Chapter 428: The Crack in the Lockdown

"My turn, draw."

The Arbiter drew a card.

But before he could act, Fujiki You Xuan snapped his fingers and flipped his back row.

"Activate my face-down card: Trap Card—'Disrupt Trio'!"

"Special Summon three 'Disrupt Tokens' onto your field!"

Three Disrupt Tokens—yellow, green, and black—leapt onto the Arbiter's field, each finding a space to casually snack, read newspapers, and nap.

"Excuse the disturbance!"

"Sorry to borrow your yard."

"Snore… snore…"

The Arbiter frowned slightly.

Giving me these trash tokens

"Next, activate my face-down card: Continuous Trap—"

Fujiki You Xuan waved his hand, and his back row activated again.

"—Cosmic Collapse!"

Jūdai leapt to his feet first: "Ah, that's this tactic!"

He remembered it best. It was the same strategy he and Fujiki You Xuan had used against the Maze Brothers, bringing endless joy to those legendary twins.

Combined with the Disrupt deck's Cosmic Lock!

"Cosmic Collapse," Fujiki You Xuan said, "as long as this card remains on the field, each player may have at most five cards on their field. If more than five are present, you must send cards to the graveyard until only five remain."

"And once the field reaches its five-card limit, neither player may summon or play any new cards."

Guiping: "Ah, now the Arbiter's field…"

"Three Disrupt Tokens, the Orb of Orea, and one face-down card—exactly five."

Kaiba said.

"Hmph↓, such bizarre tactics."

Though he spoke dismissively, a smirk crept onto his face as he studied the Arbiter with amusement.

Now the Arbiter could neither summon new monsters nor play any spell or trap cards. Of course, there was still the Spell Canceller to contend with—magic cards couldn't be activated anyway.

The Arbiter's expression turned slightly odd.

"Cosmic Collapse," he said coolly. "Combined with Disrupt's lockdown, it completely seals my ability to play cards. A terrifying tactic. Terrifying—but truly fitting your style."

His gaze flickered as he scanned Fujiki You Xuan up and down.

"Xin Xin Duoma knows everything that has ever happened in this world. I've studied you, Wu Teng Fujiki You Xuan."

"Yet you were never a duelist who favored such tactics. No—your entire first life showed no sign of distinction whatsoever. Just another ordinary amateur duelist in some common dueling dojo."

"Yet in just half a year, you've risen from that low point to the very peak of global duelists."

He let out two cold laughs.

"What an inspiring story."

Fujiki You Xuan frowned but said nothing.

The Arbiter didn't mind his silence; he only lowered his voice further, coldly: "But there's one question. Who truly stands on this stage, who has reached this point—Wu Teng Fujiki You Xuan, or someone else?"

Fujiki You Xuan's heart skipped.

This guy… could he have uncovered my secret as a transmigrator?

But after a moment of shock, he quickly regained his composure.

Even if the Snake knew, it wouldn't change the duel's outcome.

All he needed now was to clear his mind and focus entirely on the duel.

"Still unmoved?" the Arbiter said coolly. "You must believe that, under Cosmic Collapse's lockdown, unable to play even a single card, I'm already as good as dead, correct?"

He smiled mysteriously.

"The Disrupt Trio's tokens cannot be used as tributes for Synchro Summons. And as long as their number cannot be reduced, the Cosmic Collapse lockdown cannot be broken. A terrifying tactic indeed."

"Someone who devises such a method is truly a fearsome duelist—but even the most perfect strategy has a flaw."

He raised his hand, and a red trap card spun out from his graveyard.

"Activate a trap from the graveyard: 'Breakthrough Skill.'"

"During my turn, I banish this card from my graveyard until the end of my turn, negating the effect of one monster on your field!"

Xianglǜ gasped: "Activate a trap from the graveyard—right!"

"Traps activated from the graveyard don't need to be placed on the field to take effect," Kaiba said. "He found the loophole."

"Breakthrough Skill's effect negates the effect of the 'Spell Canceller' on the field."

A binding ring of light enveloped the white machine; the Spell Canceller fell silent, its glow dimming.

"With the magic restriction lifted, I activate this card."

The Arbiter slowly raised his hand, flipping open the face-down card in his back row.

"Spell Card—'Astral Fusion'!" the Arbiter declared. "Tribute the three 'Disrupt Tokens' on the field to Special Summon this card from my deck—"

"—Astral Fortress Jiglat!!"

The three Disrupt Tokens vanished, replaced by a pillar of light piercing the heavens. A massive black steel structure, like a floating mountain, cast a terrifying shadow. Complex gears and intricate conduits wove together into skeletal limbs, its body bristling with arrays of cannons radiating power of destruction.

【Astral Fortress Jiglat, ATK 2500 → ATK 3000】(Orea Boost)

"Astral… Fortress!?" Guiping gasped again. "Isn't that also Amelda's—"

"Amelda's Astral Fortress was originally designed by Xin Xin Duoma," Kaiba said grimly.

"Oh right," Guiping remembered.

He realized Xin Xin Duoma's card factory was indeed powerful—producing so many formidable cards.

"Disrupt Tokens cannot be used as tributes for Synchro Summons, but there are no restrictions on other forms of tribute. Thus, they may be sacrificed for the Special Summon of 'Astral Fortress.'"

The Arbiter said coldly.

"Of course, this also reduces my field to only two cards, breaking Cosmic Collapse's lockdown."

Guiping swallowed hard.

"He found the loophole—activating a trap from the graveyard, and using the tokens for tribute outside Synchro Summoning."

This guy is truly incredible.

He couldn't help stealing glances at Fujiki You Xuan on the field and his brother beside him, but both wore calm expressions—as if they hadn't been surprised by the breakthrough. His relief eased slightly.

"Astral Fortress Jiglat, attack the 'Spell Canceller' first."

Dozens of cannons lowered, locking onto the target. The moment they fired, the sky ignited—cannonfire erupted in blinding flashes, flames, lightning, and energy waves weaving a net of death that obliterated the Spell Canceller in an instant.

【Fujiki You Xuan, LP 4000 → LP 2800】

"End of Battle Phase."

The Arbiter slowly drew another card from his deck, then smiled faintly.

"This card can only be activated when 'Orb of Orea' remains on the field. This duel now enters a new phase."

His duel disk's field area reopened, surging with torrents of blue lightning.

"By sending 'Orb of Orea' to the graveyard, activate the second layer of Orea's barrier! Awaken—"

"—Orea's Breath!!!"

(End of Chapter)