After speeding up his Draw again, Judai Yuki quickly swept his eyes over his hand, and a new answer seemed to form in his mind at once. "I Normal Summon 'Elemental HERO Clayman'!"
Elemental HERO Clayman, ATK 800
Even Sho Marufuji froze at the sight. "Elemental HERO Clayman in attack position?"
Who was that supposed to beat?
"Then I activate the Equip Spell 'Sword of Deep-Seated'!" Judai Yuki said. "It is Elemental HERO Clayman's exclusive magic, and it can only be equipped to 'Elemental HERO Clayman'!" (ANIME EFFECT)
A transparent protective film wrapped around Elemental HERO Clayman's body like a clear shell, though its attack and defense did not change. "Next, from my hand, I activate a Spell Card! 'Cost Down'! I send a monster on my field other than an Effect Monster to the Graveyard, and Draw two cards from the Deck.
I send 'Elemental HERO Clayman' to the Graveyard, then draw two cards!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Sho Marufuji blinked in confusion. "Huh? Doesn't that mean you lost an extra Equip card for nothing..."
"You may be Judai Yuki's little brother, but you really do not understand his Deck at all." The gold-medal commentator Daichi Misawa gave him a strange look.
Sho Marufuji fell silent.
Sure enough, Judai Yuki immediately explained with a grin, "When Sword of Deep-Seated is sent from the field to the Graveyard, it can send any one Spell or Trap Card on the opponent's field to the Graveyard." (ANIME EFFECT)
"I see!" Sho Marufuji finally said in sudden understanding.
Daichi Misawa narrowed his eyes at him. It was as if he were saying, man, you are way too weak at this.
"Therefore, by the effect of 'Sword of Deep-Seated', 'Non-Fusion Area' is sent to the Graveyard!"
The image of Elemental HERO Clayman appeared again, and his thick arm made a lifting dueling momentum. A vortex opened in Yugen's Back Row, and the Trap Card card was dragged into it and vanished without a trace.
"Good!"
Judai Yuki clenched his fist, and it looked as if fire were burning in his eyes. The Polymerization restriction had finally been broken through.
"Polymerization is restricted, then I'll Release!"
"As expected, Judai Yuki isn't the kind of Duelist who can be shut down so easily," Daichi Misawa said with a light laugh. "He still found a way through." Hayato Maeda nodded as well. "It is Judai Yuki, after all. If he could be suppressed that easily, he would not be himself."
"All right!" Judai Yuki shouted. "From my hand, I I activate a Spell Card! another Polymerization!" He held the card high, brimming with energy. "My Heros are only just starting to show their strength. The real fight begins now."
"Activating my facedown."
Yugen calmly flipped another card in the Back Row. "Continuous Trap-Mind Drain," Yugen announced. "As long as this card remains on the field, neither player can send Monsters from the hand to the Graveyard!" (ANIME EFFECT) Judai Yuki stared at the card, thinking hard for two seconds.
Then his pupils Shrink, and his mouth slowly fell open. "Nani?!!?" Judai Yuki cried. "If monsters can't be sent from the hand to the Graveyard, then that means..." Yugen smiled faintly. "Exactly. Sorry, Judai Yuki, but it looks like you still can't use Polymerization from your hand."
The onlookers who had just been praising Judai Yuki's response all fell into silence. Several full seconds passed before Hayato Maeda finally spoke. "Well, Judai Yuki is still Judai Yuki, but Yugen is also Yugen."
"True," Daichi Misawa said with a nod. "If he could be broken through that easily, he would not be Yugen." Another Polymerization had become a wasted play. Judai Yuki scratched his head. "Wow, you really prepared a thorough countermeasure. If that's the case, then I have to gather the Monsters on the field before I can Polymerization, right?"
Right now, though, the field was completely under Yugen's control. With the powerful Chaos Sorcerer standing on his side, gathering the materials on the field would not be easy. Even so, Judai Yuki looked at the cards in his hand and showed that restless, excited grin again.
He still had a way to break through.
"I activate a Spell Card! A Feather of the Phoenix!" Judai Yuki declared. "I return two Warrior-Type Monsters from my Graveyard to the top of my Deck in any order!" (ANIME EFFECT) Two Cards left the Graveyard, and Judai Yuki briefly revealed them.
"I return Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix from my Graveyard." He slid both cards onto the top of his Deck with a sharp motion. "And place them back on top of the Deck!"
"Oh?" Yugen said with interest. "Returning them to the top of the Deck? What are you planning to do with that?" Judai Yuki grinned. "Heh, you'll find out soon enough."
With a sweep of his hand, another Spell Card appeared in the Back Row. "Spell Card Future Fusion! I send the top five cards of my Deck to the Graveyard, and if that includes the monsters used as Fusion Materials, then I can Fusion Summon the valid Fusion Monster!" (ANIME EFFECT) The spectators were stunned.
"What!?" The crowd outside the duel was shocked as well. You could even Polymerization from the Deck like this?
"Hoh." Yugen narrowed his eyes. As expected of Judai Yuki, the top figure of the Polymerization Dimension, he truly had all kinds of flashy Polymerization methods.
"So, I send five cards from the Deck to the Graveyard!"
Judai Yuki pulled out five cards in one motion. The top two were naturally the Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix he had just returned. "Then, by the effect of Future Fusion, Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix Polymerization!"
The vortex of Polymerization appeared above Judai Yuki. He raised the two cards high, and the hard-working pair appeared together, turning into green and red spirals as they were drawn inside. A blazing storm rose, and flames fell like meteors. Pure white wings spread wide, and the fire-wreathed Hero descended.
"Come forth, my beloved Hero!
Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, Fusion Summon!"
Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, ATK 2100
"So you still Polymerizationed Elemental HERO Flame Wingman even in this situation." Yugen smiled. "But even if it is your favorite Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, its ATK is still lower than Chaos Sorcerer. You haven't forgotten that, have you?" Judai Yuki answered with a confident smile.
"Of course not."
He flipped another card from his hand between two fingers. "Field Magic - Skyscraper!" A magnificent city rose around them, with skyscrapers like towering giants reaching into a sky filled with starlight and neon. Moonlight flowed across the steel forest, and golden beams from searchlights cut through the night, reflecting off the glass walls like jewels.
"As expected." Yugen was not surprised at all. "Heros need the best stage for Heros," Judai Yuki said. "Battle! Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, attack Chaos Sorcerer!"
Elemental HERO Flame Wingman flipped through the air wrapped in blazing fire, then dived from the top of the skyscraper with the moon at his back, like a falling fire meteor delivering a flying kick.
"Effect of Skyscraper: when my Elemental HERO battles a monster with higher ATK, its ATK increases by 1000 during damage calculation only!" (ANIME EFFECT) In the real card game it had been weakened so the ATK boost only worked when attacking, but in the original version it could trigger whether attacking or being attacked, and it had helped Judai Yuki survive damage more than once.
Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, ATK 2100 -> ATK 3100