"My turn, draw."
The Arbiter drew.
But before he could move, Kira snapped his fingers and flipped a set card.
"Activate Trap: 'Ojama Trio!'
Special summon three Ojama tokens to your opponent's field!"
Yellow, green, and black tokens leapt onto the Arbiter's field, each settling in to snack, read, or nap.
"Sorry to intrude!"
"Hope you don't mind us using your yard."
"Zzz..."
The Arbiter frowned at these fodder monsters given to him.
"Next, activate another set card, Continuous Trap—"
Kira swept his hand and activated another.
"—'Spatial Collapse!'"
Jaden jumped up: "That combo!"
He remembered it well—it was the combo that brought endless trouble to the Paradox Brothers with Kira.
The Space Lock with Ojama cards!
"Spatial Collapse: As long as this card is on the field, each player can only have five cards on their field. If there are more, send cards to the graveyard until there are five.
Once the limit is reached, neither player can play more cards."
Mokuba: "Ah, the Arbiter has..."
"Three Ojama tokens, the Seal of Orichalcos, and one set card—exactly five," Kaiba said.
"Hmph, such weird tactics."
He couldn't help but smirk, glancing at the Arbiter.
With this, the Arbiter couldn't summon new monsters or set new spells/traps. And with Spell Canceller, Spell Cards were already unusable.
The Arbiter's expression turned odd.
"Spatial Collapse, combined with Ojama, seals my ability to play cards. That's a terrifying tactic, very much your style."
He studied Kira.
"Doma knows everything in this world. I've investigated you, Fujiki Kira.
You used to dislike such tactics. In fact, for most of your life, you were a completely ordinary amateur duelist.
Yet in just half a year, you rose from obscurity to the top of the dueling world.
What an inspiring story."
Kira frowned, silent.
The Arbiter didn't mind his lack of response, only lowering his voice:
"One question. At this stage, on this stage—are you really Fujiki Kira, or someone else?"
Kira's heart skipped.
Could he have guessed Kira was a transmigrator?
But after a moment's surprise, Kira regained his composure.
Even if the Arbiter knew, it wouldn't affect the duel.
He just needed to focus.
"Not fazed at all... You must think, with Spatial Collapse locking me out, I'm as good as dead, right?"
He smiled mysteriously.
"Ojama Trio's tokens can't be tributed for tribute summons, so unless you can reduce their number, you can't break the lock. A fearsome tactic. But not without a flaw."
He raised his hand, a red trap card spinning out from his graveyard.
"From the graveyard: 'Breakthrough Skill.'
During your own turn, banish this card from your graveyard to negate the effect of one of your opponent's monsters until the end of the turn!"
Mokuba was shocked: "Activating a trap from the graveyard!"
Kaiba explained, "Traps activated from the graveyard don't need to be placed on the field. He caught that loophole."
"Breakthrough Skill negates Spell Canceller's effect for this turn."
A ring of light bound the white machine; Spell Canceller's power faded.
"With spells no longer sealed, I activate—"
The Arbiter flipped his set card.
"Spell Card: 'Sky Union!'
Tribute three Ojama tokens to special summon from the deck—
Air Fortress Ziggurat!"
The three tokens vanished, replaced by a sky-piercing beam.
A black steel fortress, like a floating mountain, cast a foreboding shadow. Gears, pipes, and cannon arrays bristled with destructive power.
[Air Fortress Ziggurat, ATK 2500 → 3000] (Orichalcos boost)
"Ziggurat!?" Mokuba exclaimed.
"Alister's fortress was also designed by Doma," Kaiba noted.
"Oh, right," Mokuba remembered.
Doma's card factory really did make terrifying things.
"Ojama tokens can't be tributed for normal summons, but other forms of tributing are allowed. So I used them for Ziggurat's special summon."
The Arbiter said coldly.
"Now, my field has only two cards, so Spatial Collapse's lock is broken."
Mokuba gulped.
"He found a way to use traps from the graveyard and a loophole to tribute the tokens for something other than a tribute summon...
He's amazing."
He glanced nervously at Kira and his brother, but both seemed unfazed, as if expecting this counter.
"Air Fortress Ziggurat, attack Spell Canceller!"
Hundreds of cannons locked on, firing a net of death—flames, lightning, and energy waves raining down, destroying Spell Canceller instantly.
[Kira, LP 4000 → 2800]
"Battle phase over."
The Arbiter solemnly drew another card, then smiled.
"This card can only be activated while 'Seal of Orichalcos' is on the field.
This duel will now enter a new stage."
His duel disk's field zone opened again, blue lightning crackling.
"By sending the Seal of Orichalcos to the graveyard, I activate the second barrier—
Orichalcos Deuteros!"
PS: Bonus chapter at 300 PS