Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"I had a slight idea before that your [Sphinx] and [Skill Drain] combo was pretty powerful, but now it seems that you might just be able to do that one combo."

The game's casual remark turned out to be entirely true. Anubis was speechless because he really only knew this one combo, and then, slightly embarrassed and angry, he said, "Don't be so smug, you brat!"

"It's still my turn. The effect of [Executioner - Demon Asura] is still active. Chain it to your [Ally]. I activate the Trap Card [High-Speed ​​Draw] in my hand. Destroy any number of monsters on my field, and then for every two monsters I have, I can draw one card from my deck."

"I destroy [Sphinx Andre] and [Sphinx Dereia] on my field to avoid the effect of your [Ally], and draw a card from my deck!"

"What?! It actually destroyed its own monster on its own!"

The game's face showed a rather surprised expression.

Before the hand formed by "Fellow Traveler" reached Anubis's field, with the activation of "High-Speed ​​Draw," numerous hands shot out from under the feet of "Sphinx Andre" and "Sphinx Dereia" on his field, grabbed the two monsters on his field, dragged them into the graveyard, and stole the credit from "Fellow Traveler."

Anubis drew a card and said with a sneer, "Hmph, although you mortals from a thousand years in the future may resort to tricks like sacrificing your own monsters in the Duel Ritual, even I have to admit that such methods can be useful sometimes."

"Don't think you're the only ones who destroy your own monsters, kid."

Even though the game doesn't know exactly what Anubis went through before, based on Anubis's performance in duels so far, it can be inferred that Anubis was probably tricked by someone using a trap tactic in a duel, and suffered a crushing defeat because of some tactic that destroyed his own monster.

In short, it's safe to assume it's Hayato first.

Just as Anubis was congratulating himself on "learning from the barbarians to subdue them" and regaining some face with the tactics he learned from Hayato, he suddenly discovered something strange: the ghost hand created by the effect of the [Ally] card before the game was still there, and it had moved next to the [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] on Anubis's field, having been covered by the fact that [Sphinx Andre] and [Sphinx Dereia] had been swallowed into the graveyard?

After Anubis seized Kaiba's Duel Disk, he took Kaiba's hand and field cards, but also discarded Kaiba's deck and graveyard cards. Although he didn't think he did anything wrong at the time, this caused the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to lose all resistance due to the effect of True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in Kaiba's graveyard!

To Anubis's astonishment, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon almost willingly and proactively approached its fellow traveler, only to be destroyed and sent to the graveyard!

"No, impossible!" Anubis clearly hadn't anticipated this situation. "The effect of your [Companion] should have been completed before activation, so how could it reselect targets after I destroyed [Sphinx Andre] and [Sphinx Dereia] with [High-Speed ​​Draw]?"

"In the case of a chain reaction, it would only be that after my [Sphinx Andrew] and [Sphinx Dereia] are destroyed by [High-Speed ​​Card Draw], your [Ally] would be left empty because the destroyed object disappears!"

"When and with which card did you tamper with anything?!"

Upon hearing this, Yugi simply smiled mysteriously: "Then Anubis, when did you come to the misconception that 'the target of [Ally] is not [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]'?"

"N-Nani?!"

Yugi looked at Anubis and said calmly, "When I activated 'Ally on the Road' before, I simply said that it was to show that even a weak monster like 'Cotton Ball' has a unique role in the duel. I never said that I activated 'Ally on the Road' for the monster on your field."

"Just because you felt your dignity was affected, you hastily activated [High-Speed ​​Card Draw], but you never imagined that my goal from the very beginning was to destroy [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]."

"Just like I said before, you're nothing but a puppet of power. You can't understand the mind of the cards, and you don't even know how to control their power."

"Oh dear!" Hearing Yugi's words, Anubis was clearly unable to accept being given such a bad evaluation. "That Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon belongs to that guy over there named Seto Kaiba, and it's a monster he cherishes very much. Even though you're his opponent, why could you so easily destroy someone else's important card!"

In Anubis's vision, shouldn't Yugi, facing Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, want to take the card from his side instead of destroying it?

Yugi turned his gaze to the unconscious Kaiba, recalling their past encounters, and a slight smile appeared on his lips: "Although Kaiba is my opponent and a very troublesome guy, very proud and unwilling to admit defeat easily, he is indeed a very important friend in my heart, and I would never use any despicable means to harm his monster."

"but!"

Yugi's tone changed, and he glared sharply at Anubis: "That should only be in a fair duel. Anubis, you interfered with the sacred duel between me and Kaiba. If Kaiba were sober, he wouldn't want his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to fall into your hands either!"

"If the duel ends while Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is under your control, then Blue-Eyes will be too pitiful."

After saying that, Yugi found it slightly amusing, because he had actually said the same thing before Duel Kingdom, when Pegasus invited him to participate via a mailed videotape.

Unbeknownst to me, so much time had passed since I woke up from the Millennium Puzzle, but my thoughts on Duel Monsters remained unchanged even after all this time.

"Tch, then you might as well drown in your defeat with that kind of pointless thinking." Anubis scoffed at the game's idea, sending the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon from his Duel Disk to the Graveyard. "However, prepare to face my wrath with that bewildered expression that you'd see on the face of a priest who has received a prophecy from a temple but can't find a way to interpret it!"

"You thought you could outsmart me with my card draw? Well, my strategy is superior. Since both Sphinx Andrei and Sphinx Dereia are destroyed on my field at the same time, I can pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon this strongest Sphinx from my deck!"

Anubis: 2000→1000LP

Where Sphinx Andrei and Sphinx Dereia were destroyed, mist rose from the ground and gathered in the air, turning into lightning that fell down. Sphinx Andrei Guinness, who had stitched the two monsters together, appeared on Anubis's field!

[Sphinx Andrew Guinness] [ATK3500]

"Furthermore, when [Sphinx Androgynus] is successfully Special Summoned, I will activate its other effect." Anubis pointed to himself, "I will also contribute 1000 Life Points to increase [Sphinx Androgynus]'s ATK by the combined ATK of all monsters in my Graveyard until the end of the next turn!"

"My graveyard contains three monsters: Sphinx Andre (3000 ATK), Sphinx Dereia (2500 ATK), and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500 ATK), which was just destroyed. Therefore, Sphinx Andre's ATK is increased by 10,000!"

"Impossible!" Yugi exclaimed in surprise. "You only have 1000 Life Points. If you pay 1000 Life Points, the duel will be my victory. Moreover, because of [Skill Drain], the effect of [Sphinx Andrguin] cannot be activated at all!"

The game's logic was sound and reasonable, but to his surprise, Anubis triumphantly played a card: "Hmph, who do you think I am? As long as I use this card, everything will proceed perfectly."

"The quick-play spell card [Extraordinary Food] can send my spell/trap cards to the graveyard and restore my Life Points by the amount equal to 1000. [Sphinx Androgynus] doesn't have the self-limiting effect of [Sphinx Androgynus] and [Sphinx Dereia]. Let [Skill Drain] card make the most of its last bit of value!"

With that, Anubis sent his [Skill Drain] and [Extraordinary Food] to the graveyard. His Life Points were first restored by 1000, and then decreased by paying Life Points to activate the effect of [Sphinx Andrgenius].

Meanwhile, his Sphinx Andrgenis on the field also saw a surge in attack power due to the departure of [Skill Drain] and the payment of Anubis's life points!

Anubis: 1000→2000→1000LP

[Sphinx Andrew Guinness] [ATK3500→13500]

"Attack power: 13,500 points!"

Even those who are used to big games can't help but be astonished when Anubis summons such a monster with exaggerated attack power on the field.

A normal Duel Monster with 3000 attack power is considered very strong. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon even became the standard unit for measuring a monster's attack power. The Egyptian God Card, Obelisk, only has 4000 attack power, and 5000 attack power has almost become the symbol of the famously large-bottomed Divine Dragon.

The ferocious monster before them possessed an attack power exceeding the combined attack power of all the aforementioned monsters.

If the deck had been at its full potential at the start of the duel instead of in its current state, the game would have at least nine ways to restore dignity to that disgraceful Sphinx Andrgenius—nine ways!

However, both the [Dark Magic Blast] and [Thousand Blades], which can directly destroy monsters, and the [Sky Dragon of Osiris], which can infinitely increase attack power, have been used up in the previous duel with Kaiba. This means that Yugi really doesn't have any good way to fight against him now.

Fortunately, the Dark Magician on the field is in defense position, and the effect of Dark Magician's Illusion will not be destroyed for the time being.

"Hmph, after seeing my invincible [Sphinx Andrguin], you must have felt deep fear."

Anubis places the last card in his hand face down in the back row, saying, "I'll let you struggle one last turn. I'll face down a card, and my turn is over."

"However, in the next round, your life will be destroyed along with this world!"

Anubis: 1000 LP, 0 cards in hand

[Sphinx Andrew Guinness] [ATK13500]

【Pyramid of Light】【Gaikka】

When it was time for the game to start, the player didn't rush to draw cards but instead continued to think about tactics in his mind.

'To counter Kaiba, I had cards in my deck designed to directly destroy monsters, but because of the threat of [Abyssal Eye White Dragon], I didn't include a card like [Divine Shield - Mirror Power -]. Looking back, that was a mistake.'

'I can't find any cards in my deck that could possibly defeat that Sphinx Andrgenius, but if it's about bypassing monsters and directly damaging the duelist's Life Points...'

The game player glanced at the [Catapult Turtle] in his hand and had an idea. But just as he was about to draw a card to implement his strategy, a voice suddenly rang in his ear:

"That won't work, game."

"That voice belongs to Hayato!"

After immediately recognizing the owner of the voice, the game turned around to look at its surroundings, but couldn't find the source of the voice anywhere.

Seeing that the game was taking so long to draw cards, Anubis on the other side urged, "Although I know you must be terrified of my invincible [Sphinx Andrguin], you'd better hurry up! My patience is very limited. Don't keep looking around like a slave working diligently for fear of being whipped!"

Just then, as Anubis impatiently urged him on, Yugi heard Hayato's voice again: "Hey, Yugi, over here!"

Guided by the second voice, Yugi looked up and saw that although he couldn't see outside through the blue walls of the "Pyramid of Light," he could see the "Eye of Ugato" carved on the inner wall, and Hayato's figure was now in that red eye.

Chapter 531 Kaiba, your cards are really useful, but they're mine now.

"Hayato?"

Looking up at Hayato in the air, the game briefly communicated with him and learned about the current situation.

Everyone outside was fine, and Hayato, who had gone deep into the "Pyramid of Light," found the missing Game of the Watch. Apart from the newly completed Kaiba Dome having a big hole and Kaiba himself getting beaten up, no one was injured.

Furthermore, the game also learns from Hayato the necessary conditions for defeating Anubis.

However, Anubis was unaware of all this. He simply looked up at the game for a moment and then gave it a confident expression.

"I see, I understand now." With his finger resting on the top card of the deck, Yugi made a gesture as if preparing to draw a card, and said with a slight sigh, "The shortcut I wanted to take turned out to be the longest road."

"My turn, draw a card!"

"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Spellstone Mining', discarding two cards from my hand to the Graveyard, recovering the Spell Card 'Heavenly Treasure Card' from the Graveyard, and activating it!"

"The effect of this card is that both players draw cards from their decks until they have six cards in their hand. Since I have no cards in my hand, I can draw six cards!"

Using [Mining the Magic Stone], Yugi enjoyed the effect of the card [Heavenly Treasure] for the third time in this duel, drawing six cards from his deck in one go. Seeing this, Anubis smiled contemptuously: "Hmph, a futile struggle. What use are more cards against my invincible [Sphinx Androgynus]?"

"Furthermore, I also have no cards in hand, so I can draw six cards just the same."

In sync with the game's actions, Anubis also drew six cards. Upon seeing the cards he had drawn, a smile appeared on his lips, as if he had drawn some rather good cards.

'Although I drew four cards just to make up the numbers, I finally got my hands on the [Black Hole] and [Destruction Cannonball] cards.'

'Next turn, I just need to summon [Destroyer], equip it to [Sphinx Andruggnis] with its effect, and then activate [Black Hole] to destroy all the monsters on the field. This will clear out all the monsters that imp might summon this turn, while [Sphinx Andruggnis] can use [Destroyer] to defend against the destruction.'

'From now on, all I need to do is launch a direct attack, and it will be a complete victory for me!'

Anubis had a good plan in mind, but he didn't notice the smile that appeared on the game's lips after seeing the card he had drawn.

"Hayato just told me that Kaiba has a new 'Blue-Eyes' card with a very powerful effect, comparable to a God Card. If I remember correctly, it seems to be the one Kaiba wanted to Tribute to Summon as 'Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon'?"

With that thought in mind, Yugi pressed the button to activate the face-down card: "Anubis, in this duel, I will fight alongside Kaiba. I activate my last face-down card in the back row, [Grave Robber]. After paying me 1000 Life Points, choose one card from my opponent's graveyard for me to use."

[Game: 1600 → 600 LP]

"Hmm? A card from my graveyard?" Anubis raised his Duel Disk and said dismissively, "It doesn't matter. The attack power of [Sphinx Andrgenius] won't decrease just because a monster leaves the graveyard."

"No, it's not your grave."

Yugi shook his head and pointed to Kaiba beside him. "The object I want to choose is Kaiba's graveyard, the one whose duel you interfered with. To be precise, it's the card that Kaiba wanted to summon but you interrupted!"

As he spoke, Yugi glanced at the seahorse beside him.

Just then, the seahorse, who had been unconscious from suffocation for a long time, regained some consciousness. As soon as he woke up, he saw his own card lying next to him, as well as Yugi and Anubis facing each other, and his eyes met Yugi's.

"This is......"

"Seahorse, you're awake."

Kaiba's awakening was unexpected, but Yugi had already paid the Life Points to activate the card. Although he felt a little embarrassed to take Kaiba's card in front of him, Yugi still opened his hand.

Meanwhile, the Dark Magician on the field waved his staff in perfect coordination, releasing magic power onto the cards next to Kaiba, taking one of them and sending it into Yugi's hand. Yugi reached out and precisely caught it between his fingers.

"Game! Kisama!"

Although the game's moves are cool, there's still one person who's very unhappy.

Kaiba glared at Yugi: "I don't know what just happened, but Yugi, how dare you take that [Blue Eye] card from my hand!"