Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

'No, it doesn't matter about the others, but not this guy named Baron!'

We absolutely cannot lose in terms of momentum! 'X2'

Jonouchi and Baron stared at each other, their thoughts surprisingly in sync.

"Hahaha, I'm in luck! I drew a great hand of cards." Although his hand was completely full of bad cards, Baron's arrogance didn't wane at all. "And what kind of hand do you have?"

"Hmph, need I say more?" Jonouchi glanced at his hand, which was too painful to look at, and wore a smug expression. "A perfect hand!"

And you, Baron?

“Of course it’s the same.” Baron wiped away his sweat imperceptibly. “A perfect hand!”

"Damn! That guy over there seems to have drawn an incredibly powerful card!" x2

Before they knew it, their thoughts were in sync again.

Baron's fingers tightened around his cards. He couldn't help but think, 'Damn it, this hand-card mishap just had to happen when I was facing Jonouchi Katsuya, someone I absolutely couldn't lose to. And to make matters worse, that guy had a really good hand.'

'nmd, wsm?'

'I'm completely helpless right now—'

'Hmph, just kidding! Luckily, I got to go first, which allowed me to draw this card that can turn the tide of the battle!'

Looking at the card he drew first, Baron proudly inserted it into the Duel Disk: "What a pity, Jonouchi. Although you drew a good hand, as punishment for being my enemy, I will now crush your hopes!"

"Activate the Spell Card [Hand Elimination], both players discard all cards from their hands, and then draw cards from their decks equal to the number of cards they discarded!"

"What?! To ruin my perfect hand, you actually gave up your perfect hand too!" Jonouchi said with a regretful expression.

Balong, with an expression of great sacrifice, said, "Hmph, no matter how unwilling you are, what can you do?"

Both players reluctantly sent their five cards to the graveyard, but upon seeing their newly drawn cards, they both inwardly exclaimed: 'Yada Thief!'

"Hoo hoo hoo, don't blink, Jonouchi, witness my invincible [Armor] deck!" Baron drew a card from his hand, "Face-up Defense Position Normal Summon, [Spirit Helmet - Armor]!"

Despite the loud shouts, Baron's appearance on the field was actually just a mechanical monster resembling a motorcycle helmet. Moreover, its proportions didn't reflect the typical mechanical monster style of "bigger is better, more is better," but rather had a design style reminiscent of an ancient warrior.

At least in Jonouchi's opinion, it's a nice-looking helmet. But could that be the "Armored" monster that Ryuzaki repeatedly emphasized the need to be careful when summoning monsters?

As Jonouchi was speculating about the abilities of the [Spirit Helmet Armor], he discovered that the helmet was accelerating towards Baron behind him and colliding with his head!

No, they didn't collide; the helmet was actually on Balong's head!

Previously, Jonouchi had only heard Ryuzaki's descriptions. He only knew that the [Armor] deck could be worn on the body, but Jonouchi's imagination could only associate it with the "wearing" of Union Monsters like [X-Boss Cannon] and [Y-Dragon Head]. Only now did he understand the so-called "wearing". Did it mean that it was worn directly on the duelist?

[Spirit Helmet/Armor] [4 stars/location]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[0/500]

"Next, I activate this card, the Continuous Spell Card 'Survival Treasure Card,' whose effect is to draw three cards from my Deck each time a monster in my Graveyard is Special Summoned. Then I activate the Spell Card 'Foolish Burial,' which sends one monster from my Deck to the Graveyard."

Baron played two more cards from his hand, then retrieved a card from his deck and sent it to the graveyard. Jonouchi saw that it was another [Armor] monster, but he could only tell from its appearance that it was probably an arm-shaped piece of armor.

So, are most of the monsters in the [Armor] deck really armor worn by the duelist? The one sent to the graveyard was the one equipped in the hand, right?

"Finally, I'll set the two cards in my hand face down, and end my turn." With his hand empty, Baron, wearing his helmet, looked at Jonouchi and said, "Without your perfect hand, do you still have the ability to defeat the monsters on my field?"

[Baron: 4000LP, 0 cards in hand]

[Spirit Helmet/Armor] [DEF500]

[Survival Treasure Card] [Face Card] x2

Chapter 594 Homo's Unique Nine is Greater Than Ten

To be honest, even Jonouchi could more or less guess what card Baron would be placing down at this moment.

After all, first there was "Survival Treasure Card," which requires a monster to be Special Summoned from the Graveyard to activate, and then there's "Foolish Burial," which actively sends a monster from the Deck to the Graveyard. No matter how you look at it, one of Baron's two face-down cards must have the ability to be Special Summoned from the Graveyard.

But it doesn't matter.

Unlike before, after the change, Old Man Jonouchi's hand is now ten times, or even nine times, stronger than before!

"My turn, draw a card!"

"Then comes the spell card [Red-Eyes Insight]. I send [Red-Eyes Wyvern] from my deck to the graveyard to activate it, and add one [Red-Eyes] Spell/Trap Card other than [Red-Eyes Insight] to my hand. I choose [Red-Eyes Fusion]."

"Next, activate it!"

The 【Red-Eyes】 deck's exclusive Fusion Spell Card was activated by Jonouchi, creating a red vortex on his field.

"【Red-Eyes Fusion】is different from most card-disadvantageous Fusions. It has the ability to select Fusion Materials from the Deck. However, powerful cards often come with great risks. During the turn I activate 【Red-Eyes Fusion】, I cannot perform any other Summon or Special Summon."

While retrieving two monsters from his deck for the Fusion, Jonouchi sent them to the Graveyard, shouting, "The Fusion materials are a Level 7 Red-Eyes Black Dragon and a Level 6 Dragon-Type monster, Meteor Dragon!"

"Blue-Eyes is the white dragon that brings victory, then Red-Eyes is the black dragon that summons miracles. O black flame of a meteor from outer space, be born!"

"Fusion Summon, [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon]!"

As the two monsters inside the castle were sent into the spinning vortex, the entrance opened by [Red-Eyes Fusion] closed, and a beam of red and black light shot into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, a meteor fell from the sky and shot straight into the arena inside the city!

"boom!"

The earth trembled, the air heated by the high temperature shuddered, and the falling "meteorite" spread out a pair of pitch-black giant wings. The dragon blood, as hot as magma, flowed in the veins of the dragon wings, revealing a scarlet color. It was a giant dragon!

【Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon】【8☆/Dark】

[Dragon/Fusion/Effect]

[3500/2000]

Not only that, Baron also discovered that in addition to the giant dragon in front of him that looked like it was of the fire attribute but was actually of the dark attribute, there was also a falling rock that was heading straight for him!

"Well!"

[Baron: 4000→2600LP]

After being hit by a meteorite, Baron's base score, which was originally at full value, suddenly dropped by a whopping 1400 points!

"If the [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon] is successfully Fusion Summoned, I will activate its effect. I will send one [Red-Eyes] monster from my Deck to the Graveyard, and then inflict effect damage to my opponent equal to half of that monster's original ATK." Jonouchi showed a card in his hand. "The one I sent to the Graveyard is this [Red-Eyes Black Iron Dragon], which has 2800 ATK."

"1400 points of effect damage! Even outside of the Dark Game, it's incredibly hot. I almost got burned." Baron said, patting his chest to extinguish a wisp of flame.

Even though neither side's battle phase had started, one-third of his life points had already been reduced, which would be a huge disadvantage for an ordinary duelist, but Baron still seemed very confident in himself.

Although Jonouchi hasn't performed a Normal Summon this turn, the self-restriction effect of [Red-Eyes Fusion] has taken effect, preventing him from performing a Normal Summon even if he has monsters in his hand that can be Normal Summoned. However, despite summoning [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon], which has 500 more ATK than [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], Jonouchi still has a full five cards in his hand.

Moreover, at the same time, he had already sent a total of five monster cards into the graveyard.

"Activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed' to return five monster cards from my Graveyard—two 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon', 'Meteor Dragon', 'Red-Eyes Black Iron Dragon', and 'Red-Eyes Wyvern'—to my Deck, then draw two cards from my Deck."

"The second [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]?" Baron was a little confused as to when Jonouchi's second [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was sent to the graveyard. But when he thought back, he remembered the five cards Jonouchi had previously sent to the graveyard by [Hand Elimination]. "I see, was it around that time?"

"Draw a card!" After shuffling, Jonouchi drew two cards, glanced at them, and took one out. "Alright, I'll activate the Equip Spell Card I just drew, [Meteor Strike]. This card can grant the monsters on my field the ability to pierce through defenses!"

"The [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon] equipped with [Meteor Strike] has an attack power of 3500, while your [Spirit Helmet - Armor] on the field only has a defense power of 500!"

"Looks like the goddess of victory is on my side, Baron!" Jonouchi said confidently.

"Enter the battle phase, then [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon] attacks [Spirit Helmet - Armor]!"

"Explosive Kill! Black Flame Meteor within the Castle!"

"What a strange name!"

Amidst Balong's complaints, [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon] flapped its wings and soared into the sky amidst the flames, spitting out magma bullets from its mouth at Balong below.

If the magma projectile wreathed in black flames were to hit the [Spirit Helmet - Armor] equipped on Balong's head, it would be an easy way to wipe out his remaining 2600 base points!

Under Jonouchi's wary gaze, Baron didn't just sit and wait to be defeated. Instead, he activated a card from his back row. However, instead of reviving a monster from the graveyard as Jonouchi had expected, he activated [Health Booster - Super Z]!?

"This battle with [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon] will deal me over 2000 battle damage, fulfilling the activation conditions for this card. Before that damage occurs, the effect of [Health Booster - Super Z] will take effect!"

"My base score has recovered to 4000 points!"

[Baron: 2600→6600LP]

"N-Nani?!"

Jonouchi watched helplessly as Baron's base stats recovered so much in one go. The attack from [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon], which should have been a fatal blow, landed without any weakening and destroyed the [Spirit Helmet - Armor] on Baron's head.

"Well!"

[Baron: 6600→3600LP]

"Heh heh heh, what a powerful strike, Katsuya Jonouchi. But to declare victory so early is a bit too arrogant, isn't it?" Baron, whose helmet had been damaged and disappeared, revealing a confident smile, said, "Is your so-called 'Explosive Kill' such a weak attack that it's not even a massage? In the end, it only reduced my mere 400 base points in one round."

"It's just a shame that my $20,000 custom shirt got dirty."

Jonouchi's eyes instantly turned displeased: "Tch, why are you guys always so rich?"

"Set two cards face down, my turn ends."

[Within the city: 4000LP, 3 cards in hand]

【Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon】(Meteor Direct Strike)【ATK3500】

[GaiK] X2

Chapter 595: Since I can't think of a title, I wish everyone a happy Dragon Boat Festival!

Although Jonouchi was somewhat disappointed that he couldn't OTK Baron, he still felt that he was the one with the advantage.

First, Baron is behind in Life Points, and only has one face-down card of unknown significance and one revealed "Survival Treasure Card" in his back row, while he doesn't have a single monster on the field and his hand is empty. On the other hand, Jonouchi has two face-down cards in his back row for defense, a "Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon" with a whopping 3500 ATK in Attack Position in the front row, and three more cards in his hand.

The battles in Duel Monsters are essentially battles of card advantage, and maintaining a card advantage is crucial. Jonouchi believes that he is undoubtedly on the side with the advantage right now.

How can you lose when the dragon is right in front of you?

Until Baron began his turn.

"My turn, draw a card." Baron casually drew a card, seemingly not taking Jonouchi's arrangements seriously, and snapped his fingers lightly. "During my preparation phase, Special Summon [Spirit Helmet Armor] from my Graveyard."

"At that moment, the effect of the [Survival Treasure] activated, and I drew three cards from my deck."

Seeing that Baron's hand had grown from 0 to a full 4 cards in the blink of an eye, and that his helmet had returned to its original position, Jonouchi frowned: "So he actually has a resurrection effect?"

He had previously thought that Baron might be using other Spell/Trap Cards to synergize with the effect of [Survival Card], but he didn't expect it to be the effect of his [Mental Helmet/Armor] itself. Moreover, it sounded like the kind of card that didn't have a one-time limit per turn and could be revived from the graveyard as long as it existed there.