Just as Armed Dragon LV7 was about to launch a second wave of missile spikes, Judai urgently waved for You Ye to activate his set card.
"Targeting 'Elemental HERO Wild Wingman' in Attack Position—I activate the Continuous Trap Safe Zone!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!—
Even before the card's name was fully spoken, a barrage of missiles rained down from above, pounding Wild Wingman and kicking up a cloud of dust as thick as the clash between Core HERO and Armed Dragon LV5 earlier.
After a moment, the smoke cleared, and Manjoume could finally see the situation on Judai and You Ye's side of the field.
"Tch! Saved again?!"
Wild Wingman remained completely unharmed! However, he was now "trapped" inside a golden spherical energy barrier—clearly the protective field generated by Safe Zone.
"As long as Safe Zone, this Continuous Trap, remains face-up on the field, the targeted monster cannot be affected by opponent card effects! It also can't be destroyed by battle or opponent's card effects! The only trade-off… is that it can no longer attack directly."
Judai explained. This was also why, when reviving Wild Wingman with Core HERO's final effect, he summoned him in Attack Position instead of Defense—even though Wild Wingman had 2300 DEF. That still couldn't match Armed Dragon LV7's ATK, but at least he wouldn't take damage from battle destruction.
"Hmph! So what if it can't be destroyed in battle? The damage still goes through!"
With a cold snort, Manjoume pointed at the shielded Wild Wingman and commanded:
"Armed Dragon LV7! Attack Wild Wingman! Armed Impact!"
Raising its dragon claw into a fist and pulling back to charge up, the Armed Dragon locked its eyes on Wild Wingman and launched a mighty punch.
"ROAR!"
A crimson dragon-shaped surge of energy shot out, spanning half the dueling arena as it descended toward Wild Wingman.
"Trap Card—Hero Barrier! Negate one attack targeting an Elemental HERO monster!"
Judai flipped his final set card—a classic shimmering barrier—blocking Armed Dragon's powerful strike, which nearly rivaled a Blue-Eyes White Dragon's.
Although Wild Wingman was already protected from battle destruction by Safe Zone, Judai still activated the trap to avoid taking damage.
That was his plan when he used Hero Barrier—but what he didn't expect was that this action nearly made Manjoume's earlier declaration a reality: ending the duel this very turn.
"Ju! Just as I predicted!"
"Nani?!"
Looking at Manjoume's sinister smirk on the opposite side, Judai felt a strong sense of unease wash over him.
"I figured one of your set cards would be a classic Elemental HERO defensive trap—Hero Barrier! And I've been waiting for you to activate it!"
"He wanted me to use Hero Barrier… Masaka!"
You Ye, whose understanding of Duel Monsters cards was upwards of 70–80%, immediately connected the dots between Hero Barrier's effect and Manjoume's cryptic words. He understood Manjoume's plan in an instant.
"Hoh~ You are the one who beat me and got me expelled, You Ye. Looks like you've figured out what I'm up to."
Manjoume gave You Ye a rare look of admiration. While Judai was still puzzled, the guy who once got him expelled had already seen through everything—no wonder he was able to defeat him so easily.
"Quick-Play Spell—Double Attack Chance, activate!"
Just as I thought!
Seeing the glittering slot machine appear beside Manjoume, You Ye knew his guess was spot on. Manjoume had wanted his monster's attack to be negated—because he was holding Double Attack Chance.
"Double Attack Chance's effect: When a monster's attack is negated, it can make another attack this turn! And during the Damage Step of that second attack, the monster's ATK is doubled!"
Armed Dragon LV7, whose initial attack had been negated, could now attack again—and its base ATK of 2800 would double to 5600! That was devastating for Judai and You Ye, whose Life Points were only 2600 at the moment.
"Armed Dragon LV7! Make your second strike!"
5600 ATK vs. Wild Wingman's 1900 would inflict 3700 points of damage—enough to wipe out their remaining Life Points and fulfill Manjoume's vow to end the duel this turn.
But when the smoke from the attack cleared—the sight on the other side of the field wasn't what Manjoume expected.
The two duelists were still standing—wounded, but unwavering—refusing to fall.
"Why?! 3700 points of battle damage—why didn't it reduce your Life Points to zero?!"
Manjoume was in disbelief. Then suddenly, he remembered—on Judai's side of the field, aside from the face-up Safe Zone, there had been another set card in the Spell & Trap Zone. Could it be...?
"My Trap Card—also our last set card—Damage Diet!"
You Ye spoke up, and the final of his three-set cards rose, revealing its effect on Manjoume.
"For the rest of this turn, all damage we take is halved! 3700 divided by 2 is 1850, so the two of us can still stand and keep dueling!"
(Judai & You Ye: 2600 LP → 750 LP)
"Tch! So what if you survived?! With your Life Points flickering like candles in the wind, and only a HERO with less than 2000 ATK on your field, do you think you can still win this duel? Don't make me laugh!"
As he spoke, Manjoume reached into his Graveyard and pulled out a Spell Card.
"I banish Galaxy Cyclone from the Graveyard to destroy the Continuous Trap Safe Zone!"
This was the card—aside from Executioner - Makyura—that had been sent to the Graveyard earlier by The Gift of the Mystical Elf.
He had completely forgotten it was there when he tried and failed to activate Armed Dragon LV7's effect a second time. Only now, after the battle phase ended, did he recall it—after all, quite some time had passed since his first turn.
Safe Zone is a Continuous Trap that takes down the monster it was targeting when it leaves the field. So with it gone, Judai and You Ye's field was now empty!
Staring at the empty field, Manjoume smirked as he slid his final hand card into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap zone and set it. With that, he ended his turn.
"Enjoy it while you can—these last few turns of survival!"
Manjoume still had a solid 3100 Life Points, and not only did he have the 2800-ATK Armed Dragon LV7 on the field, he'd just set a new Spell or Trap. Even without drawing during his next Draw Phase, once You Ye's turn passed, he'd be able to finish the duel!
"My turn—draw!"
Now holding two cards, You Ye glanced at the one he just drew and, without hesitation, slid it into his Duel Disk.
"Spell Card Pot of Greed—this lets me draw two cards from my Deck."
He quickly drew two more cards. Holding his previous card in his left hand and the two new ones from Pot of Greed in his right, You Ye mentally examined the potential synergy among the three cards—and instantly came up with a play.
"I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in Attack Position! And since there are no other cards on my side of the field when he's successfully summoned, I can draw two more cards from my Deck!"
A powerful boost to his hand. Inwardly, You Ye thanked Manjoume for having activated Galaxy Cyclone earlier. By destroying Safe Zone and removing Wild Wingman from the field, he had created the exact empty-field conditions needed to activate Bubbleman's effect.
From the two cards drawn via Pot of Greed, You Ye selected one and immediately slid it into the Duel Disk.
"I target Bubbleman and activate the Quick-Play Spell Mask Change!"