Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

Yusei: "...First and foremost, it's Manjoume's heartfelt wish. Take it, Asuka! I summon in defense mode... [Disruptive Black] (Defense Power: 1000)!"

Asuka: "...?"

Yusei placed the card in his hand horizontally on the Duel Disk and then called out the name of the monster.

Along with the light of the monster summoning, the Disruption Black of the Defense Position also appeared in front of Yusei's body.

Looking at the monster summoned by Yusei, Asuka, puzzled, slowly typed out a question mark.

...Yusei, where is your hero?

"Wake up, Tenjōin!"

Just as the atmosphere on the field became somewhat awkward, Manjoume suddenly shouted loudly, "I have regained my senses and realized that I should be a man who has been slightly tainted by darkness, a man who possesses the blackness that belongs to a human being!"

"...So, Tenjouin, you should remember soon! You're just like me, a stubborn person, as tenacious as a stubborn stain!"

Everyone: "..."

No, comparing a person to a stain... Manjoume, are you serious?

You must have many friends to say something so insightful, right?

Asuka: "..."

Naturally, Manjoume's confusing remarks, which were tinged with personal agendas, did not reach Asuka's mind, nor did they even attract her attention.

Looking at the monster Yusei summoned, Asuka simply asked him, "Yusei, what exactly are you planning to do by summoning that strange monster?"

"...So, [Disruptive Black] is useless after all?"

Having roughly imagined the current situation, and seeing that his great intentions were useless, Yusei shrugged and then placed one of his cards face down in the back row: "I'm setting up an ambush card. End of turn."

"...Hey! Tenjouin! Come back to me!" Despite not understanding the atmosphere, Manjoume, at the end of the round, still fearlessly shouted his feelings to the expressionless Asuka.

Hearing Manjoume's words, Fubuki, a seasoned siscon, gave him a disdainful look and then said in a deep voice, not to be outdone, "...Manjoume, when it comes to Asuka's feelings, I will absolutely not lose to you!"

"...Oh, brother, as long as Asuka comes back, it doesn't matter who she's with, does it?"

"Hmph! Don't call me 'brother' anymore. Just now, my heart rate dropped by ten points!"

"Hey hey hey hey hey...!!! How could this happen?"

"...Hmph!"

Unable to gain Fubuki's approval, Manjoume couldn't help but cover his face and let out a series of wails.

Fubuki, with her arms crossed, deliberately turned her head to the other side, adopting a confident and arrogant attitude.

Seeing the charade unfolding around them, Jaden Yuki and his friends responded to it.

Jaden Yuki: "Uh... Heartbeat Index? What's that?"

Marufuji Sho: "Hmm, what a complicated competitive relationship..."

Kenzan: "...What are those two talking about? Doesn't Asuka-senpai have her own thoughts?"

"...My turn, draw a card!"

While Fubuki and Manjoume were performing, the duel on the field continued.

After adding a new card to her deck, Asuka pondered for a moment, then inserted a card into the back row of the Duel Disk and activated it immediately: "I activate the Continuous Spell Card—[White Night Castle]!"

596 The Duel in the Midnight Sun: Yusei VS Asuka!

As the magic card was activated, countless ice peaks and spikes rose up behind Asuka at the same moment, layer upon layer, eventually forming a massive iceberg with a vertical dome.

At the same time, the cold fog began to spread uncontrollably in all directions, turning the entire ground of the Society of Light into a flawless pure white.

"...According to the effect of the Continuous Spell Card [White Night Castle], neither player can activate a Trap Card during the other's turn." Asuka explained the effect of the spell card that had just been activated, speaking calmly.

"What...wouldn't that solve it?"

Realizing the current situation, a look of surprise flashed across Yusei's face.

“That’s right, Yusei… In that case, your face-down card in the back row is useless.” Nodding, Asuka’s face showed a pleasant smile.

The Snow Fairy, existing as a humanoid magic sealing pot, can unilaterally seal Yusei's magic cards for an entire turn.

As for the trap card that was meant to be a trap, it could not be activated during Asuka's turn because of the effect of the Continuous Spell Card "White Night Castle" that was activated at this time.

Magic and traps are all locked down, so only the monsters' effects can work.

But... all Yusei had on the field at that moment was the completely useless [Disruption Black] card that Manjoume had forced upon him...

"Asuka, you..."

Looking at the sublime power lurking in the backcourt as a countermeasure—[Holy Shield - Mirror Force -]—Yusei, who had been outmaneuvered by Asuka's predictive maneuver, unconsciously broke out in a bead of sweat.

The Power of the High is a trap card that can only be activated the instant the opponent attacks during their turn. If it cannot be activated, then it is useless...

"Hmph, I saw through your face-down card a long time ago... Light will reveal the true nature of everything."

With a smirk, Asuka placed a new card onto the Duel Disk: "Next, I summon [Ice Statue of Illusion] in Attack Position."

As Asuka finished speaking, the magnificent iceberg standing behind her cracked open with a huge gap in the next instant.

Amidst the falling ice shards, the massive ice golem broke free from the iceberg's restraints and descended from the sky, appearing before Asuka with a violent impact.

【Ice Statue of Imagination】(Attack Power: 0)

Yusei: "The Icy Ice Statue of Imagination..."

Jaden Yuki: "Attack power 0...?! What is it this time?"

五&$一|七#+八}&八>{零>~七}六%-一一~零}-①$#⑦+}④+*五>酒/*④>+⑨%>⑧明日香：“……根据【幻想的冰像】的效果，当这张卡存在加#n|/J1&０/1~7#4+5/9*~4@-9+8于场上时，对手不能将其它卡片作为攻击的对象。”

"...Furthermore, [Ice Statue of Illusion] can transform into the likeness of another monster on my field, gaining the same ATK and DEF!"

Enveloped in blue light, the giant golem transformed into the form of the Snow Fairy amidst a dazzling reflection, gaining the same 1100 attack power as her.

Yusei: "Ah, this..."

"Battle begins!" After summoning the monster, Asuka immediately entered her battle phase, swinging her arm towards Yusei: "...I'm attacking [Snow Fairy] (ATK: 1100) against [Disruption Black] (DEF: 1000)!"

With a slight lift of her head, layers of transparent snowflakes gradually floated around the Snow Fairy's body.

Surrounded by snowflakes, the little girl's body began to float slowly up, arriving in the midst of the swirling snowflakes.

"Oh no! This is terrible!"

Feeling locked down, Disruptive Black's face, usually filled with comedic flair, showed a visible look of panic.

Just as it was about to run away, the Snow Fairy, whose body was floating in mid-air, also gently extended a finger towards its location at the same moment.

A blue wave flashed by, and [Disruptive Black], attacked by the little girl, didn't even have time to utter a sound before turning into golden fragments and disappearing from the field without a trace.

Yuki Judai!: "[Disruptive Black]... He was taken down so easily..."

Kenzan: "It seems I couldn't reach Lightning's heart!"

Manjoume: "Gah! As expected, we shouldn't have used [Disruption Black] here, but should have used [Disruption Yellow] instead?"

Fubuki: "No... Manjoume, I don't think that's the problem..."

"It's not over yet!"

Having dealt with the monster blocking Yusei's path, Asuka's offensive continued.

A slight ripple appeared in her lifeless eyes. Asuka stretched out her arm again towards Yusei, issuing the attack command: "Next, I'll use [Imaginary Ice Statue] to launch a direct attack on you, Yusei! Get frozen, Yusei, both body and mind!"

Yusei: "Really? That's hard to say..."

Just like before, the ice statue, whose body had transformed into the shape of a little girl, locked onto the location of the wandering star as it floated up.

However, just as blue light began to gather on her fingers, Yusei suddenly pulled out a card and held it up in front of him.

"...At that moment, I activated the effect of [Destiny Hero - Dynamite] in my hand!"

"Varied……"

Showing the card to Asuka, whose expression was slightly taken aback, Yusei continued to explain, "When a monster is battling, I can send 'Destiny HERO Dynamite' from my hand to the Graveyard to reduce the damage I take from that battle to 0... and after that, both of us will take 1000 points of effect damage!"

As Yusei moved, the Destiny Hero, whose body was filled with immense explosive energy, was blocked from the attack trajectory of the [Imaginary Ice Statue].

In the next instant, the blue light wave emitted from the hand of the [Ice Statue of Illusion] collided with the body of [Destiny Hero - Dynamite Man].

Just as a powder keg was set on fire, the body of the attacked [Destiny Hero - Dynamite Man] exploded, generating a large amount of white smoke that obscured the view.

The aftershocks of its power also enveloped Yusei and Asuka's bodies at the same moment, indiscriminately causing both of them to suffer 1000 points of damage.

(Asuka LP: 4000→3000)

(Yusei LP: 4000→3000)

"Hehe... Just like you predicted me, Asuka, I also predicted your move!" Yusei smugly wiped his nose, a knowing look on his face.

Just as Manjoume always said, even trash has its value.

Asuka, although you anticipated my red trap in the backcourt and took corresponding precautions, I still have an unpredictable hand trap!

"Gulp... Just trying to be clever! Round over!"

Asuka, her attack thwarted, brushed aside the smoke in front of her, her face showing a slightly embarrassed and angry expression.

The look in her eyes as she gazed at Yusei clearly carried a hint of hostility.

Compared to her previous expressionless and indifferent demeanor, Asuka looks much better now, at least.

"...Yada zai! Asuka's controlled state is indeed linked to her health! Yusei, keep trying and bring Asuka back!"

As Tenjouin Fubuki watched from the sidelines, a look of satisfaction appeared on her face as she observed the changes that were happening to her younger sister.

"Ah! You don't need to tell me, I was just about to do that!"

Yusei, who had noticed the girl's change, gave her brother-in-law a thumbs-up and smiled knowingly.

"The existence of the [Ice Statue of Illusion] prevents me from attacking the [Snow Fairy], while the [Snow Fairy] can seal my spell card for one turn..."

Analyzing Asuka's situation on the field, Yusei immediately reached out and drew a new card from his deck: "...My turn, draw!"

"...What is this card? But...it's useless now!"