Chapter 15
"Both players draw one card from their decks."
"And since I've activated three more Spell Cards this chain, both Libraries are back to three counters each. I remove all six and draw two more."
Rowan pulled three cards from what remained of his deck, which had grown noticeably thin.
Did I burn through my entire lifetime of luck opening with Exodia against Crowler this morning?
The deck was down to twelve cards. Two pieces of Exodia still had not shown up.
They had apparently sunk straight to the bottom and decided to stay there.
Still, the situation was fine.
More than fine.
Ten cards in hand right now. Three Exodia pieces among them, and the remaining seven all Spell Cards.
Combined with the Libraries, drawing through the last twelve cards in the deck was trivial.
Rowan activated another Spell Card.
"Spell Card activation. Monster Reborn... just kidding. Reload. I return any number of cards from my hand to the deck, shuffle, then draw the same number."
"I return all six non-Exodia cards to the deck and draw six new ones."
Six cards went back in. The Duel Disk shuffled automatically. Six new cards came up.
Chazz's expression lurched.
Even if the two missing pieces had been sitting at the very bottom of the deck before, shuffling everything back in and drawing six meant the order was completely disrupted.
The odds of pulling them had just jumped enormously.
"What did he get?!"
Everyone held their breath at the same moment. Jaden, Syrus, Alexis, even Chazz's two lackeys, all of them locked their eyes on Rowan and the six cards now in his hand.
"It's over, Chazz."
Rowan let his hand spread open.
Right Arm of the Forbidden One. Exodia the Forbidden One.
Right there among the six.
The remaining three pieces in his other hand lit up at the same instant.
Golden light flooded the field.
A massive dark sorcerer rose up, enormous and radiant, chains of gold straining across his body before shattering apart.
He let out a thunderous roar and drove his fist forward.
Straight into Chazz Princeton.
The explosion hit with a shockwave that sent Chazz tumbling backward across the field in a heap of fire and smoke.
The 7000 life point display dropped to zero without pause.
"Chazz-sama!" Both lackeys stared with their mouths open.
"He actually did it," Alexis said quietly, hand rising to cover her lips.
"Chazz Princeton, the top Obelisk Blue first-year, just got one-turn-killed."
She had seen it coming.
She had followed each step of the chain and understood what it was building toward. And she was still astonished.
Because this was nothing like the entrance exam. That win against Crowler had been a lucky starting hand, five pieces drawn by chance, a miracle that could have happened to anyone.
This was different. This was a constructed engine, executed deliberately, taken to its logical endpoint without a single stumble.
"That was incredible!" Jaden burst out.
"He one-turn-killed an Obelisk Blue elite," Syrus said, staring.
"Nothing special."
Rowan rolled his shoulders, already slipping back into his usual unhurried manner.
Then he paused.
"Oh, right. Almost forgot."
He turned to where Chazz lay on the ground, struck a very specific pose, and delivered a very specific line.
"That was a win. What a fun duel."
Dead silence.
Jaden blinked slowly.
Alexis, Syrus, and the lackeys all turned to stone on the spot.
Fun?!
Chazz had not played a single card.
He had stood there the entire time absorbing psychological damage while watching his defeat approach one draw at a time, powerless to stop any of it.
He had been a spectator at his own execution.
Only one person in this room had a fun duel.
And it was not Chazz Princeton.
Ding. Emotion Points from Chazz Princeton: +600.
"Impossible!"
Chazz slammed a fist into the ground, still face-down, voice raw with indignation.
"I, Chazz Princeton, will not accept being one-turn-killed by some lucky Slifer Red nobody! I refuse!"
The losing was bad.
The post-game taunting was somehow worse.
"By the way, Chazz. The bet."
Rowan produced a piece of paper and held it out pleasantly. "Sign here."
Chazz took it, still fuming, and read it.
IOU. I, Chazz Princeton, having lost in a duel against Rowan, hereby acknowledge a debt of twenty million in accordance with the agreed wager...
A vein pulsed at his temple with considerable enthusiasm.
"You had this written out in advance?! You prepared an IOU for my loss before the duel even started?!"
He looked like he wanted to tear it into confetti. His teeth were doing something concerning.
This person had walked in here with a signed debt notice already in his pocket.
He had been treated as a sheep from the very beginning.