Chapter 254: Bonds Summon Miracles

Reverse lock!

In the blink of an eye, the magic negator and the artificial human Jinzo, who had just formed a lock formation on You Xuan's field, now stood on Amelda's field. Though there was no Angel O7, Amelda's field still held the Giant Brain Demon, which nullified all light-attribute monster effects.

"The Messenger of Opening is light-attribute, and the Silent Magician is also light-attribute. And if your deck is themed around Chaos, at least half your monsters must be light-attribute."

Gui Ping seemed to be growing slightly concerned for Fujiki You Xuan.

"Then doesn't that mean—"

"Hmph." Hai Ma remained calm, "Watch."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted from Amelda to You Xuan.

You're not the type to be helpless at this level, are you?

"So this is 'using your own method against you'? No wonder you're the legendary duelist—impressive," Fujiki You Xuan chuckled lightly. "This is going to be troublesome."

"Is that so?"

Amelda smiled too.

"I don't see any sign you're troubled."

"I truly am finding this difficult," Fujiki You Xuan smiled. "My turn, draw."

Fujiki You Xuan drew a card, quickly scanned his hand, as if pondering his next move.

"Both magic/trap and light-attribute effects are locked. A tough situation indeed. Hmm… I suppose I'll have to use 'that move.'"

"Huh?" Amelda frowned.

What's this aura of "you forced me to play my trump card"?

"Then let's begin." Fujiki You Xuan pulled a card from his hand. "I sacrifice your field's 'Magic Negator' and 'Giant Brain Demon' to special summon this powerful monster onto your field!"

"Awakened from the molten depths of the abyss—the power of destruction and rebirth—"

"—Level 8, Molten Demon God!"

Amelda's eyelid twitched.

You're sacrificing my monsters.

Molten rock surged and fell; the negator and giant brain demon vanished. A massive palm emerged from the churning lava, followed by a colossal, burning body—like a small mountain—appearing on Amelda's field.

【Molten Demon God, ATK 3000】

Gui Ping, who had just been worried about Fujiki You Xuan, opened his mouth in shock.

Ah—

Both magic and trap sealed? Effects can't activate?

No problem.

Just eat it and be done.

Trapped in the cage, Amelda stared at the massive lump on his field, his face twitching.

But he quickly forced a smile.

"Ah ha… ha, what an interesting way to clear the field."

No wonder he's the legendary duelist—his composure is unshakable.

"Indeed, this instantly breaks through the magic/trap lock," Amelda said. "But now I've gained a monster with stats equal to Blue-Eyes White Dragon—a significant risk as well."

Indeed, the Molten Demon God had 3000 ATK and 2500 DEF—exactly matching the Blue-Eyes Bai Long's stats. Calling it Blue-Eyes-tier power was accurate.

But Fujiki You Xuan smiled: "He is my soul, my trump card. Whenever I need him, he will naturally return to me."

He waved his hand.

"Alright, you've eaten enough—come back."

The Molten Demon God grunted vaguely, then took massive steps, huffing and puffing, crossing the field to return to Fujiki You Xuan's side.

Amelda: "？？？"

Wait, are you just making this up? Can you even do that?

You ate my monsters clean, then just walked away? Are you treating this like a buffet?

Then, even more stunned, he watched as the artificial human Soja also turned and silently followed the Molten Demon God, switching sides without a word.

"See? This is the bond between me and my monsters," Fujiki You Xuan declared proudly. "The first Duel King said: the power of bonds can summon miracles in duels."

Amelda paused. This sounded suspiciously like a polished version of nonsense.

But he soon noticed the card image Fujiki You Xuan had quietly set in his back row.

Spell Card—Owner's Mark.

"All monsters on the field return to their original owners."

"I see," Ameluda finally understood. "The Molten Demon God and Soja's original owner is you—so control reverts to you."

As the Molten Demon God returned, the cage trapping Ameluda vanished. But he looked across—though the Molten Demon God had returned to the opponent's field, Fujiki You Xuan hadn't trapped him in a cage like Ameluda had been.

So this dumb brute's actually smart? Meaning only the opponent gets locked up?

"Incredible!" Gui Ping sincerely admired. "You instantly broke Ameluda's powerful lock formation, and his four monsters are now down to just one!"

"Now if you launch a full assault, this turn is yours—you've pulled off a miraculous comeback! Brother, that was amazing!"

"Hmph. Not bad," Hai Ma said, though he smiled slightly in approval.

"Battle," Fujiki You Xuan said. "First, Molten Demon God, attack 'Gigantikantis.'"

The Molten Demon God swung its fist; Gigantikantis shattered instantly under the flame blast.

【Ameluda, LP 3300 → LP 2200】

When Gigantikantis is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, all spell and trap cards on the field are destroyed. But both back rows are now empty, so it makes no difference.

"Artificial Human—Psychic Shockwave, direct attack!"

The Artificial Human crossed its palms; psychic energy gathered into a ball, then fired as a crackling shockwave.

"Fujiki You Xuan wins!" Gui Ping said.

"Not yet," Ameluda smiled. "I'm quite stubborn too."

"Effect of 'Demon Mace' in my hand: this card can be special summoned from the hand during either player's battle phase, and I recover 1000 LP!"

He revealed the card in his hand.

"Special summon 'Demon Mace'!"

【Demon Mace, DEF 1300】

【Ameluda, LP 2200 → LP 3200】

The psychic shockwave shattered the Demon Mace, but before it vanished, it had already restored 1000 LP to Ameluda. Thus, Fujiki You Xuan's lethal combo dealt only a trivial 100-point damage.

"What a pity," Ameluda smiled. "So close."

"Indeed… then, end the battle phase." Fujiki You Xuan said. "Activate spell card 'Upper Draw': sacrifice a monster of Level 8 or higher to draw two cards."

"I sacrifice 'Molten Demon God' to draw two cards."

The Molten Demon God's form dissolved into flame; Fujiki You Xuan drew two cards from his deck.

Ameluda narrowed his eyes.

Who was just talking about the trump card and soul?

Is this how you treat your soul?

After drawing, he revealed another card from his hand: "Equip spell 'Computer Booster'—attach it to 'Artificial Human—Psychic Shockwave.'"

"Now, my trap cards are unaffected by Soja's trap-lock effect."

Ameluda frowned: "So only I can't use traps?"

"It seems so."

Fujiki You Xuan smiled and drew a few more cards.

"I set three cards face-down. End my turn."

(End of Chapter)