Chapter 38: Targeted

[Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, ATK 3000]

"Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!"

The onlookers erupted in excitement once again.

"A new evolved form of the Blue-Eyes, developed by Kaiba Corp's top research team!"

"Is this AI really that strong?"

Following this, many eyes turned once more toward You Xuan standing opposite on the field.

In their view, if even an AI like this could be defeated, what kind of monster would be required to win?

"However, even as an Alternative White Dragon, it is still a Dragon-type monster and thus subject to the effect of 'Dragon Capture Jar'," You Xuan stated calmly. "As long as the Capture Jar remains on the field, all face-up Dragon-type monsters on the field must switch to Defense Position."

"Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon switches to Defense Position."

[Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, ATK 3000 → DEF 2500]

"It matters not. Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon possesses a means to attack without engaging in battle. Now, witness the true power of the White Dragon!"

The AI Kaiba shouted loudly.

"Activating the effect of Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon! Once per turn, I can destroy one monster on your field."

"I will directly destroy your 'Dragon Destroyer' on the field!"

The Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, currently in Defense Position, opened its mouth; white light within coalesced into a swirling vortex, poised to roar forth at any moment!

"Then I flip my face-down card," You Xuan waved his hand. "Continuous Trap – Magic Mirror of Flash Absorption!"

A massive mirror surface materialized on the field, resembling an eye constructed from crystal. A powerful magical vortex erupted from that eye, instantly dispersing the energy accumulating in the Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon's mouth, absorbing all that energy into the magic mirror without a trace.

"As long as Magic Mirror of Flash Absorption remains on the field, all effects of LIGHT-attribute monsters activated on either player's field or in either Graveyard are negated!"

The crowd: "!!"

Even the dojo students, long accustomed to You Xuan's tactics designed purely to torment opponents' psyches, could not help but gasp in shock at this sight.

At this moment, it felt as though a chilling sinister aura had permeated the field, so intense that even those outside could feel a bone-piercing cold.

The AI was rendered speechless; judging by its appearance, it seemed to have overheated to the point where a system crash due to thermal overload would not be surprising.

Looking at those two cards in the back row, both Continuous Traps. One card was practically covered in the words "Specifically targeting Dragons," while the neighboring one bore the inscription "LIGHT-attribute must die."

Heh, you are far too polite; why not just write Seto Kaiba's ID number directly into the trap card's effect?

If you are so incredible, why not pressure the original person instead? I am merely an innocent AI.

Below the stage, Sato Koji couldn't help but swallow hard, stealing a glance toward You Xuan.

He was wondering: Could Senior Brother You Xuan become the first duelist in history to crash an AI's system?

"It's not over yet." The AI continued to struggle. "I now activate the Spell Card 'Trade-In' from my hand! By discarding a Level 8 monster from my hand, I draw two cards from my Deck."

"I discard the 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' I searched with 'Melody of Awakening Dragon' and draw two cards!"

After drawing, the AI Kaiba immediately revealed another card from its hand.

"Normal Summon 'Chiron the Sage'!"

[Chiron the Sage, ATK 1800]

"Chiron the Sage's effect allows me to discard one Spell Card from my hand to destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field. Since Chiron is an EARTH-attribute monster, it is unaffected by the Magic Mirror."

"Therefore, I discard one card from my hand to destroy 'Magic Mirror of Flash Absorption'!"

Chiron raised the staff in its hand; a beam of red light shot out, shattering the magic mirror into fragments.

You Xuan was not particularly surprised. As he had initially suspected, the powerful end-game pieces in Kaiba's deck were often Dragon-type or LIGHT-attribute, but the small fodder monsters were a miscellaneous mix difficult to target specifically.

Perhaps this was the advantage of having a constructed deck.

"Next, the card I discarded was the Spell Card 'Reckless Greed'; when this card is discarded from the hand, I draw two cards from the Deck," the AI Kaiba continued. "Then, I activate the Spell Card 'Dragon Shrine' from my hand!"

"Send one Dragon-type monster from the Deck to the Graveyard. Furthermore, if the monster sent to the Graveyard by this effect is a Normal Dragon-type monster, I can send one additional Dragon-type monster from the Deck to the Graveyard."

The AI instantly searched out two cards from its Deck.

"Therefore, I send the third 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' in my Deck, which is a Normal Monster, and 'White Spirit Dragon' to the Graveyard!"

The AI Kaiba revealed yet another card from its hand.

"Spell Card 'Resurrection Gospel'! This card can revive a Level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster from my own Graveyard."

"The card I choose is this one—"

"—Level 8, White Spirit Dragon, revive!"

A vortex opened in the Graveyard, this time erupting with a brilliance even more dazzling than before. A pure white dragon spread its wings, simultaneously stirring up a whirlwind of white light across the field!

[White Spirit Dragon, DEF 2000]

"Activating White Spirit Dragon's effect!" the AI Kaiba declared. "When this card is Normal or Special Summoned successfully, I can banish one Spell or Trap Card from your field."

"Therefore, I banish your Continuous Trap 'Dragon Capture Jar' from the game!"

A hurricane of white light swept across; the Capture Jar shattered likewise, sucked into the vortex in the sky until it vanished completely.

"So amazing," someone among the onlookers exclaimed in awe.

"Indeed. To find a way out of such a situation and wield this deck so perfectly, it is truly like a legendary duelist. There is no way this AI can win..."

"Now is where it truly begins!"

The AI Kaiba shouted loudly.

"The absolute suppressing power of the strongest Dragon-type; witness it right here and now!"

The image of yet another Spell Card materialized before him amidst special effects of golden light.

It was a classic, old-school Spell Card; upon seeing the card art image, everyone could not help but cry out in surprise—

—Polymerization of Dragons!

"Activating Spell Card – Polymerization of Dragons!" Kaiba shouted. "By banishing the Fusion Material monsters required for a Dragon-type Fusion Monster from my field or Graveyard, I perform a Fusion Summon!"

"I banish the three 'Blue-Eyes White Dragons' in my Graveyard to perform the ultimate fusion!"

Three Blue-Eyes White Dragons appeared above the field; within the fusion vortex, lightning flashed and thunder crackled, followed by a burst of white light that engulfed all three white dragons.

"After a thousand years of time, having evolved to attain the ultimate form, descend now right here—"

"—Level 12! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Summon!!!"

The ultimate power of three fused bodies; a towering, immense physique stood between heaven and earth, every dragon scale shimmering with dazzling brilliance, as three dragon heads raised high in unison, emitting a piercing roar that tore through the sky.

[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, ATK 4500]

"Ultimate Dragon, it's actually the real Ultimate Dragon!"

The onlooking crowd below the stage boiled over with excitement.

To actually witness a legendary monster that previously could only be seen in video footage; encountering this venue accident today was truly a blood-profit unexpected surprise.

"Hahahaha!"

Having summoned the Ultimate Dragon, the AI finally broke into a smile again, resuming its cosplay of Kaiba, crossing its arms and launching into a three-stage laugh.

"Hahaha! Indestructible! Invincible! The Strongest!"

"This is the final form of the White Dragon, the strongest, hmm?"

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, sounding as if he had bitten his own tongue.

Because he discovered that on You Xuan's back row, another Trap Card had somehow been set without anyone noticing.

That card was...

Infernal Polymerization?

What the hell is that?

"The effect of the Trap Card – Infernal Polymerization," You Xuan said calmly. "It can only be activated when your opponent successfully performs a Fusion Summon of a Fusion Monster."

"By tributing one monster on my field, I can take control of that Fusion Monster of yours."

AI Kaiba: !!!!!!!!

He displayed an incredibly realistic expression of Kaiba-style shock.

Within that shock and anger also lingered a hint of bewilderment, as if saying—

—How could he know I was going to summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!

The whole world knows the President is going to summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.JPG.

And also...

What the hell kind of ultimate underworld NTR trap is this!?

"The summon via 'Polymerization of Dragons' is treated as a Fusion Summon, so naturally Infernal Polymerization can be activated in response to the summon via Polymerization of Dragons."

You Xuan sent the monster card on his Duel Disk to the Graveyard, then pointed toward the three-headed dragon opposite him.

"Therefore, I tribute 'Dragon Rider' on my field to take control of 'Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon'!"

Special effects resembling flames of hell enveloped the Ultimate Dragon, and in the next instant, it appeared on You Xuan's side of the field.

[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, ATK 4500]

The onlooking crowd: "..."

What else could they say?

Words were insufficient to describe the profound shock currently churning in their hearts.

One could only say...

The big shot is invincible!

To actually steal away an epic-level big monster like Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Successfully pulling this off once should feel good for at least a day... no, it should feel good for half a year, right?

"My turn, draw!" You Xuan drew a card and immediately played another Spell Card. "Activating the Spell Card 'Flash Absorption' from my hand!"

"This card allows me to select one LIGHT-attribute monster on your field; until the end of this turn, all face-up monsters on my field gain ATK equal to the ATK of the selected monster."

AI Kaiba: "."

Target the opponent's Light attribute monster and violently boost its attack.

This was yet another card that might as well have the words "Targeted Attack" printed right on its face.

The holographic image of Kaiba projected by the AI had now frozen in a stiff posture, its form flickering repeatedly as it cycled through several exaggerated facial expressions, while its mouth glitched like a malfunctioning system, repeating a few words over and over.

"Bastard... zzzt... scumbag... zzzt... son of a bitch... zzzt..."

The onlooking crowd exchanged bewildered glances.

What was happening now?

Had he really crashed the system?

At this moment, the look in Sato Koji's eyes as he gazed at You Xuan on the field had nearly transformed into pure worship.

Senior Brother You Xuan is absolutely awesome!

"I choose your 'Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon' on the field to gain its attack power. Therefore, the attack power of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon becomes..."

[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Attack 4500 → Attack 7500]

"Seven thousand five hundred attack! That's more than the legendary..."

A spectator blurted out instinctively, but immediately realized there seemed to be no legendary unit of measurement capable of quantifying such an explosively high combat power.

So they quickly changed their words to say:

"...Invincible! A huge cheer!"

"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack 'Chiron the Sage'!"

[Chiron the Sage, Attack 1800]

The three heads of the White Dragon opened their mouths in unison, and a terrifying tide of light surged forth violently. Waves of blinding white light swept across everything on the opponent's half of the field, leaving the AI utterly disoriented within the brilliance.

[AI, LP 3300 → LP 0]

Eight thousand words finished; the new book has already reached one hundred thousand words after just one round of recommendations. I'm planning to skip the second round of recommendations entirely; I hope this won't affect the PK little horn (laughing cry).

(End of Chapter)