 is still higher!"
Amano threw his card forward. "In this world of high-speed racing, no one stops Tyrant's advance! Suppress everything! Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant's effect activates!"
Once per turn: destroy all other cards on the field. Anime version of the effect.
"Absolute Authority Hellfire!"
The detonation swept the entire track. A nuclear column of fire from the king's dragon consumed everything from Amano's horizon to Jack's, vaporizing Red Dragon Archfiend and burning through Jack's Set backrow trap in the same blast.
Red Dragon Archfiend: destroyed.
Trap Card, Crimson Lotus Cocoon: destroyed and sent to GY.
Then Amano accelerated, leading Tyrant into the Battle Phase.
"Direct attack! Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant!"
"Hellfire Crimson Raging Tide!!"
A tidal wave of crimson fire roared toward the empty-field Jack Atlas like a burning sea. The heat impact struck Lucky Wheel hard enough to throw it off balance.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Jack Atlas LP: 4000 to 500.
Last turn, Jack had cut three thousand from Amano with one blow. This turn, Amano had answered with a direct attack that had taken Jack from full HP to 500 in a single strike.
"Incredible! Simply incredible!" The announcer had apparently lost all composure. "I have never witnessed a Riding Duel this intense! Two exchanges and both duelists are on life points thin enough to be extinguished by a strong breeze! Is this what a battle of kings looks like?! I am getting every penny of my admission price back today!"
In Team 5D's preparation area, Crow's expression showed the strain. "This is not good, Yusei. Jack's LP is in serious danger."
Amano at 1000, Jack at 500. The gap looked small in print and was enormous in practice. Five hundred LP had crossed into killing range for Speed World 2's effect.
Spending four Speed Counters could trigger Speed World 2 to deal at least 800 damage. Amano currently had only three counters. But once the next Standby Phase pushed him to four, Jack's situation would become critical.
"Trust Jack." Yusei's response was steady. "He's been preparing for this duel for a long time. He will not lose here."
"I Set one card face-down. Turn end."
The previous turn's Set card had been destroyed without activating. Amano added a replacement to his backrow before ending.
After absorbing the soul-shaking direct hit from Tyrant, Jack Atlas's Lucky Wheel took long seconds to stabilize.
"You are everything I hoped for, Amano Rei. Only against you can I feel my soul truly moving! But the battle has only just begun! I activate the GY effect of Crimson Lotus Cocoon!"
The backrow trap that had been caught in Tyrant's board wipe activated its secondary ability from the GY.
Crimson Lotus Cocoon: During the End Phase of the turn this card was sent to the GY, target 1 Red Dragon Archfiend in your GY; Special Summon it.
"Even Tyrant's power will not make me retreat! Rise, my soul! Red Dragon Archfiend!"
Red Dragon Archfiend. ATK 3000.
It burst upward from the burning track below, the same way Amano had revived Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The burning soul inside a duelist's signature card did not simply die when it was destroyed, not while the duelist's LP still held.
"My turn! Draw!"
Jack pulled his card with a sharp cry and immediately deployed the Speed Spell he had drawn.
"Speed Spell - Angel Baton! Draw 2 cards, then send 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard!"
After the draw filter, Jack activated Wandering King Wildwind's GY effect.
Wandering King Wildwind GY effect: Banish this card from the GY; add 1 Fiend-Type Tuner with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to your hand.
"I add Netherworld Resonator from my Deck to my hand and Normal Summon it directly!"
Netherworld Resonator. Level 3. FIRE Attribute. Fiend-Type / Tuner / Effect. ATK 800 / DEF 800.
Effect: While a Synchro Monster that used this card as a Synchro Material exists on the field, you take no effect damage.
Crow exhaled. "Netherworld Resonator. As long as Jack uses it as Synchro Material, he won't have to worry about effect damage."
Yusei kept his voice level. "But he still has to remove Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant from the field."
If Tyrant remained, any Synchro Monster Jack summoned would be wiped out by Tyrant's board-destruction effect.
"You can do it, Jack."
The Normal Summon was spent, but Jack had one more option. During his Angel Baton draw, he had deliberately sent a specific card to the GY.
"I activate Mirror Resonator's effect from the GY!"
Mirror Resonator: If there is an Extra Deck monster Special Summoned by your opponent on the field, you can Special Summon this card from your hand or GY. If this card leaves the field via this effect, banish it.
The only Extra Deck monster currently on the field was Amano's Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant.
"I Special Summon Mirror Resonator from my GY!"
Mirror Resonator. Level 1. DARK Attribute. Fiend-Type / Tuner / Effect. ATK 0 / DEF 0.
Jack's field now held Red Dragon Archfiend, Netherworld Resonator, and Mirror Resonator. The three monsters carried the same star configuration for what he was building toward.
"Watch closely, Amano Rei! This is my ultimate new weapon! You used Double Synchro to summon Tyrant, and I'll destroy Tyrant with Double Synchro of my own!"
Jack lit all three monsters on his field with the flame of his Burning Soul as he thundered forward.
"I tune my Level 3 Tuner Netherworld Resonator, my Level 1 Tuner Mirror Resonator, and my Level 8 Red Dragon Archfiend in a Double Synchro!"
Level 3 plus Level 1 plus Level 8 equals Level 12.
This time, the Synchro pillar that erupted reached the maximum star count.
"King and demon, now converging here! Raging soul! Let out the cry that creates heaven and earth!"
"Double Synchro! Appear, Level 12!"
"Scar-Red Nova Dragon!"
Scar-Red Nova Dragon. Level 12. DARK Attribute. Dragon-Type / Synchro / Effect. ATK 3500 / DEF 3000.
Requires 2 Tuner monsters plus Red Dragon Archfiend as the non-Tuner material.
The Burning Soul special effect erupted from the sky, and the Level 12 dragon of blazing crimson descended onto Jack Atlas's side of the track.
"Since Scar-Red Nova Dragon was Synchro Summoned, I recover Red Mirror from the GY to my hand."
With the card recovered, Jack raised his arm and declared the effect.
"Scar-Red Nova Dragon's effect! This card gains 500 ATK for each Tuner Monster in my GY!"
Currently in Jack's GY: Dark Resonator and Netherworld Resonator. Mirror Resonator had been banished by its own effect and did not count.
Scar-Red Nova Dragon. ATK 3500 plus 1000 equals 4500.
"How does it feel?! Scar-Red Nova Dragon's ATK has now reached the same level as your own team leader Seto Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Now I'll use this power that surpasses your Tyrant to tear you apart, Amano Rei!"
Jack's Burning Soul blazed bright enough to make it look as though the Lucky Wheel itself had caught fire beneath him.
"Scar-Red Nova Dragon, attack Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant!"
"This one strike ends the duel!"
"Burning Soul!!"
Wrapped in full Burning Soul flames, Scar-Red Nova Dragon crashed forward like a crimson bomb aimed directly at Tyrant's body. At 4500 versus 3500, a successful destruction would deal exactly 1000 kill damage.
"This is exactly what I was waiting for, Jack Atlas."
Staring directly into the Burning Soul charge, Amano flipped his face-down card.
At S Plus difficulty, Jack Atlas was always going to awaken his Burning Soul and come back at him. That was a certainty Amano had planned around.
"Then let me ride on the winds of that Burning Soul and race toward the light at the end of the sky!"
"A KING summons in the way worthy of a king!"
"Trap Card, King's Resonance!"
King's Resonance: Trap Card. When an opponent's monster declares an attack on your Synchro Monster, negate that attack. Then, banish that Synchro Monster and 1 Tuner Monster from your GY, and Special Summon 1 Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck whose Level equals the combined Level of the banished monsters, treating it as a Synchro Summon.
In Amano's GY there was only one Level 1 Tuner. But that was more than enough.
King's Resonance required no specific materials, only Level matching. That was the entire point.
"I banish Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant from the field and Sage with Eyes of Blue from my GY! Combined Level: 11! King's Resonance!"
Last turn, three Eyes of Blue cards had transformed seamlessly into a burning Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant.
This turn, the burning Red Dragon Archfiend Tyrant, riding the wave of Jack's own Burning Soul attack, transformed just as seamlessly into something that shone at the top of the sky.
"The gathered starlight will illuminate a new miracle! Stardust that reaches the ends of the heavens, become the path that shines with the light of salvation!"
"Synchro Summon! Descend from the flowing celestial light! Level 11!"
"Majestic Shooting Star Dragon!!"
Majestic Shooting Star Dragon. Level 11. WIND Attribute. Dragon-Type / Synchro / Effect. ATK 4000 / DEF 3300.
Requires Majestic Dragon plus Dragon-Type Synchro non-Tuner monster plus 1 or more non-Tuner monsters.
Effect 1: Once per turn, target 1 Effect Monster on your opponent's field; negate its effects.
Effect 2: This card can attack a number of times during the Battle Phase equal to the number of Stardust Dragon and related Synchro monsters recorded by name in your GY.
Effect 3: Once per turn, when your opponent activates a card effect, you can banish this card from the field until the End Phase; negate and banish that effect.
Effect 4: During the End Phase of the turn Effect 3 was activated, Special Summon this card.
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