Only then did Alpha finally understand. His eyes widened in shock as he stumbled back two steps. "This is... infinite loop!?"
"That's right. As long as I keep activating Butterfly Dagger, this can continue forever, and every cycle gives Mythical Beast Cerberus another 500 ATK. After infinite repetitions, its ATK becomes..." Mythical Beast Cerberus, ATK 2000 -> ATK infinity.
"Infinite ATK!?" Alpha was horrified. Once the infinite loop was accepted, the process could simply be skipped and advanced straight to infinity.
The last time, he had not done that against Senior Watanabe because Yugen had only been joining a club, and he had no grudge against the senior. There had been no need to leave him with the trauma of being smashed in the face by infinity. After all, Yugen had always been kind to people.
But there was no need to show mercy to an outside enemy. "Battle," Yugen said. "Mythical Beast Cerberus, attack Arkbrave Dragon!"
With its ATK swollen to infinity, the magical beast looked like a mythical giant that could cover the sky. Anyone with a weak will would probably lose all courage just by facing it. Alpha had no doubt that if that claw came down, he would be turned into a mosaic on the spot.
However, "I activate my set card! Trap Card Draining Shield!" Alpha shouted. "Negate the opponent's Monster attack, and I gain Life Points equal to that ATK!" Then he threw his head back and laughed in three dramatic bursts as if he were cosplaying the president.
"Hahahaha... You didn't expect that, did you? I still outplayed you! After absorbing the magical beast's attack, my Life Points will also become infinite!"
A shimmering barrier of colored light rose in front of him, and Mythical Beast Cerberus's claw was just about to strike. "Then from my hand, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Double Summon," Yugen said. "It lets me Normal Summon a monster from my hand." (ANIME EFFECT)
As he spoke, he revealed the monster card in his hand. "I tribute the Mythical Beast Cerberus on my field and Tribute Summon! Come forth, puppeteer of the dolls - Level 5, Magical Marionette, Summon!"
The giant magical beast dissolved into motes of light. In its place appeared a sinister spellcaster whose dancing fingers controlled white puppet strings, and at the end of those strings hung a magic doll holding twin blades. Magical Marionette, ATK 2000.
"Tch, so you dodged Draining Shield by tributing." Alpha frowned. Had he predicted there might be a trap in the Back Row and deliberately kept a tribute-based answer in hand to avoid it?
"But your other two Monsters still have less ATK than Arkbrave Dragon. You can't break through my defense."
"That's true." Yugen did not seem bothered. "Then my Battle Phase ends. After that, I activate the Equip Spell Butterfly Dagger - Elma from my hand again and equip it to Gearfried the Iron Knight. Then, because of Gearfried the Iron Knight's effect, Butterfly Dagger is Destroyed."
"Again?" Alpha was shocked once more. "But Mythical Beast Cerberus is no longer on the field, so even if you keep looping it, what does that accomplish...?"
Yugen smiled and pointed at the grim puppet master that had just appeared, as if it had stepped out of a horror scene. "The effect of Magical Marionette. Every time either player activates a Spell Card, it gains one Spell Counter, and its ATK rises by 200."
Alpha froze. It was actually the same type of effect as the magical beast.
"So after the same infinite loop, Magical Marionette's ATK becomes..." Magical Marionette, ATK 2000 -> ATK infinity.
"Infinite ATK again..." Alpha gritted his teeth. Was this guy really just a student from Duel Academy? Why did he keep pulling out cheating-level ATK like this?
Still, he forced himself to stay calm. "Even so, your Battle Phase is already over. This turn, you can't attack again with that infinite ATK."
"Magical Marionette's follow-up effect," Yugen said. "By removing two Spell Counters, it Destroys one Monster on the field. So I remove two Spell Counters from Magical Marionette and Destroy Arkbrave Dragon."
The puppet master's fingers twitched, and the doll's twin blades shot out at once, piercing the shining dragon. Its gorgeous body shattered apart. Raising an arm in front of himself, Alpha said in a low voice, "Then I activate my set card! Trap Card Call of the Haunted!"
"When one of my Monsters is Destroyed by an effect, I can revive that Monster! Come back, Arkbrave Dragon!" (ANIME EFFECT) A storm of shining wind rose into the air, and the dragon spread its wings once more.
"And when Arkbrave Dragon is revived from the Graveyard, it banishes the Continuous Trap Powerful Rebirth still on your field, and gains 200 ATK!" (ANIME EFFECT) Arkbrave Dragon, ATK 2400 -> ATK 2600.
"What a shame," Alpha said. "Your tactic still didn't work..."
Yugen snapped his fingers. "Then I remove another two Spell Counters. Arkbrave Dragon is Destroyed."
"Nani?!!?" Alpha was stunned. This thing's destruction effect did not even have Once Per Turn?
Then he immediately realized how serious the situation was. Magical Marionette currently had infinite Spell Counters on it, and infinite ATK as well. That meant it could remove two counters to blow up any Monster on the field, and there was no limit to how many times it could do that in one turn.
Alpha fell silent. Wasn't that completely invincible?
**
"Infinite ATK, and infinite uses of monster Destroy..."
If he were not a machine, Alpha might already have been swallowing hard. The calm boy in yellow standing before him looked more twisted and terrifying with every passing second. Under the hazy moonlight, with that gigantic puppet on the field radiating an eerie presence and infinite attack, he almost looked like a ghost.
Was this person really just a student? The thought flashed through Alpha's mind. Could he truly defeat an opponent like this?
No, before even asking that, had Father secretly had some grudge against him to assign him the mission of bringing this person back? "I set one card and end my turn," Yugen said.
Only then did Alpha come back to himself. No, that was wrong. Father trusted him.
He had studied every Duel and every tactic of Seto Kaiba. Father had sent him here because he believed in his ability. And he absolutely would not betray that trust.
"My Turn!, Card Draw!"
Alpha's gaze hardened. Infinite attack meant nothing. He would crush straight through it.
"During the Standby Phase, I activate my set card, the Quick-Play Spell Emergency Provisions. I send Mirage of Nightmare to the Graveyard, and I recover 1000 Life Points."
Alpha, LP 4000 -> LP 5000.
Yugen watched calmly. Wow, it was actually Emergency Provisions. What a complete surprise.
"Then I use the effect of Arkbrave Dragon in the Graveyard!" Alpha said. "During the next turn's Standby Phase after this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon another Level 7 or 8 Dragon from my Graveyard." (ANIME EFFECT)
"The card I revive is this one." He raised his arm high. "Be reborn in pitch-black flames! Level 7, Darkblaze Dragon!"
Dark fire erupted as a dragon wrapped in blazing black flames spread its wings and rose from a vortex in the Underworld.
Darkblaze Dragon, ATK 1200.
"Effect of Darkblaze Dragon! When this card is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, its ATK doubles!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Darkblaze Dragon, ATK 1200 -> ATK 2400.
"Of course, in front of Magical Marionette with infinite ATK, this still looks worthless. That is what you are thinking, right?"
"But the power of my Dragons does not end there!" He played another Spell Card.
"Spell Card Fiend's Sanctuary! Special Summon one Metal Fiend Token to my field!"