The Spell Card appeared in her back row, and a pair of pure white wings spread out behind the slender machine dancer. A faint white glow covered its body as she explained the effect.
"A monster equipped with Angel Wing gains an extra 300 battle damage when it inflicts damage to the opponent," Asuka Tenjoin said. "Then I set one card and end my turn."
"My Turn!, Card Draw."
Yugen added the drawn card to his hand and slapped down a monster. "I summon Card Trooper!"
Card Trooper, ATK 400.
"Once per turn, Card Trooper can send up to three cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard. For each card sent, its ATK increases by 500."
He sent three cards to the Graveyard in one motion. "I send three cards, so Card Trooper gains 1500 ATK!"
Card Trooper, ATK 400 to ATK 1900.
Yugen paused and glanced at Asuka Tenjoin's back row. He could more or less guess what that set card was. In the anime, whenever Asuka Tenjoin dueled, that Trap was almost always present, just like Kaiser's Cyber Dragon sticking to his hand.
Double Pas de Deux. Effect: When an opponent's monster attacks one of your attack position monsters, change that attack to a direct attack on you. In exchange, your monster can inflict battle damage directly to the opponent.
Because the idea of monsters dealing direct damage during the opponent's turn was too strange for real cards, the physical version changed it to allowing a direct attack on the next turn. On top of that, Asuka Tenjoin had summoned Cyber Bladerette in attack position with only 1000 ATK and immediately equipped Angel Wing to boost damage. All of this made Yugen ninety percent sure of what the set card was.
Normally, if he attacked with Card Trooper and she activated Double Pas de Deux, she would take 1900 direct damage while he would only take 1300. She would lose more LP, so logically she should not activate it. But judging from her tactics in the original story, the chance that she would still activate it was not low, since she often traded LP aggressively.
From the theory he had learned these days, Yugen guessed this was simply her Duel style. She pushed forward without hesitation, and maintaining that rhythm mattered more to her than a few hundred LP. Since that was the case, he might as well go along with it.
"Battle," Yugen said, waving his hand. "Card Trooper, attack Cyber Bladerette!"
With its boosted ATK, Card Trooper lowered its arms and fired several shots straight at the long-haired female machine. Asuka Tenjoin frowned slightly.
"You're completely ignoring my set card. Then I activate it! Trap Card, Double Pas de Deux!"
Yugen narrowed his eyes. As expected.
"This Trap changes the attack into a direct attack on me," Asuka Tenjoin declared. "After that, my monster can attack the opponent directly!"
The spectators cried out in shock. "Using yourself as a shield for your monster?" "Trading damage like this right from the start?"
It was a way to trade LP while also keeping her monster alive for further pressure next turn. This was her pace and her style.
"Then Card Trooper switches to a direct attack on Asuka Tenjoin," Yugen said calmly.
The shells fired by Card Trooper twisted through the air, curving strangely around the front-line monster and heading straight for Asuka Tenjoin behind it. At that instant, he revealed another card from his hand.
"From my hand, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Limit Release! Until the end of the turn, Card Trooper's ATK is doubled!"
Card Trooper, ATK 1900 to ATK 3800.
Asuka Tenjoin's expression changed instantly. "What did you say?" Three thousand eight hundred ATK in one moment?
She could accept taking 1900 damage, but that much at once was another matter entirely. This was going to be bad.
Asuka Tenjoin cried out as the blast hit her. As always, there was no mercy at all, and Yugen Fujiki opened with full firepower from Card Trooper. The doubled output from Limiter Removal poured straight over the girl, ending in a loud explosion that sent black smoke into the air.
Asuka Tenjoin's Life Points dropped from 4000 to 200, and the entire arena froze in shock. No one expected this kind of opening. The duel looked like it might end in the very first turn.
Asuka Tenjoin was no ordinary opponent. She was a top elite from the Middle Division, admitted straight into Obelisk Blue from the moment she enrolled. Even ignoring her looks, many people saw her as a strong candidate for the year's best newcomer among all Duelist.
Everyone had expected a fierce clash between experts, with back and forth attacks and a hard-fought result. Instead, the duel already looked as if it were on the verge of ending. The gap between expectation and reality left the crowd stunned.
Seika Kohinata, who had stood outside the field earlier with dull eyes and a blank face after her own loss, finally came back to life. To be precise, she almost looked radiant, the gloom swept from her face and a smile curling at the corner of her mouth. Her expression slowly turned strange as she watched, clearly enjoying the scene far too much.
"Looks like I underestimated you," Asuka Tenjoin said, forcing herself steady as the shock faded. Trading damage by taking hits head on was her usual style, but misjudging it meant losing on the spot and becoming a joke. That kind of ridiculous defeat would probably turn into a lasting laugh at Duel Academy.
She shook her head and focused back on the Duel. "By the effect of Double Samba Stance, my monster can counterattack. Go, Cyber Blader, direct attack!"
The female cyber idol leapt into the air, spinning with the grace of a ballet dancer. Her sweeping kick cut across the field and struck Yugen Fujiki head on.
Yugen Fujiki's Life Points dropped from 4000 to 3000. "The effect of the Equip Spell Angel's Wings," Asuka Tenjoin continued. "When battle damage is dealt, inflict an extra 300 points of damage."
Yugen Fujiki's Life Points fell again, from 3000 to 2700. He raised his Duel Disk to block the virtual impact, his body swaying before he steadied himself. "I set three cards and end my turn," he said. "End Phase. Because of the side effect of Limiter Removal, the Machine monster affected by it is destroyed at the end of the turn."
Card Trooper exploded into fragments and vanished into ash. "And by its effect, when this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I draw one card from my Deck." He drew a card calmly.
Only then did the spectators finally breathe out. Some muttered about how intense the first turn had been, while others pointed out that Asuka Tenjoin's Life Points were now dangerously low.
Yugen Fujiki fell silent for a moment. Locking Life Points was usually a curse in the original stories, and somehow she had been pushed straight into counterattack range first. He frowned slightly, then moved on.
"My Turn!, Card Draw," he declared.
Asuka Tenjoin steadied her breathing. He had seen through her plan and punished it hard, but the side effect of Limiter Removal meant his field was empty now. The problem was the facedown cards behind him.
"Hesitation won't solve anything," she said firmly. "I'll carry out my Duel. Battle. Cyber Blader attacks directly!"