It's Time to D-D-D-Duel! 2 

Jayr POV - Challenge Space - ???

Jayr - 800

Nikita - 5500

After looking at the card in my hand, I declare, "Now that is the Standby Phase and you sent a bunch of cards to the GY, I can activate the effect of one of them, specifically, Arkbrave Dragon, that lets me target 1 Level 7 or 8 Dragon monster in my GY, except "Arkbrave Dragon" and special summon it, and I chose the level 7 Darkblaze Dragon, which I summon in attack position."

As I say that, a fire tornado briefly appears on the field which is then blown away by a slender black and red menacing-looking dragon who now stands beside my other two monsters, Galaxy-Eyes Cipher X Dragon and Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon.

Darkblaze Dragon - ATK 1200 / DEF 1000

Seeing the new monster, Nikita comments, "Really that's it? It's kinda weak... Didn't you have any better dragon in your GY?"

I smile ignoring her question and continue, "Now, the conditions to activate Darkblaze Dragon's effect are met. After all, if this card is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, Its ATK and DEF become double its original ATK and DEF. At the same time, I put both Galaxy-Eyes Cipher X Dragon and Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon in attack position."

Darkblaze Dragon - ATK 2400 / DEF 2000

Galaxy-Eyes Cipher X Dragon - ATK 4000 / DEF 3000

Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon - ATK 4000 / DEF 3500

After that, I take a look at the field and try to find the best way to get out of this situation, 'Hmm... Yuki-Onna and Gashadokuro are in attack position, and Dakki, Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower, and Oboro-Guruma are in defense position... First of all, I have to take care of Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower, but I also have to watch out for the Mayakashi Synchro Monsters' tricky effect that lets them be Special Summoned from the GY when a 2 levels higher Synchro Monster on the field gets destroyed at the cost of banishing another zombie monster in the GY... Moreover, Darkblaze Dragon is actually a danger as it could very well cause me to lose this duel as its attack is way too low, and would easily be an attack target...Let's do this.'

Coming up with a plan, I start to act, "First, I detach 1 material from Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon to activate its effect, and then target 1 face-up card you control, Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower, and destroy it."

Quickly my monster follows my order and destroys Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower standing in front of a still-calm Nikita, after that, I start the Battle Phase and declare, "Darkblaze Dragon attack Dakki, the Graceful Mayakashi."

Darkblaze Dragon easily swops toward its target and destroys it with its Fire Breath, but since the monster was in defense position, it caused no damage to my opponent, then I say, "Now that it has destroyed a monster by battle and sent it to the GY, Darkblaze Dragon's other effect can be activated, which inflicts to you damage equal to that monster's original ATK, in this case, 1000 LP."

Nikita - 4500 LP

I don't stop here and continue the assault by ordering, "Galaxy-Eyes Cipher X Dragon attack the defense position Oboro-Guruma, while Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon attack the attack position Yuki-Onna."

Under my command both dragon easily wipe out their targets, with Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon causing a damage of 1600 LP, leaving on the field only the attack position Gashadokuro, the Skeletal Mayakashi with its ATK of 3300.

Nikita - 2900 LP

I end the Battle Phase and made my move to ensure that I have a chance to survive Nikita's next turn, and so I say, "Now, I use Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon as a material to XYZ Summon the Rank 9 Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Blade Dragon."

Instantly with a bright flash of light Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon ejects its pitch-black armor revealing the multicolored Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Blade Dragon with the two huge blades coming out of its forearms.

Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Blade Dragon - ATK 3200 / DEF 2800

After that, I explain, "And now, I detach 1 material from this card, then target 1 card on the field to destroy it, and I choose Darkblaze Dragon."

Instantly with its blades, Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Blade Dragon bisects Darkblaze Dragon and sends it to the GY, and with that, I end my turn.

Seeing all that, Nikita comments impressed, "Not bad... I'm surprised, while your deck isn't perfect, it isn't all that bad, considering the limit we had in our choices...Anyway, I draw."

Jayr - 800

Nikita - 2900 LP

Nikita looks at the card and comments with a smirk on her face, "Oh gosh! You are very unlucky." then she says, "I summon Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower in attack position."

Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower - ATK 400 / DEF 1500

Seeing that menace back, I can't help but curse out loud, "What the fuck! Are you printing those cards on need like Yugi Muto!? It is the second time I corner you and you draw another card that can turn the situation around! Are you sure that your Concept is Gravity and not Luck!?"

Nikita shrugs her shoulder and says with nonchalance, "I just have a better deck." then she starts once again, "Now I start my Main Phase, first, I activate Yuki-Musume's effect, I send 1 zombie card from the Deck to the GY, and special summon Yuki-Musume from the GY in defense position, then I activate Yuki-Onna, the Icicle Mayakashi's effect, so I banish Yuki-Onna, and summon 1 zombie Synchro Monster that is banished or in the GY and I choose to summon Tengu, the Winged Mayakashi in attack position. With both these special summons, Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower activates once more."

Yuki-Musume, the Ice Mayakashi - ATK 0 / 1900 DEF

Tengu, the Winged Mayakashi - ATK 2600 / 1500DEF

And with that, 4 more cards are gone from my deck leaving me only with 5 of them, at this point, I already know what her next move is going to be and realize that I'm going to lose this first duel.

Indeed, Nikita starts the Battle Phase and declares, "And with this, I win. Tengu attack Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Blade Dragon"

Tengu follows her order and starts a suicide attack on Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Blade Dragon which ends with Tengu being destroyed and Nikita receiving a negligible damage of 600 LP.

Nikita - 2300 LP

But it is here that things get nasty, as Nikita explains, "With Tengu destroyed by battle and sent to the GY, I activate Tsuchigumo, the Poisonous Mayakashi's effect, I banish another zombie monster in the GY and special summon Tsuchigumo in attack position, and with this Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower's effect of sending 2 cards from the deck to the GY and Tsuchigumo, the Poisonous Mayakashi's other effect of both players sending 3 cards from the deck to the GY activate. And with this, I end my Battle Phase and my turn. I win!"

Tsuchigumo, the Poisonous Mayakashi - ATK 2000 / DEF 1800

Indeed, with this, a total of 5 cards go from the deck to my GY, and since now I'm unable to draw cards, I lose for Deck Out and soon Gravity's voice is heard as he declares, [The winner of the first duel is Nikita who is now leading 1-0. Please change your deck and as the loser Jayr can choose who will start first.]

Without hesitation, I insert in the duel disk the deck I'm more familiar with, then I say, "I'll start second." while thinking, 'Now I have to truly focus. I can't lose anymore!'

Quickly we start the new duel, and we both draw five cards, looking at my hand, I can't stop a smile from forming on my face as I think, 'As expected from the deck I'm most compatible with... unless something unexpected happens, I can end this in one turn.'

Jayr - 8000

Nikita - 8000

Meanwhile, Nikita starts her turn and from the first card that she plays I already know what to expect and can't help but grimace, "I summon Magician's Rod in attack position."

Magician's Rod - ATK 1600 / DEF 100

Then she explains, "When this card is normally summoned, I can add 1 Spell/Trap from my Deck to my hand, that mentions "Dark Magician" and I choose the Continuous Spell Card Dark Magical Circle which I instantly activate, making me look at the top 3 cards of my Deck, then I can reveal 1 of them that is "Dark Magician" or a Spell/Trap that mentions "Dark Magician", and add it to my hand, and can also place the remaining cards on top of my Deck in any order."

Then she reveals Soul Servant, Dark Magic Expanded, and a Dark Magician, and of course, among them, she picks up the Soul Servant to add to her hand.

Nikita then reveals one of the cards in her hand and continues, "Now I activate Illusion of Chaos' effect. By revealing this card, I can add 1 "Dark Magician", or 1 non-Ritual monster that mentions it, from my Deck to my hand, then place 1 card from my hand on top of the Deck."

She adds a Dark Magician and places Illusion of Chaos on top of her deck, then she activates another card from her hand, "Now, I activate Magicians' Souls' effect, I first send the Dark Magician in my hand to the GY, then I also send Magicians' Souls and special summon the Dark Magician from the GY."

Soon one of the most iconic cards of the game makes its appearance a tall handsome guy with a purple robe, conic hat, and green staff, the ace monster of the first protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, Yugi Muto, and one of the most supported cards in the game.

Dark Magician - ATK 2500 / DEF 2100

Of course, Nikita's first turn doesn't end here, "I also activate the quick spell card Soul Servant which lets me place 1 card on top of the Deck from my hand, Deck, or GY, that is "Dark Magician" or mentions "Dark Magician" or "Dark Magician Girl", except "Soul Servant, and I pick up Illusion Magic, then I banish Soul Servant from the GY to activate its other effect that lets my draw card equal to the number of Dark Magician, Palladium, or Dark Magician Girl on the field but since there is only Dark Magician, I draw only one card."

She still doesn't stop and while I start to think about the various Universes I could visit with my family, she makes her next play, "Now, I play the spell card Illusion Magic that allows me to tribute 1 Spellcaster monster; add up to 2 copies of "Dark Magician" from my Deck and/or GY to my hand, and I tribute Magician's Rod."

At this point, I can already expect what is coming next, 'I played with way too many people using this form of deck, so much that even without Crateris I can see the move they make before they even think of them.'

Indeed, Nikita's next move is something I already expected especially seeing her field setup, "Now I play the spell card The Eye of Timaeus to Fusion Summon a monster using Dark Magician as material"

At this point, I mutter, "Here he comes...", while Nikita declares excitedly, "I Fusion Summon Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!"

Soon the monster that for a period visited my nightmares makes its appearance once more, Big Daddy Dragoon, a pale white-haired Dark Magician whose robe becomes pitch black dragon-shaped armor with golden ornament, a 3k beatstick that can't be targetted and destroyed by card effects, that destroys opponent's monsters and deals burn damage equal to their attack, and more important, it also has an Omni-negate that if successful makes its attack raise by 1000 points and that can be easily summoned with 4 different cards.

Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon - ATK 3000 / DEF 2500

Looking at its menacing figure as it stares at me daring to make any move against it I can't help but remember, 'For a time you couldn't play a game without meeting it in some form even with decks using a totally different strategy or theme... And then... came Branded and its merry band...'

While I was thinking that, Nikita finally set one card face down and ended her turn with a confident smile on her face.

I draw a card and looking at it I can't help to smile, then I start my turn with, "I activate Ritual Spell Card Nekroz Kaleidoscope, which allows me to tribute 1 monster from the Extra Deck to Ritual Summon 1 or more monsters from my hand, and I tribute Elder Entity N'tss to Ritual Summon-" but before I could continue, Nikita says, "Wait! I use Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon's effect, I discard one card from my hand and negate the activation of your spell card, and since it ends up in the GY, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon gains 1000 attack points."

Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon - ATK 4000 / DEF 2500

At this point, I start to laugh loudly in Kaiba style, "Hehehe. Hahaha! HAhA, HAA! You made a very costly mistake! Let's end this! Culture please start the music!" stunning Nikita, who still doesn't understand what is going on.

Under my request, 4 huge speakers appear around us, and a piece of nostalgic familiar music starts first with some light drums, which is then followed, by the iconic electric guitars, and soon the lyrics follow as Make-Up music, "♪Dakishimeta Kokoro no kosumo. Atsuku moyase Kiseki wo okose. Kizutsuita mama ja inai to. Chikaiatta Haruka na ginga♪"

Soon the song picks up and Nikita exclaims, "Don't tell me this is the opening of that old anime!?" and in the background, the vocalist yells the chorus, "♪ Pegasasu fantaji. Sou sa yume dake wa. Dare mo ubaenai Kokoro no tsubasa dakara. Saint Seiya. Shounen wa minna. Saint Seiya. Ashita no yuusha (oh yeahh).♪"

Indeed, this is the original opening of Saint Seiya's anime, Pegasus Fantasy by Make-up, quite a fitting song considering the fact that my curred deck is built around the Nekroz archetype, which draws direct inspiration from my own universe, after all their lore is of a clan that perfected magical rituals to weave the power of legendary monsters into armors via a magical mirror, and clad themselves into them, basically, they are like the Muvian who made the Cloth weaving the power of the constellation into them and the Saints who wears them.

Meanwhile, I continue my play as the music continues to make my heart pump faster, "Since Elder Entity N'tss was sent to the GY, I can also activate its effect that lets me destroy 1 card on the field and I choose the face down card."

Instantly, the phantom image of Elder Entity N'tss swops down and destroys the face-down card piercing it with her spear.

After that, I continue as the song moves toward its climax, "I activate the effect of Nekroz of Brionac in my hand, by discarding this card, I can add 1 "Nekroz" monster from my Deck to my hand, except "Nekroz of Brionac", and I add Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz, then I summon Diviner of the Herald in attack position."

A cute winged woman appears in front of me holding her hand in a prayer stance with a calm smile on her face.

Diviner of the Herald - ATK 500 / DEF 300

As soon as she appears, I continue, "Since this card was normal summoned, I can activate its effect that lets me send 1 Fairy monster from my Deck or Extra Deck to the GY, and if I do, increase this card's Level by that monster's Level, until the end of this turn, and I send Herald of the Arc Light from my Extra Deck, which as the effect that when it is sent to the GY this card let me add 1 Ritual Monster or 1 Ritual Spell from my Deck to my hand, making me add, Nekroz of Clausolas."

I do not have any intention of stopping and continuing with my combo, "I activate the effect of Nekroz of Clausolas in my hand, by discarding this card, I can add 1 "Nekroz" Spell/Trap from my Deck to my hand, and I add the Ritual Spell Card Nekroz Kaleidoscope, which I quickly activate, and sending another Herald of the Arc Light from my Extra Deck, I Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore in attack position."

The monster is quickly summoned, it is a young man with long grey hairs and green eyes, wearing a white armor styled around some kind of unicorn and armed with a spear with a peculiar mirror near its blade that aims at Nikita, and as soon as he appeared e starts to emanate a strange aura that seems suppressing Big Daddy Dragoon.

Nekroz of Unicore - ATK 2300 / DEF 1000

Seeing that, Nikita frows and asks, "What is going on?" and with a smile, I explain with a smirk, "This is Nekroz of Unicore's effect, as long as it is on the field it negates the effects of all the face-up monsters on the field that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, this means that Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is only a simple and very vulnerable high attack monster. Moreover, I once again activate Herald of the Arc Light's effect and add Nekroz of Decisive Armor to the hand."

Then I continue, "Now, I activate the Ritual Spell Card Nekroz Cycle, which lets me Ritual Summon a monster from the GY and I tribute Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz, which has the effect of being able to be used as the entire requirement to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Brionac, plus when Shurit is tributed, I can add 1 Warrior "Nekroz" Ritual Monster from my Deck to my hand and I add Nekroz of Trishula."

Soon, a new monster appears beside the other ones, this is Shurit, a young man with heterochromatic eyes, one red the other green, and red and gray hair, wearing an armor styled after an ice dragon with a sword with the same mirror between the blade and the hilt.

Nekroz of Brionac - ATK 2300 / DEF 1400

Without giving Nikita any chance to retaliate, I declare, "Now, I activate Nekroz of Brionac which lets me target up to 2 face-up monsters on the field that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, and shuffle them into the Deck, and of course, I target Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!"

Nekroz of Brionac also unleashes its aura that pushes back Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon until it is forced to leave the field leaving Nikita defenseless as she mutters, "Ah... this is bad..."

Of course, I still have a few moves left, and so I continue, "Now, I activate the last Ritual Spell Card, Nekroz Mirror, which lets me Ritual Summon any "Nekroz" monster from the hand, but I can tribute monsters in the GY as requirement by banishing them, and I banish Shurit from the GY that can be used as the entire requirement to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Trishula in attack position, which has the effect of banishing a card from the field, from the GY and a random card from the hand. I target Dark Magical Circle and Dark Magician in the GY."

With a burst of energy, Nekroz of Trishula appears on the field, and with that energy, it destroys the targeted cards on the field, GY, and hand, its appearance is that of an older-looking Shurit wearing a different armor still styled after an ice dragon, but this one looks a lot stronger than the Brionac armor.

Nekroz of Trishula - ATK 2700 / DEF 2000

Right now, on the field, I have enough attack power to cause damage equal to 7800 LP, but I still have one little move to make before attacking, "And lastly, I activate the effect of Nekroz of Decisive Armor in my hand that by discarding this card, then I can target 1 "Nekroz" monster I control and it gains 1000 ATK and DEF until the end of this turn. I target Nekroz of Trishula."

Nekroz of Trishula - ATK 3700 / DEF 3000

Then I start the Battle Phase, point at Nikita, and command, "Everyone attack for an amazing 1 turn kill!"

Under my command, all the monsters on the field attack Nikita at the same time, bringing her LP to 0, at the same time, the music in the background ends.

Jayr - 8000 LP

Nikita - 0 LP

Soon after that, Culture's voice is heard as he declares, [The winner of the second duel is Jayr and the score is now 1-1. Please change your deck and as the loser Nikita can choose who will start first.]

Nikita then quickly changes her deck and mutters, "Woah! That for sure was one crazy combo. It was quite a while since I was 1 turn killed by someone, and now the situation is also quite tense as we reached the last duel... Luckily I kept my best deck last, especially considering that I was able to rebuild and even upgrade the one I used when I participated in the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship of 2019... sure, I didn't win but that is only because I ended up facing that Kouki Kosaka and his Salamangreat deck... damned meta-slave, I lost count of how many Salamangreat were present at that tournament..."

Hearing that, I can't help but freeze for a moment, 'Wait! What!? Are you telling me that she took part in the fucking World Championship? Damn, she is that good? Luckily I was able to limit somewhat her ability to build a deck...' 

While thinking about that, I remove the Nekroz deck from the duel disk and insert the last one that contains one of the most lethal cards I have ever seen in this game.

Nikita smiles and says, "I'll start first!" and soon after that, she draws 5 cards, then she quickly starts her play, "I summon Witchcrafter Potterie in attack position."

And with a cute pop, a small blonde child with a cute smile appears in front of her.

Witchcrafter Potterie - ATK 0 / DEF 2000

Quickly after that, Nikita continues, "Now I activate, Witchcrafter Potterie's effect which lets me Tribute this card, then discard 1 Spell from my hand, in this case Witchcarfter Holiday to Special Summon 1 "Witchcrafter" monster from my Deck, except "Witchcrafter Potterie", I special summon Witchcrafter Haine in attack position."

And in the cute Pottierie's place, the cold beauty Haine makes her appearance.

Witchcrafter Haine - ATK 2400 / DEF 1000

After that, Nikita smiles and says, "I set 1 card face down and with this, I end my turn, at the same time, since it is the End Phase and I have a Witchcrafter monster on the field, I activate Witchcrafter Holiday effect that makes it return from the GY to my hand."

Seeing that, I can't help but blink in confusion while thinking, 'Already done? When she said that this was her best deck, I expected something able to pull off an almost infinite combo that takes almost a year to complete, moreover, I don't remember how this archetype works as I didn't play against it many times... Something isn't right, better be careful.'

Then I start my turn, "I draw." and start to carefully look at my hand, and can't help but smirk thinking, 'Not bad... not bad at all. With this, I can start with a bang.'

After confirming, my strategy, I start to play, "I play the Quick Spell Card Ojamatch, which lets me send 1 "Ojama" card from my hand or face-up from the field to the GY after that I can add to my hand, 1 "Ojama" monster with a different name and 1 "Armed Dragon" monster from my Deck and/or GY, then, immediately after this effect resolves, I can Normal Summon 1 of those monsters, I discard Ojamagic and add Ojama Blue and Armed Dragon Thunder LV 3, then I normal summon Ojama Blue in attack position."

Soon a small, ugly, almost naked blue humanoid monster with a rectangular head wearing a floral red bikini brief appears proudly on the field with arms crossed while also sending a wink at a grossed-out Haine.

Ojama Blue - ATK 0 / DEF 1000

Seeing that, Nikita exclaims out loud, "What!? Really!!? An Ojama Deck!!? That's your last deck? Are you fucking kidding me?"