Yugioh [754-756] (Patreon)

Chapter 754: The Might of the Gladiator Duel

Mello: "My turn. I draw."

He glanced at the card he drew and immediately revealed it.

"Spell Card: Graceful Charity. Draw three cards from the deck, then discard two cards."

He calmly picked two cards from his hand and sent them to the Graveyard.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: De-Spell!" Mello said. "It can destroy one Spell Card on the field. If it's a set card, flip it to check; if it's a Spell, it must be destroyed."

Kirk: "You want to check my set?"

"No." Mello smiled lightly. "'Machina Gearframe' is a monster card, but when a Union monster is being used as an Equip, and it's in the Spell/Trap Zone, it's treated as a Spell Card.

So I'll use De-Spell to destroy Gearframe."

Green light shot like arrows from his spell, striking the orange-red plating on the steel giant. The alloy frame melted under the magical glow, sloughing off into a pool of iron and vanishing.

"Next I activate the Spell Card: Gladiator Proving Ground, adding a Level 4 or lower 'Gladiator Beast' monster from my deck to my hand."

Mello searched his deck.

"I add Gladiator Beast Bestiari to my hand."

"Then I Normal Summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari!"

A green whirlwind rose. A bird-beast warrior clad in exoskeletal armor with broad steel wings hovered high above the field.

[Gladiator Beast Bestiari, ATK 1500]

"Then I return 'Gladiator Beast Bestiari' and 'Gladiator Beast Murmillo' from my field to the deck."

Mello raised his right hand and clenched a fist in the air.

"Contact Fusion!"

Kirk was shocked. "Fusing without a spell?"

Gladiator Beasts were unearthed by the Industrial Illusion, but until recently they were only slabs, not yet printed as cards. So even the Industrial Illusion had no intel on their exact abilities or usage.

"Correct. Gladiator Beast fusions can return monsters from the field to the deck to fuse, without Polymerization."

Mello closed his eyes as if chanting an incantation.

"Fusion materials: 'Gladiator Beast Bestiari' plus any Gladiator Beast.

Warrior of the ancient raptors, soul entwined with the sword-fighter's spirit—become a veteran of a thousand battles! Fusion Summon—

—Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!"

The legendary Roman emperor—his name is written boldly in Yu-Gi-Oh! history. Anyone who lived through that era knows the fear of being ruled by Gyzarus. He was the undisputed boss of Gladiator Beasts' championship days—the absolute ace.

[Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, ATK 2400]

"When Gyzarus is Special Summoned, you can destroy up to two cards on the field," Mello pointed at Kirk's board. "Your 'Machina Fortress' and the set card in the center of your back row.

Those two are for the chopping block."

Emperor Gyzarus soared, wings beating. Two green twisters split left and right—one toward the steel giant, the other toward the set card—each tornado packed with a thousand feather-arrows!

"Then I chain the set card you targeted!" Kirk barked. "Trap Card: Roll Out!

Select a Union monster in your Graveyard and equip it to a suitable monster on your field!"

He pulled a monster from his Graveyard and slotted it into the Duel Disk as an Equip.

"From the Graveyard, I equip 'Machina Gearframe' to 'Machina Fortress' once more!"

The orange-red steel plating rewrapped Fortress. The green whirlwind shredded the already-activated trap in the back row, while the other twister hit the steel giant's body, only cracking the outer armor.

"Gearframe's effect: when the equipped Machine monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead," Kirk said.

The powerful double-pop on Gyzarus's entrance startled him, but his skill let him weather it. That Gladiator Beast is strong, but its ATK is still lower than Fortress.

"Battle," Mello said. "Gyzarus attacks 'Machina Fortress.'"

"NANI?"

Kirk was shocked again.

He knows he's weaker in ATK yet still attacks?
But Gyzarus was already airborne. The wind swelled into a cyclone, a green storm carrying a rain of feathers straight at the mecha giant.

Kirk's mind raced.

It can't be suicide—there's definitely a trick. He couldn't guess it yet, but—
"I activate my set card!" Kirk flipped another set. "A second Trap Card: Roll Out! Equip a Union monster from the Graveyard to a suitable monster on the field.

Once again, I equip 'Machina Gearframe' to Fortress from the Graveyard!"

The overworked Gearframe could not find rest. Dragged from the Graveyard once more, it became a protective outer shell for Fortress.

"Heh, cautious even when you have higher ATK and a trap in hand. Good choice,"

Mello leisurely revealed a card from his hand.

"Quick-Play Spell: Indomitable Gladiator Beast. One of your Gladiator Beasts gains 500 ATK until the end of the turn."

[Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, ATK 2400 → 2900]

Seeing that card made Kirk break into a cold sweat.

Close call.

Good thing he activated Roll Out!. Attack-modifying Quick-Play Spells can be activated during damage calculation.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! rules, aside from Counter Traps, most effects can't be activated during damage calculation. If he had gambled and not activated the second Roll Out!, then when the opponent used a Quick-Play to boost Gyzarus during damage calculation, he'd have missed the window to activate his set trap.

"Once more, 'Machina Gearframe' is destroyed instead!"

The Gearframe armor took Gyzarus's blast and was destroyed, while the mecha giant stood.

[Kirk, LP 4000 → 3700]

"To block even that—impressive," Mello squinted. "But what will you do next time?"

Kirk was startled.

There's more?

He'd already fended off so many attacks—could there be another?

"At the end of the Battle Phase in which Gyzarus battled, it returns to the deck."

As Mello spoke, Gyzarus turned into golden light and flew back into his deck.

"Then Special Summon two Gladiator Beasts from the deck, except 'Bestiari'," Mello swept his hand. "Return 'Gyzarus' to the deck, Special Summon two new Gladiator Beasts.

Gladiator Beast Murmillo!
Gladiator Beast Darius!"

[Gladiator Beast Murmillo, ATK 800]

[Gladiator Beast Darius, ATK 1700]

Kirk recognized Murmillo, the ugly fish he'd seen earlier, and his pupils shrank.

"Murmillo's effect is—"

"Right. When Special Summoned by a Gladiator Beast's effect, destroy a monster on the field," Mello snapped his fingers. "'Machina Fortress'—destroyed."

Chapter 755: Gyzarus

Boom!

The explosion rippled outward from the steel giant, blowing its body apart into a storm of flying parts.

Kirk Dixon shielded himself with one arm from the blast and shrapnel. "Tch, even that couldn't hold..."

He'd heard that the stolen deck had immense potential, but that was vague. Only now did he feel firsthand the Gladiator Beasts' powerful offensive flow.

So many pops in just one short turn...
"I'm not done. I still have Gladiator Beast Darius's effect," Mello said. "When Darius is Special Summoned by a Gladiator Beast's effect, you can Special Summon a 'Gladiator Beast' from your Graveyard with its effects negated."

He revealed a card he'd discarded earlier.

"I Special Summon another 'Gladiator Beast Bestiari' that I pitched to Graceful Charity at the start of the turn."

[Gladiator Beast Bestiari, ATK 1500]

"That thing again." Kirk's face darkened.

He remembered: the ace fusion "Gladiator Beast Gyzarus" required that card as a material.

Which meant if he didn't deal with it by next turn, the opponent would fuse into Gyzarus again on their turn.

Gyzarus pops two on summon, then after battle pulls more Gladiators from the deck and triggers pop-like effects again...
"No wonder this is called a precious find. This stolen deck is truly a headache," Kirk said gloomily.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting along quite well with them," Mello grinned, casually waving. "I'll set two cards and end my turn."

He lowered his hands, looking at Kirk carelessly.

"Card Professors are supposed to be elite. If this is all, I'm going to be disappointed."

Kirk adjusted his glasses.

"A petty thief acting this cocky really ticks me off. Fine, I'll get serious.
My turn. I draw!"

Kirk drew, then played another card.

"Spell Card: Spider Web—add a card sent to the opponent's Graveyard one turn ago to your hand." (Anime Card)
White filaments snagged a card from Mello's Graveyard and delivered it to Kirk's hand.

"I'll take Graceful Charity—and activate it immediately.

Draw three, then discard two."

"One of the cards I discard is the Spell 'Card of Compensation,' so I draw two more."

"I Normal Summon 'Commander Covington'!"

[Commander Covington, ATK 1000]

"Then I activate the Spell Card: Iron Call!"

A green Spell flared in Kirk's back row, releasing ripples of invisible sound. From a black vortex on his field, metallic debris emerged and reassembled into machines.

"Iron Call can be activated if you control a Machine. Select a Level 4 or lower Machine in your Graveyard and Special Summon it. Its effects are negated and it will be destroyed at the end of the turn.

I Special Summon the monster I discarded earlier: 'Machina Defender!'"

[Machina Defender, DEF 1800]

"Next I activate the Spell 'Ties of the Brethren'! Pay 1000 Life Points, select one Level 4 or lower monster on your field, then Special Summon two monsters from your deck with the same Level and Type as that monster. Those monsters cannot be Tributed or attack." (Anime effect)

Kirk swiftly pulled two cards from his deck.

"I Special Summon 'Machina Sniper'!
And 'Machina Soldier'!"

[Machina Sniper, ATK 1800]

[Machina Soldier, ATK 1600]

"Flooding the field with four Machinas at once? Not bad," Mello smiled. "So you're going to use 'that,' huh?"

Kirk shouted: "Commander Covington, activate ultimate capability! Four-unit combination with the Machinas on the field!"

Covington waved his hand, and the other Machina warriors responded, transforming and combining. Parts interlocked and merged into a towering steel giant, rising higher and higher until it reached the sky.

Machina Force—Summoned!
[Machina Force, ATK 4600]

"Ho, 4600 attack—stronger than the gods," Mello clapped. "Impressive."

"Machina Force, attack 'Gladiator Beast Bestiari!'" Kirk called.

Bestiari is the key to Gyzarus and the biggest threat among the three. It must go first. And if this connects, the opponent will be down to 2500 Life—Machina Force can one-shot from there!

Sure, the opponent might have defense in the back row, but—
As expected, Mello said next: "I activate my set card—Trap Card: 'Gladiator Beast Charge'! Target up to the number of face-up cards on the field equal to the number of different 'Gladiator Beast' monsters you control; destroy them."

"Another pop trap?" Kirk was startled.

Gladiator Beasts—what terrifying destructive power. He'd lost count of how many cards had been blown up in two turns.

"I control three different Gladiator Beasts, so I can pop up to three cards," Mello smiled. "Your 'Machina Force' may look like one monster, but it's actually four combined.

However, the combination hinges on that Commander Covington. Destroy that lynchpin, and the fusion collapses."

Kirk was silent.

"So I'll destroy 'Commander Covington,' 'Machina Soldier,' and 'Machina Sniper.'"

"The Gladiator Beast deck is indeed terrifying in flow and destruction, but..."

The lenses of Kirk's glasses flashed, a dangerous chill in his eyes.

"This level of counterplay was anticipated!
Counter Trap: 'Trap Jammer'! During the Battle Phase, when your opponent activates a Trap Card, negate the activation and destroy it!"

Nothing but another Counter Trap can respond.

And once this window passes, Machina Force's massive ATK will end the duel in a single blow. Even if the opponent has something else, they won't get to use it.

Kirk nudged his frames and smirked.

Got him.

But then—

"Counter Trap: 'Parry,'" Mello said coolly. "Return a 'Gladiator Beast' card from your hand to the deck; negate the activation of a Trap Card and destroy it."

Kirk: "!!!"

A Counter Trap!?
He stared, stunned, at the opponent's back row.

So the Gladiator Beast archetype even has this kind of counter...
Damn!

Counter Traps can't be chained to by anything but another Counter Trap. Now the same problem was reflected back on him—
"Trap Jammer's activation is negated. 'Gladiator Beast Charge' resolves—your three Machinas are destroyed."

Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions in succession. Kirk's Machina warriors detonated one after another, spraying burning debris and shards of metal everywhere.

Kirk stared blankly at the field, now a sea of fire.

"My Machina Force—the strongest Machina—just..."

"And at your End Phase, the drawback of your own 'Iron Call,'" Mello said airily. "Your last 'Machina Defender' is destroyed as well."

Another blast, and Kirk's final Machina blew to pieces.

Kirk: "..."

His Machinas—the unbeatable Machinas—four summoned at once, all blown up in the same turn...
Are Gladiators really this terrifying?
"My turn. I draw," Mello said calmly. "Return 'Gladiator Beast Bestiari' and 'Gladiator Beast Murmillo' to the deck—Contact Fusion.

Warrior of ancient raptors, soul entwined with the sword-fighter's spirit—become a veteran of a thousand battles! Fusion Summon—

—Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!"

[Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, ATK 2400]

"You did well... For a top Card Professor, this is about your limit. Can't ask for more.

Gyzarus pops two on summon, but you don't have anything left for me to destroy."

Kirk: "..."

Mello shrugged and waved casually.

"Gladiator Beast Darius, Gladiator Beast Gyzarus—direct attack."

Before his beasts even lunged, he had already turned away.

The result was set. No need to watch.

[Kirk, LP 2700 → LP 0]

Chapter 756: The Usurpation

"Urgh!"

Kirk Dixon staggered backward, face pale, barely able to stand.

So strong...
He now understood. When the other said "you're only at this level," there was no mockery—just a statement of fact.

In this man's eyes, he truly was just fodder.

So this is the power of the Gladiators...
"It's only the tip of the iceberg."

Mello walked forward slowly.

"This deck hides abilities you cannot comprehend. Unfortunately, at your level, you'll likely never see more."

Kirk gritted his teeth, trying to stand, lips trembling, body shaking.

He could only force his head up.

"What do you want?" Kirk asked hoarsely. "You already stole the deck you wanted, didn't you? Why come back? Why target our Industrial Illusion... cough... cough..."

"Why?"

Mello stopped before him, his Duel Disk reformed into a cane.

He tapped Kirk's forehead with the cane, a mocking smile on his lips.

"As a top Card Professor under the Industrial Illusion, you can't be ignorant of how this world truly works, can you?" Mello said. "Ever since your Professor Pegasus unearthed the Duel Monster slabs from ancient Egypt three millennia ago, the fate of this world began to shift.

Duel Monsters, at first just a popular game on the streets, gradually revealed extraordinary power.

First the ancient relics—capable of manipulating hearts and destroying the world.

Then the impact on technology—cards seeping into diverse fields, advancing global tech by decades in just ten years..."

"What are you trying to say?" Kirk panted.

Mello gazed at him coolly.

"The point is: the Industrial Illusion may look like a card entertainment company on the surface. In truth, over the years it has forged deep ties with astronomy, physics, military tech—every field. It's already the core enterprise of this world.

If you want a world to truly fall, you must strike at its heart."

Kirk's mind was slipping. His vision filled with blinding light, as if all things were being devoured by purity.

At those words, he jerked his head up. "You—you're Light..."

"Right. Your Industrial Illusion was among the first to sense our presence... Correct. We are the entity you named 'Light Force.'"

Mello admitted it openly.

"Sartorius was wrong from the start. He tried to find some earth-ending weapon, but that was never going to work.

The Industrial Illusion is the foundation stone of this tower—and it will be the beginning of its collapse."

"This won't happen..." Kirk's consciousness blurred. "You can't—you won't—"

He never finished. His head drooped.

"Oh, I can. And you will help me."

Mello spoke calmly.

"Now, I need a small favor. Take me to Maximillion Pegasus."

Silence for a few seconds.

Then Kirk Dixon slowly raised his head again. In that instant, his hair had turned pure white, and his eyes shone with pale light.

"No problem."

…

Gentle waves embraced an island at sea, encircled by endless green. A luxurious castle stood at the island's center, within which rested an elegant villa. Sunlight filtered through glass domes, lighting every corner like a sea palace.

Behind the villa lay a private beach of fine sand, and beside it a crystal-clear private pool like a giant sapphire inlaid in stone. The water was pristine; smooth white pebbles lined the edge. The air carried hints of flowers and sea salt.

Maximillion Pegasus lounged on a wide white wicker recliner, wearing a soft gray-white bathrobe, collar loose, holding a glass of ruby wine that gleamed under the evening glow.

This was where legends began—the island that hosted the first Duelist Kingdom. Here, Yugi Muto defeated the father of Duel Monsters and claimed his first Duel King title.

That was ten years ago. The past has dispersed like clouds. Even remembering that battle where the boy toppled him, the loss of the Millennium Eye, the wife he could not save—Pegasus now only smiled, at peace.

He'd long retired and let go. Except for world-threatening matters like the search for the apocalyptic Ultimate D card, he'd left ordinary affairs to his two adopted sons.

Recently, news came that the Light of Destruction inhabiting Sartorius had been defeated by the current Duel King, Fujiki Kira, and that the Ultimate D lost for a decade had been recovered. "Youngsters are remarkable."

Pegasus sipped wine and basked in the sun, eyes half-closed.

Duel King Kira—he hadn't interacted much with him, but the man seemed interesting.

For some reason, from indirect impressions, Kira reminded him of Yugi—not the Pharaoh, as the world imagines, but the present-world personality.

Having faced the original Duel King deeply as the first boss, Pegasus knew the difference. They looked the same, but their styles—and even their presence while merely standing—were completely different.

The dark persona radiated kingly dominance, exerting pressure in a duel.

The other, easily underestimated, at first glance seemed just a vessel for the king—a feeble chick. But later you realize even that frailty was part of the trap—like his dueling itself. By the time you notice, you're sunk in a web of chains, unable to escape...
"If someday I introduce Yugi-boy to Kira-boy, that'd be delightful," the retired Pegasus mused, chuckling.

A voice came from behind.

"Two generations of Duel Kings meeting? A fun idea. But Mr. Pegasus, you'd better worry about yourself first."

Pegasus frowned and turned. Mello strode into his private courtyard, stopping by the pool, smiling as he met Pegasus's gaze.

"You?" Pegasus said coldly. "Why are you here?"

"Nothing special." Mello shrugged and narrowed his eyes. "Just borrowing your throne for a while."