Chapter 18: Victory Declaration

"Then, entering the Main Phase of my turn."

Ryuzaki lightly brushed his fingertips over his refilled hand and sneered.

"You were very arrogant in the previous turn, kid. But that's it; the duel ends this turn!"

He revealed three cards from his hand in one breath: "I activate the magic card 'Polymerization'!"

"Fuse 'Hyper Hammerhead' and 'Tyrant Dragon' from my hand!"

The magic card appeared, the dinosaur's figure was released from his hand onto the field and swept into the pitch-black vortex of fusion. Pitch-black lightning was released from it, magnificently striking the field and kicking up streaks of black smoke.

"The ruler of the abyss and hell, awakening from the endless abyss of darkness. Fusion Summon—"

"—Level 6, Hell-Horned Dragon!" (Anime card)

【Hell-Horned Dragon, ATK 2000】

An unreleased anime card, one of the new aces of Dinosaur Ryuzaki in DM after his Red-Eyes and Evil Knight Dragon were taken away one after another.

"It's not over yet!"

Ryuzaki continued.

"Next, activate the magic card 'Monster Reborn'! Use this card to revive the powerful dinosaur sleeping in my graveyard!"

The sacred mark of Monster Reborn appeared in mid-air, and a card popped out from the graveyard zone of the Duel Disk with golden light.

"I revive this card from the graveyard, the absolute king among dinosaurs—"

"—Dark Driceratops!"

The pitch-black dinosaur crawled out of the underworld vortex with a roar, looked up and hissed, and its giant tail whipped against the ground, kicking up a dust curtain that reached the sky.

【Dark Driceratops, ATK 2600】

"Eh? Dark Driceratops?" commentator Xiao Du was surprised. "When was this kind of monster..."

"Probably when he used 'Graceful Charity' at the beginning," commentator Sasaki said. "It turns out he had made arrangements for this step from the very beginning. After such a scene was broken, he could immediately organize such a powerful counterattack this turn..."

"As expected of a legendary duelist."

"So that's it, it's truly admirable... but why not revive 'Tri-Horned Dragon'?" commentator Xiao Du asked strangely. "Tri-Horned Dragon's attack power should be higher..."

Commentator Sasaki smiled mysteriously: "Hehe, because Ryuzaki seems to have the means to decide the match, you'll see when you watch."

With two more big monsters on the field, Ryuzaki laughed proudly again: "How about it? The power of my dinosaurs! Extreme fast attack, crushing the opponent with absolute power, this is my duel now!"

"I'm different from the past, I'm stronger than before!"

However, looking at that pitch-black Dark Driceratops, You Xuan only had one thought in his mind.

Ryuzaki, why are you using the cards of Jaden's little brother, Tyranno Hassleberry?

His only impression of this dinosaur was that it was the ace of Hassleberry when he first appeared in the anime, which once put Jaden in a hard fight. But of course, in the end, he was reversed by the god-drawing dog, and then Hassleberry was taken in as a little brother by Jaden.

"Next, I activate the magic card 'Attack Guidance Armor' from my hand!"

"This card can force a monster on the opponent's field in attack position to change to defense position!"

Ryuzaki waved his hand toward the Machina Fortress on You Xuan's field.

"I change 'Machina Fortress' to defense position!"

【Machina Fortress, ATK 2500 -> DEF 1600】

"So that's it," You Xuan understood. "Dark Driceratops is a card that can attack the player directly by bypassing monsters when there are no monsters in attack position on the opponent's field. (Anime effect)"

"So that's the idea."

"Ho, you've seen quite a bit, newcomer," Ryuzaki wiped his nose and chuckled. "Not bad, this is my tactic."

"And my 'Hell-Horned Dragon' on the field, limited to the turn it was fusion summoned, can also attack the opponent directly!"

The audience was in an uproar again.

"Two direct attacks with 2600 and 2000 attack power! And it can ignore the opponent's monsters!" commentator Xiao Du exclaimed. "Isn't this an OTK (One Turn Kill)?"

"Not bad, this is Ryuzaki's tactic," Sasaki said. "It is indeed absolute power suppression, this strength is truly amazing."

Flying dragon riding the face, and it's a double attack, how can you lose?

"Go, first is 'Dark Driceratops'! According to its monster effect, bypass Machina Fortress and attack the player directly!"

Dark Driceratops roared, rushing up with a rumble. The swinging tail kicked up a thick dust curtain behind it, bypassing Machina Fortress and wanting to bite You Xuan.

"Then flip the set card, activate trap—'Earthbound Spirit's Temptation'!" You Xuan raised his hand. "Activate when the opponent's monster declares an attack. I can re-select the attack target for that attack."

He pointed to the Machina on his field.

"I designate 'Machina Fortress' as the attack target for 'Dark Driceratops'."

"Tch," Ryuzaki curled his lips unhappily. "Using such a little trick to avoid being OTK'd?"

"But the attack power of Dark Driceratops is still higher! Then Dark Driceratops, first clear that eyesore of a machine!"

【Machina Fortress, DEF 1600】

The Fortress that had been turned to defense naturally couldn't stop the fierce dark dinosaur. The giant beast roared and rushed over, tearing the giant fortress into pieces in a few bites. Parts splashed and black smoke exploded continuously, and in just a moment, it turned into scrap iron with a series of booms.

"Eh?"

Commentator Xiao Du was stunned.

"Strange, Gearframe's effect didn't activate?"

Logically speaking, You Xuan's Machina Fortress was equipped with 'Machina Gearframe,' and Gearframe should have had the effect of replacing the equipped monster to take one destruction.

Why didn't it activate?

Ryuzaki also vaguely felt a trace of something bad, and that premonition was immediately fulfilled.

"At this moment, the other effect of 'Machina Fortress' activates."

You Xuan showed the Fortress card again before sending it to the graveyard.

"When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can choose one card on the opponent's field to destroy. The card I want to destroy is naturally..."

He pointed to the dragon on Ryuzaki's field that hadn't attacked yet.

"Hell-Horned Dragon!"

The Fortress, before exploding, fired its main gun one last time. The final firepower, the last shot before dying, hit the forehead of the Hell-Horned Dragon on Ryuzaki's field. The giant dragon screamed and exploded into fragments under the power of modern artillery.

"Damn it..." Ryuzaki gritted his teeth.

"Beau-beau-beautiful!"

Commentator Xiao Du stood up from his seat and couldn't help but start praising You Xuan.

"In just one move of offense and defense, he not only blocked Ryuzaki's two-stage attack but also destroyed his fusion ace!"

"Ryuzaki's must-kill face-riding double attack was easily resolved by You Xuan. At this point, You Xuan's life points are still 4000, a completely undamaged 4000!"

"The legendary duelist's continuous fierce attacks haven't been able to break through his defense line even by a single point until now!"

"It's completely unexpected."

Commentator Sasaki also said.

"Fujiki Youxuan... what an incredible newcomer. Even if someone told me now that this is actually some professional player wearing a human skin mask, I would believe it..."

To be able to fight the legendary Ryuzaki to this extent, it's truly unbelievable for a newcomer.

"Then set two cards on the field, turn end."

The attack failed again, and Ryuzaki was a bit depressed. But fortunately, he had regained the advantage on the field.

Dark Driceratops had a powerful attack power of 2600, and although the opponent blocked the attack, his field had been cleared. And he had a very powerful back row this turn, so it should be stable.

"Draw."

After drawing, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Hmm... what a pity, it seems you might not have a next turn."

Ryuzaki: "!"

Not only him, but this shocking statement also shocked all the commentators and the audience.

What did they just hear?

A victory declaration?

"What, what, what, what an amazing development!"

Commentator Xiao Du's upper body was almost leaning out of the table.

"You Xuan has issued a victory declaration to Ryuzaki, that legendary Ryuzaki!"

If he had said this when the match just started, the whole audience might have been shocked and some might have mocked this newcomer for being ignorant and arrogant, inflating himself after winning a few matches.

But after witnessing his suppression in the duel in the last few turns, very few people felt that way.

There was no arrogance, and even when he made the statement, there was no feeling of inflation or pride. And that was the scariest part.

When he said this, his emotions barely fluctuated. It was as if he were just declaring a fact that was about to happen, without provocation or mockery, just casually stating a result he knew would absolutely happen.

Ryuzaki was also shocked. He thought his past experiences had honed an iron-like mentality, but he never expected that the moment he heard that sentence, his legs still trembled uncontrollably, and he almost fell over.

That was not only because at that moment, he thought that once he lost here, his journey of returning as a king after years of seclusion would end in such a minor tournament, losing to a newcomer with a blank resume...

Not only that.

It was even more because the moment he heard this sentence, he felt as if he had been convinced by the other party.

It was as if some part of his heart couldn't help but believe this declaration.

Believing that he was going to be finished this turn.

"Y-you, what did you say?" Ryuzaki tried hard to shake off those thoughts.

Impossible.

He had a big monster on the field and back row defense; the opponent couldn't get through.

Yes, it must be just bluffing.

"The effect of 'Machina Fortress' in the graveyard."

You Xuan calmly took the monster card that had retreated from the graveyard zone of the Duel Disk.

"This card can be special summoned from the graveyard by discarding Machine-type monsters from the hand whose total levels are 8 or higher."

He drew two cards from his hand.

"I send the 3-star Machine-type 'Card Trooper' and another 7-star 'Machina Fortress' from my hand to the graveyard, and revive 'Machina Fortress' from the graveyard."

Two cards were sent to the graveyard in succession, and a metal storm rolled up on You Xuan's field. The Fortress rose into the air again with the roar of the engine, and the long and short guns were set up again.

【Machina Fortress, ATK 2500】

"Self-revival effect, is this the source of his confidence?" Ryuzaki narrowed his eyes, thinking quickly in his heart. "So it seems he has cards in his hand that can assist in combat."

Fortress's attack power was only 100 less than his Dark Driceratops, and any equipment could easily break through it.

And because Ryuzaki had to skip the next two Draw Phases due to the effect of "Reckless Greed" he activated himself. That is to say, even if he survived this turn, if he couldn't keep his "Dark Driceratops," it would be game over.

However...

"Open the set card!"

The trap in Ryuzaki's back row flipped over.

"Trap card—Judgment of the Enma! I can directly destroy the monster the opponent special summoned!"

A black vortex opened under his feet, and the Machina Fortress that had just returned to the field hadn't even stood firm before it was blown to pieces with a bang.

Ryuzaki laughed: "Hahaha! Using traps is not your patent! How about it, can you still assert that you will kill me this turn!?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 19 =====