109 Somehow, it feels like things might have gotten a little out of handヾ(´▽｀;)ゝ

“My deck leader is decided—she it shall be!”

Raising the chosen card high, a blazing crimson fireball burst forth, soaring several meters above Yuui’s head. The fireball slowly unfurled like lotus petals, revealing a figure with a curvaceous, alluring silhouette.

“Fire Attribute Monster—Elemental Hero: Blazing Lady!”

Indeed, Yuui’s choice for deck leader was neither the elder brother of the Hero series, “Sky Knight,” nor his counterpart, the elder sister “Shadow Mist Lady,” but the sole female member of the Fantastic Four—the Blazing Lady!

‘Elemental Hero… what kind of series is this?’

As expected of one of the Big Five, just by hearing the name, it was clear that Yuui was using an “Elemental Hero” deck.

However, he knew nothing about this so-called “Elemental Hero” series!

They knew Yuui had defeated Beckas, but were unaware of the type of deck he employed, because by the time they received the initial news, the five of them had already been summoned back by Kaiba from their organization!

They had invited Kaiba into their immersive virtual reality game, “Brave Duel Monsters,” only to be defeated by him within their own creation, thus becoming trapped in the network world.

From that moment on, they became disconnected from society!

Had they not joined Noah’s faction, they might still be unaware that the rules of Duel Monsters had been rewritten.

Moreover, though the duel disks co-developed by the two companies could recognize Yuui’s various system cards and project them into tangible virtual entities, the Kaiba Corporation and Phantom Society’s card databases contained no records of any system cards used by Yuui!

One might then ask, if there were no records, how did the duel disk recognize and project the cards?

Here lies the key point! Through integrated system power, Yuui created a personal folder named “Yuui Card Information System,” which connects to Duel Monster satellites and duel disks across the universe. Without the consent of both, no one else could access any card originating from that system.

Thus, confronted with a game and Kaiba’s group who clearly understood “Elemental Heroes,” Shuuzou Otaki was utterly baffled.

‘Most likely, he leveraged his position to create a one-of-a-kind deck for himself.’

In the end, Otaki settled on this explanation. As president of Phantom Society, it was perfectly reasonable for him to craft a unique deck exclusive to himself—much like how Beckas had created the “Cartoon World” deck.

“Duel!”

Yuui Sakaki: 4000 LP
Shuuzou Otaki: 4000 LP

“First turn goes to me. Draw!”

“Summon in attack position, ‘Elemental Hero: Blazing Knight’!”

Clad in red and yellow armor, one of only two fire attribute monsters in the Elemental Hero series, Blazing Knight resembled a counterpart to the fire tribe’s “Flame Lady,” almost like a couple.

“Blazing Knight’s effect: For each face-up ‘Elemental Hero’ monster on my field, its attack power increases by 200!”

Blazing Knight, a monster that could be summoned directly and boasted a continuous self-attack boost, was effectively a level 4 monster with 1800 attack points upon successful summoning—a respectable card in the Duel Monsters era.

“Then, I set one card face-down and end my turn.”

Glancing at the four cards in his hand, Yuui concluded his first move.

The Elemental Hero series wasn’t well-suited for going first; besides, crushing the opponent from the start and giving them no chance to win would damage Yuui’s image of fair play.

He gave you a turn to show your cards. By the third turn of the duel and my second turn personally, this duel would be over.

Against weaker opponents, Yuui typically followed this strategy—allowing them a moment to showcase their deck, so don’t say he never gave you a chance.

“My turn. Draw!”

Despite his plump penguin-like figure and less dexterous fingers compared to humans, Shuuzou Otaki flawlessly drew, selected, and played cards on the virtual duel disk projected into the virtual space.

“Summon in attack position, ‘Two-headed Shark’!”

A large blue shark leapt from the card and plunged into the water, circling the massive ice block like a cruiser.

“Why has your monster’s attack power increased?”

As a spectator, Kyoko, having watched numerous duels, could discern some operations even if she was a novice—good memory helped.

“That’s because my deck leader’s effect is active,” Otaki answered honestly in response to Kyoko’s query.

“Deck leader ‘Nightmare Penguin’s’ first effect: All Fish, Sea Serpent, Thunder, and Aqua-type monsters on the field gain 200 attack points! Conversely, Machine and Fire-type monsters lose 200 attack points!”

As Otaki explained the deck leader’s effect, Blazing Knight on Yuui’s field stiffened and slowed under the icy wind stirred up by Nightmare Penguin.

“Next, I activate Nightmare Penguin’s second special effect! Once per turn, I can choose one card on my opponent’s field and return it to their hand!”

To launch an attack, one must naturally clear the back row’s face-down cards!

The classic Elemental Hero trap card, “Hero Barrier,” which could block a single attack, was bounced back to Yuui’s hand.

“That’s not all! I play the spell card ‘Shield in Right Hand, Sword in Left,’ swapping the attack and defense values of all monsters on the field!”

Good grief! The classic spell card instantly reversed the strength of the monsters on both sides! Without the protection of Hero Barrier, Blazing Knight would not withstand this turn.

“Finally, I activate the spell card ‘Water Jet Engine,’ which greatly boosts the power of sea-dwelling monsters!”

A mechanical device that accelerates monsters underwater was installed onto the machine-like Two-headed Shark.

“What an impressive combo!”

Behind, Kyoko and Shizuka watched Otaki’s sequence of plays with mouths agape. By estimation, tiny Shizuka could fit two fingers inside her mouth, while the larger Kyoko might even fit a normal-sized egg.

“Attack! Tear apart the opposing monster! Two-headed Shark, bite attack!”