Under the moonlight, the rolling shutter door was pulled open once more, and a figure wearing a shirt, jeans, and a cloak appeared before him.
At a glance, Kazumo could not see the person’s face beneath the cloak, but he could vaguely tell it was a young man.
Purple light was shining from his right arm, forming the shape of a Nazca geoglyph spider.
The moment Kazumo saw that Dark Sign, his heart sank.
“Tch, looks like I drew the worst possible lot.”
That spider mark represented: Dark Signer, Roman Goodwin.
This cloaked man was most likely a puppet controlled through his Dark Sign power.
The cloaked man was also observing Kazumo, and for a moment, the two fell silent.
After a brief silence, the cloaked man spoke first.
“I never expected you to be a Dark Signer chosen while still alive.”
Though it was merely a calm statement, Kazumo could feel a piercing killing intent that seemed almost tangible; the murderous aura even stirred up a powerful gust of wind.
Instinctively, Kazumo raised his left arm in front of himself–the Duel Disk attached to his arm activated and unfolded from the force of his movement.
“Although I don’t know why you were chosen, I will correct this mistake myself.”
As the cloaked man’s words fell, he waved his left hand, and two streams of purple flames erupted from the ground; the blazing fire formed towering walls around the two of them.
Before Kazumo could react, the Duel Disk protecting him emitted a clear electronic notification.
“Duel Standby.”
Hearing the announcement, Kazumo straightened his posture and formally raised his Duel Disk, staring directly at the cloaked man.
“In that case, let me see what an old veteran like you is really capable of!”
As the Duel Disks flashed with light, the electronic sound signaling the start of the Duel rang out simultaneously from both of their arms.
[Kazumo Fujiki, LP: 8000]
[Cloaked Man, LP: 8000]
“I’ll take the first turn!”
Kazumo shouted first, and a notification immediately appeared on the Duel Disk, indicating he had entered Main Phase 1.
Just as I thought.
Whoever speaks faster gets the first turn.
Seeing his little scheme succeed, Kazumo couldn’t help feeling proud of his cleverness; the little Duel tricks from the anime were actually useful.
This time, it was finally his turn to play Yu-Gi-Oh!.
“I Normal Summon Clavkiys, the Magikey Skyblaster from my hand!”
“Next, I activate the Spell Card Magikey Maftea from my hand!
I Fusion Summon using a monster from my Deck together with Mafteal in my hand…”
Kazumo smoothly placed the cards onto his Duel Disk.
That was the defining feature of modern casual Decks; simple operations, formulaic combos, easy enough that even grandma could play them.
To put it bluntly, though, they were also linear.
One starter, one interruption, and the turn was over.
Under the modern Yu-Gi-Oh!
rules where hand traps ran rampant, this Deck’s strength was mostly just for fun.
But, in this Yu-Gi-Oh!
world, famous for its emphasis on “heart,” its power level was perfectly balanced.
However, an accident occurred.
Kazumo’s Duel Disk did not eject the card from his Deck that should have been sent to the Graveyard according to his combo.
While he was still confused, he suddenly heard a mischievous laugh that was both incredibly familiar and utterly horrifying to him.
That laugh had accompanied the Master Duel careers of countless Duelists.
Kazumo abruptly looked up and saw the figure capable of instantly sending every Duelist’s “heart rate” skyrocketing.
A little girl in a kimono with a red scarf and blonde beast ears sat atop the upright Magikey Maftea card on Kazumo’s field, surrounded by drifting cherry blossoms while swinging her pale little feet.
“Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring!!!”
Noticing Kazumo’s shocked gaze, Ash Blossom mischievously stuck out her tongue at him before spinning in place and scattering into falling cherry blossoms.
Despite how adorable the scene was, Kazumo could feel his blood pressure skyrocketing.
“Seriously, what is wrong with you people?!
Why are you all throwing out hand traps the moment things don’t go your way?!”
The cloaked man gave no response to Kazumo’s furious outburst.
Kazumo realized he had once again made the mistake of relying too heavily on preconceived notions.
In truth, 5D’s itself had originally been the era where hand traps were born and gradually entered mainstream Deck building.
Among them was the famous hand trap nicknamed “Veiler,” Effect Veiler itself, which had originated from Yusei.
Not to mention this heavily modified 5D’s world….
It seemed that from now on, he’d have to watch out for hand traps whenever he Dueled these people.
After calming himself a bit, Kazumo looked at the cards in his hand and could not help feeling relieved.
Good thing I still have an extender.
Otherwise I’d really have been stopped by a single interruption.
Kazumo pulled out the Mafteal he had already revealed earlier from his hand.
“I activate Mafteal’s effect to gain an additional Normal Summon, and I Normal Summon it!”
Mafteal appeared on Kazumo’s field amidst swirling smoke.
“Next, I Synchro Summon using Mafteal and Clavkiys on my field.
Come forth, Magikey Fiend!”
[Magikey Fiend – Transfurlmine] Level 8│FIRE│Thunder│2800 DEF
The demon crossed its arms in a defensive stance as it emerged from the gate and stood before Kazumo.
“Next, I activate Magikey Fiend’s effect-”
Another strange sound interrupted Kazumo’s action once again.
Amid faint sobbing, a white-haired little girl wearing an oversized white robe wept while nervously rubbing the pair of long-ear decorations on top of her hood.
Her name was…
Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill!
The girl known as Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill floated upon Magikey Fiend’s shoulder.
When the girl noticed the unfriendly look Kazumo cast toward her, she seemed startled and instantly changed from quiet sobbing into loud crying.
Magikey Fiend was stained by her tears and lost its color, turning grayish white.
That meant Magikey Fiend had become just a vanilla “normal monster” without effects for this turn.
Another hand trap.
Kazumo watched as the cloaked man coldly sent his second card from hand to the Graveyard, leaving three cards remaining in his hand.
Afterward, he glanced back at his own remaining two cards.
On his field stood only the effectless Magikey Fiend.
After a brief moment of thought, Kazumo continued.
“I Set one card and end my turn.”
“My turn, draw.”
The cloaked man’s arm swept forward, kicking up a wave of air.
The cloaked man’s aura rapidly intensified.
Now that Kazumo possessed spiritual power, he could sense a vague shadow appearing behind the cloaked man.
The pitch-black, viscous, unsettling power emanating from that shadow stimulated Kazumo’s nerves.
Cold sweat covered his back.
Something terrifying was about to appear.
Under that overwhelming pressure, the cloaked man slammed down a card.
“I pay 2000 LP to activate the Spell Card, Lullaby of Obedience.”
[Cloaked Man, LP: 8000 → 6000]
As the LP value decreased, the light representing the cloaked man’s Life Points flowed into the card standing before him.
Several faint wrinkles imperceptibly appeared upon the cloaked man’s youthful face.
“I can obtain the card I declare from your Deck.
I choose Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu from your Deck.”
As the declaration was made, Kazumo’s Duel Disk began shuffling and checking his Deck.
After a moment, the crisp sound of shuffling stopped, but no card popped out.
“Sorry, senior.
I didn’t put the Earthbound Immortal into my Deck.
I don’t have the bad habit of using power I can’t control.”
The mockery hidden within Kazumo’s chuckle finally caused a slight change to appear on the cloaked man’s expressionless face.
“Hmph.
Then I’ll defeat you and personally reclaim it from your body.”
“I summon Uni-Zombie.”
[Uni-Zombie] Level 3│DARK│Zombie│Tuner│1300 ATK
“I activate its effect and send 1 Zombie monster from my Deck to the Graveyard.
The card I send is Ghost Sleeper, the Underworld Princess.”
The moment Kazumo heard the card name, he immediately realized the source of that terrifying oppressive power.
“I activate Ghost Sleeper, the Underworld Princess’s effect when sent to the Graveyard!
I add the Spell Card Ghost Fusion to my hand!”
The instant the card called Ghost Fusion appeared…
The vague shadow behind the cloaked man violently twisted before revealing its true form.
It was the Duel Dragon known as Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon!