Chapter 397

"Duel!" x2

【Xiang Hongye, LP 4000】

【Adjudicator, LP 4000】

"Then I'll take the first turn. Draw." The adjudicator said.

Xiang Hongye gathered all his focus, watching the opponent intently.

The adjudicator—although today was the first time he had seen this person, he had already realized to some extent that this person was extraordinary.

It was even very likely that he was stronger than the Dark Duelist he encountered on the night he became champion.

It was only at the moment of his defeat that he suddenly had a vague premonition. The peak he had fought for on the arena and finally reached was likely just the limit of the realm visible to ordinary people.

And the appearance of that Dark Duelist proved that the world of dueling was far broader than he had imagined. Those truly powerful and dangerous existences were not interested in winning glory in the arena.

What he had encountered that night was merely the tip of the iceberg of that hidden dark world.

Now he had confirmed it with his own eyes and experienced the terror of a Dark Duel with his own body. But even so, he would not back down.

He was a professional duelist, and from a long time ago, he had decided to dedicate his life and everything he had to dueling. No matter how dangerous the path ahead was, he would never look back.

Besides...

Xiang Hongye turned his head to look beside him, locking eyes with Yugi Yucheng Shidai off the field.

And contrary to his usual self, Yugi Yucheng Shidai was not excited for the duel today, nor was he cheering, only looking at Xiang Hongye with a somewhat complex expression.

"Mr. Hongye..."

Yugi Yucheng Shidai had a very bad premonition, especially after watching the duel just now and what happened after the duel ended.

Even he could feel that the opponent on the stage was a bit dangerous.

"I set one monster in face-down Defense Position."

The adjudicator calmly placed a monster card face-down on his Duel Disk.

"Then I set two cards, and end my turn."

Kaiba, off the stage, was also watching the adjudicator intently.

"Xiang Hongye, the world champion, huh? That should be enough to test that guy's strength."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes as he looked at the adjudicator.

If he had to say, this was actually the opponent he most wanted to face in this tournament.

Kaiba Seto hadn't lost to many people in his life, and there were even fewer opponents he hadn't had the chance to take revenge on after losing. Although Dartz was no longer around, this Orichalcos Serpent God could be considered half an old acquaintance.

Xiang Hongye also noticed that although the opponent in front of him was facing him, those narrowed eyes seemed to be wandering off the field with interest.

In this match, the adjudicator only had two people in his eyes. One was naturally Kaiba, and the other was Fujiki You Xuan, who had taken the Seal of Orichalcos and whose background he couldn't quite fathom.

"Does he mean he doesn't take me seriously?"

Xiang Hongye said in a deep voice.

"Then I will make you regret it. My turn, draw!"

After drawing, he immediately played a card from his hand.

"Summon 'Elemental HERO Stratos'!"

The famous Stratos of the physical card world—when he appeared, the turbines on both sides stirred up a storm that reached the sky. But of course, the current Stratos didn't have the abilities he would have after being printed as a physical card; he was still just a "salted fish" with decent stats.

【Elemental HERO Stratos, ATK 1800】

Stratos had the ability to halve his attack to attack directly, but Xiang Hongye scanned the opponent's field and decided with a wave of his hand to aim at the monster first.

"Stratos, attack the face-down monster!"

Even if he attacked directly, it would only be 900 points of damage, which was negligible; it was better to probe the opponent's monster here.

"Counter Trap, 'Negate Attack'."

The adjudicator raised his hand nonchalantly. A powerful cyclone vortex was released from the trap card, absorbing all of Stratos's attack like a black hole.

"He protected that monster?"

Xiang Hongye frowned. He scanned his hand and quickly thought of a tactic.

"Then I set three cards, and end my turn."

"My turn, draw."

The adjudicator waved his hand casually.

"Flip the face-down Defense Position monster, 'Des Lacooda', Flip Summoned to Attack Position."

The card flipped over, and from it appeared a sinister undead camel. Its blood-colored body was wrapped in bandages, exuding a gloomy aura.

【Des Lacooda, ATK 500】

"When Des Lacooda is successfully Flip Summoned, I draw one card from my deck."

The adjudicator drew a card from his deck, but played it without even looking at it.

"Tribute Des Lacooda for an Advance Summon. Summon the Guardian of the Sphinx—

—'Guardian Sphinx'."

Des Lacooda vanished into golden light particles, and the massive golden human-faced statue stood imposingly on the field.

【Guardian Sphinx, ATK 1700】

"Sphinx." Fujiki You Xuan mused.

Although it couldn't be considered a common main deck card, he also had this card... but that didn't prove anything. Guardian Sphinx could bounce all monsters on the field when successfully Flip Summoned; in this era, it was actually a fairly versatile and powerful effect.

Although this card was relatively rare in this world, there was certainly no barrier for the Dartz leader to obtain it.

"The new leader of Dartz, is he using a deck focused on flip effects?" Mokuba also said.

But Kaiba only frowned and said nothing.

The adjudicator chuckled softly.

"You are all observing the deck I'm using, trying to understand my tactics." The adjudicator said blandly. "But soon you will all realize that those are futile efforts.

You cannot understand my tactics, just as mortals cannot see the capacity of a god.

What a god shows before mortals is not all he has, but only the part he wants mortals to see. Just like this..."

He slowly drew a card from his hand.

"Activate the Spell Card 'Polymerization'! Fuse 'Elemental HERO Avian' and 'Elemental HERO Burstinatrix' from my hand!"

Everyone on the field: "!?"

Xiang Hongye was also taken aback.

Elemental HERO!?

"The heroes of wind and fire fuse, let the power of the phoenix born from them come into my hand. Fusion Summon—

—'Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer'!"

【Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer, ATK 2100】

"Eh!?" Yugi Yucheng Shidai was shocked. "The fusion of Avian and Burstinatrix, shouldn't that be summoning Flame Wingman..."

"Elemental HEROes have the characteristic that they can summon different monsters even when using the same fusion materials."

Fujiki You Xuan explained to him, smiling.

"Yugi, although you aren't interested in theoretical knowledge, you should at least have some understanding of the series you use, right?"

"Th-that's..."

Yugi Yucheng Shidai scratched his head.

"To think it's Elemental HEROes..." Mokuba was also bewildered. "The leader of Dartz, the adjudicator, is using an Elemental HERO deck?"

"No, I don't think so."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes.

"It's simply because the opponent in this match is Xiang Hongye, known as the 'Strongest Hero on Earth'."

Mokuba was stunned for a moment, but then immediately reacted.

Was this an undisguised provocation... or absolute confidence?

(End of chapter)