"As soon as you summon your monster—" Kira announced, "I activate my set card, Quick-Play Spell 'Quick Summon'!
This lets me Normal Summon a monster from my hand."
Kira waved his hand, setting another card from his hand onto the field.
"I'll set another monster face-down."
Primo: "?"
Primo paused briefly, frowning at the newly set monster on Kira's field.
The moment he summoned Wise Core, his opponent immediately set another monster, and even placed it face-down.
So that's it, a flip effect, huh?
As the mastermind remotely controlling the ghost duelist, Primo sneered in his heart, feeling as though he'd already seen through Kira's tactics. It must be a powerful flip-effect monster that can remove an opponent's monster when flipped. Trying to use a flip monster to disrupt him—how naïve!
But tricks of this level were useless against him, one of the proud Three Pure Nobles of Iliaster!
"From my hand, I activate the Spell Card 'Dark Hole'!"
The Ghost duelist flamboyantly raised his Spell Card.
"This card destroys all monsters on the field!"
The Spell was inserted into the Duel Disk, unleashing an overwhelming burst of energy. Space itself was torn as a black hole appeared above the field, pulling everything into its bottomless void.
"Heh, you probably wanted to use a flip monster's effect to trip me up, but my dueling is on a whole different level!"
Primo declared proudly.
With Dark Hole wiping the field clean, no matter what abilities Kira's monsters had, they wouldn't even get the chance to flip—they'd be crushed instantly!
Yet as Kira faced the annihilating black hole in the sky, he gazed at the vortex for a moment, then suddenly let out a mocking laugh.
Primo frowned. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing," Kira smiled, "I just find your shallow understanding amusing."
Primo was angered. "Nani?"
"You seem to think I set that second monster just to set up a flip effect, but that's not it. The reason I used 'Quick Summon' right now was because I saw you summon 'Wise Core'."
Kira paused, his smile growing cold and sharp.
"Wise Core—the absolute core for summoning 'Meklord Emperor Wisel.'
When it's destroyed by a card effect, you can Special Summon the five pieces of 'Meklord Emperor Wisel' from your hand or Deck. They can fuse and become your ace card, the 'Meklord Emperor Wisel,' right?"
Primo: "!!!"
This time, he was truly shocked.
How does this guy know about his Meklord Emperor's effect?
The Meklord Emperors aren't from this era—they're cards from the ruined future, possessed only by the Three Pure Nobles. Their plans in the present timeline hadn't even officially started, and they'd never revealed themselves in public! Yet the moment the duel began, this guy saw right through all their secrets? Impossible!
"The core can only summon the Meklord by being destroyed by a card effect—so you pack your deck with cards like 'Dark Hole' that can destroy everything.
By destroying your own core, you both summon your Meklord Emperor and wipe out my field. Two birds with one stone. So, once you summon the core, your next move became obvious."
Kira spoke calmly as he flipped over his set Spell/Trap.
"That's exactly why I specifically set another monster before you activated 'Dark Hole.'
I now activate my set card—
—Trap Card 'Starlight Road'!"
The Trap flipped open. A road of starlight stretched into the galaxy, shining stardust forming a sanctuary that instantly restrained the dark, destructive celestial body above.
Kira explained, "Starlight Road can only be activated when two or more of your own cards would be destroyed by an effect from a Spell, Trap, or monster. That's why I needed two monsters on my field to trigger its condition.
It negates and destroys the card's effect, then lets you Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck—
—Stardust Dragon!!!"
Primo's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "Nani!?"
The starlit barrier was torn open. Countless stars swirled and gathered into a slender, white, dragon-shaped figure. Stardust Dragon spread its bony wings, raining stardust across the field as it soared into the sky.
[Stardust Dragon, ATK 2500]
Primo was dumbfounded. As a member of Iliaster, he was truly shaken.
Stardust Dragon? How's that possible?
Isn't that the mark of a Signer? Isn't it the only one in existence, owned by Yusei Fudo?
This guy...
"Are you from another time?" Primo questioned darkly through his ghostly puppet. "Just who are you, really?"
In this dimension, Stardust Dragon should be with Yusei Fudo—without a doubt.
Copying a card isn't out of the question, but the current technology in this world can't replicate a card like Stardust Dragon. The Three Pure Nobles could do it, but only at a huge cost. In the original, they created a fake robot that had three copies of 'Red Dragon Archfiend,' but even then, it was said to be very costly.
Besides, a copy and the real thing are never identical. Primo could tell: the dragon before him was no copy, but the true Stardust Dragon.
That leaves only one possibility—this card is a Stardust Dragon from another dimension or timeline.
He simply didn't recognize that this Stardust was originally Paradox's, snatched from a colleague's hands...
"Well, since your 'Dark Hole' failed, your core remains intact, and you can't summon your Meklord Emperor parts either."
Kira said with a playful smile.
"So—what will you do next?"
Primo was silent for two seconds, gritting his teeth.
Stardust Dragon's appearance had completely disrupted his plans.
Indeed, in the anime, the only way to summon the Meklord Emperor is by destroying your own core.
And Stardust Dragon's effect can tribute itself to negate and destroy such effects—making it the absolute worst matchup for him.
The Meklord Emperor is called the "Synchro Killer," but you need to actually summon it before killing anything! Now that Stardust Dragon was summoned first, even getting Meklord Emperor to the field became extremely difficult.
The situation had become bizarre—Primo wanted to destroy his own core, but the enemy's Stardust kept blocking him, leaving things at a strange impasse.
"What's wrong? Is the mighty Meklord Emperor, the Synchro Killer, stumped by a single Stardust Dragon? Can it be?" Kira still mocked.
"Dammit… Don't underestimate me!"
Primo grunted, glancing at his hand.
There was still a way!
"I set a card face-down. Turn end!"
…