Turn 1
"I'm going first, Dimitri! I'll show you that a Deck isn't worth anything if it isn't your own! Draw!"
Bastion drew a card and immediately activated a Normal Spell.
"I activate the Normal Spell Terraforming from my hand, adding a Field Spell from my Deck to my hand. I add Sanctuary in the Sky—Palace of the Elemental Lords—and activate it."
Because of the virtual projection system, the environment around them shifted into the shape of a sacred temple. Even Youmi was a little surprised.
Bastion had switched to an Elementsaber/Elemental Lord Deck?
"I Normal Summon Elementsaber Malo. This monster can call its comrades."
Bastion discarded one card from his hand and activated Makani's effect.
"Once per turn: I can send one Elementsaber monster from my hand to the Graveyard; I add one Elementsaber or Elemental Lord monster from my Deck to my hand, except Elementsaber Malo. I discard the DARK Elementsaber Nalu and add the LIGHT Elementsaber Lapauila."
The wind-guiding warrior appeared on Bastion's field. After exchanging a glance with the discarded Molehu, he called upon Lapauila from the Deck.
Bastion added Elementsaber Lapauila to his hand and revealed it.
"I activate Elementsaber Lapauila Mana's effect from my hand. To Special Summon it, I must send two other monsters from my hand to the Graveyard. However, the Field Spell Palace of the Elemental Lords has a once-per-turn effect—when an Elementsaber monster would send cards from the hand to the Graveyard to activate an effect, I can send Elementsaber monsters from my Deck instead. I send the WATER Elementsaber Molehu and the EARTH Elementsaber Nalu from my Deck!"
A warrior clad in golden armor appeared, wielding a blade wreathed in lightning. Blue and brown light briefly flickered over him—and the same glow formed around Makani.
"Elementsaber Lapauila's effect: As long as he is on the field, all my Elementsaber and Elemental Lord monsters gain the effects corresponding to the original Attributes of the monsters sent to activate his effect. I sent WATER and EARTH—so my Elementsaber and Elemental Lord monsters cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects."
Seeing that Dimitri remained perfectly calm, Bastion shook his head.
"I Set two cards. Turn end."
Turn 2
"Elementsabers, huh? Strong monsters, maybe. But they're useless before my ultimate Deck! My turn—draw!"
Dimitri, wearing his uniform like a cape, dramatically drew a card. Then he grinned.
"As expected of my Deck. It responds to me! I reveal the card I drew: Palladium Oracle Mahad! I activate its effect to Special Summon it!"
The armored oracle in a white cape appeared on Dimitri's field—but upon realizing the one who summoned him wasn't his true master, the light in his eyes dimmed. He looked hollow—like a card without a spirit.
And that was exactly what happened. Youmi sensed it clearly—the real Mahad from the Underworld had flickered into existence for an instant but refused to answer. Because the one using him wasn't Atem or Yugi, he chose not to manifest.
Bastion frowned, analyzing Dimitri's intent.
"Mahad, hmm? He only doubles his Attack when battling DARK monsters. Summoning him now… other than setting up Magician's Souls, what purpose—"
"Hehehe… Don't be impatient! We're just getting started! I send the Level 6 Dark Magician Girl from my Deck to the Graveyard and activate Magician's Souls from my hand—sending it to the Graveyard to Special Summon Dark Magician Girl!"
Dimitri revealed Magician's Souls. His Duel Disk ejected Dark Magician Girl, which he sent to the Graveyard and then immediately Special Summoned.
"Next—Spell Card! Sage's Stone! Since Dark Magician Girl is on my field, I Special Summon Dark Magician from my hand or Deck! Behold! My ultimate servant—Dark Magician!"
Unable to bear Dimitri's one-man performance, Youmi muttered, "That's not your servant at all."
"Silence, woman! While this Deck is in my hands—I am Duel King Yugi Muto!" Dimitri barked before returning to the duel. "I activate Chronicle Magician from my hand! When a monster with original ATK or DEF of 2500 is Summoned to my field, I can Special Summon this card in Defense Position!"
A white-robed mage with floating grimoires appeared and recited an incantation, empowering Dark Magician.
"Upon being Special Summoned: I target one Dark Magician or Blue-Eyes White Dragon I control—its ATK and DEF increase by 2500 until the end of this turn!"
[Dark Magician, ATK: 2500 → 5000]
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Soul Servant! I place a card that lists Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl—or any one of the two—on top of my Deck from my Deck!
"I place Dark Burning Magic!
"Then, during my Main Phase: I banish Soul Servant from my Graveyard and draw cards equal to the number of Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and Palladium Oracle cards on my field or in my Graveyard!
"I draw three—huh? Why didn't it activate…?"
"Who said you could draw? I still have a Chain! When you activated Soul Servant from your hand, I flipped my face-down!"
Whether because Dimitri's theatrics irritated him or he had simply been waiting, the moment Soul Servant entered the Graveyard and its Deck-order effect resolved, Bastion immediately activated his Trap.
"Continuous Trap—Elemental Training! I activate its second effect: Once per turn, I tribute one monster I control; then I Special Summon an Elementsaber from my Deck with an Attribute different from the tributed monster! I tribute my monster and Special Summon the LIGHT Elementsaber Lapauila!"
Thunder roared. A new Elementsaber, bearing resemblance to Lapauila, appeared at Bastion's side.
Dimitri sneered. "So what? I banish Soul Servant from my Graveyard and draw my three cards! My Deck responds to me!
"I activate Dark Burning Magic! Since I control Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl—I destroy all cards you control! At least this clears your Spell and Trap—"
Yet, the only response Dimitri received… was Youmi and Bastion staring at him as though watching a disaster in slow motion.
"Why… why are you looking at me like that?"
Bastion sighed deeply.
"Dimitri… why would you use Soul Servant just to guarantee Dark Burning Magic?"
"Isn't that obvious?! The legendary Duelist Yugi Muto—"
Bastion cut him off instantly. "I asked you, not Yugi Muto! Yes, the legendary Duel King once used miraculous combos. But every duel is different! You can't force a combo designed for a totally different situation! Even if you wiped my backrow, none of that gets rid of my monsters!"
And he didn't hesitate to counterattack.
"Elementsaber Lapauila's effect! Once per turn, when a Spell or Trap is activated, I send one Elementsaber from my hand to the Graveyard to negate and destroy it! But because of my Field Spell, sending from my hand becomes sending from my Deck instead! I send the FIRE Elementsaber Malo to the Graveyard! Dark Burning Magic's activation is negated and it is destroyed!"
Dimitri seized up, the card trembling in his hand.
"Even if Dark Burning Magic failed… your backrow is still unknown… but I'm not done yet! I activate Magicalized Fusion! I banish Magician's Souls from my Graveyard, along with Palladium Oracle Mahad, Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and Chronicle Magician from my field and Graveyard—to Fusion Summon Quintet Magician!"
The five magicians' power converged into a magic circle, forming the strongest sorcerer in Yugi's Deck.
"As long as Quintet Magician is on the field, it cannot be tributed, cannot be used as Fusion Material, and cannot be destroyed by card effects! And if it was Fusion Summoned using five different Spellcasters—it destroys all cards your opponent controls!"
Dimitri stared at his monster… sweating, while trying to stay composed.
Bastion, however, remained as calm as ever; his anger still burning steadily since the start of the duel.
"In that Deck, there should've been a monster far more suited for this situation—I flip my face-down, Compulsory Evacuation Device!"
"I target Quintet Magician and return it to the hand. Since it is a Fusion Monster, it returns to the Extra Deck!
"And even though Quintet Magician's effect successfully activates, as long as Elemental Training is on the field, my Palace of the Elemental Lords cannot be destroyed or targeted by your card effects. So ultimately, only Elemental Training and the activated Compulsory Evacuation Device are destroyed!"
The strongest magician Dimitri summoned after spending six cards was instantly bounced back to the Extra Deck.
"What…? Just like that, my entire field… What is this nonsense?! I Set one card! Turn end!"
Fuming, Dimitri slammed a face-down Spell/Trap on the field and ended his turn.
Turn 3
"Looks like this is the end. My turn—draw." Bastion didn't even look at the card he drew. Instead, he selected five Elementsaber monsters from his Graveyard.
"My Elementsaber monsters all share this effect in the Graveyard: once per turn, I can declare an Attribute, and until the end of the turn, this card becomes that Attribute."
He showed Dimitri the five Attributes: the DARK Elementsaber Nalu, the FIRE Elementsaber Malo, the WATER Elementsaber Nalu, the WIND Elementsaber Makani, and the EARTH Elementsaber Aina.
"With DARK, FIRE, WATER, WIND, and EARTH in my Graveyard, I activate the effects of all my Elementsaber monsters—except Makani—and declare WIND!"
As someone who had played plenty of Master Duel, Youmi immediately caught on and gasped.
"Five WIND monsters in the Graveyard… don't tell me…!"
Bastion raised his card high. "The legendary being who grants the Elementsabers their blessing: an Elemental Lord that can only be Special Summoned when exactly five monsters of the same Attribute exist in the Graveyard! I Special Summon Windrose the Elemental Lord!"
Amid a howling virtual gale, the green-armored Elemental Lord with rose-like motifs descended gracefully. With one flap of its wings, the Spell/Trap cards on Dimitri's field were completely blown away.
"Windrose the Elemental Lord's effect! When this card is Special Summoned—destroy all Spell/Trap Cards your opponent controls! It's over, Dimitri! Battle Phase!
"Windrose the Elemental Lord, and Elementsaber Lapauila Mana, attack directly! If these cards are truly yours just because they're in your hands, then show your bond with them—use Kuriboh!"
Wind and thunder surged from both sides. But since Dimitri did not have Kuriboh in hand, he had no way to respond. He could only shout the wrong name in desperation:
"Karo Simawa, you…!"
"My name is Bastion Misawa! Remember it well! The name of the one who defeated you!"
[Dimitri, LP: 4000 → 0]
Dimitri collapsed backward, his cards scattering across the floor.
Most of Bastion's anger finally faded. He walked over and extended a hand.
"I'll be reporting your theft to Principal Sheppard, but that'll wait until morning when his office opens. If you're still a Ra Yellow student, then leave the Deck here and turn yourself in before I report you. Maybe the school will be lenient."
But Dimitri didn't take his hand. Instead, he gathered up the Deck and handed it to Bastion with a troubled expression.
"I mean, I did end up holding onto the Deck, but I'm not actually the thief. A silver-haired woman with horn-like ornaments on her head gave it to me and told me to keep it until tomorrow… and return it before then."
"What?" Bastion was stunned. "Then why insist on dueling me with it? Weren't you the one who stole it to get stronger?"
"Are you kidding? I just studied the card ratios and watched Duel King Yugi's old matches. Then late at night, I figured I should return the Deck before it became a problem, so I came here. You were the one who saw me walking in with it and decided I was the thief! I mean, yeah, I should've returned the lost property faster, but still…"
Dimitri scratched his head awkwardly.
"And besides, you're about to move up to Obelisk Blue, right? I wanted to duel you at your strongest at least once! I guess imitating someone else's plays really doesn't work…"
Bastion felt a bit guilty for misunderstanding him—abruptly, then another realization struck him.
"Dimitri… that's not right. If she only gave you Yugi Muto's Deck… where is the Deck of the legendary Duelist, Youmi?"
At that moment, Youmi's phone rang. She answered immediately.
"Boss! We found the Deck thief! She… she's too strong! Zane Truesdale, the same guy who OTK'd you, she beat him in no time!"
It was Fallen of Albaz's voice. Then someone snatched the phone—Jaden spoke next.
"Youmi! It's the legendary Duelist Youmi! It has to be her! Yuyumi, hurry over! I'm gonna challenge her too!"
Outside the Obelisk Blue dorm, a majestic silver-haired demon queen stood atop a lamppost, clad in brilliant silver armor, a luxurious silver Duel Disk wrapped around her left arm. She looked down on the kneeling Zane with a relaxed, confident smile.
Beside her, under the lamplight, stood a silver-haired butler.
"Now then surely there must be someone here called Youmi? Hurry and bring her here I've been waiting to see her again desuwa"
...
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