Chapter 130: Maze Brothers

The day of team duels has arrived.

Although framed as a punishment duel, many students became interested once word spread; those with nothing else to do came specifically to watch, and even the faculty and administrators gathered around.

Shidai and You Xuan were already somewhat famous among this year’s freshmen, and especially among students who had personally been defeated—whether out of curiosity, admiration, or mere entertainment—no one had any reason to miss today’s duel.

Only Professor Clonus, who had originally proposed the card duel, wore a grim expression.

Because the eternal last-place student, Marufuji Sho, whom he had originally planned to pair with Shidai and send away, had been replaced.

Clonus watched You Xuan and Shidai climb onto the stage, his face contorted in agony the whole time.

Given this unexpected turn of events, even if they lost, it was clearly unlikely they’d be expelled as underperformers.

So what was the point of all his effort in organizing this duel, and why had he gone out of his way to invite such a big shot as Aunai?

On the stands, Banjōmoku clenched his fists unconsciously, veins bulging on his forehead.

Damn it, he’s got to face both his number one and number two targets at once.

“Damn Clonus—this duel was supposed to be mine,” Banjōmoku gritted his teeth. “Both of them—I should be the one to crush them.”

His nearby brother Yi blinked in confusion: “Huh? But you can’t beat either one of them—so together, they’d just crush you. Ummmm—”

Before he could finish, his other brother Jia swiftly clamped a hand over his mouth. But it was too late—Banjōmoku shot them both a venomous glare.

“Hmph!”

His face turned icy.

Wait. One day, Banjōmoku would pin them all beneath him.

Then he would become the new king of this academy!

“.”

“Well, I see the students are all ready,” Principal Jiao said eagerly, rubbing his hands. “Professor Clonus, bring up your duelist.”

“Cough, of course.”

Clonus took the microphone.

“I’ve specially invited an expert with deep experience in team duels. Look!”

As soon as he spoke, two bald men appeared from the crowd.

They leapt onto the stage, one on each side, performing a series of acrobatic flips before standing back-to-back.

One bald man had the character “ Mi ” written on his forehead; the other, “ Gong .”

“We are the wandering guardians—the Maze Brothers!” they declared, arms crossed, radiating confidence. “We bear you no grudge—only a full-power duel.”

“Defeat us, and the path ahead will open!”

The entire arena erupted in shock.

“Is that… the legendary duelist?!” a student gasped, rising to his feet.

“Correct,” Clonus explained. “The Maze Brothers are legendary duelist who once faced Duel King Wu Teng Yuxi. Experts in team duels!”

Every student in the arena was stunned.

It was a punishment duel—but the opponents were legendary duelist!

This was absurd.

“I’ve heard,” Asuka said, “that even the Duel King once struggled against them.”

“Indeed. To set such opponents…”

Sanze paused, frowning at You Xuan and Shidai on the field.

Still, he had gathered intelligence—he knew You Xuan had defeated legendary duelist before coming to this academy.

“If they can surpass legend, let’s see it,” Sanze muttered.

“.”

Shidai’s eyes sparkled: “It’s really them! The real deal! We’re dueling legendary duelist—this is amazing!”

“Heh, not bad,” You Xuan smiled.

The true weight of the Maze Brothers’ claim—having faced the Duel King—was debatable. Besides, their encounter with Yuxi occurred in the Duel Kingdom, where dueling required navigating mazes and followed entirely different rules; their experience held little relevance now.

“Don’t get overexcited. Remember our strategy,” You Xuan reminded.

Shidai nodded eagerly: “Got it, got it.”

All four duelists took their positions. Clonus stepped to the center of the field with the microphone.

“Each team shares 8000 LP. The field and graveyard are shared. Neither team may attack during the first turn. Now, if everyone is ready—”

Clonus brought his arm down sharply.

“Team Duel—begin!”

He immediately jumped off the stage to avoid the fray.

“Duel!” x4

【You Xuan x Shidai, LP 8000】

【Maze Brothers, LP 8000】

“I’ll take the first turn. Draw.”

The elder Maze Brother claimed initiative.

“Summon ‘Landmine Spider.’ End my turn.”

【Landmine Spider, ATK 2200】

Exactly the same opening as in the anime.

Shidai: “Oh wow, a monster with 2200 ATK right away!”

On the stands, Sanze raised an eyebrow.

“Landmine Spider—though it’s a four-star with high ATK, when it attacks, you must flip a coin. If you lose, you halve your own LP to continue the attack—a very risky side effect.”

“It’s fine for a first-turn field presence, but—”

Asuka: “But?”

“Uh, nothing. It’s just that the next turn is You Xuan’s,” Sanze frowned. “They wasted their first turn so easily—they may never get another chance this relaxed.”

Asuka immediately understood what he meant and nodded: “True.”

Only those who had actually dueled You Xuan knew how luxurious it was to have the first turn and operate without resistance.

And these legendary duelist had just wasted such an opportunity by summoning a single monster—soon they’d realize how great a mistake that was.

You Xuan: “My turn. Draw.”

“Activate the spell card ‘Pot of Greed.’ Draw two cards.”

Then he revealed a monster card.

“Summon ‘Ranru Huang’ in defense position.”

A plump, golden-yellow little monster leapt onto the field, wearing bright red trunks.

The Maze Brothers both frowned at the sight.

What kind of meaningless trash monster is this?

“Ranru?”

Even students who knew You Xuan blinked in surprise.

The Ranru series was common—everyone knew it—but it was generally dismissed as trash. Yet experience taught them: if it appeared in You Xuan’s hand, no one dared underestimate it.

What strange trick was this?

You Xuan drew three more cards.

“Set three cards face-down. End my turn.”

Three face-down cards as a gesture of goodwill. Asuka and Sanze exchanged knowing glances—“I told you so”—and students from the Yellow Dorm looked on with anticipation.

But the Maze Brothers, being outsiders, still didn’t grasp the severity of the situation.

Maze Younger Brother: “My turn. Draw.”

“I’ll use this card first.”

He revealed a card from his hand; a golden glow projected the spell card onto the field.

“Spell Card—Sacrificial Puppet!”

“Sacrifice one monster on my field to special summon a level-seven monster from my hand that can normally be summoned—but that monster cannot attack this turn.”

Maze Younger Brother paused, smiling at his elder brother: “Brother, I’ll borrow your monster.”

Maze Elder Brother laughed heartily: “Brothers don’t need to be polite. Take it!”

“Then I sacrifice your ‘Landmine Spider’! Special summon one of our brothers’ Wangpai —”

“Guardian of the Wind, appear—”

“—Wind Demon-Shu Jia!!!”

A green whirlwind surged upward; a green demon appeared on the field, its chest emblazoned with a large “Wind” character, its arms muscular and powerful.

【Wind Demon-Shu Jia, ATK 2400】

Maze Younger Brother crossed his arms triumphantly: “Wind Demon-Shu Jia! One of our brothers’ three great demons, possessing unparalleled—”

“Activate face-down card: Trap Card—Bottomless Pit.” You Xuan flipped his back row. “When your opponent summons a monster with 1500 or more ATK, destroy and banish it.”

The pit opened. The Wind Demon-Shu Jia roared forward—and vanished into the abyss, swallowed whole.

Maze Younger Brother froze mid-boast, his speech unfinished.

“.”

“Heh heh… you’ve got some skill.”

Seconds later, he cleared his throat casually, struggling to preserve his image as a legendary duelist.

"Then I activate the Magic Card 'Dark Namer'! Declare the name of a monster card; if that card exists in your deck, it is added to your hand!"

Jida was startled: "Huh? Declare one of your opponent’s cards?"

"No," You Xuan prompted him. "In team duels, teammates can also be considered opponents."

"Is that so?"

Gong burst into laughter: "Exactly! So the monster name I declare is—"

He suddenly pointed at the big brother beside him.

"'Water Demon God—Ska!'"

The big brother, arms crossed and calm beside him, chuckled softly: "Hmph, rare indeed. My deck just happens to have 'Water Demon God—Ska.' Thanks, little brother."

"So, according to the effect of 'Dark Namer,' I add 'Water Demon God—Ska' to my hand."

He smiled as he drew the searched card from his deck, briefly displayed it, then added it to his hand.

Outside the field, commentator San Ze frowned: "They’re cleverly exploiting the rule that teammates can be treated as opponents in team duels."

Asuka also looked concerned: "Using a teammate’s card to achieve precise deck searching—this deck was clearly built for team play. These two are truly formidable. I wonder if Jida and You Xuan can handle it."

The Maze Brothers simultaneously raised their arms triumphantly.

Maze Big Brother: "Let us!"

Maze Little Brother: "Show you!"

The brothers spoke in unison: "The true essence of team duels!"

"Incredible—using the team duel opponent rule to search so cleverly. That’s powerful," You Xuan praised. "Now I activate the Trap Card 'Mind Break'!"

Declare a card name. If that card is in your hand, you must discard it.

If it isn’t, I must discard one random card from my hand."

The Maze Brothers’ faces changed in unison: "Nani!?"

'Mind Break' was once a wildly overused card in the physical card environment. Though it was initially dismissed by early-era players, as the Yu-Gi-Oh! meta accelerated and deck-searching effects became commonplace, the potential of this ancient trap was gradually rediscovered.

In You Xuan’s memories of playing back then, at its peak, ‘Mind Break’ was almost as essential as today’s ‘Graydle’—a must-have anti-search artifact in competitive play.

Back then, most deck archetypes lacked the resilience of modern Yu-Gi-Oh! decks that could endure multiple disruptions and still keep going. Even a single 'Mind Break' hitting a key search card often forced players to shut down entirely, helplessly handing control of the game to their opponent.

So the card’s name was fitting indeed: 'Mind Break.' Getting hit by it back then could genuinely shatter your composure on the spot.

You Xuan: "What should I declare...? I’ll go with this one. I declare 'Water Demon God—Ska.'"

The Maze Brothers exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth.

The two in the maze exchanged a glance and clenched their teeth.

Maze, face cold, revealed the freshly searched 'Water Demon God—Ska' still warm in his hand, and sent it to the graveyard.

"Hmph, rare indeed—you just happen to have 'Water Demon God—Ska' in hand."

You Xuan smiled cheerfully, mimicking the exact annoying tone the Maze Big Brother had used when searching earlier.

You Xuan grinned cheerfully, sounding exactly like the annoying tone the Maze Brother had used just now while searching.

Each of the Maze Brothers’ bald heads bore a visible ' Jing ' character.

Rage meter filling.

(End of Chapter)

(End of Chapter)