Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"The monster I chose is [Queen of the Dolls], and since [Puppet Soldier] sent to the Graveyard is in Defense Position, [Queen of the Dolls] Special Summoned is also in Defense Position."

The appearance of the [Puppet Soldier] on Kitamori Reiko's field changed. The black and white squares covering its body unfolded and flattened into a chessboard. Then, this newly unfolded chessboard reassembled and transformed into a faceless monster dressed as a noblewoman. The sword in its hand was replaced with a black and white scepter, and the shield was changed from a small round shield to a much thicker medium shield.

【The Doll Queen】【6☆/Location】

[Warrior Race/Effect]

[2200/2500]

Similar to the previous [Puppet Soldier], the [Puppet Queen] who appeared on Kitamori Reiko's field also crouched down, holding a medium-sized shield to cover most of her body in a defensive posture.

Jonouchi didn't find anything unusual about this, because he had two Red-Eyes Black Dragons with an attack power of 2400 on his field. The Doll Queen, with an attack power of only 2200 and being a Normal Monster, had no chance of winning. Choosing to defend was perfectly normal.

Incidentally, Jonouchi also remarked with considerable curiosity to the [Puppet Queen], "It seems to be a Duel Monster designed based on chess. This is the first time I've seen one like this. It's true that you can only broaden your horizons through international competitions like this."

To date, the number of Duel Monsters cards released by International Mirage has exceeded a thousand. Moreover, Pegasus has prepared cards that can be considered "limited" for different regions, and there are also some cards that can only be held by one person. The deeper you go into Duel Monsters, the more different scenes you can see, which is one of the charms of Duel Monsters.

If you just stay in Domino City, you won't be able to meet Kitamori Reiko, who uses rare cards like "【Puppet Soldier】". So you really need to go out and experience new things.

"Hi, hi-ee!" Kitamori Reiko nodded. "Um, then I'll set three cards face down on the back row, um, is it okay to end the turn like this?"

After placing the three cards face down on the back field, Kitamori Reiko glanced weakly at Jonouchi. Despite it being her turn, she was asking Jonouchi a question, which made Jonouchi find it hard to accept her overly cautious and respectful attitude.

[Kitamori Reiko: 4000LP, 1 cards in hand]

【Queen Doll】【DEF2500】

[GaiK] X3

Looking at the three cards in Kitamori Reiko's back row, although he still has a reckless personality, because of his frequent duels with Yugi in his true form and Hayato, he has learned to be careful with face cards.

However, looking at Kitamori Reiko, who seemed so weak and would get startled when her eyes met his, Jonouchi really couldn't imagine that she would be like Hayato, preparing a bunch of strange cards in the backstage and then laughing wildly after succeeding.

Moreover, even if there are any face-down cards, it doesn't matter. Jonouchi has prepared some countermeasures. He has two Red-Eyes on his field. Can she just use any card to wipe out my Red-Eyes Black Dragon?

"My turn, draw a card!" Jonouchi glanced at the card he drew and his face lit up with joy. "Yosh, not bad card."

"However, before entering the main phase, during my preparation phase, the effect of my [Dangerous Machine Type 6] activates!"

As Jonouchi made his declaration, the six light-emitting devices on the spherical device standing in his back field lit up one after another, and then went out one after another, making it look as if a ball of light was constantly moving between the six positions and refusing to stop.

Jonouchi explained, "The effect of [Dangerous Machine Type 6] is that during my preparation phase each turn, I must roll a die, and then apply different effects depending on the number rolled."

"When the score is 1, I need to discard a card from my hand, but when the score is 2, the person who discarded the card becomes my opponent. When the score is 3, I can draw a card, and when the score is 4, my opponent draws a card."

"When the point is 5, I can destroy one of my opponent's monsters without targeting it, but when the point is 6, [Danger Machine 6] will automatically destroy itself."

"It sounds like a very powerful card, but it also seems quite risky."

Reiko Kitamori shared her thoughts, and Jonouchi shrugged in response: "To paraphrase Hayato, powerful cards often come with risks, but true duelists can even make use of the negative effects of cards."

"Besides, I'm confident that I'm Jonouchi, after all. I don't think that kind of bad luck will happen to me."

As he spoke, Jonouchi pointed to the Danger Machine Type 6 on his field and ordered, "Then, stop!"

The speed of the light-emitting device, which had almost become a continuous halo, suddenly decreased. As the speed decreased, the numbers on the six luminous spheres appeared one by one. The lit spheres passed over "6", "2", and "5" in turn, and finally stopped at the number "3".

“3!” As if he had received dynamic vision training from Glenn, Jonouchi answered immediately, then smiled smugly, his fingers resting on the deck again. “How lucky! Since the point is 3, I can draw a card from the deck. Draw!”

"Niiiice! I activate the effect of the spell card I just drew, [Pot of Greed], and draw two more cards from my deck!"

Because of the [Dangerous Machine Type 6], Jonouchi was lucky enough to draw the [Pot of Greed], and he instantly replenished his hand with three more cards after having just used up all his cards in the previous turn.

“Then, my offensive is about to begin.” Jonouchi said, drawing a card from his hand. “Equipment Spell Card [Dark Dragon Claw]. This card is an Equip Spell Card for DARK-attribute Dragon-type monsters. I’m going to equip it to my [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]!”

"The effect of [Dark Dragon Claw] is to increase the attack power of the equipped monster by 600 points!"

【Red-Eyes Black Dragon】(Claw of the Dark Dragon Clan) 【ATK 2400→3000】

Of the two Red-Eyes Black Dragons on the field, the one that was Special Summoned by the effect of Red-Eyes Wyvern appeared with a pair of metal claws on its claws. As the claws appeared, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon let out a low roar, seemingly showing off that its attack power had increased to the level of Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

However, the other [Red-Eyes] black dragon next to it didn't care about its companion's boasting at all, because as everyone knows, although the [Dark Dragon Claw] can effectively increase attack power, monsters equipped with the [Dark Dragon Claw] always attack with their mouths.

It's just some equipment; its purity is too low.

Jonouchi didn't pay much attention to the interaction between the two [Red-Eyes Black Dragons] on his field. Instead, he drew another card from his hand: "Madamadada, next is my Normal Summon. I will Normal Summon [Baby Dragon] to my field in Attack Position, and then proceed to my Battle Phase!"

【Baby Dragon】【ATK1200】

"Go! [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], attack [Puppet Queen], Black Flame Bullet!"

Although Jonouchi did not explicitly specify which Red-Eyes Black Dragon he would use to launch the attack, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon equipped with the Dark Dragon Claw, which had been cooperating with Jonouchi quite well, started moving on its own. As it opened its mouth to inhale, a large ball of black flame gathered in its mouth, about to be unleashed.

"Whoa!" Kitamori Reiko was somewhat frightened by the aura of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] and Jonouchi, and quickly pressed her hand on the Duel Disk, "Um... turn on my face-down card."

"Trap Card, [Fight Each Other]."

"What?!" Jonouchi was also shocked to hear that Kitamori Reiko had activated the face-down card. Although he had never heard of this card before, the name itself gave him a very dangerous feeling.

However, it doesn't matter, because the last card in Jonouchi's hand is the Quick-Play Spell Card "Forbidden Cloth," which is a protective card that reduces a monster's attack by 600 points, preventing it from being targeted by card effects or destroyed by them. It can be used to place Trap Cards like "Explosive Armor" and "Divine Shield - Mirror Power -."

The confident Jonouchi heard Kitamori Reiko's additional explanation—

"The effect of [Mutual Attack] is that it can be activated during the Battle Phase when the opponent's duelist declares an attack if there are two or more monsters on the field," Kitamori Reiko pointed to the two [Red-Eyes Black Dragons] on Jonouchi's field. "One of the opponent's monsters declares an attack on another monster on the opponent's field, and normal damage calculation is performed."

"What?!" Amidst Jonouchi's stunned gaze, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, with a black flame bullet in its mouth ready to be fired, suddenly sharpened its eyes and glared fiercely at the other Red-Eyes Black Dragon standing beside it.

When I was showing off the [Dark Dragon Clan Claw] I just got, did this guy give me a disdainful look?

Damn, is this guy looking down on me?

The red-eyed black dragon being glared at was also quite annoyed.

Although they say that the [Dark Dragon Clan Claw] is not very useful and its purity is too low, does purity even matter?

I'm actually quite jealous too, okay? Those shiny claws look so cool, why does this thing keep waving around in front of me? Is it showing off, you jerk!

What are you looking at?

How are you doing?

Should we take another look and try again?

Let's give it a try.

Then, the two Red-Eyes Black Dragons, who couldn't stand each other, suddenly started fighting. The Black Flame Bullet that had been prepared for a long time easily shattered the Black Flame Bullet that the opponent had hastily spat out. Then, it looked like the Dark Dragon Claw equipped by one of the Red-Eyes Black Dragons was about to pierce the claw of the other Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

How dare you say my [Dark Dragon Claw] is useless? Let me see!

If this attack hits, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon that doesn't have an Equip Card and has weaker attack power will inevitably be destroyed by the other Red-Eyes Black Dragon. At the same time, Jonouchi will also suffer 600 battle damage from his own monster.

Losing both wife and army? But I refuse. What I love most about Jōnei is saying "no" to those self-righteous fools!

"Tch, don't even think about it!" Jonouchi swung his hand sharply, and the effect of his face-down card on the back field activated, linked with the effect of [Mutual Destruction]. "I activate my face-down card, the Trap Card [Rescue Drama]!"

Just as [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was about to be destroyed, its body suddenly turned into a red streak of light and returned to Jonouchi's hand. Jonouchi, who added the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] card to his hand, explained: "When a monster on my field becomes the target of a Trap Card effect, I can activate the effect of [Rescue Drama]."

"One of the target monsters will be returned to my hand, and then I can Special Summon another monster from my hand."

As he spoke, Jonouchi threw out another card in his hand: "What I summoned, of course, is still [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]!"

"Roar!!"

The [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], who had just suffered a defeat and was almost killed, reappeared on the field within the castle. Although it was still as arrogant and domineering as ever, its eyes were full of flattery when it looked at the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] equipped with the [Dark Dragon Claw] that had almost destroyed it.

The reason it was so defiant just now was because it was angry, but now that its anger has subsided, it should admit defeat.

Seeing that his monster lineup hadn't suffered any losses, Jonouchi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the effect of [Mutual Destruction] that Kitamori Reiko just activated is target-based, theoretically Jonouchi could have used [Forbidden Cloth] in his hand to prevent the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] equipped with [Claw of the Dark Dragon] from becoming the target of the effect.

However, Jonouchi only has one Forbidden Cloth, while he has three monsters on the field. If he cannot target the Red-Eyes Black Dragon equipped with the Claw of the Dark Dragon, Reiko Kitamori could choose to use another Red-Eyes Black Dragon to attack the Baby Dragon and inflict significant battle damage on Jonouchi.

She could even use Red-Eyes Black Dragon to attack another Red-Eyes Black Dragon, whose attack power had been reduced to 2400 points due to the Forbidden Cloth, causing both of Jonouchi's high-level monsters on the field to perish together.

However, at this moment, although Jonouchi successfully interfered with Kitamori Reiko's "mutual destruction" tactic using the effect of "Rescue Drama", at the same time, his "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" equipped with "Dark Dragon Clan Claw" had already launched an attack.

Although the attack was launched against its own monster due to the effect of "Mutual Attack," the fact remains that it "already attacked," and "Red-Eyes Black Dragon," which has no combo ability, is unable to attack this turn.

As for the other two monsters on Jonouchi's field—Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which wasn't equipped with Dark Dragon Claw, and Baby Dragon—they could attack, but Kitamori Reiko had Doll Queen on her field with a defense of 2500 points as a wall. Attacking them with attack power that couldn't break through this defense was simply the most foolish order, and even the most foolish duelist wouldn't do that.

In other words, for the time being, Jonouchi has no way to deal with Kitamori Reiko.

"Phew, what a brilliant tactic, Reiko-san. I can't believe you've only been playing Duel Monsters for a month." Jonouchi smiled helplessly, acknowledging the strength of Kitamori Reiko, a duelist who seemed weak and lacking in fighting spirit. His initial contempt had vanished. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

"Huh? Oh, thank you..." Hearing Jonouchi's praise, Kitamori Reiko smiled and thanked him, which was unusual for her. But as if she remembered something, she suddenly pressed the card-setting button on her Duel Disk. "Oh, I almost forgot."

"Activate my face-down card, a continuous trap card, [Resurrected Spirit]."

After activating the card, Kitamori Reiko reached into her graveyard and retrieved the [Puppet Soldier] card that had been previously placed there. "Target the Normal Monster [Puppet Soldier] in my graveyard, Special Summon it to my field in Defense Position. When [Puppet Soldier] is destroyed, [Resurrected Spirit] will be destroyed, and when [Resurrected Spirit] leaves the field, [Puppet Soldier] will also be destroyed."

"Oh, so you summoned [Puppet Soldier] again?" Jonouchi looked at the [Puppet Soldier], which had reappeared in defense position on Kitamori Reiko's field. Although the reason the [Puppet Soldier] was in defense position was due to the limitations of [Resurrection Spirit]'s effect, a baseless guess arose in Jonouchi's mind—

Why does it feel like Ms. Reiko doesn't want to show any intention of attacking the monster?

[Within the city: 4000LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Red-Eyes Black Dragon】(Claw of the Dark Dragon Clan)【ATK3000】

【True Red-Eyes Black Dragon】【ATK2400】

【Baby Dragon】【ATK1200】

[Dangerous Machine Type 6] [Gaikka (Forbidden Cloth)] [Gaikka]

It was Kitamori Reiko's turn again. As Jonouchi had expected, she weakly declared, "My turn, draw a card..." and then carefully examined the effects of the card she had just drawn.

"Oh, I see..." After a short while, seemingly having finished reading the effects of the cards in her hand, Kitamori Reiko first glanced at Jonouchi, then pointed at the [Puppet Soldier] that had just been summoned on her field, "Activate the effect of the Spell Card [Soldier Upgrade], target the [Puppet Soldier] on my field, and send it to the Graveyard."

The familiar scene reappeared. The figure of the [Puppet Soldier], which had just been summoned back from the graveyard by the effect of [Resurrection], disappeared from the field once again, leaving only a black and white chessboard.

"Is it coming again?" Jonouchi looked at the chessboard with some anticipation. The effect of [Soldier Upgrade] is to evolve a Level 3 [Puppet Soldier] from a low-power Normal Monster into one of three other forms. [Puppet Queen] has already appeared, so should Kitamori Reiko continue to summon [Puppet Queen] or summon other forms of [Puppet Soldier] next?

Meanwhile, Kitamori Reiko had already selected the monster she wanted to Special Summon from her deck. After returning the card "Puppet Soldier" to the Graveyard, she placed the card she had retrieved horizontally on the Duel Disk in the same form: "I choose to Special Summon 'Puppet Castle' from my deck in Defense Position."

【Doll Castle】【4 stars/location】

[Warrior Race/Effect]

[1200/1800]

What appeared on Reiko Kitamori's field was the [Doll Castle], which represents the "castle" in chess.

Compared to the huge difference in size and appearance between the [Puppet Soldier] and the [Puppet Queen], the [Puppet Castle] is not much different from the [Puppet Soldier]. It is just that the [Puppet Castle] wears a gray armor that looks like a city wall, puts down its weapons and shield, and wears a helmet that looks like a castle.

After glancing at her remaining hand card, Kitamori Reiko played it: "Um, after Special Summoning 'Puppet Castle,' I'll activate this Spell Card, 'Magic Flower Pot.' I'll send one of my Continuous Trap Cards to the Graveyard, and then draw two cards from my Deck."

"Um, although the [Puppet Soldier] was sent to the graveyard by the effect of [Soldier Upgrade], since it wasn't destroyed, [Resurrected Spirit] should still be on my field, right?"