“If that’s the case, then I’ll have to get serious!” Seeing Kazumo teasing him like this, Crow immediately became serious.
“I activate–”
However, halfway through his bold declaration, the unresponsive Duel Disk choked the rest of the sentence back down his throat.
“What’s going on?
Why can’t I Special Summon…” Crow stared at Kazumo in shock.
Kazumo smiled and pointed at the Koa’ki Meiru Drago on the field.
“Its effect.
As long as it’s on the field, neither of us can Special Summon LIGHT or DARK monsters.”
After a short pause, the smile on his face deepened.
“So?
Do you like it?”
Crow nearly spat out a mouthful of blood after hearing that.
The entire Blackwing Deck was DARK Attribute….
This completely locked him down.
And the fact that Koa’ki Meiru Drago was in Attack Position made him even more furious.
He was currently holding a Spell Card in his hand: Black Wing Shooting.
This card could send an opponent’s monster in Defense Position to the Graveyard.
It clearly had 0 Attack, yet it was in Attack Position.
Suddenly, Crow felt that this bastard Kazumo had peeked at his hand!
He was obviously messing with his mentality on purpose!
“Don’t get cocky!
Then I’ll go straight into the Battle Phase!”
Crow declared the phase change and entered the Battle Phase.
“Blackwing – Simoon the Poison Wind, tear that annoying Koa’ki Meiru Drago to pieces for me!”
Blackwing – Simoon the Poison Wind leapt up fiercely, crossing its clawed hands before slashing downward, ready to rip the blue dragon apart.
In the next instant, Blackwing – Simoon the Poison Wind was blasted into fragments by a stream of scorching blue dragon breath.
Kazumo’s final Set card on the field flipped open: the Quick-Play Spell, Primite Drillbeam.
That was the Quick-Play Spell Kazumo had searched with his Continuous Spell Card during the previous turn.
With no monsters left on Crow’s field that could attack, he could only proceed into Main Phase 2.
“Not only are you locking down Special Summons, but you even have a Set card that can banish monsters.
You really put in the effort, huh?” Crow felt his blood pressure rising.
A long-awaited reunion with an old friend, along with a rare casual Duel; two happy things coming together.
So why had it turned out like this?
At this point, there was only one thing he could be certain of: His old friend who had returned from the “underworld” really had become a true “underworld dweller.”
Seeing Crow fall into a disadvantageous position, the children watching nearby immediately started cheering for him.
“Go, Crow!”
The excited encouragement from the children at the side quickly calmed Crow down.
Taking a deep breath, he revealed his usual sunny smile once more.
“Of course!
Your big brother Crow is super strong.
What comes next is the comeback!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Crow Set two cards from his hand.
“I Set two cards and end my turn!”
“So this is what it feels like competing on the away side in sports.
The morale boost from the home crowd really is something.”
“Then it’s my turn.
Draw.” It was Kazumo’s turn once again.
“I activate the effect of Primite Dragon Ether Beryl in the Graveyard.
During the Standby Phase, if I control a Normal Monster, I can add this card from the Graveyard to my hand.”
Ether Beryl popped out from the Graveyard Zone.
Kazumo picked it up and slid it into his hand.
“I see.
So your Deck revolves around Normal Monsters.” Seeing Kazumo’s Deck operations, Crow seemed to grasp the core of it.
After pausing to think for a moment, he nodded in admiration.
“And with monsters this strong, your Deck is seriously impressive.”
“That’s right.” Kazumo nodded in response.
“So this is the kind of Deck that really tests on-the-spot judgment.”
“So you used all your ‘on-the-spot judgment’ on your brother here?!” Black lines appeared across Crow’s face again.
“Cheer up.
At least I gave you some benefits, didn’t I?”
Following Kazumo’s words, Light Bringer Lucifer on the field gave Crow a wink and even bent forward to blow him a kiss.
“Hmph, y-you can’t buy me off with this so easily!” Crow’s face turned red as he quickly looked away.
“Waaah!” The children let out amazed cries of appreciation at the “bonus scene.”
“Hey!
Kazumo!
Don’t go showing stuff like this around!
Is this something children should be seeing?!”
Martha’s furious roar erupted from the second-floor window of the orphanage.
The shout made everyone present shrink their necks back.
It felt exactly like a crowd of people getting caught by their parents while secretly reading dirty magazines.
Even Lucifer on the field trembled from the roar and hurriedly covered the exposed part of her chest with her hands.
In the end, the strongest ones on the field were still the parents.
Crow looked at Kazumo shrinking his neck awkwardly, and a trace of schadenfreude appeared on his face.
Kazumo awkwardly changed the subject.
“Uh, then I’ll Normal Summon Primite Dragon Ether Beryl.
You got a response?”
“Nope, go ahead.” Crow grinned and gave him an out as the Duel continued.
“I activate the effect of Ether Beryl.
I Set Primite Fusion from my Deck onto the field.”
“Fusion?” Crow became interested the moment he heard that word.
Fusion was basically considered an “obsolete” Summoning method nowadays; ever since Synchro Monsters and D-Wheels became widespread, almost nobody used it anymore.
After all, Synchro was not only powerful, but you could even generate electricity while Dueling.
As for Fusion?
One could only say, “It was this cruel world that wronged you!” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“I activate the effect of Primite Drillbeam in the Graveyard.
If there is a [Primite] monster on the field, this card in the Graveyard can be Set onto the field.”
Hearing such an effect, Crow’s face darkened several shades further.
A monster that could be recovered every turn, combined with cards that could continuously Set themselves back onto the field… Kazumo had truly mastered resource management.
“Now, I’ll enter the Battle–” Kazumo’s declaration had not even fully left his mouth before it was interrupted by a shrill cry.
“Crow!
Hurry and save Weber!”
The crowd split apart as a little girl in a gray dress, her face covered in tears and snot, rushed out from among the people.
The lively atmosphere instantly froze.
At this point, nobody cared about the Duel anymore.
Crow hurried over to the girl and knelt down in front of her.
Kazumo followed Crow and also came to the girl’s side.
“It’s okay.
Big brother Crow’s here now.
Everything’s fine.” Crow softly comforted the girl as he reached out to wipe her face clean.
“Stop crying first and tell me, what happened to Weber?”
The girl had been crying so hard that her chest heaved uncontrollably, causing her breathing to hitch in painful sobs.
Crow gently patted her back to help her catch her breath.
Only after a long while did the girl finally calm down.
“Big brother Weber…
h-he…
he was taken away by those black-cloaked people!” the girl cried out intermittently.
Hearing this, Crow immediately turned to look at Kazumo beside him.
The two exchanged a glance, and their expressions became serious at once.
“It’s okay, Sally, don’t be scared.
Tell big brother Crow exactly what happened.”
Under Crow’s reassurance, the little girl named Sally began sobbing as she recounted what had happened.
Shinji Weber was the “big brother Weber” Sally had mentioned.
He was one of the more famous Duelists in the slums, and just like Crow, he often helped support the people around the neighborhood.
But unlike Crow, Weber had always been gathering companions in hopes of changing the current state of Satellite.
However, after the appearance of the Earthbound Immortal cult, the companions Weber had gathered began mysteriously disappearing one after another.
Worried about his friends, Weber naturally could not sit still any longer and started investigating the matter right away.
Today, Sally had originally wanted to go play with Weber, but instead she stumbled upon a scene where Weber was being attacked by people in black robes.
In order to protect Sally and let her escape, Weber became distracted during the Duel and suffered defeat, falling into the enemy’s hands.
So Sally desperately ran around searching for help, and in the end, she found Crow.
After hearing the whole story, Crow once again revealed that confident smile.
“Don’t worry.
Big brother Crow will definitely bring your big brother Weber back safely.”
Seeing Crow’s smile, the girl’s anxiety was soothed away, and she nodded forcefully.
“Mhm!”
Crow stood up, and Kazumo also nodded.
One orange and one black D-Wheel roared to life as they sped toward the place Sally had mentioned.