Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Heroes

"I'll take the first turn! Draw!"

Drawing his card, Kagurazaka glanced at his hand, then picked the rightmost card with his left hand and slid it into his Duel Disk.

"I summon 'Spell Knight – Defender' in Defense Position!"

As the name suggests, a Spell Knight is both a mage who can wield magic and a warrior skilled in close combat. The monster Kagurazaka summoned was exactly such a being.

However, this Spell Knight was a little different from the usual ones—his "knight's weapon" was a short sword barely the length of a forearm! In his left hand, he held a golden shield resting against the ground, perfectly fitting his name: Defender.

(Spell Knight – Defender, ATK: 1600 / DEF: 2000)

"Defender's effect activates! When this card is successfully summoned, I can place one Spell Counter on it."

As Kagurazaka finished speaking, the large shield in the Defender's hand emitted a "ding!" as the once dull red gemstone in its center lit up, glowing like a ruby engraved with a magical circle.

"Then, I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Watching Kagurazaka set his card, Yuuya reached out and drew a card from his deck.

"My turn. First, I summon 'Elemental HERO – Solidman' in Attack Position!"

With a purple body, and silver-gray armor covering everything except the thighs and arms, the hero known as Solidman appeared on the field.

(Elemental HERO – Solidman, Level 4, ATK: 1300 / DEF: 1100)

"Elemental HERO… Solidman?"

"Wait, does the 'HERO' series even have a monster like that?"

"Never heard of it! Could it be a brand-new HERO created by Illusion Co.?"

"That would make sense, but there's been no official announcement on the website…"

"…"

Just as the duel between Yuuya and Kagurazaka began, a crowd had already gathered on the sandy coast behind them—first-year students who had been summoned from the dorms to search for the stolen Duel King deck.

Now, seeing the Solidman summoned by Yuuya, all of them widened their eyes in surprise. This had to be the second brand-new HERO monster used by the mysterious boy known as "Shin Yuuya." The first was a Level 6 Fusion Monster called Elemental HERO – Grandman, used in his duel against Judai during the first monthly exam.

"What a cool new HERO! I wish I could buy it!"

In the whole academy, only Yuuya and Judai used HERO decks. Everyone else looked on in shock—except for Judai, who looked on with pure admiration and excitement.

Back to the duel—after summoning Solidman, Yuuya immediately placed another HERO monster from his hand into the Duel Disk's monster zone.

"When Solidman is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon another 'HERO' from my hand—as long as it's Level 4 or lower!"

"So, I Special Summon—Level 4, Masked HERO – Obsidian!"

The newly summoned monster had thick, muscular limbs and a bulky upper body encased in near-spherical armor—resembling the Fusion HERO Thunder Giant. Yet, it didn't have that "top-heavy" look Thunder Giant was known for.

(Masked HERO – Obsidian, Level 4, ATK: 700 / DEF: 1700)

"Another new HERO!"

"Wait! This monster doesn't seem to be part of the Elemental HERO series! It has 'HERO' in its name, sure—but the prefix is 'Masked'!"

"Masked HERO…? That's a monster type I've never even heard of!"

"…"

The appearance of Obsidian stirred up excitement once more on the beach, which had only just quieted down moments earlier.

Among all HERO monsters, aside from a few standalones that happened to have "HERO" in their names, the most well-known series was Judai's Elemental HERO deck. But this Masked HERO – Obsidian that Yuuya just summoned didn't seem to fit into any known category. The "Masked" prefix paired with "HERO" was something completely unfamiliar.

Masked HERO… could this be what Yuuya meant earlier—the deck that belongs solely to him, the one that represents his true strength?

If that was the case… just the thought of it made Judai's eyes light up like stars in the night sky, his face full of excitement as he stared wide-eyed at Yuuya's duel.

A completely new HERO deck… this is seriously awesome!

"Next, I activate the Spell Card Polymerization! I fuse Elemental HERO – Solidman and Masked HERO – Obsidian from the field and send them to the Graveyard!"

Both monsters shared the EARTH attribute—one under the Elemental prefix, the other under Masked. When two such HERO types combined their power, the result was a brand-new HERO born from fusion—

"Crush with the force of the unyielding earth! Fusion Summon—Elemental HERO – Gaia!"

A violent tremor erupted from the ground beneath their feet. Cracks split open behind Yuuya like a canyon tearing itself apart, and from within those fissures, a giant hand large enough to crush an adult in its grasp reached up.

Climbing out from the crack, a massive body emerged—its appearance like a living mountain clad in retro-looking gray-black armor reminiscent of Chronos-sensei's Ancient Gear Golem.

(Elemental HERO – Gaia, Level 8, ATK: 2200 / DEF: 2600)

"When Solidman is sent to the Graveyard by a Spell Card's effect, I can revive another 'HERO' monster in Defense Position from the Graveyard, excluding himself."

Since only Solidman and Obsidian had gone to the Graveyard as Fusion materials, the one to be revived was naturally the masked Obsidian.

"Gaia can only be Fusion Summoned using a monster with 'Elemental HERO' in its name and another EARTH-attribute monster."

After explaining Gaia's Fusion materials, Yuuya turned his attention to Kagurazaka's only monster on the field—Defender.

"Gaia's effect activates! When it is Fusion Summoned, I can halve the ATK of one monster on my opponent's field, then add that amount to Gaia's own ATK."

The moment he finished speaking, Gaia extended his massive iron hand toward Defender, and a terrifying suction force burst from his palm, forcibly draining half of Defender's power! In the projected duel display, this was represented by the Defender's short sword shrinking into a mere dagger.

(Spell Knight – Defender, ATK: 1600 → 800)

(Elemental HERO – Gaia, ATK: 2200 → 3000)

Watching Gaia's ATK rise to the same level as Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Yuuya nodded in satisfaction and directed Gaia to attack Kagurazaka's Defender.

"Defender's other effect activates! When a Spellcaster-type monster on my field is about to be destroyed, I can remove several Spell Counters equal to the number of monsters being destroyed to prevent it."

"Since only Defender is being destroyed, I'll remove the one Spell Counter on him as a substitute."

Gaia's massive iron fist smashed into Defender's life-sized shield, but due to his special ability, the attack only caused the red gemstone embedded in the shield to lose its glow and return to its dull, unlit state.

"I set two cards face-down. At the end of the turn, both monsters' ATK return to their original values."

(End of Chapter)