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## Chapter 375: Clouds and Storms
"Amon Garlem."
"Dan Kuroto."
Stepping onto the Duel Platform, Hayato and Amon simply stated their names to confirm their opponents' identities, without exchanging many pleasantries.
For Hayato, Amon Garlem was merely one of the characters who would appear in the future world. The current Amon, not yet fully grown, was not worth Hayato paying much attention to.
For Amon Garlem, although the name "Dan Kuroto" had entered the top ranks in the Preliminary Ranking the previous day, compared to other well-known duelists, he was just a minor character. To Amon, whose goal was to be Champion, he was just one of countless opponents he would defeat along the way.
The Referee confirmed that both duelists were ready, nodded, and announced the start of the Duel, then quickly retreated to the side of the Duel Platform.
Although Hayato might not remember, this Referee happened to be the one who officiated Hayato's Duel against D.D.. He had a particularly deep impression of the massive, terrifying-looking Kaiju used by Hayato.
Hayato turned his head to look at the scoreboard by the arena: "My current ranking is twenty-fifth. The penalty for surrendering is acceptable."
"But I still prefer being first. So, Operation: Defeat Amon Garlem, commencing."
Amon heard Hayato's words and pushed up his glasses with an expressionless face: "It doesn't matter, because I won't lose."
"Duel!" x2
["Dan Kuroto": 4000 LP]
[Amon: 4000 LP]
"I'll take the first turn, Draw!" Hayato seized the right to go first and drew a card. "I activate the effect of King of the Swamp in my hand. During my Main Phase, I discard King of the Swamp from my hand and send it to the Graveyard to add the Spell Card "Fusion" from my Deck to my hand."
"Then, I activate the Spell Card "Fusion"! I use the three Cyber Dragons in my hand as Fusion Material! Here it comes, Cyber End Dragon!!"
As an intense piano melody abruptly sounded from Hayato's Duel Disk, the Fusion Vortex swallowed the three Cyber Dragons from Hayato's hand. The massive Cyber End Dragon extended its three heads from the vortex, standing tall on Hayato's field!
[Cyber End Dragon] [10☆/LIGHT Attribute]
[Machine Type/Fusion/Effect]
[4000 ATK/2800 DEF]
"Hmm, it's not Kaiju?" Amon was slightly taken aback.
Although Amon Garlem wore an indifferent expression, in reality, he had spent the entire previous night collecting data on the duelists ranked above him on the points list and memorizing the cards they used.
Duelist #114514, "Dan Kuroto," used a Kaiju Deck with effects that Special Summon them to the opponent's field by Tributing their opponent's monster, and used cards like Owner's Seal to achieve an OTK. His points ranking was just one spot ahead of Amon Garlem before Hayato surrendered to Kaiba.
But throughout yesterday, "Dan Kuroto" hadn't revealed the information that he actually used a Cyber Style Deck.
Hayato also noticed the surprise on Amon's face, but he didn't mind, setting two cards from his hand: "Then I Set two cards and end my turn."
["Dan Kuroto": 4000 LP, 0 cards in hand]
[Cyber End Dragon] [4000 ATK]
[Set cards] x2
It was Amon's turn. Before starting his turn, Amon briefly recalled the dueling style of Cyber Style as he remembered it. Although the current Master, Samejima Iemitsu, had taken a strange route that went against tradition, the past information Amon had collected indicated that the Cyber Dragon Deck primarily focused on an aggro style.
And as the strongest monster of Cyber Style, formed by the Fusion of three Cyber Dragons, Cyber End Dragon not only had a high ATK of 4000 but also possessed piercing damage. Keeping monsters in Defense Position was meaningless against Cyber End Dragon.
However, this point had no influence on the deck Amon was using—
"My turn, Draw!" Having thought of a strategy, Amon drew a card from his deck. "I Attack Position Summon Cloudian - Turbulence."
A large mass of clouds appeared out of nowhere on Amon's field. Within the clouds, a storm seemed to be brewing. The shape of the cloud mass changed rapidly, and finally, human-like eyes and a mouth appeared on the cloud mass!
[Cloudian - Turbulence] [4☆/WATER Attribute]
[Fairy Type/Effect]
[800 ATK/0 DEF]
"As expected, it's Cloudian."
Although Hayato wasn't as diligent and studious as Amon, collecting information overnight, based on his impression of the future Amon Garlem, Hayato also remembered the existence of this deck.
Most Cloudian monsters are WATER Attribute Fairy Type monsters. Because natural clouds and fog can be dispersed but are difficult to destroy, Cloudian monsters have the common effect shared by most monsters where they are not destroyed by battle, but they self-destruct when in Defense Position.
Furthermore, most Cloudian monsters require the consumption of Fog Counters to activate their effects.
"Turbulence, formally known as turbulent flow," Amon explained calmly, pushing up his glasses. "Although seemingly having shape, cloud masses are ultimately fluid. The true form of Cloudian - Turbulence is a high-speed flowing cloud mass."
"What I use is the Cloudian deck associated with natural clouds. Therefore, when I successfully Summon Cloudian - Turbulence, I activate its effect. I Place Fog Counters on Cloudian - Turbulence equal to the number of Cloudian monsters on the field."
Beside the grayish-blue Cloudian - Turbulence, a wisp of cloud quickly materialized, forming a blue and white cloud symbol that began to rotate around Cloudian - Turbulence.
However, this Fog Counter only appeared for a moment before disappearing as Amon activated the effect of Cloudian - Turbulence: "I activate the effect of Cloudian - Turbulence. By removing one Fog Counter placed on it, I Special Summon one Cloudian - Smoke Ball from my Deck or Graveyard."
The Fog Counter that had just appeared rotated closer and closer to Cloudian - Turbulence's body and was swallowed. Then, with a burst of airflow from a hole on top of Cloudian - Turbulence's head, a cute-looking yellow cloud mass appeared on Amon's field.
Seemingly made dizzy by the high-speed rotation inside Cloudian - Turbulence, the dizzy Cloudian - Smoke Ball lay weakly on the field, appearing very weak.
[Cloudian - Smoke Ball] [1☆/WATER Attribute]
[Fairy Type/Normal Monster]
[200 ATK/600 DEF]
Amon was about to explain, but Hayato spoke with interest: "Smoke Ball, the most basic and common cloud."
"Duel Monsters themed around the ethereal and leisurely clouds, truly inspiring."
Hearing "Dan Kuroto's" evaluation of "clouds," Amon neither refuted nor agreed, merely pushing up his glasses, making it unclear whether he agreed with Hayato's thoughts or opposed them: "Is that so? In that case, let me reveal more of the power of the clouds."
"I activate the Spell Card "Cloud Control"! I Tribute one Cloudian monster on the field—that is, Cloudian - Smoke Ball—and Place three Fog Counters on one Face-up Position monster on the field."
Cloudian - Smoke Ball hadn't even had time to recover from its dizziness when it suddenly found its body continuously turning into fog and dissipating. It transformed into three new Fog Counters beside Cloudian - Turbulence.
"The effect of Cloudian - Turbulence does not have a once per turn restriction. This means I can use its effect three more times." Amon ordered, "Activate the effect again! Special Summon the Cloudian - Smoke Ball in my Graveyard and the other two Cloudian - Smoke Balls from my Deck to the field!"
As the three Fog Counters were swept into Cloudian - Turbulence, the previous scene repeated, and three Cloudian - Smoke Balls were successively Summoned to Amon's field. Although their quality wasn't high, Summoning four monsters on the field in one turn was enough to prove that Amon Garlem's strength was extraordinary.
And the cost for this was merely Amon Garlem's one Normal Summon and two cards from his hand.
"Spell Card "Trade-In"! I send one Cloudian - Smoke Ball on the field to the Graveyard and draw two cards from my Deck." After sending one Smoke Ball to the Graveyard and drawing two cards, Amon looked up at the tall Cyber End Dragon and said calmly, "The leisure of the clouds ends here. From now on, I will show you the terror of celestial phenomena, Dan Kuroto."
"I banish the Cloudian - Smoke Ball from my Graveyard from play! From my hand, I Special Summon Cloudian - Storm Dragon!"
The calm airflow surged again. On Amon's field, a ferocious cloud dragon appeared, completely different in style from the previous Cloudian - Smoke Ball. It looked more like a Fiend or Zombie than a Fairy Type!
[Cloudian - Storm Dragon] [4☆/WATER Attribute]
[Fairy Type/Special Summon/Effect]
[1000 ATK/0 DEF]
Perhaps having just accepted the cute appearance of Smoke Ball, many people among the onlookers were startled by the appearance of Cloudian - Storm Dragon.
However, Amon's gaze towards Storm Dragon was very calm, as if he didn't see any difference between the ugly Cloudian - Storm Dragon and the cute Cloudian - Smoke Ball.
"Cloudian - Storm Dragon does not belong to the avatars of clouds, but symbolizes the storm that possesses dominance over clouds. Its effect is, once per turn, I can Place Fog Counters on one monster on the field."
Hayato raised an eyebrow: "But you should only have a total of three Cloudian - Smoke Balls, two of which are already on the field. And the effect of Cloudian - Turbulence has no purpose for the Cloudian - Smoke Ball that was banished."
"I am well aware of that."
As he spoke, Amon pointed his finger at Cyber End Dragon on Hayato's field. "The target of Cloudian - Storm Dragon's effect is a monster on the field, not just a Cloudian on my field. This means that even your Cyber End Dragon on the field is within the range of the effect."
"I choose Cyber End Dragon as the target and Place one Fog Counter on it!"
Cloudian - Storm Dragon, sticking out a scarlet tongue, flapped its iron-blue wings on its back. Its liquid body compressed, and a blast of cold air flew out from its mouth, condensing a Fog Counter beside Cyber End Dragon.
Being an electronic life form, although it didn't suffer any damage from the invasion of high-humidity, low-temperature airflow, Cyber End Dragon seemed very annoyed by the appearance of the Fog Counter beside it, twisting its long tail and becoming restless.
"It's not over yet! I activate the Spell Card "Magical Stone Excavation"! I discard two cards from my hand to add one Spell Card from my Graveyard to my hand. I choose "Cloud Control," and I Tribute the second Cloudian - Smoke Ball to activate it, Placing three more Fog Counters on Cyber End Dragon!"
The cold airflow struck again. As the number of Cloudian - Smoke Balls on Amon's field decreased to only the last one, four Fog Counters surrounded Cyber End Dragon on Hayato's field.
Although no actual damage had been dealt so far, nor had Cyber End Dragon been affected in the slightest, the sense of unease caused by Amon's series of operations grew stronger.
"Hmph, Muda da! You can't defeat Cyber End Dragon with your meaningless operations and those weak Cloudian monsters! This is the strongest machine!" Hayato folded his arms across his chest, a confident smile on his face. "Blindly adding Fog Counters to Cyber End Dragon is useless!"
"I never do anything meaningless, Dan Kuroto." Amon calmly pushed up his glasses and played a card from his hand. "Technology has its evolution route, and clouds also have their way of survival. This card is the method I will use to defeat your Cyber End Dragon."
"Spell Card "Diamond Dust Cyclone"!"
As Amon played that card from his hand, a sparkling storm, like one mixed with stars, rose from the ground and swept across the entire field. In an instant, Cyber End Dragon, surrounded by four Fog Counters, was frozen, then torn apart and destroyed by the storm!
"The effect of Diamond Dust Cyclone can only be activated by targeting one monster on the field with four or more Fog Counters," Amon explained. "That monster is destroyed, and for every four Fog Counters, I can draw one card from my Deck."
"Although you possess an overwhelming advantage in actual power, a wise person will play to their strengths."
After drawing a card, Amon waved his hand and ordered: "Now, enter my Battle Phase!"
"Cloudian - Smoke Ball, Cloudian - Turbulence, and Cloudian - Storm Dragon, initiate direct attacks on Dan Kuroto!"
"Amon Garlem."
"Dan Kuroto."
Stepping onto the Duel Platform, Hayato and Amon simply stated their names to confirm their opponents' identities, without exchanging many pleasantries.
For Hayato, Amon Garlem was merely one of the characters who would appear in the future world. The current Amon, not yet fully grown, was not worth Hayato paying much attention to.
For Amon Garlem, although the name "Dan Kuroto" had entered the top ranks in the Preliminary Ranking the previous day, compared to other well-known duelists, he was just a minor character. To Amon, whose goal was to be Champion, he was just one of countless opponents he would defeat along the way.
The Referee confirmed that both duelists were ready, nodded, and announced the start of the Duel, then quickly retreated to the side of the Duel Platform.
Although Hayato might not remember, this Referee happened to be the one who officiated Hayato's Duel against D.D.. He had a particularly deep impression of the massive, terrifying-looking Kaiju used by Hayato.
Hayato turned his head to look at the scoreboard by the arena: "My current ranking is twenty-fifth. The penalty for surrendering is acceptable."
"But I still prefer being first. So, Operation: Defeat Amon Garlem, commencing."
Amon heard Hayato's words and pushed up his glasses with an expressionless face: "It doesn't matter, because I won't lose."
"Duel!" x2
["Dan Kuroto": 4000 LP]
[Amon: 4000 LP]
"I'll take the first turn, Draw!" Hayato seized the right to go first and drew a card. "I activate the effect of King of the Swamp in my hand. During my Main Phase, I discard King of the Swamp from my hand and send it to the Graveyard to add the Spell Card "Fusion" from my Deck to my hand."
"Then, I activate the Spell Card "Fusion"! I use the three Cyber Dragons in my hand as Fusion Material! Here it comes, Cyber End Dragon!!"
As an intense piano melody abruptly sounded from Hayato's Duel Disk, the Fusion Vortex swallowed the three Cyber Dragons from Hayato's hand. The massive Cyber End Dragon extended its three heads from the vortex, standing tall on Hayato's field!
[Cyber End Dragon] [10☆/LIGHT Attribute]
[Machine Type/Fusion/Effect]
[4000 ATK/2800 DEF]
"Hmm, it's not Kaiju?" Amon was slightly taken aback.
Although Amon Garlem wore an indifferent expression, in reality, he had spent the entire previous night collecting data on the duelists ranked above him on the points list and memorizing the cards they used.
Duelist #114514, "Dan Kuroto," used a Kaiju Deck with effects that Special Summon them to the opponent's field by Tributing their opponent's monster, and used cards like Owner's Seal to achieve an OTK. His points ranking was just one spot ahead of Amon Garlem before Hayato surrendered to Kaiba.
But throughout yesterday, "Dan Kuroto" hadn't revealed the information that he actually used a Cyber Style Deck.
Hayato also noticed the surprise on Amon's face, but he didn't mind, setting two cards from his hand: "Then I Set two cards and end my turn."
["Dan Kuroto": 4000 LP, 0 cards in hand]
[Cyber End Dragon] [4000 ATK]
[Set cards] x2
It was Amon's turn. Before starting his turn, Amon briefly recalled the dueling style of Cyber Style as he remembered it. Although the current Master, Samejima Iemitsu, had taken a strange route that went against tradition, the past information Amon had collected indicated that the Cyber Dragon Deck primarily focused on an aggro style.
And as the strongest monster of Cyber Style, formed by the Fusion of three Cyber Dragons, Cyber End Dragon not only had a high ATK of 4000 but also possessed piercing damage. Keeping monsters in Defense Position was meaningless against Cyber End Dragon.
However, this point had no influence on the deck Amon was using—
"My turn, Draw!" Having thought of a strategy, Amon drew a card from his deck. "I Attack Position Summon Cloudian - Turbulence."
A large mass of clouds appeared out of nowhere on Amon's field. Within the clouds, a storm seemed to be brewing. The shape of the cloud mass changed rapidly, and finally, human-like eyes and a mouth appeared on the cloud mass!
[Cloudian - Turbulence] [4☆/WATER Attribute]
[Fairy Type/Effect]
[800 ATK/0 DEF]
"As expected, it's Cloudian."
Although Hayato wasn't as diligent and studious as Amon, collecting information overnight, based on his impression of the future Amon Garlem, Hayato also remembered the existence of this deck.
Most Cloudian monsters are WATER Attribute Fairy Type monsters. Because natural clouds and fog can be dispersed but are difficult to destroy, Cloudian monsters have the common effect shared by most monsters where they are not destroyed by battle, but they self-destruct when in Defense Position.
Furthermore, most Cloudian monsters require the consumption of Fog Counters to activate their effects.
"Turbulence, formally known as turbulent flow," Amon explained calmly, pushing up his glasses. "Although seemingly having shape, cloud masses are ultimately fluid. The true form of Cloudian - Turbulence is a high-speed flowing cloud mass."
"What I use is the Cloudian deck associated with natural clouds. Therefore, when I successfully Summon Cloudian - Turbulence, I activate its effect. I Place Fog Counters on Cloudian - Turbulence equal to the number of Cloudian monsters on the field."
Beside the grayish-blue Cloudian - Turbulence, a wisp of cloud quickly materialized, forming a blue and white cloud symbol that began to rotate around Cloudian - Turbulence.
However, this Fog Counter only appeared for a moment before disappearing as Amon activated the effect of Cloudian - Turbulence: "I activate the effect of Cloudian - Turbulence. By removing one Fog Counter placed on it, I Special Summon one Cloudian - Smoke Ball from my Deck or Graveyard."
The Fog Counter that had just appeared rotated closer and closer to Cloudian - Turbulence's body and was swallowed. Then, with a burst of airflow from a hole on top of Cloudian - Turbulence's head, a cute-looking yellow cloud mass appeared on Amon's field.
Seemingly made dizzy by the high-speed rotation inside Cloudian - Turbulence, the dizzy Cloudian - Smoke Ball lay weakly on the field, appearing very weak.
[Cloudian - Smoke Ball] [1☆/WATER Attribute]
[Fairy Type/Normal Monster]
[200 ATK/600 DEF]
Amon was about to explain, but Hayato spoke with interest: "Smoke Ball, the most basic and common cloud."
"Duel Monsters themed around the ethereal and leisurely clouds, truly inspiring."
Hearing "Dan Kuroto's" evaluation of "clouds," Amon neither refuted nor agreed, merely pushing up his glasses, making it unclear whether he agreed with Hayato's thoughts or opposed them: "Is that so? In that case, let me reveal more of the power of the clouds."
"I activate the Spell Card "Cloud Control"! I Tribute one Cloudian monster on the field—that is, Cloudian - Smoke Ball—and Place three Fog Counters on one Face-up Position monster on the field."
Cloudian - Smoke Ball hadn't even had time to recover from its dizziness when it suddenly found its body continuously turning into fog and dissipating. It transformed into three new Fog Counters beside Cloudian - Turbulence.
"The effect of Cloudian - Turbulence does not have a once per turn restriction. This means I can use its effect three more times." Amon ordered, "Activate the effect again! Special Summon the Cloudian - Smoke Ball in my Graveyard and the other two Cloudian - Smoke Balls from my Deck to the field!"
As the three Fog Counters were swept into Cloudian - Turbulence, the previous scene repeated, and three Cloudian - Smoke Balls were successively Summoned to Amon's field. Although their quality wasn't high, Summoning four monsters on the field in one turn was enough to prove that Amon Garlem's strength was extraordinary.
And the cost for this was merely Amon Garlem's one Normal Summon and two cards from his hand.
"Spell Card "Trade-In"! I send one Cloudian - Smoke Ball on the field to the Graveyard and draw two cards from my Deck." After sending one Smoke Ball to the Graveyard and drawing two cards, Amon looked up at the tall Cyber End Dragon and said calmly, "The leisure of the clouds ends here. From now on, I will show you the terror of celestial phenomena, Dan Kuroto."
"I banish the Cloudian - Smoke Ball from my Graveyard from play! From my hand, I Special Summon Cloudian - Storm Dragon!"
The calm airflow surged again. On Amon's field, a ferocious cloud dragon appeared, completely different in style from the previous Cloudian - Smoke Ball. It looked more like a Fiend or Zombie than a Fairy Type!
[Cloudian - Storm Dragon] [4☆/WATER Attribute]
[Fairy Type/Special Summon/Effect]
[1000 ATK/0 DEF]
Perhaps having just accepted the cute appearance of Smoke Ball, many people among the onlookers were startled by the appearance of Cloudian - Storm Dragon.
However, Amon's gaze towards Storm Dragon was very calm, as if he didn't see any difference between the ugly Cloudian - Storm Dragon and the cute Cloudian - Smoke Ball.
"Cloudian - Storm Dragon does not belong to the avatars of clouds, but symbolizes the storm that possesses dominance over clouds. Its effect is, once per turn, I can Place Fog Counters on one monster on the field."
Hayato raised an eyebrow: "But you should only have a total of three Cloudian - Smoke Balls, two of which are already on the field. And the effect of Cloudian - Turbulence has no purpose for the Cloudian - Smoke Ball that was banished."
"I am well aware of that."
As he spoke, Amon pointed his finger at Cyber End Dragon on Hayato's field. "The target of Cloudian - Storm Dragon's effect is a monster on the field, not just a Cloudian on my field. This means that even your Cyber End Dragon on the field is within the range of the effect."
"I choose Cyber End Dragon as the target and Place one Fog Counter on it!"
Cloudian - Storm Dragon, sticking out a scarlet tongue, flapped its iron-blue wings on its back. Its liquid body compressed, and a blast of cold air flew out from its mouth, condensing a Fog Counter beside Cyber End Dragon.
Being an electronic life form, although it didn't suffer any damage from the invasion of high-humidity, low-temperature airflow, Cyber End Dragon seemed very annoyed by the appearance of the Fog Counter beside it, twisting its long tail and becoming restless.
"It's not over yet! I activate the Spell Card "Magical Stone Excavation"! I discard two cards from my hand to add one Spell Card from my Graveyard to my hand. I choose "Cloud Control," and I Tribute the second Cloudian - Smoke Ball to activate it, Placing three more Fog Counters on Cyber End Dragon!"
The cold airflow struck again. As the number of Cloudian - Smoke Balls on Amon's field decreased to only the last one, four Fog Counters surrounded Cyber End Dragon on Hayato's field.
Although no actual damage had been dealt so far, nor had Cyber End Dragon been affected in the slightest, the sense of unease caused by Amon's series of operations grew stronger.
"Hmph, Muda da! You can't defeat Cyber End Dragon with your meaningless operations and those weak Cloudian monsters! This is the strongest machine!" Hayato folded his arms across his chest, a confident smile on his face. "Blindly adding Fog Counters to Cyber End Dragon is useless!"
"I never do anything meaningless, Dan Kuroto." Amon calmly pushed up his glasses and played a card from his hand. "Technology has its evolution route, and clouds also have their way of survival. This card is the method I will use to defeat your Cyber End Dragon."
"Spell Card "Diamond Dust Cyclone"!"
As Amon played that card from his hand, a sparkling storm, like one mixed with stars, rose from the ground and swept across the entire field. In an instant, Cyber End Dragon, surrounded by four Fog Counters, was frozen, then torn apart and destroyed by the storm!
"The effect of Diamond Dust Cyclone can only be activated by targeting one monster on the field with four or more Fog Counters," Amon explained. "That monster is destroyed, and for every four Fog Counters, I can draw one card from my Deck."
"Although you possess an overwhelming advantage in actual power, a wise person will play to their strengths."
After drawing a card, Amon waved his hand and ordered: "Now, enter my Battle Phase!"
"Cloudian - Smoke Ball, Cloudian - Turbulence, and Cloudian - Storm Dragon, initiate direct attacks on Dan Kuroto!"
