At You Ye's declaration, a massive black battleship seemed to tear through space itself, descending silently onto his field and hovering in place.
No.42: Galaxy Tomahawk (Extra Monster Zone)
Machine / Xyz / Effect
WIND — Rank 7
ATK 0 / DEF 3000
"…What?"
"That's not Shangri-Ira?"
"A Rank monster with 0 ATK? And it's both a Number and a Galaxy card?"
Staring at the completely unfamiliar monster, Sima Jie's eyes were filled with confusion.
This was an archetype that had already fallen out of the competitive environment.
Why summon this?
Wouldn't Kashtira Shangri-Ira be better for grinding resources and continuing a beatdown war?
"You'll find out soon enough," You Ye said with a mysterious smile.
"No.42: Galaxy Tomahawk, once per turn—
I detach two Xyz materials."
"I Special Summon as many Skyhawk Tokens as possible!"
Skyhawk Token
Machine / WIND / Level 6
ATK 2000 / DEF 0
(Destroyed during the End Phase of this turn)
"I Special Summon five Skyhawk Tokens!"
"Next, I use Galaxy Tomahawk and one token as link materials—
Link Summon, Link-2 Cross Sheep!"
"Then I use three Skyhawk Tokens as link materials—
Link Summon, Link-3 Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon!"
"…Mecha Phantom Beasts?"
Sima Jie was completely lost.
First Kashtira.
Then Galaxy cards.
Now Mecha Phantom Beasts?
Wasn't this diluting the power of Kashtira?
"WHAT THE—?!"
"Kashtira can be used like this?!"
Among the spectators, Li Yuan completely lost his composure.
As someone who already possessed the Auroradon combo, he instantly understood how terrifying this was in a mid-to-late game state.
Under normal circumstances, this combo alone was already overwhelming.
But now—
You Ye's Galaxy Tomahawk had generated extra materials, giving him Cross Sheep and additional tokens.
This meant one thing.
You Ye's end board was even stronger than a standard Auroradon line.
The realization sent a chill down Li Yuan's spine.
Before today, he had considered Kashtira a deck with absurdly powerful individual cards, but mediocre overall cohesion.
That belief was shattered instantly.
Kashtira had no self-locks before using Riseheart and Theosis.
No locks meant negation setups were possible.
Which meant—
This wasn't even the only way You Ye could play Kashtira.
Beside him, King Har fell silent as well.
He knew better than anyone how strong Li Yuan's Auroradon combo was.
That was exactly why he said nothing.
Even the arena supervisor, normally expressionless, couldn't hide the shock in his eyes.
To make a King-tier Duelist react like this—
What kind of end board was You Ye building?
"Such a fuss," Mumning muttered quietly.
But her eyes were shining with excitement, as if to say:
This is exactly why I chose him.
She wasn't surprised.
She and Melo had once asked You Ye, why he wanted Auroradon despite not running many Machines.
His answer?
He had opened Master Duel and demonstrated the Rank 7 swarm route.
To her, this was expected.
Li Yuan and King Har exchanged helpless smiles and kept watching.
At the same time, their gazes toward Sima Jie were filled with sympathy.
With no hand resources left—
How was he supposed to survive the next turn?
"Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon, effect one.
On Link Summon, I Special Summon three Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens."
Level 3 / WIND / ATK 0 / DEF 0
"This turn, I cannot Link Summon further."
"Second effect—once per turn.
I tribute Auroradon and one token."
"I Special Summon Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion from my Deck!"
"I tune O-Lion (Level 2 Tuner) with a Level 3 token!"
"Synchro Summon—Level 5, Accel Synchron!"
"O-Lion's second effect—
When sent to the Graveyard, I Special Summon one Mecha Phantom Beast Token!"
"Accel Synchron's effect—
I send Jet Synchron from my Deck to the Graveyard, and reduce my level."
Accel Synchron: Level 5 → Level 4
"I tune Jet Synchron (Level 4) with a Level 6 Skyhawk Token!"
"Bring me victory—
Synchro Summon!
Level 10, Baronne de Fleur!"
The moment Baronne appeared, Sima Jie felt a sinking dread.
Jet Synchron could revive itself.
And You Ye still had tokens left.
This wasn't over.
And worse—
You Ye couldn't deal battle damage this turn.
So what about the next one?
What could he possibly draw?
Lava Golem?
Sphere Mode?
It didn't matter.
If he couldn't clear the field completely, he would still lose.
"Jet Synchron's Graveyard effect—
I discard one card to Special Summon it."
"I discard Kashtira Theosis."
"Then I tune Jet Synchron (Level 1) with a Level 3 token!"
"Synchro Summon—Level 4, Cupid Pitch!"
"Cupid Pitch effect—
On Synchro Summon, I change its level. I choose to increase it."
Cupid Pitch: Level 4 → Level 5
"I tune Cupid Pitch (Level 5) with a Level 3 token!"
"O valiant dragon—
Turn your savage fangs into loaded barrels!"
"Synchro Summon—
Level 8, Borreload Savage Dragon!"
A massive dragon clad in black-and-white armor descended, wings spread wide.
Borreload Savage Dragon
Dragon / Synchro / Effect
Level 8 / DARK
ATK 3000 / DEF 2500
"Borreload Savage Dragon's effect—
On Synchro Summon, I equip one Link Monster from my Graveyard."
"I equip Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon!"
"Cupid Pitch's effect—
When used as Synchro material, I inflict damage equal to the Synchro Monster's level ×100,
Then add one monster with 600 DEF from my Deck to my hand."
"I add Starry Corridor Beast and deal 800 damage."
Sima Jie LP: 8000 → 7200
"Borreload Savage Dragon gains three Borrel Counters."
"Continuous effect—
Its ATK increases by half the equipped monster's ATK!"
Borreload Savage Dragon ATK: 3000 → 4050
"I Special Summon Scareclaw Kashtira from my hand,
banishing Kashtira Theosis from my Graveyard."
"Kashtira Theosis' banish effect—
I add Kashtira Birth back to my hand."
"…You recovered Birth, too?"
Sima Jie felt miserable.
Kashtira's birth was the engine that made long games impossible.
Even if he cleared the field—
You Ye could rebuild everything with a single card.
"Of course," You Ye nodded. "That was the plan from the start."
"…From the start," Sima Jie echoed weakly.
Only now did he realize—
If not for Maxx 'C', he would've faced this board a turn earlier.
The despair deepened.
"Don't bother hoping anymore," You Ye said calmly.
"You have no outs."
He revealed the final card in his hand.
"Starry Corridor Beast, effect—
I Special Summon it by returning one of my banished monsters to the Deck."
"I return Jet Synchron."
"Now—
Thunder Dragon Colossus, effect."
"If I activate a Thunder monster's effect in hand,
I can tribute one Thunder monster to Special Summon it."
"I tribute Starry Corridor Beast."
"Special Summon Thunder Dragon Colossus to Cross Sheep's zone!"
"Cross Sheep effect—
When a Fusion Monster is Special Summoned to its zone,
I Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my Graveyard."
"I Special Summon Cupid Pitch!"
"I tune Cupid Pitch (Level 4) with Scareclaw Kashtira (Level 7)!"
"Synchro Summon—
Level 11, Psychic End Punisher!"
Sima Jie knew.
It was over.
Baronne.
Borreload Savage.
Thunder Dragon Colossus.
Psychic End Punisher.
There was no path forward.
Li Yuan spoke quietly from the observation room.
"You Ye wins. There was never a chance."
Mumning smiled.
"Of course."
"Psychic End Punisher, effect—
I pay 1000 LP."
You Ye LP: 5000 → 4000
"I banish one monster I control and one card you control."
"I banish Sky Ninja – Bird Veil."
"Baronne de Fleur, once per turn—
I destroy Ninjitsu Art of Substitution."
"Battle Phase!"
"Psychic End Punisher gains ATK equal to our LP difference—
3200!"
Psychic End Punisher ATK: 3500 → 6700
"I attack Armored Ninja – Log Raft!"
"Baronne attacks Insect Ninja – Mite!"
"Borreload Savage Dragon attacks Gun Ninja – Firelight!"
"Main Phase 2—
I activate Kashtira Birth."
"My turn ends. Your move."
Sima Jie placed his hand on his deck.
And stopped.
There was no solution.
Even the perfect draw wouldn't save him.
"…You win," he said quietly. "I can't get past this."
As he conceded, his body faded like erased chalk.
You Ye was declared the victor.
The national tournament advanced to the finals.
As You Ye left the arena, Sima Jie's fading voice called out one last time.
"May I ask one question?"
"You may," You Ye replied, stopping.
"If it had been Tearlaments… would I have lost even harder?"
"Yes," You Ye answered calmly.
"Ninjas shouldn't even try to compare themselves to Tearlaments."
"…The gap is really that big…"
Sima Jie vanished completely.
Outside the arena, Li Yuan smiled.
"Your final opponent is decided."
"Xiao Bi?" You, Ye, asked.
"Yes. Just like you predicted."
You, Ye, nodded.
"A fully built Raidraptor beats Star Seraph easily."
And so—
The final duel was set.