Chapter 88: Ax Raider vs Cyber Dragon [2-in-1]
Amano had always called lower district and first-year high school duels "Ax Raider beatdowns."
But he'd never expected to encounter an actual Ax Raider in middle school.
In a Yu-Gi-Oh! mobile game from his previous life, Ax Raider had dominated the meta for a period thanks to its excellent 1700 ATK single-card beater status. The card hadn't been cheap either.
"It's—it's Ax Raider!"
After Shio took the field, Shiyue had somehow ended up hiding behind Amano, peeking out to provide timid commentary.
"Its ATK is really strong for a lower-level monster. It sold for nearly ten thousand Eva Points on the card market at one point. Most middle school students can't afford monsters that good."
This Shiyue—normally so meek—surprisingly became more talkative during duels.
So Ax Raider was expensive in this world too. Ten thousand points put it on par with Blast Held by a Tribute.
Akiyama's mother lifted her chin proudly.
"Hmph. Our company may not be huge, but we earn two or three times what ordinary families make. Buying strong cards for my child is no difficulty."
After summoning Ax Raider, Akiyama immediately ended his turn.
"On the other hand, can your family even afford mid-level district expenses? I bet your sister's using cards you picked out of garbage heaps."
"You're wrong. The cards from garbage heaps are the ones I use."
"Huh?" Akiyama's mother clearly hadn't expected such a bizarre response.
"Shio uses her own cards."
Shio: "I Special Summon Cyber Dragon from my hand!"
[When your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.]
With Akiyama's Ax Raider on the field, Shio immediately Special Summoned Cyber Dragon from her opening hand.
[Cyber Dragon] [5-Star / LIGHT / Machine / Effect]
[ATK: 2100 / DEF: 1600]
The white mechanical dragon with metallic plating materialized through Shio's Duel Disk projection, lifting its head on the battlefield.
"Is—is that Amano-san's monster?" Shiyue gasped. "I've never seen that type of monster before!"
These middle school kids considered summoning Ax Raider praiseworthy.
And Shio's Special Summon had produced a dragon with obviously higher ATK than Ax Raider.
"Impossible!" The smugness drained from Akiyama's mother's face. "How can someone from the lower districts afford to use that kind of monster?!"
Shio continued playing cards.
"That was a Special Summon. Now I Normal Summon Cyber Dragon Zwei in Attack Position!"
[Cyber Dragon Zwei] [4-Star / LIGHT / Machine / Effect]
[ATK: 1500 / DEF: 1000]
A second dragon wrapped in emerald electronic light materialized beside the first Cyber Dragon.
Although this monster's ATK fell short of Ax Raider's 1700, in middle school terms 1500 still counted as excellent.
"Amano-san is amazing!"
Shiyue's voice grew excited. And maybe without even realizing it herself, she'd gone from peeking out from behind Amano to nearly stepping fully forward.
"Get ready, Akiyama!" Riding dual dragons, Shio declared entry into Battle Phase.
"I'm attacking your Ax Raider with Cyber Dragon Zwei!"
"What?!"
Shio's play drew gasps from the crowd.
"Ahahahaha!"
Akiyama's mother, who'd felt slapped in the face moments ago, broke into mocking laughter.
"Just because you got lucky with one strong card doesn't matter if you're an ignorant brat from the lower districts with no proper education. You can't even calculate attack values!"
Surface stats alone suggested Cyber Dragon Zwei's ATK was indeed lower than Ax Raider's.
But when battle engaged, the laser beam Cyber Dragon Zwei fired melted straight through Ax Raider's body, shattering Akiyama's monster into data fragments.
[Ax Raider — destroyed]
"Impossible!" Another verbal slap for Akiyama's mother.
Akiyama himself stared in disbelief at the grayed-out monster card on his Duel Disk.
"My Ax Raider had higher ATK!"
Shio grinned triumphantly.
"Cyber Dragon Zwei gains 300 ATK when battling an opponent's monster!"
[Cyber Dragon Zwei] [ATK: 1500 -> 1800]
With the 300 ATK boost, Cyber Dragon Zwei surpassed Ax Raider by exactly 100 points, successfully destroying it in battle.
Akiyama Sho LP: 4000 -> 3900
Shio swept her arm forward.
"Next—direct attack! Cyber Dragon! 'Evolution Burst'!!"
Pure white electronic light engulfed Akiyama's body, rapidly depleting the life point number on his Duel Disk.
"AAAAHHH!!"
Akiyama LP: 3900 -> 1800
"I Set one card. Turn end!"
Shio stood confident as middle school students witnessed her massive advantage in the Contract Duel.
Akiyama's mother scowled.
"Damn brat from the lower districts—hitting so hard!"
"I've had enough of you!" Amano roared, raising his hand threateningly. "Calling my sister 'lower district brat' over and over—you think I don't have a temper?! Don't assume I won't hit a woman!"
"Heh. Violent sister, violent brother—figures."
Still defiant, but Amano's warning clearly had effect. Akiyama's mother stepped back and stopped spouting off.
"My turn—draw!"
Realizing Shio's deck strength was far beyond expectations, cold sweat dripped from Akiyama's forehead.
His current hand couldn't solve Shio's field at all.
But this draw—he'd pulled it.
"I activate Spell card — Jar of Greed!"
Wait no—
"I activate Spell card — Magical Mallet!"
[Magical Mallet] [Spell: Shuffle any number of cards from your hand into the Deck, then draw the same number of cards you shuffled into the Deck.]
A spell that could shuffle dead draws back into the deck.
"I'm shuffling all five cards from my hand back into my deck, then redrawing five!"
"All five cards are useless?"
Shio wouldn't pass up this opportunity. Her brother had taught her—trash talk was part of the game.
"Looks like the dead weight isn't the cards—it's you!"
"Stop acting cocky!"
Akiyama drew five consecutive cards. His eyes lit up.
The redrawn hand was incredible. Perfect cards.
"I activate Spell card — Lightning Vortex!"
[Lightning Vortex] [Spell: Discard 1 card; destroy all face-up monsters your opponent controls.]
"I discard one card to destroy all monsters on your field!"
Dense lightning erupted from the activated spell, instantly surrounding both of Shio's Cyber Dragons.
Crackling electricity reduced both dragons to data fragments.
[Cyber Dragon — destroyed]
[Cyber Dragon Zwei — destroyed]
"Such a—such an overpowered card!" Shiyue was clearly frightened. "Lightning Vortex costs even more than Ax Raider! A middle schooler's deck has something like that?"
Obviously, judging by Akiyama's mother's smug expression, this was another result of her "doting" on her child.
Though after Amano's earlier warning, she didn't dare continue mocking out loud.
Just her face alone irritated Amano immensely.
"Next I summon Ax Raider, then activate Equip Spell — Black Pendant to boost Ax Raider's ATK by 500!"
[Black Pendant] [Equip Spell: ①: The equipped monster gains 500 ATK. ②: When this card is sent from the field to the GY: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent.]
[Ax Raider] [ATK: 1700 -> 2200]
Magical Mallet had definitely given Akiyama good cards.
Not only clearing Shio's field but boosting Ax Raider's ATK to surpass Cyber Dragon by 100 points.
"Direct attack! 'Giant Axe Slash'!"
Even the attack name was refreshingly straightforward.
The axe projection sliced through Shio's slender body, taking exactly 2200 LP.
Shio LP: 4000 -> 1800
Shio and Akiyama's life points became identical.
"Finally, I Set one card. Turn end."
"My turn—draw."
Shio drew her card, reviewed her full hand, then glanced at the card she'd Set on her first turn.
Decision made.
"I end my turn."
Pass.
Shio's play—or rather, complete lack of play—set the spectators buzzing again.
Last turn, Lightning Vortex had cleared her field and put her at a disadvantage. This turn, doing absolutely nothing was basically surrender.
"Is she giving up?"
"I heard this duel has expulsion stakes."
"Does anyone actually know why these two are betting expulsion on a duel?"
The students from other classes who'd come for spectacle began wondering what had led to this.
But Class 3-7 students, who knew the truth, remained silent—watching Shio's battle quietly.
"Amano-san—" Shiyue shrank back behind Amano again, worried.
"My turn—draw!"
Akiyama glanced at his drawn card, unable to suppress his nasty grin.
"Perfect attack power for this monster! I Normal Summon Enraged Battle Ox in Attack Position!"
[Enraged Battle Ox] [4-Star / EARTH / Beast-Warrior / Effect]
[ATK: 1700 / DEF: 1000]
Still wielding an axe single-handed. Still 1700 ATK. Calling it Effect Ax Raider wouldn't be wrong.
Enraged Battle Ox's effect granted Beast-Warrior monsters piercing damage. But facing Shio's empty field, the effect was irrelevant.
The matching 1700 ATK with Ax Raider was why Akiyama grinned.
"I'm going to overkill you with maximum damage, Amano Shio!"
Declaring Battle Phase, Enraged Battle Ox's 1700 direct attack slashed Shio's LP down to the final thread.
Shio LP: 1800 -> 100
"Finally, Ax Raider attacks directly! Not only are you getting expelled, you'll have to pay 2100 points in overkill penalties!"
The axe cleaved through air as Ax Raider charged toward the open-field Shio.
"Hehe, so sorry—my child is just superior."
Akiyama's mother finally broke her silence again.
"Two thousand points in overkill penalties must be quite a burden for someone from the lower districts. If you can't maintain mid-level living expenses because of this, don't blame our Akiyama."
Shiyue's voice carried a sob.
"Is Amano-san going to lose—"
The girl who challenged the classroom injustice, who protected the weak—about to be expelled for losing a duel.
"This isn't right!"
From somewhere in the silent Class 3-7 crowd, one voice spoke first.
"Do your best, Amano-san!!"
Then a second person shouted loudly.
After that, like a chain reaction, every single Class 3-7 student watching the duel called out.
The Contract Duel had drawn a large crowd, but until now no spectators had cheered for either side.
After all, with expulsion stakes, no one understood what had led to this. Everyone was just watching the spectacle.
But in this moment—as the axe was about to cleave through Shio's body—the arena atmosphere transformed.
"Don't lose to someone like that, Amano-san!"
"We're sorry—we should have supported you sooner!"
"We didn't have your courage, but we—we don't want to see you expelled!"
"So WIN!"
Class 3-7's atmosphere became unanimous. Every single person without exception cheered for Shio, supporting the girl who'd stood up to fight bullying on their behalf.
"What—what's going on?!"
Akiyama's mother's expression turned awkward and guilty.
"What are these kids babbling about?"
When the entire class stopped staying silent and chose to stand with Shio, the scales of justice tipped clearly in one direction.
"I'm not losing."
Shio smiled with satisfaction.
Amano had seen through it immediately. Shio had done this deliberately.
That first-turn Set card could have been activated earlier. But she'd held back.
School bullying was complicated for adults to solve—a persistent problem haunting education.
But for students to solve themselves? Surprisingly simple.
When everyone stopped looking away. When every classmate had the courage to speak up against bullying behavior instead of avoiding it.
"This moment—I've already won!"
Shio flipped her Set card.
"And as the price, Akiyama—you're going to lose spectacularly!"
"Trap card — Nutrient Z activates!"
[Nutrient Z] [Trap: When a battle involving an opponent's monster would inflict battle damage to you: You can send cards from the top of your Deck to the GY, up to the damage you would take, then make that battle damage 0.]
Good lord, this card also had anime effects. Every 100 damage negated by sending one card from deck to GY.
"Ax Raider's ATK is 2200! I send twenty-two cards from my deck to the Graveyard to reduce the damage to zero!"
Shio pulled more than half her deck from the Duel Disk in one motion and scattered the cards overhead.
Twenty-two cards floating through the air created a unique floral display—composing a barrier that would reverse victory and defeat.
***
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