On Jaden's field, the ever-popular Stratos appeared once more and activated its effect.
"Stratos's effect! I add Elemental HERO Bubbleman from my Deck to my hand~"
With his sharp eyesight, Youmi clearly saw that the Bubbleman Jaden added had its anime-only effect written on it: when Summoned with no other cards on the field, draw two cards.
Jaden, right now, you're being really dirty.
"Then I'll destroy that Stratos by battle and attack directly with Dark Blade."
[Jaden Yuki, LP: 3400 → 1600]
"I enter Main Phase 2 and activate Super Rejuvenation. During this turn's End Phase, I draw cards equal to the number of Dragon monsters I discarded from my hand this turn, plus the number of Dragon monsters I Tributed from my hand or field this turn. I end my turn. Since I discarded one Anotherverse Dragon and Tributed Keeper of the Shrine, I draw two cards."
Turn.5
"Oh? My turn now! Time to go—draw!" Jaden looked delighted as he examined his new hand, then Summoned Bubbleman. "I Normal Summon Bubbleman and activate its effect to draw two cards~ Next, I activate Miracle Fusion! I banish Elemental HERO Sparkman and Beastking of the Swamps from my Graveyard—Beastking counts as Elemental HERO Avian—to Fusion Summon Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman!"
"Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 Attack for every Elemental HERO in my Graveyard. I have Absolute Zero and two copies of Stratos, so it gains 900, going to 3400 Attack! That's higher than your Pandemic Dragon~ I enter the Battle Phase! Shining Flare Wingman attacks Pandemic Dragon—Shining Shoot!"
The silver-armored HERO released a blinding radiance that wiped out the surrounding plague and obliterated the evil dragon spreading it.
[Chazz Princeton, LP: 3500 → 2600]
Chazz shielded his eyes with one hand to block the intense light. "Even though you destroyed Pandemic Dragon, it has a Trigger Effect! When this card is destroyed by battle or effect, all face-up monsters on the field lose 1000 Attack! Now your Bubbleman drops to 0 Attack! Once it's my turn, I can—"
"That's true, but—" Jaden pointed at his Shining Flare Wingman. "Shining Flare Wingman has another effect! When it destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster's original Attack! Since Pandemic Dragon has 2500 Attack, you take 2500 damage!"
[Chazz Princeton, LP: 2600 → 100]
"It's not over yet! As long as I haven't played my last card, I haven't lost! All you've got left is a 0-Attack Bubbleman—you can't possibly… That card—is that—?!"
After gritting his teeth through the massive effect damage, Chazz looked up—and saw the card on Jaden's field.
"Quick-Play Spell, Instant Fusion! I send the Fusion Materials listed on the Fusion Monster from my field to the Graveyard and Fusion Summon it. The monster Summoned by this effect is destroyed during the End Phase. I fuse the Bubbleman on my field with the LIGHT-Attribute Shining Flare Wingman to Fusion Summon Elemental HERO The Shining! Shining, attack directly!"
...
"Got it! That was an awesome duel~"
Jaden made his trademark pose, then reached out and pulled Chazz up from the ground.
"Man, that was close… If Bubbleman hadn't drawn Miracle Fusion, I never could've won with just Instant Fusion. I won this round, but next time, let's see which one of us is really stronger!"
Chazz brushed away Jaden's hand and stood up on his own. His once-scornful eyes had shifted into something more serious. "I'll admit you've got some skill, dropout. I lost this time, but only because I wasn't able to draw out the full power of the cards Kaiba gave me. Next duel, I won't lose."
"That's the spirit! Next time, let's duel again, Chazz!"
Even though Chazz had basically rejected him, Jaden casually slapped a hand onto his shoulder and said brightly, "Light and Darkness Dragon, Pandemic Dragon—you've got some seriously strong monsters, and you really know how to use them! Not as good as me, though—"
Chazz, who had looked a bit pleased for a second, at once shoved Jaden away. Though he looked annoyed, their relationship seemed to have improved.
"Don't get chummy with me! Next time, I'll crush you with 200% of my power!"
...
Ring ring.
Inside KaibaCorp headquarters, Seto Kaiba was working when a phone call suddenly interrupted him.
"Hello? Mokuba. For you to call my private line at this hour—what's the emergency?"
His younger brother was responsible, disciplined, and exceptional at handling company matters. There shouldn't have been anything urgent enough to require an unannounced direct call. Seto Kaiba knew that well.
"Big bro, do you remember that kid from the Princeton Group you coached a while back? Apparently, he used the cards you gave him… and lost at Duel Academy to a Slifer Red freshman using a HERO Deck!"
Mokuba sounded genuinely shocked.
"Hmph↘↗ Not surprising. Even if they're cards I've used, they were rejects; spares I removed from my Deck. Losing with them isn't strange. Albeit a Slifer Red, huh… Looks like another duelist like that, dropout Yugi has shown up. Anything else, Mokuba?"
Kaiba recalled the boy who had looked at him with such admiration the last time they met and mentally reviewed which cards he had given him.
"Well, there's also something about one of this year's new students being extremely gifted… though with a very strange name. I think it was…"
Mokuba sounded confused, like he didn't understand why this information had even been reported.
"If it's something like that, don't bother reporting it. In this world, there are only three truly gifted duelists. There won't be any more."
After giving Mokuba instructions on how to prioritize reports, Seto Kaiba pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and muttered to himself.
"A truly gifted duelist, huh… That kind of person disappeared four years ago. There's no way one would suddenly appear now."
And just like that, Kaiba dismissed the correct answer himself.
...
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