"Phew, that was a solid hit."
Judai Yuki did not get up right away after being knocked to the ground. He sat there for a moment, then suddenly burst into bright, carefree laughter.
"What? Scared after taking that hit?" Yugen asked with a smile.
"Hah, are you kidding?" Judai Yuki got to his feet, brushed off his clothes, and grinned. "I'm just happy. This is how it should be. Duel should be a clash between both sides' souls. Now I can finally feel it. Yugen, your burning soul is really strong."
Yugen smiled. "So does that mean you surrender?"
"Heh, no way." Judai Yuki laughed. "My Turn! Draw! At this moment, I activate my face-down card, Trap Card Sixth Sense!"
The trap in Judai Yuki's Back Row flipped open. "I declare two numbers from 1 to 6, and my opponent rolls one die. If it lands on one of the declared numbers, I draw that many cards from the Deck. If it misses, then I send that many cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard."
"I see." Yugen gave a soft laugh. "You activated it during the Draw Phase, so that avoids the effect of Appropriate?"
The effect of Appropriate was that if the opponent drew outside the Draw Phase, you could Draw two cards from the Deck. But Judai Yuki had activated Sixth Sense during the Draw Phase, so even if he drew because of Sixth Sense, it was still during the Draw Phase. That meant Appropriate could not activate.
"That is, if you roll the right number," Yugen said.
"Heh, I'm pretty confident in my luck too, not just my Draw." Judai Yuki raised his hand. "The numbers I declare are 5 and 6!"
The die bounced and rolled twice across the field before slowly coming to a stop. It landed on 6.
"Good! The die stopped on 6!" Judai Yuki said. "So I draw six cards from my Deck!"
Yugen was not surprised in the least. It could only be said that this was just like him. At moments like this, he almost never missed.
"I activate a Spell Card! Soul Taker!" Judai Yuki said. "Destroy one Monster on your field, then you recover 1000 Life Points!"
He pointed at Yugen's field. "First, I'll get rid of the most troublesome one. Destroy Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!"
Yugen responded at once. "Then I activate Quick-Play Spell Interdimensional Matter Transporter! I banish one Monster on my field. I banish Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Judai Yuki looked slightly startled. "Interdimensional Matter Transporter?"
A vortex into the Dimension opened, and Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning vanished into it. Judai Yuki's destruction Spell lost its target and failed to resolve.
"Interesting, really interesting, Yugen! All right then, this is my full power, my beloved ace!" Judai Yuki said. "First I activate the Quick-Play Spell Burial from a Different Dimension, which can return up to three monsters that were banished to the Graveyard. I return Elemental HERO Bubbleman and Elemental HERO Sparkman, the ones you banished last turn, to the Graveyard."
Judai Yuki raised a card in his hand and shouted. "Spell Card Miracle Fusion! I banish Fusion Material Monsters from my Graveyard for a Fusion Summon of Elemental HERO! I banish Elemental HERO Sparkman from my Graveyard, along with The Light - Hex-Sealed Fusion, which can replace any Fusion Material, and perform a Fusion Summon!"
Elemental HERO Sparkman and the Hex-Sealed creature appeared on his field. A burst of golden light covered the latter, and it quickly transformed into the image of Elemental HERO Flame Wingman before both monsters were drawn together into the Polymerization vortex.
"I use The Light - Hex-Sealed Fusion in place of Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, and fuse it with Elemental HERO Sparkman," Judai Yuki declared. "Appear in shining radiance! Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman!!!"
A brilliant light exploded from the fusion vortex, and a metal Hero wrapped in holy radiance slowly descended. This was the strongest ace currently in Judai Yuki's hand, the evolved form born from the second-stage fusion of Elemental HERO Flame Wingman.
Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman, ATK 2500
"There it is, your strongest Hero." Yugen smiled as well.
"Even a legendary monster won't make my Elemental HERO back down." Judai Yuki said loudly. "Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman's monster effect! This card gains 300 ATK for each Elemental HERO card in my Graveyard!"
As he spoke, images of one Elemental HERO after another appeared on his field. Besides the ones that had already appeared in this Duel, there were others sent there by Charge of the Light Brigade, two uses of Future Fusion, and Card Guard.
Each Elemental HERO turned into a beam of light and flowed into Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman. With every beam, it grew even stronger.
"There are nine Elemental HERO cards in my Graveyard!" Judai Yuki said. "Therefore, Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman's ATK becomes..."
Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman, ATK 2500 -> ATK 5200
"ATK 5200!" The teachers and students outside the field could not help reacting.
"That's even higher than the legendary Obelisk Dorm... no, even higher than the legendary Five-Headed Dragon! And not only that, Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman can also inflict damage equal to the destroyed Monster's ATK!"
That meant no matter which Monster of Yugen's it struck down, one blow would deal 5200 damage straight through. It was a one-hit kill.
"Judai Yuki's strongest Hero really is a terrifying OTK Monster. If that attack connects even once, it would kill someone from full health."
Yugen paused, then smiled faintly. "I can't let something that scary stay on the field. I activate my face-down card! Quick-Play Spell Enemy Controller!" (ANIME EFFECT)
His face-down trap flipped open, and burning flames surged forward like a tidal wave. Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman had barely landed before fiery claws reached out to seize it.
"Enemy Controller's effect," Yugen said. "When your opponent successfully Fusion Summons, I can Tribute a Monster on my field and take control of that Fusion Monster!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Sho Marufuji was stunned. "Using Enemy Controller at this timing? Then doesn't that mean big bro's Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman..."
"I Tribute Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!" Yugen declared. "I take control of Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman!"
Everyone in the arena held their breath. At this final moment, if the trap resolved, Judai Yuki's strongest ace would switch sides to Yugen, and Judai Yuki might no longer have any strength left to fight back.
"Then I activate my own face-down card too!" Judai Yuki shouted. "Quick-Play Spell Interdimensional Matter Transporter! I banish one Monster on my field. I banish Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman!" (ANIME EFFECT)
A hole into the Dimension opened in the air, and Judai Yuki's Elemental HERO was quickly pulled inside, avoiding the wave of fire. Everyone stared in shock.
The same trap again? The two of them really did look like fellow disciples breaking each other's moves.
"I see..." Yugen smiled faintly as well. "So we've influenced each other more than we realized."
"Maybe so."
Judai Yuki laughed openly. "Yugen really is so interesting. Dueling with Yugen is seriously fun too!"
Yugen smiled. "You can say that after you win."
"Heh, naturally." Judai Yuki laughed.
Both aces escaped from the field and vanished. Both sides' Front Row became completely empty.
"Then I continue with I activate a Spell Card! Mystical Space Typhoon!" Judai Yuki said. "Destroy one face-up Trap Card on the field. I destroy my own card, Interdimensional Matter Transporter!" (ANIME EFFECT)