Chapter 167: Blue-Eyes vs. Blue-Eyes! The Future Evolution of Dueling
The silver holy sword in Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight's hands carved a line of blade-light through the air, spiraling together with the white beam erupting from Blue-Eyes White Dragon beneath her, both of them converging in a combined strike toward Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.
The purpose of this duel was officially to test the Duel Disk at its limits, and in all fairness, even this prototype testing unit lived up to the Kaiba Corporation name. Projecting Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on one side and a legendary dragon knight on the other, running both at full render simultaneously, and the Duel Disk was emitting nothing but the steady hum of high-speed operation. No overheating. No failure.
The production version, improved from this prototype, would eventually be robust enough to handle the Egyptian God Cards.
"She is going to destroy Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon directly!" Joey locked Tristan in a headlock with sheer excitement. "What a powerful effect!"
Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl's effect was modest by the standards of what cards would become in later years. But a Quick Effect that destroyed a card on the field was an extremely threatening ability in the DM era. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon had no effect immunity. Its 4500 ATK was imposing, but a destruction effect cut right through it.
"Hmph!"
Kaiba Seto's face-down card flipped up.
"Quick-Play Spell: De-Fusion!"
Amano felt a flicker of irritation cross his expression.
You are a full Polymerization deck all the way down, aren't you, Kaiba?
Opening hand of three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, one Polymerization, one De-Fusion.
No wonder you felt the need to rule that Fusion Summoned monsters cannot attack on the same turn they are summoned. If you had gotten the second turn, you could have slammed down Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, then De-Fusion'd it back into three bodies and blasted for three separate 3000-ATK attacks. Nobody else in the tournament would have stood a chance.
"I de-Fuse Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Special Summon the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons from my Graveyard to my field!"
In the glow of De-Fusion's effect, the enormous three-headed dragon split apart into three separate bodies, each one touching down with a roar. The split also carried them safely out of range of Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl's destruction effect.
Three Blue-Eyes White Dragons: ATK 3000 each.
Three dragons now stood between Kaiba and any further offensive play Amano could make. Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight had 2600 ATK. She could not break through a 3000-point wall by force.
"I set one card face-down. Turn end."
The exchange had left Yugi's entire group temporarily forgetting to breathe.
After watching so many Duelist Kingdom duels where each player played one monster per turn and traded blows in slow rotation, the evolved pace of Battle City combat, with Blue-Eyes dragons fusing and splitting and fusing again across two turns, was genuinely difficult to track.
"This is what dueling's evolution looks like!" Kaiba Seto's expression had shifted. For a moment the pressure eased into something that looked almost like satisfaction. "This is what I have been chasing. The future of Duel Monsters. My turn. Draw!"
Kaiba had emptied his entire hand on Turn 1. He drew his single card, and with a dramatic slam that would have put any theatrical teacher to shame, activated it immediately.
"I activate Pot of Greed and draw two more cards!"
Two cards retrieved, Kaiba moved on without summoning. Either he had not drawn another monster, or he judged that three Blue-Eyes White Dragons standing on the field were already sufficient to close this duel.
"Advance into the future alongside me, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The second-player declaration landed with full dramatic force. All three dragons raised their heads and roared forward in unison, matching their master's posture to the scene.
Joey grimaced at the field. "This is bad. Amano's field can't hold off three Blue-Eyes White Dragons."
Even someone Kaiba regularly dismissed as a talentless amateur could see the gap.
Last turn, Amano had been banking on destroying Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and pressing for an advantage, which was why Elemental HERO Blazeman was still sitting out in Attack Position. Three Blue-Eyes White Dragons attacking simultaneously would wipe Amano's Life Points completely.
"Not yet!" Yugi's attention fixed on Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight hovering above the field. Amano's Dark Magician Girl was not the same card as his, but Yugi still remembered what Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl could do. "Amano-kun still has his last card in hand!"
That final card in hand was the bullet. Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl's effect could fire once more during the opponent's turn.
"During the Battle Phase, I discard Yuyu from my hand to destroy one Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
"This time I will not miss, Kaiba!
"Legendary Judgment Slash!!!"
Riding Blue-Eyes White Dragon with steady eyes, Dark Magician Girl swung the silver holy blade in a high-speed arc and cut through the center Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
One Blue-Eyes White Dragon: destroyed.
"That's it!" Joey pumped his fist. "With only two Blue-Eyes White Dragons left, he can survive this!"
Two remaining Blue-Eyes White Dragons could destroy two of Amano's monsters, but they could not deliver a direct attack to his Life Points as long as something was still standing.
"Clever tricks, Amano!"
Kaiba drove his foot forward and flipped up the second face-down card from the previous turn.
"But destroying one Blue-Eyes White Dragon cannot stop the white dragons' charge toward victory! Trap Card: Tyrant Wing, activate!"
The moment the trap triggered, one of the two remaining Blue-Eyes White Dragons unfurled its wings in a sudden blaze of light, the wingspan expanding outward in a glowing evolution. Enormous wings of light blotted out the sky above the rooftop field.
"I equip Tyrant Wing to Blue-Eyes White Dragon as an Equip Card!"
Tyrant Wing
Trap Card: Target 1 Dragon-Type monster on the field. Treat this card as an Equip Card that increases the equipped monster's ATK and DEF by 400. A monster equipped with this card can attack up to 2 times per turn. This card is destroyed at the end of the Battle Phase.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Tyrant Wing): ATK 3000 -> 3400
Standing beneath the brilliant radiance of the fully evolved Tyrant Wings, Kaiba Seto extended two fingers directly at Amano's field.
"And the monster equipped with Tyrant Wing can attack twice per turn!"
ATK boosted and striking twice. In a single trap activation.
Rin Seiya's voice climbed with irritation. "Is every person named Kaiba genetically required to be this relentlessly aggressive in a duel?!"
Kaiba Chiaki did not look at her. "Rin Seiya. Would you like to duel me today?"
"Press forward, Tyrant Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Kaiba locked the Tyrant Blue-Eyes (3400) onto Amano's Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl. "After this attack, it is over, Amano Rei!
"Tyrant Burst Wind!!"
"I'll borrow your own card for this, Kaiba!"
Amano flipped his last set card.
"Trap Card: Graverobber activates! This card copies the effect of 1 Spell or Trap Card in my opponent's Graveyard!"
"Hey, that is my card!" Joey stared at the field. "Amano, why are you using my card?!"
Tea gave him a sideways look. "Your name is not written on it. Anyone can put it in their deck."
The Graverobber's illustrated figure crept into Kaiba's Graveyard with a conspiratorial grin and emerged holding the prize.
"I copy the effect of De-Fusion from Kaiba's Graveyard! De-Fuse Dragon Knight Dark Magician Girl!"
In the glow of De-Fusion's light, the Dragon Knight split back into two. Amano laid both cards horizontal on the Duel Disk.
"Special Summon Dark Magician Girl and Blue-Eyes White Dragon in Defense Position!"
Dark Magician Girl: DEF 1700
Blue-Eyes White Dragon: DEF 2500
Three monsters now stood between Kaiba's attack and Amano's Life Points directly. Even with Tyrant Wing's double-attack, the Tyrant Blue-Eyes could not reach Amano's LP while defenders remained.
The only damage Amano would take this turn was from Elemental HERO Blazeman, still standing in Attack Position.
"Tyrant Burst Wind - Double Strike!!"
The Tyrant Blue-Eyes White Dragon attacked twice as promised. First, Elemental HERO Blazeman: destroyed. Then, Blue-Eyes White Dragon in Defense: destroyed.
Amano Rei LP: 4000 -> 1800
"And the second Blue-Eyes White Dragon attacks! Be annihilated in the light of destruction, Amano Rei!
"Burst Stream of Destruction!!"
Mana: "Noooo!!"
Dark Magician Girl: destroyed.
Total elimination. Under Kaiba's relentless pace, Amano had lost every card on the field and every card in hand. The board was empty. His hand was empty.
At the end of the Battle Phase, Kaiba placed both cards drawn from Pot of Greed face-down in succession.
"I set one monster in face-down Defense Position and one card face-down. Turn end."
"Accept your defeat now, Amano!"
The turn passed.
Amano drew his single card.
Last turn, Kaiba had been sitting at zero cards in hand when Pot of Greed bailed him out in time. Legendary duelists of this caliber, even in the early era, were never going to be easy victories.
"My turn. Draw!"
There was no Pot of Greed in Amano's deck.
There was, however, the Pot of Greed's equivalent in hero form.
"When Elemental HERO Bubbleman is the only card in my hand, it can be Special Summoned directly! Defense Position, Special Summon!"
Elemental HERO Bubbleman
Level 4 / WATER
Warrior / Effect
ATK: 800 / DEF: 1200
The small hero crouching in Defense Position on the empty field made Kaiba Seto regard it with open contempt.
"Another unfamiliar garbage monster? If that was your last draw, this duel is finished!"
"Is that right?"
Amano's classic refusal to concede the point.
"Elemental HERO Bubbleman's effect activates! When I have no other cards on the field or in hand, I draw 2 cards from my Deck!"
The same draw power as Pot of Greed, delivered through hero form. Two more cards from the deck.
Whether he could turn this around against two Blue-Eyes White Dragons came down entirely to what he pulled.
He almost said something about staking this on the card game he used to dominate back in his old world. Then he remembered where he was and stopped himself.
He reset his language.
"I stake the supernatural luck of a Duelist Kingdom runner-up! True duelists call forth the ultimate with their soul!
"Draw!!"
He pulled two cards simultaneously from his deck. His eyes swept across both at once.
There it was.
At the end of a Blue-Eyes versus Blue-Eyes duel, what answered him was the ultimate soul of the white dragon itself.
Amano had only one Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But one Blue-Eyes White Dragon had its own way of fighting.
"I activate a Ritual Spell Card!" He raised the card over his head with both hands.
"A Ritual?!" Everyone watching reacted at once.
A Ritual Spell consumed significant resources. But Amano was holding exactly two cards. If one was the Ritual Spell and the other the Ritual Monster, the only possible Tribute material on the field was Bubbleman at Level 4.
A Level 4 Ritual Monster against two Blue-Eyes White Dragons?
Every person watching was trying to work out the math and coming up short.
Every person except one.
Kaiba Chiaki had gone very still. As a fellow Blue-Eyes White Dragon duelist from the same advanced era, she was the only one here who recognized which Ritual card that had to be.
"Wait. Is that the card I think it is? Amano Rei, you have been at this academy for less than a month. How do you already have that?!"
The Ritual Spell activated. An enormous gate materialized behind Amano, its surface carved with chaotic patterns, swinging open on slow and massive hinges. What burst from inside was a terrifying interplay of light and darkness: an energy completely inconsistent with anything a Level 4 Tribute could produce.
Even Bubbleman on the field had not been tributed.
What exactly was Amano using as the Ritual Tribute?
"Ritual Spell Card: Chaos Form activates!"
Chaos Form
Ritual Spell Card: This card is used to Ritual Summon a Chaos Ritual Monster. Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels equal or exceed the Level of the Ritual Monster you are Ritual Summoning. You may instead banish "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" or "Dark Magician" from your GY as substitutes for those Tributes.
"I banish Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my Graveyard as the Ritual Tribute! Level 8!"
A moment ago, Kaiba Seto had been carrying the confident expression of someone who had already calculated victory. In the space of a single activation, that expression gave way to something he almost never showed: the shock of facing a completely unknown force.
"In the name of complete defeat! With the soul of the dragon of light, open the ritual gate of chaos and darkness!
"Let this supremely proud soul roar and be set free upon the earth!
"Ritual Summon! Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!!"
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon
Level 8 / DARK
Dragon / Ritual / Effect
ATK: 4000 / DEF: 0
Requires Chaos Form for Ritual Summon
This card cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects. If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict double piercing battle damage based on the amount this card's ATK exceeds that monster's DEF.
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon erupted through the ritual gate, its nature shifted entirely from LIGHT to DARK. The chaos wings churning overhead stirred black thunder across a sky that had been clear seconds before, the dragon standing with absolute presence on the field below.
In the same instant, both Duel Disks, Kaiba Seto's and Amano's, emitted a low heat-warning tone together.
"Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon." Kaiba stared at the dragon standing across from him with an expression that was the closest thing to disbelief he was capable of showing. "This monster is drawing more computational power from the Duel Disk than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon?"
The technical specifications were beyond Amano's expertise. What he could speak to was card strength. Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon had 500 less ATK than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. But it came with an effect capable of reversing the entire duel in a single attack, and that made the comparison meaningless.
The effect: when Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon attacks a Defense Position monster, the battle damage dealt equals twice the amount by which its 4000 ATK exceeds that monster's DEF.
Kaiba had two Blue-Eyes White Dragons on the field. Amano's attack target this turn, however, was neither of them.
It was the face-down Defense Position monster Kaiba had set at the end of last turn.
"Let this chaos strike that pierces all defense destroy everything between heaven and earth!
"Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, attack the face-down Defense Position monster!
"Chaos MAX Overdrive Blast!!"
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