He was staring at the two cards left in Manjoume's hand.
The duel had just begun, yet four of the initial six cards were already gone. That kind of loss made even him feel a bit of pain just watching it.
With a little more effort, it would almost match the famous anime moment where five cards turned into nothing.
"Hahaha, have you been overwhelmed by this crushing power?" Manjoume laughed loudly. "Don't worry, it will end quickly."
"Battle Phase. Gilford the Legend, destroy that set trash monster!"
The Sword Saint leapt forward, swinging his blade. The huge weapon sent out a violent air blast, and the face down monster on Yugen's field flipped helplessly under the pressure.
It was a female warrior.
A blonde woman in black combat gear and long boots crouched with her sword raised. In front of such a massive blade, she looked small and fragile.
D.D. Warrior Lady, DEF 1600.
"D.D. Warrior Lady, effect activate," Yugen said calmly. "At the end of the Damage Step, if this card battled: You can banish this card and that monster."
"I'll send your level eight boss straight to another dimension."
"!" Manjoume
Dimensional Slash was one of the mainstream decks active in the early competitive scene of Yu-Gi-Oh!. It never managed to claim a World Championship title, but it proved its strength in that early era and could trade blows with the champions of the time. Its record was enough to earn it a lasting place in discussions of early formats.
The concept behind Yugen's Starter Deck drew from the championship deck Hand Destruction. Because he lacked some components and the current environment was not the same, he only kept the core idea and adjusted the build. Dimensional Slash was one of the lists he was currently testing.
As the name suggests, the deck's core plan was to send the opponent's cards to another dimension. It relied on brute force one-for-one trades like D.D. Warrior Lady, cards that forcibly banished both themselves and the opposing monster. His side used simple low-level monsters that could be played right away, often trading up into big monsters that cost the opponent many resources, creating a clear advantage.
That was exactly what Yugen was doing right now.
Because the opponent's defeated monsters were kicked into another dimension instead of going to the Graveyard, this caused serious trouble for the old meta decks that depended on graveyard resources. That era was also filled with monsters that searched the deck when sent to the Graveyard, and none of those effects could trigger against Dimensional Slash. Facing this deck was miserable for them.
Yugen never experienced that ancient environment himself, but he could imagine it clearly. Duelists who first ran into a Dimensional Slash deck, after struggling to bring out a big monster only to see it banished by a single normal attack, must have felt their minds break. That scene was playing out again now.
Just like Manjoume.
Before dying, D.D. Warrior Lady made one last desperate strike, slashing open the void with a single cut. A black hole tore open on the field, just like Dimensional Slash itself. The massive pull captured both warriors, dragging Sword Saint and the female warrior into it as they vanished beyond the rift.
With its equipped target gone, the two Equip Spells in the back row shattered with sharp cracks. They turned into golden fragments and faded away.
Manjoume had just pulled off a flurry of fierce plays, burning all his resources to bring out a big monster. Before it could even swing once, it was kicked straight off the field, leaving him so stunned he nearly forgot to breathe.
Still, Manjoume took a deep breath and quickly steadied himself. He had to stay calm.
It was only the loss of a single Level 8 monster, two Equip Spells, and four cards from hand. Nothing worth panicking over.
"When the Equip Spell 'Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade' is sent from the field to the Graveyard, I draw one card from my deck. (ANIME EFFECT)"
Manjoume drew a card from his deck, finally getting a small breath of relief. After a glance, he slid the card straight into his Spell and Trap Zone.
"I set one card face-down and end my turn."
"My turn. I draw."
Yugen added the drawn card to his hand, then revealed another from it.
Yugen said, "I summon 'Warrior Lady of the Wasteland'."
Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, ATK 1100.
"Direct attack." Yugen waved his hand. "Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, attack directly."
The female warrior drew her blade and leapt forward, flying straight at Manjoume.
But Manjoume had an answer ready. He flipped his face-down card with a sweep of his arm. "I activate the Trap Card 'Draining Shield'! Negate the attack, and if you do, gain Life Points equal to the attacking monster's ATK!"
A transparent rainbow barrier appeared in front of Manjoume. The warrior's sword slammed into it, the force turning into absorbed energy that fell as warm golden light over him.
Manjoume, LP 4000 to LP 5100.
"Heh, what a shame. But an attack like that was completely within my expectations," Manjoume said smugly.
Yugen did not care. Anyone who played cards knew that this game only had zero Life Points and not zero Life Points. As long as LP remained, it mattered less than other resources.
"Then I set one card and end my turn," Yugen said.
"My turn!" Manjoume drew, then immediately revealed a card. "Spell Card, Pot of Greed! I draw two cards from my deck."
Pot of Greed was a standard for the GX protagonists, practically everyone carried a Pot of Greed.
"I summon Dark Blade in Attack Position!"
The card's image projected outward as a warrior in black armor leapt from the card, dual blades in hand and silver edges like fangs covering his body.
Dark Blade, ATK 1800.
"Now I'll show you that my monsters are all elites among elites, completely different from low-level trash!" Manjoume shouted. "Go, Dark Blade! Destroy 'Warrior Lady of the Wasteland'!"
The corner of his mouth curled into a proud smirk.
Even though that creepy thing on the other side had taken out his big monster, it did not matter. Dark Blade was a strong and valuable monster, and 1800 ATK on a Level 4 was more than enough to fight. There was no way the opponent could pull another D.D. Warrior Lady out of nowhere to kick it into another dimension.
The black-armored swordsman rushed forward and slashed with both blades. The female warrior was cut in half at the waist and exploded on the spot.
Yugen, LP 4000 to LP 3300.
With his monster destroyed, Yugen remained calm. He pulled his deck from the Duel Disk and began searching through it.
"I activate the effect of Warrior Lady of the Wasteland. When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one EARTH Warrior monster with 1500 ATK or less from my deck in face-up Attack Position."
He pulled the searched card free.
"I summon D.D. Warrior, in Attack Position!"
D.D. Warrior, ATK 1200.
Manjoume froze.
Not again?
He recognized this monster too. D.D. Warrior banished both itself and the opposing monster when it battled. It was another core piece of the Dimensional Slash deck, with an effect nearly identical to D.D. Warrior Lady.
As D.D. Warrior took its place on the opponent's field, Manjoume's eyelid twitched. His head started to ache.
Seriously. Why did all these cursed things keep jumping straight out of the deck?
No, stay calm. Do not lose control.
Manjoume glanced at a card in his hand. He still had ways to deal with this kind of nonsense.
"I set one card and end my turn," Manjoume declared.
Yugen's gaze swept over the last face-down card on Manjoume's field. From the look of it, there might be a counter prepared for D.D. Warrior.
He smiled faintly.
It did not matter.
"My turn. I draw."
Yugen confirmed the card he drew and revealed it right away.
"I summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, in Attack Position."