Chapter 163. Galaxy-Eyes VS Raidraptor! The Rank 13 "Rising Rebellion Falcon" Breaks the Lockdown!
As duelists across the various Duel Worlds savored the aftertaste of all those ultra-meta decks, the Spright short video had already vanished.
In the main world, over on Sei Yuki's side, he had begun searching for the next video.
"Huff… why am I suddenly nostalgic for the old Spright days?"
"Forget it, forget it. Rather than think about these unrealistic things—"
"When Toadally Awesome comes back someday, then I'll think about Spright."
"Maybe Toadally Awesome will never come back."
"Or maybe it'll only return with its effect rewritten."
"..."
Muttering to himself, Sei Yuki soon tossed all the Spright info out of his mind.
After a bit of searching, he quickly settled on the next short video.
"Galaxy-Eyes VS Raidraptor! Is RR really this busted at breaking suppression boards?!"
The title flashed across the various Duel Worlds.
All the duelists had finally come down from the Spright clip.
Seeing this headline—
In the ZEXAL World, Kite Tenjo smiled again.
At last, his favorite—Galaxy-Eyes duels.
Even though Kite already understood Galaxy-Eyes lines, that never stopped him from loving the explosive boards Galaxy-Eyes could make.
As for Raidraptor—also a veteran archetype in these shorts.
It's Shay Obsidian's deck from the ARC-V world.
While duelists with memories of the combos slowly recalled the lines, the short began to play.
Duel info appeared.
Raidraptor Player VS Galaxy-Eyes Player.
Both LP at 8000.
After the coin toss—
First turn went to the Galaxy-Eyes player.
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "All right, let's duel!"
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "We're on Galaxy-Eyes today! As you all know, I'm an old Galaxy-Eyes pilot!"
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "I've got the first turn this time! I Normal Summon Galaxy Wizard!"
"Activate Galaxy Wizard—I Tribute it to add the Continuous Spell Galaxy Hundred from my Deck!"
"I activate Galaxy Hundred!"
"Per its effect, I send Photon Emperor from my Deck to the Graveyard!"
"Photon Emperor triggers to Special Summon itself, and it grants me an additional Normal Summon of a LIGHT monster!"
"I Normal Summon Galaxy Summoner, and use it to revive Galaxy Wizard from the Graveyard!"
"I activate Galaxy Wizard again—Tribute it to search the Spell Galaxy Expedition!"
"I activate Galaxy Expedition to Special Summon Galaxy Soldier from the Deck!"
"Galaxy Soldier triggers to add Galaxy-Eyes Afterglow Dragon to my hand!"
"I Link Summon using Galaxy Soldier and Photon Emperor!"
"Link Arrows confirmed!"
"Link-2: Galaxy-Eyes Solflare Dragon!"
"Solflare triggers to add Galaxy Soldier back from my GY!"
"I Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Afterglow Dragon, then use Galaxy Summoner's Level-modifying effect."
"I change Afterglow's Level to 4!"
"Now I have two Level 4 monsters!"
"Build the Overlay Network!"
"Overlay! Galaxy Photon Dragon!"
"I activate Galaxy Photon Dragon, detaching Afterglow."
"I add Photon Jumper from the Deck, then Afterglow triggers to Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from my Deck!"
"I activate Galaxy Hundred to take a look at your Extra Deck."
"After that, I choose to banish your Raidraptor – Ultimate Falcon!"
A Galaxy-Eyes bread-and-butter line—too familiar to count.
Even though Galaxy Hundred had been covered before, and everyone already knew how absurd this card is, duelists across the worlds still felt a jolt seeing it in action.
Casually peek the opponent's Extra Deck.
Snipe away a key Extra Deck piece.
More ridiculous still—
If the opponent has "Number" Xyz monsters, Galaxy Hundred can even Special Summon one of them to your field.
The more you watch, the faker it feels.
Strength of the Galaxy-Eyes deck—setting aside everything else—
Galaxy Hundred is absolutely S-tier.
A Galaxy-Eyes list without Galaxy Hundred easily drops by thirty percent power.
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "Next, I activate Galaxy Soldier in hand, discarding Photon Jumper to Special Summon it!"
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "Galaxy Photon Dragon targets Galaxy Soldier—its Level becomes 8!"
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "Photon Jumper triggers in the GY to add the Spell Galaxy Trance."
"I activate Galaxy Trance—revive Photon Emperor, and Special Summon a second Galaxy-Eyes Afterglow Dragon from my Deck!"
"I overlay Galaxy-Eyes Afterglow Dragon and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"
"Two Level 8—Overlay! Number 90: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord!"
"Then I overlay Photon Emperor and Galaxy Soldier for another Rank 8!"
"Overlay! Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy!"
"I set two cards!"
"Turn end."
A very standard Galaxy-Eyes going-first board.
Photon Lord—a monster-effect negate with a search stapled on.
Hope Harbinger—a Spell negate with battle redirection.
That's the baseline power of Galaxy-Eyes.
In the 5D's World, Yusei Fudo and Crow Hogan watched the Galaxy-Eyes line with calm faces.
After seeing so many powerful end boards, this two-negate field from Galaxy-Eyes felt ordinary.
The moment that thought surfaced, both Yusei and Crow flinched.
Sure enough—once you've seen enough power cards—
Even a Galaxy-Eyes board starts to feel like old-school Duel Monsters.
"No, no—my view of dueling has changed too much!"
"As expected—the more you experience—"
"The more you yearn for greater power!"
Jack Atlas, off to the side, wore a pensive look, recognizing that duel power has no ceiling.
Back in the short video—
It was now the Raidraptor player's turn.
Raidraptor Player: "My turn! Draw!"
Raidraptor Player: "I Normal Summon Raidraptor – Pain Lanius!"
Raidraptor Player: "Pain Lanius, effect!"
"During the turn this card is Normal or Special Summoned, in my Main Phase, I can target one 'RR' monster I control—"
"Then add from my Deck to my hand one 'Raidraptor' monster with a different Level than that targeted monster!"
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "I activate Number 90: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord!"
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "Negate your Pain Lanius and destroy it—I detach Galaxy-Eyes Afterglow Dragon as cost!"
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "After that, Afterglow triggers to Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from my Deck!"
"And with that, Galaxy Hundred triggers—I can Special Summon a 'Number' from your Extra Deck to my field!"
"That's right—this one!"
"In Defense Position!"
"Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir!"
"Apologies—"
"While Bagooska is in Defense Position, all face-up monsters are changed to Defense Position, and the activated effects of monsters in Defense Position are negated!"
"Please continue."
Shimatta.
It's over.
He actually pulled out Number 41 and slapped down the Defense-position lockdown.
Even the Galaxy-Eyes field itself—aside from the Link monster Galaxy-Eyes Solflare Dragon—was locked.
But here's the problem.
With this on the field—
How is Raidraptor supposed to play, let alone start a line?
Even the Raidraptor player himself was stunned.
He'd packed 41 to use in a pinch—
And now?
It became a fake "floodgate" for the opponent.
Worse than swallowing a fly.
In the ZEXAL World, Yuma Tsukumo and Astral wore conflicted expressions.
Their rival Kite's Galaxy-Eyes with Galaxy Hundred had just gone up another notch in their minds.
"Exactly! That's it!"
"Galaxy Hundred is perfect!"
"It completely suits the title of a 'Number' hunter!"
Kite Tenjo looked playfully at the board state.
Raidraptor?
He wasn't deeply familiar.
But Bagooska? Very.
After this—Raidraptor trying to extend was basically hot air.
In the ARC-V World, Yuto and Shay Obsidian both twitched at the corners of their mouths.
They hadn't expected the piece suppressing development to be neither Hope Harbinger nor Photon Lord, but the Raidraptor player's own Number 41.
"It's over! Looks like that Raidraptor duelist—same deck as you—is going to eat dirt."
"With 41 there, his Raidraptor can't extend."
"Locking monster effects hurts too much."
Yuto sighed helplessly and looked at Shay.
Shay, however, wore a thoughtful look, and finally revealed a strange smile.
"Yuto, do you really think so?"
"Raidraptors don't give up because of a minor setback."
"Watch. He can still extend."
Shay's words left Yuto stunned.
What? With 41 up, Raidraptors can still extend?
Raidraptor Player: "I activate Raidraptor – Bloom Vulture from my hand!"
Raidraptor Player: "If I control no face-up monsters other than Winged Beasts, I can Special Summon this card together with Raidraptor – Mimicry Lanius from my hand!"
"Then I Link Summon with the two!"
"Link-2: Raidraptor – Wise Strix!"
"Link Monsters don't change to Defense Position."
"So your 41's effect doesn't apply."
"I use Wise Strix to Special Summon Raider's Wing from the Deck."
"I Special Summon Raidraptor – Strangle Lanius from my hand."
"Two Level 4s—build the Overlay Network!"
"Come forth—Raidraptor – Force Strix!"
Galaxy-Eyes Player: "I know what you're aiming for."
"You're trying to use Force Strix to trigger your Wise Strix search, right?"
"Then I activate Galaxy-Eyes Solflare Dragon."
"I discard two cards."
"And destroy your Wise Strix."
Raidraptor Player: "I still activate Force Strix."
Raidraptor Player: "I detach Raider's Wing as material."
"Even if that effect gets negated, Raider's Wing can still Special Summon itself from the GY."
"After that, I detach another material from Force Strix."
"Then I Link Summon with Force Strix and Raider's Wing."
"A second Raidraptor – Wise Strix."
"I activate Rank-Up-Magic Soul Shave Force."
"I pay half my LP to revive Force Strix from my GY—then Rank-Up by 2."
"Come forth—Raidraptor – Revolution Falcon."
"I activate Revolution Falcon."
"Even if it's negated, it doesn't matter—I've already met Wise Strix's condition."
"I add Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force from my Deck."
"I banish Raidraptor – Mimicry Lanius from my GY to add the Continuous Spell Raidraptor – Nest."
"I activate Nest, then activate Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force."
"I target Revolution Falcon to Rank-Up."
"Rank 7: Raidraptor – Arsenal Falcon."
"I use Nest to add the card that can flip this duel."
"Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force."
"I use Arsenal Falcon, detaching one Revolution Falcon as material."
"Even if it gets negated—my Rise Rank-Up-Magic Raidraptor's Force can still activate."
"With this card, I target two or more Raidraptor Xyz—on field or in GY—whose Ranks add up to the target Rank, and Special Summon a Raidraptor Xyz with that combined Rank, treating it as an Xyz Summon and attaching them as material."
"So then—"
"Activate!"
"Rank 7 Arsenal Falcon plus Rank 6 Revolution Falcon."
"Transcend—Rank 13!"
"Raidraptor – Rising Rebellion Falcon!!!"
"Then I activate its effect!"
"When this card is Xyz Summoned—destroy all cards your opponent controls!"
"And—inflict damage equal to the combined original ATK of all monsters!"
"You only have 6000 LP left!"
"This ends now!"
"...."
In the short video, under everyone's shock and disbelief—or rather, under Bagooska's lockdown—the Raidraptor player actually Summoned the big boss, Rising Rebellion Falcon.
And the reason it can still activate its effect is because it has this line:
This face-up card is unaffected by other cards' effects.
Thus, Bagooska's effect does not apply to Rising Rebellion Falcon.
Which means—the field-wipe rage and burn of Rising Rebellion Falcon was coming.
Given the original ATK values, it was more than enough.
Thinking that, all the duelists sucked in a sharp breath.
Every gaze snapped toward the Galaxy-Eyes player's field.
2000 ATK Galaxy Photon Dragon.
3000 ATK Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.
3000 ATK Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy.
That's enough.
More than enough.
If Rising Rebellion resolves here, the duel ends.
The group chat exploded with hot takes.
Yugi Muto: "Impressive! Extending under a monster-effect lockdown—this Raidraptor deserves fresh respect!"
Jaden Yuki: "Eh? Doesn't that mean the Galaxy-Eyes player is doomed? He can't tank 6000!"
Kite Tenjo: "Impossible! A Galaxy-Eyes player won't lose so easily! He's still got two set backrow!"
Shay Obsidian: "Heh heh… clowns will clown. In the end, it's Raidraptor. This should be over."
The chat split into two camps immediately.
Some thought it was about to end.
Others believed the Galaxy-Eyes sets still had a countermeasure.
Under everyone's anticipation, the short immediately gave the answer...
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