"Is this the Duel Academy?"
The man with a small mustache stepped onto the island of the Duel Academy, dusted off his clothes, and squinted as he looked around.
"Interesting."
His name was Hayato Kuroda.
Once, he was one of the most trusted generals under Lord Takuma Saiou. He was one of the few leaders in the Association who received a brand new card deck personally gifted by Lord Saiou, and he held considerable prestige within the organization.
Of course, unfortunately, that was in the past.
Now it's said that Lord Saiou has fallen, but the fate of the Association will not end. They've now received new leadership orders, and a large number of members from the Association are heading to Academy Island to participate in the GX tournament.
Kuroda himself didn't really know why, but they never asked questions, only executed orders. Operations within the Light Association had always been like this; no matter how outrageous the requests and orders from the leaders were, they would always carry them out without hesitation.
Because they believed it was the guidance of fate. Even the most insignificant thing could have a profound impact on the future, which is the so-called butterfly effect. They were just ordinary people, unable to see the grand blueprint of destiny, limited to the tip of the iceberg before them. Therefore, they just needed to obediently follow instructions. There was no need to ask too many questions.
But since they were competing, they had to see it through to the end. Hayato Kuroda, the leader of the team sent to Academy Island, set a small goal for himself: to win the most GX badges and take the tournament championship...
"You're Hayato Kuroda, the leader of the Light Association invading the Academy, right?"
Kuroda: "!"
He was startled, turned sharply, and there stood a man casually gauging him.
"Duel King... Yugen!?"
There's no way not to be nervous at this moment.
The Duel King had found him and even accurately called his name.
But why?
He had just set foot on the island and hadn't done anything yet.
"You look kinda surprised," Yugen tilted his head, "You wouldn't expect me not to notice you when you step onto my island and invade my Academy, would you?"
Kuroda: "..."
Wait, since when did this become your island and your Academy? Are you the principal or a board member or something...
But that detail wasn't important now.
Kuroda squinted his eyes: "Duel King... Heh, that's just perfect. I was just thinking that if I was going to compete, I had to do my best. And if the stage is in the Duel Academy, then winning the championship must mean going through the Duel King..."
"Oh? So confident?" Yugen remarked with interest.
"They say you took down Lord Saiou, but honestly, I don't believe it. I still firmly believe Lord Saiou's destiny won't end here; if he truly lost to you, it must have been intentional, part of fate's plan."
Yugen chuckled.
"So you're saying if losing is all part of fate's plan, your Association is invincible, huh?"
"Duel King Yugen, whether you truly have the power to transcend destiny, let me find out."
Kuroda activated his Duel Disc.
Yugen shrugged.
He realized the people from the Light Association were like that. Regardless of their actual strength, their confidence was never lacking. Each and every one of them was greatly inflated, firmly believing that victory was their destined fate.
"Duel!" x2
[Yugen, LP 4000]
[Hayato Kuroda, LP 4000]
"I'll go first, draw a card!"
Hayato Kuroda called out.
"Today, the card deck gifted to me by Lord Saiou shall unleash its power.
Activate the Magic Card 'Pot of Greed', draw two cards from the deck.
Next, summon 'Beetle Machine-1 Shell Body'!"
The summoned response was beetle-like, yet its exterior seemed like some sort of steel alloy—like a machine beetle, with even a pair of heavy tires on its lower part.
[Beetle Machine-1 Shell Body, Attack Power 1700]
Yugen tried to recall from his somewhat blurred memory.
Beetle Machine Alliance?
The name easily reminds one of the world champion "Beetle Suit," dominant in the card world for a time, yet it wasn't that deck precisely. This was called Beetle Machine Alliance, an unrecorded anime deck used by Chazz after he was defeated by Saiou and bleached into a member of the Light Association.
Now with the change in the world line, Saiou dying before his time, without bleaching Chazz before he was gone. It's reasonable for this deck to appear in the hands of Saiou's other minions.
"Set two cards, ending the turn."
"Now it's my turn, draw."
Yugen drew two cards.
"A beetle with 1700 attack power, that won't be easy to deal with. So I activate the Magic Card 'Angel's Charity', draw three cards from the deck, then discard two cards from my hand."
Yugen replaced the cards in his hand.
"Next, I'll set a Monster in face-down Defense Position on the field, and set two cards which will end my turn."
Hayato Kuroda frowned, but wasn't confused by his words.
He knew this man was insidious and cunning. Nine out of ten sentences he spoke couldn't be trusted. Saying it won't be easy to deal with, surely he had already dug a pit, waiting for him to fall into it.
A trap he couldn't easily fall into.
"Now it's my turn again, draw!"
Kuroda drew a card, took a deep breath.
"If you don't plan on attacking, I won't hold back!
I activate the Continuous Magic 'Frontline Base'!"
The image of Continuous Magic appeared on his field. This wasn't an exclusive anime card but a very early real card, an old card supporting Alliance. It was first used by Chazz during the debut of the VWXYZ combo.
"The effect of Frontline Base allows a Special Summon of a Level 4 or lower Alliance Monster from the hand once per turn during the main phase!"
Kuroda forcefully drew a card from his hand and slammed it onto the Duel Disc.
"Following the effect of Frontline Base, Special Summon! Appear now!
Beetle Machine-2 Shovel Armor Turbine!"
The second beetle summoned by Frontline Base appeared, a machine beetle crafted from steel, with iron pincers resembling those of a shovel armor beetle at the front.
[Beetle Machine-2 Shovel Armor Turbine, Attack Power 1500]
"And from the hand, perform a Normal Summon, 'Beetle Machine-3 Spider Base'!"
Golden light points gathered into a red steel spider, landing on his front field.
[Beetle Machine-3 Steel Spider, Attack Power 1000]
"1, 2, and 3, an Alliance combo?" Yugen chuckled softly. "To get them all at once, impressive. Are you about to combine them now?"
"Hey, no rush."
Hayato Kuroda raised his arm and called out.
"Let's attack first!
Directly into the battle phase. Let's see if your Monster can withstand my triple beetle machine attack!"
With that, he swung his arm down fiercely.
"Go! First, 'Beetle Machine-1 Shell Body', attack the face-down Defense Position Monster!"
The leading beetle charged forth. Yugen snapped his fingers.
"Then activate Cover Card, Trap Card 'Sand Shield - Dust Power'!
Upon declaring the attack of an opponent's Monster, all Attack Position opponent Monsters become face-down Defense Position. Monsters changed by this effect cannot change their Position!"