Chapter 29: Oh, Armor-Buster, You Met Such a Tragic End

"Although I'd love to refute you, I end my turn." Hayato never expected Weevil to be so adept at interrupting his combos. If this were the physical card game environment of his past life, a guy like Weevil would definitely be running decks stuffed with Effect Veelers, Called by the Graves, Infinite Impermanences, Ash Blossoms, and Ghost Ogres.

Though Hayato himself also liked stuffing his deck full of those handy hand traps...

[Hayato: 4900 LP, Hand: 3]
[Set Card] [Des Counterblow]
Field: [Ojamas Country]

Even though Hayato held the advantage in hand resources and Life Points, the situation on the field still made Weevil look slightly stronger. Moreover, the other [Ojama] monster he had managed to draw into was sent back to the deck by Weevil. Although he still had one face-down card on his field, that was a backup plan prepared for when Weevil summoned the Great Moth.

Before that, he would just have to endure a few hits with his Life Points.

"My turn, draw." Weevil added a card to his hand, grinning sinisterly at Hayato's field. "Judging by that expression of yours, are you placing your hopes on that face-down card in your backrow? As the price for making an enemy of me, I am going to shatter your hope right now."

"Spell card, [Twin Twisters]!"

Weevil played the card he had just drawn. The card materialized in the center of the field, transforming into a high-speed whirlwind that swept toward Hayato's backrow. The already active [Des Counterblow] remained unaffected, but Hayato's face-down card was blown away by the fierce wind and torn into pieces.

It was [Sakuretsu Armor].

'As expected, I still couldn't escape the fate of getting backrow-cleared?' Hayato sighed. He had originally wanted to use Sakuretsu Armor to blow up the Great Moth, but in the end, it failed to activate successfully.

"With this, your field is as good as stark naked before me. [Flying Kamakiri], begin the hunt!"

"Chah!"

The Flying Kamakiri swung the blade-like arms in its hands, sending a blade of air flying toward Hayato. It crashed into the dueling platform, simulated as impact by the virtual projection system against Hayato's body.

"Cough!" Hayato instinctively steadied himself on the dueling platform. This damage was clearly much more substantial than the previous one—a full 1500 points of damage caused Hayato's Life Points to plummet drastically.

[Hayato: 4900 LP -> 3400 LP]

"My turn ends. With this, [Cocoon of Evolution] has grown for three turns. Countdown, 2!"

[Weevil: 2300 LP, Hand: 0]
[Cocoon of Evolution] [DEF: 2000]
[Flying Kamakiri] [ATK: 1500]

"My turn, draw."

Adding the card to his hand, Hayato looked at the drawn card with some surprise. Could he actually pull off a top-deck solution card for once?

"Activate the Spell card, [Magical Stone Excavation]. I can discard two cards from my hand to recover a Spell card from my Graveyard." Hayato sent [Meteor Strike] and [Curse of Dragon] to the Graveyard. "The Spell card I want to recover is this one, [Dragon's Mirror], which was sent to the Graveyard earlier due to the effect of [Mind Crush]!"

"[Dragon's Mirror]? That seems to be a Spell card restricted to summoning Dragon-type monsters. Could Hayato be planning to summon [Rider of the Wind]?" Joey made his own guess.

"[Rider of the Wind], I remember that's a card that can directly attack the opponent's player if the opponent only has EARTH, WATER, or FIRE monsters on their field, right? But Weevil has the WIND-attribute [Flying Kamakiri] on his field, so its effect can't be activated. Furthermore, its attack power is only 1700, which likewise cannot break through the defense of [Cocoon of Evolution]."

Hearing Yugi's analysis, Mai Valentine nodded in agreement. "And in two more turns, that Weevil will successfully summon his ace monster—[Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth]. Up until now, no one has ever managed to defeat him once he summons that monster. That young man named Hayato is in danger."

"[Dragon's Mirror]? It's useless! No monster can ever break through the invincible defense of my [Cocoon of Evolution]!"

Faced with Weevil's jeering, Hayato remained very calm. "Weevil, although you're a scumbag, I have to admit that you're a powerful duelist. Indeed, ordinary monsters cannot break through your [Cocoon of Evolution]. Therefore, to defeat you, I am willing to forsake my soul."

"Set one card from my hand, then activate [Dragon's Mirror], banishing [Gaia the Fierce Knight] from my Graveyard, along with [Curse of Dragon] which was just sent to the Graveyard!"

An ornate precious mirror appeared on the field. Two rays of light flew out from the Graveyard and merged into the mirror, and from within the mirror's surface flew a warrior riding a flying dragon and wielding a lance.

"Super-metallic armor, super-gorgeous thrusters, super-imposing knight! O warrior who commands the giant dragon, stage a dramatic battle!"

"[Gaia the Dragon Champion]!"

[Gaia the Fierce Knight] riding [Curse of Dragon] made his entrance amidst Hayato's overly enthusiastic cry. The moment he appeared on the field, he eagerly urged his upgraded mount, diving down from high altitude and thrusting his lance toward the [Cocoon of Evolution] on Weevil's field.

[Gaia the Dragon Champion] [Level 7 / WIND / Dragon / Fusion] [2600 / 2100]

"The empowered knight returns, take this 2600 attack power, Weevil! [Gaia the Dragon Champion] attacks [Cocoon of Evolution], Spiral Cavalry!"

"Boom!"

The lance pierced effortlessly through the defense of the [Cocoon of Evolution]. Accompanied by the sound of an explosion, Weevil's field was instantly enveloped in the smoke emitted by the attacked [Cocoon of Evolution]. Unable to make out the situation for a moment, [Gaia] retreated back to Hayato's field, keeping a wary eye on the situation inside the smoke.

"Great, that insect cocoon has been smashed to pieces. That way, that insect jerk's ace won't be able to come out." Joey watched Weevil's smoke-filled field and said excitedly. In his view, [Gaia the Dragon Champion]'s previous strike had definitely wiped out both the [Cocoon of Evolution] and the [Larva] inside.

Clearly, he had never heard of the concept of "smoke means zero damage."

Almost the exact moment Joey's words fell, a bizarre screech suddenly came from within the smoke: "Gaa—, gaa—!!"

"W-What kind of sound is that?!"

"It sounds so gross."

Many of the onlookers found it hard to bear the sound—which felt like fingernails scratching a chalkboard—and covered their ears. Weevil, however, squinted his eyes as if he were listening to some wonderful music. "You actually shattered the [Cocoon of Evolution] and interrupted the evolution process of my precious monster."

"However, what was destroyed was merely the outer cocoon! Having undergone several turns of growth, my [Larva] has already evolved!"

"Spread your wings and fly high, radiating your elegance and beauty, [Great Moth]!"

From within the smoke, a huge green figure soared upward, instantly rising to the same altitude as [Gaia the Dragon Champion]. With its wings unfurled, it blotted out the sky, and the hurricane stirred up by a mere flap of its wings instantly blew away the smoke shrouding Weevil's field.

[Great Moth] [Level 8 / EARTH / Insect / Special Summon] [2600 / 2300]

"Impeccable defense and invincible attack power—although not in its complete form, let me defeat you just like this, Hayato!" Weevil forcefully ended Hayato's turn and drew a card from his deck, even though Hayato was currently empty-handed. "[Great Moth], attack that [Gaia the Dragon Champion]!"