By that time, if your mentality still can't stay steady, even the Duel is going to be affected!
To carry out the controls and posture this smoothly, this guy is absolutely a powerhouse Duelist who's especially skilled at Racing Duels!
Jack turned his head and watched Paradox's operation, his eyes narrowing slightly, clearly surprised.
He hadn't expected that outside the City, there would be such outstanding Duelists.
In that case, he couldn't afford to underestimate him.
"End Battle Phase, enter Main Phase 2," Jack pressed a button on his D-wheel and raised another card in his hand. "When there's a Synchro Monster on the field, this card can be Special Summoned from the hand.
Special Summon, LV 1, Tuner Monster, Synchro Clone Resonator."
"Eh!!"
"Another Tuner—don't tell me he's going to Tuning again!?" The MC strained his throat, yelling as if tearing his lungs, whipping up the atmosphere.
"That's right!" Jack pointed one hand to the sky. "A King's Duel must exert the King's pressure! I use the LV 1 Tuner Monster Synchro Clone Resonator and the LV 8 Red Dragon Archfiend for Tuning!"
"Change your stance, Red Dragon Archfiend!"
"Synchro Summon, LV 9——"
"Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss!"
Red Dragon Archfiend roared, spreading its arms, two Arm Blades tearing forth from its hands as it roared onto the field.
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss, LV 9, Dark Attribute, Dragon-Type, Attack Power 3200.
"Effect of Synchro Clone Resonator: when this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, target 1 Resonator in the Graveyard other than itself and activate. That Monster is added to the hand. I add Crimson Resonator to my hand.
I set 1 card and end my turn!"
"As expected of Jack—while attacking, he's already set up for continued offense next turn! This is the KING! Jack!"
Seeing this, even Dragan couldn't help but furrow his brows tightly.
He hadn't expected that besides Abyss, Jack Atlas would actually have other powerful Monsters as support.
That only made him even more dissatisfied.
If he had that kind of strength, then why use his own family's lives as bait to force him to throw the match, to keep him from giving his all in a Duel?
"You're indeed strong, Jack Atlas." Paradox burst out from the smoke, hanging behind Jack's D-wheel, speaking lazily. "No wonder you were once… my idol."
Once?
Jack glanced back at him, then said stiffly, "I have never needed anyone's worship. I am myself, I am me, the one and only KING! A King does not need recognition!"
"Hahaha… hearing those words now somehow feels both nostalgic and regrettable."
?
Jack was a bit puzzled.
Paradox lightly scratched his hair with his right hand, then said, "The color's still pretty shiny, isn't it?"
The same shining blond hair…
Was it deliberately dyed? Or was he born just like Jack?
"Honestly, only now do I understand what it means when they say an idol and the person themselves are never the same thing.
A few short strokes in a history book, or a few photos—that's what sketches out the boundless fantasies of children, their worship and reverence for people of that era. But when I truly stood before this so-called idol, all I felt was…
Hmm…
Ridiculous."
Watching the stream, Yusei raised his head to look at Tenjo Hikari. Tenjo Hikari lifted a brow, a fitting line coming to mind: "Admiration is the distance furthest away from understanding."
After hearing that, Yusei instantly understood, and even… vaguely realized why their "die-hard" fan count was growing so damn slowly.
"History? Stories? What are you talking about… Wait, don't tell me!" Jack had heard about the future from Yusei.
At this very moment, he finally understood——
This Paradox wasn't one of the fans from his own world who watched his Duels, but someone from the future who, after hearing Yusei's story, came to admire him as the 'helper'… a later generation!
At this moment, Jack was shocked, delighted, and… embarrassed!
Even someone as thick-skinned as him was embarrassed to the extreme!
Because he knew that, as someone who had screwed Yusei over, even if he could enter the "historical tales and legends" alongside him, it was basically just riding Yusei's coattails. If not for Yusei, how many people in later generations would even know him?
Precisely because of that, his excitement at "being recorded in history" lasted barely a few seconds before being completely washed away by this embarrassment.
And what was worse——
He understood.
After seeing the "real Jack," this Paradox had experienced quite a significant level of disappointment!
"I can hardly believe you could be mentioned in the same breath as that Yusei—" The eyes of Paradox's mask flickered with light, as if tears were flowing.
He hadn't met Jack before, but he knew all about Yusei.
In his eyes, Fudou Yusei was even more of a Saint than the history books made him out to be.
Then what about the rest of the 5DS Team?
With that curiosity, he saw the current 5DS Team's Tenjo Hikari—yeah, a Duelist and Savior from another Dimension, no less than Fudou Yusei, not much to discuss; Crow Hogan, an ordinary person, but through his own efforts he earned the recognition of the Ultimate Earthbound Immortal and became the key figure who helped lower-class people of later generations come together again—truly impressive. Though not as transcendent as Yusei, his deeds are already far beyond what any normal person could accomplish.
So what the hell is this Jack Atlas supposed to be!? His Duel isn't pure, his thinking isn't pure, he even once betrayed his own team!
How could you possibly deserve to be mentioned alongside Yusei!?
"Jack Atlas, you look very confident." Paradox said quietly. "Indeed, the 5DS Team is incredibly strong. Your teammates each possess abilities surpassing ordinary Duelists, even the vast majority of participants.