"Youyu-san! It's Youyu-san!" The man shouted excitedly, eagerly waving his hand behind Bakura trying to capture his attention.
But Youyu seemed not to notice, ignoring him for the moment.
"Are you finally here in person, Duel King?"
Bakura pondered for a moment, realizing the chance of successfully escaping when cornered like this wasn't very high anymore. He decisively jumped off his horse and stood before Youyu.
Continuing to run wasn't a viable strategy. Now he had lost his base, and the six-year-old pawn he planned to use to test Youyu's depth was sacrificed. Continuing to hide would only make him more passive.
So why not take a shot and see if an opportunity presents itself?
With that thought, Bakura's gaze grew cold again, like icy daggers sweeping across Youyu.
Calm down; there really isn't any need for such fear.
Firstly, whether the opponent is actually Harakty's avatar or not remains unknown—this is literally a conjecture he made up himself.
Secondly, even if it were Harakty, so what?
His Great Evil God Sok retained only a soul fragment, surviving in this half-intact state. He figured even if Harakty left a fragment, it couldn't be that strong.
Otherwise, why would the opponent be playing tactics and hide-and-seek with him? If their power had truly awakened, they would have already blasted him to smithereens from right in front of him.
The more Bakura thought about it, the bolder he became. His lips curled into a sinister grin as he said to Youyu, "Hmph, at this point, even if you've come personally, so what?
Don't think I'll be afraid of you! No one can stop my awakening, if anyone stands in my way, I'll bury them with infinite darkness, even if it's you!"
Youyu: "?"
What kind of self-hype is this?
Pointlessly confusing...
However, that's exactly what Youyu had in mind; he never intended to let the opponent escape here.
"Duel!" x2
[Youyu, LP 4000]
[Bakura, LP 4000]
"Then I'll go first, draw a card."
Scanning his starting hand, Youyu pondered briefly and decided to prioritize card gain.
"Summon 'Elemental Hero Bubbleman', in Defense Position."
Blue water burst forth, countless transparent bubbles were thrown into the air. The Elemental Hero, donned in blue armor, landed with a "ha", his blue cape fluttering among the bubbles.
[Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Defense 1200]
"Bubbleman's summoning successful; if there are no other cards on your field, you can draw two cards." (Anime effect)
"Next, the Magic Card 'Hero's Bond'," Youyu continued, "When there's a monster with 'Hero' in its name on the field, you can Special Summon two Level 4 or lower 'Elemental Heroes' from your hand.
Special Summon 'Elemental Hero Blazeman', 'Elemental Hero Shadow Mist'!"
A pillar of flame and dark mist erupted simultaneously. The red-suited Blazeman hero squatted to the left side, his gaze under the golden visor seemingly ablaze, while the armored Shadow Mist lady crouched defensively on the right.
[Elemental Hero Blazeman, Defense 1800]
[Elemental Hero Shadow Mist, Defense 1500]
"Blazeman's effect allows you to add a 'Fusion' Magic Card from the deck when successfully summoned or special summoned. Then there's Shadow Mist's effect; upon successful special summoning, add a 'Change' Quick-play Magic to your hand."
Cards popped out of his deck with a "ka-ka" sound and were drawn into his hand, briefly displayed, as the deck swiftly shuffled.
"I'm adding the Magic Card 'Fusion Substitute' and Quick-play Magic 'Mask Change' to my hand."
"Huh, starting with full momentum, huh?" Bakura sneered.
"Activate the Magic Card 'Fusion Substitute' from the hand!" Youyu revealed the two monster cards placed on the Duel Disc alongside 'Fusion Substitute', "Fuse the on-field 'Elemental Hero Blazeman' with the water-attributed 'Elemental Hero Bubbleman'!
Fusion conditions are an Elemental Hero plus any water-attributed monster!
From the depths of the extreme cold, born to freeze all with absolute icy force—
—Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!"
Water and fire heroes rose together, light beams spiraling and merging. Biting cold exploded from the magic vortex, extinguishing Blazeman's flames quickly, as ultra-low temperatures capable of freezing all things eternally swept across, a noble white hero ascending with arms crossed from the frozen abyss.
[Elemental Hero Absolute Zero, Attack 2500]
"Next, I set a card facedown, turn ends."
Youyu waved his hand, placing a facedown card before him.
"Then it's my turn!" The slate fell before Bakura.
"At this moment, open the facedown card!" Youyu raised his hand, "Quick-play Magic - Mask Change! Send a Hero monster on your field to the Graveyard, Special Summon the same attribute Masked Hero!
I send 'Elemental Hero Shadow Mist' to the Graveyard, Masked transformation!
Born from the abyssal depths, the Knight, embodiment of the Dark Law, descends—
—Masked Hero Dark Claw!"
Black mist swirled, black forces consumed Shadow Mist, forming wild black armor covering her. Cold light flashed in the hero's eyes—like hidden deadly weaponry. He landed in a crouch, releasing a dark whirlwind at his feet, the hero's realm swiftly expanded, invisible laws binding the field.
[Masked Hero Dark Claw, Attack 2400]
The players watching the live broadcast erupted instantly.
"Holy crap, that's over the top! Unnecessary, unnecessary..."
"Opening with Absolute Zero and Dark Claw, is he looking to make friends with the Great Evil God?"
"Great Evil God, dead on the spot..."
"..."
Youyu continued, "The effect of 'Elemental Hero Shadow Mist' sent to the grave by 'Mask Change'. Once per turn, when sent to the graveyard, add an 'Elemental Hero' to your hand from the deck."
A card popped out of his deck, drawn out slowly.
"I add to my hand, 'Elemental Hero Airman'."
Shadow Mist's effect to search 'Change' Quick-play Magic and to search 'Hero' Monster is very strong, but you can only choose one per turn.
Here, Youyu already used the search 'Change' Quick-play Magic effect last turn, so he covered 'Mask Change' on the field intentionally, using 'Mask Change' in Bakura's turn preparation phase to transform her, triggering her other effect to search Airman.
This way he could maximize resource utilization to some extent.
"The effect of Masked Hero Dark Claw on the field, I believe I don't need to elaborate?" Youyu smiled slightly.
While Dark Claw remains on the field, all opponent cards sent to the graveyard are banished from the game.
For Undead-Type that heavily rely on graveyard resources, this is tantamount to a direct death sentence.
And Bakura… Bakura at this moment seemed like he just swallowed a pound of Xiang upside down.
With Masked Hero Dark Claw standing like that, not only did it cure Great Evil God Sok's three-thousand-year-old card addiction, but it also made him feel like hitting someone...