Watching Saint George scatter in the air, the Labyrinth Brothers smugly waved their hands. "How's that? This is the unbeatable combo of the Maze Worm and Water God, and us brothers!"
"Wow, he flew really high." Cú Chulainn looked up at Saint George soaring into the sky, marveling.
"I set one more card face down and end my turn," said the Maze Brothers, leisurely placing a card facedown after gaining a significant advantage.
"Damn it, Saint George!" Hoshino angrily pounded the table. "They shattered Saint George's dream of surviving for one whole turn just like that?"
"Huh? Who cares about dreams and nonsense like that?" The Labyrinth Brothers looked at Hoshino like she was an idiot, mocking her without mercy.
"My turn, draw!" Hoshino swiftly drew a card from her deck and slammed it onto the table. "Saint George, I'll take up your legacy."
"Sacrificing the [Heroic Spirit - Cú Chulainn] and [Mammoth Graveyard] on the field, I summon the monster card [Heroic Spirit - Okita Souji] from my hand!" Thanks to Saint George's protection, the two monsters on the field remained, allowing her to meet the condition for summoning a higher-level monster.
The most important rule for conquering the maze was that each monster could move forward a number of spaces equal to its star level. So, summoning high-star monsters early was key to breaking through the maze.
"Oh, Master is really going for it. Keep it up!" Cú Chulainn gave a thumbs up to Hoshino before disappearing in a flash of white light.
[Heroic Spirit - Okita Souji ★★★★★★★ (7 stars) Wind][Warrior/Effect][ATK:2500 DEF:2000]
"Making a grand reappearance after 10 chapters, Okita-san is back!" Okita Souji appeared at the fork in the maze, taking the place at the front line previously held by Mammoth Graveyard.
However, upon stepping out of the white light, Okita's bare feet in sandals stepped into the green liquid left by the shattered worm.
"Eww! This texture is so disgusting." She shivered, looking at the sticky green liquid on her foot. "What is this, Master?"
"Uh, vegetable juice, it's vegetable juice..." Hoshino coughed, unable to tell Okita the harsh truth.
"Okita Souji? This star level and attack power are the same as my Dark Magician," Yugi said, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"Oh? Matching Okita-san's stats, that Dark Magician guy must be something." Okita drew her sword from her waist with an arrogant look. "But invincible Okita-san has the title of 'strongest 7-star monster'!"
"When did you get that title?!" Hoshino couldn't help but retort.
"Well done, Master, quick and accurate as always!" Okita nodded approvingly as she twirled her sword.
"Alright, alright." Hoshino sighed, "Okita-san, attack Wall Shadow!"
"Wall Shadow?" Following Hoshino's command, Okita looked around and found the ghoul half-emerged from the wall. "That thing isn't a match for Okita-san at all!"
With her attack power of 2500, Okita Souji certainly wouldn't fear the 2000 attack power Wall Shadow. The ghoul had stopped moving after being blocked by Saint George in defense mode.
"Hehehe, watch me slash it down in one strike!" Okita charged with a smile, raising her sword for a powerful slash.
But to everyone's surprise, the ghoul retracted fully into the maze wall, leaving only a solid wall before Okita.
"Ding~!" The blade struck the wall with a resounding clang, and the recoil from the solid impact left Okita's hand trembling. "This is too unreasonable! It retracted its head! Cough!"
Blood splattered on the ground, not from the ghoul but from Okita herself.
[Weakness] Counter x1 [Okita Souji ATK 2500→2400]
"Hahaha, did you think summoning a high-level monster could defeat my Wall Shadow?" The Labyrinth Brothers laughed loudly. "Activate Wall Shadow's special effect."
[When this card is declared as an attack target, it switches to defense mode. At the end of the turn, it switches back to attack mode.]
"Since Wall Shadow's defense matches the original Labyrinth Wall's defense, you suffer 500 points of backlash damage!"
Hoshino & Yugi LP 3600 → 3100
"Sorry, Yugi, I was too impulsive." Hoshino apologized, looking at the reduced life points.
"It's fine, no one could have predicted that effect," Yugi said, frowning as he heard Wall Shadow's effect.
"If we can't destroy their monster, we'll just keep moving forward. Okita-san!" Failing to destroy Wall Shadow wasn't a big deal. Summoning a high-level monster was meant to progress through the maze faster.
"Roger! Okita-san is on the move!" She sheathed her sword and sprinted down the other fork, utilizing her 7-star level.
[Maze Progress: 24%]
"Yay, Okita-san's great victory!" Okita advanced 7 spaces without encountering another fork.
"Alright!" Hoshino cheered, clenching her fists in excitement. "We've conquered a fifth of the maze! Turn end."
"My turn, draw!" The labyrinth Brothers started their turn, glancing at Okita's 2400 attack power. "Not a bad monster, but!"
"It's no match for my Thunder God!" They played two cards confidently. "Summon the monster card [Kaiser Sea Horse], then activate the spell card [Sacrificial Puppet]!"
"Another Sacrificial Puppet!"
"By sacrificing Kaiser Sea Horse, I can special summon Thunder God." Slamming the monster card onto the table, the Labyrinth Brothers declared, "Come forth, my strongest gatekeeper, [Thunder God - Sanga]!"
[Thunder God - Sanga ★★★★★★★ (7 stars) Light][Thunder/Effect][ATK:2600 DEF:2200]
"Due to Sacrificial Puppets' effect, Thunder God can't attack this turn. Turn end." The Labyrinth Brothers crossed their arms, satisfied with having two gods on the field.
"Can't attack this turn? Does this Thunder God also have a way to attack inside the maze?" Hoshino pondered their words.
"Hmph!" Her thoughts were interrupted by Yugi's confident laugh. "Labyrinth Brothers, this turn, I will shatter your proud maze!"
"My turn, draw!" Yugi didn't look at the card he drew, because it was undoubtedly the [Horn of the Unicorn] he had just recovered.
Confidently smiling, Yugi pulled out a card from his hand and slapped it on the table: "I activate the spell card [Ancient Rules] from my hand!"
[Ancient Rules Spell Card Effect: Special Summon 1 Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from your hand.]
The ancient scroll materialized through holographic imagery slowly unrolled, the dragon insignia on the scroll resonating with the monster in Yugi's hand.
Responding to the call of the dragon insignia, Yugi slammed the monster card from his hand onto the table: "The monster I summon, of course, is my strongest servant, the Dark Magician!"
"Summoning a 7-star monster without any sacrifice, as expected of Yugi, how strong!" Hoshino marveled at Yugi's method of summoning the Dark Magician. "So this is how ace cards are meant to be used, completely unimpeded."
[Dark Magician ★★★★★★★ (7 stars) Dark][Spellcaster][ATK:2500 DEF:2100]
Wearing his signature black magician robe, the Dark Magician descended beside Okita Souji with a serious expression.
"So tall!" Okita Souji looked up at the Dark Magician's towering height, tiptoeing and measuring with her hand. "So this is the Dark Magician that starfish-haired guy mentioned. I have to admit he's pretty cool. I'll reluctantly acknowledge that you and I have the same strength."
The Dark Magician, expressionless, glanced at Okita Souji, who was measuring his height, and let out a light snort without speaking.
"Go, my strongest servant, Dark Magician, attack Wall Shadow!" Yugi extended his right hand forward, giving the attack order to the Dark Magician.
A black magic sphere appeared on the Dark Magician's elegant staff.
"Hey, isn't your attack power the same as mine? If you attack directly, it will damage our LP!" Okita Souji anxiously reminded, seeing the Dark Magician prepare to attack.
The ghoul protruding from the wall seemed to sense the impending attack, ready to retreat back into the wall at any moment.
"Attack, Dark Magician!" With Yugi's shout, the black magic sphere shot towards the ghoul in the wall.
"Hahaha, fool, wasting LP for nothing." The Labyrinth Brothers laughed mockingly as the Dark Magician's attack was launched. "Wall Shadow, switch to defense mode!"
However, the next scene left the Labyrinth Brothers' mocking faces frozen.
The ghoul, who was about to retract into the wall, was trapped by a hexagram spell, unable to move.
"Hmph, did you think I'd let you escape so easily?" Yugi countered, opening his face-down trap card. "Activate the continuous trap card [Hexagram Curse]!"
[Hexagram Curse Continuous Trap Card Effect: Select 1 monster on your opponent's field. The selected monster loses 700 ATK, cannot attack, and cannot change its battle position. When the selected monster is destroyed, this card is destroyed.]
[Wall Shadow ATK 2000 → 1300]
"What! Using a trap card to prevent Wall Shadow from changing its form!" The Labyrinth Brothers exclaimed in panic, seeing the immobilized ghoul.
"Labyrinth Brothers, you never thought Wall Shadow could be destroyed, did you?" Yugi grinned as the ghoul screamed, engulfed by dark magic. "Don't forget, [Shadow Ghoul] fused with [Labyrinth Wall] to become this monster. Although it gained attack ability, it lost its indestructibility!"
"So that's it!" Hoshino clapped her hands, recalling Yugi's thoughtful expression when Okita Souji attacked the ghoul earlier. "Yugi, you realized it then?"
"Destroying [Wall Shadow] is equivalent to breaking this maze!" Hoshino's admiration for Yugi's intelligence and decisiveness was evident in her eyes.
"Exactly, Hoshino. Thanks to your attack on Wall Shadow, it revealed its effect, allowing me to uncover the maze's weakness." Yugi, without arrogance, credited Hoshino.
As the ghoul's body gradually vanished, the surrounding maze began to collapse.
"As expected of Yugi, amazing!" The friends watching from behind couldn't help but cheer at Yugi's feat.
"So this is what an ace monster is, so cool!" Okita Souji, watching the collapsing maze, muttered while staring at the still expressionless Dark Magician. "I wish I could be that cool."
"We'll have to give up Wall Shadow, big brother!" The anxious Labyrinth Brothers shouted at each other.
"We can't let you destroy the maze so easily!" The Labyrinth Brothers, realizing the danger, activated their face-down card with a bead of sweat rolling down their bald heads. "Quick-play spell card [De-Fusion]!"
"Separate [Shadow Ghoul] and [Labyrinth Wall]! So the Labyrinth Wall won't be destroyed!" With De-Fusion, the ghoul was ejected from the wall.
[Shadow Ghoul ATK:1700 → 1000]
Abandoned by the wall, the ghoul was instantly destroyed by the Dark Magician's powerful attack, leaving no trace.
Labyrinth Brothers LP 3800 → 2300
Seeing their drastically reduced life points, the Labyrinth Brothers' previously relaxed expressions disappeared. "Yugi Mutou, as expected, is strong, just as Pegasus said."
"Hmph, it's not that easy to settle this." Unfazed by the failure to destroy the maze, Yugi placed another card on the table. "Now that we've dealt with [Wall Shadow], even weaker monsters won't be threatened. Summon [Castle Gate Dragon] in attack mode."
[Castle Gate Dragon ★★★★ (4 stars) Wind][Dragon][ATK:1400 DEF:1200]
Yugi was right. With Wall Shadow, which could attack from the maze, defeated, summoning monsters with less than 2000 attack power wouldn't risk sudden attacks. With the Labyrinth Brothers' life points significantly reduced, Yugi's turn had completely turned the tide of the duel.
"Let's break through the maze in one go, Hoshino!"