Chapter 1257: vs. Dragan

The spotlights on the track suddenly flared to life, and the spectator stands erupted with deafening cheers. Dragan piloted his dark-colored Duel Runner slowly onto the track. The moment he removed his goggles and revealed the glowing rune-etched "Rune Eye," a wave of astonished gasps swept through the crowd. At the same time, Kira’s Duel Runner slid in from the opposite direction toward the starting line, sparking another burst of excited commotion from the stands.

The two Duel Runners lined up side by side. Dragan glanced sideways at Kira, narrowed his eyes, and smiled. "Fujiki Kira, just who exactly are you?"

"Hmm?" Kira looked at him with a relaxed tone. "I’m just me."

Dragan shook his head. "We’ve looked into your past and couldn’t find any duel records at all. A duelist as powerful as you couldn’t possibly have appeared out of thin air."

"It’s unbelievable. My ’Rune Eye’ tells me you’re a dangerous guy, but I still can’t see through exactly why you’re dangerous."

As he spoke, the iris of his eye once again displayed ancient Nordic rune-like markings. That was the "Rune Eye"—a power possessed by all three members of Team Ragnarok, just like the Dragon Marks of the Crimson Dragon’s chosen. This eye was the proof that they were the chosen emissaries of the gods.

"I’ve never encountered an opponent that even my ’Rune Eye’ couldn’t see through," Dragan said. "Who are you? Why are you participating in the WRGP? Or rather, why are you competing alone?"

"Why else? To challenge my own limits, of course," Kira replied with a smile.

"I see." Dragan still didn’t look fully convinced, but he continued, "Even though I don’t know what you hope to achieve through this match, you should give up. You’re strong—I can see that much. But no matter how powerful you are, there is absolutely no duelist in the world who can fight against the three gods until the very end. If you’re really trying to test your limits through this match, we’ll grant your wish. We’ll use today’s duel to make you realize that."

While the two conversed, the floating panels on the track had already begun the activation countdown.

Both riders twisted their throttles hard. The engines revved loudly, and the roaring of the Duel Runners sounded like two ferocious beasts growling at each other, ready to charge at any moment.

"Turbo Duel, Acceleration!" ×2

[Kira, LP 4000]

[Dragan, LP 4000]

Both Duel Runners shot forward like arrows, streaking into the track like twin meteors.

Of course, in a Turbo Duel, the opponent went first as usual. Kira figured that a king should have the grace of a king—let the opponent perform first, then counterattack from behind. That was what a true king’s duel looked like.

It definitely wasn’t because his riding skills were lacking and he couldn’t snatch the lead.

"I’ll take the first turn!" Dragan declared. "Draw!"

"I summon ’Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts’!"

A swirling vortex of starlight opened, releasing a burst of white lightning that struck beside Dragan’s Duel Runner. The light and electricity converged, materializing into a white goat with four hooves pounding as it ran alongside the Duel Runner.

[Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts, ATK 1200]

Dragan then played three more cards from his hand in one go.

"I set three cards face-down. My turn ends!"

The spiky-haired commentator immediately shouted with excitement: "Oh! Three set cards right from the first turn! It looks like Dragan has come out with an ironclad formation, fully prepared. He hasn’t let his guard down despite their absolute three-against-one advantage!"

Kira clicked his tongue in surprise. "Three set cards? That’s pretty intimidating."

The main reason everyone fought for the first turn was the right to set up the field in advance. If you went first and set five back-row cards—all powerful traps—the second player would step into a pit no matter what they did and couldn’t move at all.

In the early days of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the interference available on the first turn was mostly traps, so while there was an advantage, it wasn’t overwhelmingly huge.

But as the game environment sped up, modern Yu-Gi-Oh! no longer needed traps for disruption. The first player could "tell a story" for five minutes, summoning a bunch of big monsters that could pop cards or negate any effect during the opponent’s turn. The second player started with only six cards in hand while facing potentially nine negations on the opponent’s field. Any card they played got negated, making it impossible to play at all.

This was why the rules were later changed so the first player couldn’t draw on their first turn—the advantage was simply too great and had to be nerfed. Even with one less card, practice showed the first player still held an absolute edge. For a while, Yu-Gi-Oh! was even called a "rock-paper-scissors game" by players, since the duel was often decided the moment the turn order was determined.

After all, Yu-Gi-Oh! was a cruel game. It was already rare for even one of two players to be able to actually play; only the first player had the right to make moves. The second player could sip tea, snack on seeds, space out for a while, and by the time they snapped back to reality, they were usually cheering and laughing while saying "GG."

Fortunately, that ultra-brutal era hadn’t arrived yet. In the current era, going second was still playable.

"My turn. Draw." Kira smiled calmly. "Fighting against gods, huh? That really gets me excited. For today’s battle, I’ve deliberately prepared the most suitable opponent for a god."

"The most suitable opponent for a god?" Dragan raised an eyebrow.

The opponent’s habit of constantly switching between all sorts of messy decks had been investigated by Team Ragnarok beforehand. That was precisely why Kira’s tactics were hard to study or counter.

But after discussing it, the three members of Team Ragnarok all agreed it didn’t matter. No matter what deck the opponent brought out, they would respond with the same unchanging strategy. They had absolute confidence in their gods—they could crush any enemy, let alone one who was fighting alone.

Therefore, Dragan smiled again. "Is that so? Then I’ll look forward to it a little too. But let me say this upfront: there is nothing in this world that can defeat a god!"

"The world of dueling has no absolutes," Kira replied. "I summon ’Playful Possum’."

[Playful Possum, ATK 800]

"Playful Possum’s effect: During your Main Phase, if there is a face-up monster on the opponent’s field with higher ATK than this card, you can destroy this card yourself."

Kira pointed at the opossum that had just been summoned.

"Play dead!"

The little opossum glanced at the goat on the opponent’s field and immediately sucked in a breath.

ATK 1200! Too scary!

So the opossum immediately rolled its eyes, flopped onto the ground, and lay there with its white belly facing up.

I must play dead right now!

Boom!

The opossum self-destructed into a puff of black smoke.

"At this moment, the effect of ’Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest’ in my hand activates," Kira said. "When a Beast-Type monster on your field is destroyed, you can pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon this card from your hand or Graveyard."

[Kira, LP 4000 → LP 3000]

"Come forth, Green Baboon!"

...