Everything would be bet on this draw.
But like Jaden, Jesse is a duelist who believes in his Deck's potential. He believes that as long as you can still draw, there is hope.
His Deck had never let him down.
No matter whether the future this draw leads to is victory or defeat, he's unafraid. Whatever future comes, he will face it with his family.
"Draw!"
At that final draw, it was as if even the silent stone tablet behind them flashed with a momentary rainbow, like light spilled onto the card he pulled.
Kira hummed.
For an instant, he almost heard the GX execution BGM—an auditory hallucination.
"I activate the Spell Card—
—Crystal Abundance!"
Kira: "Oh?"
To top-deck Abundance in such a pinch—worthy of a man with a protagonist's fate.
"Crystal Abundance sends four 'Crystal Beast' cards from your Spell/Trap Zone to the GY to send all cards on the field... to the GY!"
"NANI?" Onlooker Mokuba was shocked.
The eye spirit behind Kira couldn't help but shout, "Hey! Can't win so you flip the table? That's cheating!"
Jesse yanked out the four Crystals slotted in his back row in one go.
"Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise!
"Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat!
"Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!
"Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth!
"The power of four Crystals united—sweep away everything!"
Cracks ran across the four back-row gems, then they burst in turn. Blinding, endless light erupted, like a rainbow storm sweeping the entire field!
In an instant, Kira's Level Limit - Area B that locked attacks, Tour of Doom that locked summons, and the Arcana Force Hanged Man that would have pronounced defeat next turn were all vaporized by Crystal power—gone in a shot!
Of course, Jesse's own Crystal Beasts also burned out completely, leaving nothing behind.
"Amazing," Mokuba couldn't help but sigh. "So this is the powerful bond between Jesse and his Crystals..."
Er... or maybe, a cornered man will do anything.
Even as a spectator, he could imagine how stifling it felt to be repeatedly locked down by Kira like this.
Maybe it was precisely that extreme suffocation, built up and then released in one breath, that produced such an astonishing power.
"This completely rewrites the board!" Jesse declared. "All your set-ups are gone, Mr. Kira!"
"Is that so?"
Kira smiled and pointed at Jesse's field.
Jesse frowned, followed the gesture, and froze.
[Arcana Force 0 - The Fool, DEF 0]
"Eh?"
Jesse blinked twice.
Wait, didn't we flip the whole table? Why is this turd still here—
"Ah, right..." Jesse suddenly remembered.
"Seems it came back to you," Kira smiled. "Correct. Reversed Fool is unaffected by its controller's card effects."
Jesse: "..."
He was truly beyond snark now.
So not only is this thing crap, it's absurdly hard. You flip the whole table and it's still glued to it.
But that didn't matter now!
Because—
As if resonating with this duel and all the Crystal Beasts' pent-up frustration and fury, the silent stone tablet began to rumble, then burst into seven-colored radiance!
Seven dazzling gems seemed to rise from Jesse's GY, drawn together by an unseen gravity, weaving a rainbow across the sky like silk ribbons in a fairy's hands.
A rainbow!
Pegasus stared, eyes blazing: "Oooh—Masaka (could it be)!?"
The heart of the rainbow stirred, as if life were forming. A sacred, dreamlike figure emerged from within.
A majestic and awe-inspiring dragon, its body at first a seven-colored energy form—like the purest energy in the cosmos—until the seven hues fused into a sacred, pure white body.
"When the seven Crystals unite, the form of the Ultimate Gem God descends! Appear—"
Jesse raised the card in his hand.
It was originally a blank card.
A card Pegasus had given him, designed specifically for the ultimate Crystal—yet blank until today.
Seven-colored light surfaced on the card; artwork glittered into being, gilded letters forming.
Rainbow Dragon, Summon!
[Rainbow Dragon, ATK 4000]
"It really worked!"
President Pegasus lost all composure in his excitement.
"Unbelievable!"
"It actually worked, Jesse-boy! Kira-boy!"
Mokuba stared dumbly at the godly dragon radiating divine pressure, then at Kira, a stuck expletive lodged in his throat.
How is this even possible?
Jesse felt indescribably elated, as if a huge stone long lodged in his chest—no, not just one, a growing pile of stones nearing his limit—were suddenly swept away by seven-colored light, revealing a broad avenue.
An almost indescribable ultimate ecstasy.
He even thought that, as a duelist, this might be the pinnacle of life.
Only one thing remained.
Use the Ultimate Crystal God to write the final punctuation mark on this infuriating duel!
"Thank you very much, Mr. Kira. Without your help, my Crystal Beasts and I might never have reached the resonance to awaken Rainbow Dragon."
Jesse smiled.
"But the duel isn't over. A duelist must go all out to the very end!"
Mokuba finally snapped out of the trance of Rainbow Dragon's descent.
"Ah!"
Right—Crystal Abundance swept the field; every card was gone, which meant Kira had no cards left to defend.
If he took a direct attack from the ATK 4000 Ultimate Crystal God—
Mokuba looked sharply at Kira.
Was Kira going to lose here to help awaken the Rainbow Dragon?
Clap, clap, clap—
But just as he worriedly looked over, at the final moment Kira was... applauding?
"Splendid, Jesse. I have witnessed the indomitable bond you share with your Crystals, and your determination to break through any barrier."
"Hehe."
Jesse scratched his nose, a little embarrassed.
"Well then, with Rainbow Dragon awakened, my errand is complete," Kira smiled lightly. "Let this duel end this turn."
With those words, everyone understood.
So that's it—everything Kira did was to stimulate Rainbow Dragon's awakening. Now his mission was complete, and it seemed he no longer cared about victory.
But just as they all thought so—
"From my hand, I discard the Spell 'Intervention of Fate' and activate its effect," Kira said. "This card can only be discarded from your hand to activate when a monster is summoned. When discarded, I can Quick-Play a Normal Spell from my hand." (Anime Card)
It was the same GX original magic used by Sartorius in that infamous zero-turn kill against Prince Ojin.
"Huh?" Jesse froze.
Then Kira revealed another Spell in his hand.
Another gift from Sartorius's Light of Destruction persona.
"The Spell 'Ace of Sword'," Kira smiled. "Choose a monster on the field, then spin this card to gain an Upright or Reversed effect.
"Upright: inflict damage to your opponent equal to the chosen monster's ATK.
"Reversed: I take damage equal to the chosen monster's ATK."
Everyone's pupils shrank; more sharp intakes of breath.
They all knew what he would choose.
[Rainbow Dragon, ATK 4000]
A 4000-ATK Crystal God!
Which meant that this spin would decide the duel. As if the whole match came down to a coin toss: heads Jesse loses, tails Kira loses—each with a fifty-fifty shot.
No—wait—
Everyone's gaze swung back to another monster on Jesse's field.
That stinky, rock-hard Fool that refused to leave.
[Arcana Force 0 - The Fool, DEF 0]
"Indeed, with The Fool on your field, I don't need to spin. I can freely choose Upright or Reversed and activate."
Kira explained with a smile.
Jesse: "..."
Even Rainbow Dragon on Jesse's field opened its mouth... then closed it... then opened it again, failing to manage a single roar.
But its reaction clearly said—
—Are you messing with me?
I've slept for millennia, and this is what I wake up to in my first duel?
Where's my newbie protection?
"Then I choose the Upright effect of Ace of Sword. Jesse, you'll take damage equal to Rainbow Dragon's ATK—4000."
Kira paused, then gave him an encouraging smile.
"Well played. Keep it up."
As his words fell, seven-colored light blasted from Rainbow Dragon and crashed over Jesse.
[Jesse, LP 900 → LP 0]
...
2 Bonus chapters at 500 PS