[Treacherous Trap Hole]
When there are no Trap Cards in your Graveyard: Target 2 monsters on the field; destroy those targets.
As the Trap on Jaden Yuki's field flipped face-up, a wave of gasps erupted from the student body in the spectator stands.
"Wait a second, there are only two monsters on the field right now, aren't there?"
"Yeah! One is Chazz Princeton's [Armed Dragon], and the other is Jaden Yuki's Traptrix!"
"If that's the case, is Jaden trying to take Chazz's monster down with his own?"
"Trading a low-level monster for a high-level one is definitely a profitable move."
The audience buzzed with theories about Jaden's tactics. To most, trading a Level 4 monster to take out an opponent's Level 7 monster was an incredible deal.
"No, Jaden isn't the type of person to make a move that leaves him at a disadvantage," Alexis Rhodes said, her brow furrowed in concentration.
She knew him well. In Jaden's duels, he always strove to use the minimum amount of resources to gain the maximum advantage. If he could settle a situation with a one-for-one trade, he would never opt for a two-for-one.
Trading [Treacherous Trap Hole] plus one of his own monsters for a single Armed Dragon? There was no way Jaden would make such a call.
"Traptrix monsters are unaffected by the effects of 'Hole' or 'Trap Hole' Normal Trap cards."
"In other words, [Treacherous Trap Hole] won't have any negative effect on my monster!"
Just as the crowd was drowning in confusion, Jaden spoke up, calmly explaining the effect of [Traptrix Myrmeleo].
"Unaffected?"
"So that means Treacherous Trap Hole will only destroy the Armed Dragon on Chazz's field!"
Everyone turned their eyes toward Chazz. If this went through, he was going to take a massive hit!
"I thought as much! After losing to you twice, Jaden, I've learned to read your dueling style like an open book!"
Chazz gritted his teeth and whipped a card from his hand. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, [Level Down!?]!"
"I target one face-up 'LV' monster on the field and return it to its owner's Deck. Then, I Special Summon a monster from the owner's Graveyard with the same name but a lower Level, ignoring its Summoning conditions!"
Lightning once again enveloped the Armed Dragon on Chazz's field. The dragon let out a fierce roar as its body shrank amidst the crackling surges of electricity.
[Armed Dragon Thunder LV5]
[Level: 5]
[ATK: 2400 / DEF: 1700]
"He used a Quick-Play Spell to dodge Treacherous Trap Hole!"
"And since it's still the Battle Phase, Chazz's Armed Dragon can keep attacking!"
"Impressive. So that's why Chazz chose to evolve Armed Dragon Thunder into LV7 earlier? I was wondering why he bothered if he just wanted to destroy a monster LV5 would have been enough on its own..."
"But because of [Maxx 'C'], Jaden gets to draw another card from his Deck."
As the crowd watched Jaden draw, a cold sweat broke out among them. Without anyone noticing, Jaden's hand which had been completely empty had already replenished itself to three cards.
"Attack! Armed Dragon Thunder!" Chazz roared.
However, he knew that against an opponent like Jaden, raw power wasn't enough. He still had to break through Jaden's remaining three face-down cards.
"Activate face-down card! [Crackdown]!"
Jaden activated another card by his side without a moment's hesitation. "I target one face-up monster my opponent controls and take control of it."
"However, the monster obtained by this effect cannot attack or activate its effects."
Another red Trap appeared beside Jaden. A heavy rope shot out from the card, instantly looping around the neck of Armed Dragon Thunder LV5.
"Dammit, I knew you'd have something else," Chazz muttered, glancing at the three cards left in his hand. "I still have a chance... I won't lose!"
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell, [Forbidden Dress]!"
"Target one face-up monster on the field. It loses 600 ATK, but until the end of this turn, it cannot be targeted or destroyed by other card effects!"
"I choose Armed Dragon Thunder LV5!"
[Armed Dragon Thunder LV5]
[ATK: 2400 → 1800]
"Its ATK dropped!"
"Even though its power went down, that means the Armed Dragon can no longer be targeted by Crackdown!"
"Incredible! Looking at the whole Chain, it looks like Chazz is actually going to pull this off and destroy Jaden's monster!"
"Does this mean Chazz has the upper hand?"
The spectators widened their eyes, staring intently at the rapidly shifting situation. This single Battle Phase was moving too fast to track! No one knew who would come out on top.
"Roar!"
Armed Dragon Thunder LV5 let out a bellowing cry. It violently snapped the glowing rope of Crackdown, its massive frame lunging toward the Traptrix on Jaden's side of the field.
"It can't be destroyed by effects?" Jaden noted. "In that case..."
Jaden waved his hand, and his third face-down card flipped up.
[Compulsory Evacuation Device]!
"I target one monster on the field and return it to its owner's hand!"
Bam!
Chazz's Armed Dragon instantly dissolved into a beam of light and flew straight back into his hand.
Staring at the [Armed Dragon Thunder LV5] card now sitting back in his hand, Chazz's expression froze. He swallowed hard, his throat dry.
"According to the rules of Chaining, the last effect to activate resolves first. [Compulsory Evacuation Device] resolved before the protection of [Forbidden Dress] could take effect!"
Alexis Rhodes frowned deeply. "From the look of things, Jaden has started to take total control of the field."
"True, but to deal with Chazz's board, Jaden had to use three of his Traps in a row," Zane Truesdale added with a faint smile. "Even though Jaden is still ahead, Chazz has achieved his primary objective."
Looking at Jaden's field, which had been stripped down to a single face-down card, Chazz took a deep breath. A spark of excitement flashed in his eyes.
He had done it!
Though the cost had been heavy, he had successfully forced out three of Jaden's set cards. Jaden hadn't looked at that last card once throughout the entire exchange. That meant the cards that actually posed a threat to Chazz had likely all been cleared away.
In that case...
Looking at the three cards in his own hand, Chazz's lips curled into a cold sneer.
Inside the consciousness space...
Ghost Reaper floated within the Graveyard, silently observing the duel between Jaden and Chazz.
"Well, it's a bit surprising. I didn't expect that guy Chazz to actually use such a reckless method to clear the Supreme King's Traps."
"Still... while breaking the board is encouraging, the opponent used your recklessness to draw a massive number of cards. The gap in hand advantage is becoming fatal."
Closing her eyes, Ghost Reaper sighed.
"If this Chazz lived in the world of the future, he might have been a truly powerful Duelist. Unfortunately, when it comes to the finer details, the Supreme King outclasses you by far."
"..."
In the middle of her muttering, Ghost Reaper suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She turned her head and saw two small, familiar figures standing behind her.
"Ghost... Reaper...!"
"Ghost Belle? Ghost Ogre? When did you two..."
Ghost Reaper's face paled as the two spirits approached. she instinctively reached for her scythe, only to realize that because Chazz had discarded her into the Graveyard, she couldn't manifest any of her powers at all.
It was over. Right now, she was no different from the other spirits sealed in the Graveyard who had lost their strength.
Chazz, you bastard... If he hadn't tossed her into the Graveyard, she wouldn't be in this mess!
"You seemed to be having a lot of fun bullying me earlier, didn't you?" Ghost Ogre said with a chilling smile as she stepped forward.
"If Ghost Belle hadn't snuck over to rescue me, I probably would have been bullied to death by you, right?"
Looking at the cold grin on Ghost Ogre's face, Ghost Reaper gritted her teeth, her eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
Chazz! I'll haunt you for the rest of your life for this!
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