The rest of Alpha's words caught in his throat. "You know?" "Of course. Isn't that something everyone already knows?" Yugen shrugged.
A child from an orphanage climbing all the way to his current position through his own efforts? Nobody in the Student Council would believe he had done that without using ugly methods or getting his hands dirty. As for how much scheming and darkness Seto Kaiba had gone through on his way to the top, probably only he himself understood.
"You know all that," Alpha said. "And you still think it does not matter?" "Yes," Yugen said calmly. "But what does that have to do with me? At least from my point of view, Seto Kaiba made this world better."
When Seto Kaiba first came into contact with Gozaburo Kaiba, both of them had their own plans. Gozaburo Kaiba just lost in the end. It was that simple.
The president who had used every means necessary to reach the top could not truly be called a purely good person. Even so, he was still better than Gozaburo Kaiba.
"When Seto Kaiba was still in the orphanage, he made a promise with his younger brother. They would build a paradise that could bring joy to everyone in the world. He may have used ruthless methods and done many things he is not proud of, but when I look at the Seto Kaiba who stands at the top today, I can see he has not forgotten where he started."
"Even now, even after going through hell, that dream has not changed."
Yugen spoke in the same calm tone. "What I see is someone trying to make the world better."
Alpha gritted his teeth. "You..." "My My Turn!, Card Draw," Yugen cut him off. "I set one card. Then I activate a Spell Card! 'Card of Demise.' Until I have five cards in my hand, I draw from my Deck. (ANIME EFFECT)"
"Seto Kaiba's card," Alpha said coldly. "But that card has a side effect."
Ah, right, there was a side effect.
Yugen put on a pained expression. "But during the End Phase, I have to discard all the cards in my hand." He thought to himself that if the other man had not reminded him, he might have forgotten such a huge risk.
Alpha glanced at the card Yugen had set in his Back Row. That face-down card should be Butterfly Dagger - Elma, the core of the Gearfried the Iron Knight combo this Deck used. But that was fine, because he had a counter for it on his side too.
Yugen said, "I Normal Summon Fire Princess." Fire Princess, ATK 1500. "Next, I activate the Continuous Spell Morale Boost."
Yugen explained, "As long as this card is on the field, each time an Equip Spell is equipped to a Monster, the controller of that Equip Spell recovers 1000 Life Points. Also, whenever an Equip Spell leaves the field, its controller takes 1000 damage." (ANIME EFFECT)
Alpha said, "Just by activating an Equip Spell, you can... wait, don't tell me!?" "That's right. I activate the Equip Spell Butterfly Dagger - Elma and equip it to Gearfried the Iron Knight. At this moment, because of Morale Boost, I recover 1000 Life Points."
Yugen, LP 2800 -> LP 3800
"And at that same moment, Fire Princess's Effect Activation triggers," Yugen said. "Each time I recover Life Points while Fire Princess is on the field, my opponent takes 500 damage."
The girl swung her staff, and a blazing fireball shot out and slammed straight into Alpha's face.
"Urgh..."
Alpha, LP 5000 -> LP 4500
"Then, because of Gearfried the Iron Knight's effect, the Butterfly Dagger equipped to him is Destroyed," Yugen continued. "And because the equip was Destroyed, I take 1000 damage from Morale Boost."
Yugen, LP 3800 -> LP 2800
"But when Butterfly Dagger - Elma is Destroyed, it returns to my hand," Yugen said calmly as he revealed the card again. "Then Butterfly Dagger activates again."
"Another infinite loop..." Alpha said through clenched teeth.
He had known it. Every time Butterfly Dagger activated, Morale Boost made Yugen recover LP, which triggered Fire Princess and dealt 500 damage to Alpha. Then the dagger returned to his hand again.
This time, it was an infinite damage loop.
The more he understood it, the colder Alpha felt. What kind of shut-in combo was this? If it kept going, then even if his Draining Shield had gone through last turn, infinite Life Points would still be chipped away until he died.
But...
"I'll stop that infinite combo right here!" Alpha shouted. "I activate my set card, the Quick-Play Spell Cosmic Cyclone! I pay 1000 Life Points to banish one Spell or Trap Card on the field!"
Alpha, LP 4500 -> LP 3500
He pointed at the Butterfly Dagger on Yugen's field. "I chain to the activation of Butterfly Dagger - Elma and banish it!"
Butterfly Dagger could only recover itself if it was sent to the Graveyard by being Destroyed. If it was banished, then it could do nothing.
By this point, Alpha had already seen it clearly. The combination of Gearfried the Iron Knight and Butterfly Dagger was the absolute core of that Deck.
First there had been the infinite-ATK spellcaster, then the infinite-ATK Magical Marionette, and now this infinite burn. Every infinite loop was built on that disgusting Equip Spell. If he did not remove it, who knew what other bizarre combo the other side would pull out next.
So as long as he removed that most important card, the loop would stop, and none of the combos could continue.
Yugen only shrugged. "Even though you banished Butterfly Dagger, it already activated one more time. So first, from Morale Boost, I recover 1000 Life Points, and then when the equip leaves the field, I take 1000 damage. My Life Points stays the same, but during that process, because of Fire Princess, you still take another 500 damage."
Alpha, LP 3500 -> LP 3000
A mere 500 points of damage was nothing to Alpha. Watching the Butterfly Dagger Card fly into the dark vortex with the cyclone, he finally relaxed a little and gave a cold laugh.
"Your combo has been broken. It was a strong combo, I admit, but this is where it ends." He paused, then added in a mocking tone, "You talked big, saying I was just some third-rate or fourth-rate imitator. So what do you think now?"
Yugen ignored him and pulled another card from his hand. "Then I I activate a Spell Card! Creature Swap. Each of us chooses one Monster on our own field, and control of those Monsters is exchanged."
Alpha blinked. "Creature Swap? What is the point of using that now...?"
Then he understood. Since the loop had been broken, the other side must be aiming to use the dragons' power against him instead.
Alpha thought it over. Prime Material Dragon had the ability to send a Continuous Spell on its controller's field to the Graveyard and destroy an opponent's Monster. (ANIME EFFECT) If Prime Material Dragon was given away while the opponent happened to have a Continuous Spell on the field, that would be very bad.
"I choose Darkblaze Dragon," Alpha said.
"Then I choose Gearfried the Iron Knight."
Gearfried the Iron Knight leaped over to the other field, while Darkblaze Dragon spread its wings and came to Yugen's side.
"So you gave up Gearfried the Iron Knight," Alpha sneered. "I see. Once you knew the loop was broken, you just threw away your other key piece too?"
"Is that really what happened?" Yugen asked with a smile.
Alpha's heart tightened. That Fiend-like smile gave him another bad feeling.
"I activate the Equip Spell Axe of Fools."