# Chapter 217: The Situation
Due to Lunalight Dance Lion Princess's noble non-targeting effect, ABC-Dragon Buster couldn't find a target. The Obelisk Force warrior, its master, had no choice but to grit his teeth and switch targets.
"Then, I'll Banish your other monster!"
ABC-Dragon Buster could only turn its cannon, firing a laser at Lion Utopia.
"I activate the effect of Zexal Weapon - ZW - Pegasus Twin Saber!"
"While this card is equipped, once per turn, I can negate an effect activated by an opponent's monster on the field." Yūga Hōzumi's voice echoed from behind Serena.
The longsword behind Lion Utopia flashed again, slashing the whistling laser into nothingness.
"Go on, leave the rest to me." Yūga Hōzumi's calm voice entered Serena's ears. A ripple stirred in her heart but quickly subsided. After all, this was a battlefield where life and death were decided. Although neither she nor Yūga Hōzumi considered their opponents a serious threat, getting distracted during a duel could still lead to an upset.
"Then, let's charge together!" Serena said. "Lunalight Dance Lion Princess, attack ABC-Dragon Buster!"
"Lunalight Dance Lion Princess can attack twice per turn. And once per turn, at the end of the Damage Step when it attacks a monster, it can destroy all special-summoned monsters on the opponent's field."
"I activate the effect of ABC-Dragon Buster! During the opponent's turn, I can Tribute this card to target three of my banished LIGHT Machine-Type Union monsters with different names and Special Summon them."
"Appear! A-Assault Core! B-Buster Drake! C-Crush Wyvern!"
Just as Lunalight Dance Lion Princess lunged forward with her scimitar, the monster before her opponent instantly broke apart, transforming into three monsters that formed a shield, blocking her path.
"It's useless. At the end of the Damage Step when Lunalight Dance Lion Princess attacks, all Attack Position monsters on the opponent's field are destroyed. It doesn't matter how many walls you have," Serena stated.
"No, it's still somewhat useful." Just then, Yūga Hōzumi's voice rang out again from behind Serena. "All of his monsters have effects that activate when sent to the Graveyard. Blocking your second attack won't be a problem."
"How do you know that?" Serena asked, turning back in surprise.
"Ahem... someone I dealt with before used the exact same deck as him," Yūga Hōzumi replied vaguely with a light cough.
Serena was speechless. Thinking of Yūga Hōzumi's hobby of collecting people's decks, she was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Just go ahead and attack. He won't get a chance to use his Graveyard effects," Yūga Hōzumi reminded her when he saw Serena hesitating.
"Lunalight Dance Lion Princess, attack B-Buster Drake!"
The scimitar-wielding Lion Dancer lunged forward, slashing the dragon-shaped machine.
"I activate the effect of Lunalight Dance Lion Princess! Once per turn, at the end of the Damage Step when this card attacks a monster, all special-summoned monsters on the opponent's field are destroyed."
The scimitar in Lunalight Dance Lion Princess's hand flashed, and a sharp sword aura swept out, engulfing the remaining two monsters.
"It's useless. All three of my monsters have effects that activate when they're sent to the Graveyard. As long as I can survive this turn, my partner can use the parts in the Graveyard as material to reassemble ABC-Dragon Buster next turn," the Obelisk Force warrior stated.
"That's only if they can get to the Graveyard," Yūga Hōzumi said with a smile, activating the last Set Card in his backrow. "Continuous Trap, Macro Cosmos, activate!"
"While this card is on the field, any card that would be sent to the Graveyard is banished instead!"
"What?!" The two opponents were startled. The mechanical fragments, sliced by Lunalight Dance Lion Princess's sharp blade, were instantly absorbed by the black hole in Yūga Hōzumi's backrow.
"Lunalight Dance Lion Princess can attack twice per turn! Go! Lunalight Dance Lion Princess, direct attack!"
After sweeping away all of the opponent's monsters, she lunged forward again, slashing both opponents.
Obelisk Force duo's LP: 4000 → 500
"Beast-Armor Union - Leo Utopia, direct attack!"
With that, Serena commanded Lion Utopia on the field to deliver the finishing blow.
***
After Yūga Hōzumi's group of four cleared the obstacles along the way, a party of over 5,000 people successfully reached the Orion District under the cover of night.
When Yuto and Garros received the message and came out to meet them, Yūga Hōzumi could tell from the faint lamplight that they were in poor condition. This was especially true for Yuto, whose dark circles nearly reached his cheekbones.
"You're finally back." Yuto let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Yūga Hōzumi and the people he had brought with him. The tension that had kept him going instantly snapped, and he stumbled, nearly collapsing.
Shun, who was beside Yūga Hōzumi, quickly caught his brother-in-law.
"What exactly happened?" Yūga Hōzumi's brows furrowed. He also noticed someone was missing from the group that came to greet them and asked, "Where's Yao?"
"It's a long story. I'll explain everything once we're back," Garros said with a sigh.
After everyone hurried back to the church in the center of the Orion District, the high command of the Resistance Army gathered in the meeting room. Reiji Akaba and Bruno, representatives from the other two dimensions, were also present. The only one absent was Yuto, who had been sent to rest.
After listening to the intelligence Garros's men had gathered and learning about Ryo Marufuji's recent series of actions, Yūga Hōzumi's brows furrowed even deeper as he continuously rubbed his temples.
"This is a bit troublesome," Yūga Hōzumi couldn't help but say after a long pause.
"Indeed. This new commander from the Academy is certainly capable," said Reiji Akaba, who possessed the most outstanding strategic mind among those present. He too had a clear grasp of the situation.
"But they voluntarily reduced their forces, doesn't that give us the advantage? Before, we just couldn't deal with their commander, but now that Big Bro Yūga Hōzumi is back, it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Allen asked, puzzled.
"That's not how it's calculated, Allen," Yūga Hōzumi explained. "Previously, we held off their 30,000-strong attack with only 5,000 people by using the narrow intersections. That's because that guy, Aster Phoenix, didn't dare break his forces into smaller units to fight us in the streets. But this new guy has abolished the squad system and boosted the strength of individual soldiers. It's obvious he's preparing for urban warfare."
"But can we really afford to get tied down in urban warfare with them?" Yūga Hōzumi rubbed his temples. "Going by that man's style, since he's already decided on street fighting, he must have made thorough preparations. We, on the other hand, have non-combatant Commoners to protect. Once a street-to-street battle truly breaks out, our chances of winning aren't high."
(end of chapter)