Chapter 17: Machina Suppression

Dinosaur Ryuzaki let out a long breath.

Tri-Horned Demon Dragon had been sent to the graveyard, but that was fine. Although it was a bit frustrating, this outcome still fell within his expectations.

He, Ryuzaki, was a man who had weathered great storms. Back in the day, he had endured his Red-Eyes Black Dragon being turned into a fossil by a single spin of Time Wizard from Blockman Jounouchi; compared to that, this was merely a minor spectacle.

"But my turn is not over yet."

Ryuzaki drew another card.

"I activate the Continuous Magic Card - Nightmare's Torment from my hand. This card allows me to draw from my Deck until I hold four cards during my opponent's Standby Phase."

"However, as a side effect, I must randomly discard from my hand a number of cards equal to those I drew during my own Standby Phase."

You Xuan remained expressionless.

Hmm, as expected of the anime world; he just casually played a perennial banned card as if nothing were wrong.

"Next, I set two cards face-down in my Spell & Trap Zone and end my turn."

It was You Xuan's turn to draw. "Then, my turn. Draw."

"At this moment, the effect of 'Nightmare's Torment' activates," Ryuzaki stated. "I draw four cards from my Deck."

Truly the power of a banned card; Ryuzaki's hand, which had been emptied in a single turn, immediately returned to four cards.

However, You Xuan calmly played the card he had just drawn. "Magic Card - Pot of Greed. I draw two more cards from my Deck."

As if anyone didn't have a few banned cards of their own.

After drawing, You Xuan continued, "First, I Normal Summon the card I searched last turn."

The Monster Card was slapped onto the Duel Disk's Monster Zone with a crisp snap.

"Machina Force - Machina Skeleton, in Attack Position."

[Machina Force - Machina Skeleton, ATK 1800]

"The effect of Machina Skeleton activates. When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add one 'Machina Force' card from my Deck to my hand, other than 'Machina Force - Machina Skeleton' itself."

"I see. Last turn, the defeated Peacekeeper had the ability to search for 'Machina Skeleton' when destroyed, and 'Machina Skeleton's' ability can search for 'Fortress'..."

"So it appears contestant You Xuan's initial setup was all for the sake of this 'Machina Force - Fortress'!"

"It seems the field is about to get interesting," commentator Sasaki smiled as well.

"I take this card from my Deck..."

You Xuan revealed the card he had drawn from his Deck.

"...and add 'Machina Force - Fortress' to my hand."

He then displayed both the Fortress and another Monster Card in his hand simultaneously.

"Next is the effect of 'Machina Force - Fortress'. Although this is a Level 7 High-Level Monster, it can be Special Summoned from the hand or Graveyard by sending Machine-Type Monsters from the hand to the Graveyard whose total Levels equal 8 or more."

"I send the Level 8 'Machina Force - Super-Transform' from my hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon 'Machina Force - Fortress' from my hand!"

One card was sent from the hand to the Graveyard, and the heavy alloy Fortress immediately leaped onto his field. Its thick metal treads, light blue armor, and long, thick cannon barrel seemed to declare the doctrine that "caliber is justice."

[Machina Force - Fortress, ATK 2500]

"Battle," You Xuan said. "First, 'Machina Force - Fortress' attacks the face-down 'Tri-Horned Demon Dragon'!"

[Tri-Horned Demon Dragon, DEF 2350]

The massive main cannon on the Fortress slowly lowered, locking onto the target and loading ammunition. With a roar and a flash, the heavy shell blasted from the barrel, spinning through the air to crash down upon the face-down card. The poor Tri-Horned Demon Dragon never saw the light of day again, instantly blown to ashes with a thunderous explosion.

"Next is Machina Skeleton's direct attack!"

The red armored warrior kicked off the ground, its metal body soaring forward on transparent air currents. Ryuzaki hurriedly crouched down to cover his head, but he was still knocked flat by the visual impact of the alloy flying kick.

[Ryuzaki, LP 2600 → LP 800]

The live audience immediately erupted in an uproar.

A returning legend versus a greenhorn newcomer; everyone had expected a one-sided affair with no suspense. Yet who could have guessed that while it was indeed one-sided, the direction was completely reversed?

Was that Dinosaur Ryuzaki actually being suppressed?

"This is truly an unexpected development..."

Even the commentators found their pre-match predictions shaken by what they were witnessing.

"Contestant Ryuzaki's situation on the field seems rather dire," commentator Watanabe remarked.

"Indeed. He is completely dominated on the field, and his Life Points are down to merely eight hundred. In contrast, contestant You Xuan's LP haven't budged at all."

[You Xuan, LP 4000]

Unable to help himself, Sasaki glanced again at You Xuan's unmoving Life Points and frowned.

Was this really a newcomer?

From the previous matches until now, he had crushed his way through with an overwhelming posture. Looking back at all his duels so far, one could sense absolutely no pressure from him.

And now he was suppressing even that Dinosaur Ryuzaki to this extent...

Where did this unheard-of monster suddenly spring from?

"Main Phase 2."

You Xuan's turn continued.

"I activate the other effect of 'Machina Force - Machina Skeleton'."

"Once per turn, this card can equip itself to one Machine-Type Monster on my field as an Equip Card."

"I equip 'Machina Skeleton' to 'Machina Force - Fortress' on my field."

Machina Skeleton leaped up, undergoing a series of clanking transformations before combining onto the Fortress.

"If the equipped Monster would be destroyed by battle or card effect, Machina Skeleton can be destroyed instead," You Xuan explained. "Furthermore, once per turn, while in Equip state, Machina Skeleton can also Special Summon itself back to my field."

"What an amazing combination!" commentator Watanabe exclaimed. "Not only can Machina Skeleton search for Fortress from the Deck, but it can also equip itself to the Fortress to grant destruction resistance?"

"And there's more," commentator Sasaki added. "By becoming an Equip Card, it also protects 'Machina Skeleton' itself, preventing the opponent from breaking through via the lower-attack-power Machina Skeleton."

"Moreover, even if it needs to attack next turn to assist in finishing off the opponent, it possesses the ability to jump back onto the field on its own."

"A combination that excels in both offense and defense; it's too strong," Watanabe couldn't help but say. "This Fujiki You Xuan... is he really a newcomer?"

Sasaki was momentarily speechless.

"I set two cards face-down on the field."

Two more face-down cards appeared at You Xuan's feet. He glanced up at the Continuous Magic Card in Ryuzaki's back row and couldn't help but sigh.

The Deck he was currently using had been constructed with three wind cards in total; having any one of them in hand would have been enough to blow away that "Nightmare's Torment" before the Standby Phase. If he could have blown it away, while it wouldn't guarantee victory, his chances of winning would certainly have expanded further.

What a pity; he hadn't drawn a single one.

Another day wishing he could learn how to god-draw...

"Turn end," You Xuan said.

"Damn it, you really dare to play like this..."

Ryuzaki gritted his teeth.

"My turn. Draw."

After the Draw Phase came Ryuzaki's Standby Phase.

"At this time, the side effect of 'Nightmare's Mirage' would activate. Normally, I would need to discard four cards from my hand... However!"

Ryuzaki immediately flipped open his back row.

"At this moment, I first activate the face-down Trap Card 'Reckless Greed'!"

"I can draw two cards from my Deck, but the cost is skipping my Draw Phase for the next two consecutive turns."

A card with huge gains but equally huge risks. Ryuzaki used it to draw two more cards.

"Then, immediately following that, I activate the Quick-Play Magic Card 'Ceasefire'!"

Ryuzaki flipped open his second back-row card.

"I can send Magic or Trap Cards on my field, other than 'Ceasefire' itself, to the Graveyard. For each card sent, I recover 1000 Life Points!"

"I send the currently activating 'Reckless Greed' and 'Nightmare's Torment' on my field to the Graveyard, recovering two thousand Life Points!"

Under a golden glow emanating from the back row, the two cards vanished together, transformed into nutrients absorbed into Ryuzaki's body.

[Ryuzaki, LP 800 → LP 2800]

"Oh, that was a beautiful move!" Watanabe couldn't help but exclaim. "He activated 'Reckless Greed' first, then chained the Trap activation with 'Ceasefire'."

"Although the Trap Card has already activated, it remains on the field when 'Ceasefire's' effect resolves, so it can still be used as cost for 'Ceasefire' to recover Life Points."

"Correct. At the same time, he used 'Ceasefire' to send 'Nightmare's Mirage' to the Graveyard, avoiding the side effect of having to discard cards from his hand during the Standby Phase."

Commentator Sasaki nodded in agreement.

"Ryuzaki is indeed still Ryuzaki; his Dueling strength is undeniably powerful."

Ryuzaki wiped his nose, seemingly proud of this high-level maneuver. "What a pity. It seems your attack last turn was all for nothing."

However, You Xuan's heart remained completely calm.

He didn't think much of the high-level play; he just wanted to ask Ryuzaki where he bought that 502 glue.

He had wanted to ask for a long time: why is it that in your anime, the "Mirage" and "Ceasefire" cards are always glued together with 502? He had never seen anyone fail to draw the combo...

(End of Chapter)