The surrounding horde of demons stared, dumbfounded.
I-it's over already.
No one was mentally prepared for what had just happened.
In everyone's expectations, the duel had barely begun. No one could attack in the first round; this was the first turn in which battle was even possible.
In other words, the real fight was supposed to start now.
And it just ended like that?
This was a 3-v-3 with 12,000 combined Life Points!
OTKing over 10,000 LP in one turn—what kind of joke is that?
And with… a bicycle?
This dimension apparently didn't have bicycles as a tool, but that chibi personified bike—so flimsy—didn't look like any sort of respectable ace at a glance. Even as a spirit, it probably wouldn't be taken seriously in this world.
Yet that thing just pulled off a triple kill in one single turn!
Even Jaden stood there, duel disk still raised, mouth open, staring at the domineering bicycles on Kira's field, momentarily at a loss.
Huh? That's it?
It was supposed to be a 3v3—he'd finally gotten a chance to actually play—but it didn't feel like he'd done anything at all…
Why did it feel like he'd just played a fake duel?
Even Joey, who'd wanted to see the strength of this so-called new Duel King, was dumbstruck, speechless.
I mean…
Even if you say you want to see his strength, a one-turn triple KO is still…
He had no idea what to say.
And five consecutive bicycle strikes…
What can you even say?
You certainly can't say he's not strong.
"Nice teamwork," Kira said with a smile to his teammates.
"If Joey-san hadn't cleared the back row, I couldn't have set up so easily."
Jaden: "Ah, uh, yeah."
Jaden was happy to be credited for teamwork, but he really didn't feel like they'd executed any coordinated finishing blow…
"Alright, we'll talk later," Kira said.
He hopped down from the rooftop and turned to the remaining horde of the Supreme King's army.
"Let's mop up."
With their three commanders wiped in a flash, the remaining troops—though numerous—had already lost most of their will to fight.
Kira jumped down from the roof; the BLS materialized behind him at the same time. The long sword cleaved the air, a shockwave sweeping through the crowd, carving a long, narrow furrow through their ranks like the Red Sea parting.
The demons cried out. With morale shattered, they scattered like birds and beasts. The formation crumbled, and the buffs the remaining duel generals granted were greatly weakened.
Those three leaders had each drawn power from their own formations. Generals led their armies into battle; much of that seemed useless in a duel between experts, but it wasn't just for show.
A duel is, to a large extent, a contest of momentum, and a general leading an army can gain a boost from troop morale.
It's somewhat like a duelist with spirits drawing on the power of the spirits in their deck. But since generals and soldiers don't share the tight bond that duelists and spirits do, only a fraction of that power can be shared through formation.
Even a fraction is considerable; a boost from a large army's morale is a major buff for a duelist.
But clearly, those three got crushed even at full strength with their armies behind them—played with and annihilated.
They were the strongest generals of the current dimension. There were still other generals with dueling capability among the troops, theoretically able to fight.
But if the commanders got OTK'd at full power, the rest—who admitted they weren't as strong—and with morale broken—would only be throwing their lives away by stepping up.
Can't win. It's over. Run.
The trio split up and reaped the field, summoning monsters and cutting through the rabble. In this dimension, card effects manifest physically, and summoned monsters are corporeal, not necessarily spirits, so they fought with almost no restrictions.
Occasionally two or three duel generals tried to resist with a duel.
But they were weaker than the commanders to begin with, and now without formation buffs, their threat level was negligible; they were casually dispatched in moments.
Of course, they couldn't possibly annihilate so many grunts with just three people and their monsters. In the end, the Supreme King's army was routed, fleeing in disarray; countless spirits were slain and cards seized, though many still escaped in all directions.
After a stretch of fierce fighting, the desert town fell quiet again.
"Ahh—now that was satisfying,"
Jaden stretched lazily, put away his duel disk, and hopped down from a rooftop.
"Finally got to duel to my heart's content… well, would've been better if the opponents were tougher."
Then he bounced over to Joey, eyes sparkling like a fangirl meeting her idol.
"Oooh, the man himself! The legendary duelist!"
Put on the spot, Joey scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"Huh? Ahaha, I'm not that famous…"
"You're way too humble," Jaden said, clapping his back with a grin.
"Your name is known by every last person at our Duel Academy. Especially your godlike dice—"
Joey's smile vanished instantly.
"So in the end, I'm only famous for the dice, huh…"
"Huh?"
Jaden blinked, thought a moment.
"Oh, of course not. There's also your coin. Rumor has it you can make it land heads when you want heads, tails when you want tails—"
"Ahem."
Joey put on a stern face.
"Besides those, I'm famous for plenty of other things, right?"
"For example, indomitable spirit, cool dueling, a crisp and decisive tactical style…"
Jaden blinked blankly.
"Eh?"
There's… that too?
"I'm not some duelist who relies entirely on luck," Joey declared proudly. "I rely on technique and strength! If anyone's spreading rumors that Joey Wheeler can't duel without dice, that's slander!"
"Is that so…"
Jaden asked, puzzled.
"So then, the rumor I heard—that Joey-san uses 'Cup of Ace' as if it were 'Pot of Greed'—that's fake, right?"
[Cup of Ace, Spell Card.
Flip a coin. If heads: you draw 2 cards. If tails: your opponent draws 2.]
Joey: "…"
He really wanted to shout, "Slander. Pure, uncut slander."
But he couldn't say it.
Because he did, in fact, have a Cup of Ace in his deck at the moment.
"Alright, it's getting late. Let's head back first," Kira cut off the exchange between buddy and fan.
"Joey-san, coming with us?"