Flamewing: What a delightful duel this has been!

PS: There are always people saying that Fusion Monsters can't attack on the turn they're summoned, even referencing the urban arc to debate with me. Yes, in later rules, monsters summoned by fusion couldn't attack immediately unless you had the original anime Spell Card "Quick Attack." But that was in the urban arc after the rules were more complete—this is still the Kingdom era, and that rule doesn't exist here! If you don't believe me, go look up the anime on Bilibili—when Kaiba summons Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, doesn't he attack on the same turn?

(My little temper...)

...

"My turn. Draw!"

Glancing at the card he'd just drawn, Yutai couldn't help but let a smile curl at his lips.

"Yugi! I've witnessed your strength, but courtesy demands reciprocity. Let me show you the true power of my deck!"

As he spoke, Yutai smacked his right hand down with force, slamming the card in his hand onto the duel table with a resounding snap.

"Meet the ruler of the ocean—Sea Serpent God!"

With a thunderous roar, a monstrous eel-like creature, five or six meters long, blue-backed and cream-bellied, emerged from the seawater before Yutai.

"As 'Ruler of the Ocean,' Sea Serpent God not only receives the power boost from the field 'Seawater,' but, like your Elemental Hero, also gains the attribute enhancement of 'Water Element'!"

(Sea Serpent God, 5 stars, Attack: 1800 → 2520)

"Taste the wrath of the ocean's master! Attack, Sea Serpent God! Fury of Poseidon!"

Obeying its master's command, the Sea Serpent God unleashed its power as 'Master of the Ocean,' stirring the surrounding seawater to launch an attack together with itself on Yugi's monster, Sparkman.

"Sparkman, destroyed!"

Since he was defending and the Sea Serpent God was surging forth with the waves leading the charge, Sparkman's thunder-over-water attribute advantage didn't take effect.

(Yugi: 2000 LP → 1720 LP)

"So? Have you felt the might of my ocean lord?"

"Heh."

Yugi only chuckled softly at Yutai's pride, unconcerned. Yutai, seeing this, showed no displeasure, remaining triumphant.

"Look beneath your feet, Yugi!"

Before Yugi could look, the four spectators below had already glanced at the duel field.

"Gasp!"

...

"This..."

Staring at Yugi's side of the duel field, all four sucked in a cold breath—the 'land' area was now 40% submerged by seawater!

"Hmph! That attack just now, destroying your Sparkman was only incidental. My real aim was to destroy your field!"

Yutai laughed as he explained his strategy.

"The wrath of Sea Serpent God not only destroyed your monster, but also made two of your monster zones unusable!"

On the electronic display of the duel field, two of Yugi's monster zones were now flashing with red X's, indicating that unless other special means were employed, those zones could no longer be used for the rest of the duel—no monsters could be placed there.

Still basking in his own brilliance, Yutai looked at Yugi, hoping to see fear of the ocean's power in his eyes.

But unfortunately, Yugi's eyes held no fear—if anything, there was a glimmer of excitement.

Yutai: ???

"My turn. Draw!"

'Three monster zones remain. Just enough for Avian, Burstinatrix, and Clayman in my hand. But that's not enough!'

Looking at the three monster cards in his hand, Yugi knew that if he wanted to defeat Yutai's Sea Serpent God, they alone wouldn't suffice. He needed to bring out the true powerhouse of his Elemental Hero deck—an Elemental Hero Fusion Monster!

"...Perfect!"

Seeing the green border of the card he'd drawn, the orange demon and dragon encircling a swirling blue vortex, Yugi knew victory was in his grasp.

"From my hand, I activate the Spell Card 'Polymerization'!"

"What?! Polymerization?!"

Hearing Yugi's declaration, Yutai was astonished—he hadn't expected this guy's deck to contain Fusion Monsters! (He didn't remember Yugi having fusions in his deck.)

"I fuse 'Elemental Hero Avian' and 'Elemental Hero Burstinatrix' from my hand!"

Unlike in the original anime, where Fusion materials had to be on the field, this 'Polymerization' allowed Fusion materials from the hand as well—a rule adopted in later versions.

"Yutai! Now I'll let you witness one of the three most powerful monsters in my deck!"

Yugi's words piqued everyone's curiosity. If he called Fusion Monsters the core of his deck, did that mean his strategy revolved around them?

A pillar of fire shot skyward, broad as a human body, and from within it unfurled a pair of pristine white wings.

The pillar vanished, absorbed by the powerful presence within. A crimson, Western-style dragon's right arm and tail, dark green, muscular body with a single left wing on its back—Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!

"So cool!"

"Majestic and awe-inspiring!"

Watching Flame Wingman hover in the air, arms folded, the group below and even Yutai on stage were stunned.

Satisfied with their reactions, Yugi smiled.

"Flame Wingman has wings—even if you flood my entire field, Yutai, he can still be summoned!"

"Flame Wingman possesses both Fire and Wind attributes, and being a Warrior-type monster, his power boost reaches 50%!"

(Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, 6 stars, Attack: 2100 → 3150)

"Gasp! That attack power rivals Kaiba's Blue-Eyes!"

Once again, everyone was shocked. With three attribute boosts, Flame Wingman's strength now matched that of Kaiba's legendary dragon!

"By the way, Flame Wingman is a Fusion Monster with a special effect!"

In this world, dueling isn't like the games of the previous life, where you could see your opponent's card effects. Unless the card's user explained, you could only guess based on your knowledge of Duel Monster cards and what was visible on the artwork.

Take Flame Wingman, for example. At first glance, you might assume he's a Wind or Fire attribute, Bird-Beast or Beast-Warrior type. As for whether he has a special effect, you'd have to guess.

"When Flame Wingman destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, he not only deals regular battle damage, but also inflicts additional damage to your opponent equal to half the destroyed monster's original attack!" (In the Duelist Kingdom arc, such effect damage was considered too severe, so it's halved until the urban arc, when the original effect is restored.)

The five: !!!

With Yugi's explanation, if Flame Wingman defeats Sea Serpent God, that's 3150-2520=630 battle damage. Then, when Yutai sends Sea Serpent God to the graveyard, Flame Wingman activates his effect, dealing Yutai half of Sea Serpent God's original attack—1800÷2=900 damage!

Who could withstand that?

"Finally, I have two cards left—'Elemental Hero Clayman' and his exclusive Trap Card 'Clay Charge'!"

Showing the two cards face-up for all to see, Yugi, with the group's faces frozen in shock, directed Flame Wingman to launch the final attack.

"Excellent! This duel is mine!"

With a burst of flaming energy straight to the face, the seaside duel came to an end.

"Yutai! I'll be taking your Star Chips. That was a truly enjoyable duel!"

The five: "..."

Staring at Yugi's beaming smile—one that looked more like a devilish grin—the five of them found themselves at a loss for words.