Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Speaking of the exhibition match that made him faint, he said that he collapsed halfway through the duel, which made the paid audience very unhappy, and they even threw trash such as beverage bottles at him.

While it's true that I didn't quite liven things up for the audience, the behavior of those spectators was worse than that of an underground duel. At least in an illegal underground duel, the audience wouldn't throw trash at the fighters they didn't like.

But it was during that terrible duel performance, in which I broke my glasses and didn't even get my performance fee, that I had a hallucination while I was unconscious. I saw my ace monster protecting me as I fell down. Unfortunately, the thrown objects easily passed through what was just a hallucination projected by the duel system.

It's strange to use real-world settings in a dream, but Koji Sato couldn't just dismiss it as a fleeting dream, especially since at the end of that dream he was protected by armor made of scabs, and his deck actually changed afterwards, with the "Scabbed Scar Knight" appearing in his deck.

"You headstrong Jaden Yuki, I'm going to take you down!" Koji Sato shouted, playing a card from his hand. "Spell Card [Lightning Strike] activated! Destroy all monsters on your opponent's field!"

"Don't even think about it! I'll chain-activate my face-down card in the back row to counter the Trap Card [Elemental Protection]!" Seeing that Koji Sato was about to destroy his monster, Jaden quickly activated his card as well, saying, "When a Spell/Trap Card is activated, you can banish one face-up [E-hero] monster on my field until the End Phase of this turn. I banish [E-hero Order Neos] from my field!"

On the field of the tenth generation, [E·hero Order Neos]'s body transformed into a burst of light, instantly piercing and shattering the thunderclouds gathering in the sky, "Negatively destroying the activation of the Spell/Trap Card!"

Seeing that Judai had blocked his [Lightning Strike] with a card, Koji Sato smirked: "But Judai, you only have three cards left in your back row, and now you only have two left—if I were to activate this second card that you have to find a way to stop, how would you block it?"

"I usually summon [Dark Hero - Corpse Demon], then activate the Spell Card—[Spell Card "Soul Intertwined"]!"

As Koji Sato played his card, golden light appeared on his Dark Hero - Corpse Demon, as well as on Jaden's N - Gleaming Moss and E - Hero Neos, and continued to rise and gather in the air, as if it were about to dissipate at any moment.

"The Spell Card 'Soul Crossing' is a brand new card designed based on the classic Spell Card 'Soul Crossing,' inheriting its effect while also being enhanced." As a duel deck-building instructor, explaining the latest cards and the latest Forbidden/Limited Card List is also part of his teaching duties. He habitually explained the card effect he was currently activating, "Under the effect of the Spell Card 'Soul Crossing,' I perform a Tribute Summon of a One Monster."

"However, unlike [Double Summon] which only adds an extra summon, the effect of the [Spell Card "Soul Intertwined"] allows me to Tribute Summon monsters by replacing those on my field and Tributing monsters on my opponent's field. The trade-off is that the Tribute Summoned monster cannot be Tributed this turn."

Showing a card in his hand, Koji Sato said, "I specifically summoned [Dark Hero - Corpse Demon] as well because this card in my hand is a monster that can be specially summoned by using a three-body monster as a tribute, in addition to the normal Tribute Summon!"

"Release my Dark Hero - Corpse Demon and the opponent's two monsters, and Tribute the three monsters to Tribute Summon Divine Beast King - Barbaros!"

【Divine Beast King - Barbaros】【8☆/Land】

[Beast Warrior Race/Effect]

[3000/1200]

"Although 【Divine Beast King - Barbaros】is a Level 8 monster, it has a summoning method that can be done without tribute, with two tributes, or with three tributes due to its own effect. The most common method is to take advantage of its effect of not needing tributes to quickly summon it, and then combine it with cards such as 【Skill Drain】 to negate its own effect and become a powerful monster with 3000 ATK."

Upon seeing the [Divine Beast King - Barbaros] appear on Sato-sensei's field, Asuka said, "But that doesn't mean that the [Divine Beast King - Barbaros] summoned using a two-body sacrifice or the [Divine Beast King - Barbaros] summoned using a three-body sacrifice is useless."

"When a Tribute Summon is performed by sacrificing a Tribulation monster, the strongest effect of [Divine Beast King - Barbaross] will also activate - destroy all cards on your opponent's field!"

Compared to the classic monster [Lightning God - Guilford], [Divine Beast King - Barbaros] completely surpasses it in terms of attack power, appearance conditions, and the strength of its effect. Although the effect of destroying all cards on the opponent's field is somewhat reduced in deterrence because Jaden no longer has any monsters on the field, destroying Jaden's two face-down cards on the field is still a pretty good result.

The leaping lightning was released by [Divine Beast King - Barbaross], surging at the tip of his spear, like a thunder god in mythology launching an attack. The thunder that intimidated all things pierced through the entire field in the blink of an eye, clearing Jaden's back row.

However, although he was nearsighted, Mr. Sato was very certain that he had not seen wrong just now; one of the face-down cards in the back row of Judai had definitely been flipped over before it was destroyed.

As expected, before Koji Sato could even ask a question, Jaden had already pulled one of the destroyed cards out of the Spell & Trap Zone and displayed it in front of him: "Just as your [Divine Beast King - Barbaros] effect activated, I also chained the activation of this face-down card on my back row - the Quick-Play Spell Card [Kuriboh's Calling Flute]!"

"Special Summon Winged Kuriboh from my Deck to my field!"

"However, while Kuriboh's Calling Flute does Special Summon a monster from your Deck to the field, even though it takes effect before that of [Divine Beast King - Barbaros], the summoned monster will only be destroyed by the effect of [Divine Beast King - Barbaros], right?"

Hearing Koji Sato's words, Jaden said smugly, "Hmph, that's the best thing about my Aibo. The effect of Winged Kuriboh is activated when this card on the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, and it reduces the battle damage I take this turn to 0."

"Furthermore, the effect of my other face-down card in the back row, 'Troublemaker,' is that if this face-down card leaves the field, is sent to the Graveyard, or is banished due to an opponent's card effect, I can Special Summon a monster from my Deck or Extra Deck."

"While I can't use this effect to Special Summon monsters with the restriction 'This card can only be summoned by Fusion Summon,' it's just a regular monster..." Jaden said, searching his deck and playing a card. "I Special Summon [E-Hero Bubble Man] from my deck to the field!"

【E·hero Bubble Warrior】【DEF1200】

The effect of [E·hero Bubble Man], known as "Greedy Man," can be activated upon entering the field and is not restricted to Special Summoning based on its own effect. In the current Jaden era where players are unarmed and have an empty field, even the [E·hero Bubble Man] characters available on the market can use their effects, not to mention that Jaden's [E·hero Bubble Man] has a special version of its effect.

"When there are no other cards on my field, I can activate this effect when 【E·hero Bubble Man】 is successfully Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned. I draw two cards from my deck."

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, hand size 0→2]

"Using this method to avoid combat damage and replenish your hand?" Seeing Jaden's actions, Koji Sato, despite his prejudice against Jaden, had to admit his talent in duels. "You played well, but the more you do that, the more unsettling it becomes for me!"

"My [Convenient Ride] in the back row hasn't disappeared yet! Because even if my opponent draws a card outside of their draw phase, I can still draw two cards from my deck!"

【佐藤浩二：4000LP，手牌8→7→6→5→4→3→5】

With his hand back to five cards, Koji Sato didn't even glance at the cards he'd drawn. He waved his hand and said, "Now I'm going into the battle phase. I'll use [Scabbed Scar Knight] to attack [E·hero Bubble Man]!"

"Although [E·hero Bubble Man] has higher defense, I will not be harmed in battle because of the [Soul Barrier]!"

Clearly, the effect of placing counters by the [Scabbed Scar Knight] can be used not only when being attacked, but also when deliberately provoking an attack.

Like a wild beast, the [Scabbed Scar Knight] swung its claws at [E·hero Bubble Man], but failed to inflict any damage—neither on Jaden nor on Sato. However, this wasn't because the [Soul Barrier] or the [Scabbed Scar Knight] had zero attack power, but rather because of the single monster that appeared in Jaden's graveyard?

“Just now, my teacher, the effect of your [Divine Beast King - Barbaros] activated not only on my backrow face-down card, but also on this card in my graveyard.” Jaden took out a card and showed it off. “[Necromancer] can banish itself from the graveyard and negate the attack declaration when I am attacked for the first time this turn. Therefore, [Scabbed Scar Knight] cannot attack my [E·hero Bubble Man].

"In that case, I'll use [Divine Beast King - Barbaros] to attack [E·hero Bubble Man]!"

Knowing that Jaden could always create miracles by fusing [Hero] with each other, Koji Sato had no intention of leaving [E·hero Bubble Man] for Jaden. Unable to seize control with the effect of [Scabbed Scar Knight], he decisively used [Divine Beast King - Barbaross] to destroy it.

"My battle phase ends, and then in my main phase two, I pay 1000 Life Points to activate this Spell Card - Mischievous Twin Demons. My opponent randomly discards one card from their hand, and then chooses another to discard. In other words, they discard both cards in your hand."

Looking at the remaining cards in Jaden's hand, even though it required paying out his own life points, Koji Sato did so without hesitation to cut off Jaden's hopes.

[Koji Sato: 4000→3000LP, 5→4 cards in hand]

"You're chasing me too hard, teacher? But that's precisely why my card can activate its effect." Jaden said, showing one of his two cards, "If [E·hero Shadow Mist Lady] is sent to the Graveyard, I can add one [Hero] monster other than [E·hero Shadow Mist Lady] from my Deck to my hand."

"I choose [E·hero Sky Knight]!"

[Yujo Judai: 4000LP, hand size 2→1]

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 size 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 size 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 a card from the 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]