"Radiant Mirror Force?! Who even still runs that card? I'm cracking up over here!"

Although Radiant Mirror Force required three or more monsters on the opponent's field to activate—making it less flexible than Mirror Force—for students who couldn't pull rare cards, it was still a decent substitute.

Most importantly, it didn't have the "only one copy per deck" restriction. Though, honestly, running multiples didn't help much anyway.

"I… end my turn."

Even though Minazuki was clearly frustrated, there were no more cards she could play this turn.

[Minazuki's Hand: 3 Cards]

"My turn! Draw!" Bastion grinned. "I have to admit, that was an impressive tactic, Red."

He glanced at his hand, thought for a moment, then declared, "I activate the Spell Card—Card Destruction! Both players discard their entire hands and draw the same number of cards from their Decks."

Both Bastion and Minazuki had three cards each—essentially refreshing their hands. Finally, Minazuki could send that stuck Lion Wizard to the Graveyard.

"Then, I activate the effect of Duoterion in my hand! By discarding this card, I can add one 'Bonding' Spell or Trap Card from my Deck to my hand!"

Bastion kept cycling through his cards one after another, making Hoshino and the others nervously sweat.

"This Minazuki… no monsters, no set cards. Can he really survive this turn?"

Glancing at his Duel Disk's LP display, Minazuki remained strangely calm compared to the others.

"What? You think you can OTK me when I still have 4000 Life Points?"

"Heh heh~" Bastion smirked and released his monster for a Tribute Summon. "I Tribute my Oxygeddon to Tribute Summon Duoterion from my hand!"

He'd already discarded one Duoterion earlier, yet still had another in hand. It seemed Bastion's deck was heavily themed around elements.

[Duoterion ★★★★★ (Level 5) / WATER / Dinosaur / Effect / ATK 2100 / DEF 1400]

[If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can target 1 "Hydrogeddon," "Oxygeddon," or "Duoterion" in your GY; Special Summon it.]

"Because of Duoterion's effect, I can Special Summon the first Duoterion I discarded earlier!"

Two dinosaurs surrounded by swirling hydrogen energy appeared on the field, glaring down at Minazuki.

Hoshino groaned. "Oh, come on—it's exactly 4000 attack points! Could you stop jinxing yourself already!?"

"Duoterion, direct attack!"

"Ahhhhhhh!!"

[Minazuki LP 4000 → 2000]

"And now, the second Duoterion—direct attack! This duel is mine, Red!"

But when the second attack landed, the explosion of power didn't erupt like before.

"Sore wa dou kana? You really thought you'd won with that hit? Too naïve! I activate Performapal Kuribohble's effect from my hand!"

[Performapal Kuribohble – Effect: When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: You can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, change the attack target to this card and proceed to damage calculation. If you would take battle damage from that battle, you gain that much LP instead.]

Hoshino's eyes widened. "Not just Jaden—Minazuki has a Kuriboh too!? This guy's definitely not normal…"

[Performapal Kuribohble ATK 300]

Summoned by its hand-trap effect, Performapal Kuribohble appeared in front of Minazuki, taking the fatal blow in his place.

[Performapal Kuribohble – Destroyed]

"Instead of taking battle damage, I recover that same amount of Life Points!"

[Minazuki LP 2000 → 3700]

"I'm back to 3700 LP now! Let's see you try to finish me this time~"

"Drawing the one monster that could save you right after Card Destruction, huh? Lucky you, Red." Bastion sighed in disappointment.

Still, if he hadn't activated Card Destruction, he wouldn't have had exactly 4000 attack to deal damage anyway—so in the end, it balanced out.

"Now then, let me show you my ace monster! I activate the Spell Card Bonding – D2O! I Tribute my two Duoterion on the field and one Oxygeddon from my hand!"

On the periodic table, Duoterion (²H)—an isotope of Hydrogen—chemically bonded with Oxygen (O) to form the ultimate product…

"H₂O! From my Deck, I Special Summon—Water Dragon!!"

[Water Dragon ★★★★★★★★ (Level 8) / WATER / Sea Serpent / Effect / ATK 2800 / DEF 2600]

Formed through elemental fusion, the majestic Water Dragon coiled through the Duel Arena in a surge of mist.

"Since I Special Summoned it after the Battle Phase, I can't attack again this turn. I end my turn."

[Bastion's Hand: 0 | 1 Set Card]

"My turn!!"

Having survived the onslaught with an empty field, Minazuki felt the BGM of destiny shift back to her side.

"A true duelist's draws are guided by fate itself! So let's end this once and for all!!"

During his Draw Phase, a holy light suddenly radiated from her Graveyard.

"I activate the effect of Treeborn Frog sent to the GY by Card Destruction! During my Standby Phase, if I control no Spell or Trap Cards, I can Special Summon it!"

[Treeborn Frog ★ (Level 1) / WATER / Aqua / Effect / ATK 100 / DEF 100]

"Ribbit~~"

A frog with practically no combat ability hopped onto Minazuki's field. Its tiny, frail body looked utterly pitiful next to the mighty Water Dragon—sending the spectators into fits of laughter.

"Hahahahaha! That monster suits Red perfectly!"

"Is his entire Deck really made of Level 1 monsters? Is he here to clown around?"

"With a Deck full of low-level monsters, he's better off collecting trash!"

Ignoring the laughter, Minazuki calmly continued.

"I activate the Spell Card Tri-Wight! I can Special Summon up to three Normal Monsters with Level 2 or lower from my Graveyard! Rise again—Bunilla!"

[Bunilla ATK 150 / DEF 2050] ×3

Akasha sighed and rubbed her temples. "I can't see how this could possibly turn around… Why are all his monsters like this?"

"No—this is the final piece of my victory puzzle!"

Raising the card he had just drawn, Minazuki's eyes blazed with fierce determination—brighter than ever before.

"I Tribute my four Level 1 monsters on the field… and answer my call, Kami!!"

The air trembled. Heaven and earth quaked as a divine power surged forth, shaking the entire Duel Arena.

"With my soul burning at its peak, I'll show you all! Even a Level 1 monster—even a Slifer Red—has its worth! Special Summon—Dystopia the Despondent!!"

[Dystopia the Despondent ★★★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 12) / DARK / Fiend / Effect / ATK 5000 / DEF 5000]

[Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand or Graveyard) by sending 4 face-up Level 1 monsters you control to the Graveyard, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways.]

Hoshino's eyes widened. "Level… 12?!"

Minazuki smirked. "This time, I'm using a pure low-level Deck."

That's not low-level at all!!

The massive being of despair descended, its overwhelming presence shaking Bastion to his core. His hand trembled as he held his cards.

"This is Kami—and the strike of my very soul! Take it!!"

Panicking, Bastion felt—for the first time—the crushing pressure of a god. Driven by pure instinct, he activated his face-down card.

"C–Continuous Trap, DNA Surgery, activate! As long as this card remains on the field, all monsters become Pyro-Type! Then, Water Dragon's effect—!"

[Water Dragon Effect: While this card is face-up on the field, the ATK of all FIRE-Attribute and Pyro-Type monsters becomes 0.]

[Water Dragon ATK 2800 → 0]

[Dystopia the Despondent ATK 5000 → 0]

Because DNA Surgery affected all monsters on the field, even Water Dragon itself became a Pyro-Type, nullifying its own power.

"Bastion! So in the end, you've chosen your own grave, huh… Remember this—you're not facing a monster right now. You're facing Kami da!!"

[Dystopia the Despondent Effect: Once per Battle Step, you can banish 1 Level 1 monster from your GY; until the end of that Damage Step, this card is unaffected by other card effects and cannot be destroyed by battle.]

"A god cannot be bound by other cards' effects! I banish Charcoal Inpachi from my Graveyard—Dystopia the Despondent's ATK returns!!"

[Dystopia the Despondent ATK: 0 → 5000]

Jaden's eyes bulged. "Now Bastion's completely shot himself in the foot! He just erased his own monster's attack power!"

"It's over! Dystopia the Despondent—attack Water Dragon! End this!!"

The divine light of despair descended, erasing every trace of matter on the field—nothing, not even an atom, remained.

"—OVERKILL!!!!"

[Water Dragon destroyed]

5000 vs 0.

Just as Minazuki declared—it was an instant kill.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

[Bastion Misawa LP 3600 → 0]

[Duel over!]

[Winner: Slifer Red Dormitory's Minazuki!]