"Judge Vortainis, direct attack!"
At the moment of the final blow, it was as if the Celestial Gate had been thrown open, with Holy Light pouring down like a waterfall. The track was engulfed in blinding white light, with the vague shadow of a giant figure raising the Hammer of Judgment, descending with the weight of a thousand pounds.
"Ahhh!"
Life Points reduced to zero, the D-Wheel belched out transparent steam. Victor involuntarily slowed down on the track until it came to a complete stop.
"OH MY GOD!!!" The commentator with the airplane-like hairstyle sprang from his chair, the microphone trembling violently in his hand. "He did it! He really did it! He defeated the North American champion Superpower Team single-handedly!"
Fujiki Yugen, competing openly for the first time on the world championship stage, is truly like a newcomer, yet he is nothing short of a War God!!!
The roar of applause erupted like a tsunami. The collective movement of the front row spectators standing up knocked over rows of seats, with popcorn and drink cups spilling everywhere, yet no one cared. Commentators from various countries in the broadcasting booth were yelling simultaneously in different languages, and the German commentator even broke his headphone cord.
In the big screen's close-up of both teams, Yugen calmly slowed down amid cheers and fireworks from the racetrack, sharply contrasting with the dazed and existential crisis of the Superpower team members next to him.
Victor had a look of lost regret.
They really lost...
As the champions of the North American team tournament, they originally came to the WRGP aiming for the championship. They thought their strength as three players should at least allow them to carve out a path under the team rules, but never imagined...
Lina and Blake also came beside him, the three gathering around the still-steaming D-Wheel, momentarily silent.
Today, they realized there are people beyond people and skies beyond skies, and the gap between duelists could be so vast.
Among the three of them, Captain Blake had previously come to New Tongshiyi, and as a challenger, had faced Jack Atlas, the then king of New Tongshiyi. Blake lost that time as well.
The feeling Jack gave him was strong, but today was completely different. Jack's strength was laid bare for all to see, that kind of strength that crushes opponents head-on.
But this officer was different.
Throughout the duel, it was mostly the Superpower team on the offense, attacking, attacking, and attacking again, with high-speed plays and constant synchro summons of big monsters. Yet, reflecting on the process, it was basically "Superpower Team A went in and Superpower Team hit GG" repeating over and over.
The opponent showed hardly any aggression from start to finish, and the duel's overall pace felt sluggish. Yet, when you tried to attack, you'd find it was just one pitfall after another, and his traps could spawn more traps, growing more numerous, feeling like an endless cycle that drove us increasingly mad.
Though it was a relay match, three against one with theoretically triple the resources, they ended up feeling overwhelmed by endless counterattack traps, never-ending. It felt less like three against one, and more like they were facing an army of thousands... or rather, thousands of pits...
Counterattack Angels.
They suddenly recalled that before the match, Yugen had boldly claimed that they would witness the power of angels of light and justice.
Damn light and justice!
What light? What justice?
The D-Wheel came to a stop, Yugen got off, and walked towards the three.
Out of courtesy, Yugen extended his hand to Captain Blake: "Nice duel. You guys are strong. The pursuit of victory, the determination for the championship, that spirit was clearly felt through the duel."
This should be common post-duel pleasantries, and if it were someone like Judai, the two sides would probably become friends after the duel.
However, given that Yugen just took on all three, and in quite an unusual manner, the three across from him had mixed expressions upon hearing these otherwise normal remarks.
Is this not sarcasm?
Captain Blake's facial muscles twitched.
To those who had just been taken on by one player, saying how strong they are, and speaking of their pursuit of victory... could this really not be mocking?
Or does it mean "Don't blame yourselves, you're already strong, but unfortunately, you met me"?
Either way, it's not something to laugh about...
At this point, Captain Blake glanced at the team emblem on the opponent's chest.
That rather abstract smiley design, simple as a doodle.
Previously, seeing that smiley, and the opponent's jest of a team name "Dueling Should Be Fun," one initially found it amusing, thinking this person was just here for entertainment. But not anymore; now, seeing that smile and team name, all he felt was a nameless anger, a thought involuntarily rising in his mind—
"What the hell are you so happy about?"
There were a few more preliminary matches today, but hardly anyone paid attention to them.
Most duels in the preliminaries aren't much to look at. There are still some weak teams at this stage, with matches of weak teams against each other being like a battle of the chickens, and against strong teams, being one-sided thrashings, thus not very enjoyable to watch or particularly followed.
So naturally, after today, all the front pages of duel news were hijacked by Yugen.
"The Craziest Rookie in History! New Security Director Yugen Debuts by 1V3 Crushing the North American Champion!"
"The Enforcer Becomes the Dragon Slayer! New Chief Yugen Makes a Godlike Scene in His First Team Duel Appearance!"
"From Badge to Duel Disc: Security Director's Cross-Field Crush, North American Champions Request Psychological Counseling Post-Match."
"..."
Technically speaking, Yugen wasn't the only one to go 1v3.
In the opening match of the preliminaries, Yusei Fudo essentially did a 1v3 as well. But that was because his teammates performed poorly this time. Jack and Qiu were both defeated by the Unicorn team's starter, Andre, who took them down one by one. So their team's anchor, Yusei, had to single-handedly take down all three opponents to secure the first win.
Additionally, Shirley Lubron shone brightly during the preliminaries. Her team wasn't as dramatically solo as Yugen, but it was just her and her butler Goukou.
During the preliminaries, Shirley didn't even give Goukou a chance to play, as she took down all three opponents herself right from the start, equally impressive.
However, despite some similarities, Yusei's 1v3 was forced, and Shirley still had Goukou to back her up. Unlike Yugen, who didn't even bother with a backup, registering solo for the competition, truly a unique case worldwide.
With the added buzz of a newcomer's debut and the security director's notoriety, it's only natural that Yugen overshadowed the main characters and became the outright focus of WRGP's first week.
"Oh well, I'm famous again inadvertently."
In the space realm of the Taiyi Three Emperors, Yugen muttered to himself with his back to his three new subordinates, cradling his chin.
"As expected, being too talented draws attention. I just casually played, it's only a duel, and somehow I became a star again..."
Placido and the other three behind him remained silent but shared the same thought—
"Shameless!"