Yugioh [829-831] (Patreon)

Chapter 829: The Store Breakers

Alice-chan, with her messy hair, blinked blankly, pushed aside the stray strands on her forehead in confusion, snuck a glance at Kira, and then looked at the man in the long trench coat before her.

Is this guy really that strong?

Kira said she wasn't his match, and Alice felt a bit unconvinced, puffing her cheeks in protest.

I'm pretty strong too, you know…

"Masumi Momono, right?" Kira scrutinized the man in front of him. "Once known as the 'Store Breakers.' Now you've started taking on mercenary jobs, huh?"

"Oh?" The man in the long coat chuckled softly. "Surprised someone still remembers that name from back in the day? Interesting."

Masumi Momono appeared in the Yu-Gi-Oh! side story "Yu-Gi-Oh! R." Or maybe it's more accurate to call it a side story of a side story, since his tale is unrelated to the main plot of R and only appears in a short story at the end.

To attract more customers, Yugi's grandfather, Solomon Muto, publicly displayed the three Egyptian God cards in his shop, drawing duelists to come and admire them. He also hosted a store tournament, inviting duelists from everywhere to compete for a chance to duel the Duel King himself.

That tournament attracted the infamous "Store Breakers" of the dueling world at the time—Masumi Momono.

He would plunder decks by dueling, extort protection fees from shop owners—a bit like a card-game gangster.

Although he was a street tough, his strength was real. It's said he was undefeated until he met Yugi, taking countless decks from others. Even Joey lost to one of Momono's underlings in the store tournament.

These store breakers excelled at gathering intel on strong opponents in advance and picking the optimal deck to counter them. They built a hundred decks from the stolen cards, calling it the "100 themed Decks," with each deck targeting a different type of opponent.

Choosing the right deck for the right opponent was their biggest advantage. Joey fell victim to this.

Hmm… Kind of like a Stand user similar to Kira.

Of course, in the end, he was still defeated by the invincible King. And although this side story is a bit obscure, the card "Gorz the Emissary of Darkness," which later became a powerful, splashable hand trap in the real-life game, was used by Yugi in this duel.

"Tch, I was hoping to keep a low profile this time, but I run right into the Duel King."

Masumi Momono rubbed his nose bridge.

"So it's true when they say Duel Academy is the King's territory—no exaggeration at all. In that case—"

He lifted his head, letting out a cold laugh.

"If there's no avoiding it, then bring it on!"

"Let's Duel!" x2

[Kira, LP 4000]
[Momono, LP 4000]

"I'll go first. Draw!" Momono took the first move.

He hesitated a bit when selecting his deck.

He was best at gathering intel to counter his enemies, but this opponent was exceptional.

As Duel King, Kira was a public figure—countless people in the dueling world have studied his every public duel.

But the more Momono studied, the more he realized how hard it was to target this guy. Whether deliberately or not, Kira almost never used the same deck twice in public matches.

No consistent archetype, attribute, or monster type. If you tried to combine all his decks, he was like a Transformer—no way to effectively counter him.

If there's anything distinctive about his tactics, it's probably just how annoying he is.

If you tried to counter him with "100 themed Decks" but picked the wrong deck, you'd end up at a total disadvantage.

So, after consideration, Momono decided to play it safe and use the deck he usually relied on when facing unknown opponents.

"I set a monster face-down," Momono said, "and set a face-down spell/trap. Turn end."

"My turn. Draw."

Kira glanced at his drawn card and immediately revealed it.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards from my deck."

"And then, I summon this card."

Kira smiled mysteriously, slapping down a rather unimpressive monster card.

"I summon 'Hand-Holding Genie' in attack mode."

A little demon with black wings appeared, ugly but with a pair of giant hands far too big for its tiny body.

[Hand-Holding Genie, ATK 1000]

"Hand-Holding Genie?" Momono muttered. "Starting off defensively—so this is the so-called King's dueling style?"

Kira just smiled and said nothing.

"Next, I activate the Spell 'Ties of the Brethren'," Kira said. "Pay 1000 LP, select a Level 4 or lower monster I control, and Special Summon two monsters with the same type and level from my deck. But those monsters can't attack or be tributed!" (Anime effect)

[Kira, LP 4000 → 3000]

(In the real-life card, the cost is 2000 LP, you can't Special Summon other monsters that turn, and can't summon monsters with the same name, but in the manga, there's no such restriction.)

He pointed to the Hand-Holding Genie on his field.

"Special Summon two more 'Hand-Holding Genie' from the deck in defense position."

[Hand-Holding Genie, DEF 1600]x2

"Now, battle." Kira said, "First 'Hand-Holding Genie' attacks your face-down monster."

The Genie slapped at the hidden monster, flipping it face-up. It was a kneeling angel with a halo, its huge wings crossed in front of it like a shield.

[Shining Angel, DEF 800]

The Genie smashed the angel's defense, and the angel burst into golden light and vanished.

"Shining Angel's effect: when destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a LIGHT monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck."

Momono searched his deck for a monster and played it.

"Special Summon 'Watapon'!"

A burst of dazzling white light gathered on the field, forming a cute, fluffy white ball with an adorable face.

[Watapon, DEF 300]

"Watapon, huh," Kira said.

This is a monster Yugi used before; its effect is to be Special Summoned if you add a card from your deck to your hand by a card effect. But why fetch this?

"I set two cards face-down, turn end." Kira said.

If there's anything special about Watapon…

Kira quickly realized—it's a Level 1 Fairy-type.

In other words, the opponent likely has that card in his hand...

"My turn, draw!"

As expected, Momono swept his hand with a flourish.

"Activate face-down card, Continuous Spell—
—Court of Justice!"

Kira was not surprised.

Just as expected.

Chapter 830: Tualatin

"Continuous Spell 'Court of Justice'!" Momono said. "This card can only be activated during your Main Phase. When you control a Level 1 Fairy-type monster, you can Special Summon an Fairy-type monster from your hand!"

Just as Kira anticipated—a card that requires a Level 1 Fairy-type to activate could only be Court of Justice.

The question was, what Fairy-type was Momono planning to summon?

Momono didn't immediately act, but narrowed his eyes at the three Hand-Holding Genies on Kira's field.

"Hand-Holding Genie looks like a weak little fiend, but actually it hides a troublesome ability," he sneered. "While Hand-Holding Genie is on the field, your opponent can't select other monsters as attack targets.

And with three Genies on the field, each one demands 'attack only me,' so with all three in play, I can't target any of them for an attack!"

"Heh?" Kira smiled. "As expected of the Store Breakers who built a hundred-counter deck library—your knowledge is impressive."

But Hand-Holding Genie isn't a rare card, so it's not surprising he knows.

"Haha, that was all in the past. Just a name I made for myself when I was young and reckless."

Momono narrowed his eyes.

"Not only that, Hand-Holding Genie's DEF increases by the original DEF of all other monsters in defense position on the field.

Now, with two other Genies in defense position, their DEFs stack up."

[Hand-Holding Genie, DEF 3200]x2

"Over 3000 DEF is hard to crack," Momono said calmly. "In other words, even if I break through your monster effect defense, I still have to crack over 3000 DEF."

He paused but didn't continue.

Well, this is just what you'd expect from the Duel King's tactics. Right from the start, it's a fortress of defense.

But...

He smirked slightly.

He had a countermeasure.

"The one I'm going to summon is this guy—"

Momono's lips curled as he raised his card high. The card seemed to emit a white light bright enough to pierce the darkness.

"Absolute ruler of light, angel who banishes darkness—
—Tualatin!!!"

Countless lights gathered, forming silvery-white armor. A dazzling angel, its face nearly obscured by its brilliance, descended. The entire gloomy forest seemed to turn as bright as day.

[Tualatin, ATK 2800]

"Tualatin?" Kira frowned.

He remembered this one—a powerful lockdown monster, but unless it's summoned by a specific effect, it was just a vanilla in the manga.

"Tualatin is the absolute ruler of light—no darkness is permitted on the field!"

Momono declared sternly.

"Absolute Light Annihilation!"

As he spoke, Tualatin erupted in endless radiance, like a white-hot sun exploding overhead!

Even the shadows in the forest seemed to evaporate instantly; the burning light swept the field. Kira's three Hand-Holding Genies, their joined hands forming a defense, were instantly annihilated, reduced to ashes in an instant.

Kira's brow furrowed slightly.

"I see..." he muttered to himself. "So there's a difference in effect from the real-life card again."

Momono burst out laughing, explaining: "As long as Tualatin, the absolute ruler of light, is on the field, all DARK monsters are destroyed, and DARK monsters cannot exist on the field!"

In the manga, the original text just says, "DARK monsters cannot exist on the field," which is vague and ambiguous—does that mean they can't be summoned, or are destroyed immediately upon being summoned? In practice, it makes a big difference.

But in the real card, the effect is more formally stated: when Tualatin is summoned, all monsters of the declared attribute are destroyed, and afterwards, monsters of that attribute can't be summoned.

And the real card's effect is even stronger.

In the manga, Tualatin was used by the Store Breakers to target Yugi—after analyzing his matches, they noticed Yugi's main deck was mostly DARK monsters, so they used this card as a counter.

But the real card can declare any attribute, not just DARK. Upon being summoned, the duelist can declare any attribute, and as long as Tualatin is on the field, monsters of that attribute are locked out.

Sounds OP, but in practice it's not so easy to use. In the real card, it can only be Special Summoned by having two of your monsters destroyed in one battle phase, and only when summoned this way does it get the lockout effect.

But in the manga, although it can only target DARK, there's no such activation restriction—it works as soon as it hits the field, no special summoning required.

However...

Kira's eyes began to shine dangerously as he examined the high-level angel on the other side.

This is also a pretty rare card. The ability to declare and lock out any attribute is powerful—feels like there's potential to explore.

Not bad, not bad. Not bad at all. Momono really went to great lengths to bring this card to the island—Kira felt grateful.

"Now, your Genie wall is broken!" Momono crowed. "They always say the Duel King is a specialist in lockdowns, that his defenses are impenetrable. But now, it seems that's all just because his previous opponents were scrubs!"

Kira shrugged, not bothering to argue.

"And I haven't used my normal summon yet this turn," Momono shouted. "Let me finish this in one go—
—I tribute 'Watapon' to tribute summon!
Come forth! Airknight Parshath!"

The Watapon vanished in a burst of light, which reformed into a glowing summoning circle. A holy white knight emerged from the circle, landing with dignity.

[Airknight Parshath, ATK 1900]

"Sorry, Duel King. Though our clash is brief, let me finish this right now!"

Momono shouted.

"First up, Tualatin, direct attack!"

A massive sphere of white light formed in front of Tualatin, swirling like a white-hot sun, roaring straight at Kira!

Chapter 831: Biting the Obvious Bait?

"Tualatin's direct attack!"

As the overwhelming blast swept toward him, Kira said nothing, but Eye on the side was already yelling.

"This guy goes straight for the kill, what an aggressive opener!"

But before she could finish, a certain silver-haired magician bonked her on the head with her staff.

The Silent Magician glared at her, her expression clearly saying, "Be quiet, don't embarrass our master!"

Big Eye looked as if she were about to cry: "Big Sis is so mean…"

"I activate face-down card—Trap Card Break Awayl'," Kira said. "During your opponent's battle phase, discard a Spell Card from your hand to immediately end the battle phase and negate all monster effects until the end of the turn."

Kira discarded a card to the graveyard. A golden barrier instantly formed, Tualatin's full-power attack slamming into it without leaving a ripple.

The battle phase ended immediately, and both duel disks switched to "Main Phase 2."

"And the Spell Card I just sent to the graveyard was 'Card of Compensation,'" Kira said calmly. "When this card is sent to the graveyard, I can draw two cards."

Kira drew two cards.

"No need to rush," Kira smiled. "Ending things so quickly would be boring—play with me a little longer."

Momono clicked his tongue.

"Turn end."

"My turn, draw." Kira revealed his hand. "Activate Spell Card 'Graceful Charity.'
Draw three cards, then discard two from my hand."

He glanced at the new cards, then smiled at Momono's field.

"Tualatin—the card that even the previous Duel King faced, right?"

"That's right," Momono replied, smug. "Even Yugi Muto was suppressed by it for a while—the angel that wipes out all darkness and dominates the field of light."

"Is that so?" Kira smiled. "But didn't he get destroyed by an all-DARK deck?"

Momono's smile vanished, turning grim, and he snorted heavily without replying.

"Don't look so tense. A good friend of mine always says duels should be fun—they should make people smile.

Since you're so unhappy..."

Kira leisurely drew a card and smiled.

"Let me use this card to put a smile on your face.

I tribute your 'absolute ruler of light, Tualatin' on your field to Special Summon this powerful monster to your field! The queen of volcanoes, from the Lava family—
—Volcanic Queen, Summon!!!"

Momono: "?"

Tributing my...
Huh?

Flames suddenly erupted from the ground, encircling Tualatin and swallowing him in a pillar of lava. In an instant, the angel was melted by the fire and disappeared into molten metal.

Then, from the lava, a form emerged, at first twisting like a fire dragon, then spreading massive wings of flame, even the head ablaze with eternal fire.

Volcanic Queen, Summon!

[Volcanic Queen, ATK 2500]

"Well, I can't normal summon the turn I summon Volcanic Queen," Kira said with a helpless gesture. "See, I even gave up my precious normal summon for you—isn't that considerate?"

"Exactly!" Eye jumped in to support Kira.

"Aren't you going to say thank you?"

Momono: "..."

Are these two doing a comedy routine?

"Of course, I can't summon a monster for defense—if you attack, that could be trouble." Kira continued, playing another card. "So I activate the Continuous Spell 'Level Limit - Area B.'

This card forces all Level 4 or higher monsters on the field into Defense Position!"

The Spell appeared, and a powerful force pressed down. Momono's Volcanic Queen and Airknight both lowered their heads, dropping into defensive stances.

[Volcanic Queen, ATK 2500 → DEF 1200]
[Airknight Parshath, ATK 1900 → DEF 1400]

Momono frowned slightly.

Here we go again, the walling strategy. One of the Duel King's favorite tactics.

"Finally, I set three cards face-down and end my turn," Kira said.

With a flurry of sound effects, three more face-down cards appeared on Kira's field, exuding an ominous chill.

"Level Limit plus three set cards!" Eye squinted her big eye provocatively.

"Try and break through if you dare!"

Momono ignored the childish taunt.

"No monsters up front, all defenses in the back row, huh..."

He glanced at the Volcanic Queen he now controlled, quickly scanning its effect text.

"At the end of each of your turns, tribute 1 monster you control or take 1000 damage."

Momono gritted his teeth.

Damn, this really is a hot potato.

It sits there, making it clear it wants to be fed—either feed it a monster, or feed it your LP, but it has to eat something every turn.

But it's not without upsides...

Momono said coldly: "Since the Duel King was so generous, let me make use of your gift.

Activate Volcanic Queen's effect!

Once per turn, I can send a card on my field other than Volcanic Queen to the graveyard to inflict 1000 damage to you!"

He swept his hand, pulling the Continuous Spell from his back row.

"I send 'Court of Justice' to the graveyard as ammunition for Volcanic Queen, inflicting 1000 damage to you!"

The sanctuary, shrouded in holy light, burst into flames, quickly burning into a fireball that was absorbed by Volcanic Queen.

Volcanic Queen's flames burned brighter and brighter, until it expelled a column of fire straight at Kira!

"About to get burned by your own monster!" Eye started to shriek dramatically.

Kira snapped his fingers. "Activate Trap Card—'Nature's Reflection.'
This turn, any effect damage you would inflict is instead reflected back to you."

Momono: "!"

Nani?

His pupils shrank as he realized:

Giving me Volcanic Queen and luring me into using its effect… Was that part of the plan, too?

"Ugh!"

[Momono, LP 4000 → 3000]

Struck by his own fire, Momono staggered back, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Damn it…"

"Don't just use what your opponent gives you," Eye now changed tone, her big eye squinting in a smile. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that basic lesson?"

Even Volcanic Queen, who'd just roasted its controller, turned to Momono and growled in agreement.

Exactly—falling for such an obvious bait is just too noob.

Momono: "..."