Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1718 The Last Knight (Part 1)

Seeing that Jaden's hand seemed to be overflowing and he drew another card, Koji Sato regretted that he didn't have any more cards to cut off his opponent's hand. He should have included more cards like "Forced Lure" in his deck.

Even so, he still had four cards left in his hand that he could play. He played one and said, "Quick-Play Spell Card [Burial from Another Dimension], target a maximum of three banished monsters from both sides. I choose Jaden, your banished [E·Hero Order Neos].

"Return it to your grave."

Before the Jaden, in order to activate the "Elemental Protection", the "E·hero Order Neos" was temporarily banished, which prevented the "E·hero Order Neos" from being taken away by Koji Sato. At the end of the turn, it will return to the field as a vital force. Its 3500 attack power is quite threatening, and it can easily defeat the "Divine Beast King - Barbaros".

However, the situation changes after Koji Sato uses [Burial from Another Dimension]. [Elemental Protection] only banishes the character until the end of the turn, but if the character is returned to the graveyard while banished, [Elemental Protection] cannot pull the character back from the graveyard to the field.

"Finally, place two cards face down on my back row, and my turn ends."

Koji Sato, having filled the empty space in the back row with a card and holding only one card in his hand, calmly declared the end of his turn.

[Koji Sato: 3000LP, hand 4→3→1]

【The Knight with Scabbed Wounds】【ATK0】

【Divine Beast King - Barbaros】【ATK3000】

Backcourt: [Soul Barrier] [Ride] [Face Card] x3
The card he had in his hand was the Equip Spell Card [Stonehenge]. Although it was an Equip Spell Card, it was specifically used to revive monsters with 0 ATK from the Graveyard. However, the [Scabbed Knight] he needed to use this card was still on the field and hadn't been destroyed, so there was no need to use it.

The two cards he just set face down were "Hell Aggregate," which can seize control of the opponent's Fusion Summoned monster, and "Darkness of the Scapegoat," which can protect his own cards from being destroyed by card effects. No matter if Jaden Yuki draws "Lightning Strike" or "Great Storm," he will not be able to destroy his front and back row cards.

"Attack me all you want, Jaden Yuki!"

"I don't need you to tell me that kind of thing, teacher!" Judai placed his finger on the deck and drew a card without hesitation. "My turn, draw!"

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, Hand 1→2]

I came here to duel with Professor Sato Koji in order to find Professor Cobra, but this is already the fourth round, and I have wasted a considerable amount of time here. Although it is normal for a duel to last four rounds, I simply do not have that much time.

The more eager Jaden was to concentrate on the duel, the more he couldn't ignore what Koji Sato had just said. Even though he still couldn't understand it, those words were etched into his heart and wouldn't go away.

He could only force himself not to think, looking at the card he had drawn and saying, "Although [E-Hero Order Neos], which was banished by [Elemental Blessing], couldn't return to my field, it can still help me even in my graveyard—Spell Card [Hero's Legacy]! This card can only be activated by returning two Fusion Monsters that require [Hero] monsters as Fusion Material to the Fusion Deck. I return [E-Hero Valiant Neos] and [E-Hero Order Neos] to the Fusion Deck."

Retrieving two cards from the graveyard, Jaden draws another card from his deck: "Next, I draw three cards!"

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, Hand 2→4]

"But similarly, I can also draw two cards under the effect of [Convenience]," Koji Sato reminded Judai, drawing a card from his deck as well. "Because of [Convenience], you can't outlast me in terms of hand resources."

[Koji Sato: 3000LP, hand 1→3]

"Even if you didn't say it, I already saw it." Having witnessed how his opponent's hand had suddenly grown to more than eight cards in the last turn due to his actions, Judai knew perfectly well that with [Convenient] on the field, he absolutely couldn't compete with Sato Koji in terms of resource management and hand replenishment. "However, as long as I can unleash enough bursts of power to end the duel this turn, it won't matter how many cards you have in your hand, right?"

"Because—no matter how many cards you have in your hand, they're meaningless if you can't play them!"

As Jaden spoke, he played a card from his hand and said, "I discard the [Demon King of the Swamp] from my hand to activate its effect, and add this [Displacement Fusion] card, whose name is set to [Fusion], from my deck to my hand."

"Then I activate this spell card, Pot of Greed, to return five monster cards from my graveyard—[Swamp Demon King], [N-Radiant Moss], [E-Hero Shadow Mist Lady], [Winged Kuriboh], and [E-Hero Bubble Man]—to my deck, shuffle them, and then draw two cards from my deck."

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, hand cards 4→4→5]

[Koji Sato: 3000LP, hand 3→5]

Because of Jaden's second draw, Koji Sato also drew a card at the same time with the effect of [Bonus]. The number of cards in both players' hands was now equal, but Jaden was determined to go all out in this turn, and he became quite resolute and unwavering when he acted.

—This habit will not change even after several years. Several years ago, when Jaden from the future fought alongside Hayato against Paradox, Jaden had an extremely stubborn move of forcing the [Increased G] to launch the attack.

Seeing that Sato Koji's hand was comparable to his own, Jaden didn't care at all and played a card saying, "Next, I will activate the Spell Card 'Hero Arrives'. If I do not control any face-up monsters, I can only activate it by paying half of my Life Points."

"Special Summon this [E-hero Bubble Man], a Level 4 or lower [E-hero] monster from my Deck, and then draw two more cards from my Deck due to its effect!"

【游城十代：4000→2000LP，手牌4→3→5】

【E·hero Foam Warrior】【ATK800】

[Koji Sato: 3000LP, hand 5→7]

"Then, this card, the Spell Card [O-Beyond Soul], targets one of my [E-Hero] Normal Monsters in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to the field." Jaden retrieved the card from his Graveyard and placed it on the Duel Disk, shouting, "Return to my side, [E-Hero Neos]!"

【E·hero New Universe】【ATK2500】

[E·Hero Neos], which was previously sent from the deck to the graveyard in [Contact Fusion], has reappeared on Jaden's field. Seeing that Jaden has two [E·Hero] monsters with different attributes on his field, John speculated: "Is Jaden going to fuse [E·Hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike] with this combination?"

"But right now, what Jaden needs most is probably not [E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike] which can search for [Beloved] series cards, right? Without dealing with [Soul Barrier] and the three face-down cards on the opponent's back field that have not yet been revealed, even if Jaden finds [Beloved Hero], he won't be able to win as easily as before."

Hearing Asuka's words, Judai said smugly, "Because I've only used it once, Asuka, you guys really don't remember it well enough. It's not [E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike] nor [E·hero Sunrise Warrior], the one I'm going to fuse and summon next is [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder].

"Spell Card [Displacement Fusion] activated! Send [E-Hero Neos] and [E-Hero Bubble] from my field to the Graveyard as Fusion Materials, satisfying the Fusion Material requirement of two [E-Hero] monsters with different Attributes!"

"Let the passion never be extinguished, let the sacred power of purity and the endless vortex converge, and forge the thunderous power that pierces through the darkness!"

"Fusion Summon, Level 6☆!"

"Shatter the darkness with thunder—[E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder]!"

【E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder】【6☆/Light】

[Warrior Race/Fusion/Effect]

[2400/1500]

The Thunder Giant, which Jaden summoned and performed exceptionally well in the demonstration-style doubles duel between Jaden and John against Malik and Rishid at the beginning of the semester, reappeared, raising Asuka's question: "Although Jaden fused and summoned this monster at the time, did he use its effects?"

"I don't know either. I didn't ask Judai to review the duel afterward. After all, I only recently recovered from the aftereffects of that duel." John shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

"Although [E-Hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder] has much lower attack power than [E-Hero Neos], it has an extremely powerful effect: when Special Summoned, it can only be activated if the opponent has more cards on their field than I do." Jaden waved his hand, "Under the power of [E-Hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder], all cards on both sides' fields except for this card are destroyed!"

"Absolute and swift annihilation!"

Upon its appearance, Jaden's [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder] raised one hand, and endless lightning gathered in its palm. [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder] slammed its palm down onto the ground, and the spreading lightning ripples rushed across the ground, locking onto Koji Sato's cards on the field, intending to destroy them all!
Compared to the previous method of fusing and summoning "Zero" and then transforming it into "Acid Water" to destroy the opponent's front and back rows like this, [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder] only needs one monster to achieve a similar effect!
As for why we say "approximately"? That's because—

"Don't even think about it! I'm chaining my face-down card in the back row, [Darkness of the Scapegoat]!"

Because Jaden's [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder] activates its effect upon Special Summoning, even if Koji Sato activates [Hell Aggregate] to seize control immediately, Jaden can still activate its effect to destroy all of Koji Sato's cards on the field, making it pointless to take over. The immediate priority is to use [Scapegoat's Darkness] to protect the cards in his front and back rows.

"When the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Monster that would destroy a card on the field is activated by my opponent, I can negate that effect. Then, I send one Level 3 or lower DARK monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I choose [Requester]."

Sending a card to the Graveyard, a phantom appeared on Koji Sato's field. A monster named "Needer" blocked the advancing lightning ripples and completely absorbed the current, protecting the cards behind him from harm.

This is why it's said that the effect of [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder] is only similar to the operation of "Zero to Acid Water". Because, in the current situation, if it were "Zero to Acid Water", Koji Sato could at most use one [Scapegoat's Darkness] to protect his own card once, and would be helpless against the other effect. However, [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder] integrates into one effect, so only one [Scapegoat's Darkness] is needed to block it.

"Tsk, as expected, it didn't work." Jaden wasn't too surprised. After all, when he saw the opponent's backfield covered in monsters, he knew that Sato Koji definitely had a defensive method similar to [Bribery of the Demon Palace]. Although the forms of expression are different, Sato-sensei, who uses NTR tactics, and Jaden, who often uses monsters to carry out strong attacks, are actually the same type of duelist. Jaden knew all too well what kind of traps awaited him next.

"In that case, I will activate the second effect of [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder] next." Although the first effect was negated, it does not affect the use of the second effect of [E·hero Thunder Giant - Volt Thunder]: "You can activate this effect by Tributing this card that was Fusion Summoned by a Normal Monster and targeting one of my [E·hero] monsters in the Graveyard. Special Summon that monster."

"I Special Summon [E·Hero Bubble Man] from my Graveyard, and since his effect is not limited to once per turn, and I only have one monster left on the field again, I draw another card from my Deck!"

【游城十代：2000LP，手牌5→4→3→5】

[Koji Sato: 3000LP, hand 7→9]

After replenishing his hand, Jaden launched another attack: "Teacher, it's time for me to return the favor to you—you used [Darkness of the Scapegoat] to block my effect destruction once, so how will you block it the second time?"

"I activate the Spell Card [Hero Union], which can only be activated if there is a [Hero] monster on the field. I Special Summon two [E·hero] monsters from my hand. I Special Summon [E·hero Skyman] and [E·hero Flameman]!"

[Yujo Judai: 2000LP, Hand 5→2]

【E·hero Foam Warrior】【ATK800】

【E·hero Sky Knight】【ATK1800】

【E·hero Blaze】【ATK1200】

　In my memory, typhoons usually just grazed past Ningbo or made various detours. This seems to be the first time, as far as I can remember, that a typhoon's wind circle has covered Ningbo and made direct landfall.
　　However, the typhoon is currently heading towards the Oriental Pearl Tower; hopefully, it won't turn back.

　　(Wow, you have a lot of monthly votes! It would be even better if you could also cast a recommendation vote.)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)