"My turn, draw."
Yugen glanced at the card he drew and suddenly looked at Shadow Blizzard with a faint smile.
"You seem to call yourself... Darkness, right?"
Shadow Blizzard crossed his arms, looking at him coldly without responding.
"True Red-Eyed Black Dragon is indeed a powerful monster and also a super rare card," Yugen said. "It was once famous throughout Duel City in the hands of the legendary duelist Joey Wheeler."
"Heh, are you afraid of the power of my True Red Eye?" Shadow Blizzard sneered. "Then there's still time to beg for mercy."
"No. I'm asking, are you truly worthy of wielding the power of the True Red Eye?"
Yugen smiled, pointing at the True Red Eye.
"The True Red-Eyed Black Dragon is indeed a treasure in the dueling realm, but not everyone can master it. For a chosen duelist, it's natural to unlock the potential of the Black Dragon and pave the way to victory.
But for a third-rate talent, it's just a mortal bone with 2400 attack power despite being a seven-star, so what's there to fear?"
Come to think of it, Yugen always found the sibling pair of Blizzard and Asuka entertaining. Their appearance is uncannily similar to Joey's offspring, and their ace is even the True Red-Eyed Black Dragon.
If it weren't for the fact that there's less than a decade between DM and GX, one might almost suspect these two are Joey and Sister Mai's long-lost children.
Shadow Blizzard understood the sarcasm but didn't get angry: "Interesting, are you saying I can't handle the power of the True Red Eye... You're the first to tell me that."
"Wearing half a mask for cosplay doesn't make you the master of the Black Dragon."
Yugen said calmly, raising his hand.
"Activate the effect of the 'Guardian Sphinx' flipped by the attack of the True Red Eye. This card can be changed to face-down defense position once per turn.
So, cover 'Guardian Sphinx' again."
The massive sphinx was covered face-down again, turning into a card.
Yugen waved his hand once more.
"Then flip-summon 'Guardian Sphinx' again."
The sphinx that was just covered flipped immediately due to its own effect, quickly reappearing on the field with dignity. An unseen wave was released on the field, sweeping towards the Black Dragon on Shadow Blizzard's field.
"Guardian Sphinx's effect: when this card is successfully flip-summoned, all opponent's monsters return to their owner's hand.
Bounce the True Red-Eyed Black Dragon back!"
Shadow Blizzard's expression turned solemn.
"The effect of bouncing all cards... but it won't be that easy!" he exclaimed, "Activate the counterattack trap 'King's Insight'!
If you have a Level 7 or higher ordinary monster on your field, negate and destroy one of the opponent's spell, trap, summoning, flip summoning, or special summoning!"
He pointed at Yugen's field.
"Negate and destroy the flip summon of Guardian Sphinx!"
The Black Dragon King roared, releasing an aura of a Dragon Race overlord. That domineering wave shattered the sphinx on Yugen's field to pieces.
The Black Dragon stood proudly on the field, raising its head as if very satisfied.
"Heh, the sphinx's bounce tactic is indeed insidious, but it's seen through by the King!" Shadow Blizzard announced proudly. "Can you still boast that I can't handle the power of the Black Dragon?"
"...Activate the Magic Card 'Adversity's Treasure Scroll'. When the opponent has a special summoned monster and I have no monsters on the field, draw two cards from the card deck." (Original Card)
Yugen drew two cards and quickly placed another one.
"Cover a monster in face-down defense position."
Shadow Blizzard sneered lightly at this maneuver, "Defense again, have you no choice but to defend under the true King's pressure?"
Yugen ignored him and removed a card from the graveyard.
"Activate the effect of 'AD Changer' in the graveyard. By removing this card from play, the position of one monster on the field can be changed."
Yugen pointed to his field.
"Flip the covered monster on the field."
The covered monster flipped, revealing a bald foreign soldier clad in a black robe, his round belly exposed, with a fierce look on his face.
[Tomb Guard, Attack Power 1000]
"Tomb Guard's flip effect." Yugen gestured with his finger, "Upon flipping, one monster on the opponent's field returns to its owner's hand.
Bounce the 'True Red-Eyed Black Dragon' back to the hand."
You can dodge the first day of the new year's misfortune but not the fifteenth. Although the True Red Eye ferociously countered the sphinx's hand, it ultimately couldn't escape being returned. The Black Dragon let out a helpless cry, transforming into a golden light and returning to its owner's hand.
Shadow Blizzard's smile vanished instantly.
"Then Tomb Guard, direct attack.
Thousand Blade Slash!"
Yugen commanded, and the guard sprang forward, his heavy lance cleaving down. The white blade turned into a silver light descending from above, causing Shadow Blizzard to grunt and take a half-step back clutching his chest.
[Shadow Blizzard, LP 4000→LP 3000]
He gritted his teeth, glaring at the robust foreign soldier: "Tomb Guardian Race..."
Under the Black Dragon mask, his brows furrowed, recalling something.
Fubuki Tenjouin had once visited the tomb's ruins before Yugen and the others and had dueled and won against the Tomb Guardian. That was likely Blizzard's first encounter with a Dark Duel.
Yugen obtained that half ring from the Tomb Guardian, and the other half was in Blizzard's hand. Only when the two pieces were assembled together could their full power be unleashed.
"Set three cards face-down, end turn."
Yugen set more cover cards, forming a fortress-like defense in the rear field, exuding a sinister aura from afar.
He chuckled lightly and added: "It seems your control over the Black Dragon isn't so impressive."
Shadow Blizzard gritted his teeth, snorted heavily, and straightened his back.
"My turn, draw!" Shadow Blizzard said, "Activate Magic Card 'Red Jade Treasure Scroll'.
Send one Level 7 'True Red Eye' monster from your hand to the graveyard, draw two cards from the card deck, then send another Level 7 True Red Eye monster from the card deck to the graveyard."
Shadow Blizzard revealed the recently returned True Red Eye in his hand.
"Discard the 'True Red-Eyed Black Dragon' that was just returned to the hand, draw two cards, then send another 'True Red-Eyed Black Dragon' from the card deck to the graveyard!"
It seems Blizzard not only has the renowned True Red Eye, but also a second one. However, Yugen wasn't surprised; just like Caesar's Termination Dragon, True Red Eye was another card Blizzard used explicitly in the anime.
After drawing, his actions paused slightly as he frowned in thought, momentarily hesitating.
But shortly after, he seemed to decide on the follow-up tactic.
Then he drew three cards from his remaining hand.
"Set three cards on the field."
He placed three cards face-down, then slowly drew another card from his hand.
"Normal summon this guy from the hand, summon 'Apocalypse Knight'!"