Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

"……What did you say?!"

"...Is there such a thing?"

Upon hearing Yusei's words, Professor Chronos's smile froze on his face, and Mogi's puzzled expression was instantly replaced by deep surprise.

--Ding!

As a golden sword light, invisible to the naked eye, flashed by, the two golden orbs that were originally located around the Broken Steel Sword King were cleaved in two, then turned into golden particles of light and merged into the Broken Steel Sword King's body.

"—Drink up!"

Having absorbed two super-quantity materials, the Broken Steel Sword King's body surface ignited with tangible flames, and its attack power instantly doubled!

(【Heroic Champion - Broken Steel Sword King】 Attack Power: 2000→4000)

"Oh no, 4000 minus 300... that's a full 3700 points of damage. Does that mean I'm going to lose?" Fine beads of sweat appeared on Mogi's forehead, and his previously sleepy expression turned serious.

"...It's not over yet! My story isn't finished!"

Just as Mogi thought Yusei was about to launch an attack, Yusei surprised him by revealing his face-down card in the back row: "Next, I'll activate my hidden Spell Card—'Heroic Opportunity'!"

"You can only activate 1 'Heroic Opportunity' per turn. Target 1 'Heroic' monster you control; this turn, the targeted monster's ATK is doubled, and it cannot attack your opponent directly."

Sacrifice the right to attack directly in exchange for double the attack power.

Pointing to the burning red king in front of him, Yusei slowly said, "Because of the effect of this magic card, the Steel Breaker King's attack power, which was already doubled, can be doubled again!"

(【Heroic Champion - Broken Steel Sword King】 Attack Power: 4000→8000)

"Ughhhhh... No way, absolutely no way!!! I must be dreaming!!!"

Seeing the Steel-Broken Sword King enveloped in red flames, radiating substantial pressure, and with its attack power doubled to a full 8000 points, Professor Chronos, unable to accept the reality that Mogi was about to be defeated, foamed at the mouth and collapsed backward, falling into a coma.

It's over, it's over...

Even Mogi, the patriarch, is no match for them, so what's the point of playing this game?! I'll send it...

In the moments before he lost consciousness, Professor Chronos had this thought flash through his mind.

……

"...Yusei, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Seeing Yusei's actions, both Mogi and Jaden Yuki showed puzzled expressions.

Clearly, simply doubling the attack power to 4000 for the Steel Broken Sword King would have been enough to defeat the [Yoyo] with its current attack power of 300, thus winning the duel. However, Yusei chose to go overboard and activated a backrow spell card, doubling the Steel Broken Sword King's already doubled attack power again...

Did he do this to desecrate Mogi's corpse?

"Battle has begun! [Hero Champion - Steel-Breaking Sword King] attacks [Evil Spirit Derivative (Friend Hero)]!" Yusei pointed at the fake on the other side, a barely perceptible glint in his eyes.

My dear friend, may you rest in peace now!

(Dark Claw: Um... I'm not dead yet...)

"What? The target wasn't [Youyou] with an attack power of 300, but [Evil Essence Derivative] with an attack power of 2400?"

Contrary to Mogi's expectations, Yusei's chosen target was not Yuyu, who had the lowest attack power, but rather the evil spirit derivative that had previously destroyed Friend Hero.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't have that kind of perverse idea..."

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Yusei explained, "I did this simply to avenge my friend Kamen Rider! He must be feeling resentful for losing to a fake!"

"Uh... I see..."

Upon hearing Yusei's answer, both Jaden Yuki and Mogi fell silent.

This explanation seems quite reasonable...

--Ding!

The Sword King of Broken Steel raised his longsword high, and a dazzling blue light shone brightly on its blade.

Based on King Arthur, the most legendary and great king of ancient Britain, this monster naturally uses a finishing move exclusive to kings!

"Gathering the breath of the stars and the torrent of glorious life, receive this! Excalibur!"

Inheriting his friend Xia's last wish, the Broken Steel Sword King changed from holding the longsword in one hand to holding it with both hands, and then fiercely cleaved it down in the direction of the evil spirit derivative!

A single, decisive strike, a true killing blow!

This unstoppable strike, imbued with the beliefs of his comrades, was infused with the full power of the Steel-Breaking Sword King!

"The instant you attack, I activate the effect of the Equip Spell Card 'Insubordination Jewelry,' increasing the ATK of 'Evil Spirit Tokens'..."

Even if the outcome is defeat, Mogi wants to make one last desperate attempt.

"It's useless. Xyz Monsters only have classes, not ranks!" Before Mogi could finish speaking, Yusei waved his hand to interrupt him.

"What?... Doesn't having no level mean it's level 0?" Upon hearing Yusei's words, Mogi, who was stunned in place, suddenly uttered a famous line.

While he was still stunned, the dazzling sword light from the Broken Steel Sword King had already pierced the boundaries of space and time, annihilating the [Evil Essence Derivative], which had no time to resist, into dust in the air with a single strike...

The aftershocks of the sword light then surged towards the sky.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, it split the clouds in the distant sky in two, forming a long, lingering horizon...

(Motegi LP: 2400→0)

Affected by the aftershocks of the sword light, Mogi was sent flying, rolled several times on the ground, and then lay sprawled out on the ground.

"..."

Gazing at the azure sky and the endless horizon, Mogi, momentarily stunned, fell into deep thought.

"I won! What an interesting duel!"

As the duel ended, the figure of the Broken Steel Sword King disappeared from the arena along with Youyou.

Yusei walked up to Mogi with Jaden Yuki. Looking at Mogi lying on the ground, he smiled slightly, half-closed his eyes, and stretched out his finger, making that standard victory pose.

"Oh...I lost?"

Upon hearing Yusei's voice and realizing his defeat, Mogi slowly sat up from the ground with a relieved expression, looking towards where Yusei and Jaden Yuki were.

At this moment, there was no trace of the gloom of defeat on his face; instead, he displayed a joyful expression.

"Mogi, you've gotten quite enthusiastic in the latter half of the duel!" Jaden Yuki said to Mogi in a teasing tone, wiping his nose.

With his arms crossed, Yusei smiled and said, "So, you still think duels are more interesting, right?"

"Heh... I have to admit, that's true..."

Shaking his shoulders, Mogi chuckled, a rare, cheerful smile appearing on his usually drowsy face: "...It's not bad to be like you sometimes, so focused on winning and losing!"

"……right?"

"That's it!"

Upon hearing Mogi's words, Yusei and Jaden Yuki nodded in agreement.

"But... because I worked too hard just now, I'm feeling sleepy again and want to go to sleep~~~"

"Uh……"

"Well then, goodnight~~~~ZZZZZ..."

Mogi gave the two of them a deep look, yawned widely, then lay back down on the ground and instantly fell into a deep sleep...

"Hey, hey, hey, no way..."

Looking at Mogi saying goodnight in broad daylight, and the crowd of people lying around him, Yusei exchanged a glance with Jaden Yuki, scratching his head in utter bewilderment...

……

Move forward a little bit in time.

While Yusei, Asuka, and Jaden Yuki were enjoying their happy school life...

A man who once dominated Duel Academy has become a lonely wind, heading alone to the northern ice plains, where the Northern Branch of Duel Academy is located.

They possess a pride higher than mountains and a stubbornness deeper than the sea.

When he resolutely chose to leave the Duel Academy, he vowed to sweep away everything around him like a storm. Now, however, he finds himself in an awkward predicament...

The small boat he was piloting had a close encounter with the floating ice beneath the surface... which resulted in the man named Manjoume being left alone on the desolate sea.

"Chronos, Daichi Misawa, Jaden Yuki, and Yusei..."

Surrounded by the dim sea where the specific scene was indistinct, Manjoume leaned against the ship's railing and began to think about the various experiences that had happened to him in the past.

At the end of life, most people will first think of their most beautiful memories.

However, at this moment, the images flashing through Manjou's mind like a slideshow were all scenes of his defeat.

The defeat in the duel with Yusei, the defeat in the duel with Jaden Yuki, and finally, the defeat in the duel with Daichi Misawa...

"I won! What a pleasant duel!"

"Ugh, so noisy!!! Of course I'd be happy to win!" Manjoume was furious, remembering Jaden Yuki's annoying opening line.

"If it happens again, just once more... I'll definitely be the winner!"

Raising the duel disk in his hand, a look of unwillingness flashed in Manjō's eyes.

Clearly... he is the number one in the junior high school, the supernova of Duel Academy.

But Yusei, Jaden Yuki, and other outsiders have surpassed him one by one, leaving him far behind!

How can we let him accept this!

"Unforgivable! Pegasus! How utterly unforgivable!!!"

Shouting incomprehensible words, Wan Zhangmu, feeling thirsty, reached for the water bottle beside him.

Incidentally, that's his last bit of fresh water...

After he has used up this little bit of water, what awaits him is a quiet demise.

"Hahahaha... I never imagined that I, the mighty Lord Manjoume, would end up so tragically... Those guys from the Duel Academy, seeing me now, will surely burst out laughing!"

With a self-deprecating expression on his face, Manjou instinctively stretched out his arms, adopting a posture of giving up.

Because of his movement, the water bottle he was holding also fell off the boat...

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