Xianglin Wu: I was so foolish, truly...

"My turn, I draw a card!"

Peacock Mai gritted her teeth as she looked at the Wildman on the field. The only continuous trap in her deck—an exceptionally powerful one—couldn't affect this bare-chested brute at all!

But it didn't matter!

As long as she summoned a second Harpy Lady No. 1 this turn, with the two boosting each other, they'd easily surpass Wildman's attack points!

But first, let's see what card she drew this turn.

"Yes!"

When she saw it, Mai was overjoyed. She hadn't expected to draw the only spell in her deck that specifically targeted amusement cards.

So, Yugi, don't blame me for this!

"I attack and summon a second 'Harpy Lady No. 1,' then equip this second lady with the Equip Spell 'Rose Whip,' raising her attack by 300 points!"

Not rushing to use the targeted spell, Mai chose to strengthen her offensive first—a card retrieved thanks to Birdface's last words effect, and another gained from the kingdom rules triggered by Birdface's destruction.

(Harpy Lady No. 1 Alpha, ATK: 2100 → 2400)
(Harpy Lady No. 1 Beta, ATK: 1300 → 1900 → 2200)

"Next, I set a card face-down, then activate the spell card 'Warrior Elimination' from my hand! As the name says, it wipes out all face-up Warrior-type monsters on the field!"

A powerful force surged from the card—unseen and untouchable, yet deadly to Warriors! Wildman didn't even have time to resist before he was obliterated by the invincible effect of "Warrior Elimination"!

Watching Wildman get destroyed, Yugi not only remained calm, but even broke into a delighted smile.

"Mai! Thank you for using 'Warrior Elimination' to destroy my Wildman and send him to the graveyard! I really appreciate it!"

Mai & the others: ???

Excited after losing his monster? Yugi, are you serious?

Sensing everyone's confusion, Yugi kept smiling as he explained:

"You're right to wonder. If it had been another Elemental Hero destroyed by 'Warrior Elimination,' I'd probably be upset. But since it's Wildman, I'm not upset at all! In fact, I'm grateful for your move, Mai!"

With that, Yugi picked up a card from his console, turned it face-up toward his opponent Mai, and, abandoning his previous smile, raised his voice with a touch of seriousness:

"At this moment, I activate another effect of the Equip Spell 'Cyclone Boomerang'! When the 'Elemental Hero Wildman' it's equipped to is destroyed by another card's effect, destroy all spells and traps on the field!"

"What?!"

Everyone was stunned. Just an equip spell, yet it had such a powerful effect—if the equipped monster was destroyed by a card effect, it would blow up all spells and traps on the field!

But Yugi's next words left everyone utterly speechless:

"For every spell or trap card destroyed by this effect, the opponent takes 100 points of direct damage!"

Yugi's field: Skyscraper, a set Fusion, another set card, Soul Barrier.
Mai's field: Mirror Wall, Cyber Shield, Rose Whip, one set card.

In that moment, Mai regretted it—regretted activating "Warrior Elimination"! She also cursed herself for setting that last card—wouldn't it have been better to just keep it in her hand? Was it really safer to set it on the field?

She was such a fool, truly!

(Mai: 1900 LP → 1100 LP)

Her only consolation was that, after this sweep, Yugi's field was empty, while Mai still had two Harpy Lady No. 1s, both with 1900 attack points and complementary effects.

[Mai: 1100 LP, hand: 0, Monster Zone: Harpy Lady No. 1 ×2, Spell/Trap Zone: 0]

"My turn, I draw!"

An empty hand and an empty field—although his Life Points were still at the full 2000, so what? If Yugi couldn't summon a monster this turn, he'd lose by default under the rules!

"Good! I summon 'Elemental Hero Bubbleman' in Defense Position!"

Bubbleman—a monster that hadn't yet made a solo appearance since joining Yugi's deck.

"Bubbleman's effect activates! When this card is summoned, if I have no other cards in my hand or on my field besides him, I can draw two cards from my deck."

Bubbleman's effect let Yugi draw two cards, but for some reason, he suddenly envied GX's protagonist Jaden Yuki's Bubbleman—in the anime, as long as the field was empty except for him, you could draw two cards, almost without restriction! Ah, never mind. Better see what those two cards are—

"Next, I equip Bubbleman with his exclusive Equip Spell, 'Bubble Blaster,' raising his attack by 800 points!"

An exclusive equip—like a shoulder-mounted RPG.

(Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Level 4, ATK: 800 → 1600, DEF: 1200)

"Turn end."

[Yugi: 2000 LP, hand: 1, Monster Zone: Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Spell/Trap Zone: Bubble Blaster]

"My turn, I draw!"

Tsk! Harpy Lady No. 2—when it destroys a Flip Effect Monster, it can negate that monster's effect. She's the nemesis of the famous Flip Effect Monster "Man-Eater Bug"!

But for Mai right now, this was just another way to strengthen her offense.

"I attack and summon 'Harpy Lady No. 2.' Thanks to the effects of the two No. 1s, her attack rises to 1900. I attack Bubbleman directly!"

Mai took the initiative, and as she saw Harpy Lady No. 2 swoop toward Bubbleman, Yugi activated another effect of "Bubble Blaster":

"When 'Elemental Hero Bubbleman' would be destroyed in battle, I can send 'Bubble Blaster' to the graveyard instead, and the battle damage becomes zero."

"Your 'Bubble Blaster' can only block one attack! No. 1, attack Bubbleman again!"

This time, nothing could save Bubbleman.

But as a result, Yugi drew a card from his deck, replenishing his hand as per the rules.

"Turn end."

With no monsters on Yugi's field, Mai couldn't attack further, and with nothing left in her hand, she ended her turn.

[Mai: 1100 LP, hand: 0, Monster Zone: Harpy Lady No. 1 ×2, Harpy Lady No. 2, Spell/Trap Zone: 0]

"My turn, I draw!"

Yugi stared at the card's artwork, as if the character depicted was gazing back at its master.

"......"

"I set a monster in defense position and set a card face-down. Turn end."

[Yugi: 2000 LP, hand: 1, Monster Zone: 1 face-down defense, Spell/Trap Zone: 1 set]