Chapter 190: Complete Hand Destruction

"Impressive," Damon straightened up and spoke loudly.

"But my year of training wasn't in vain! My turn!" Damon said. "Continuous Spell 'Heart of the Underdog'—if I draw a Normal Monster during my Draw Phase, I can reveal it and draw another card.

I drew 'Doron'!" (an original anime card)

 A monster Damon used in the anime—2-star, ATK 900, Normal Monster.

"So, I use 'Heart of the Underdog' to draw another card!"

Damon drew again.

"This time, I drew the Normal Monster 'Gagagigo!'"

He hit again.

"I draw another card!"

Damon drew again.

"This time, it's a second 'Doron,' draw again—"

"…"

Using "Heart of the Underdog," Damon drew seven cards in a row, all Normal Monsters.

Finally, on the eighth, he didn't get a Normal Monster. This time, he drew his ace, the anime-original "Drawler," a Level 3 Effect Monster.

"Finally stopped…"

Syrus wiped his sweat.

That was terrifying.

 "But, even though he drew so many cards, they're all Normal Monsters, right?" Chumley said. "Having a hand full of Normal Monsters isn't that useful…"

But his question was soon answered.

"It's 'Drawler,'" Alexis said seriously. "The last monster he drew was 'Drawler.' When summoned, you can shuffle any number of cards from your hand into your deck, and it gains 500 ATK for each."

[Drawler, Level 3, ATK???

Effect: When summoned, shuffle any number of cards from your hand into your deck; this card's ATK becomes that number x 500. If it destroys an opponent's Attack Position monster by battle, that monster is shuffled to the bottom of the opponent's deck instead of going to the graveyard.]

Everyone was shocked.

So there's a combo like this?

 At first, drawing a bunch of Normal Monsters with "Heart of the Underdog " didn't seem useful, but when combined with this monster, shuffling all seven into the deck at once gives it 3500 ATK—higher than the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!

"Hahaha, not bad!" Damon laughed. "Now, let me show you the power of my soul card!

 I normal summon—"

"Before that, I activate my face-down, Trap Card 'Desert Sunlight,'" Kira said. "All monsters on my side of the field become face-up Defense Position."

Damon frowned: "Trying to switch to Defense Position to block my attack?"

Or is it…

 "All my monsters become face-up Defense Position. My set monster is also flipped up," Kira said. "That card is… 'Morphing Jar'!"

With a mischievous grin, the jar flipped face-up, unleashing its power.

"Morphing Jar's effect: when flipped, both players discard all cards in their hands, then draw five cards each."

Damon understood.

"I see. Using Morphing Jar to force me to discard my whole hand, I can't use the Drawler combo."

But his lips curled into a cold smile.

"So what? My draw power is absolute. The five new cards I draw will still give me a winning combo—"

"Sorry, but no."

Kira snapped his fingers.

"Chain activation: another face-down card, Trap Card 'Back to the Front!'

 Special Summon a monster from my graveyard in face-up Defense Position.

The card I choose to bring back is…"

A card popped out from his graveyard.

"'Protector of the Sanctuary!'"

[Protector of the Sanctuary, DEF 1900]

Damon: "?"

What's that?

 Why go out of your way to bring back a 1900 DEF wall? What's the point?

But he quickly understood.

Kira smiled and explained: "'Protector of the Sanctuary'—as long as this card is face-up on the field, your opponent can't draw cards except during the Draw Phase."

Damon thought for a moment.

Wait, let me get this straight.

Morphing Jar's effect: both players discard all cards, then draw five.

Protector of the Sanctuary: as long as it's on the field, your opponent can't draw except during the Draw Phase.

Damon: "…"

N-N-N-NANI????

The onlookers all gasped.

This move is…

 Complete Hand Destruction!

"That's right. After Morphing Jar's effect, you must discard all your cards, but you can't draw new ones."

Kira smiled as he drew five cards from his deck.

"According to Morphing Jar's effect, I draw five cards."

Damon: "…"

Everyone: "…"

After a moment of silence, Chumley said, "Um… how should I put this? That's… a really strong combo."

"Y-yeah," Syrus said.

They all looked at Kira with a bit of fear in their eyes.

Sure enough, Kira's duels are terrifying.

He always finds fancy new ways to stop his opponent from playing.

Damon was now half in shock.

Just after drawing a huge hand, before he even warmed up, all his cards were dumped into the graveyard. Then, with the majesty of Protector of the Sanctuary, it was as if his deck had been put in invisible shackles.

Every card was locked in the deck.

He could no longer hear the voice of his deck.

Damon opened his mouth, face full of bitterness, unable to speak.

He desperately wanted to use the invincible draw power he'd trained for a year to find a way.

But he couldn't.

Because damn it, he couldn't even draw a card, let alone use his draw skills!

So, he racked his brain, searching for any remaining possibility, a way to break through, but all that echoed in his mind was two words—

—"Give up."

How am I supposed to play?

 How am I supposed to duel with no cards? You tell me!

"How could this happen…?"

A wild man lost his dream, muttering to himself.

"I trained so hard and finally reached this level. Duels are about drawing cards—draw power should decide everything.

Why… why…???"

Thinking back on his year of hard training, all the frustration and unwillingness, and combining that with this utterly locked-down situation, Damon was almost brought to tears by the injustice.

 The onlookers were silent.

Even though they were on Kira's side, they couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the wild man on the other side.

"Well, if you're not going to do anything, then it's my turn."

Kira smiled.

"My turn. Draw."

He now had six cards in hand—plenty of options. But, being kind-hearted, and seeing that his opponent was out of options, he decided to end the duel quickly and put Damon out of his misery.

"Switch all my monsters from Defense to Attack Position," Kira declared. "Then 'Ryu Kokki,' 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman,' and 'Protector of the Sanctuary' attack Damon directly."

[Ryu Kokki, ATK 2400]

[Elemental HERO Bubbleman, ATK 800]

[Protector of the Sanctuary, ATK 1100]

Damon was knocked flat, lying on the ground, eyes empty, completely unresponsive.

[Damon, LP 3200 → LP 0]