Chapter 1205: Yusei's Doubt

"Thunder of Ruler—so you can't attack Stardust Dragon this turn!" Crow called out.

"My, my, you banned my Battle Phase before it even started," Kira remarked, "That's a bit tricky."

He shook his head and grinned.

"If you've managed to come this far to protect Stardust Dragon, then I'll give you this chance.

Of course, I still need to do a bit of prep work."

Kira pointed at the sinister giant tree rooted across the dark field.

"First, the Field Spell 'Fallen Paradise'—once per turn, if I have a Sacred Beast, I draw two cards."

Lord of Phantasms Raviel radiated a blue glow, and Kira drew two more cards.

In truth, this was one reason he'd chosen the three Sacred Beasts for his deck against Yusei's team.

Even if Yusei and the others were relative newbies, as main-character types their luck was strong. A one-against-three match put him at a resource disadvantage. The Sacred Beast deck was strong, and as "Sacred Beast" they benefited from heavy fate. Plus, the intimidating field presence made them perfect for playing the villain.

But the biggest asset was "Fallen Paradise".

Going one-against-three meant Kira started with only six cards facing the opponents' collective eighteen—a daunting gap. Fallen Paradise let him draw three cards a turn in the best-case scenario, slowly evening the odds.

Now, the resource war had reversed. The three opponents had fewer cards, and Kira's hand kept growing turn by turn. He had reversed the initial disadvantage.

At this moment, Yusei's team was at a dire disadvantage. On the field and in card count, even collectively they now had fewer resources than Kira. The game had turned into a rout in his favor.

If things kept going this way, even if Yusei and the others stalled for a few more turns, the disparity would only grow. They'd have to burn through resources to defend themselves, but Kira, empowered by "Fallen Paradise," was only accumulating more and more cards with every passing turn.

Yusei was slowly noticing this. They should have had the edge in a prolonged fight, but now things were falling apart.

"Next, I activate a Set Card. Continuous Trap 'Limit Reverse'—revive any monster with 1000 or less ATK from the Graveyard."

Everyone tensed up.

Monsters with 1000 or less ATK… Previously, Lord of Searing Flames had fit that category, but Crow's "D.D. Crow" had already banished it, so it couldn't be revived.

"I Special Summon 'Phantasmal Summoning Beast' from the Graveyard—it has 0 ATK!"

[Phantasmal Summoning Beast, ATK 0]

Jack's heart leapt. "That thing again!"

Crow: "That monster summons Sacred Beast instantly!"

"Exactly."

Kira smiled.

"I tribute 'Phantasmal Summoning Beast' to add any one of 'Lord of Searing Flames,' 'Lord of Phantasms Raviel,' or 'Lord of Striking Thunder' from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand.

I choose to add 'Lord of Striking Thunder' from the Graveyard to my hand!"

Thunder rumbled in the heavens, the golden shadow of a titan roaring behind the clouds.

"After that, I can Special Summon, ignoring summoning restrictions, any Level 10 Pyro, Thunder, or Fiend monster with ATK equal to DEF from my hand!"

Heavy clouds rolled over the altar, thunder splitting the sky as a mountain-sized shadow crawled forth from the abyss, shrouded in chains of lightning.

Lord of Striking Thunder, Hamon—summoned!

"Well, I can't go into the Battle Phase this turn," Kira said, "so Hamon will take Defense Position for now."

[Lord of Striking Thunder Hamon, DEF 4000]

"I set two more cards and end my turn."

Kira smiled.

"All right, my wall is set up. Now then—show me the true strength of the hope linked through your bonds!"

Just as they'd hoped, the turn finally passed to Yusei.

But at that moment, Yusei had his head bowed and made no move.

"Yusei?"

Jack frowned and called out.

"It's come to this—what are you hesitating for?!"

But Yusei was silent.

After several seconds, he finally looked up and stared straight at Kira.

"Goodwin, you never truly intended to destroy the world—or to be our enemy, did you?"

Everyone: "?"

All eyes turned to Yusei in surprise.

How could he be asking this now? They'd been fighting tooth and nail, with the world on the brink. Why would he say something like that?

"Actually, even before that…" Yusei shook his head suddenly. "Are you really Goodwin?"

That shocked everyone further.

What was he talking about? If not Goodwin, then who?

"Oh?" Kira narrowed his eyes, locking gazes with Yusei.

As expected of the shrewdest Yu-Gi-Oh protagonist—he'd spotted something. Maybe Kira's disguise was about to fall apart. Not that he cared, but even he was surprised it lasted this long.

"And why do you say that?" Kira asked with interest.

"Because I've fought true dark duels against the Dark Signers before, I can tell the difference," Yusei replied. "While this duel has real pain, beyond normal, there's no true sense of life-or-death.

I think this duel is not really, as you say, for life or the fate of the world.

All this time, I haven't felt a single trace of killing intent from you."

Kira narrowed his gaze.

Killing intent, huh…

Fudo Yusei really did possess extraordinary intuition.