The Fortune Cup entered its second day.
Aside from Yusei and Jack, no one knew that the Director, the tournament organizer, had come last night and played a life-or-death Turbo Duel here. But by morning, some contestants and spectators discovered more cracks had appeared on the barrier beside the track.
Fortunately, no major impact on the tournament.
The second day's matches proceeded largely as Kira had predicted. The Sector Security's invited duelists had mostly completed their assignments.
Leo was eliminated early, before revealing his potential as a Signer. It was a pity, but as expected since he shouldn't awaken this early, according to the original story.
Luna, too, was eliminated, but her purpose was achieved. Her opponent was a master hypnotist, who succeeded in triggering memories from when Luna was three years old—recalling her journey to the Spirit World, and her promise to use her gift to protect the spirit world from darkness.
Remembering that vow greatly sped up Luna's awakening. But her "Ancient Fairy Dragon"—the symbol of a Signer—remained sealed somewhere in the Spirit World. The girl would need to rescue her dragon to complete her true awakening.
Despite being just a little girl, Luna's Ancient Fairy Dragon is arguably the most powerful of the five Signer Dragons—even the only one to be banned for life in the real OCG/TCG.
The reason: Ancient Fairy can destroy a Field Spell, then search another. With no special limit on Synchro materials, and the increasing number of powerful Field Spells, it can be abused in any deck that relies on them.
On top of that, Ancient Fairy occasionally appears in some one-turn-kill (FTK) combos, earning it that permanent ban.
Sometimes Kira wondered: was the anime's choice to have Ancient Fairy appear only sealed a premonition of her ultimate fate in the meta?
…
By the afternoon of Day 2, the matches reached the finals.
As expected, Yusei advanced to the finals, facing Akiza Izinski consumed by revenge.
In Kira's opinion, this round was noticeably more difficult for Yusei's mission of redeeming her.
Akiza, ostracized as a "witch," bore deep loneliness and sadness. Now, with the only person who accepted her, Sayer, gone, her rage only burned brighter. Yusei would have to break through her emotional wall—harder than in the original.
Akiza: "Die! I'm a witch—a witch who enjoys destruction and hurting others! You can die like all the rest!"
She screamed as her Black Rose Dragon unleashed a blood-red storm, howling mournfully.
Yusei: "No matter how many times it takes, I'll keep taking all your pain and loneliness!
Stardust Dragon!"
Stardust, carrying his will, soared in and embraced Black Rose Dragon.
Maybe it's fate—Akiza was Yusei's destined rival. Black Rose's effect is "destroy all cards on the field," while Stardust's is "negate and destroy anything that destroys cards."
Black Rose has 2400 ATK. Stardust has 2500—a mocking 100 points higher.
Yusei: "You need to learn to love yourself, to think for yourself!"
Akiza: "That's why it hurts so much, because I can't!"
She grew even more furious.
"Shut up! Just shut up! You're just that white-haired bastard's lapdog too—go die!"
It was a thrilling match—even physically, not just in the duel.
Especially the front-row spectators. Whenever Akiza attacked, people would shrink away, rushing back—Black Rose would blow up the field, a storm of debris, the wind like countless blades slicing overhead. The spectacle was a first for many viewers.
Luckily, Yusei and Stardust Dragon were there. Every time Akiza attacked, Stardust would take the blow, neutralizing the storm before it reached its full destructive force.
Of course, history didn't change—Akiza still lost.
No matter how much angrier or stronger she seemed, she was never on Yusei's level. In the end Yusei outdueled her; Akiza was eliminated in the finals.
So, the Fortune Cup's winner was decided: Yusei, after a tough climb, claimed the championship, and with it the promised "right to challenge the King."
The last match was for the Fortune Cup champion, Yusei, to challenge New Domino City's Dueling King—Jack Atlas.
Of course, even if they didn't fight, it was clear Jack was no match for Yusei at this point. But the energy from this duel was immense, and Yusei's victory signaled his full awakening as a Signer.
Kira stood in the organizer's control tower, watching the final between Yusei and Akiza.
"Looks like this is about the current limit," he murmured.
The agony of hatred, the urgent wish to grow stronger, then the clash with Yusei, the strongest Signer. After all this, Kira felt Akiza had reached her current peak.
"Even pushing her further probably won't help much more…"
He turned to leave.
The clownish vice director Lazar called out, "Director? The king's about to fight Yusei—that's the highlight of the Fortune Cup! Aren't you—?"
Kira didn't even turn, waving a hand.
"No worries. Just have something to take care of—be right back."
Time to settle things with Akiza.
…
Sure enough, as soon as he left the viewing tower, he met Akiza at the building entrance.
Just as expected. After losing, she came straight to confront Goodwin.
In her amber eyes, the fire of revenge still hadn't gone out.
"Think you've grown stronger? That today is different than last time?"
Kira smiled, raising his duel disk.
"Alright. I'll grant you one special extra chance."
…