"My turn—draw!"
Chazz drew, then immediately revealed the card.
"I drew 'Soul Tiger!' With the effect of the Continuous Spell 'Heart of the Underdog'—when I draw a Normal Monster during my Draw Phase, I can reveal it to draw 1 more card!"
He revealed, drew again, and revealed right away:
"Normal Monster 'Vorse Raider!' Draw 1!"
"Normal Monster 'Dark Blade!' Draw 1!"
Heart of the Underdog chained, and Chazz kept drawing in succession. But after the fourth card, he stopped revealing—apparently he hadn't drawn another Normal.
"Then I activate the Spell 'Allure of Darkness,'" Chazz said. "Draw 2 cards, then banish 1 DARK monster from my hand. Otherwise, send my entire hand to the GY."
He drew two, then flipped one of the vanillas he'd shown earlier.
"I banish 'Dark Blade'!"
He swept his hand again.
"I activate the Trap 'Common Charity.' Draw 2 cards, then banish 1 Normal Monster from my hand."
Chazz drew two.
"I banish 'Soul Tiger!' And then the Spell 'Tri-Wight'—Special Summon 3 Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters from my GY.
Return to the field, you Ojama trash!"
[Ojama Yellow, DEF 1000]
[Ojama Black, DEF 1000]
[Ojama Green, DEF 1000]
Ojama Yellow: "I knew big bro couldn't live without us!"
Ojama Black: "Full HP rez!"
Ojama Green: "Witness the power of brotherly unity!"
"I activate 'Polymerization!'" Chazz called. "Fuse the three Ojamas on my field! Evolve into your mightiest form, you trash—
—Ojama King, Fusion Summon!"
With a triple Ojama Fusion, the big-headed clown-lord slammed down, striking a bodybuilder pose in front of Chazz.
[Ojama King, DEF 3000]
"While Ojama King is on the field, it can seal up to 3 of your Monster Zones," Chazz said. "I'll seal the remaining two zones on your field!"
"Great, 3000 DEF won't be easy to break!" Syrus blurted.
"I set two cards. Turn end," Chazz said.
"My turn—draw!"
Slade snorted.
"Backed into a corner, so you had to use a loser's Fusion to cling to life? It won't work!
I activate the Equip Spell 'Big Bang Shot'! Equip to 'First of the Dragons'—the equipped monster gains 400 ATK and inflicts piercing damage!"
[First of the Dragons, ATK 2700 → ATK 3100]
"Higher than Ojama King's DEF!" Students around the arena tensed.
"This ends now!" Slade barked. "First of the Dragons—clear that eyesore!"
Ojama King was Chazz's last bulwark. If it fell here, he'd have nothing left to defend with. Many in the crowd gasped again—
—but sharp light flashed in Chazz's eyes. "I was waiting for this!"
Slade flinched. "Nani?"
"I activate the Trap 'D2 Shield!' One face-up Defense Position monster I control doubles its original DEF.
Of course I choose—Ojama King!"
Ojama King bellowed. His already-massive frame seemed to swell again, like an immovable mountain.
[Ojama King, DEF 3000 → DEF 6000]
"Six thousand DEF!?" Slade blanched.
That meant First of the Dragons wouldn't just fail to break through—he'd take 2900 in massive rebound damage!
As the students cried out, many glanced, without thinking, at Kira.
Doubling DEF with D2 Shield for a counter-blow—wasn't that the same trick that got Chazz killed during the Academy's duel back then?
Looks like Chazz learned from that loss and put the King of Games's tech to use...
Hey, borrowing from the King of Games isn't shameful.
"Ugh!"
[Slade, LP 3000 → LP 100]
No one expected Chazz to flip the script from such a disadvantage—he fell just 100 short of a full comeback.
Slade broke into a cold sweat. Who would have thought that from an overwhelming advantage, with his opponent barely able to respond, he'd almost get dumped in the gutter?
He looked at Chazz again, a touch of fear in his eyes.
"Is this what you learned at Duel Academy?"
Chazz said nothing.
"Tch. I don't have a monster that can break Ojama King's DEF right now," Slade said flatly. "I end my turn."
"My turn—draw!"
Chazz drew, and his eyes brightened—just a shade.
As if something he'd been waiting for had arrived.
He immediately revealed the card in his hand.
"I drew... 'Sealmaster Meisei.' With the effect of 'Heart of the Underdog,' I reveal a Normal Monster I drew and draw 1 more."
He drew again.
"Then I Normal Summon 'Sealmaster Meisei!'"
[Sealmaster Meisei, ATK 1100]
"Heh, a low-level vanilla," Slade said dismissively. "A wall to keep stalling?"
"Even a little vanilla has its use! That's what I learned at Duel Academy," Chazz said, voice ringing. "If you only have eyes for the top, you'll never reach the summit!"
Slade hesitated. "Chazz..."
"Now, watch closely, brother. The possibilities even a low-level has!
I activate my set card—the Continuous Spell 'Talisman of Trap Sealing!'"
As Chazz spoke, the card flipped. The Sealmaster chanted a string of syllables; a sigil pulsed and spread, wrapping the arena in a sealing field.
"This card can only be used in tandem with 'Sealmaster Meisei,'" Chazz said. "While it's on the field, neither player can activate Trap Cards, and all Trap effects are negated!"
Slade's face tightened.
If that card resolved, every Trap he'd set would be dead.
Sealmaster Meisei had 1100 ATK, and he still had one Ojama Token with 1000 DEF. When a Token is destroyed by battle, he'd take 300 damage—and he only had 100 LP left...
Another gutter-dump death. It'd be too ridiculous.
"In that case, before your Spell resolves, I chain my set Trap—'Altar for Tribute,'" Slade said. "I Tribute my 'King Dragun' to gain Life Points equal to its ATK—2400."
[Slade, LP 100 → LP 2500]
His LP was back in the safe zone—no Token cheese.
"I'm not done," Chazz continued. "Next—another Continuous Spell: 'Level Limit - Area B!'
All Level 4 or higher monsters on the field switch to Defense Position!"
Slade's face tightened again.
"I see—after a Trap lock, an attack lock." He nodded once.
This was finally getting tricky.
But Chazz still wasn't done.
"And lastly—Field Spell—
—Secret Village of the Spellcasters!!!"
"Hm?"
Even Kira in the stands smiled, interest piqued.
"Well, well, this thing. Now it's getting fun."
Secret Village of the Spellcasters—an infamous shut-in's dream. More than a few duelists had flipped a table over this one back in the day.
"While I control a Spellcaster and my opponent does not," Chazz said coolly, "my opponent cannot activate Spell Cards!"
Slade's expression stalled.
No Spells—wait...
"Sealmaster Meisei is a Spellcaster," Chazz said with a thin smile. "And if I'm not mistaken, at least 70 percent—no, at least eighty percent—of your deck is Dragons.
I'm guessing you don't have any Spellcasters, do you?"
Slade's pupils shrank. You didn't need to be a master duelist to grasp his situation now.
This setup—
Both Spells and Traps were sealed, and the Spell lock was one-sided—Chazz's own Spells still worked. Including the attack lock...
He couldn't attack, and he couldn't use Spells or Traps to clear the backrow.
Wasn't this just waiting to die!?
"All right. I end my turn, brother."
Only now did the string in Chazz's heart loosen a little.
Staring at the completed formation—this lock that oozed security—he exhaled, and suddenly he kind of understood.
He understood why Kira's duels always looked so effortless, so assured, as if everything was in his grasp.
Honestly, if I hid in an ironclad shell like this all day, I'd look assured too.
Your opponent can't even play cards—what's there to be afraid of?
"Uh... my turn."
Slade drew.
He checked his hand again and again, then his set backrow. He stared at Chazz's Meisei-seal array, thought a long while, and finally seemed certain he really had nothing he could do.
He could only end his turn.
"Then my turn—draw!" Chazz said. "I Summon 'Vorse Raider.' Of course, because of 'Level Limit - Area B,' Level 4 or higher monsters switch to Defense Position."
[Vorse Raider, DEF 1200]
"Then I activate 'White Elephant's Gift,' sending 'Vorse Raider' to the GY to draw 2 cards."
Chazz drew two.
"Turn end."
"My turn—draw."
Slade stewed for a while, then scowled.
"...Turn end."
He really had nothing.
"Then me!" Chazz drew. "I drew another Normal Monster, so by 'Heart of the Underdog' I draw 1."
He drew again.
Then he lifted his eyes and ran them over Slade's field, calculating quickly.
Just a bit more...
"I set a card. Turn end."
"My turn..."
Slade drew and glanced at the card.
Quick-Play Spell—Mystical Space Typhoon.
In theory, blowing away any one of the opponent's backrow would crack this disgusting lock. But with Secret Village up, and no Spellcaster on his side, he couldn't activate Spells at all...
"Turn end," he muttered.
He was already starting to regret imposing "no Effect Monsters."
Without that pointless condition, Chazz's temperament would never have chosen such a drawn-out shut-in strategy. This was death by a dull knife—pure misery. Without the restriction, Chazz's usual decks would have thrown down flashy finishers and ended this ages ago.
Why sit here and suffer?
Come to think of it—who did he learn this twisted playstyle from...
"I drew another Normal Monster—draw 1 more!"
"My turn—draw!"
The corner of Chazz's mouth slid up.
"Finally."
A chill ran through Slade's chest.
What now?
"Quick-Play Spell—'De-Fusion.' I break down my 'Ojama King.'
Come back—Ojama Brothers!"
[Ojama Yellow, DEF 1000]
[Ojama Black, DEF 1000]
[Ojama Green, DEF 1000]
"Watch closely, brother! This is the potential of the underlings!
I activate the Spell—"
He raised the fresh card he'd just drawn.
"Ojama Delta Thunder!!"
An anime-original upgrade over 'Ojama Delta Hurricane!!'—the Brothers' true ultimate!
"Only when Ojama Yellow, Black, and Green are all on the field can this be activated. Send 1 'Ojama Delta Hurricane!!' from your Deck to the GY; destroy all cards your opponent controls!" Chazz shouted. "And when this effect begins to resolve, for each card in your opponent's hand and on their field, inflict 500 damage!"
Slade's face drained. "Five hundred per... damn!"
"You have 3 cards in hand, and on the field—First of the Dragons, an Ojama Token, and Big Bang Shot," Chazz recited. "So—destroy all cards you control, and you take 3000 damage.
Go, you trash!"
The Ojama Brothers yelled as one, leaping. Their three butts smacked together, spinning into a wheel of fire and wind!
Secret Art—Ojama Delta Thunder!!!
Storm and lightning swallowed the field. First of the Dragons and the half the arena it stood on vanished in the blast. Slade groaned and dropped to one knee, cards scattering.
[Slade, LP 2500 → LP 0]
PS: Bonus chapter at 300 PS