Yugioh [516-521] (Patreon)

Chapter 516: Preparing for a Rainy Day

"Looks like I won, Pharaoh."

Kira put away his Duel Disk.

Pharaoh: "."

Kira took two steps forward. But as soon as he moved, soldiers leapt up from below the stage, leveling long spears to surround him in a tight ring.

"Stop!"

"Don't take another step."

"You vile cur! How dare you be so disrespectful to the Pharaoh!"

The more the soldiers spoke, the more agitated they became. Some looked ready to thrust their spears straight through him at any moment to avenge the Pharaoh for the humiliation he'd just suffered in the duel.

But Kira seemed oblivious to the ring of spearheads around him. He looked calmly at Abidos the Third.

"Well then, Pharaoh?"

Abidos the Third was breathing heavily. Only now did his breath gradually steady. Using his knee for support, he pushed himself to his feet.

"St-stand down."

All the soldiers turned to the Pharaoh.

"But, Pharaoh…"

"I said stand down." The Pharaoh stood, flicked his cape, and spoke with an unquestionable majesty. "I am a duelist. To lose so miserably is shame enough—do you intend to humiliate me further?"

The soldiers looked at one another, but in the end obeyed, retracting their spears and withdrawing.

The Pharaoh looked at Kira again and exhaled a long, turbid breath.

"You did not take my life," he said coolly. "But I should have already passed on long ago. I only returned to the world of the living to seek a true opponent and a most exhilarating duel."

He stopped there, shook his head, and didn't continue.

A true opponent he had indeed found—yet there had been nothing exhilarating about the duel.

What had just taken place was less a duel and more like him being subjected to a punishment. The Pharaoh was already reflecting—had he done something wrong during his reign? Perhaps committed some unforgivable error without even realizing it? Why else would fate send such a person to judge him?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt his earlier self truly had it coming—that he had nothing better to do than show up three thousand years later looking for a real duelist…

Still, to be fair, this duel had indeed solved his problem.

In the original anime, Abidos the Third faced Jaden. Although he lost then as well, it was a glorious, exhilarating defeat, and the bout was tremendously satisfying.

He even extended a warm invitation to Jaden afterward—suggesting Jaden accompany him to the underworld. The duel hadn't dampened his passion at all; it only whetted his appetite. If they went to the afterlife, they could duel every day—what joy would that be?

But after today's match, His Majesty the Pharaoh had absolutely no desire to duel anyone ever again. He suddenly felt that beating up on his own subordinates every day sounded quite entertaining; he no longer wished to seek out any so-called strong opponents.

As for inviting Kira to the underworld to duel with him?

He'd probably be so infuriated he'd come back to life within a few days, even if he were dead.

"I will return to where I belong," the Pharaoh said.

"Rest assured, I won't come back. I won't trouble the world of the living again."

"There's no rush," Kira said with a smile. "I still need a small favor from you, remember, Pharaoh?"

The Pharaoh blinked, then nodded. "Of course. I am a duelist; my word is my bond. Speak. So long as it's within my power…"

"In fact, it's nothing much," Kira said, turning to look toward the doorway. "I'll need your help with this as well."

Tania's expression was still complicated—she was in a daze.

Even the god of dueling had been punished like she was…

 No—worse than she was, perhaps.

Though she hadn't witnessed Abidos the Third's coffin strategy before, she could more or less tell that His Majesty the Pharaoh had never even gotten to run the tactic he wanted from start to finish. He'd been completely suppressed, almost unable to move.

This guy called "Revolver" was truly terrifying.

She had only come to watch the show, but when Kira suddenly called her by name, Tania was slightly surprised. "Me?"

"Yes."

Kira glanced at the Pharaoh.

"I'm guessing Pharaoh doesn't know where the master of the Shadow Riders is, am I right?"

"I do not," Abidos the Third said, shaking his head.

"I only know he is the man who awakened me. I don't care who he is; he promised there would be powerful duelists—worthy, true opponents.

Until then, I was simply to wait here."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and looked at his hand, clenching it as if testing the flow of life-force within.

"The power he granted me sustains this body in this era, but it will not last long. So I usually sleep to reduce consumption, and only stir when I must duel—or when something important must be said."

Kira nodded. That lined up with what Tania had told him.

"Good. Then I'd like you all to keep a low profile and remain in the Shadow Riders for now—do nothing."

The two Shadow Riders officers exchanged looks, as if finding this hard to believe.

Such a thing existed?

They were dark duelists. To lose a duel meant paying the price—surrendering one's soul or even one's life was commonplace. Yet this man wanted them to remain as they were and do nothing—what sort of sweet deal was this?

"Haha, of course it won't be like that forever. I have a small plan," Kira said with a smile. "Each of you will have a task when the time comes.

When it's time to act, I'll notify you."

The Pharaoh and Tania looked at each other again.

"I understand," the Pharaoh said with a nod, agreeing.

As the defeated, they were in no position to bargain.

Linking this to Kira's earlier questions, Tania ventured a guess. "You want us to be moles within the Shadow Riders, don't you?"

Kira smiled without answering.

"I see… That master of the Shadow Riders—he and you have some sort of history?" Tania asked.

Kira shook his head. "No, we're complete strangers."

"Then why are you so fixated on him?"

"Let's put it this way: our positions are at risk of becoming hostile," Kira said. "And what he intends to do is extremely dangerous. If left unchecked, it could threaten me and many people I know."

Tania pondered for a moment.

"So you've decided to strike first, before any of that happens?"

"Exactly. I'm not fond of uncertainty. If I can resolve things while they're still within my control, all the better."

"…"

There was something she didn't dare say aloud.

The world is full of dark and dangerous beings—do you plan to drag them all out one by one and eliminate them?

And if this man truly could do that—wiping out everything he deemed a threat—

 then wouldn't he become the greatest and most uncontrollable threat in the world?

Chapter 517: Energy Collection

KaibaCorp Headquarters.

"The energy storage unit is functioning properly."

Mokuba standing at the control console handed Kira's Duel Disk back to him.

He had just performed routine inspection and maintenance on Kira's Duel Disk, and adjusted and installed several new components.

Half a month ago, Kira had come specifically for a certain special component—the energy storage unit just mentioned.

It wasn't a common device, but the technology wasn't exactly rare. Its operating principle resembled the Bio-Band Professor Thelonious Viper forced all the students and staff at Duel Academy to wear in the early part of the anime's Other Dimension arc.

In the show, the professor required everyone to wear his issued wrist device, which later turned out to be part of his scheme. Once worn, it couldn't be removed. Every time a person dueled, the device would absorb the energy produced by the duel, siphoning off the duelist's life force as well.

The endpoint of that energy extraction was in the secret lab the professor had built on the island. All the energy from the entire academy's duels would be absorbed into the body of a Duel Spirit stored in that device.

That spirit was Yubel.

At that time, Yubel had returned from the stars through great hardship, grievously weakened—her power was a mere fraction of what it once was, and she couldn't even manifest a physical form. So she manipulated Professor Thelonious Viper mentally and used him to collect energy to fully revive herself.

Inspired by Yubel's method, Kira looked on the dark web and checked with Mokuba for devices with similar functionality. He actually found one.

"Incredible," Mokuba said in surprise after testing the energy storage unit mounted on Kira's Duel Disk. "In just half a month you've collected this much energy… What kind of intense dueling have you been doing?"

"Haha, not that bad. Maybe the duels were just high quality," Kira chuckled.

Still, he had indeed been dueling frequently—active in the Spirit World every night, and fighting the Shadow Riders in reality. Most of those were dark duels.

A single dark duel generates many times the energy of a normal duel, and since he'd had a lot of matches, the energy piled up quickly.

"I've logged all the data, and the Duel Disk tuning is about done—did some maintenance while I was at it," Mokuba said with a grin. "It should be as good as new now."

"Thanks."

Kira took the Duel Disk back and strapped it on.

"Haha, no problem. I should be thanking you," Mokuba replied. "The product is still in testing. What you've gathered is invaluable test data—it'll help a lot with future development."

He paused, then asked curiously, "But why the sudden interest in collecting duel energy? What do you need so much for?"

"Well…"

Kira smiled mysteriously. "Once I'm done, you'll know."

He was collecting energy for the Sacred Beasts.

As mentioned before, the seven keys sealing the Sacred Beasts were a smokescreen. The real way to break their seal was through dueling. In the original story, it was the students' dark duels with the Shadow Riders on Academy Island that awakened the three Beasts.

In theory, if you collected enough duel energy and poured it all at once into the Sacred Beasts' sealing array, you should be able to break the seal as well.

When that time came, even if he couldn't find Kagemaru, as long as he got to the Sacred Beasts before that old fox, the geezer would be left staring, slack-jawed.

"By the way, how are those victims doing?" Kira asked casually.

Mokuba blinked, then understood. "Oh, them."

He meant the souls Kira had rescued from the underground market on the dark web—those sealed into cards.

Although one could release the seals with dark power, returning the souls to their bodies, many of those souls had been separated from their bodies for years. Their bodies were empty shells, ownerless for quite some time. Even if the souls returned, recovery wouldn't necessarily be smooth.

Like Joey in Battle City waking from darkness by the bonds of friendship and sheer willpower—such cases were one-in-a-million, the chosen few. Not everyone could so easily shrug off the darkness with such resilience.

"Most of them have been located, and KaibaCorp is providing the most advanced medical care. Several have already woken up.

But many are still comatose. The medical team is doing everything they can."

"I see."

"You are really surprisingly righteous," Mokuba said with a smile. "Not everyone would step in for strangers' souls."

"I just happened to pass by. If President Kaiba had passed by, he wouldn't have stood by either."

Kira waved as he headed out. "All right, I've got to get back. I still have class tomorrow. Ping me if anything comes up."

"Got it."

Watching him leave, Mokuba smiled faintly, feeling an inexplicable sense of relief.

Perhaps having a new King of Games like this was a blessing for this world.

…

Done with his stint as Revolver, Kira returned to the academy and went straight to bed that night. Nothing else happened.

The next day, after finishing classes, he was halfway through dinner when Jaden had already pinged him several times in rapid succession.

"Done eating yet?"

"Why are you still eating?"

"Come on, log in."

"…"

Under Jaden's barrage of urges, Kira finished at a leisurely pace, returned to his room, and logged in with Jaden.

Link system, start!

 Back to the Spirit World. The two mounted chocobos and continued forward.

With the Vampire Fraulein—a local—as their party member, they finally had a native guide for directions. They didn't have to find a random passerby to interrogate every few steps like before.

With her guidance, they found a gateway out of that dimension. Passing through, they entered a higher layer of dimensions, one step closer to the Supreme King's Castle.

They walked through a dazzling dimensional gate, a flash of blinding white light and a bout of vertigo, and upon landing, a wave of scorching heat washed over them.

When their eyes adjusted, the dark wasteland was gone, replaced by a boundless desert.

The sky was a vast blue, the sun blazing overhead as if it were turning everything to gold. Fine sand rolled like a golden ocean, wave after wave stretching to the horizon with no end in sight.

"So hot!"

Jaden hopped up, looked around, and muttered, "You sure the Supreme King is in a place like this? His taste in real estate is awful."

Chapter 518: Even the God of Gamblers Can't Escape

In fact, it wasn't just this dimension. Judging by what the original story showed, the twelve dimensions under the Supreme King's rule were all desolate, most looking as if they had just been ravaged by war, the populace in misery.

"The Supreme King's Castle probably isn't in this dimension," Kira said.

Both the anime and the Field Spell "Supreme King's Castle," which recreates the show, made it clear the castle wasn't in a desert like this, but in a darker dimension.

Kira tried asking their humanoid GPS, the Vampire Fraulein.

She popped her head out at the summons, but as soon as she did, her face went pale and she quickly shrank back into the Deck.

"What is it?" Kira blinked.

"...The heat," came her voice from the Deck.

Kira paused, then glanced up at the blazing sun overhead and understood.

Right—Duel Spirit or not, she was still a vampire.

Under such a scorching sun in the desert, this dimension must be a living hell for her kind.

"This isn't a dimension I'm familiar with anymore, I'm sorry, Master," she said softly. "I can't help much from here on."

Kira nodded to show he understood.

Jaden asked, "So what now?"

"Back to the old method," Kira said.

The old method being, of course, grabbing a lucky passerby to ask directions.

Hearing that, Jaden's eyes lit up. "Great, great—then this time let's agree in advance: I get first dibs on the duel!"

After their experience in the previous dimension, Jaden had fully adapted to how the Spirit World worked. Before you could ask for directions, you naturally had to duel.

But he'd also noticed that every time they got to that point, he somehow got edged out of the opening. Kira would chat with the other side and, before Jaden realized it, the duel would be underway. By the time he remembered to call dibs, the cards were already on the table.

So Jaden had learned his lesson: they had to agree beforehand; otherwise, with Kira around, he might never get a duel in this lifetime.

Kira laughed. "Sure, you go first."

In the Spirit World, there were few opponents Jaden couldn't beat. Letting him handle a few roadside grunts was no problem.

Just then, they heard the rapid drumming of hooves not far away. Following the sound, they saw a line of sand like a golden ribbon surging toward them. As it drew near, it turned out to be a squad of spirit cavalry riding chocobos, all armored and bearing the unmistakable look of the Supreme King's troops.

Jaden's eyes lit up. "Here we go!"

They had just said "let's duel," and challengers arrived—like a pillow delivered to a dozing man. Jaden was delighted, raising his Duel Disk to start, but Kira lifted a hand to stop him.

"Not yet," Kira said. "Let's hear what they say."

The squad quickly closed in and pulled their chocobos to a halt. The leader was a skull-headed figure in armor and a cloak. He eyed the two of them curiously.

"Soldiers of our army? Just the two of you?" the skull asked. "What are you doing out here… Lost from the main force? Which unit are you with? Who's your commanding officer?"

Jaden froze, not knowing how to answer. But Kira smoothly replied, "We serve under the Dark World Knight, Zure. We were ordered to attack the Vampire Citadel, but we were ambushed and got separated from the main army."

"Zure's men, eh?" The skull nodded in understanding. "Zure and I have always gotten along—we're of the same kindred. Come along with my unit for now. Once we finish up here, I'll take you back to the stronghold."

"Many thanks, sir," Kira said, tugging Jaden along.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Jaden echoed, grinning sheepishly.

And so the two slipped into the formation without a hitch.

As they moved out again, the skull asked, "If you came from that direction, did you see an outsider on the way?"

Kira and Jaden exchanged a glance.

An outsider? That's us.

"Who? What do they look like?" Kira asked. "Maybe we saw him and didn't realize."

"A human warrior like you, blond," said the skull. "If you saw him duel, you would remember. He's hard to miss."

The skull continued, "They say his duels are always full of gambling. If you see coins flipping and dice rolling nonstop, it's probably him."

Jaden's heart lurched. He quickly shot Kira a look.

He knew that Joey was likely in the Spirit World, and that he had been clashing with the Supreme King's garrisons all over the place before the two of them arrived. The Supreme King's forces had begun to issue a wanted order for the Dice Duelist, sending detachments specifically to capture him.

It seemed they had run into one such unit.

"The gambler who's been harassing our army repeatedly?" Kira said. "We've heard of him, but haven't seen him. You have intel he's here?"

"That's right."

The skull sounded rather pleased, and snorted. "He's got some skill, I'll grant him that—he's slain several of our generals and sabotaged multiple camps. Heh, but that ends today."

"You've caught him?" Kira asked.

"Not yet, but his location is exposed," another lieutenant-like demon behind the skull replied. "He's bold, I'll give him that—thinks that a bit of luck with dice lets him do whatever he wants.

Word is he planned to assault an Supreme King garrison here by himself—ridiculous arrogance. But his movements were discovered early. The nearby garrisons are converging to encircle him.

They say the three local army commanders of this dimension have personally come as well. By now, he's probably already been taken."

Hearing how formidable the opposition sounded, Jaden grew anxious and kept shooting looks at Kira.

Kira knew he was worried about Joey, silently asking if they shouldn't hurry to help. But Kira only smiled and gestured for him to relax.

Come on—who is Joey?

With a single die, that ordinary man crashed the god-tier Battle City and forced his way into the Top Four. If Marik hadn't resorted to dirty tricks—using the Immortal Phoenix to mentally attack and forcibly disconnect the opponent—Joey should've beaten Marik, completing the myth of a mortal slaying a god.

He didn't know exactly who the three commanders here were, but based on the Supreme King's generals from the show, he doubted Joey would lose to this lot.

…

After another twenty-odd minutes of marching, a town emerged amid the dunes.

As the skull had said, even from afar they could see a massive army surrounding the town, black banners snapping in the sand-laden wind.

"There it is," the skull laughed.

"This time, that dice-flinging bastard won't escape even with wings."

Chapter 519: Count Me In

After squeezing their way through the Supreme King's ranks, Kira and Jaden finally reached the innermost circle.

From afar, they could at last make out the figure encircled at the army's center.

In the middle of the town stood a man in a loose, robe-like garment that must have been scavenged from local natives. It had probably been white once but was now grimy and sand-stained, the fabric torn in many places. Yet on him it didn't look shabby at all—more like "battle-damaged limited skin"—and he exuded an intimidating presence.

He had blond hair and a straight, upright posture. Time had left its marks, so he didn't match Kira's memory exactly, but the temperament and features were enough to recognize him.

Jaden's eyes lit up. He couldn't help glancing at Kira. "Could that be—"

"Yeah," Kira said with a confirming smile. "That's him."

"The legendary duelist, Joey Wheeler."

No townsfolk remained in sight amid the sandy streets. The Supreme King's army had completely taken over the place.

The God of Gambling now stood atop a crumbling stone house in the center of the town, proudly facing the sea of Supreme King troops around him. A mass of dark spirits and soldiers had encircled the building like an iron barrel, yet no one dared to advance.

Only when three demons in black armor vaulted onto the roof opposite Joey and stared him down from a distance did anyone step forward. Judging by the look of them, they were the three commanders the skull-faced officer had mentioned earlier.

"Give it up," said one of them, a ram-headed demon. "As you can see, you are surrounded by the Supreme King's elite."

The second, a lopsided creature with only one bone wing, called out as well. "The Supreme King welcomes talent. Our army reveres strength.

You've shown first-rate dueling skills and proven your power. Surrender now, avoid pointless resistance, and your previous offenses can be overlooked. The Supreme King's army never stints on opportunities for the strong."

"Shut up!"

Joey cut him off rudely and swung his Duel Disk.

"The last ones said the same. If you want to fight, fight—enough foreplay!"

He paused, then flashed a sly grin.

"Oh? Or are you scared of the cards in my hand?"

The ram-headed demon snorted and glared.

Afraid of your cards?

What a joke. If not for your cozy relationship with Lady Luck and those damned dice…

They'd all heard the stories: two or three highly regarded, powerful generals had seemed to gain the upper hand against this man, only to be inexplicably wiped out by a single, game-swinging die roll.

That was what made him so eerie.

If the opponent simply possessed overwhelming power—crushing everything with sheer dueling might—that would be one thing. People would be cowed, concede his strength, and avoid challenging him lightly. No big problem.

The problem was, he didn't radiate a crushing presence like the Supreme King.

On the transcendent side: this guy didn't have any strong dark aura, nor the domineering aura top experts usually had. He gave a deceptive first impression—like someone you could casually handle.

In terms of dueling: he loved dice and coin tricks. And unlike certain powerhouses, there was no "explosion of destiny energy" when he rolled—nothing like the Supreme King's black aura when activating Super Polymerization, or Sartorius's Light of Destruction when he forced coin flips. That's the kind of pressure true monsters emanated.

But Joey was different. When he activated his effects, there was no special ripple at all.

And he didn't always roll 6s or flip heads. Sometimes he whiffed—like summoning Time Wizard and flipping tails to nuke his own field. Real clowning.

Yet almost always, his bad flips happened when it didn't matter, while the heads and 6s came at the most critical, match-defining moments.

Which lured you into thinking, "I can win this," or "One more heads and I've got him," and so challengers kept pouring in.

And now look—every commander who'd faced him so far had ended up in the dirt.

Weird as hell.

"Heh, I figured that'd be your answer," the ram-headed demon growled.

"We invited you as a formality. Honestly, I hoped you'd refuse. Among those you defeated was my brother. If you surrendered so easily, I'd have no chance for revenge…"

He raised his Duel Disk.

The two other commanders met his gaze, nodded, and stepped apart. The three took positions, spreading out.

"So it's just you three leading this force?" Joey asked. He'd fought the Supreme King's army enough in this otherworld to be used to it.

"All right. Are you coming one by one, or all at once like the last group?"

The three were taken aback.

The sacred ritual of dueling defaults to one-on-one—this is common law across the Twelve Dimensions. But if the opponent consents, two-on-one, three-on-one, even a whole army dogpile isn't impossible.

Still, even the strongest seldom ask for such a handicap. Facing three or more at once is usually suicide.

"Ha, looks like we won't get our turn," chuckled the skull who'd brought Kira and Jaden here. "But it's not a loss—seeing the three commanders act together is rare."

Jaden glanced at Kira. "He looks like he needs help."

His eager eyes might as well have said, Let me at 'em—I'm starving for a duel.

Kira smiled and nodded. "Go."

With permission granted, Jaden lit up and leapt forward.

They'd been exploring the Spirit Dimensions far longer than in the original anime and under far less pressure. Jaden had had ample time to learn how to wield the fully-embodied power of cards in this world, and he was now quite proficient.

Avian's silhouette flashed briefly, grabbed Jaden by the hand, and hoisted him into the air. With a beat of its wings, it carried him over the formation and onto the rooftop facing the demons.

Avian vanished. Jaden landed in a gust beside Joey, dusted his hands, and grinned.

"Three on one? That's not fair. Count me in."

Everyone: "?"

Chapter 520: Team-Up with the God of Gambling

When Joey first saw someone fly out from the enemy ranks, he tensed, thinking it was almost certainly another foe.

As the figure drew near, he saw it was a slightly baby-faced teenager, which puzzled him more. He'd fought the Supreme King's army enough to notice most of them weren't human—mostly bizarre demons. A boy like this was rare.

Then the youth landed at his side, faced the sea of enemy troops, and issued a challenge, leaving Joey even more surprised.

"You are…?"

"Like you, just a passing duelist."

At that moment, Kira also vaulted onto the roof, landing beside Joey with a smile.

"Top Four of the original Battle City, the legendary duelist Joey Wheeler. We've long admired you."

Joey's eyes lit up. He immediately guessed, "You're duelists from the real world too?"

No one in this dimension should know about Battle City. These two didn't look like demons, and they knew about Battle City—Joey was certain they were allies.

"Yep. President Kaiba and Mai asked me to say hello," Kira said with a smile. "They've been looking for you nonstop."

"Mai… and that jerk Kaiba…"

Joey's expression dimmed.

"I see. I've no idea how long I've been here…"

With two more landing on the rooftop, the Supreme King's army stirred. The three commanders barked, "Who are you two? Want to die with him?"

"Shut up!"

Joey shook off his melancholy, rolling up his sleeves with a loud voice. "I can handle you lot myself!"

"No way!" Jaden said. "There are three of them, and there are three of us. We'll each take one—"

He'd already jumped up here—no way he was letting the duel get snatched away.

"How about this," Kira cut in. "Three versus three—team duel. One round, sudden death, so we don't have to play three matches. Fastest way. How about it?"

"Hahahaha! A team duel against the three of us?" the one-winged demon laughed. "Suicidal. Fine—let us show you how terrifying our Power decks are combined!

Three-on-three team rules: teammates share field and Graveyard, and Life Points are the team's total—12,000. Come!"

Joey eyed the two youngsters, hesitating. He'd fought the Supreme King's army time and again, long since putting life and death aside. But dragging these two into it gave him pause.

"Don't worry—we're busted strong. Especially Kira," Jaden said cheerfully.

"A month ago in Duel City GX, Kira beat President Kaiba and the God of Orichalcos. He's the new King of Games."

Joey was stunned and gave Kira another long look.

"King of Games" had belonged to only one person before—and that person was Joey's dearest friend. No one had borne the title in years.

Kaiba needed no explanation, and Joey had witnessed the power of Orichalcos back then—it was absurdly strong. To win such a tournament and take the crown…

"Just got lucky," Kira smiled, taking the center position.

"Settled then—three-on-three, team duel."

Joey finally nodded. 

No objections.

A new generation King of Games—this was the perfect chance to see what he could do.

Down below, the skull who'd escorted Kira and Jaden was dumbfounded.

Wait—how did my allies end up on the other side…

Did I just become a guide for the enemy!?

"Duel!" x6

[Kira's team LP: 12,000]

 [Demon commanders' LP: 12,000]

"My turn first. Draw," said Kira.

"I set one card and end my turn."

The crowd: "???"

He'd basically passed—without even thinking. He ended so fast the ram-headed demon almost missed it.

Joey glanced at Kira in surprise.

This some new meta opener? Passing turn one—was this a trend he hadn't heard of?

"Heh, bricked, did you? With that level of skill you dare challenge the three army commanders? Pathetic," the ram-headed demon sneered. "I won't show mercy for that.

My turn—draw!

 I activate the Spell Terraforming to add a Field Spell from my Deck to hand.

I add the Field Spell 'Power Zone' to my hand!

 Then I activate Power Zone!"

A gravity well unfolded over the field, making even the air feel crushingly heavy.

"That deck again," Jaden muttered, having already seen Zure run it—a "Power" archetype that seemed to be a Spirit World, or rather Supreme King army, exclusive.

"In Power Zone, whenever a monster is destroyed by battle, the controller takes damage equal to that monster's ATK," the demon said with a cold smile.

"Then I Normal Summon 'Power Annihilator.'"

[Power Annihilator, ATK 1800]

A core monster for the Power deck: when battling a monster with higher ATK, it gains 1000 ATK.

"Under multi-duel rules, no one can attack on the first rotation," the demon said. "I set one and end my turn."

"All right! My turn—draw!"

Jaden drew, then, without hesitation, slapped down three cards in a row.

"I activate the Spell Polymerization! I fuse Elemental HERO Heat and Elemental HERO Lady Heat! Fusion Summon—

—Elemental HERO Inferno!"

[Elemental HERO Inferno, ATK 2300]

A FIRE Warrior fusion HERO—one of the new HEROes Jaden inherited from Koyo.

"Of course, I can't attack on Turn 1," Jaden smiled. "So I activate the Quick-Play Spell De-Fusion to undo Inferno's fusion.

Return to the field—Heat, Lady Heat!"

[Elemental HERO Heat, ATK 1600]

 [Elemental HERO Lady Heat, ATK 1300]

Kira mused.

This setup and line… somehow reminded him of that famous five-for-one play.

Next he's not about to tribute both for Blade Edge, is he…

"Heat gains 200 ATK for each Elemental HERO I control!"

[Elemental HERO Heat ATK 1600 → 2000]

"And Lady Heat deals damage in my End Phase equal to the number of face-up HEROes I control x200!"

[Demons' LP 12,000 → 11,600]

"Hmph. All that trouble for a measly 400," the one-winged demon scoffed. "Barely a scratch."

Chapter 521: The Power Formation

"My turn. Draw."

The one-winged demon acted.

"I also summon Power Annihilator in Attack Position."

[Power Annihilator, ATK 1800]

"And I'll add this," he said with a nasty grin. "Continuous Spell: Power Spirit!"

A card flashed into his backrow in a wash of golden light.

"Power Spirit can be activated by paying 1000 LP."

[Demons' LP 11,600 → 10,600]

"Now, my Attack Position monsters cannot be destroyed by battle against monsters whose ATK is lower by 1000 or less," he explained. "And Power Annihilator gains 1000 ATK when it battles a higher-ATK monster."

"In other words, you need 3800+ ATK to beat it," Jaden nodded. He'd seen this combo from Dark World Knight Zure.

"I set one and end."

Joey glanced at Kira, still curious.

He'd heard this guy was the King of Games and had been looking forward to some unbelievable plays—yet the man opened by passing…

But the opening rotation had come back around to him. Joey shelved the thought and focused on the duel.

"My turn—draw!

I activate the Spell Pot of Greed to draw two."

He scanned the opponents' backrow.

Two set cards so far. No one can attack on Turn 1—it was likely they were holding attack-stoppers or counter-traps.

In that case…

"I activate the Spell: Hey, Trunade!!" Joey declared. "All set Spells/Traps on the field return to their owners' hands!"

"What!?"

The two demons with set cards both paled. Their reactions made it obvious those were key counters.

But the gale rose, and both cards were whipped back to their owners' hands without a chance to trigger.

"Tch." 

The ram-head clicked his tongue at the trap in his hand.

In a team duel, by the time it came back to his turn to reset this thing, who knew how many players would act in between.

He shot a look at the last commander who hadn't played yet.

Your turn to carry.

That demon nodded, thumping his chest: Don't worry, big bro. I got this.

"With the backrow threat cleared," Joey said with a grin, "I Normal Summon Marauding Captain!"

[Marauding Captain, ATK 1100]

"I activate the Spell: Transmodify—send a monster on the field to the GY to Special Summon a monster from the Deck with the same Type and Attribute but Level +1.

I send Marauding Captain to the GY and Special Summon a Level 4 EARTH Warrior—

Come! Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

[Gearfried the Iron Knight, ATK 1800]

"Then I activate the Spell: Release Restraint! I tribute Gearfried the Iron Knight, cast off the Iron Knight's armor, and unleash his true power—

—Gearfried the Swordmaster! Come forth!"

Gearfried's black armor exploded in a burst of tremendous energy. From within emerged a bare-chested warrior with wild hair, a transparent cyclone bursting around him.

Joey's classic ace of his early days—Gearfried's fully unleashed form.

[Gearfried the Swordmaster, ATK 2600]

"No one can attack on the first rotation. In that case…"

Joey drew two cards, then flicked a glance toward Kira and smiled.

Once this first rotation ended, Kira would be the first to enter the Battle Phase. He'd leave him a little something.

"I set two and end my turn."

King of Games, huh…

Time to see what kind of duel he puts on.

"End Phase—Lady Heat's effect," Jaden added. "In a team duel, a teammate's turn counts as our side's turn. So at the end of the turn, you take 200 x my number of face-up HEROes—400 damage."

[Demons' LP 11,600 → 11,200]

The last demon commander took his turn. "My turn. Draw."

He glanced over the field: Power Annihilator, Power Zone, and Power Spirit already in place. He chuckled.

"Heh, the field's been set for me. On that foundation…"

He revealed another card.

"I Normal Summon Power Bombard!"

[Power Bombard, ATK 1000]

"When a Power Annihilator on my field has its ATK change, Power Bombard is destroyed, and you take damage equal to Power Annihilator's original ATK.

And I'll add this—"

He swept out another card.

"Continuous Spell: Ring of Fiendish Power! While I control two or more Fiend monsters, you cannot attack the Fiend with the lowest ATK. Also, when a Fiend destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you take damage equal to that monster's DEF."

"I see," Joey nodded. "Because of this Ring of Fiendish Power, we can only attack Power Annihilator. When Power Annihilator battles, it triggers Power Bombard to explode for damage.

And with Power Spirit up, we need at least 3800 ATK to beat Power Annihilator…"

"Hahaha, correct," the demon crowed. "And when Power Annihilator destroys a monster, Power Zone deals you damage equal to that monster's ATK. Then Ring of Fiendish Power deals you damage equal to that monster's DEF!"

"In a 4000 LP duel, that could easily be an OTK," Jaden said, impressed. "Ohhh, this formation is kinda nasty."

"Exactly. That's the strength of a team duel—comrades covering one another to assemble the Power Formation as fast as possible!"

The demon shared a look with his allies, then slowly drew a card, smirking inwardly.

He also had a near-universal power trap in hand: the Counter Trap: Ultimate Providence.

When the opponent activates a card, by discarding a card of the same type (Monster, Spell, or Trap), you negate and destroy it.

And right now, he had one of each—Monster, Spell, Trap—in hand.

A universal counter.

Whatever they tried next turn would be interrupted.

Rock solid.

"I set one and end my turn," the demon said confidently.

"My turn. Draw," said Kira.

"From this turn on, attacks are no longer forbidden," the ram-headed demon taunted. "Go on—try and hit us… if you can!"