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

"Come back, [Scrap Synchron]!"

Yusei hadn't yet made a Normal Summon this turn, so he placed another monster card on his Duel Disk: "I'll Summon Shield Warrior again."

With a flash of light, a warrior appeared, wielding an axe-spear and with a shield on his left leg.

[Yusei Fudo's hand cards: 6 → 3]

"Use a level 3 Shield Warrior to level up a level 3 Junk Synchron!"

"Holy Wings that summon the starlight, let souls ride the wind and swiftly traverse the world! Synchronous Summoning, [Stardust Charged Warrior]!"

The light of synergy rose once more, and the Stardust Warriors with sword-like steel wings broke through the light and landed beside the Stardust Strikers, guarding the Wanderer.

Stardust Charged Warrior: Attack Power 2000

Dewayne looked at the opposing team's lineup and said disdainfully, "Hmph, summoning two Synchro Monsters in a row? Pretty impressive... But the attack power of these two monsters is not as high as my [Magic Homunculus]. Is this all you've got?"

However, Yusei was not affected by his taunts at all. "[Stardust Charge Warrior] effect activated. When this card is successfully Synchro Summoned, you can draw one card from your Deck."

[Yusei Fudo's hand cards: 3 → 4]

He then decisively swung his arm and commanded, "Battle begins! [Stardust Charged Warriors] attack [Magic Homunculi]! Meteor Shower!"

The next moment, the steel wings on the Stardust Charge Warrior's back instantly transformed into missiles and shot towards the monsters in front of Dewayne.

"Impossible! They dared to launch an attack using a monster with relatively low attack power?!"

Just as Dewayne was wondering what Yusei was up to, the latter quickly revealed another monster card: "When [Stardust Charge Warrior] is calculating damage in battle, I send [Rush Warrior] from my hand to the graveyard and activate its effect."

"Based on the effect of [Charge Warrior], the attack power of [Stardust Charge Warrior] is only doubled in this battle."

[Yusei Fudo's hand cards: 4 → 3]

[Stardust Charged Warrior: Attack Power 2000 → 4000]

"Attack power of 4000!? So that's how it is..."

In the blink of an eye, the Stardust Charge Warrior's four steel blades shattered the Magic Homunculus into dust with a loud bang.

"Humph......"

[Dewayne: LP4600→3000]

Yusei: "After attacking, Stardust Charger's ATK returns to normal, but Stardust Charger can attack any Special Summoned opponent's monster. Stardust Charger then attacks Sky Eye!"

[Stardust Charged Warrior: Attack Power 4000 → 2000]

The other four steel blades then shot towards the Eye of Heaven. Seeing this, Deweyen calmly said, "The effect of [Eye of Heaven] is activated. When this card becomes the target of an attack, pay 800 Life Points to negate the monster's attack."

[Dewayne: LP3000→2200]

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding—!

The moment Dewayne's health was deducted, the Heavenly Eye immediately opened a barrier to intercept the attack.

Yusei remained unfazed upon seeing this; he knew the effect, so all he needed to do was reduce Dewayne's life points as much as possible. After all, the lower Dewayne's life points, the fewer usable effects his deck could have.

"Then [Stardust Assault Warrior] will attack [Sky Eye] again!"

"It's no use trying several times! I'll activate the [Heavenly Eye] effect again, paying 800 health points to nullify the [Stardust Assault Warrior's] attacks!"

[Dewayne: LP2200→1400]

Although Yusei's attack was nullified again, that was enough; Dewayne's health was visibly decreasing.

"I'll set two more cards face down, and the turn ends."

[Yusei Fudo's hand cards: 3 → 1]

Just then, Dewayne suddenly grinned smugly, "Hehehe, thanks to you reducing my life points to this level, my deck can finally unleash its true power. Thank you!"

"what?"

"My turn!"

[Dewayne's hand: 1→2]

After glancing at the card he had drawn, Dewayne immediately pointed to a face-down card at his feet and shouted, "First, I activate the Trap Card [Psychic Trigger]. When my Life Points are lower than my opponent's, I banish two Psychic-Type monsters from my Graveyard and draw two cards from my Deck. I banish [Psychic Protector] and [Magic Homunculus]!"

於↓≤含¨:朳↓±芜∴々气∵路∮∈∨馓∽…丝∷∵四)'【Dewayne's hand cards: 2→4】

"Then I activate the Continuous Trap Card [Brain Disaster]. This card allows me to Special Summon a banished Psychic-Type monster, and Special Summon [Magic Homunculus]!"

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell [Star Level Change] from my hand. The level of a monster on the field increases or decreases by one star. As a result, the level of [Magic Homunculus] has increased from five stars to six stars."

"Now that my preparations are complete, let me show you my trump card monster!"

Chapter 53 Demons of the Spiritual Realm

At this moment, Dewayne raised his arm and shouted, "I'll have the level six [Magic Homunculus] adjust the star rating of the level two [Celestial Eye]!"

"Roll, my vengeful black smoke! Synchro Summon! Come, [Spiritual Demon]!"

As the Synchro Light dissipated, a portal connecting to a strange space opened on his field, from which a skeletal demon emerged.

[Demon of the Spirit Realm: Attack Power 2700]

Then Dewayne placed two more cards into the Spell & Trap Slots slot. "I will then activate two more Equip Spells from my hand and equip them to [Mental Realm Demon]: [Psychic Sword] and [Psychic Amplification Device]."

"The effect of 【Psychic Sword】is that when your Life Points are lower than your opponent's, the ATK of the Psychic-Type monster equipped to this card increases by the difference between your Life Points and the opponent's Life Points, up to a maximum of 2000. Therefore, the ATK of 【Psychic Demon】 will increase to 4700."

As soon as Dewayne finished speaking, a lightsaber was grasped in the claws of a demon from the spiritual realm.

[Demon of the Spirit Realm: Attack Power 2700 → 4700]

"Next is the effect of [Psychic Amplifier]: Psychic monsters equipped with this card will no longer need to pay Life Points when activating their effects."

Dewey smiled smugly and continued, "Moreover, the effect of [Psychic Demon] is that when a Spell or Trap Card that targets only one Psychic-Type monster is activated, it can negate and destroy that activation."

"Originally, this effect required paying 1000 life points to activate, but with the [Telekinesis Amplification Device] equipped, this cost is waived. As a result, there is no limit to the number of times the [Mental Realm Demon] effect can be activated. Your two face-down cards will be useless to me. The so-called king is nothing more than this in my eyes, hahahahaha!"

Yusei frowned. "You talk too much nonsense..."

"Hmph, as expected of the newly crowned king, he handles this situation with complete ease..."

Dewayne praised Yusei, but the next second his tone changed: "But let's see how long you can maintain that attitude before I activate the equipment magic [Fallen] again!"

[Dewayne's hand: 4→0]

Upon hearing this, Yusei's expression immediately turned extremely surprised. "What!? It's actually [Fallen]!?"

He thought Dewayne was using a pure psychic deck, but unexpectedly, the opponent pulled out a synergy card from a demon deck, which completely surprised Yusei.

That makes sense, though. While "Psychic Demon" isn't a Fiend-Type monster, it is one with the "Fiend" tag and is a Synchro Monster that can be summoned at any time. So borrowing a few Spell & Trap cards from the Fiend deck is indeed a viable option.

Seeing Yusei's expression, Dewayne assumed the former was intimidated by his card, so he sneered, "Hmph~, it seems you understand the effect of [Corruption] very well, then things are easier..."

"According to the effect of [Fallen], this card is destroyed if you do not have any cards with [Demon] in their name on your field. Since I happen to have [Spirit World Demon] on my field, this card will not be destroyed."

"Then, this card can be equipped to a monster on your opponent's field and you will gain control of the equipped monster. Your Stardust Strike Warrior will then be mine."

After Yusei's monster was taken away by the bull, Dewayne continued, "The powerful effect of [Fallen] naturally comes with corresponding risks, namely, I will take 800 points of damage during the opponent's preparation phase... Of course, you won't be able to wait for the next turn!"

He then decisively swung his arm and shouted, "Battle begins! [Mental Realm Demon] Attack [Stardust Charged Warrior]!"

At his command, the demon of the spirit realm immediately teleported to the Stardust Charge Warrior with its lightsaber and slashed down at its head.

Seeing this, Yusei quickly pressed the button to set the card: "Don't even think about it! Activate the Trap Card [Power of Spirit], during the opponent's turn damage calculation, reduce the battle damage received by the player to zero for the single instance!"

In an instant, a barrier appeared around the Stardust Charge Warrior, intercepting the damage.

Upon seeing this, Dewey couldn't help but click his tongue. "Tch! Because it's not a Trap Card that targets monsters, the effect of [Psychic Demon] can't be activated...?"

"But your monsters will still be destroyed. According to another effect of [Psychic Demon], when a monster is destroyed and sent to the graveyard through battle, my Life Points are restored to the original ATK of the destroyed monster."

However, Yusei calmly shouted, "Then I will activate the monster effect of 'Shield Warrior' from the graveyard. In the same way, during damage calculation, by banishing this card from the graveyard, I can negate the battle destruction of monsters on my field once."

"Nani?!"

Dewayne was taken aback at first, then became enraged and said, "You're just trying to be clever! But don't forget, you're facing a real psychic duelist. If I can't cut down your monster, then I'll cut you down!"

"what?!"

Just then, the slash that had been blocked by the barrier suddenly turned towards Yusei...

An ordinary person would definitely be seriously injured by this sudden attack, but who is Yusei?

He was one of the members of the Satisfaction Team, which dominated the satellite area. Even disregarding his card skills, dexterity, and reflexes, he was a top-notch player. He was already used to these underhanded tactics.

So he slid in and dodged the sword, the lightsaber 'whoosh' and missed its mark.

"You despicable bastard, you think you can defeat me with this? You're still too green!" Yusei rarely felt such disgust for someone; this scum in front of him was simply too shameless.

Seeing Yusei's disdainful look, Dewayne's face turned even uglier. "KISAMA!!"

“It’s not over yet!” Yusei interrupted the spellcasting, saying coldly, “According to the effect of [Power of Spirit], I can add another Warrior-Type monster with an ATK of 1500 or less from the Graveyard to my hand. I’m adding [Scrap Synchron] to my hand.”

[Yusei Fudo's hand cards: 1 → 2]

"Alright, do you still want to continue fighting? You can't do anything about it anyway. If you don't continue, then it's my turn?"

Hearing Yusei's provocative words, Dewayne suppressed his agitated emotions. "Trying to make me lose my composure and make a mistake? Not so easy... I switch [Stardust Striker] to defense position. End of turn."

He was very clear-headed. Stardust Strike Warrior was not a Psychic-type monster, so he couldn't use the effect of Psychic Fiend to defend against Yusei's other unknown face-down card. Moreover, once he launched an attack, Stardust Strike Warrior would become a target because of the Corruption effect. Next turn, his life points would only be 600, making him easy to kill in one hit.

Chapter 54 Dewayne Dies Early

"My turn!"

[Yusei Fudo's hand cards: 2 → 3]

"At this moment, during my preparation phase, you will take 800 points of damage due to the effect of the equipment magic [Corruption]."

[Dewayne: LP1400→600]

Dewayne: "Tch~, but I still have some health points left, the game isn't over yet!"

'No, it's over...'

Yusei looked at the card he had drawn this turn and thought, 'This [Scrap Fist] grants [Scrap Warrior] attack penetration and double battle damage, while [Stardust Striker] only has 1200 defense. If I can summon [Scrap Warrior] and then attack [Stardust Striker], I'll win.'

Just then, he had the Scrap Synchron in his hand, so he immediately grabbed it. Just as he was about to summon it, a sudden change occurred!

Rumble, rumble—! ! !

A strong tremor suddenly occurred in the building...

DeWine asked in shock, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Is it about to begin...?"

Yusei looked up at the building with a solemn expression. There was only one possibility for this situation: the Earthbound God was about to be summoned!

Summoning a local deity requires not only battling monsters as offerings, but also sacrificing nearby humans. This happens to be in the city, a densely populated area, so the consequences are predictable.

Just then, countless glowing spirits floated around Yusei and the others, gradually converging towards the outside of the building. Clearly, the heart of the Earthbound God had appeared outside the building.

Yusei clenched his fist upon seeing this. "The worst-case scenario has indeed occurred...!"

Dewayne glanced at Yusei: "Judging from your expression, you seem to know what happened?"

Yusei coldly explained, "When the Earthbound Gods summoned by the Darkmarkers, they sacrifice the people around them. All of these energy bodies are people from the city."

He's growing increasingly annoyed with Dewayne; if it weren't for Dewayne's meddling, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.

Seeing Yusei's disgusted expression, Dewayne didn't care and even showed a happy expression: "Huh~? There is such a thing? That's really interesting. I thought the Dark Signers were just psychic duelists with stronger power. I underestimated them."

Not long after, the shaking of the building finally stopped, and a huge black shadow was lying outside the building. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that it was a huge, jet-black lizard.

This scene caught Dewayne's eye, and he exclaimed with delight, "Oh! Is this the Earthbound God? What a gigantic monster... It seems Qiu is in grave danger this time. This is truly an unexpected joy, hahahahaha!"

"You can still laugh in this situation? You are a complete scumbag."

Dewayne scoffed, "Hmph, say what you will. I'm a man who will stop at nothing to achieve my goals. Do you think you can insult me ​​with just the word 'scum'?"

"So what is your purpose in using Qiu?"

Faced with Yusei's questioning, the inexplicably confident Dewayne nonchalantly replied, "Telling you won't hurt, since you and Aki will be dying here soon anyway..."

"That's right. In my eyes, Qiu is just a useful tool. Like other psychic duelists in the organization, she was originally intended to be a war mercenary. She was supposed to be my trump card, but she suddenly became disobedient, so I had no choice but to destroy her."

Upon hearing this, Yusei's eyes flickered, then he put the card back in his left hand, his fingers subtly twitching. "Using Aki as a mercenary?! So all those members of the Paradise Movement who disappeared were also sent to the battlefield?"

"Huh? It seems you know about us."

Dewayne seemed oblivious to Yusei's subtle actions, and said with a flippant expression, "To be precise, they all died in my human experiments. I put a lot of effort into stimulating their psychic potential, but unfortunately they were useless and couldn't withstand the experiments. On the contrary, Aki was an excellent candidate."

"KISAMA!!"