The protagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! world might be the same person.

At that moment, a red-haired man with an outrageously stylish hairstyle, who had been observing from the shadows, bit his lip and said, "What? That man is too strong... What are you doing right now, Qiu?"

At the same time, Yusei placed a card from his hand into the Spell & Trap Card slot and announced: "Set one card face down, end turn."

[Yusei Fudo's hand cards: 3 → 2]

"Furthermore, Stardust Dragon revives during the end phase of the turn in which its effect was successfully activated!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of light rose in the field, and the figure of Stardust Dragon reappeared.

"That's amazing, but..."

As Qiu spoke, her slender fingers suddenly pulled out a card.

"My turn, draw a card!"

【Izayoi Aki's hand cards: 3→4】

With a flick of her wrist, the card she drew immediately came into view, and without hesitation, she tossed it out: "I activate the equipment spell [Rose Imprint] from my hand."

"By banishing a Plant-Type monster from my Graveyard, I can gain control of one face-up monster on my opponent's field. However, this effect is negated during my End Phase and continues until my next Standby Phase."

"I have gained control of the [Reopened Large Rose] in the cemetery, excluding it."

A black rose mark appeared on the forehead of the Scrap Warrior, who then immediately moved to the front field of Qiu.

She then placed another card from her hand onto the Duel Disk: "I summon the Tuner monster [Growing Bulb]..."

A flash of light appeared, and a short stem with a single eye and a white flower was projected onto the screen.

【Izayoi Aki's hand cards: 4→2】

"The Adjustment Monster... is it coming...?"

Just as Yusei had expected, Qiu Ba called out loudly, "I'm using a level 5 [Scrap Warrior] to upgrade a level 1 [Growing Bulb]!"

"O magnificent thorn hunter hidden in the sacred forest! Take up your punitive whip and reveal yourself now!"

"Summon Synchro! Appear, [Gorgeous Rose]!"

In an instant, the light of harmony shone, and a blonde woman broke through the light and landed on the autumn field. She was dressed in an outfit that was half light green and half dark green, with petals on her ankles that could be pieced together to form a rose, and four thorns protruding from her back.

【Gorgeous Rose: Attack Power 2200】

"Then, during the duel, by sending the top card of your deck to the graveyard, you can revive the 'Growing Bulb' in the graveyard."

After the bulb reappeared, Qiu Qian waved her hand and said: "The effect of [Gorgeous Rose] is to reduce the ATK of 1 monster your opponent controls by half once per turn by banishing a Plant-Type monster from your Graveyard until the end of the turn!"

"Except for the Ivy Wall in the graveyard, the Stardust Dragon's attack power is halved."

In an instant, four thorns shot out from the back of the gorgeous rose, trapping the Stardust Dragon.

Stardust Dragon: Attack power 2500 → 1250

Upon seeing this, the twins in the audience immediately became worried.

Long Ke: "Attack power has dropped to 1250..."

Longya: "Damn it, the attack power on both sides has reversed!"

"Battle begins!" Qiu shouted, pushing his hand forward. "[Gorgeous Rose] Attack [Stardust Dragon]!"

The magnificent rose lashed out with a whip made of thorns, striking towards the Stardust Dragon.

Seeing this, Yugi quickly waved his arm and said, "Trap Card [Scrap Scarecrow], when an opponent's monster declares an attack, you can target the attacking monster to negate that attack, and after activation, this card will not be sent to the Graveyard but will be set again."

As the trap card at his feet was lifted, a scarecrow made of scrap metal emerged.

"Useless!" Qiu suddenly revealed a card from her hand and shouted, "I activate the monster effect of [Rose Archer] from my hand. When I have a Plant-Type monster on my field and my opponent activates a Trap Card, I can send this card from my hand to the Graveyard to negate and destroy the activation of that Trap Card. This effect can also be activated during my opponent's turn."

In the blink of an eye, the scrap metal scarecrow shattered into pieces with a bang.

【Izayoi Aki's hand cards: 2→1】

"what?!"

Qiu's sudden move caught Yuxing off guard.

"Oh my god! Aki Izayoi has also activated a monster effect from her hand to counterattack!"

The magnificent rose's attack passed through without hindrance. The thorny whip struck the Stardust Dragon, instantly shattering it into pieces. Moreover, Qiu's uncontrollable berserk power was unleashed once more, and the violent impact caused some cracks to appear on the ground.

"Uh-huh...!"

[Yusei Fudo: LP 4000 → 3050]

After the attack, Qiu stopped the battle phase for that turn. Although Rose of Glory still has the effect of banishing a Plant-Type monster from her Graveyard and halving her own ATK to attack again, unfortunately, there were no Plant-Type monsters in her Graveyard, so she couldn't continue attacking.

Of course, she had something else on her mind right now: "Are you alright, Yusei?"

The audience erupted in shouts of abuse again, with countless voices angrily calling her a "witch."

After hearing these annoying voices, Yusei shook his head and said, "I'm fine, let's continue the duel, Aki."

"Yusei?"

"You are not a witch. I can sense that you don't want to hurt others and are afraid of hurting them... But I will not run away. In my eyes, there is only you as a duelist. No matter what harm you cause me, I will take it all."

Hearing these words, Aki's heart raced. She felt that the Dragon Seal, which she had always been wary of, brought more than just sadness. At least Yusei truly regarded her as a companion.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Black Garden

Just as Qiu was moved, a furious voice suddenly came from outside the venue.

"Qiu, don't listen to his nonsense! Have you forgotten? The people of this world have abandoned you!"

“Dewayne…” Qiu frowned unhappily.

Even though Dewayne was someone Aki Izayoi trusted before, Aki was still unhappy with his slander of Yusei. After all, she felt from the Dragon Seal that Yusei's sincerity was genuine and could not be faked.

'There's no other way... I have to use that trick!' Seeing that Qiu didn't react, Dewayne's face hardened: 'Qiu, have you forgotten that even your parents have abandoned you? Only I, Dewayne, will accept you. He was lying to you!'

soUSUO：〇‖⌒【“Shut up, Dewayne!”

Qiu had never found Dewayne so repulsive; not only did he poke at her sore spots, but he also slandered the first person she wanted to trust.

“That man…” Yusei glanced calmly at Dewayne behind Qiu, then quickly ignored him.

"Aki, all you're thinking about is the duel. I don't know the truth about what happened to you, so all I can do is face all your attacks without fear. That's my pride as a duelist."

The worst thing is comparison. Look at Yusei, then look at Dewayne. One has charismatic personality, the other only knows how to rub salt in people's wounds and slander them. Qiu suddenly felt that there was something wrong with Dewayne. It seemed she needed to seriously re-evaluate him.

Qiu calmed herself down, focused her gaze on her opponent, and temporarily put aside those upsetting things, ignoring the barking man behind her.

In short, let's play cards. She decided to properly respond to Yusei's feelings, "Let the duel continue, Yusei."

"Ah."

Seeing Yusei nod, Aki played the card in her hand: "I activate the Quick-Play Spell [Delight of Greed] from my hand. You can use this card during the turn you destroy an opponent's face-up Synchro Monster by battle or effect. Draw two cards from your Deck."

【Izayoi Aki's hand cards: 1→2】

After glancing at the two cards in her hand, Qiu revealed one of the spell cards: "I activate the spell card 'Aromatic Storm,' which destroys one Plant-Type monster on the field according to its effect. I then draw one card from my Deck; if the drawn card is a Plant-Type monster, I can draw another. I destroy 'Growing Bulb'..."

Immediately, the bulb shattered into pieces with a bang, and at the same time, she flipped over the card on the deck and immediately displayed it.

"The card I drew is a Plant-Type monster, [Copy Plant], so I can draw another card."

【Izayoi Aki's hand cards: 2→3】

With two consecutive magic cards, Qiu quickly replenished her lost hand.

"It's not over yet... I'll activate the field spell [Black Garden]!"

Swish!

As the cards were stored in the field card slots, a large number of vines suddenly sprouted from under Aki's feet, quickly spreading across the entire field and forming a dense cage of vines covered with black roses, enveloping her and Yusei together.

"Then set a card face down to end the turn."

【Izayoi Aki's hand cards: 3→1】

"My turn!"

Yusei glanced at the card he had drawn and threw it out without thinking: "I activate the Quick-Play Spell [Synchro Override] from my hand. This card can Special Summon a Synchro Monster whose Level is one level higher than a Synchro Monster on your opponent's field."

"【Gorgeous Rose】is a Level 6 monster, therefore I can Special Summon a Level 7 monster to the field... Come forth, 【Nitrogen Warrior】!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of light rose up in the front field, and a green 'big-butt' warrior emerged in the light.

[Nitrogen Warrior: Attack Power 2800]

Just then, a large number of vines suddenly stretched out from the Black Garden and gave the Nitrogen Warrior a binding play.

Qiu then slowly explained, "Every time a monster is Summoned or Special Summoned in addition to the effect of [Black Garden], the monster's ATK is halved, and one [Rose Token] is automatically Special Summoned to the opponent's field in Attack Position."

A rose bloomed beside her...

[Rose Derivative: Attack Power 800]

[Nitrogen Warrior: Attack Power 2800 → 1400]

"Oh my god! So the attack power of [Nitrogen Warrior] is no match for [Gorgeous Rose]!"

At this moment, Yusei picked up two cards with his right hand and said, "Monsters Special Summoned by the effect of [Synchro Overdrive] cannot activate their effects this turn. However, if [Nitrogen Warrior] is on the field and activates a Spell Card during your turn, its ATK will only increase by 1000 points once during damage calculation this turn. This effect does not need to be activated."

"In other words, this is a perpetual effect, and [Synchro Transcendence] cannot limit this effect."

Upon hearing this, Qiu showed a slightly surprised expression. "So, as long as one more magic card is activated, the attack power of [Nitrogen Warrior] will rise to 2400 points, exceeding the effect of [Gorgeous Rose]?"

“That’s right…” Yusei nodded, then put a card from his hand into the graveyard and revealed another spell card: “I discard [Star Dragon] from my hand and activate the spell card [Harmony Treasure Card].

"This card can be activated by discarding a Dragon-Type Tuner monster with 1000 or less ATK, and you draw two cards from your Deck."

"And due to the activation of the magic card, the attack power of [Nitrogen Warrior] increases by 1000 points."

[Nitrogen Warrior: Attack Power 1400 → 2400]

Then Yusei swung his arm down and shouted, "Battle begins! [Nitrogen Warrior] attacks [Gorgeous Rose], Burst Fist!"

The next moment, the nitrogen warrior temporarily broke free from the vines' restraints and used the propulsive energy to smash his fists at the enemy in front of him.

However, at that moment, Aki decisively pressed the button to set the card: "Since you've gone all out, I'll live up to that expectation! I activate the Trap Card [Wall of Thorns]: When a face-up Plant-Type monster on my field becomes the target of an attack, all Attack Position monsters on your opponent's field are destroyed!"

"what?!"

In an instant, a large number of thorny vines quickly sprouted in front of the gorgeous rose, forming a solid barrier. The nitrogen warrior crashed into the thorny barrier and was instantly shattered by the reflected damage.

boom--! ! !

The violent explosion tore apart the area near the stands, frightening some spectators into fleeing.

"That wretched witch!"

"Get out of here!"

Although Yusei dared to confront Aki's power, this unusual destructive force was indeed a headache.

"I set a monster, then set a card face down, and end my turn."

[Yusei Fudo's hand cards: 2 → 0]

Chapter Twenty-Six: Moonlit Dragon

At the same time that Yusei was being suppressed, Dewayne had already left the arena. He had figured out that Qiu didn't want to hurt Yusei at all, and he wasn't so easily fooled anymore.

Verbal brainwashing is no longer effective; should he consider physical brainwashing of Qiu? Or should he find a time to eliminate Yusei?

So Qiu's suspicions were right; in just a short while, Dewayne had already been harboring a lot of ill intentions.

Back to the game, after Yusei's declaration ended his turn, it was Aki's turn to operate.

"My turn, draw a card!"

【Izayoi Aki's hand cards: 1→2】

With a slight flick of her wrist, the card she drew immediately came into view. After glancing at the card, Qiu's eyes widened slightly, and then she decisively played another card from her hand: "First, I summon the Tuner monster [Copy Plant] from my hand!"

[Clone Plant: Attack Power 0]

"Since a monster was summoned on my field, based on the effect of [Black Garden], Special Summon 1 [Rose Token] to your field in Attack Position."

The derivatives summoned on the Starry Sky Field would undoubtedly become targets for the Magnificent Rose, so Starry Sky would naturally not allow them to appear.

With a sweep of his arm, he shouted, "Activate the Trap Card [Scrap Statue]! When a face-up Spell or Trap Card on your opponent's field activates its effect, destroy that card!"

"What did you say?!"

In an instant, the vines and flowers of the Black Garden withered and collapsed, and due to the disappearance of the site, the effects that had just been activated were no longer applicable.