Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1724 Pure Love Warrior VS Minotaur

"Hmph, whether I'm human or not is none of your business, you brat." Keith Hunter sneered, holding a card in his hand. "But since you say I'm not human, then I'll show you demonic power!"

"Ritual Spell Card [Contract with Naraku] activated! This card is a Ritual Spell Card exclusive to DARK Ritual Monsters. Tribute monsters in my hand and on the field until they have the same Level, and Ritual Summon one DARK Ritual Monster from my hand!"

After a pause, Keith Hunter took out two cards from the graveyard and said, "However, I will choose to exclude this [Ritual Demon - Liberator] and [Ritual Demon - Destroyer] from my graveyard when performing a sacrifice release."

"The general effect of the [Ritual Demon] monster is that, when a Ritual Summon is performed, you can banish a [Ritual Demon] monster from your Graveyard as a substitute, with the Level stat required for that Ritual Summon. The [Ritual Demon - Liberator] and [Ritual Demon - Destroyer] that I banished are both Level 3 monsters."

"Total Level 6☆! The same as the Level of this card I'm Ritual Summoning. The Descent Ritual is complete! Collapse with the force of thunder, demon of the heavens!"

"Ritual Summoning, Level 6☆!"

"Demonic lightning strikes down—[Demon Descends]!"

[Demon Descends] [6☆/Dark]

[Demon Race/Ritual/Effect]

[2500/1200]

As Keith Hunter put away the "Fall Bean Warrior" card, John also came to his senses. Looking at the monster that Keith Hunter ritually summoned, which was highly similar to the classic Duel Monster "Summoning of the Devil," John frowned: "The Angel-type 'Thousand-Armed God' summoned the Fiend-type 'Devil's Descent'? Isn't that ridiculous?"

"But it was a Ritual Summon using monsters from the Graveyard, and it summoned a pretty powerful monster on the first turn. However, a Ritual Summon is also a Special Summon, so I can draw another card thanks to the effect of [G-Spell Multiplier]!"

John Anderson: 4000LP, hand 5→6

From the second card onwards, the cards John draws are pure profit. The more times the opponent can Special Summon, the more advantageous it is for John. After all, it's impossible for any deck to Special Summon forty or fifty times in one turn, allowing John to draw all the cards in the deck at once.
Keith Hunter watched John draw a card, completely unconcerned: "Draw whatever you want. I won't be doing special summons that often anyway. It's just one card, so go ahead and do whatever you want, because my [Demon Descent] is invincible!"

"As long as this card is in the Monster Zone, its name is treated as 'Summoning a Fiend,' and this card on the field cannot be destroyed by battle or by the effects of monsters other than Ritual Monsters. More importantly, the two Tributes that constitute its Ritual Summon—'Ritual Demon - Liberator' and 'Ritual Demon - Destroyer'—also have their own effects!"

"The [Demon Descent] summoned using [Ritual Demon - Destroyer] as a tribute will not be targeted by the opponent's monster effects, and [Ritual Demon - Liberator] can prevent the opponent from Special Summoning any monster as long as [Demon Descent] is face-up in my Monster Zone!"

It cannot be destroyed by Ritual Monster battles, nor by Ritual Monster effects, cannot be targeted by your opponent's monster effects, and can even block your opponent's Special Summon. Although in terms of stats, [Demon Descent] is unremarkable with only 2500 ATK, considering all of the above effects combined in one monster, it is quite overpowered!

However, as the price for bringing it into play, Keith Hunter used [Thousand-Handed God] to search for the Ritual Monster itself, and with the Ritual Spell Card he played, he quickly ran out of cards in his hand.

"Finally, I set two cards face down on my back field, and my turn ends." Keith Hunter then declared the end of his turn by placing his last two cards face down on the field.

The [Proliferation G] at John's feet also disappeared. Although the effect was only used twice, it was already a win to help John draw two cards.

【基斯·亨特：4000LP，手牌6→5→4→4→4→2→0】

【Jade Beast - Jade Turtle】【DEF2000】

【Thousand-Handed God】【DEF1000】

[Demon Descent → Demon Summoning] [ATK2500]

Backcourt: [Face Card] x2
"It can't Special Summon monsters, and it can't be destroyed by Ritual Monsters through battle or card effects either. Even targeting card effects are ineffective." John frowned, feeling that the effect of [Demon Descent] was indeed somewhat of a counter to his previous tactics, especially the part that prevented Special Summoning.

After all, the defining characteristic of his Crystal Beast deck is its low average strength. Although they are family, precisely because they are family, John never shies away from discussing the shortcomings of the Crystal Beasts; on the contrary, he can openly acknowledge their flaws. In fact, saying that the Crystal Beasts have "low average strength" is already a very mild way of putting it; saying directly that "most of the Crystal Beasts are very weak" wouldn't be a problem at all.

After all, almost all of the [Jewel Beasts] are lower-level monsters that can be directly summoned. Among them, the [Jewel Beast - Blue Pegasus] with the highest attack power only has 1800 points, while the [Jewel Beast - Topaz Tiger] can exert the highest attack power when attacking a monster, but its attack power can only be increased to 2000 points.

Then, the effects of the [Jade Beasts] are mostly mediocre. Although there are strong ones like [Jade Beast - Azure Jade Pegasus] and [Jade Beast - Ruby Beast] that don't have a single use per turn, there are also some that are somewhat unclear, such as [Jade Beast - Cobalt Spinel Eagle].

To unleash the power of the [Crystal Beasts], the prerequisite is to have a certain number of [Crystal Beasts] on the field. That way, whether you provide support with Spell Cards or Special Summon [Ultimate Crystal God - Rainbow Dragon] in one turn, you can make a significant impact. However, the Special Summoning of [Crystal Beasts] is prohibited.
"My turn, draw!" He glanced at the card he had just drawn—the Spell Card [Jewel Release]. As an Equip Card exclusive to [Jewel Beast] monsters, it provides an 800-point ATK boost. If [Jewel Beast - Jade Pegasus] were still present, it would gain a massive 2600 ATK, surpassing [Demon Descent]. However, since [Jewel Beast - Jade Pegasus] isn't a Ritual Monster, it still can't destroy the opponent through battle. Besides, [Jewel Beast - Jade Pegasus] also...
Looking at the Jade Beast - Azure Pegasus, breathing heavily and clearly "oxygen-deficient" inside the capsule in the distance, and then at the Jade Beast - Emerald Turtle, looking utterly miserable huddled in its shell, John was both angry and anxious. "Wait a little longer, Sapphire, Emerald."

However, while the attack power boost from [Jade's Release] was meaningless, its second effect gave John an idea. After glancing at the cards in his hand, he came up with a solution—

"It feels like it might work!"

Having figured out his next move, John didn't hesitate to play a card from his hand and said, "Activate the Spell Card [Crystal Bond]! Add one [Crystal Beast] monster from my Deck to my hand, and then select another [Crystal Beast] from my Deck with a different name and place it face-up as a Continuous Spell Card in my Spell & Trap Zone."

John retrieved two cards from his deck and declared, "I'll add [Crystal Beast - Ruby Beast] to my hand, and then place [Crystal Beast - Topaz Tiger] face-up!"

"Come-On! Topaz, Ruby!"

He called out the names of the two [Jewel Beasts] respectively. The card of "Ruby", which is [Jewel Beast - Ruby Beast], was added to John's card, and Ruby herself jumped out of the card and onto John's shoulder, breathing on Keith Hunter from a distance.

Meanwhile, in John's backcourt, "Topaz"—the Jade Tiger—appeared in the form of a gemstone: "Sapphire was captured because of me, so use my power to your heart's content, Johnny!"

"Oh, so you've shown two [Jewel Beasts]." Keith Hunter, who could also see the spirits, naturally saw John interacting with the [Jewel Beasts], but his eyes revealed only pure greed. "Hmph, just looking at them, they seem like very rare cards. I can't wait to get my hands on them."

"Don't look at my family with those disgusting eyes!" John glared at Keith Hunter, protecting the [Jade Beast - Ruby Beast] on his shoulder.

"Ha, aren't you just as eager to take away [Jade Monster - Emerald Turtle] and [Jade Monster - Azure Pegasus]? So, can't I just tell you, 'Don't look at my prey with that disgusting gaze'?" Keith Hunter responded to John with sophistry. "That's completely different! The bond between me and the [Jade Monsters], and between [Jade Bean Warrior] and his friend Tom, the true bond between duelists and card spirits—something a vile guy like you would never understand!"

"True feelings? Don't make a fool of yourself. Just because you have the ability to see spirits, you think the heavens have handed over the right to define that kind of thing to a brat like you!" Keith Hunter suddenly retorted angrily, seemingly provoked by something John said. "Card spirits, it's completely meaningless to connect with those things!"

Behind Keith Hunter, the black mist that had only appeared in the eyes of Jaden and John gradually became clearer, revealing itself to be none other than the [Demon Descent] that had appeared on his field. Having witnessed the previous example of Professor Sato Koji, the two immediately understood that this was a card spirit possessing Keith Hunter under the control of Professor Cobra.

However, whether it was due to the angle or something else, despite the fact that elves were rare beings who could be seen, Keith Hunter did not cast even a glance at the [Demon Descent] behind him.

“Continue your duel, John Anderson. I can’t wait to get them all together in this duel.”

“I don’t need you to tell me!” John replied, and immediately played his second card. “Next, I’m going to activate this card again, the Spell Card [Gem of Grace]. This card can return up to two [Gem Beasts] from my Graveyard to the face-up of my Spell & Trap Zone as Continuous Spell Cards.”

"Come back, Amethyst and Cobalt!"

Amethyst Ore and Cobalt Spinel appeared under John's Spell Card, and [Jewel Beast - Amethyst Cat] and [Jewel Beast - Cobalt Spinel Eagle] returned to the field from John's Graveyard, allowing John to successfully assemble a total of three [Jewel Beasts] in his back row.

"A unique [Jewel Beast] with a distinctive gem form that can remain on the field. Let me think... red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple? In other words, besides the [Jewel Beast - Ruby Beast] in your hand, the only thing missing is a [Jewel Beast] representing orange, right?"

Looking at the two Gem Beasts he had already caught, and the three Gem Beasts on John's back field, Keith Hunter excitedly thought that he would soon have all the Gem Beasts on his field. "But just having them in Gem Mode isn't enough, is it? If no monsters are on the field, I can KO you in just one turn!"

"Don't be hasty, Keith Hunter." Because of his heinous acts of tormenting elves and taking away his family, even a gentle person like John spoke coldly and somewhat "darkened" when facing Keith Hunter. "I'll summon the monster right away. But before that, I'll activate this spell card, 'Magic Hammer,' and shuffle it and any cards in my hand back to the deck, then draw the same number of cards returned to the deck."

"I return [Crystal Beast - Ruby Beast] and [Mega Hammer] to the deck, and then draw two cards."

John glanced at the cards he had drawn. He couldn't say he hadn't drawn good cards, but they weren't the cards he needed most right now either. However, at least one of them was still usable.

"—It's you I choose, Amber!"

The perfectly round amber stone rose up in John's arena, but unlike the [Jade Beast - Yellow Jade Tiger] which remained in the backstage area in the form of a gemstone, the amber stone cracked open under everyone's gaze, revealing a mammoth behemoth with the same hairstyle as a certain "Flower of Hope" group leader.

【Jade Beast - Amber Mammoth】【ATK1700】

With [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] no longer available, the highest normal attack power belongs to [Jade Beast - Amber Mammoth] at 1700. John chose to Normal Summon it and immediately played the card in his hand: "Then, I'm going to equip Amber with the Equip Spell Card [Jade Release]!"

"As a special equipment spell card for [Crystal Beast], [Crystal Release] can provide [Crystal Beast - Amber Mammoth] with an 800-point attack power bonus!" Outside the arena, Jaden, who was the most familiar with [Crystal Beast] among everyone present besides John, excitedly exclaimed, "In this way, [Crystal Beast - Amber Mammoth]'s attack power is now on par with [Demon Descent]!"

【Jade Beast - Amber Mammoth】(Jade's Liberation) 【ATK1700→2500】

"However, [Demon Descent] cannot be destroyed by non-ritual monster battles, so it's meaningless even if its attack power is equal to the monster's." To avoid Jaden's excessive hopes leading to excessive disappointment, Asuka had to pour cold water on his hopes, "At the same time, John's hand has already been used up, with only four cards left."

【约翰·安德森：4000LP，手牌6→7→7→6→5→4】

"That's enough! John's eyes clearly show that he has a way to deal with the opponent!" Jaden had a lot of confidence in John. After John gave Jaden a few instructions, the [Jade Beast - Ruby Beast] on John's shoulder called out to Jaden, and then shouted loudly, "Even [Jade Beast - Ruby Beast] is reassuring us, saying that John's tactics will succeed soon after [Jade Beast - Amber Mammoth]'s attack power is increased!"

However, Keith Hunter sneered after hearing Jaden's words: "Stop bluffing. You can't understand what that little mouse is saying at all, can you?"

"Ruby is not a mouse!"

Completely ignoring John's protests, Keith Hunter casually pressed the button to activate the card, saying, "Saying 'the tactics are about to succeed' is nothing more than trying to instill fear, or to make people think, 'Is the other side bluffing me and actually not having any tactics at all,' and then use that kind of thinking against me. But that kind of psychological warfare is useless against me!"

"And regardless of whether that so-called tactic is real or fake, I've been eyeing your monster since it appeared, so now I'm going to reveal the cards in my back row!"

"First up is this Trap Card, 'Forced Escape Device,' which targets a monster on the field and returns it to its owner's Deck. Naturally, I've chosen 'Crystal Beast - Amber Mammoth'!"

"Amber!?"

Although its attack power was increased, the [Jade Beast - Amber Mammoth] still had no resistance. Propelled by the catapult device that suddenly appeared under its feet, the heavy [Jade Beast - Amber Mammoth] actually flew up and shot towards John's hand!?
As the "Liberation of the Gem" was "wasted" and sent to the graveyard, Keith Hunter, seeing John reaching out to catch the "Gem Beast - Amber Mammoth," revealed another card: "And the counter trap card 'Hunting Net'! It can only be activated when a monster on the field returns to the hand, treating that monster as 'prey' and placing it in my Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell Card."

A hunting net suddenly shot out, catching [Sapphire Beast - Amber Mammoth] and dragging it onto Keith Hunter's field. Stroking the smooth [Sapphire Beast - Amber Mammoth] card, Keith Hunter placed it in the Spell & Trap Zone of the column containing [Sapphire Beast - Emerald Turtle], a smug expression on his face: "A live prey, hehehehe, now I have three [Sapphire Beasts] on my side!"

Just as Keith Hunter was laughing, John and Judai both breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, a light suddenly shone in John's backcourt.

To Keith Hunter's surprise, the [Jade Beast - Ruby Beast] that had returned to the deck earlier was now reappearing in John's back row in its Ruby Stone form!?
"What's going on with that?"

“Just as you guessed, you fell for it, Keith Hunter!” John snapped his fingers. “Although it was an accident that Amber was taken from you, just like Jaden said, my strategy has gone from almost complete to completely complete!”

"I've successfully collected four [Jade Beasts] in my Magic Trap Zone!"

　Ritual Demon Liberator was also a banned card, since banning Special Summoning is indeed annoying in modern Yu-Gi-Oh!
　　Now that the keywords for all four Gem Beasts have been revealed, you should be able to guess what John's removal card will be.

　　And, the actual product images of the Skybreaker have been released. Aside from the large, almost paint-like water ripples on the silver parts, the incredible LEGO-level articulation is evident even in the images. The color-correcting stickers are also top-notch.

　　It's good to have an IP backing you up. You'd think someone's soda can had come to life. Forget the price of 645, even 145 wouldn't seem worth it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)