Judai Yuki looked over the new cards he had drawn and smiled again. "Ha, my Deck is saying it's enjoying this Duel too."
"You're really strong, strong enough that it's ridiculous, Yugen. But that's exactly why this is getting my blood pumping more and more."
"You're strong too," Yugen said with a faint smile.
That was not empty politeness. He truly meant it. Being able to use so many strange combinations this smoothly could only mean one thing: Judai Yuki was genuinely terrifying when it came to talent with cards.
"Of course I am. And to live up to this Duel we've both been waiting for, I have to become stronger and do even better."
"Watch closely, Yugen. In this Duel, I'm going to try something too... I'm going to break past my own limits!"
With a wave of his hand, he played another card.
"I activate this card once again."
"Spell Card 'Future Fusion'!"
Yugen frowned. Again? At a moment like this?
The spectators outside the field were startled as well. In this situation, he was really using it now?
"With Future Fusion, I send the top five cards of my Deck to the Graveyard. If they happen to contain the exact Fusion Materials, then I can use those materials to perform a Fusion Summon!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Hayato Maeda was dumbfounded. "B-but the last time he used 'Future Fusion', the Fusion Material Monsters had been returned to the top of his Deck through the Spell Card effect."
"But this time..." Daichi Misawa narrowed his eyes, then smiled slightly. "He can only leave it completely to luck. Interesting. Can you really do something like that, Judai Yuki?"
That earlier combo, using A Feather of the Phoenix to return a Graveyard monster to the top of the Deck and then using Future Fusion to Fusion Summon from the Deck, was difficult to pull off, but it still counted as a normal combo in this world.
After all, for the Duelists here, any specific two-card combo was basically standard and nothing unusual. But blindly sending five cards and still gathering all the Fusion Materials... that was the kind of thing only a truly unbeatable god hand could accomplish.
"It's fine," Sho Marufuji said with mysterious confidence. "Because big bro's Draw is the strongest."
"..."
"Then, by the effect of 'Future Fusion', I send five cards from the Deck to the Graveyard!"
Judai Yuki pulled out five cards in one breath, and the instant he saw them, the corner of his eye swept across their faces. Then his gaze seemed to ignite with even fiercer fire.
"It worked!"
Judai Yuki immediately revealed the four cards he had drawn.
"What I drew were the Elemental HEROs I just shuffled back into the Deck: 'Elemental HERO Avian', 'Elemental HERO Burstinatrix', 'Elemental HERO Clayman', and 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman'!"
"Therefore, I use the four great attributes of earth, water, fire, and wind among the Elemental HEROs for a quadruple Polymerization! Appear now..."
"Elemental HERO Electrum!!!"
The entire place exploded at once.
"Nani?!!?"
Even the teachers and students, who had already slowly grown used to Judai Yuki's God Draw, could only stare in shock. He had blindly sent five cards and somehow hit the four materials for a quadruple Polymerization. On top of that, they were exactly four of the five cards he had just shuffled back in.
Did you really shuffle your deck?
Elemental HERO Electrum, Summon!
Elemental HERO Electrum, ATK 2900.
"When Elemental HERO Electrum is Fusion Summoned successfully, all cards both of us have banished return to the Deck," Judai Yuki said. "That means all the cards Yugen banished return to the Deck as well."
Several cards flew out of the vortex of Different Dimension and returned to Yugen's Deck. The Deck then shuffled itself automatically.
As one of Judai Yuki's signature four-layer Polymerization plays from the early days, Elemental HERO Electrum certainly looked impressive when it appeared. But honestly, aside from a few specific combos, its real performance in an actual duel was fairly weak.
Its effect of returning all banished cards to the Deck looked like something the anime had printed on the spot during the fight against Daidouji. Since Daidouji's ace Monster gained ATK based on the number of banished monsters, Judai Yuki seemed to have pulled this card out purely to counter it.
Even without that effect, Summoning Elemental HERO Electrum here was still a major threat. Elemental HERO Electrum had ATK 2900, and with Skyscraper boosting it, that rose to 3900, only 100 below the legendary Obelisk Dorm. That was terrifying, and it already surpassed the ATK of Silent Magician LV8 on Yugen's field.
There was no way Yugen would let that Polymerization resolve so easily.
"I activate my facedown." Yugen opened his Back Row again. "Trap Card - Bottomless Trap Hole! When a Monster with ATK 1500 or more is Summoned, Destroy it and banish it."
The crowd fell silent.
Judai Yuki had just gotten fired up, drawn the exact card he needed with a perfect God Draw, and fused into a huge, flashy boss Monster. Even the audience had been swept into the peak of the Duel, the kind where aces clash head-on and everything feels hot-blooded, as if battle music were already ringing in their ears.
Then the other side did not even look at that invitation to a fair showdown. With one wave of the hand, it was Bottomless Trap Hole.
The mood snapped at once. The momentum was gone.
"Well, it really does fit Yugen's style," Asuka Tenjoin said lazily. "He is that kind of Duelist."
"Therefore, Bottomless Trap Hole resolves," Yugen said. "Elemental HERO Electrum is Destroyed and banished."
"Not that easy!" Judai Yuki shouted. "Quick-Play Spell Spell, 'De-Fusion'! I use De-Fusion on 'Elemental HERO Electrum'!"
This was one of Judai Yuki's most common tricks. In his hands, De-Fusion could dodge traps, avoid attacks, and set up a finishing strike, making it useful on both offense and defense, just like the anime version of Judai Yuki often used.
"I De-Fusion Elemental HERO Electrum and Special Summon one set of Fusion Material Monsters from the Graveyard!"
Four-colored light burst from Elemental HERO Electrum's body and tore free from the abyssal trap. His form split into four beams of earth, water, fire, and wind, each landing on Judai Yuki's field.
Elemental HERO Avian, ATK 1000
Elemental HERO Burstinatrix, ATK 1200
Elemental HERO Clayman, ATK 800
Elemental HERO Bubbleman, DEF 1200
"They're in attack position," Yugen noted.
Among the four low-attack basic Elemental HERO monsters, only Elemental HERO Bubbleman was in defense position. The other three were all in attack position, and even with Skyscraper boosting them, none of them could match any Monster on Yugen's side.
He had to have another plan.
"Next, I activate this card from my hand!"
Judai Yuki swept out another Spell Card card in front of him.
"Spell Card 'Hero Flash!!'! To activate it, I banish 'H - Heated Heart,' 'E - Emergency Call,' 'R - Righteous Justice,' and 'O - Oversoul' from my Graveyard!"
The four HERO cards appeared behind him one by one, then faded away in drifting golden light.
Yugen frowned slightly. So it was this move.
The two Spell Card cards, E and R, had both already been used by Judai Yuki in this Duel. The other two had probably been sent from the Deck, and perhaps Card Guard had sent them there just now.
"The effect of 'Hero Flash!!' lets me Special Summon one normal 'Elemental HERO' Monster from my Deck."
Judai Yuki searched out the only one of the four famously weak Heroes that had not appeared yet.
"Come on out, Elemental HERO Sparkman!"
Elemental HERO Sparkman, ATK 1600