Chapter 78. Number Power—Utopic Future Slash Opens the Path! ARC-V World Unlocked!
VRAINS World.
"It's over."
"He has no chance."
"Three copies of Cyberdark End Dragon are on the field, each with strong protection and 5000 ATK."
"Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder is up, ready to wipe the board at any time."
"He's at 1000 LP versus 1200 LP."
"No chance."
Beside him, Left Leader delivered his verdict coolly.
In his view, Number F0: Utopic Future already had no way to turn the duel around.
A mere 1000 LP, a candle in the wind, couldn't possibly break through a field of three Cyberdark End Dragons.
"Oh? You really think that?"
"Left Leader, want to make a bet?"
"I think he's going to win."
Yusaku Fujiki looked at Left Leader with a strange smile.
Left Leader froze.
There's still a chance?
Was Yusaku Fujiki joking?
This board state looked stacked to the limit with monster resources.
But what good would that do?
"What are the stakes?"
"Hahaha, if he wins, buy me an ice cream. It's summer—I want something cold."
5D's World.
Opinions split into two camps.
Yusei Fudo believed Number F0: Utopic Future still had a chance—it was just a matter of whether he could see it.
Jack Atlas, on the other hand, believed Utopic Future was already doomed.
There was no way to withstand three Cyberdark End Dragons.
Five thousand ATK each?
What Utopia cards could possibly let him spike his ATK high enough?
Yusei Fudo: "He's already set to win, Jack. You don't believe it?"
Jack Atlas: "Oh? Yusei, I truly don't believe he can come back from this board!"
In the short video.
Number F0: Utopic Future stared at the cards on his field.
Could it be…
There really was no chance?
No.
There's no way there's no chance!
There must be some method—there must be hope!
I've already failed to land two one-turn kills!
Twice I've recycled Xyz resources and cards!
After coming this far—
How could I give up!?
There absolutely must be a way to pry open a sliver of life!
There absolutely must be!
Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy? No, not that.
Number S39: Utopia the Lightning? No, not that.
Utopic Future Slash?
That card gains ATK equal to the number of "Number" Xyz Monsters in both Graveyards × 500.
Right now we only have four "Number" monsters between our GYs, so Future Slash is just 2000.
How do I brea—
Wait, no!
Who says we don't have more?
We're about to have more!
Aren't all my monsters on board Xyz Monsters anyway!
Cyber-Style Master: "Hey, hey—can you hurry up? You're running out of time!"
Cyber-Style Master: "If you've got nothing, just surrender! Don't waste time!"
Number F0: Utopic Future: "Who said I've got nothing? I activate the Spell Card, Magical Stone Excavation!"
Number F0: Utopic Future: "I discard 2 to add Forbidden Chalice from my Graveyard to my hand!"
"I activate Number F0: Utopic Future Slash's effect! Detach 1 material! This turn it can attack twice!"
"And because the detached material was a 'Number,' Future Slash's ATK rises to 2500!"
"All right—battle!"
"Because of the Field Spell Chicken Game!"
"As long as this card is in the Field Zone, the player with lower LP takes no damage."
"You enjoyed that earlier—now it's my turn!"
"I'm ramming straight in!"
"Ramming straight in?"
"What does that mean?"
Before anyone could react, a scene that stunned everyone unfolded!
Number F0: Utopic Future: "First hit! Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy rams your Cyberdark End Dragon—self-destruct to the GY! Future Slash now 3000 ATK!"
"Second hit! Number S39: Utopia the Lightning rams your Cyberdark End Dragon—self-destruct to the GY! Future Slash now 3500 ATK!"
"Third hit! Number 39: Utopia Beyond rams—self-destruct to the GY! Future Slash now 4000 ATK!"
"Fourth hit! Number F0: Utopic Draco Future rams—self-destruct to the GY! Future Slash now 4500 ATK!"
"And now the fifth hit!"
"Number 93: Utopia Kaiser rams your Cyberdark End Dragon while it has material and goes to the GY! Chain Forbidden Chalice to negate Utopia Kaiser's battle protection!"
"Future Slash—final ATK—5500!!"
At this point.
Duelists across every Duel World went wild!
Five consecutive crash attacks to feed the Graveyards!
He forcibly pushed Future Slash up to a terrifying 5500 ATK!
And now—
With two attacks this turn, Future Slash could destroy two Cyberdark End Dragons!
Then Cyber-Style Master would be left at 200 LP!
And thanks to Chicken Game—
The 1000-LP Utopic Future player would take no damage from the opponent!
Which means—if this works—
Utopia has an overwhelming chance to finish Cyber-Style Master on the next turn!
The comeback had begun!
It really had begun!
Cyber-Style Master clearly panicked!
After thinking hard, he still chose to activate AA-ZEUS's effect!
Cyber-Style Master: "It's useless! I activate Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder!"
Cyber-Style Master: "Your Utopic Future Slash doesn't have protection!"
Number F0: Utopic Future: "Oh? Is that so?"
Number F0: Utopic Future: "My Future Slash doesn't have protection, true—but remember the Counter Trap I retrieved and Set earlier when you destroyed my Utopia the Lightning? Numbers Protection?"
"What?!"
"Numbers Protection?!"
"Wait!"
"Could it be—!"
As the set Trap on Utopic Future's field flipped open—
Numbers Protection revealed its text!
While you control a "Number" Xyz Monster, when a monster effect or a Spell/Trap is activated: negate that activation, and if you do, destroy that card.
In other words—
AA-ZEUS's effect was about to be negated, destroyed, and sent to the GY!
Before the stunned eyes of duelists in every world—
AA-ZEUS was indeed negated and sent to the Graveyard!
Number F0: Utopic Future: "Heh heh heh, originally I couldn't quite finish you."
"But now I can."
"Because AA-ZEUS went to the GY, there's another 'Number' in the count!"
"My Future Slash—final ATK is—"
"7500!"
"All the power of the Numbers—one blow to end it!"
"The formula for victory is complete!"
"Attack!!!"
With that final path to the future carved open by Future Slash—
All the damage landed—
And Cyber-Style Master's LP dropped to 0 in an instant!
The duel was over!
The final victor—
Utopia!
Duel Monsters World.
"Impossible! What the—!"
"This is impossible!"
"This guy's cheating, right?!"
"That Counter Trap—when did that happen!"
Joey Wheeler was driven half-mad by the sudden reversal.
He fired off question after question.
He even forgot—
When had that Counter Trap been retrieved and Set?
"I told you already—he'd won."
"You just didn't believe it."
"Actually, the moment I saw the Field Spell, Chicken Game—"
"I knew he would win."
"Otherwise, why do you think he kept cutting his own LP to draw cards at the start?"
"Otherwise, why do you think his opponent kept using Chicken Game to pay LP and draw?"
"From the very beginning, that Cyber-Style Master had already stepped into his trap."
"From the very start—when he used Chicken Game to drop LP for cards—that was it."
"..."
Yugi Muto's words—
Like a light in the dark—awakened all the veteran duelists present.
Right!
From the very beginning—
Utopic Future kept paying LP to draw.
And Cyber-Style Master, as if ensnared, also used Chicken Game to bleed LP for draws.
Just like that—
Cyber-Style Master played himself down to 1200 LP.
But who could have imagined—
Utopic Future would play himself down to 1000 LP.
GX World.
After witnessing that last brain-shattering line of play—
Jesse Anderson and Aster Phoenix both couldn't help but suck in a deep breath.
These duelists of the higher world—
Isn't this a bit too outrageous?
Even in such a perilous board state—
They could still claw out an exit from absolute despair?
Was that really the saying—
"Heaven never seals off all exits"?
"This—he got reverse-swept? He just got cleaned up like that?"
"He probably panicked—if he hadn't activated AA-ZEUS's effect, maybe he could've gambled for the next turn."
"Whew, that victory formula was written so well I'm speechless!"
"Same here! Is this even a way of dueling a human could think up?"
"..."
Every student argued excitedly.
The duelists who hadn't taken Utopic Future's side all fell silent.
They'd never imagined—
Dueling—
Could be played like this.
ARC-V World.
Basic Dimension.
Yuya Sakaki drew in a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
Who is the King of Games?
If you asked him—
Every card-slinger in that higher world was a King of Games.
Why did it feel like—
His Odd-Eyes couldn't beat anyone?
"Whoa! He really won?"
"I only dozed off for a second!"
"What all just happened?!"
Gong Strong rubbed his eyes.
He'd looked away after the huge explosion of plays—and yet they won in the end!
He was utterly dumbfounded on the spot.
"How do I put it?"
"I don't know how to put it."
"It was like this, then like that, then like this again, and finally like that."
"And then he won. Yeah."
Beside him, Zuzu Boyle babbled through it.
She didn't know the cards, and didn't know what AA-ZEUS or Cyberdark End Dragon meant.
Plus the shock hadn't faded, and Zuzu still hadn't recovered.
So her words had lost some logic.
Gong Strong listened, then just stared.
What even was that?
Main World.
Sei Yuki finished watching the video.
Even though he'd seen it before—
He still couldn't help being shaken.
In truth, the video's protagonist, Number F0: Utopic Future, was exactly as Yugi Muto had said in the big group chat.
Basically from the very start—
He lured the Cyber Dragon player into a trap.
And precisely because of the LP gap—
The opponent's Cyber Dragon pilot squandered his LP without a care.
At the same time—
Ending on 1000 LP guaranteed Utopic Future's comeback angle.
That was one of the reasons he could win in the end, right?
"Hah… right, right."
"After this video—"
"I can unlock the next world."
"It should be the ARC-V World, right?"
Sei Yuki opened the app's feature panel.
After a bit of searching, he locked onto the ARC-V World unlock.
Once he confirmed—
He successfully unlocked another function of the software!
[Congratulations, user Sei Yuki, for successfully unlocking the ARC-V World.]
[ARC-V World now connecting.]
[ARC-V World connection successful.]
[Congratulations, user Sei Yuki, you have obtained trial privileges for World Settings.]
[Please proceed to view, Sei Yuki.]
Very soon.
A brand-new world info panel appeared in the software.
The live-chat bullet comments inside began to pop up as well.
Basic Dimension.
Yuya Sakaki: "What are you guys even talking about? In the end, Future Slash just took the win in one breath!"
Zuzu Boyle: "Ah—sorry, sorry—I hadn't gotten my thoughts back together. The last move was just too strong."
Gong Strong: "Oh, oh, oh—I get it now. Awesome! I wonder if my Superheavy Samurai can have a moment of glory!"
Xyz Dimension.
Yuto: "Shay Obsidian, after seeing this, maybe it's time we set out."
Shay Obsidian: "What do you mean? Go find my sister, Lulu Obsidian?"
Yuto: "Yeah.
Time to head for the Fusion Dimension.
If we wait any longer, it'll be hard to keep things under control."
Shay Obsidian: "I understand..."
Fusion Dimension.
Yuri: "Heh heh heh, even though Cyber Dragons lost, I've got to say—Cyberdark End Dragon was still stylish."
Celina: "Of course!
We're talking about a protection king!
Five thousand ATK is crazy strong too—it's just a pity it couldn't close it out."
Yuri: "Honestly, that's normal.
If our thinking jumps the rails a bit, and we look a little further, it all becomes clear."
Celina: "'Thinking… jumps the rails'?
'Look… further'?"
Sei Yuki watched as the comments kept streaming by.
Including messages from other dimensions.
That gave Sei Yuki a bit of a headache.
These dimensional characters still hadn't merged with the Basic Dimension?
"No helping it!"
"Let me see what these World Settings actually do.
If I can merge these dimensions, that'd be ideal!"
Sei Yuki opened the settings for the chat group.
With a quick look—
He really did find some interesting toggles.
For example, in the DM World—
He could separate Yugi Muto and Pharaoh Atem.
Let Atem leave the Millennium Puzzle.
Summon Dartz, user of the Orichalcos.
GX World.
He could summon Supreme King Jaden's soul.
He could also summon the fused form of Jaden and Yubel.
Even Jesse Anderson's dark personality.
5D's World.
The vanished dark personas, the Earthbound Immortals, Z-ONE, and so on—
Could all be summoned, and he could toggle whether they remained or disappeared at will.
Simply put—
The personas he summoned could be kept from continuing their misdeeds.
If they did evil, they would automatically and gradually be erased.
Was this also to prevent dark-persona duelists from ruling and destroying the world?
This really was just like a game!
With that thought, Sei Yuki first tried fusing the four dimensions and saving the souls of duelists from all four.
In other words, he could set the four dimensions into one.
After he clicked—
The entire ARC-V World underwent earth-shaking change that instant!
Fusion Dimension! Xyz Dimension! Basic Dimension! Synchro Dimension!
They began fusing together!
And at that moment, the protagonists of all four dimensions realized something was wrong!
Yuya Sakaki: "What's going on?
Why do I feel like our world… changed?"
Yuto: "What happened?
Why did it suddenly… go dark?
It's only noon!"
Yugo: "Huh?
Why did the sky change?
Why can I hear your voices?
Hey—what's going on?!"
Yuri: "That's what I want to ask!
Why are your voices in my head?
Can you please keep it down?"
Originally, the four dimensional protagonists were the same person.
After this fusion—
It meant the four souls would resonate.
The four dragons of the dimensional saga gathered together at that instant as well!
The memories of Supreme King Z-ARC, along with all progress, awakened ever faster as the four souls converged!
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