"Using the effect of Emergency Provisions, I send my Continuous Spell Mirage of Nightmare and Continuous Trap Call of the Haunted to the Graveyard to recover 2000 Life Points!"
Call of the Haunted, which had become meaningless after its target was no longer on the field, and Mirage of Nightmare, with its heavy drawback, were both turned into "healing packs" by Emergency Provisions, allowing Manjoume to recover another 2000 Life Points.
(Manjoume: 8100 LP → 10100 LP)
"U- unbelievable!"
"Ten thousand one hundred Life Points!"
"The last person to reach this point in full view of the public was the King of Games in that duel at the pinnacle of the city!"
"…"
Seeing LP over 4000 but under 10,000 is common—but surpassing 10,000, especially in front of such a large audience, this is only the second time ever.
It's not that this feat is impossibly difficult—but it depends heavily on the opponent's cooperation. Even if you use a recovery-focused deck, reaching over 10,000 LP on your own is not exactly easy. Yet, even those using such decks have rarely achieved this.
10,100 LP... If Judai's side has only these three monsters available to attack, then Manjoume will survive until his next turn!
"Blazeman's effect activates! I send an 'Elemental HERO' monster from my Deck to the Graveyard, and until the end of the turn, Blazeman's ATK, DEF, and Attribute become the same as that monster."
Among the main deck HERO monsters, the one with the highest ATK is Elemental HERO Bladedge, who also has piercing damage. So Judai sent Bladedge to the Graveyard, allowing Blazeman to inherit his power for one turn.
(Elemental HERO Blazeman: ATK 1200 → 2600, DEF 1800, Attribute: FIRE → EARTH)
"Three Heroes! Attack Manjoume directly!"
The field was nearly empty, save for one face-down card. Judai didn't hesitate—he ordered all three HEROes to launch direct attacks at Manjoume.
A fiery vortex, scattering feathers, and a nuclear beam—though not fatal, the combined damage was enough to put pressure on Manjoume, who immediately flipped his last face-down card:
"Trap Card Sakuretsu Armor! I activate it in response to Core HERO's attack!"
Among the three, Core HERO had the highest stats and strongest effect. So Manjoume targeted its attack with Sakuretsu Armor.
"Don't even think about destroying Yuuya's HERO!"
Seeing Sakuretsu Armor about to destroy Core HERO, Judai quickly activated the second of his three face-down cards:
"By paying half my Life Points, I activate the Counter Trap Solemn Judgment! I negate and destroy your Sakuretsu Armor, Manjoume!"
(Judai & Yuuya: 5200 LP → 2600 LP)
With the iconic "NO!" from the solemn bearded elder, Sakuretsu Armor self-destructed in a puff of smoke—true to its name, the armor exploded, but it was its undoing.
Now, with no field presence or counters left, Manjoume had no choice but to take the combined attacks from the three HEROes head-on.
(Manjoume: 10100 LP → 9200 LP → 6600 LP → 3900 LP)
"Stubborn guy, huh?"
Glancing at Manjoume's LP—which had dropped to just 100 below the standard 4000—Yuuya murmured to himself.
With no cards left in hand and his monsters having already battled, Judai ended his turn and passed it to Manjoume.
"My turn—draw!"
Looking at the two cards he drew, Manjoume burst into laughter—loudly—and called out to his supporters and the audience, including his two older brothers:
"Students of the branch who support me! And my two brothers watching from the stands! Watch closely as I defeat Judai and Yuuya this turn!"
To outright declare a full-turn victory was a bold proclamation—and it set the entire stadium on fire with anticipation. This was shaping up to be the most intense moment of the entire duel!
"I activate the Equip Spell Premature Burial! By paying 800 Life Points, I Special Summon Armed Dragon LV5 from my Graveyard in Attack Position!"
(Manjoume: 3900 LP → 3100 LP)
The Level 5 monster that had dodged battle destruction but couldn't escape effect destruction was now revived from the Graveyard by Early Burial.
"Next, I target Armed Dragon LV5 and activate the exclusive evolution Spell Card for 'LV monsters'—Level Up! This allows me to Special Summon the ultimate form of 'Armed Dragon' directly from the Deck, ignoring summoning conditions!"
With the power of Level Up!—a Spell designed specifically for LV monsters—Armed Dragon LV5 began to glow with the light of evolution.
Its height, wrapped in golden light, surged from about two stories tall to four or five stories! Its size now covered nearly half the entire duel field! When the golden light faded, its appearance became even more imposing and authoritative—truly worthy of the name "Armed Dragon."
(Armed Dragon LV7, Level 7, ATK: 2800, DEF: 1000)
"Now feel the power of the Armed Dragon's final form! By discarding a monster from my hand, I can destroy all opponent monsters on the field with lower ATK than the discarded one!"
The level-up also signified a complete boost in stats and effects. The previous LV5 form was still just a monster—but now, as an LV7, it stood tall in full glory with all its effects active.
"A Level 8 monster—from the depths of darkness, comes despair! It has an ATK of 2800, equal to the final form of Armed Dragon!"
With 2800 ATK, just like Armed Dragon's final form, the three HERO monsters on Judai's side were all about to be destroyed—none of them had higher ATK than that!
"Annihilation Chakram!"
Jagged blue energy chakrams shot out from the spinning saw-blade in Armed Dragon LV7's abdomen, slashing through the three HERO monsters and shredding them into pieces!
"But now comes Core Hero's final effect! When it's destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon a Level 8 or lower 'Elemental HERO' Fusion Monster from my Graveyard, ignoring its summoning conditions!"
"Nani?!"
Hearing that Core Hero still had an effect shocked not only Manjoume but also the surrounding audience. This Core Hero lived up to the fusion of three HERO monsters!
"Now—return to the field, Elemental HERO Wild Wingman!"
Since Armed Dragon LV7's destruction effect was an AOE (area of effect), even if the HERO Fusion Monster wasn't in the Graveyard before, it was sent there alongside the other monsters being destroyed—thus qualifying for revival by Core Hero's effect.
"Hmph! It's just getting destroyed again anyway!"
Glancing at the revived Wild Wingman, Manjoume picked one of the remaining three cards in his hand and sent it to the Graveyard.
"I discard my second Armed Dragon LV5 from my hand—say goodbye, Wild Wingman, with that ATK that doesn't even break 2000!"