[Yumi, LP 1800]
[Paradox, LP 4000]
[Z-one, LP 4000]
Both Paradox and Z-one were shocked and horrified to see Aporia get taken down so quickly. Neither of them had even gotten the chance to react before he was already out of the duel.
They had expected resistance, of course, but not this.
Originally, the three men from the future hadn't planned to play this dirty. They had believed that their generation of Dueling had far surpassed anything this era could achieve. With the technology and strategies they had developed in the future, they were confident that modern Duelists wouldn't pose much of a threat.
That confidence had gradually turned into overconfidence. Without even realizing it, they had begun looking down on the Duelists of this era, assuming that their opponents simply couldn't keep up with them.
Of course, they hadn't been careless enough to ignore the situation entirely. They had done their homework and understood that Hoshino Chiyuki was the only person in this era who could genuinely pose a threat to them.
That was why they had taken measures to weaken her before confronting her. By cutting off her connection to Chaldea, they had deprived her of a major source of support. They had also created rifts between the human world and the Spirit Worlds, hoping that the resulting chaos would further limit her ability to interfere with their plans.
Everything had been carefully arranged to give them the advantage.
Unfortunately, they hadn't accounted for one particular variable. An outsider named Yumi Uzushi.
At first, they had dismissed him as an unexpected nuisance. He wasn't someone they had accounted for in their plans, and they hadn't thought much of him beyond the fact that he had somehow become involved in their affairs.
Now that they had actually faced him, however, they were beginning to understand just how badly they had underestimated him.
And it wasn't a pleasant realization.
Their carefully prepared strategies were dismantled while Yumi continued to pressure them with an ease that made the entire situation even more frustrating.
That growing pressure had driven them to resort to increasingly questionable tactics.
First, Z-one had used Metaion to intercept an attack that was supposed to be for his friends, exploiting the unusual rules of their four-way duel. Then Aporia had attempted to run Yumi over with his D-Wheel.
Neither move was something they would have considered necessary at the beginning.
But facing Yumi had forced them to reconsider their approach.
After all, as far as they knew, Yumi was still just a human. Even if he was an exceptionally capable Duelist, there was only so much a human body could withstand. If a massive vehicle crashed into him at high speed, the impact could easily kill him or leave him too badly injured to continue the duel.
It was a crude solution, but they had reached the point where they were willing to consider it.
What they hadn't expected was for Yumi to use his Duel Monster Spirits to stop Aporia's attempt, steal his D-Wheel by making it disappear into his shadow, and then activate Mischief of the Time Goddess to skip straight to his next Battle Phase.
By the time they understood what he was doing, Aporia had already been knocked out of the duel.
"Such overwhelming power..." Paradox murmured, still struggling to process what he had just witnessed.
His gaze remained fixed on the spot where Aporia had disappeared. He had seen plenty of powerful Duelists throughout his life, but Yumi was something else entirely. His strength didn't come from a single powerful card or some elaborate strategy. It was the way he combined everything at his disposal, leaving his opponents with almost no time to respond.
And that was what made him so dangerous.
"He is too dangerous to be left alive," Z-one concluded.
Despite his calm voice, even he was finding it difficult to accept what had just happened.
He had come prepared to deal with the dangers of this era, yet one unexpected opponent had already turned their carefully planned operation into a disaster.
If Z-one ever had the chance to meet modern Duelists in the real world and witness the way they combined their cards, chained effects together, and pulled off ridiculous strategies from seemingly impossible situations, he might genuinely have a stroke.
"Since we skipped straight to my Battle Phase, it's back to my turn."
Yumi said it with a smirk as he drew a card from his hand.
"First, I Normal Summon Elemental HERO Airman!"
A green cyclone erupted across his field, sending gusts of wind sweeping through the area. The blue-and-white armored HERO descended from above, his turbine wings spinning rapidly as he landed in front of Yumi.
[Elemental HERO Airman, 1800 ATK]
"Airman's effect activates! When he's summoned, I get to add a HERO from my Deck to my hand."
Yumi's Deck shuffled itself, and a card popped out from the top. He took it and glanced at it before adding it to his hand.
"I'll add Masked HERO Fountain to my hand."
He spun the card between his fingers before placing it in front of him.
"Now, Fountain's effect! By revealing this card from my hand, I can Special Summon one HERO monster from my hand in Defense Position."
A second figure appeared beside Airman. A masked warrior in blue armor landed on the field before kneeling down and crossing his arms.
[Masked HERO Fountain, 1400 DEF]
Yumi looked at the two monsters standing on his field and raised his right hand.
"Then the condition is two Warrior monsters on my field."
Airman and Fountain began glowing as their bodies were surrounded by streams of light. The two figures rose into the air, their forms merging together as the light spread across the field.
"Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Isolde."
The light faded, revealing a pair of beautiful royal women standing together as a single monster.
One had long, smooth blonde hair and wore an elegant red outfit with a matching fur coat. The other had silver-white hair and was dressed in gray royal clothing, with a dark gray fur coat draped over her shoulders. Despite their different appearances, the two stood side by side with the confidence and elegance of royalty.
[Elemental HERO Isolde, 1600 ATK]
"Isolde's effect activates! When she's summoned, I can add a Warrior monster from my Deck to my hand. However, I can't Normal or Special Summon that monster, or activate its effects, this turn."
Yumi's Deck shuffled once more, and another card emerged. He picked it up and added it to his hand.
"I'll add Sky Striker Ace - Roze."
With that done, Yumi immediately moved on to his next play.
"Now, I activate Isolde's second effect! I send any number of Equip Spells with different names from my Deck to the Graveyard, then Special Summon a Warrior monster whose Level is equal to the number of Spells I sent!"
His Deck shuffled again, and four cards popped out.
Yumi took them and sent them straight to the Graveyard.
"The cards I sent are Blade Graveyard, Phoenix Gearblade, Rainbow Veil, and Sky Striker Mecharmory - Hercules Base!"
The four Equip Spells vanished into the Graveyard as blue data began gathering on his field. The data formed the outline of a slender young girl, who soon appeared holding a katana in her hand.
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 ATK]
"Next, I activate Phoenix Gearblade's effect! Since this card was sent to the Graveyard to activate a card effect, I can add it back to my hand."
One of the previously discarded Spells emerged from the Graveyard, returning to Yumi's hand.
He barely paused before continuing.
"I activate Raye's effect! By tributing her, I can Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace from my Extra Deck!"
Raye's body began to glow, bright light spreading across her armor until her entire figure was concealed. She raised her katana as the light grew brighter, then burst apart in a flash.
"Henshin! Sky Striker Ace - Masquerade!"
The light scattered, revealing Raye in a set of futuristic draconic mecha armor. Deep red and crimson plates covered her body, giving her a far more imposing appearance than before. Her mechanical wings spread out behind her back as she landed beside Chaos and Isolde.
[Sky Striker Ace - Masquerade, 2300 ATK]
"I activate Miracle Fusion! By banishing the Fusion Materials from my Graveyard, I can Fusion Summon an Elemental HERO from my Extra Deck!"
Yumi flipped open the face-down card he had sent during his first turn, as the spell took effect.
A fusion vortex opened behind him, pulling in the surrounding light. Shadow Mist and Bubbleman emerged from the Graveyard, their bodies glowing as they leaped toward the swirling vortex.
The two HEROes merged together, their silhouettes disappearing into the brilliant light.
"Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Sunrise!"
The vortex burst apart, revealing the crimson-armored warrior once more. His blue cape fluttered behind him as he landed on the field, taking his place among Yumi's growing lineup of monsters.
[Elemental HERO Sunrise, 2500 ATK]
"Sunrise's effect activates! When he's Special Summoned, I can add Miracle Fusion from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand!"
The Spell Card emerged from the Graveyard, and Yumi casually picked it up before adding it to his hand.
"Then I'll set two cards face-down."
Two cards slid from his hand and settled onto his field. With his preparations complete, Yumi looked over the monsters standing beside him.
"And now, Sunrise's continuous effect increases the ATK of my monsters by 200 for every different Attribute I control!"
A wave of energy spread across the field, passing through each of his monsters. Their bodies glowed as their attack power rose, the numbers displayed beside them climbing one after another.
[Contrast HERO Chaos, 4000 -> 5200 ATK]
[Elemental HERO Isolde, 1600 -> 2800 ATK]
[Sky Striker Ace - Masquerade, 2300 -> 3500 ATK]
[Elemental HERO Sunrise, 2500 -> 3700 ATK]
Yumi gave the opposing Duelists his usual confident, cocky smile.
"All right. Let's see how you handle this. Turn end."
Seeing the lineup of powerful monsters standing together on Yumi's field once again filled the two remaining men from the future with dread.
Z-one had already been forced to play dirty just to get rid of Yumi's monsters, only for Yumi to casually bring most of them back during his next turn.
And now, his field was looking just as dangerous as before.
The pressure had only increased.
Paradox clicked his tongue in annoyance. His trembling fingers hovered over the top of his Deck, and he had to press down harder than usual just to steady his hand.
He wasn't afraid. At least, that was what he wanted to believe.
"My turn... Draw!"
Paradox drew his card, lowering his gaze to inspect it. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before placing another card onto his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Field Spell, Malefic World!"
The world around them shifted once again. The familiar inverted colors spread across the surroundings, turning the entire area into a strange, distorted landscape. A glass-like texture covered everything, making the world look as though they were standing inside some twisted reflection of reality.
However, before Paradox could continue his play, something unexpected happened.
[Paradox, LP 4000 -> 3400]
Paradox: "!?"
Paradox nearly lost his balance on his D-Wheel. A sudden wave of scorching heat had washed over him, and his Life Points had dropped by 600 without warning.
"What was that!?"
"Masquerade's continuous effect!" Yumi explained, wearing his usual smug smile. "Whenever you activate a card or effect, you have to pay 600 Life Points."
Paradox stared at him. Z-one also turned his gaze toward the draconic crimson-armored girl standing on Yumi's field.
For a few seconds, neither man said anything.
Then, somewhere in the back of their minds, the same question emerged.
What the hell is this broken effect!?
Wasn't this duel already difficult enough?
They were already dealing with Chaos, a monster capable of negating their effects, and Sunrise, which kept boosting the ATK of Yumi's entire field. Now they also had to pay Life Points just for activating their cards?
Why did you have to add taxes to the duel, too!?
Both men had plenty of complaints about the ridiculous effect, but there wasn't much they could do about it. The duel system had accepted Masquerade as a legitimate card, and its effect was resolving exactly as written.
As far as the rules were concerned, there was nothing illegal about it.
Which somehow made the situation even more annoying.
Paradox gritted his teeth and continued with his play.
"I send Heroic Spirit Jeanne d'Arc and Elemental HERO Neos from my Deck to the Graveyard to Special Summon Malefic Heroic Spirit Jeanne d'Arc and Malefic Elemental HERO Neos, respectively!"
Two cards popped out of his Deck. Paradox took them and sent both to the Graveyard, causing dark energy to gather across his field.
Two figures emerged from the swirling darkness.
One resembled Heroic Spirit Jeanne d'Arc, while the other was unmistakably Elemental HERO Neos. However, both had been twisted into Malefic versions of their original forms. Metallic black-and-white armor covered parts of their bodies, and dark masks concealed their faces, giving them an ominous appearance.
[Malefic Heroic Spirit Jeanne d'Arc, 3000 DEF]
[Malefic Elemental HERO Neos, 2000 DEF]
"Interesting..." Yumi murmured, looking at the two monsters with genuine curiosity.
His attention lingered on Jeanne d'Arc first.
In this dimension, someone like Hoshino-sensei exists. She still possessed her Heroic Spirit Cards, even if she couldn't use them at the moment.
Then there was Neos.
The current Jaden was only just beginning his second semester. As far as Yumi knew, he hadn't properly obtained Elemental HERO Neos yet.
So how exactly had Paradox gotten his hands on those two monsters?
Yumi could think of a few possibilities.
The first was that Paradox had somehow obtained one of Hoshino's Heroic Spirit Cards after cutting off her connection to Chaldea. As for Neos, he might have intercepted the satellite carrying Neos and the Neo-Spacians before it reached Jaden.
If that was what had happened, then there was another possibility worth considering.
Does that mean he might have Yubel, too?
That would certainly make things more interesting.
The second possibility was much simpler: time travel.
Paradox already had the means to travel between different points in time. If he could use that ability to obtain cards from other timelines, then acquiring monsters that hadn't appeared in this era yet wouldn't be particularly surprising.
Either explanation made sense, and Yumi wasn't especially concerned about which one was correct.
In fact, he was more interested in something else.
"Can I get some new cards out of him...?" Yumi murmurs underneath his breath.
He had already obtained a few interesting cards from the previous Paradox in another dimension. There was no reason to assume that this version couldn't offer him something new as well.
After all, if Paradox was willing to bring monsters from different timelines into this duel, Yumi certainly wasn't going to complain about the opportunity.
He could figure out the details later.
For now, he would simply enjoy the show.
"I set one card. Turn end."
Paradox placed a face-down card on his field before hurriedly ending his turn.
He didn't dare to go on the offensive. Neither of his monsters had enough ATK to challenge Yumi's lineup, and trying to force an attack would only give Chaos another opportunity to negate his effects.
For the time being, he could only wait and hope that his next turn would give him a better chance.
"My turn. Draw."
Z-one drew his card, his gaze shifting toward the gigantic cards in his hand. Even with his mask concealing most of his expression, the tension in his posture was becoming increasingly difficult to hide.
Just then, Metaion's body began to glow.
The massive purple machine was engulfed in golden light, its enormous frame gradually dissolving into countless particles. The light gathered together before shooting straight back toward Z-one's Deck, returning the Timelord to where it had come from.
"Metaion's effect. During my Standby Phase, it returns to my Deck."
Z-one calmly explained the effect, though his attention was already shifting toward the cards in his hand.
Then, he glanced at Paradox.
Paradox noticed his gaze and looked back at him. For a moment, neither of them said anything. They didn't need to. After everything that had happened, both men had reached the same conclusion.
They couldn't afford to keep fighting Yumi separately.
Their original plan had been to deal with the threats of this era using their own strength and experience. They had believed that their advanced cards and strategies would be more than enough to handle any modern Duelist who stood in their way.
But Yumi had completely shattered that confidence.
A one-on-one duel was no longer a realistic option, and neither was trying to fight him fairly while pretending they could handle everything on their own.
If they wanted to win, they would have to work together, cover each other's weaknesses, and take every opportunity they could get.
After all, Yumi's strength was simply too overwhelming for either of them to handle alone.
Fighting him felt less like dueling another person and more like challenging a BOSS at the end of a game.
One with an absurd amount of health, an entire arsenal of powerful abilities, and absolutely no intention of letting the players catch their breath.
There was just one small problem with that comparison.
They were supposed to be the BOSSes here!
And yet, after only a few turns, they were already struggling to survive against a single opponent.
Z-one exchanged one last glance with Paradox before returning his attention to the duel.
Whatever happened next, they couldn't afford to make any more careless mistakes.
---
AN: Sorry for the late update, just got back from a vacation. The Wi-Fi signal there isn't great, so I can't upload anything