Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

"...I'll go first! Draw a card!"

By intimidating O'Brien with his words, Yusei seized the initiative and drew a card from the top of his deck.

After looking at his hand, he inserted one of the cards into the back of the Duel Disk: "First, this card. I activate the Spell Card [Dark Fusion] from my hand!"

"Send monsters that serve as Fusion Material from your hand and field to the Graveyard to perform a Fusion Summon exclusive to Fiend-Type monsters! Monsters Special Summoned by this effect cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects this turn, nor can they be destroyed by your opponent's card effects!"

"I'm sending [Elemental HERO Winged Knight] and [Elemental HERO Burst Girl] from my hand to the graveyard to use them as materials for Dark Fusion!"

The Overlord's exclusive Dark Fusion activated its effect on Yusei's Duel Disk at this moment!

As this Fusion Spell Card, exclusive to Fiend-Type monsters, was activated, Yusei's eyes instantly turned a brilliant gold, transforming into burning, inextinguishable golden eyes.

A blue-green flame ignited in front of Yusei, transforming into a towering pillar of fire that shot straight towards the sky.

The "Dark Fusion," representing the power of a tyrant, automatically summons the tyrant's power deep within Yusei's heart upon activation.

"Oh my god! It's Dark Fusion... It seems Yusei is really getting serious!"

Jaden Yuki, whose inner self also harbors a dormant tyrant personality and who hadn't seen Yusei use [Dark Fusion] in a long time, couldn't help but let out an excited shout.

Unlike ordinary Fusion Spell Cards, the monsters summoned by [Dark Fusion] usually possess greater strength than the original versions, as well as more distinctive physical characteristics.

These corrupted heroes are more powerful than their original counterparts, both in appearance and ability.

"Judai? Do you know this card?"

Seeing Jaden Yuki's excited reaction, John, who was curious about it, couldn't help but ask him about it.

"Ah...that's natural!"

Jaden Yuki pulled out an identical Dark Fusion card from his deck and handed it to John to look at: "After using this card, both Yusei and I will become different personalities, awakening the power that lies dormant deep within us. That's why I said, Yusei is getting serious!"

"So that's how it is... Is this the other side of a hero?"

John, being a spirit user, instinctively sensed an ominous, dark aura emanating from the card before him.

He had originally planned to remind Jaden Yuki about the card, but after listening to Jaden Yuki's explanation, he gave up on the idea.

After all, if this power is mastered well, it can indeed increase combat effectiveness significantly.

"...Dark Fusion? This is?!"

Similar to John's situation, O'Brien, who had never heard of such a card before, subconsciously spoke up and repeated the name of the magic card.

Having experienced a mercenary career, he sensed an unprecedented evil will from the card activated by Yusei, thanks to the instincts he had developed on the battlefield.

Without a doubt, it was an evil force that was the complete opposite of righteous heroes, leading all things into the endless cycle of hell!

"...Fusion Summon, come forth! [Evil Hero - Winged Demon of Inferno] (Demon/Fire/6-Star/Attack: 2100/Defense: 1200)!!!"

A pillar of azure fire burst open at that moment, and from it, a fused monster of the demon race appeared, exerting a dark spiritual pressure on the surroundings.

Black wings spread out unrestrainedly, extending continuously to both sides.

Appearing on the field, the Winged Demon of Inferno, with a slight smirk, let out a disdainful sneer towards O'Brien's location.

"You actually turned a Warrior race 'Hero' into a Demon race 'Dark Hero'... Yusei, you're really something else!"

Upon seeing the Fiery Winged Demon emanating evil energy before him, O'Brien frowned and uttered a rather poignant remark in a deep voice.

674 Absolute Lockdown, the second evil hero arrives!

"...Fusion Summoning, come forth! [Evil Hero - Winged Demon of Karma]!"

Amidst the dark blue pillar of fire, the winged fire creature in its dark form, a feminine demonic monster—the Blazing Winged Demon—spread its wings, dispelling the flames, and arrived before Yusei.

With the activation of the [Dark Fusion] technique exclusive to demon-type monsters, Yusei awakened the dormant power of the Overlord within him, and his pupils turned into a burning crimson gold color.

An invisible aura emanated from his body and automatically spread outwards.

"I can't attack in the first round, so I'll set up two cards to ambush you. Turn ends."

With an expression of neither joy nor sorrow on his face and a slightly indifferent tone, Yusei buried his two cards in the back row before waving his hand to end his turn.

He beckoned with his finger toward O'Brien, signaling that his opponent was ready to attack at any moment.

"Heh, quite confident in your abilities, huh?"

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

Feeling the evil power emanating from the monster opposite him, O'Brien, who had been provoked by Yusei, frowned and suddenly drew a card from the top of his deck.

After looking at his hand, he inserted a Spell Card into the back row of the Duel Disk and immediately activated it: "I activate the Continuous Spell Card [Flame Cannon] from my hand!"

"...A flamethrower cannon? What's that?"

Seeing the cannon suddenly appear in front of O'Brien, mounted on a tripod, Jaden Yuki, who was watching the battle, couldn't help but ask a curious question.

"Flames... It seems O'Brien is using a fire-attribute deck..."

Asuka, a top student, quickly analyzed the type of deck O'Brien was using by looking at the cards he activated.

Fire-attribute decks generally focus on reducing the opponent's life points, and O'Brien's deck should also fall into this category.

"The effect of [Flame Cannon] is that this card can destroy monsters on your opponent's field by sending monsters with 500 or less ATK from your hand to the Graveyard as ammunition... As a trade-off, during the turn this effect is activated, my monsters cannot declare an attack."

Explaining the effects of the Continuous Spell Card, O'Brien then showed everyone a card from his hand before sending it to his graveyard.

"...I send the [Volcanic Bomb] (Fire/Fire/Level 1/Attack: 100/Defense: 0) from my hand to the graveyard to activate the effect of [Flame Cannon] and destroy your [Evil Hero - Winged Demon of Inferno]!"

The small monster, its body wreathed in flames, loaded itself as a bullet and merged into the barrel of the [Flame Cannon].

Then, the [Flame Cannon], loaded with ammunition, turned its muzzle and locked onto the Fusion Monster on the Yusei Field.

"...Fire!"

The protective effect provided by [Dark Fusion] can only last for one turn.

Once it was O'Brien's turn, the protection naturally lost its effect.

Pointing to Yusei's location, O'Brien activated the effect of [Flame Cannon] without hesitation, intending to destroy Yusei's monster.

"Ha, how naive..."

In response to the activation of the spell card, Yusei, with a cold expression, also waved his hand to open the face-down card in the back row: "...Chain with your effect, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card hidden in the back row - [Fusion Deactivation]!"

Based on this card's effect, I can undo the Fusion of [Evil Hero - Winged Demon of Inferno], and then Special Summon Winged Warrior and Burst Lady from my Graveyard, which were used as its materials!

Just before it was about to be hit, the body of the Blazing Winged Demon automatically disintegrated, transforming into Winged Warrior and Explosive Girl, two monsters who were old partners.

Without a target, the "volcano bomb" could only be launched in vain, wasting the opportunity to launch.

"That was close... If it weren't for [Fuse Release], Lord Yusei's monster would have destroyed everything just now..."

With lingering fear, Saotome Rei patted her chest and then glared resentfully in O'Brien's direction.

Is this the only despicable method this guy can use?

If you're so capable, summon a monster and have a fair and square battle!

"...[Fusion Release]?"

Seemingly anticipating this outcome, O'Brien, watching his "Volcano Bomb" miss its target, uttered a sarcastic remark: "Yusei, although you managed to dodge the effect of the [Flame Cannon] using this method, your powerful fusion monster will now be rendered useless."

Yusei: "...It's not too late to say that after you've defeated them."

O'Brien: "Oh, really? Well then, you'd better watch out!"

With a smirk playing on his lips, O'Brien echoed Yusei's words and pointed to his graveyard: "At this moment, I activate the effect of [Volcanic Bomb] in my graveyard. Once per turn, while it is in my graveyard, I can add a card with the same name from my deck to my hand by paying 500 LP."

(O'Brien LP: 4000→3500)

"...Searching for cards with the same name? Could it be..."

Realizing O'Brien's plan, Asuka's eyes widened in surprise.

The destructive effect of [Flame Cannon] doesn't seem to specify that it can only be activated once per turn...

"That's right, just like you thought... I added a second [Volcanic Bomb] to my hand from the deck, and then reloaded it onto [Flame Cannon]!"

As before, after O'Brien retrieved the [Volcano Bomb] from his deck, he immediately sent it to the graveyard and loaded the second [Volcano Bomb] into the barrel of the [Flame Cannon].

O'Brien aimed the second bullet at the [Burst Girl] (Attack Power: 1200) with high attack power on the Starry Sky Field and then fired the second [Volcano Bullet], destroying it.

"...Second shot! Fire!"

This time, with no other means of evasion, the Explosive Girl took the full force of a bullet's impact and was sent to Yusei's graveyard with an explosion.

"...I'll set up a card, turn ends."

Instead of summoning a monster, O'Brien simply placed one of his cards face down in the back row and ended his turn with a wave of his hand.

"Are you just going to end your turn without summoning a monster?"

Narrowing his eyes, Yusei looked at the card lurking in O'Brien's backcourt: "So, that card must be a defensive trap, like an attack trap."

O'Brien: "..."

O'Brien did not answer Yusei's question, displaying an attitude of "silence is golden".

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

Yusei, having added a new card to his deck and entered a new turn, looked at his hand and then sent one of his monster cards to his graveyard: "I discard 'Evil Hero Dark Star Gold Demon' from my hand and activate its effect to add 'Dark Fusion' or a card with its name to my hand from my deck."

"I choose to search for the second [Dark Fusion] in my deck."

The indicator light on the Duel Disk flashed and automatically ejected a card from the deck.

Yusei reached out and added the card to his hand, then immediately inserted it into the back row of the Duel Disk and activated it: "Next, I will activate the Fusion Spell Card for Fiend-Type monsters again—Dark Fusion! Send Elemental HERO Wingman on the field and Elemental HERO Wilder from my hand to the Graveyard, and use them as materials to perform Dark Fusion!"

"...Fusion Summon, come forth! [Evil Hero - Wild Wind Demon] (Demon/Earth/8-Star/Attack: 1900/Defense: 2300)!!!"

This time, what was born with the activation of the magic card was not a pillar of dark blue flame, but a black mist that was even more profound than darkness itself.

Within this suddenly appearing, obscuring black mist, Winged Man and Wild Man's figures gradually twisted and merged into one in the dark abyss vortex, ultimately transforming into a brand new evil hero.

With its demonic bat wings flapping behind it and carrying the strong winds of hell, the Wild Wind Demon, combining the characteristics of two monsters, was born from the dark vortex and appeared in front of Yusei with its arms crossed.

"...Battle has begun! Wild Wind Demon attacks O'Brien directly! Whirlwind Slash!"

Facing the monster that had just appeared, Yusei, now in his superhuman form, issued an attack order without hesitation as soon as the battle began.

"I activate a trap card..."