Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

【True Red King】【ATK2400】

However, there was another reason why Jonouchi summoned the Crimson King, and that was—

"With [Crimson King] on the field, I activate my backrow face-down card, [Bottle of Greed], which selects five cards from my Graveyard and returns them to my Deck. Then I draw one card, but before its effect takes effect, it chains with the effect of [Crimson King]!"

Jonouchi pointed to the piece of armor on Baron's body that posed the greatest threat to him, "Although I don't know its specific effects, I will destroy your Double Cross Armor!"

Among all the [Armor] monsters, the rest are predominantly blue and mostly level 4 or lower. The only exception is the [Double Cross Armor], which is not only red but also a level 6 high-level monster. Naturally, it immediately caught Jonouchi's attention.

Black Dragon Flame was thrown out by Jonouchi, shattering the armor on Baron's body. There were still six Armored Monsters left. Jonouchi also picked five cards from the graveyard, returned them to the deck, shuffled them, and drew one card.

Unfortunately, the card he drew at that moment, like the other card in his hand, was a trap card that could not be used temporarily.

"You destroyed the most threatening [Double Cross Armor] in one glance. Impressive intuition, Jonouchi." Baron sent another [Armor] monster to the graveyard, watching Jonouchi put away the two cards in his hand and assume an attacking stance. "But you shouldn't have forgotten, right? Simply destroying my [Armor] monsters one by one like this is useless. A more intense battle won't do."

"You only have one monster on your field. Even if it attacks, I can still redirect its attack!"

"Hmph, Sorewadoka na, Baron?"

However, Baron's reminder only elicited a confident response from Jonouchi. Jonouchi, having put away his two cards, assumed a battle stance and laughed, saying, "Entering my battle phase, I'm going to attack your [Spirit Helmet - Armor] in attack position!"

As he spoke, Jonouchi repeated his previous move, leaping into the air and executing a flying kick.

Although his blood was boiling from the duel with Jonouchi, Baron was not one to hold back; on the contrary, he gave it his all.

"In that case, I will turn my attack on—"

As he spoke, Baron tried to move his limbs and use other parts of his armor to replace the Spirit Helmet Armor to withstand the attack and make defensive blocking movements, but he was surprised to discover something at this moment: "No, I can't move!?"

"Not only that, I can't move at all now!"

"Red Kick!"

Amidst the flames, Jonouchi, clad in the Crimson King armor, delivered a flying kick to the immobile Baron. The powerful kick shattered Baron's helmet, which had withstood the attack, and sent him flying, crashing into the Orichalcos Barrier!

"Waaah!"

[Baron: 3600→1700LP]

The Field Spell Card [Orichalcos Barrier] increased the attack of [Mental Helmet Armor], which originally had 0 attack, by 500 points. However, after being hit by [Crimson King], a total of 1900 battle damage was still inflicted on Baron.

Getting up from the ground and watching Jonouchi return to his original position, Baron glanced at his Duel Disk before belatedly realizing what had just happened.

Because of the effect of [Orichalcos Barrier], Baron Special Summoned a total of nine monsters at once when he used [Full Armor Gravity], occupying all ten areas of his front and back rows.

However, since [Orichalcos Barrier] has the ability to actively move monsters from the Monster Zone to the Spell & Trap Zone, but cannot actively move monsters from the Spell & Trap Zone to the Monster Zone, Baron, despite losing three [Armor] monsters last turn to free up front-row space, could only move [Trap Burst Armor] to the back row.

It was because of this that Jonouchi noticed that Baron's back field was still full, but only two monsters, [Mental Helmet Armor] and [Double Cross Armor], remained in the front field. He then came up with this battle strategy.

He learned during Grimo's duel with Yugi that the characteristic of "Orichalcos Barrier" meant that he couldn't attack monsters in the back row unless he destroyed all the monsters in Baron's front row. This was a powerful effect, but Jonouchi also exploited a loophole.

[Armor] monsters can freely redirect the attack targets of monsters within the castle, but only if that target is attackable. In other words, when only [Mental Helmet Armor] remains in Baron's front row, Baron cannot redirect its attacks to other [Armor] monsters in the back row that are being "protected".

The reason for deliberately reviving "King Crimson" instead of other more powerful "Red-Eyes" monsters was precisely because of this tactic that had to be kept secret until the very end.

"Covering two cards in my hand, my turn ends."

Jonouchi ended his turn by setting his two trap cards face down and looking at Baron.

[Within the city: 2800LP, 0 cards in hand]

【True Red King】【ATK2400】

[GaiK] X2

Another round has passed, and Jonouchi has successfully reduced Baron's life points, which had been stagnant for a long time, once again. If he can launch another attack like the one before, he will win!

Baron wiped the crimson from the corner of his mouth, his fighting spirit growing even stronger: "That's it. Within the castle, there are not only reckless attacks fueled by passion, but also meticulously planned tactics. Your purity as a duelist is simply too high!"

"In that case, I'll have to put in the corresponding effort!"

Baron rested his fingers on the deck with only two cards remaining, a confident smile spreading across his face.

"My turn, draw a card!"

"Then, let's enter the battle phase!"

Not only did Baron not activate the effect of [Spirit Helmet/Armor] from its graveyard during the Preparation Phase to Special Summon it, it didn't even activate any cards during Main Phase 1, but instead went straight into the Battle Phase!?

This wasn't because Baron was so eager to fight Jonouchi that he lost his mind; on the contrary, he knew it would be foolish of him to continue summoning monsters in the front lines.

By utilizing the effect of [Red King], Jonouchi can continuously destroy the few [Armor] monsters on his front field, keeping his number at one. Then, in the next turn, he can use [Red King] again to attack without being able to change the target, reducing his own Life Points.

However, if the number is 0 instead of more than one, even the Crimson King will have no monsters to destroy. In the next turn, even if it attacks, it can only attack the Armored monsters in the back row. At that time, Baron can freely change the target of its attack again.

Furthermore, even if you were to summon monsters, wouldn't it be better to wait until you've dealt with the troublesome monster, "Crimson King," to avoid having your monsters destroyed repeatedly?

Upon hearing that Baron had immediately entered the battle phase, Jonouchi, who had initially intended to observe, immediately pressed the button to activate the face-down card: "Upon entering the battle phase, I will activate the face-down card [Red-Eyes Soul] and Special Summon [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] from my Graveyard!"

"Then, chain the effect of [Crimson King] to destroy [Trap Burst Armor] on your backline!"

"Finally, come forth, [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]!"

Flames from the Black Dragon Armor surged up, striking the [Trap Burst Armor] on Baron's body. Although it was caused by the effect of the [Red-Eyes Soul] trap card, it ultimately belonged to the power of the [Red King]. The [Trap Burst Armor], which had absolute resistance to trap cards, was thus sent to the graveyard by the trap card.

But upon seeing this, Baron smiled instead: "I see. If I'm not mistaken, Jonouchi, your other face-down card should also be a trap card, right? Are you planning to chain it to activate my attack declaration? Is it [Magic Cylinder] or [Divine Shield - Mirror Power -]?"

"Therefore, the existence of [Trap Burst Armor] must be dealt with, but it doesn't matter if it's destroyed, because you've fallen for it!"

The moment [Trap Burst - Armor] was destroyed, Baron slammed a card into the empty space on the Duel Disk. "During the Battle Phase, I can freely activate Quick-Play Spell Cards from my hand. This is the true path to victory!"

"What?!" Jōnei exclaimed in surprise.

To some extent, Baron was indeed right, because his back row card was indeed a trap card that could only be activated at a specific time. Moreover, when he saw Baron skip the main phase, he did relax for a moment, only thinking that he could not waste the effect of "Red King" and randomly destroyed a card.

I thought Balong was in the first level of the city and I was in the second level, but I never expected that Balong was actually in the third level!

"Quick-Play Spell Card [Forbidden Cloth] reduces the ATK of [Jet Gauntlets/Armor] by 600, making it untargetable by card effects and undestroyable by card effects!"

"In this way, no matter what cards you have on your back row, they won't affect this card. Even the effect of [Crimson King] can't destroy it or stop this attack!"

[Jet Gauntlets/Armor] [ATK500→0]

The bonus from the [Orichalcos Barrier] was blocked by a Saint Cloth, causing the attack power of the [Jet Gauntlet Armor] on his right arm to return to its original 0. Baron raised his right hand: "Here we go, Jonouchi, I'm going to use the [Jet Gauntlet Armor] to attack your [Crimson King]!"

"Jet machine gun!"

A large amount of airflow shot out from the gauntlet, accelerating Baron's punch. A fleeting blue phantom flashed by, and Baron's heavy punch slammed into Jonouchi's chest!

Jōnei, naturally, wouldn't be at a disadvantage and also threw a punch to intercept.

The two men's fists clashed and remained locked in a stalemate. The shockwaves from their punches alone easily caused the surrounding ground to crack and shatter, sending stones flying everywhere!

However, neither of the two fighters, Baron or Jonouchi, felt any harm.

That's to be expected, since the [Jet Gauntlets - Armor] only has 0 attack power.

But in the next instant, Jonouchi saw that his [Crimson King] armor and [Jet Gauntlets Armor] had both cracked open!?

"When [Jet Gauntlet Armor] battles an opponent's monster, its effect activates, destroying both [Jet Gauntlet Armor] and that opponent's monster. This will cause your [Crimson King] to be eliminated from the field again, Jonouchi!"

With his fists still pressed together, Baron faced Jonouchi and said smugly, "As long as we deal with the most troublesome [Crimson King], this duel will still be my victory!"

"I was so happy to duel with you, Jonouchi! This was absolutely the best duel ever!"

"Me too, Baron!" Looking at Baron's delighted expression, Jonouchi couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Even I can't help but get addicted to this feeling!"

"But it's finally coming to an end, even for us!" x2

As soon as the words were spoken, the armor on the two men exploded, sending them flying and crashing to the ground!

Flames shot into the sky from where the two men's fists collided.

The first to stand up was Baron, who was still protected by his armor. Through the smoke, he saw that the Crimson King on Jonouchi's body had dissipated, and he laughed, "Finally, you've taken down that Crimson King."

"Ah, you've taken him down, [Crimson King]." Jonouchi, who had also risen, answered Baron, but a smile played on his lips. "So, this duel is over, Baron!"

"What?!"

Suddenly, Baron noticed something—on the Duel Disk in the castle, not only was [Red King] destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, but even [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], which had just been Special Summoned, was nowhere to be found?

Where did that [Red-Eye] go?

Wait, could it be...?

Seeing Baron looking at the towering flames, Jonouchi laughed triumphantly, "Chain effect of [Jet Gauntlets - Armor]! [Crimson King] has activated its final effect, destroying a monster on the field!"

"But what it destroyed wasn't your Armored Monster, but my Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which was Special Summoned by Red-Eyes Soul!"

"Roar!!"

As the words fell from the castle, the flames suddenly flared, dispelling the smoke that enveloped the surroundings and revealing the cracked body of the [Red-Eyed Black Dragon]!

Black flames coiled around the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. It was clear that the Red-Eyes Black Dragon would be destroyed soon if left unattended, but at this moment, its aura was stronger than ever before!

"What is this!?" Baron looked up at [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], puzzled by what he was seeing. But then he found the answer in the Trap Card that Jonouchi had revealed in the back row. "Is it because of that Trap Card?!"

Jonouchi stood up and said loudly, "Baron, just like you said before, I'm not fighting alone. Whether it's Yugi, Mai, or Red-Eyes, there are too many people fighting alongside me."

"Our contest is evenly matched, but this duel will be won by me, with the aid of [Red-Eyes]!"

"【Red-Eyes Incinerate】: This effect can only be activated when a Red-Eyes monster is destroyed by battle or monster effect. Both monsters take damage equal to the destroyed monster's original ATK!"

As Jonouchi pointed to the sky, the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] roared and suddenly exploded with countless rays of light!

"The power of the Crimson King is fully unleashed here! Bring me a miracle, Crimson Eyes!"

"boom!"

The pitch-black flames swept across the entire [Orichalcos Barrier], instantly engulfing Jonouchi and Baron. The [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]'s original attack power of 2400 points of effect damage landed on the two of them, causing their base stats to plummet!

However, the city engulfed in flames did not feel too hot; in fact, it was somewhat cool.

A few breaths later, the power of [Red-Eyes Burn] began to fade, but Jonouchi suddenly realized that the icy feeling on his body was actually the [armor] of Baron that had been embedded in his body at some unknown time!?

"What is this!?" He abruptly turned his head to look at Baron's location, only to see Baron pointing in his direction. It seemed that before being engulfed by flames, he was directing his armor to come this way to protect the city, leaving himself no defense whatsoever. "Baron!!"

"Cough, perfect tactics, Jonouchi." Baron's face turned visibly pale as his base score plummeted, but he forced a proud smile. "I have to admit, you're stronger now."

[Within the city: 2800→400LP]

Baron: 1700LP → 0

With his basic score reduced to zero, Baron staggered and nearly fell, but he stubbornly remained standing.

“Baron…” Jonouchi wanted to take a step forward, but after the armor on his body dissipated, the suppressed pain surged through his body. He immediately knelt down on one knee, unable to move, and could only watch Baron panting heavily.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, Jonouchi. Don't forget we're rivals." Baron said with a smile, looking at Jonouchi, while the previously expanded [Orichalcos Barrier] began to shrink.