Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

[500/500]

"【Master Craftsman - Tiger Iron】Activates when flipped: Add one Equip Spell Card from my Deck to my hand."

As Rafael spoke, [Master Craftsman Tiger Iron] stopped forging his weapon. The quenched longsword, enveloped in light, was placed into Rafael's hand and transformed into a card. Because of the light, the game couldn't tell which card Rafael had retrieved.

After retrieving an Equip Spell Card from his deck and adding it to his hand, Rafael seemed to have no intention of activating it. Instead, he placed the two remaining cards in his hand, excluding the retrieved Equip Spell Card, face down on the back row: "Finally, I face down two cards in my hand. End of turn."

[Rafiru: 4000LP, 1 cards in hand]

[Inside-side defense position monster]

[Famous Craftsman-Tiger Iron][ATK500]

[GaiK] X2

"Although you're quite confident in yourself, Rafael, the board you set up first is surprisingly simple." Yugi said dismissively, looking at Rafael's only revealed monster, [Master Craftsman - Tiger Iron]. "Are you deliberately placing a low-attack monster in attack position to lure me into attacking?"

Rafael remained expressionless upon hearing Yugi's words, leaving Yugi unable to guess his thoughts.

"My turn, draw a card." After drawing a card, Yugi didn't rush to activate it. Instead, he played a card from his hand. "During my Main Phase, I summon [Magician's Staff] from my hand in Attack Position."

As Yugi places the monster card on the Duel Disk, a phantom of [Dark Magician] appears before him, his entire body a void composed of blue magical energy, except for the emerald wand in his hand. Or perhaps, the phantom of [Dark Magician] is formed by the magical energy released from the wand.

【The Magician's Staff】【3☆/Dark】

[Mage Race/Effect]

[1600/100]

After summoning [Magician's Staff], Yugi paused deliberately to carefully observe Rafael's expression. [Magician's Staff] has an attack power of 1600, which is just within the range that can trigger troublesome summoning traps like [Trap Hole] and [Naraku's Trap Hole]. Yugi wanted to use the effect of [Magician's Staff] to test Rafael's two face-down cards in the back row.

However, Rafael showed no intention of activating a backrow card when he saw the Magician's Staff appear. Yugi was not discouraged and, after ruling out the possibility of a summoning trap, continued to play.

"When [Magician's Staff] is successfully summoned, its effect is activated. Add one card with the description of the card name [Dark Magician] from my deck to my hand. The card I add to my hand is the Spell Card [Tether of Master and Disciple]."

"Then, I sacrifice the Magician's Staff on the field to activate the Spell Card Sacrifice Doll!"

After using the effect of [Magician's Staff] to retrieve the required card from the deck, the game does not hesitate to sacrifice [Magician's Staff], which is no longer of any use.

As the [Sacrificial Doll] was activated, an ancient pentagonal stone slab rose up behind the [Magician's Staff]. Several metal nails, of unknown origin, pierced the [Magician's Staff] on the game field, pinning the [Dark Magician's] phantom to the stone slab, rendering it immobile, like a puppet at the mercy of others.

"The effect of [Sacrifice Doll] is that I can Special Summon a Level 7 monster that can be Normal Summoned from my hand. Appear as a tribute of [Magician's Staff], my loyal servant!" Yugi shouted, holding the card high above his head. "Come forth, [Dark Magician]!"

"boom!"

The magician's wand, nailed to the stone slab, shattered instantly. But as if time had reversed, the magic released from the wand began to gather and transform back into the form of the Dark Magician. However, this time, the Dark Magician was not an illusory magical entity, but a powerful physical presence!

[Black Magician] [ATK2500]

Compared to Rafael, the game's gameplay was clearly much more impressive. It quickly completed a deck search and a special summon of a high-level monster, and only lost two cards in the process, leaving a full four cards in its hand.

"Letting important monsters slumber in the graveyard, tsk, how irresponsible of them to treat monsters." However, Rafael's expression revealed a slight discomfort due to the game's controls.

Compared to Baron, who prefers a peaceful life, and Amelda, who is only focused on revenge against Kaiba, Rafael, as the most "normal" of the three musketeers of Doma, actually has an unusual habit, or rather, an "obsessive-compulsive disorder": he will not send his own monsters to the graveyard, and he always disapproves of other people's behavior of sending their monsters to the graveyard.

Even Baron and Amelda, who are both members of Doma, inevitably send monsters to the graveyard due to their different dueling styles. For example, Phoenix Gravity can revive a large number of Armored Monsters in the graveyard at once, while Mech Force: Destruction Force is good at reviving monsters by operating the graveyard. This has caused Rafael to be dissatisfied with them.

However, Rafiru was only slightly unhappy; he wasn't as extreme as some vegetarians who force others to be vegetarians as well. At most, he was just in a bad mood.

But there was one person for whom Rafael's dislike had escalated to the point of resistance and disgust. That person, while arguably the most famous duelist in the world, not only failed to set a good example for others but also promoted his dueling style to various degrees, corrupting many teenagers who were just getting into Duel Monsters. The impact on teenagers was immeasurable.

Look at those newbie duelists now, all shouting "abandoning old friends" and "necessary sacrifices" with smiles on their faces. I can't smile; my tears are welling up inside.

Therefore, even with Dartz's orders, Rafael still found it difficult to trust that guy after he joined Doma. Rather than saying that he didn't fight him because of his long-suppressed disgust, he was already being considerate of the overall situation.

(Hayato on the plane: Achoo!)

Seeing Yugi send the Magician's Staff to the graveyard to summon the Dark Magician, Rafael's mood soured, remembering that Yugi had also been Hayato's companion. He felt a surge of resentment towards Hayato directed at Yugi, but after taking a few deep breaths, he managed to calm himself and avoid letting his emotions get in the way of the duel that Rafael himself had been eagerly anticipating.

"While [Sacrifice Doll] can summon high-level monsters on the field without tributes, if I remember correctly, [Dark Magician] Special Summoned by the effect of [Sacrifice Doll] cannot attack this turn."

Yugi nodded: "That's true. After all, powerful cards often come with great risks. But Rafael, the core of my strategy this turn isn't [Dark Magician]. His appearance is just a stepping stone for the monsters that will appear next."

As he spoke, Yugi drew a card from his hand and showed it to Rafael, even tapping the side of the card lightly. "Although [Magician's Staff] has left my field, you shouldn't have forgotten the card I just retrieved, right?"

"Because I have [Dark Magician] on the field, I activate the spell card [Master-Disciple Bond] in my hand!"

Although the Dark Mage was slightly weakened due to the influence of the Sacrificial Doll, his magical power was not diminished at all. With a light tap of the emerald staff on the ground, a magic circle with a diameter of nearly two meters was instantly drawn and constructed on the ground.

"The great Dark Mage has a disciple, come forth, Dark Magician Girl!"

Accompanied by the game's sound, the playful [Dark Magician Girl] jumped out of the magic circle. As soon as she appeared, she wanted to get close to the game. However, when she noticed that her opponent was Raphiel, especially since he had a pendant with an "Orichalcum fragment" on his chest, she immediately showed a look of great alarm.

She recognized the power emanating from that stone; it was almost identical to the aura emanating from the being who sought to destroy both the elven and human realms!

Dark Magician Girls, ATK2000

After retrieving the card "Dark Magician Girl" from the deck and placing it next to "Dark Magician" on the Duel Disk, Yugi continued, "I can only activate 'Teacher-Student Bond' if I control 'Dark Magician'. I can Special Summon one 'Dark Magician Girl' from my Deck, hand, or Graveyard."

"And after that, I set the Normal Spell Card [Dark Magician] to the Spell & Trap Zone from my deck."

Another card was retrieved from the Duel Disk. Yugi placed the card into the slot in the Spell & Trap Zone of the Duel Disk and then pressed the button to activate a face-down card: "Normal Spell Cards can be activated directly during the turn they are face-down. Since [Dark Magician] is on my field, I activate the Normal Spell Card [Dark Magician]!"

"Destroy all the cards in your back row!"

Chapter 620 He said, "We can go now."

"Activate the Spell Card [Dark Magician]: This can only be activated if [Dark Magician] is on my field. Destroy all Spell/Trap Cards on your opponent's field!"

In fact, the "Tether of Master and Apprentice" can retrieve four types of Spell Cards that are set to the back row of the game, each with one of the following effects: "Destroy Monsters", "Destroy Spell & Trap Cards", "Destroy All Cards", and "Increase ATK". You can choose to use any of these depending on the situation.

However, the attack-boosting "Dark Magician Combo" is useless because "Dark Magician" cannot attack this turn. "Dark Blast Magician," which can destroy all cards, is a quick-play spell card that can only be activated the next turn after being set. Compared to destroying monsters, Yugi believes that it is more important to destroy the cards in Rafael's back row, which are relatively more dangerous, for the time being.

Instead of trying to guess and probe what Rafael's two face-down cards in his back row are, the game opted to simply flip over all the cards in his back row for convenience. Whether it's [Magic Cylinder], [Trap Hole], or anything else, once destroyed, there's no need to be hesitant.

[Dark Magician] The power of the magic card activated by obedience gathers in front of him, and a huge magic bullet is fired, aiming directly at the two face-down cards in Rafael's back row. But just as the magic bullet is about to shatter Rafael's face-down cards in the back row, the magic bullet suddenly dissipates into scattered magic power.

At some point, Rafael pressed the button to activate a face-down card, and a card opened in his back row—a counter trap card called [Mana Drain].

"Chain [Dark Magician], I activate the face-down card [Mana Drain], which negates and destroys your spell card [Dark Magician]. However, you can negate this effect by discarding one spell card from your hand."

Upon hearing this, Yu looked at his hand and said with a helpless expression, "I'll give up discarding one card."

It's not that he made any trade-offs in the game; if he had any magic cards he could discard, he would have done so long ago. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a single magic card in his hand right now. They're either monster cards that he can't play this turn or trap cards that he can't activate from his hand.

Since there were no other spells to transfer the target, [Magic Extraction] followed [Dark Magician] and acted on [Dark Magician], making him even weaker since he was already out of sorts. The magic bullet that was originally capable of sweeping away Rafael's back row also completely dissipated.

Looking at the only card left on Rafael's back field, Yugi thought for a moment and decisively said, "Then, I'm going to enter the battle phase now. I'll use [Dark Magician Girl] to launch an attack."

However, the game's hand didn't point at the [Master Craftsman - Tiger Iron] that was exposed on Rafael's screen, but rather at the monster in the face-down defense position. "My target is the monster that's hidden!"

"Dark Magician Burst!"

The 【Master Craftsman - Tiger Iron】, with an attack power of only 500, is in attack position. It's hard not to speculate that the face-down card that Rafael didn't use might be a card that greatly increases attack power to achieve a counterattack.

Although the other monster is very likely to be a flip monster like [Master Craftsman - Tiger Iron], even if you don't attack it, Rafael can flip it and activate its effect in the next turn. It's just a matter of time. At least attacking that monster will not result in a counterattack from Rafael's face card.

As for whether Dark Magician Girl can destroy the face-down monster, the game is quite confident in her. Although Dark Magician Girl's attack power is only two-thirds that of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which is somewhat embarrassing, she can surely destroy a monster that can be Normal Summoned without tributes, right?

【Dark Magician Girl】is more than just pretty.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the game, wielding the enchanted staff with "Power +3", [Dark Magician Girl]'s attack revealed the card on the face-down defense position monster on Rafael's field. However, just as the monster under the card was about to be hit by [Dark Magician Girl]'s "Skull Crusher (Physical)", a pair of strong and powerful hands suddenly grabbed the staff.

"What?!"

A ferocious monster, like a demon, rises from the revealed card. The game recognizes that monster; it was the "Support Guardian" that Rafael used once in the KC Cup. The game remembers that the monster is not a flip monster that can trigger its effect when flipped, but it has an exceptionally high DEF of 2200, which is among the best of 4-star monsters!

[Support Guardian] [4☆/Dark]

[Warrior Race/Effect]

[500/2200]

The weak-attacked [Dark Magician Girl] encountered a monster with excellent defense, and the result was—

"Well..."

The [Support Guardian] delivered a powerful punch to the [Dark Magician Girl]'s staff, sending the naive mage back onto the field. Tears welled in the girl's eyes, as if she was about to cry out. The scattered magic struck the game, taking away some of her life points.

[Game: 4000 → 3800 LP]

A mere 200 base points is nothing, but what's more frustrating is that the game went through a lot of fancy maneuvers this round. The hand size decreased from six cards at the beginning to three cards now, but all that was lost was one [Mana Drain] card in Rafael's back row. Neither of the two monsters on the field were destroyed, and even the [Master Craftsman - Tiger Iron] in attack position remained unharmed.

With two Trap Cards drawn from his hand and placed in the Spell & Trap Zone, Yugi was left with only one Monster Card in his hand. He said helplessly, "Due to the effect of Sacrifice Doll, [Dark Magician] cannot attack this turn. Set both cards face down, and my turn ends."

[Game: 3800LP, 1 cards in hand]

[Black Magician] [ATK2500]

Dark Magician Girls, ATK2000

[GaiK] X2

Although his plan to overwhelm Rafael in one fell swoop failed, Yugi didn't feel that he was at a disadvantage despite only losing a few Life Points; his momentum had only slightly diminished. After all, judging from the field setup, his side, with two powerful monsters, undoubtedly had the advantage.

It was Rafael's turn again. Before drawing cards, he placed his fingers on his deck, closed his eyes, and a faint white light once more emanated from him. Sensing the aura emanating from the cards, Rafael smiled: "Here it comes..."

"Well then, it's my turn. Draw." Rafael drew the card he had sensed, and without even looking at it, played a card from his hand. "Activate the Spell Card [Gravity Axe - Roar]!"

As expected, Rafael had the Equip Spell Card retrieved by the effect of [Master Craftsman - Tiger Iron] in the previous turn. It's understandable that Rafael didn't activate it last turn, since even the most powerful Equip Spell Card wouldn't provide a strong boost to two weak monsters on Rafael's field with only 500 ATK each.

However, keeping it in the current game still doesn't quite make sense, since Rafael's monsters on the field haven't increased; they're still just two monsters with 500 attack power each, while the worst monster she has to face is [Dark Magician Girl] with 2000 attack power.

Rafael couldn't possibly let the [Support Guardian], with its excellent defensive capabilities, abandon its defensive advantage and rely on the Equipment Spell Card, whose specific bonuses are currently unknown, to launch an attack against [Dark Magician Girl], could he?

However, Rafael equipped the [Gravity Axe - Roar] on the [Support Guardian], which was still in defense mode, giving him a giant axe that looked quite heavy.

Judging from the size of that giant axe, it didn't seem like a weapon designed for a monster of average size. Even the robust [Support Guardian] looked quite strained wielding it.

[Support Guardians] [500/2200→1000/2200]

With the use of the Equip Spell Card, the stats of [Support Guardian] did increase, but the increase was only in attack power, and only by a mere 500 points. Even if the game were to switch all two of its Spellcasters to the relatively vulnerable defense position and allow [Support Guardian] to attack, it would still be impossible for [Support Guardian] to be destroyed.

But the next moment, Rafael played his last card, revealing to Yugi the true purpose of activating that ambiguous equipment card.

"The monster 'Guardian-Glar' in my hand can only be Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned if 'Gravity Axe-Roar' is on my field. Furthermore, if I only have 'Guardian-Glar' in my hand, I can Normal Summon the Level 5 'Guardian-Glar' without Tributing."

Rafael held up a card with great force, then gently lowered it, proclaiming loudly, "Meet my family, nameless pharaoh! Come forth, [Guardian-Glar]!"

As Rafael put down the card, a lizard-like monster appeared on his field, much larger and stronger than [Support Guardian]. It was wrapped in bandages, and in addition to its heavy-looking battle skirt, it was wearing a vest connected by iron chains on its upper body.

After the Guardian-Glar appeared, the game showed that he actually took the Gravity Axe-Roar from the struggling Support Guardian with ease?

The Equip Spell Card that was already equipped on the monster was transferred?

"I didn't use the effect of [Support Guardian] before in the KC Cup to hide my strength. Its ability is that once per turn, it can transfer one of its equipped cards to another monster on the field that can be the correct target. I transferred [Gravity Axe - Roar] to [Guardian - Grall].