Intelligence was a critically important element in the competitive art of dueling.
Although knowing the opponent's Deck or hand sometimes still led to losses, like "informed Sky Striker" losing to "healthy Tearlaments," that didn't mean intelligence was meaningless.
If a duelist knew the opponent's cards before the duel and prepared specific counters, even without guaranteeing victory, they could make the opponent break into cold sweat. Like preparing Forbidden Lance and Magical Prison against Laval, or several Lightning Storms against HEROes.
These cards might not guarantee a win but would absolutely terrify the opponent.
Jaden looked at his hand. Through the Supreme King's memories of Yubel and Hikaru's recent "tutoring," he was actually quite familiar with Yubel.
He came here to duel Yubel not for "atonement," but to make Yubel understand that "pain" was never love.
Just as he and Hikaru had promised, he would never let his friends and family bear the cost and pain of "losing Jaden."
So before the duel, he had crammed everything he needed to know.
"Phantom of Yubel has the effect: when an opponent's monster activates an effect, it Tributes itself and changes that effect to 'the opponent destroys one Yubel monster from their hand, Deck, or field.'"
Hearing Jaden recite her Phantom's effect, Yubel's expression grew even uglier.
Jaden actually knew this effect!
How... how was that possible?
While she panicked, the nearby duelists exchanged looks. Many drew sharp breaths, clearly shaken by this effect.
Because this wasn't a simple effect.
"Changes that effect to..."
This meant it wasn't negation or disruption. It modified the opponent's monster effect. In other words, even monsters "unaffected by other card effects" would have their activated effects changed to "destroy Yubel."
Both tyrannical and self-destructive.
"Yubel's monsters can't be destroyed by battle, and battle damage becomes zero. But after battle ends, the opponent takes that damage instead." Jaden continued listing Yubel's effects, making several friends wince.
As he spoke, his eyes began glowing gold. His entire demeanor shifted from calm to commanding. "Not only that, with your Nightmare Pain on the field, my monsters must attack Yubel, and I take the damage...
In other words, any monster I summon to attack your Yubel deals me double battle damage."
"Ugh..." Hassleberry felt uncomfortable just hearing it. His Deck seemed helpless against this board.
Syrus shook his head rapidly, thinking that his cards, or his classmates', couldn't handle this either.
What about his bro?
Could Zane's Deck solve this?
Jaden looked at his hand and calmly raised one card. "I pay 1000 LP. I activate the Spell Card: Cosmic Cyclone."
"What?"
"This card pays 1000 LP, targeting one Spell or Trap on the field. That card is banished. I banish Nightmare Pain."
From deep in the dark cosmos, a golden storm swept across Yubel's field, instantly seizing Nightmare Pain, tearing through space, and carrying it away.
Jaden, LP: 4000 → 3000.
"Yubel, I know that although you didn't use it, Opening of the Spirit Gates can, once per turn while you control a Level 10 monster, add one Continuous Spell from the Graveyard to your hand.
If I had simply destroyed Nightmare Pain, next turn you'd recover it and continue dueling through pain and torment, right?"
"This... you..." Yubel didn't know how to describe her feelings.
Past or present, in her time with Jaden, she had always been the proactive one. She knew his thoughts and reasoning inside out. She could "help" Jaden with anything he wanted.
But now, the rhythm felt wrong!
"Yubel, when I didn't know, you secretly put the children who made me sad into comas. That excessive protection only made childhood me more miserable. But you thought it was protection.
Back then, I didn't know you existed. So when my parents sent you out of this world, I just thought KaibaCorp had approved my card designs.
You must have endured terrible, inhuman torment in the other dimensions.
That was my fault. A fault born from my ignorance. So you don't need to force yourself to believe that torment is love. You don't need to justify everything I did. You don't need to... torture yourself with endless suffering."
He extended his hand to Yubel. "I'm willing to give you my true love, if you'll abandon this cycle of pain."
Hearing this, Yubel felt as though the boy before her had transformed back into that child from countless ages ago. The child for whom she had willingly sacrificed herself and been remade into a dragon...
Jaden's sincere admission of fault made her consciousness waver. She reached out, wanting to respond, but two opposing colors rose from her body.
One was a terrifying curtain of light wreathed in black smoke. The other was a viscous black that flowed like sludge.
She shook her head and didn't respond to Jaden's words.
"Words alone aren't enough?" Seeing Yubel's reaction, Jaden knew she might have heard him, but remained self-centered.
But he wasn't discouraged.
For this duel, unlike his usual self, he had consulted friends and teachers beforehand. His words weren't improvised but carefully crafted after serious self-reflection and long deliberation.
"Then, I activate the Spell Card: Convert Contact. When I control no monsters: I send one Neo-Spacian each from my hand and Deck to the Graveyard. Then I draw two cards."
"I discard Aqua Dolphin from my hand and send Grand Mole from my Deck to the Graveyard. Draw two cards."
He glanced at the drawn cards. The golden light in his eyes seemed almost solid.
"One more. Convert Contact. I send Air Hummingbird from my hand and Dark Panther from my Deck to the Graveyard. Draw two more."
"Neo-Spacians..." Yubel glared at these monsters with venomous resentment.
These monsters, these creatures Jaden had "created," had stolen so much of Jaden's love from her.
Jaden's love should have belonged solely to her. Instead, he shared it with heroes and these bizarre cosmic spirits. So she had no fondness for any Neo-Spacian.
"Next, when I control no other cards, I can activate this from my hand. Trap Card: NEXT!"
"I Special Summon any number of Neo-Spacians and Elemental HERO Neos from my hand and Graveyard in Defense Position! I Special Summon all four Neo-Spacians from my Graveyard!"
Hummingbird, Panther, Mole, Dolphin. Four monsters appeared beside Jaden with confident smiles, standing guard at his side.
Yubel's hands clenched into fists. Her entire body trembled.
"Spell Card: Space Gift." Jaden quietly activated a new Spell. "I draw one card from my Deck for each type of Neo-Spacian face-up on my field.
I control four types, so I draw four."
"What terrifying draw power."
"Jaden's really serious this time..."
His friends were stunned by the absurd amount of draws, marveling that Jaden had probably never been more serious than right now.
"Spell Card: EN - Engage Neo Space!
I send one Neo-Spacian and one Elemental HERO from my hand and Deck to the Graveyard. I send Shadow Mist from my hand and Glow Moss from my Deck. From my Deck, I Special Summon a Neo-Spacian or Level 5+ Elemental HERO, then add one Polymerization from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand. This turn, I can only Special Summon Fusion Monsters from the Extra Deck.
If the monster Special Summoned is Neos, it gains 1000 ATK.
I Special Summon Elemental HERO Neos from my Deck, then add Polymerization to my hand!"
"Next, Shadow Mist's Graveyard effect. When this card is sent to the Graveyard: I add one HERO monster other than Shadow Mist from my Deck to my hand."
Jaden stared at Yubel. "Yubel, how about it? Will you activate your effect?"
Hearing Jaden's words, Yubel felt uneasy. This was clearly Jaden deliberately provoking her into activating.
But wasting her effect on a mere search seemed wasteful.
She didn't know.
"As you please." Yubel said with a smile.
"Then I add Elemental HERO Stratos to my hand."
After adding the card, Jaden looked at his field monsters. The Neo-Spacian heroes noticed his gaze and nodded.
"I return Neos, Aqua Dolphin, and Air Hummingbird on my field to the Deck for a Triple Contact!"
In the air, three monsters leapt up. Dolphin and Hummingbird placed their hands on Neos's back. Then a flash of ocean-blue light shimmered as a brand-new hero slowly descended from the sky.
Ocean-blue wings and silver-white talons formed a giant embodying the sea.
"Contact Fusion! Elemental HERO Storm Neos!"
Elemental HERO Storm Neos. Level 9, WIND Attribute, Warrior-Type. ATK 3000.
3000 ATK?
Hmph. Just the ATK was decent, but ATK alone was useless.
"Storm Neos's effect: once per turn during my Main Phase, I destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field."
Tch.
This effect was something Yubel couldn't ignore.
"I activate Phantom of Yubel's effect. I Tribute itself and change your effect to 'destroy Yubel.'"
She extended her hand. From the Deck, a Yubel cheerfully emerged to greet the storm, then exploded into fireworks with a boom.
But Yubel's destruction wasn't the end. With Yubel's departure, a new demon crawled from the darkness.
"When Yubel is destroyed: I Special Summon one Yubel - Terror Incarnate from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard."
The two-headed demon knight reappeared.
Yubel - Terror Incarnate. Level 11, DARK Attribute, Fiend-Type. ATK 0.
"Then, I Normal Summon Elemental HERO Stratos. I activate Stratos's effect: I destroy Spell and Trap Cards on the field up to the number of other HERO monsters I control. I destroy your Set card."
"Not so fast. I activate Samsara D Lotus's effect on the field. During my opponent's turn, while I control a Yubel monster and a monster effect is activated: I Tribute this card. That effect becomes... 'destroy one Yubel monster on the field.'"
"Oh no, that monster's effect also turns things into Yubel destruction?"
"This is going to be tough..."
"Your Stratos's effect destroys a Yubel on my field, right?" Yubel smiled, palms open, letting Jaden choose. Jaden thought about it. He knew Yubel's card effects, so figuring there probably wasn't a second Yubel set, he chose the other Yubel.
However, reality differed from his expectations. The storm swept in again. Yubel spread her arms, embracing the pain as though it were something wonderful.
"Come, Jaden. Let us torment each other even more." Yubel spoke with excitement.
"Special Summon: a second Terror Incarnate!"
With that, her field now held two Terror Incarnates, one Set card, and two Continuous Spells.
Jaden hadn't expected Yubel to have two copies of her evolved form. He studied his hand for a moment, then spoke. "Spell Card: EN Shuffle."
"I return one Elemental HERO or Neo-Spacian on my field to the Deck and Special Summon one with a different name from my Deck.
I return Stratos to the Deck. Special Summon!
Elemental HERO Neos!"
"Neos, Neos, always Neos. Jaden, why do you favor that thing so much?"
"It's not favoritism, Yubel." Jaden looked at her without flinching. "I love dueling. I love every one of my monsters."
This was essentially a confession.
But Yubel didn't accept it. She only wanted herself.
"Is that so... Then, Neos with Grand Mole and Dark Panther, Triple Contact again!"
"Hero born from the nebula, appear!"
"Elemental HERO Nebula Neos!"
Elemental HERO Nebula Neos. Level 9, EARTH Attribute, Warrior-Type. ATK 3000.
"Another 3000 ATK monster?"
"That's two Blue-Eyes-level monsters now..."
"Hmph hmph hmph, Jaden, you haven't forgotten my effect, have you?" Yubel wasn't worried.
Even 100,000 ATK couldn't touch her.
"Of course I haven't... Nebula Neos's effect: when this card is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I draw cards equal to the number of cards my opponent controls. Then, I target one face-up card on the field and negate its effects until the end of the turn."
"What?"
Everyone thought they were hearing things.
That much draw power?
How many cards drawn in one turn?
"You have five cards on your field, so I draw five." Jaden drew five, glanced at his hand, then pointed at Yubel's field. "I negate Terror Incarnate's effects!"
Hearing this, Yubel stared blankly to her side. On her left, the dark demon dragon gradually lost its color under the nebula's influence, becoming a grey-white monster.
"Spell Card: Polymerization. I fuse Bubbleman and Avian from my hand. Fusion Summon: Elemental HERO Mariner."
Elemental HERO Mariner. Level 5, WATER Attribute, Warrior-Type. ATK 1400.
"I Set one card."
Jaden selected a card from his hand and Set it.
"Brilliant!" Chazz reacted first. "Mariner can attack directly when you have a Set Spell or Trap. Since one Terror Incarnate is negated, whether Storm Neos or Nebula Neos attacks successfully, that's 3000 battle damage!"
Combined, that was 4400 damage!
If the attacks connected, it was over!
Of course, the caveat was whether Yubel's Set card was defensive.
"Yubel, there's no need for hatred anymore... You were never hated by me. I simply didn't understand, didn't comprehend your existence. Now I know everything. Although I'm no longer the me from your memories, I can still accept your existence.
You can be my friend, my partner too...
I activate the Spell Card: R - Righteous Justice! I destroy Spell and Trap Cards on the field equal to the number of Elemental HEROes I control!"
"Beautiful!"
"Now it's a sure thing!"
Yubel watched Storm Neos raise its hand, countless images flashing through her mind.
The past, when she served as a knight protecting Jaden. And in this world, as a card spirit, still guarding him.
Bonds? Friendship?
Those things were meaningless!
The malice within her surged.
If such things worked, the Supreme King wouldn't have died from betrayal!
"I activate the Trap Card: Ring of Destruction!"
"..."
"I destroy one face-up monster on my field, and both players take 1000 damage. The monster I destroy is the effect-negated Terror Incarnate!!"
Hatred once suppressed would never dissipate. It would remain forever upon her.
An enormous wheel studded with explosives bound itself to Yubel - Terror Incarnate. Then the horrific explosives detonated. Resentment and screaming madness filled the entire arena.
As the explosion cleared, the light of justice from the heroes shone upon Yubel's field.
"Don't you dare judge me! When I fought for justice, where were the so-called heroes?!" Yubel casually swatted away the "R" illuminating her. She dodged the explosion but couldn't save her Spells and Traps.
After the blast, Opening of the Spirit Gates and Mature Chronicle vanished from the field.
Jaden looked at his opponent and scratched the back of his head, feeling his brain reaching its limit.
The talking points he'd discussed with everyone beforehand were almost exhausted.
"Sigh... Mariner, direct attack."
Mariner swung its anchor and hurled it at Yubel's body.
Jaden, LP: 3000 → 2000. Yubel, LP: 3000 → 1600.
"Sigh, what a shame..."
"That spirit's resentment runs too deep. Jaden's been scary smart today, like playing a game with cheat codes, and she still won't budge."
"Sparkman, what do you mean? Are you saying bro isn't normally smart?!"
Below, the group bickered, but it was really their way of relieving the pressure and worry for Jaden.
Jaden looked at his numerous hand cards and hesitated.
"Field Spell: Neo Space. This way, the Neo-Spacian Fusion Monsters won't return to the Deck during the End Phase."
"Then, I Set two cards. Turn end."