Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pitfall Hero

"It's useless. According to the effect of [Evil Hero - Wild Wind Demon], when this card attacks, the opponent will be unable to activate any Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step."

"Varied……?!"

Faced with the attack of [Evil Hero - Wild Wind Demon], O'Brien instinctively planned to flip over the hidden card in the back row - [Flame Wall].

That card is a Continuous Trap Card that can continuously activate its effect. Its effect is to block direct attacks launched by the opponent by banishing FIRE monsters from the Graveyard.

As long as there are enough FIRE monsters in the graveyard, O'Brien can continuously defend against direct attacks aimed at him.

The [Volcanic Bullets] that were just fired as ammunition can be reused by this card's effect, becoming a wall of flames to protect him.

As a price to maintain the card's effect, O'Brien must pay 500 LP during each of his preparation phases; otherwise, the card will be destroyed.

O'Brien, who had no monsters on the field, originally intended to use this card's effect to defend against Yusei's attack.

But to his surprise, Yusei countered with a second "Dark Fusion," completely blocking his countermeasures and anticipating his predictions...

"...The battle continues, O'Brien, take this hit!"

Ignoring the subconscious look of shock on O'Brien's face, Wild Wind Demon, having received Yusei's instructions, flapped its demonic wings and unleashed a massive, powerful gray tornado in O'Brien's direction.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the gray tornado instantly approached O'Brien's body, lifting him completely into the air.

During this process, the tornado from the Wild Wind Demon also annihilated the card that O'Brien had hidden in the backcourt, turning it into golden specks of light.

(O'Brien LP: 3500→1600)

"...Ughhhhhh!"

Falling onto the cold ground, O'Brien's health was reduced by nearly half in one fell swoop amidst the tornado of the Wilderness Wind Demon.

He himself showed a very painful expression after suffering such great harm.

"What exactly happened... I can understand not being able to activate it, but... why were my face-down cards destroyed too? Was it a monster's effect?"

Unable to comprehend the current situation, O'Brien, who had been defeated by the evil hero, slowly developed a huge question mark above his head.

“Yes, O’Brien… just what you think.”

"...Another effect of [Evil Hero - Wild Wind Demon] is that when this card inflicts battle damage on your opponent, it is activated. Destroy all Set Spell/Trap Cards on your opponent's field."

Reflected in his golden eyes was O'Brien's disheveled figure lying on the ground. Yusei spoke calmly to the puzzled O'Brien, explaining the consequences of the attack.

While blocking those face-down cards, the Wild Wind Demon launched an attack, which was tantamount to sentencing those cards to death.

In any case, O'Brien will never be able to use that card again.

"Alright... that concludes my turn."

As the battle ended, Yusei waved his hand, concluding his turn.

After two relatively card-disadvantaged Fusion Summons, he now has an awkward 0 cards in his hand, which means he has used up almost all his resources.

In front of Yusei, there was only one person standing in front of him, with his arms crossed and posing: [Evil Hero - Wild Wind Demon].

In his backcourt, there was a face-down card whose contents were unknown.

These cards represent all the resources that Yusei has shown so far.

On the other side, O'Brien, although he suffered a great loss at the hands of [Evil Hero], still had as many as 3 cards in his hand, and the Continuous Spell Card [Flame Cannon] was still on the field.

Therefore, it's actually difficult to say who has a clear advantage.

675 Professor Cobra: They're all traitors!

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

Under the attack of the Wild Wind Demon, O'Brien's body was first lifted up by the tornado, and then fell to the cold and hard ground.

Despite the tough physique he had developed during his mercenary career, this blow still made him feel quite uncomfortable.

Gradually recovering from the attack, O'Brien struggled to his feet. Remembering Professor Cobra's earlier instructions, he stretched out his arm and drew a new card from his deck.

After looking at his hand and Yusei's field, O'Brien, his fighting spirit ignited, unconsciously curled up the corners of his mouth, revealing a confident expression on his face.

Not yet, it's not over yet.

Judging from the performance just now, it seems that I was at a disadvantage, but that's not actually the case.

On Yusei's field, besides the attack position card 【Evil Hero - Wild Wind Demon】 (ATK: 1900), there is only one face-down card.

As for O'Brien, after replenishing his hand during the card-drawing phase, he now has four cards in his hand.

Furthermore, on his field, there exists a Continuous Spell Card capable of destroying the opponent's monsters—[Flame Cannon]!

By activating the effect of "Volcanic Bomb" in the graveyard and paying 500 LP to add the same card from the deck to the hand, O'Brien can use the effect of "Flame Cannon" to launch "Volcanic Bomb" as ammunition to destroy monsters on the Yusei field once again.

Although O'Brien will be unable to declare an attack this turn in exchange, it will undoubtedly be worth the sacrifice if he can destroy the high-level monsters on the field.

"Hmm, Yusei... he actually managed to surpass my strategy..."

As he reviewed the previous round, O'Brien still harbored some lingering resentment.

In the previous round, Yusei anticipated the trap cards he had prepared and made corresponding preparations in response to the hidden trap cards...

Caught off guard by Wild Wind Demon, O'Brien wasted his card while being knocked away.

Her hand holding the card trembled slightly, and a hint of daze crept into her gaze as she looked at Yusei across from her.

At that moment, O'Brien couldn't help but recall the words his father had once spoken to him.

"...Daddy, must mercenaries always obey their employers' wishes? If we do that, aren't we just like loyal dogs, completely without our own will?"

This is a question O'Brien asked his father one night when he was young and fighting alongside him on the battlefield.

At the time, he viewed mercenaries as being essentially the employer's dogs, completely devoid of their own thoughts and unable to act as they wished.

There is no such thing as freedom in them, only invisible constraints.

"...For mercenaries, as long as it is required by the mission, they must bravely move forward even on a dangerous battlefield."

Without directly refuting his son's words, O'Brien's father simply shook his head slightly, offering this reply to his son's disappointed expression—

“What you say is all true, but… even on a mission, we mercenaries have the right to protect our own lives… so, burn, my son!”

"...Yes, Daddy!"

As the flashback ended, O'Brien's eyes widened suddenly at the same moment.

Recalling his father's teachings, O'Brien felt an inextinguishable flame of fighting spirit ignite within him.

Although this duel was conducted under Professor Cobra's orders, it did not mean that he was unable to duel based on his own will.

Just like now, a great opportunity is presented to him.

Therefore, O'Brien no longer needs to hide his strength.

Next, all you need to do is give it your all and exert your maximum effort!

This was both out of respect for his opponent and the best choice he could make.

“I almost forgot my father’s teachings… My father was not a dog who only obeyed his employer’s orders and fought. In his heart, there was always an inextinguishable flame. He was a warrior who was burned by that flame!”

"Volcano deck, my fire deck... Yusei, take this opportunity to show you... my true power!"

Looking at his hand once more, O'Brien's mindset had completely changed, and there was no longer even a trace of confusion in his eyes.

He stretched out his arm towards the void in front of him, raised a new card high, and then activated it in place of the [Flame Cannon] on the field: "...I send the [Flame Cannon] on the field to the Graveyard and activate its upgraded version—[Flame Cannon - Trident]!"

-

【Flaming Cannon - Trident Type】

(Continuous Magic Card)

effect:

This card can be activated by sending 1 face-up "Flame Cannon" from your field to the Graveyard.

Furthermore, during your Main Phase, you can activate this effect by targeting 1 monster your opponent controls. Send 1 FIRE monster from your hand to the Graveyard, destroy the targeted opponent's monster, and inflict 500 damage to your opponent's Life Points.

During the turn this effect is activated, your monsters cannot attack.

-

Bathed in silvery-white light, the single-barreled [Flame Cannon] dissolved and dissipated in the light, eventually disappearing from the field.

After that, a three-barreled flame cannon, entirely silver-white in color, replaced the original flame cannon and descended from the sky, appearing in front of O'Brien.

Like a ferocious beast, the evolved [Flame Cannon] possesses a "trident" form that the original version never had, and its power and effects have naturally been greatly enhanced.

"...Oh! The Flame Cannon - Trident...Is its power already enhanced?"

Seeing the changes happening in front of O'Brien, Jaden Yuki, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise.

Not only has its appearance undergone a complete transformation, but the [Flame Cannon] has also had its barrel count increased from one to three.

Surely its power must have increased many times over, becoming incomparable to what it was before!

"...A trident?"

Sensing that he was being locked onto by the [Flame Cannon - Trident], Yusei narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything more.

Meanwhile, O'Brien also made corresponding new moves.

"...Next, I activate the effect of [Volcanic Bomb] in my graveyard. While this card is in the graveyard, I can add a card with the same name from my deck to my hand by paying 500 LP."

"Come on! The third [Volcano Bomb]!"

(O'Brien LP: 1600→1100)

The [Volcano Shell] exists as ammunition for the [Flame Cannon], and it is only natural that it can also be used by its upgraded version, the [Flame Cannon - Trident].

After paying 500 LP to add this monster card, which he used as ammunition, from his deck to his hand, O'Brien tried the same trick again, intending to activate the effect of a Continuous Spell Card to destroy the Fusion Monster on the Yusei field.

"Yusei! I load [Volcanic Bomb] onto [Flame Cannon - Trident], activate the effect of a Continuous Spell Card, destroy one monster on your field, and inflict 500 effect damage on you!"

Waving his arm and pointing ahead at the monster that had previously inflicted so much damage on him, O'Brien's eyes flashed with a look of pure satisfaction.

Compared to the original [Flame Cannon], the upgraded [Flame Cannon - Trident] not only removes the restriction that only "Fire-attribute monsters with an attack power of 500 or less" can be used as ammunition, but also adds an effect that inflicts 500 damage to the opponent when destroying an opponent's monster.

Since the effect of [Flame Cannon - Trident] is not limited to being activated only once per turn, theoretically, as long as the opponent has enough monsters on the field, O'Brien can use the destructive effect of [Flame Cannon - Trident] to deplete a large amount of the opponent's life points in one go.