After Special Summoning his ace monster from the Deck, Crowler didn't forget to activate the effect of his other card.
"The effect of [Geartown] activates. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can activate it De↗su→.
"Special Summon 1 [Ancient Gear] monster from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard. I Special Summon [Ancient Gear Engineer], enter the Battle Phase, and have [Ancient Gear Golem] attack that [Thunder King Rai-Oh]!
"Because of the shared effect of [Ancient Gear] monsters, when this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate Spell or Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step, Da-nō-ne. Although there's still monster effects left, your [Thunder King Rai-Oh] shouldn't have any more effects, right?"
"I see. The specialty of [Ancient Gear] monsters is locking down Spells and Traps…" Jaden nodded, then tanked the damage dealt after [Thunder King Rai-Oh] was destroyed.
[Jaden, LP: 3150 → 2050]
"The effect of [Supply Squad] activates. Once per turn, when a monster on your field is destroyed by battle or card effect, activate this effect: draw 1 card from your Deck."
Jaden drew a card from his Deck, then flipped his Set card. "At an open timing, I activate the set [Call of the Haunted], Special Summoning [Thunder King Rai-Oh] in Attack Position. With that, the [Ancient Gear Engineer] with only 1500 Attack won't be able to break through, right?"
Crowler let out a dismissive laugh. "Just mere stalling."
Jaden lifted a hand and wiped his nose tip, speaking confidently: "Even if it's stalling, that draw just now showed me a glimmer of victory, Professor. Next, let me show you my style of Dueling~"
"Big talk… I Set 1 card and end my turn."
Because he was playing an [Ancient Gear] Deck and previously had to deal with the [Thunder King Rai-Oh] on Jaden's field, Professor Crowler had no choice but to lose card advantage to clear the board. Now he only had his Set card. Spreading his hands, he declared the end of his turn.
Still, since he couldn't use the effect of [Ancient Gear Wyvern], he wasn't too worried about the Set card.
Turn 3
"My turn! Draw."
Jaden forcefully drew a card from his Deck, Normal Summoned a monster, then activated a Spell Card. "I Normal Summon [Elemental HERO Sparkman], then activate the Spell Card [Miracle Fusion] from my hand! I banish [Thunder King Rai-Oh] and [Elemental HERO Sparkman] from the field to Fusion Summon [Elemental HERO The Shining]!"
A red-and-blue fusion vortex with even brighter colors unfolded before Jaden Yuki, merging the LIGHT-Attribute [Thunder King Rai-Oh] and [Elemental HERO Sparkman]. From within the endless radiance, the white-armored [The Shining], decorated with red and gold highlights, was Special Summoned.
Crowler had expected Jaden to fuse into something powerful, but in the end, only an ordinary [The Shining] appeared. Shaking his head, he assumed he'd overthought it. "A mere [HERO] with 2600 Attack means nothing before my [Ancient Gear Golem]."
"[The Shining]'s Attack increases by 300 for each banished [HERO], so its Attack becomes 2900, just slightly lower than your [Ancient Gear Golem], Professor. But that's perfect. A [HERO] deserves a battlefield fit for a [HERO] if it's to unleash its full power. I activate the Field Spell [Skyscraper] from my hand~"
Jaden placed [Skyscraper] into the Field Zone slot that popped out from his Duel Disk. Instantly, countless skyscrapers rose around them, turning into a night cityscape thanks to the virtual projections.
"[Skyscraper]?" Watching Jaden's Duel, Bastion Misawa suddenly spoke, then smiled. "I see, so that's how he's going to remove the 3000-Attack [Ancient Gear Golem]. He even set [The Shining]'s Attack to exactly 2900. Whether intentional or not, it's an excellent counterplay."
Unlike the studious Bastion, Syrus didn't know many card effects and asked in confusion, "What's special about that card?"
"The effect of [Skyscraper] is that when an [Elemental HERO] monster attacks a monster with higher Attack, the attacking HERO gains 1000 Attack during damage calculation only. So even though [The Shining] only has 2900 Attack right now, during damage calculation against [Ancient Gear Golem], it becomes 3900, allowing it to crush it in one blow."
Before Bastion could explain, Youmi stepped in and explained Jaden's plan.
At the same time, [The Shining], now with 3900 Attack, defeated [Ancient Gear Golem].
[Crowler, LP: 4000 → 3100]
Seeing that [The Shining] really did defeat [Ancient Gear Golem] just as Youmi and Bastion had described, Syrus let out a cry of amazement: "He actually took down [Ancient Gear Golem]! Amazing! If it were my [roid] Deck, I'd have to rely on [Limiter Removal]."
"It's only one monster. I doubt Professor Crowler only has this much strength. The real issue was not knowing [Thunder King Rai-Oh]'s effect and suffering heavily for it. Judging by Jaden's hand, things don't look great. If he had fused into another [Elemental HERO] and kept [Thunder King Rai-Oh], he could've cleared the field while keeping pressure."
Jaden's hand was indeed as terrible as Youmi said. Although [Miracle Fusion] drawn from [Supply Squad] had saved him, the "lucky card" he'd received from a passerby earlier today was stuck in his hand.
[Transcendent Wings], a card that must be used with [Winged Kuriboh] and [Winged Kuriboh Lv10]. The passerby really had given him both [Winged Kuriboh] and [Winged Kuriboh Lv10], and he had casually thrown them into his Deck… but he never expected them to clog his hand right now.
"I Set… actually, I Set nothing and end my turn."
Although beating the opponent's boss monster was satisfying, Jaden didn't believe the academy's head instructor would only be this strong. His excitement surged again.
Turn 4
"My turn… Draw!"
"I activate [Monster Reborn] from my hand to Special Summon [Ancient Gear Wyvern] from the Graveyard." Crowler looked at his drawn card and immediately activated it. "When [Ancient Gear Wyvern] is Special Summoned, its effect activates.
"I add [Ancient Gear Hunting Hound] from my Deck to my hand. Until the end of the turn, I cannot Set cards De↘su→.
"Next, I Normal Summon [Ancient Gear Hunting Hound] and activate its effect to deal 600 damage to you. Hound Flame!"
A green mechanical dog leapt out, opened its jaws, and spat a fireball at Jaden Yuki, the flame flying past [The Shining] and striking him directly.
[Jaden, LP: 2050 → 1450]
"Whoa, now my LP isn't even half left. This is a huge crisis~ but because it's a crisis, I'm getting fired up!"
Even as his LP was chipped away bit by bit, Jaden felt no sense of danger—instead, he grew even more exhilarated. Adversity leading into a heroic reversal… wasn't that the hallmark of a hero?
"Then I'll make you even more excited, nōne. I activate the other effect of [Ancient Gear Hunting Hound]. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can activate it: send Fusion Materials listed on an [Ancient Gear] Fusion Monster from your hand or field to the Graveyard, then Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck, Da-nō-ne!"
Professor Crowler picked up the three monsters on his field with his left hand, then sent them all to the Graveyard. A fusion vortex appeared on Crowler's field this time.
"I send [Ancient Gear Engineer], [Ancient Gear Wyvern], and [Ancient Gear Hunting Hound] to the Graveyard! Using these three [Ancient Gear] monsters, I Fusion Summon—come forth! [Ancient Gear Megaton Golem]—!!!"
The six-legged, six-armed [Ancient Gear Megaton Golem] appeared on Professor Crowler's field. Even without using [Ancient Gear Golem] or [Ancient Gear Golem - Ultimate Pound] as materials, it still had a full 3300 Attack. Furthermore, if it left the field due to an opponent's effect, he could Special Summon [Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem] from the Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions.
"For a delinquent like you, this monster alone is more than enough to end the Duel! Enter the Battle Phase—[Ancient Gear Megaton Golem], attack [Elemental HERO The Shining]! When this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate Spell or Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step!"
[Jaden, LP: 1450 → 750]
"Because of [Supply Squad], I draw 1 card from my Deck! And because of [Elemental HERO The Shining]'s effect, I recover the banished [Elemental HERO Sparkman]!"
Another card entered his hand, but it still wasn't the card he needed. Jaden let out a sigh.
"Because of [Ancient Gear Wyvern]'s effect I can't Set cards, so I end my turn just like this."
Setting aside how much card disadvantage Fusion causes, even if he wanted to Fusion Summon again, unless he could bring out a [HERO] with at least 2300 Attack, the best he could hope for was a mutual destruction with [Ancient Gear Megaton Golem].
If he used effects from cards like [Dark Hole], the result would simply be triggering the appearance of [Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem]. Moreover, the card Crowler Set last turn was the Continuous Trap [Ancient Gear Reborn].
Its second effect is: once per turn, if you control no monsters, you can target 1 [Ancient Gear] monster in your Graveyard and Special Summon it. A monster Special Summoned by this effect gains 200 Attack. And [Ancient Gear Megaton Golem] has no restriction preventing it from being Special Summoned without being Fusion Summoned.
Which is why Professor Crowler was absolutely confident that this Duel was already decided.
Though earlier he had made a careless misplay, he didn't really mind—he was just teaching a problem student, after all. A misplay was a misplay.
"Looks like you misjudged, Kaiser. Professor Crowler even brought out [Ancient Gear Megaton Golem]. That applicant number 110 has no chance of winning now." Seeing Jaden's LP flickering like a candle in the wind, Alexis Rhodes sighed. "I really don't know why Professor Crowler suddenly got so fired up today, putting this much effort into a freshman's practical exam."
Zane Truesdale, known as "Kaiser," shook his head. "Not entirely. Normally, Professor Crowler would have led with the combo of [Ancient Gear Catapult] and [Geartown]. Looks like he's actually holding back somewhat. As for this freshman, he's already doing very well. But if he manages to hold on a little longer, don't you think that would be interesting, Alexis?"
"You're right about everything, okay?"
Turn 5
"This might be my last draw… please, lend me your strength! My turn—draw!"
Jaden's right hand trembled as he drew, not from fear, but from overwhelming excitement and joy.
"If the professor is putting this much power into our Duel, I can't afford anything less than my best!"
A card entered his hand, and Jaden slowly flipped it face-up.
"Here it comes! I Normal Summon [Winged Kuriboh]!"
The white-winged [Kuriboh] appeared on Jaden's field, blinking before letting out a bright "kurikuri~".
"Next, I Set 1 card and end my turn!"
"[Winged Kuriboh]? A card I haven't seen before… but I remember both Duel Kings had their own [Kuriboh]. Still, what use is Normal Summoning a monster with only 300 Attack? A final attack of pride?"
Chazz, wearing his blue school uniform and staring seriously at Jaden and [Winged Kuriboh], spoke after a long moment. "He's probably already done everything he can. Taking down an [Ancient Gear Golem] is impressive for a freshman, but he's not on my level. At this point, he's out of options."
Meanwhile, Youmi—who had been analyzing every detail of the Duel with Bastion while Syrus fell asleep beside them—murmured to himself, "[Destruction Ring]? No, that's not it… I see, [Transcendent Wings], huh. This Duel is already Jaden Yuki's win. Unless Crowler draws [Raigeki] or [Dark Hole], he has absolutely no way out~"
Bastion, unfamiliar with this combo, turned to Youmi. "Hm? What do you mean? Does that [Winged Kuriboh] have a comeback effect?"
"You'll see very soon~"
Turn 6
"My turn—draw." After drawing, Professor Crowler glanced at Jaden Yuki's nearly empty field and moved straight into the Battle Phase. "Looks like this is all you've got. Entering the Battle Phase, and—"
The moment Crowler declared the Battle Phase, Jaden immediately flipped his Set card.
"During the Battle Phase, I flip [Transcendent Wings]! By discarding two cards from my hand, I evolve [Winged Kuriboh] into [Winged Kuriboh LV10] from my Deck!"
Using two cards as the activation cost, a brilliant light enveloped [Winged Kuriboh], transforming it into a completely new form.
Although the sudden evolution made Crowler uneasy, he still declared his attack—after all, his field was overwhelmingly superior. "And what of it, Da-nō-ne? Even if it evolves into an LV monster, it only has 300 Attack. [Ancient Gear Megaton Golem], attack [Winged Kuriboh LV10]!"
"[Winged Kuriboh LV10] can Tribute itself to activate a powerful effect—and it can only be used during the opponent's Battle Phase! I Tribute [Winged Kuriboh LV10] to destroy all of your Attack Position monsters!"
The massive wings of [Winged Kuriboh LV10] spread wide, covering the incoming [Ancient Gear Megaton Golem]. In a burst of light resembling holy radiance, the Gear monster dissolved into a flurry of pure white feathers.
"But [Ancient Gear Megaton Golem], when destroyed by your opponent's effect while face-up from a Fusion Summon, can activate its effect! I Special Summon [Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem] from my Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions, Desu! And I chain my Set card, [Ancient Gear Reborn]—"
Just as Crowler tried to activate his Set card, his Duel Disk emitted an error tone.
"Why is it showing an error? Don't tell me…"
Realizing the possibility, Professor Crowler lifted his head toward Jaden.
Only to see him smiling—genuinely, brightly—while making a gesture that, to Crowler, looked unbearably taunting.
"[Winged Kuriboh LV10]'s effect doesn't end there. When it destroys monsters with its effect, it also inflicts damage to the opponent equal to the combined original Attack of those destroyed monsters. So this Duel is mine. This was a truly fun Duel, Professor!"
"Ma-Mamma mia!!!"
...
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