"Quick-Play Spell 'Mystical Space Typhoon'! Destroy your Field Spell 'Fusion Gate,' Judai!"
With a Quick-Play Spell in hand, Asuka didn't even hesitate before using it to destroy Judai's Fusion Gate. This meant that unless he had a second Fusion Gate in his deck, he would have no way of performing a second Fusion Summon in this duel!
"Next, I activate the Spell Card 'Monster Reborn' from my hand to revive 'Cyber Prima' from the Graveyard!"
The Cyber Prima that had been destroyed earlier was now being brought back from the Graveyard using Monster Reborn, a powerful Spell with summoning restrictions.
Seeing the two female warriors now gathered on Asuka's field, Yuuya instantly realized what her last card was—
"Spell Card 'Polymerization'! I fuse 'Blade Skater' and 'Cyber Prima' on my field!"
This was the only Fusion Monster in Asuka's deck—and also one of her trump cards.
"Fusion Summon—Cyber Blader!"
Her skin was pale lavender, marked with fiery red patterns. Her long, flowing navy-blue hair danced in the wind, carried by her graceful skating movements.
Cyber Blader—a monster that could only be Fusion Summoned using Blade Skater and Cyber Prima—made her dazzling appearance!
"Go, Cyber Blader! Attack Judai's Thunder Giant!"
Responding to her command, Cyber Blader skated across the lake's surface toward Judai's Thunder Giant. Upon reaching him, she performed a spinning leap, then used the blade on her skate to cleanly slice Thunder Giant in half!
(Judai: 4000 LP → 2200 LP)
"Nani?! I lost 1800 Life Points!?"
Cyber Blader, with only 2100 ATK, not only destroyed his Thunder Giant but also inflicted 1800 points of damage. How was that possible?
"Cyber Blader's effect: When the opponent controls exactly one monster, Cyber Blader cannot be destroyed by battle; and when the opponent controls two monsters, her ATK is doubled!"
That's why her original 2100 ATK became strong enough to destroy Thunder Giant and deal 1800 damage to Judai in the process.
Now that Thunder Giant was gone, Cyber Blader's ATK reverted to 2100. But because Burstinatrix was still on the field, Judai retained a layer of battle destruction resistance.
Even so, to Judai, Cyber Blader had become an insurmountable wall!
With only Burstinatrix left on the field, no cards in hand, and no usable effects in the Graveyard, he was facing what looked like a certain defeat.
His only hope now rested on the card he would draw in the next turn.
That draw would determine the outcome of this entire duel!
"My turn… Draw!"
Sheff—
'That's…?'
In Yuuya's vision, as a flash of golden light briefly streaked through the night sky, Judai completed what would be his final draw in this duel.
"Yosh! I activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed! I draw two cards from my deck… Then I Normal Summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in Attack Position!"
Dressed in a white cape and equipped with cannon-like arms capable of firing energy blasts, Bubbleman was often referred to as the "Pot of Greed" of the HERO deck.
"Next, I tribute Bubbleman on my field to activate the Quick-Play Spell Enemy Controller!"
"Nani?! That card!"
Enemy Controller—a Quick-Play Spell Asuka and the others were very familiar with it. This card could either change an opponent's monster's battle position during the Battle Phase or tribute one of your monsters to take control of an opponent's monster until the end of the turn.
Right now, since Judai had declared a tribute to Bubbleman, the effect he intended to use was undoubtedly the second one—the notorious "NTR" effect!
"This is bad! Asuka already used up all her resources last turn! With no set cards, there's nothing she can do to stop Judai from taking her Cyber Blader!"
Junko exclaimed in worry. And sure enough, in the duel, Judai successfully took control of Asuka's Cyber Blader.
With no cards in her hand, in her Graveyard, or on the field, Asuka could only watch helplessly as her Life Points dropped to zero, brought down by the relentless flame bombardment from Burstinatrix and the unavoidable skating strike from her own Cyber Blader.
"I won! That was a fun duel!"
The winner: Yuki Judai!
———Scene Break———
"As promised, I can take Sho back with me, right?"
"Go ahead. I always keep my word."
Asuka crossed her arms, replying indifferently. If it weren't for her slightly scheming personality—and Yuya wanting to see more of Judai's strength—Sho would've gone back alone the same way he came.
"Well then, good night."
With that, Judai waved Sho over. The two each took an oar and rowed the boat back toward the Osiris Red dorm.
Watching the small boat gradually disappear into the darkness, eventually swallowed completely by the night, Yuya stepped forward and stood beside Asuka. Without turning his head, he said to her:
"Well? After watching that duel, did you feel anything?"
Asuka looked down and thought for a moment before answering in a pensive tone:
"Hmm… In terms of raw strength, he's not bad. Thinking back to his duel against Professor Chronos the other day, it makes more sense now that he was able to win."
"But that last-turn Pot of Greed, and especially that detestable Enemy Controller...!"
As she spoke, Asuka gritted her teeth in frustration.
Cyber Blader, whose effect scales based on the number of monsters on the opponent's field, had made her feel certain of victory. Who would've thought that Judai, that goofy-looking guy, would pull out Enemy Controller just when she had no backrow set!
If there weren't other people watching, Asuka might've let loose with some rather unladylike curses.
"A Destiny Draw…"
If her eyes weren't mistaken, that final draw of Judai's had been different from the one in his previous turn—a draw favored heavily by fate itself.
"What did you say?"
Asuka turned her head to look at Yuya, but he only waved his hand dismissively.
"Alright, it's getting late. We should be heading back."
Asuka said this, then joined Junko and Momoe to row back. Once the boat reached shore, the three girls disembarked together and returned to the girls' dorm, leaving Yuya alone standing on the boat.
After they entered the dorm, Yuya rowed back by himself to his personal cabin.
"Phew~ finally, everyone's gone!"
Only once the lake had grown completely silent did Professor Chronos, who had been hiding underwater and secretly watching the entire duel, slowly rise from beneath the surface.
"Yu! Ki! Ju! Dai! ...That delinquent! Next time I swear I'll have him expelled from the academy!!"
"Chronos, who are you saying you want to expel?"
Just as Chronos ground his teeth in the direction Judai had left, a familiar voice suddenly echoed eerily in his ear, sending chills down his spine.
"Ah! N-No! I didn't say anything! You must've misheard!"
Seeing the small boat that had quietly returned—more importantly, the person rowing it—Chronos trembled and completely forgot everything he had just said.
"Oh? Then I must've misheard. You'd better get out of the water too; it's late and a breeze at night could give you a nasty cold."