Yoshitsune, the mythical creature known for its love of alcohol. Though called a child, the monster it summons has the image of a hideous demon with a red face and sharp fangs, wild hair, horns on its head, and a giant sake bottle marked with a huge "alcohol" character in its hand.
In the manga, this is a monster owned by Mitsuzawa Earth, from the Monster Card Deck, which itself consists mostly of mythical creatures from Japanese folklore. Of course, here with Yugen it has also been upgraded to the Undead Race, physical card effect version.
Yoshitsune took a mouthful of strong liquor, then swung its fist and smashed a huge hole in the ground. The sinister incomplete face that was supposed to have disappeared from this game suddenly flew back into Yugen's Card Deck, landing on the top.
Teacher Dade Temple's expression became grave again.
Once more, that incomplete face.
Just like the Golden Artificial Life Form before, his Triple Sun was also restrained by that incomplete face... no, it should be said it was restrained even more. Even if the Artificial Life Form had all the cards excluded and shuffled back into the deck, it at least had a base 1500 Attack Power left, but his Triple Sun originally had an Attack Power of "?"
If Face of the Undead washed out the excluded cards, it would directly turn from his trump card into an unkillable sitting target.
"Then activate the Magic Card 'Divine Eagle Feather Brush'!" Yugen said, "Destroy all Magic and Trap Cards on the opponent's field!"
Teacher Dade Temple's pupils contracted.
"Feather Brush? At such a critical moment!?"
The Divine Eagle Feather Brush appeared in mid-air and gently swept across. The storm carrying the feathers of the divine eagle rose, and the huge alchemical apparatus on Teacher Dade Temple's field suddenly collapsed with a roar.
The entire starry sky on the field was shaken by the stars, celestial bodies collapsed, the Galaxy seemed to be twisted to pieces, until everything in the cosmos turned into Void.
"With this, both the Alchemy Cauldron and Great Cosmos are destroyed." Yugen smiled, "Teacher, you can't exclude any new cards now."
"Uh..."
Teacher Dade Temple gritted his teeth.
Although he was mentally prepared when facing Yugen, estimating that the opponent wouldn't let him unfold his duel too easily, even so, he couldn't help but sigh at the difficulty of this match.
He had defended against things like the iron wall of the Royal Palace, only to find there was also something like Face of the Undead that countered his alchemy. And he even had the means to retrieve cards from the exclusion zone with Yoshitsune...
Evidently, the situation where Face of the Undead was unsolved and got excluded was also within the opponent's calculations.
Like many duel masters, Teacher Dade Temple's card deck also hosted two almost unrelated systems. One was the Alchemy Beast system, with the Alchemy Cauldron as the core card. The other was the Original Solar System, with Great Cosmos as the core card.
But now, a single Feather Brush blew them both away, and next round Face of the Undead would come out and clear his excluded cards, leaving him with zero resources to face an incredibly powerful Face of the Undead, making a comeback almost impossible.
"Set a card, end turn," Yugen said.
Teacher Dade Temple let out a long breath.
"You've really given the teacher a tough challenge." Teacher Dade Temple squinted his eyes again, "If Face of the Undead comes out again next turn, things would be problematic. Heh, it seems this Seven-Star Key isn't so easy to obtain."
"Speaking of which, I am indeed a bit curious." Yugen asked, "Why did Teacher Dade Temple join the Seven-Stars? How did he know President Kagemaru, and why was he willing to work for him?"
A hint of astonishment flashed in Teacher Dade Temple's eyes, and he couldn't help but look at Yugen.
"President... you even know this?"
Even among the seven-star internal leaders, he was the only one who knew the true identity of the Master of Seven-Star. Yet the Yugen in front of him, who should clearly be an outsider, just casually exposed this fact without a ripple.
"Yes, I know. But it doesn't help much." Yugen shrugged, "The old guy has been missing for a long time, I can't find where he is."
Teacher Dade Temple gave a dry laugh, but after laughing for a few moments, he began coughing severely, sounding like a gravely ill old man. He coughed for quite a while before catching his breath.
"Yes... I don't know where the President went either, no one knows. He's becoming... cough, cough, even distrustful of me now."
"It sounds like your relationship is quite special." Yugen said.
"Indeed," Teacher Dade Temple sighed deeply, "Well, since you already know so much, telling you this wouldn't hurt...
Yes, President Kagemaru and I knew each other long before the formation of Seven-Star.
We both have extraordinary talents and are ambitious, determined to use our abilities to achieve something. We used different names, different identities, saved lives, fought against demons, and confronted the evil that bred in the darkest corners of the world..."
He raised his head, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes.
"But then things changed." Yugen said, "Things have changed, correct? Your relationship, and even yourselves."
"Yes… why did it happen? It's indeed because… death."
Teacher Dade Temple chuckled.
"Yes, who can truly be unafraid of death? When a lifetime passes, the once impassioned ambitions and naïve dreams seem so laughable when looking back.
When it comes down to it, both of us just want to survive…"
He shook his head and looked back up at Yugen.
"That's all in the past. If you win, I might tell you more. But for now...
...it's my turn, draw a card!"
Teacher Dade Temple refocused on the duel, slightly furrowing his brow as he drew a card.
On the opponent's field, Yoshitsune is in defense position; even if struck down with Triple Sun, it cannot deal damage. But next round, if the opponent summons Face of the Undead, Triple Sun's Attack Power will immediately drop to 0, and if he gets hit casually, he will die.
And currently, there are no other monsters in hand to attack with...
...No, before that, most of the monsters in his deck are Alchemy Beasts. Now that the Alchemy Cauldron has been blown away, even drawing them won't let him summon them.
The only opportunity in hand...
"Activate the Magic Card 'Upper-Level Draw'!" Teacher Dade Temple said solemnly, "Offer a monster on the field of eight stars or above as a tribute, and draw two cards from the deck. I offer the Eight-Star 'Third Sun - Helios' as a tribute, and draw two cards!"
The Third Sun with an Attack Power of eight thousand, resembled three blazing suns bursting with their last radiance as if burning themselves out. Those three forms dissolved in the fiery brilliance, and Teacher Dade Temple promptly drew two cards.
"Is that alright? Even sacrificing your trump card, Teacher?" Yugen smiled.
"Even if it's a trump card, it couldn't break through this situation," Teacher Dade Temple smiled, "Rather than holding onto a so-called trump card and waiting for death next round, it's better to sacrifice it now to create new opportunities.
An Alchemist must not be bound by rigid rules, I think you should know that as well, right?"
He glanced at the two cards he drew, then his lips curved upward again.
"Now watch closely, this is also... cough cough... the last lesson from your teacher!"