Who Let Him Play Yugioh? (Re-Upload)

[Camula, LP 700]

Her life points had been blown down to a guttering candle in a single turn. The beautiful vampire looked grim.

Such a fierce offensive, such relentless pursuit—this was top-tier even in the pro scene, never mind the Duel Academy.

Worst of all, she was completely unprepared for him running Cyber Dragons. Through her familiars’ eyes she’d peeked several times—this boy had been diligently studying an honest-to-goodness pure Dragon deck...

If only she hadn’t relied so heavily on her familiars’ vision—if she’d at least checked his past record and tournament history...

Too late now. All she could do was lean on pure duelist skill and technique to hang on.

”My turn. Draw.”

Camula spoke in a low voice.

”I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Greed, to draw two cards.”

With such dangerous LP, facing the dual pressure of Cyber Dragon and Laser Dragon—and with Cyber Laser Dragon having a once-per-turn monster-destruction effect—if this draw didn’t flip the table, she was done.

A red gleam flashed in the vampire’s eyes. Invisible power stirred, lifting her hair as if on a breeze.

When she looked at the cards, delight flickered in her eyes.

”Looks like fate hasn’t abandoned our bloodline.”

Murmuring something cryptic, she lifted her head, gaze on Zane carrying a hunger like bloodlust.

”I activate the forbidden Field Spell, Infernalvania!” (anime-original card)

The card slid into the Duel Disk, and a thunderous roar filled the air. Blood mist churned in the sky until it seemed the heavens were dyed crimson. An ancient fortress stood proud under that sky, its ominous silhouette lit by a stroke of lightning.

Zane’s face tightened. ”That’s... a forbidden field!”

An anime-original card never printed in real life—and one of the few the anime explicitly labeled forbidden. The anime world had its own banlist system distinct from reality.

”Forbidden? Hahahahaha...”

Camula tilted her head back and laughed, as if she’d heard the funniest thing.

”You Academy students are like hothouse flowers—naive to the point of being cute,” she cooed. ”The world we live in is nothing like your playacting duels. In our world, dueling is life and death. The strong don’t need praise or approval from others. The only honor and proof is surviving countless battles.

”If you’re alive, that’s the only proof of strength. What ’forbidden cards’ could possibly matter?”

Zane clenched his teeth.

Suddenly, he felt this was, in a way, the same difference between Kira and himself. He was the traditional, by-the-book duelist who valued honor. On a brutal, no-rules battlefield, he’d be at a disadvantage.

Kira, on the other hand, didn’t care if a tactic was ”honorable.” Victory was the only measure.

It was like the difference between a ring fight and a death match in hand-to-hand combat. Ring masters are certainly top martial artists, but the ring emphasizes technique, with lots of rules and bans on targeting vital areas.

But in a fight to the death, there are no such rules. When life is on the line, the more something is banned in the ring, the stronger it is—and only killing blows settle it.

Someone like him... is better suited to that dark battlefield, isn’t he?

”Effect of Infernalvania!” Camula cried. ”Send an Zombie monster from your hand to the Graveyard to destroy all monsters on the field!”

Definitely banlist-tier. Kira mused that even ported straight into the TCG, this would still be weight-class heavy. In early formats, a one-card trade for a Raigeki/Black Hole effect is super-broken—and it’s not once per turn, and being Zombie-exclusive means your discard likely remains usable via Graveyard synergies.

In later, faster formats, a simple mass-destruction effect isn’t as outrageous—but on an Zombie field, in, say, an ’Eldlich’ meta...

Yeah. There’s a reason it was never printed.

”I discard the Zombie ’Vampire Lord’ from my hand—activate Infernalvania’s effect!”

Camula screeched, her previously pretty features contorting into something grotesque as her tongue lolled out.

”Wipe out all your Cyber Dragons for me!”

The forbidden power surged, a necrotic storm sweeping Zane’s field. Cyber Dragon and Laser Dragon both shattered.

Zane raised his arm to shield himself, biting down lightly.

”Even a forbidden field has a downside. The turn I use this effect, I can’t Normal Summon.”

Camula drew her tongue back and started giggling again, darting looks at Zane with feigned coquettish charm. But after that dinner-ruining face just now, the contrast made one’s skin crawl even more.

”I activate the Spell Card, Book of Life — Forbidden Spell!” Camula said. ”Special Summon one Zombie from my Graveyard and banish one monster from your Graveyard!”

A card slid out of her Graveyard.

”I Special Summon the ’Vampire Lord’ I just discarded to pay for ’Infernalvania’!”

Cloaked in black, the Vampire Lord arrived with a flourish of his cape and a confident laugh.

”As for your Graveyard... Cyber Dragon—that looks like the absolute core of your deck, doesn’t it?”

Camula tittered.

”In that case, I’ll banish one ’Cyber Dragon.’”

One of the three Cyber Dragons appeared above Zane’s field and then dissolved in a shimmer of gold.

Zane frowned.

The three Cyber Dragons were his soul, his ace, his obsession. Losing even one carried a real cost.

”Then I banish ’Vampire Lord’!”

Camula raised another card high, her tongue snaking out again, the face that had barely recovered sliding straight back into a grotesque rictus.

”This card can’t be Normal Summoned. It can only be Special Summoned by banishing ’Vampire Lord’ from your field! Now appear, and offer up everything for the revival of the glorious vampire clan! Beyond the Lord, the strongest vampire—

—Vampire Genesis, summon!!!”

PS: Bonus chapter at 500 PS