"My Turn, Draw!" Drawing a card, Hayato activated a Spell Card. "Spell Card, Unexpected Dai! I can activate this card when there are no monsters on my Field, Special Summoning a Level 4 or lower monster directly from my Deck. First, X-Head Cannon!"
"Next is the Spell Card, Frontline Base! Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Union monster from my hand. I Special Summon Y-Dragon Head!"
"Finally, for my Normal Summon, I summon Z-Metal Tank!"
With a series of moves that made one wonder if he had even shuffled his Deck, Hayato paid the cost of 4 cards from his hand and instantly Summoned X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank to the Field. But his Summoning wasn't over yet. "To deal with you, this monster would be more suitable, wouldn't it? Three monsters combine into one, XYZ-Dragon Cannon!"
The red, green, and yellow Machine-Type constructs combined and transformed. As if in response to Para Summoning the Level 7 Suijin in his first Turn, Hayato also Summoned the Level 8 XYZ-Dragon Cannon in his first Turn.
"A Level 8 XYZ-Dragon Cannon?!" The Labyrinth Brothers were startled. Para Summoning a Level 7 Suijin in his first Turn was already an impressive feat in their eyes, but they didn't expect Hayato to pull off a similar move himself.
"I Set one card, then I activate the Spell Card, Card of Sanctity! All duelists draw until they have 6 cards in their hand." After Hayato Set a card, he activated his last card. "Since I have no cards in hand, I can draw 6 cards."
"Then I can draw 4 cards." Para's hand size was 2; he drew 4 cards from his Deck, while Dox, whose Turn hadn't even begun yet, only drew one card.
Glancing at his hand, Hayato activated another card: "Spell Card, Magical Stone Excavation! I discard two cards from my hand, then I can add one Spell Card from my Graveyard to my hand. The Spell Card I will add to my hand is Unexpected Dai."
Para looked at Hayato's actions, somewhat puzzled. "But the activation condition for Unexpected Dai is that you have no monsters on your Field, right? Even if you add this card to your hand now, you won't be able to use it to Summon a monster."
"Who told you my goal was to add Unexpected Dai to my hand? Sending two cards from my hand to the Graveyard is my actual goal." Hayato continued to play cards from his hand. "Spell Card, Ojama Remodeling! I reveal VW-Tiger Catapult from my hand. Then, I can Banish a number of Ojama monsters from my Graveyard equal to the number of Fusion Materials for VW-Tiger Catapult, and Special Summon those Fusion Materials to the Field."
As he spoke, Hayato revealed the two cards he had previously sent to the Graveyard to add Unexpected Dai back to his hand — Ojama Red and Ojama Blue.
"Appear, V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult!" Summoning two monsters from his Deck to the Field, Hayato Special Summoned again. "Then, a further evolution, VW-Tiger Catapult!"
"After that, it's the combination of VW-Tiger Catapult and XYZ-Dragon Cannon. Final Summon! VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon!"
After Hayato had consumed most of the cards in his hand that he had painstakingly refilled with Card of Sanctity, and following a lengthy combo explanation, what appeared on Hayato's Field was the VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon with a towering 3000 ATK.
VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon [Level 8 / LIGHT Attribute]
[Machine/Fusion/Effect]
[ATK 3000 / DEF 2800]
"This is my full power! Everything that blocks my path forward will be crushed!" Hayato Set two cards from his hand, leaving only one Unexpected Dai that he had added to hand. "Although I cannot enter the Battle Phase, I can use VtoZ's effect."
"Once per turn, I can Banish one card on your Field!"
Hayato pointed at Para's Suijin on the Field. "VtoZ, Banish that Suijin!"
"Malice, terror, anger, hatred, despair—having mastered these five, a perfect conclusion!"
Blood-red lasers shot out from various parts of the giant robot on Hayato's Field. Just one glance filled one with a sense of death. Although it was underwater, Suijin didn't even get a chance to activate its Special Ability. It was instantly vaporized by the death ray and Banished from this Game.
"My Suijin!" Para never expected this. The first time he and his brother were facing a single opponent, not tag dueling others, and the first time he had so smoothly Summoned Suijin, one of the Three Fiend Gods, in the first Turn. This double joy should have been an incredibly happy occasion, but how did things turn out like this?
Suijin being Banished from the Game meant that even if Dox Summoned the other two Fiend Gods in his next Turn, they would have no way to combine them into the Labyrinth Brothers' Ace Monster—Gate Guardian. Moreover, they still had to face Hayato's menacing VtoZ on the Field.
"My Turn ends." Since he couldn't Battle, Hayato ended his Turn. "Alright, hurry up and start your Turn. I don't have time to waste with you here."
Hayato hadn't forgotten his original objective. He had planned to rescue Mokuba and Kaiba ahead of time. However, since the Labyrinth Brothers were already ambushing him halfway, it meant that Pegasus likely already knew his whereabouts, and might even be watching him. Hayato could only hope that Pegasus wouldn't move Mokuba and Kaiba from the dungeon they were held in.
[Hayato: 8000 LP, Hand 1]
[VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon ATK 3000]
[Set Card] [Set Card] [Set Card]
Now, it was Dox's Turn. "My Turn, Draw!"
Drawing a card from his Deck and adding it to his hand, Dox's expression was grim. 'This Hayato is actually such a powerful Duelist. He even Summoned such a powerful monster in one Turn and Banished our Ace Card.'
'The only card in our brothers' Deck that can destroy that monster is Gate Guardian, but with Suijin no longer here, how can I defeat him?'
As he thought this, Dox saw the card he had just Drawn, and a joyful expression involuntarily appeared on his face. Unable to help himself, he turned his head to look at his brother, Para. "Brother, I've found a way to defeat that monster!"
"Is that so? Then you must avenge me, Dox!" Para said through gritted teeth. "Also, don't forget that according to Maximillion Pegasus's intelligence, this Hayato is very skilled at using all kinds of Trap Cards."
(end of chapter)