Six spheres marked with the numbers one through six appeared above Tomoki's palm, and flames ignited on the sphere marked one before spinning clockwise. Tomoki looked pleased as he explained the result.
"These numbers act as the dice. Wherever the flame stops at random is the number the dice chooses. If it lands on 1, 3, or 6, the activation of Dimensional Prison is negated."
The flames spun rapidly like a burning wheel, then gradually slowed until they stopped on the sphere marked three. Tomoki's lips curled upward.
"Ha, it landed on 3. So Dimensional Prison is negated and Destroyed!"
The skeletal Fiend let out a roar, and its lightning tore through the crack in the Rift in the Dimension. Even that barrier could not withstand the Fiend's power, and it quickly exploded apart.
"So the attack continues!"
Boom!
Lightning crashed down, and the entire virtual arena seemed to shake under the impact. Deafening thunder echoed through the air as electricity burst around the Fiend, making its skeletal body look even more twisted and savage in the flashing light.
The wave of explosion data rolled over Yugen, briefly distorting his virtual body and stripping away LP equal to the skeletal Fiend's ATK. Yugen's LP dropped from 4000 to 1500.
Yugen steadied himself and calmly took the damage, then said with a faint smile, "As expected of a senior from the league. That's a very effective combo."
Saito Tomoki clearly enjoyed hearing that and could not help lifting his chin. "Of course. You don't need to feel discouraged. I'm a professional, after all, so it's normal for a member of the Student Council like you to feel pressure."
"Don't be nervous. You just need to play normally."
As he spoke, he pulled out another card. "I set one card and end my turn."
"Thank you, senior. Then next, I'll start playing normally too," Yugen said gently.
"My Turn! Draw."
"I activate a Spell Card! Pot of Greed. If my opponent controls a Special Summoned monster and I control no Monster, then I Draw two cards from the Deck." (ANIME EFFECT)
Tomoki nodded approvingly, like a patient senior. "Very good. Don't think about winning or losing yet. Focus on the Duel and show your own style."
"Yes, senior," Yugen replied. "Then I activate the Spell Card Reasoning that I searched last turn. My opponent declares a Level, and I reveal cards from the top of my Deck until a monster that can be Normal Summoned appears."
"If the revealed Monster matches the declared Level, that Monster is sent to the Graveyard. If the revealed Monster has a different Level, I can Special Summon it."
Tomoki thought for a moment. So far, Yugen had only used Magical Merchant, and it was impossible to tell what kind of Deck this was, but under normal circumstances, Level 4 was the safest call.
"I declare Level 4," Tomoki said.
"All right, senior. Then I'll start revealing."
Yugen flipped over three cards in one go, and the third card this time was a Monster. He smiled faintly.
"That's too bad, senior. What I revealed is Level 1, Mystic Piper."
Tomoki nodded. "Then Summon it."
At the same time, he grew even more confused. What kind of Deck was this?
"Then by the effect of Reasoning, I Special Summon Mystic Piper."
Mystic Piper, ATK 0.
"Then all the other revealed cards are sent to the Graveyard."
Yugen placed the other two cards into the Graveyard of his Duel Disk, and the two cards entered the Graveyard one after the other. Then he continued his play without pause.
"Next, Mystic Piper's effect activates," Yugen said. "I tribute this card and draw one card from my Deck. If the card I draw is a Level 1 Monster, I can reveal it and then draw one more card."
As he spoke, the piper on his field played a long, gentle note, then its body broke apart into faint points of light and vanished. "Mystic Piper's effect. I Draw from my Deck."
Yugen drew a card, glanced at it, and revealed it. "The card I drew is the Level 1 Monster Performage Trick Clown, so I draw one more card."
Yugen drew again. Only then did Tomoki realize that the earlier Magical Merchant had also been a Level 1 Monster.
If that was the case, then when Reasoning resolved just now, he should have declared Level 1 instead. But who would expect someone to run a Deck packed with Level 1 monsters?
Tomoki really could not make sense of what the other side was doing, so he finally asked, "Don't tell me your Deck is full of nothing but Level 1 Monster?"
"How could that be? There are still higher-Level ones," Yugen said with a smile. He paused, then added, "But about ninety percent of them are."
Tomoki was dumbfounded. Then how are you supposed to win?
Were you planning to beat me to death with Kuriboh headbutts?
"By the effect of Mystic Piper, because I drew a Level 1 Monster, I draw one more card from my Deck."
Yugen drew, then immediately revealed another card from his hand.
"Spell Card Hidden Armory!" Yugen said. "Send the top card of my Deck to the Graveyard, then add one Equip Spell Card from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand."
He took the top card of his Deck, glanced at it, and sent it to the Graveyard on the Duel Disk. The Duel Disk carried out the search automatically, and a Card popped out of the Deck into his hand. Then the Deck shuffled itself.
"I add the Equip Spell Wonder Wand from my Deck to my hand."
"Searching an Equip Spell?"
Tomoki still could not tell what he was trying to do, but he said, "No matter what scheme you're planning, you should know that as long as Raregold Armor is on the field, you cannot choose any Monster other than Archfiend's Thunder as an effect target.
"That includes the monster on your own field too, so even if you want to activate an Equip Spell, you can't do it." (ANIME EFFECT)
"Oh dear, that really is troublesome." Yugen put on a pained expression. "As expected of a professional player's combo. Not only did you Summon such a strong monster setup in one move, you even sealed off Spell effects that target my own Monster."
"That's right. With that, your options are sealed off as much as possible. What a shame. You finally searched an Equip card, yet you can't use it," Tomoki said proudly.
"That's true... Then there's no choice but this."
Yugen sighed and slowly pulled a card from his hand, as if he had been forced into a final resort.
"Then I tribute the two Monster on my senior's field, Summoned Skull and Archfiend's Thunder, and Special Summon this powerful Level 8 Monster to your field in Defense Position!
"Awaken from the lava of the abyss, power of destruction and rebirth.
"Level 8, Lava Golem!"
Saito Tomoki: "???"
What the hell was that?
In the next moment, he watched in shock as the two mighty Fiend on his field melted into rising lava and vanished with a bubbling hiss. Then a massive hand reached up from the molten pool, and a burning giant slowly climbed out while a red-hot iron cage closed around Tomoki himself.
The burning giant rose on his field, turned its head, and looked him in the eye. Somehow, that abstract face even seemed to carry a silly little grin. It was like it was saying, nice to meet you.
Lava Golem, DEF 2500
Meeting the eyes of that idiotic brute, Tomoki's mind went blank for a moment.
No, wait.