"What!?" Jonouchi was utterly shocked, "What's with this bizarre effect? This is cheating, isn't it?"
[Marik, LP 2900 → LP 1900]
"Phoenix! Burn everything on the field to ashes for me!"
The burning phoenix flapped its wings, and instantly, a tornado of flames erupted on the field! The scorching fire swept toward the opponent's side, and an overwhelming force beyond description turned Xue Lang's heroes into ashes.
Marik let out a sinister laugh and slowly raised his arm.
"And now, I'll have the Phoenix... directly attack the player!!!"
"What?" Jonouchi said, "Directly attack with a Monster that has 0 attack points?"
"It's a Darkness Game!" In this field, indeed Dark Yugi was the expert, and he instantly got it, "Marik, that guy, he wants to use the Dark Game's damage and the god's physical attack to directly cause spiritual damage to the opposing player!"
"You can play like that!? Hey! That's cheating!" Jonouchi turned to Kaiba, "Marik, that guy, is cheating, Kaiba! Can't you do something?"
However, perhaps because the president chose to believe in science, he completely ignored him.
The flame storm instantly engulfed Xue Lang's entire body, like a wave of flames crashing down. The domineering flames seemed as if they wanted to evaporate the water within all living beings, scorching the flesh while impacting the opponent's spirit.
Even if the attack points are 0, even if it can't cause harm following game rules, the damage is still real and tangible.
To put it bluntly, it's an outside-the-board tactic. Compared to Marik's normal persona, Dark Marik had no principles at all.
This guy never intended to win by playing cards honestly; he used tricks like physical harm and memory loss, and now he straightforwardly wants to use the Sun God's attack to forcefully log off the opponent.
To put it bluntly, it's no different than cheating in the game...
"Heh, the Sun God returns to the graveyard at the end of the turn." Marik laughed, "My turn is over, come back, Phoenix... well, it's just that the poor sap might be struggling to stand right now."
The Sun God's body gradually turned into a virtual image, transforming into a flame that shot into the graveyard of his Duel Disc.
However, what Marik could never have anticipated was...
"My turn," Xue Lang patted his body nonchalantly, "Draw card."
Marik: "!!???"
What the heck? Is this guy Superman?
How can he stand nonchalantly after enduring that level of bombardment? Is he cheating?
Marik looked aghast: "Why... why haven't you collapsed?"
"Huh? I still have remaining LP, why would I fall?" Xue Lang looked puzzled.
Xue Lang happened to be the kind of viewer who watched the anime skippingly and non-seriously. Completely numb to pain, he hadn't noticed Marik's underhanded tricks and simply saw Marik commanding the Sun God with 0 attack points to attack his face as if he were a foolish child...
"Impossible, impossible..." Marik was in disbelief.
Not understanding what he was freaking out about, Xue Lang continued dueling.
"My turn, draw card!"
Xue Lang's eyes lit up as he excitedly revealed the "Elemental Hero Sparkman" he drew.
"Since I drew a Normal Monster, the effects of two 'Heart of the Underdog' on the field trigger, and I continue drawing cards!
Draw card, draw card, draw! Draw fest!
Draw card, draw card, draw! Draw fest..."
Xue Lang's stunt kicked up again. And because there were two 'Heart of the Underdog' on the field this time, he could draw two cards at once, and as long as one of them is a normal monster, the effect could continue to trigger!
"Here it comes," Kaiba said to Mokuba beside him, "That one-turn kill powerful combo."
Yugi also squinted his eyes, "Could that Marik be beaten just like this?"
Xue Lang, having two 'Heart of the Underdog', managed a twelve-card draw in one go, instantly having nearly twenty cards in hand.
Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!
"Field Magic - Fusion Gate activate!" Xue Lang began his storytelling.
"Elemental Hero Featherman, Elemental Hero Wildman fusion! Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Wild Wingman!"
"Elemental Hero Sparkman, Elemental Hero Clayman fusion! Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"
"Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, Elemental Hero Sparkman fusion! Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Grandman!
Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Elemental Hero Clayman fusion! Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Mudballman!"
[Elemental Hero Wild Wingman, Attack 1900]
[Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, Attack 2400]
[Elemental Hero Grandman, Attack 2100]
[Elemental Hero Mudballman, Attack 1900]
"This time it's over!"
Xue Lang felt he had reached the peak of his life.
Holy crap, I'm really going to win!
I'm going to obliterate the big boss!
At this point, Marik's entire face distorted with fear.
"Impossible... impossible..." six-year-old continued to question everything.
Could it be that he would be brutally beaten here by this unhinged maniac?
No way, right?
Marik began to panic, truly panicked this time.
The only hope he could cling to now was that Xue Lang didn't have a second "Quick Attack" in his hand; otherwise, Fusion Monsters couldn't attack this turn...
...However, considering Xue Lang just drew nearly half a deck in one go, the chances of this seem slim.
Indeed, Xue Lang excitedly played the last card: "Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes! Magic Card - Quick Attack activate! Fusion Monsters can attack this turn!"
Marik felt a jolt in his heart, instantly cold to the core.
It's over, it's all over.
"This time it's over!" Xue Lang shouted excitedly, "Thunder Giant! Direct att... "
The words came to an abrupt halt.
Xue Lang suddenly went limp, collapsing on the ground.
Marik: "?"
Xue Lang: "???"
Although Xue Lang's consciousness remained clear, his game character unexpectedly and uncontrollably fell. A line of large characters popped up before him—
—"Stamina critically low, entering near-death status, duel cannot continue."
Xue Lang: "......"
WTF!? There's such a move?
Only now Xue Lang suddenly realized that his stamina had been plummeting vertically at an alarming rate throughout the duel.
Usually, under Youyu's relentless training, with his level-up speed, his stamina was at a point where even seven times a night wasn't a problem (referring to card dueling), and his endurance was truly remarkable.
Yet today, in just three minutes, he was already done, even with a tendency towards depletion.
Only now did he suddenly understand Marik's sinister intention in directly attacking him with the 0 attack points Sun God.
Damn, this guy was directly depleting his stamina bar!
This is just too sneaky!
...Xue Lang, unable to rise again.
A full three minutes passed, and Xue Lang still lay flat, utterly unable to get up. In such a situation, naturally, there was nothing good to be said about the results.
Referee Izono raised his arm: "Winner! Marik Ishtar!"
Dark Marik folded his arms: "Ha ha ha ha!!"
Six-year-old wore an expression of "everything within control," as if the one who had been scared and almost wet his pants and nearly lost a moment ago was someone else.