Chapter 175

[Labyrinth Brothers vs. Hoshino Chiyuki & Akasha]

"Duel Start!"

"I'll take the first move!" declared the 'Labyrinth' brother as he drew his card.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. With the Duel Disk system, you won't be able to pull off tricks like using monster cards as field spells anymore!" Hoshino reminded them, recalling the Labyrinth Brothers' previous tactics.

As expected of Kaiba's exclusive duel arena, the space was extravagantly large. The size of the area was vast enough that even placing a labyrinth inside wouldn't be an issue.

However, the Labyrinth Brothers' reaction was unexpected to Hoshino...

After drawing their cards, the brothers chuckled. "Don't worry. With the strength we've gained now, we no longer need such flimsy tactics like the labyrinth!"

What? They don't need a labyrinth and still call themselves the Labyrinth Brothers?

"I activate the spell card [Card Destruction], forcing all players to discard their hands and draw the same number of cards from their decks!" the brother declared.

"Swapping hands right off the bat? Guess they didn't like their opening hand," Mokuba thought to himself.

Mokuba, standing nearby, had a strange feeling. He had watched Kaiba duel against AI here countless times. The space was huge, but Kaiba's monsters were massive too. Everyone knew about the Blue-Eyes White Dragons and Obelisk the Tormentor. The arena's size was specifically designed to fully showcase the grand scale of Kaiba's monsters.

"This stage originally belonged to my brother alone, but now, four people are dueling in a tag-team duel," Mokuba murmured quietly.

"Well, I didn't like my opening hand much either." Hoshino tossed her cards into the graveyard, happily drawing five new cards from her deck.

"Huh? Akasha felt like her starting hand was pretty good," Akasha said, hesitating as she discarded her [Mirror Force], [Magic Cylinder], [Trap Hole], [Raigeki], and [Compulsory Evacuation Device] into the graveyard.

"Akasha-chan, if you don't change your deck, you might never make friends in your life…" Hoshino said with a sigh.

"But this deck can help us win the duel, right? If you think of it that way, it's not too bad, right, Hoshino-nee?" Akasha said, smiling innocently.

After drawing five new cards, Akasha's hesitation disappeared. It seemed she had already drawn into new traps.

"Do you think I discarded my hand just to swap cards? How naive!" The brothers smirked as they slammed down their next card. "I activate the spell card [Premature Burial]!"

[Premature Burial Equip Spell Effect: Pay 800 Life Points, then target 1 monster in your graveyard. Special Summon it in Attack Position and equip it with this card. When this card is destroyed, destroy the equipped monster.]

[Labyrinth Brothers LP 4000 → 3200]

"With this card, I'll special summon [Suijin] from the graveyard!"

[Suijin ★★★★★★★(7-star)][WATER][Aqua/Effect][ATK 2500/DEF 2400]

[Once while face-up on the field, during damage calculation in your opponent's turn, if this card is being attacked (Quick Effect): You can target the attacking monster; make that target's ATK 0 during damage calculation only.]

"So they've shifted away from stalling with their labyrinth tactics and are speeding up their deck with fast-paced strategies, summoning monsters right from the start," Hoshino thought, slightly surprised. "It feels like they're stronger without the labyrinth."

"And now, I summon [Kaiser Sea Horse] in Attack Position! Turn end!"

[Kaiser Sea Horse ★★★★(4-star)][LIGHT][Sea Serpent/Effect][ATK 1700/DEF 1650]

[This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of a LIGHT monster.]

"Hahaha! Behold the terrifying power of the reborn Labyrinth Brothers!" they cackled arrogantly.

"Let me take the first move, Hoshino-nee!" Akasha, who had been eager to duel since swapping her hand, volunteered.

"Alright, I'll let you have the stage this time." Hoshino waved Akasha on, lowering her hand that was about to draw.

"Then, my turn! I draw! I summon [Silent Magician LV4] in Attack Position!"

[Silent Magician LV4 ★★★★(4-star)][LIGHT][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 1000]

"She's so cute! I didn't realize the lower-level Silent Magicians were this adorable," Hoshino remarked, watching the tiny Silent Magician pop out on Akasha's field. The miniature magician clutched a small, ornate staff, standing barely half the height of the LV8 version.

"And then, I activate a spell card from my hand…" Akasha continued, throwing down a familiar card.

"[Card Destruction]!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Do you two have something against your hands or what?!" Hoshino complained as she looked at the spell card and then glanced at her own hand. She sighed heavily. "I've never discarded 10 cards before the duel even started…"

Reluctantly, Hoshino threw her cards into the graveyard and reached for her deck...

"!!!" But this time, something felt different.

"What is this feeling…?" It was as if something had suddenly rushed into her brain, a dizziness overtaking her. Hoshino nearly lost her balance and stumbled backward.

"Hoshino-nee, are you alright?" Akasha asked, noticing Hoshino's unusual state while drawing her new hand.

A faint dark aura, though subtle, had started to invade Hoshino's eyes. Black strands of energy, barely visible, wove themselves around the edges of her crimson pupils like threads being drawn from the depths.

"I'm fine. I think I know what's going on…" Hoshino whispered, looking at the cards she had just drawn.

"So this is what it feels like to use an Evil God Card… The power is immense, but overuse would indeed erode one's sanity," she mused to herself.

"Don't worry about me, Akasha-chan. Keep going." Even though her eyes had taken on an odd color, Hoshino gave Akasha a bright smile.

"Alright…" Akasha still seemed a bit concerned but shifted her focus back to the duel, continuing her turn.

"I activate [Silent Magician LV4]'s effect!"

[Each time your opponent draws a card(s), place 1 Spell Counter on this card (max. 5). This card gains 500 ATK for each Spell Counter on it.]

[Spell Counters X5]

[Silent Magician LV 4 ATK 1000 → 3500]

As the Spell Counters continued to accumulate, Silent Magician began to grow. In no time, the petite Silent Magician LV4 had matured into a much taller, more powerful figure resembling the LV8 version.

"This growth rate is impressive…" Hoshino muttered, glancing at Silent Magician's now noticeably enhanced form.

"And then I'll set four cards and end my turn."

Even though Silent Magician now had an attack power of 3500, with the Suijin on the Labyrinth Brothers' field, it was pointless to attack.

If Akasha's Silent Magician attacked, its attack power would drop to zero due to Suijin's effect. In such a situation, instead of charging forward recklessly, it was better to let it serve as a high-attack wall.

As the Elite duelist among the Rare Hunters, Akasha knew this instinctively, even without Hoshino reminding her. She didn't enter the battle phase. After setting the remaining cards in her hand, Akasha chose to end her turn.

"Heh heh, with Suijin on the field, even a monster with 3500 attack points wouldn't dare to attack. A bit of common sense would tell you that…"

Continuing his turn, the Labyrinth Brother wasn't surprised by Akasha's understanding of the monster's effects. The Suijin card wasn't rare, and many duelists knew its effect. In fact, it was more unusual to see someone like Hoshino, who once had her Okita charge straight into it.

"Why do I feel like I'm being mocked?" Hoshino raised an eyebrow.

"It's my turn! I draw!"

The Labyrinth Brother glanced at the card he had drawn and couldn't help but laugh.

"You've done me a favor, little girl! Thanks to your Card Destruction, I've drawn the key card!"

He slapped the drawn card down onto the table. "I sacrifice my Kaiser Sea Horse on the field! Thanks to Kaiser Sea Horse's effect, I can use it as two tributes for summoning a Light attribute monster. I'll tribute summon... [Sanga of the Thunder]!"

[Sanga of the Thunder ★★★★★★★(7-Stars)][LIGHT][Thunder/Effect][ATK 2600/DEF 2200]

The massive figure of Sanga, as heavy as a boulder, materialized and floated in the air without any scientific explanation.

"Now we've got two gods on the field. But with Akasha-chan's Silent Magician at 3500 attack and four set cards, it won't be easy to break through."

If this stalemate continued, the duel would likely become a prolonged battle of attrition.

"Heh heh, you think a mere 3500 attack-point monster, which doesn't even qualify as a wall, can stop the legendary duelist slayers, the Labyrinth Brothers? You're too naive!" The Labyrinth Brother's words dripped with confidence and arrogance as he played another card.

"I activate the Spell Card [Hey, Trunade]!"

[Hey, Trunade! Spell Card Effect: Return all Set Spells and Traps on the field to the hand.]

A green tornado swept across the field, scattering the Spell and Trap cards that had been set.

Mokuba, watching from the sidelines, was confused. "If all the Spell Cards return to the hand, won't that destroy the Suijin equipped with [Premature Burial]?"

Hoshino shook her head. "No, because [Premature Burial] states that if it is destroyed, the equipped monster is destroyed too. Since it's returning to the hand, it won't destroy Suijin. It can even be reused."

"Exactly!" The Labyrinth Brother, holding Premature Burial back in his hand, grinned.

Of course, the effect of Hey, Trunade didn't just let the Labyrinth Brothers reclaim Premature Burial. Akasha's four set cards were also blown back to her hand.

Visibly irritated, Akasha pouted and reluctantly pulled the cards she had just placed back into her hand.

"Now, I'll activate [Premature Burial] again! With its effect, I'll revive from the graveyard…"

[Labyrinth Brothers' LP 3200 → 2400]

A green sphere of light stirred up a strong wind as it materialized on the field.

"Could it be?!" Hoshino, now alert, furrowed her brows.

"[Kazejin]!"

[Kazejin ★★★★★★★(7-Stars)][WIND][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 2400/ DEF 2200]

"With all three Gods assembled, it's time to call forth the ultimate monster!" The Labyrinth Brothers, having summoned all three gods, now wore expressions of madness.

"Even a 3500 attack Silent Magician must kneel before the strongest gatekeeper! I offer the three gods as tributes for a special summon!"

"[Gate Guardian]!"

Though they claimed to be offering the gods' bodies, the three gods merely combined together like puzzle pieces.

[Gate Guardian ★★★★★★★★★★★(11-Stars)][DARK][Warrior/Effect][ATK 3750/DEF 3400]

"Attack power… 3750?" Seeing the massive creature pieced together from the three gods, Akasha began to feel uneasy.

"Attack Silent Magician LV4! Triple-Attribute Multi-Beam Attack!"

From the mouths of the three gods, beams of different attributes shot out, striking Akasha's Silent Magician. With her set cards all blown away by Hey, Trunade, Akasha had no traps to protect her.

[Silent Magician LV4] was destroyed.

[Hoshino Chiyuki & Akasha LP 4000 → 3750]

"Sorry, Hoshino-nee." Feeling guilty, Akasha apologized. She had volunteered for battle, but not only did she fail to gain an advantage, she allowed the Labyrinth Brothers to summon Gate Guardian.

"It's fine. The Labyrinth Brothers specialize in tag duels, and they're known as duelists who defeat team pairings. Losing a bit in the first turn against them is perfectly normal." Hoshino's words, though comforting Akasha, were also true.

The opponents had played Kaiser Sea Horse and Premature Burial in the first turn, and then followed up with Sanga of the Thunder and Hey, Trunade in the next. This level of cooperation was the result of countless duels.

"Hahaha! Have you felt the power of the Labyrinth Brothers? Though we've summoned the Gate Guardian, we've used Premature Burial twice, so our Life Points are a bit low. So…"

After completing his attack, the Labyrinth Brother slapped down another card. "I activate the Spell Card [Rain of Mercy]!"

[Rain of Mercy Spell Card Effect: Increase the Life Points of both players by 1000 points.]

Gentle raindrops, like thousands of silver threads, fell from the sky, washing over the four duelists.

[Labyrinth Brothers' LP 2400 → 3400]

[Hoshino Chiyuki & Akasha's LP 3750 → 4750]

"With Gate Guardian summoned in the first round, we've practically won this duel! I set two cards and end my turn!"

The Labyrinth Brother, so full of pride that his nose was practically in the air, placed down his cards, crossed his arms, and smirked. "Hoshino Chiyuki, let's see how much of a storm you can stir up on your own."

"Hoshino-nee…" Still feeling guilty, Akasha turned to Hoshino, who was now starting her turn.

"It's fine. They're only this smug now, but once I... ugh!"

Just as Hoshino was starting to boast and had drawn her card, that familiar sensation of a sudden shock hit her again.

(*****)

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