Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Although he was empty-handed, the Sword Saint - Bare-chested Gia Freed did not need to rely on weapons. He simply raised his right hand and made a chop motion before charging towards the equally unarmed Dark Mage.

"Truly remarkable, Jonouchi." Yugi watched as the Sword Saint gradually approached the Dark Magician, and despite his impending defeat, a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face. "I have felt all the faith and resolve that you entrusted to the Duel Monster."

"Let me repay you in my own way!" Yugi waved his hand. "Open my face-down card, [Magic Cylinder]! This card is a magic cylinder controlled by a magician. It can not only transfer matter, but also absorb and reflect monster attacks back!"

"They're coming, Jonouchi!"

Because the Forbidden Holy Lance had broken free from the effects of the DNA Modification Surgery, although the Dark Mage had lost his warrior powers, he was able to regain his powerful magic. The Sword Saint charged forward, but he showed no fear. With a flick of his free hand, a cylinder appeared before the Sword Saint's thrusting hand blade.

Despite its overwhelming power, the Sword Saint's seemingly invincible strike ultimately failed to transcend the constraints of the rules. Teleported by the Magic Cylinder, the Sword Saint's hand blade appeared behind him, and the bare-chested Sword Saint, Gia Freed, was destroyed from behind by his own blade and sent to the graveyard.

Watching his last effort vanish on the field, Jonouchi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as he looked at Yugi, saying, "My turn is over, Yugi."

[Within the city: 2700LP]

[The Flag of Courage] [Signature Card]

"Then, it's my turn." Drawing a card, Yugi looked at the empty field around the castle and at the Dark Mage, now free from the effects of the Forbidden Holy Lance and wielding his greatsword once more, and commanded:

"[Dark Magician], launch a direct attack on the opposing duelist!"

"Yeah!"

With a flash of sword light, the figure of the [Dark Magician] appeared not far in front of the castle, slowly sheathing his greatsword. As he walked towards the game arena, the [Dark Magician]'s figure began to dissipate.

【Within the city: 2700LP →0】

"I declare the winner of this match to be," the old butler announced through the microphone as Jonouchi's life points on the scoreboard reached zero, appearing precisely at the dueling ring. "Yugi Muto!"

Chapter 142 Electronic Flow - Samejima Iemitsu

"Jonnouchi..." The duel ended, and Yugi returned to the Millennium Puzzle, regaining control of his body. His facial features softened, and his expression became somewhat weak. Yugi looked at Jonouchi across from him with concern.

After the Dark Magician delivered the final blow, Jonouchi lowered his head, the shadow cast by his golden hair obscuring his face and making it impossible to see his expression.

Upon hearing Yugi call his name, Jonouchi's shoulders twitched slightly. He raised his right hand, brushed his hair aside, and forced a smile: "Congratulations, Yugi, you won. What an interesting duel."

"I'm sorry, Jonouchi..." Yugi noticed the worry in Jonouchi's eyes and said apologetically. Jonouchi's sister needed a lot of money for surgery, and the only way he could think of was through the Duel Kingdom's prize money, but Yugi had personally crushed his last hope.

Upon hearing Yugi's words, Jonouchi laughed: "Hey, Yugi, what's with that expression? You beat me, cheer up, why do you look like you're about to cry? I'll find a way to deal with Shizuka's situation. Don't you also have someone you want to save?"

"Within the city..."

"game……"

Watching those two on the dueling platform calling each other's names so affectionately, Hayato couldn't help but get goosebumps. It's too gay, I can't take it!

He stood up from his seat, and Samejima Iemitsu stood up at the same time. The two looked at each other and smiled.

"The renowned Electro Flow! I missed your duel yesterday, Mr. Samejima. Now I can finally feast my eyes on it."

"Haha, Hayato-kun, you're quite the duelist too. I'm really looking forward to our duel." Samejima replied with a laugh. "Well then, see you on the dueling platform."

The two nodded to each other and walked down from the audience seats in two different directions, entering the backstage contestants' preparation room along the passageway to prepare for the second duel that was to begin in a few minutes.

As soon as Hayato entered the athletes' preparation room, he saw Jonouchi with his head down, sighing and preparing to leave. Even as Hayato walked in, Jonouchi didn't notice him. He just walked along, muttering to himself, "Ugh, what's the point of trying to look cool all the time? How am I going to save enough money to pay for Shizuka's medical treatment?"

"Jonnouchi," Hayato greeted, startling Jonnouchi.

"Hayabusa, Hayato! Haha, right, the next match is between you and Mr. Samejima, right?" Jonouchi, who had just been startled, noticed Hayato's presence and immediately changed his expression, his melancholy and gloom vanishing, replaced by a bright smile. "Well then, good luck, Mr. Samejima is very strong."

"Well, I'm off now. Take good care of yourself!" With that, Jonouchi didn't wait for Hayato's reply and hurriedly pushed open the door to the preparation room, leaving in the direction Hayato had come from.

"You don't want your troubles to affect your friends? Jonouchi, you're such a kind person."

Hayato sat down, retrieved the stored card deck from the system, and made final adjustments before the battle.

The opponent was Samejima Iemitsu, a player specializing in Cybernetic decks. Although, according to spectators like Jonouchi and Yugi, Samejima did not use Cyber ​​Dragon, the most iconic card of Cybernetic decks, when he dueled Lemuria, his deck was still primarily Machine-type.

The deck Hayato is going to use today is also a pure Machine-type deck. It's not that he doesn't want to use the Warrior-type deck he used earliest, but because after Pegasus sealed the card spirit of [Dark Knight Gaia], Hayato secretly experimented with it many times.

Gaia, which used to always appear in my hand under the right circumstances, has become a terrible card that clogs my hand. Either I end up with a spell/trap deck and a Gaia in my hand on the first turn, or I draw Gaia from an empty hand and an empty field. The deck used to be as smooth as eating Dove chocolate, but now it's as clogged as a gear that hasn't been oiled in centuries.

After re-examining his deck, Hayato stood up and walked towards the dueling ring. As if by unspoken agreement, Samejima Iemitsu appeared precisely opposite Hayato when he arrived at the ring, and simultaneously boarded the automatic ramp to the dueling ring.

Hayato glanced at the audience seats to the side, where Honda and Jonouchi were playfully wrestling with their arms around each other's shoulders. They accidentally bumped into Bakura, who was watching from the sidelines. Then, under Kyoko's stern gaze, they apologized to Bakura, only to be met with unrestrained laughter from Mai, who was watching the show. Meanwhile, Yugi was smiling as he watched everyone.

Hayato's gaze shifted, and he noticed a green figure in a corner of the stands. After losing to Samejima, Lemuria didn't leave like Keith and Ptah, but stayed in the castle like Mai the Peacock.

However, Hayato clearly remembered that the guy had never appeared when the game was dueling with Jonouchi, but he suddenly appeared when it was his turn to duel.

Was he just late? Or did that guy actually have some ulterior motive towards me? Hayato couldn't be sure.

The old butler's voice brought Hayato's wandering attention back: "Time is on time, and both sides are in position. I hereby announce that the second match of the Duel Kingdom's top four tournament will be between Hayato Kobayashi and Iemitsu Samejima."

"The semi-finals have officially begun!"

As Hayato and Samejima placed their respective decks onto the duel stage, they both shouted in perfect unison:

"Duel!" x2

[Hayato: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

Samejima: 4000LP, 5 card in hand

“I’ll go first, draw a card.” Unlike the electronic style that Hayato knew, Samejima didn’t choose to go second, but instead tried to take the initiative, quickly drawing a card from his deck.

Hayato was naturally delighted. As everyone knows, the most sinister blessing one can offer a cybernetic duelist is "May you always go first."

Although Samejima hasn't used Cyber ​​Dragon, his deck is likely an aggressive OTK deck, so his first turn is very advantageous for Hayato.

"Summon one monster in Defense Position, then set five cards face down. End my turn!"

What?!

Samejima's turn ended so quickly that Hayato almost didn't realize how outrageous his actions were.

Hayato glanced at the "T" formation on Samejima's field, then at the games in the stands, and thought: It must be Kaiba's fault. He and Keihei took my bed and made me sleep on the floor. I must be hallucinating because I have a cold.

When did "electron flow" become such a major pitfall?!?

Chapter 143 Trinity, Moment of Fusion

Samejima: 4000LP, 0 card in hand

[Inner Side Guardian Monster]

[GaiK] X5

"My turn, draw a card." Although his expression wasn't very good, Hayato still drew a card and began his turn.

To counter Hayato's understanding of "Cyber ​​Flow," Hayato specifically included many cards like "Absorption Shield" and "Rainbow Life" in his deck, hoping to avoid being one-shotted by high-attack monsters. However, he never expected Samejima's "Cyber ​​Flow" to be such a trap.

No, wait, maybe Samejima actually had a problem with his hand? Perhaps the card he set down was actually [Overload Fusion] or [Power Combination]?

Regardless, even if the sky were to fall and the earth were to collapse, Hayato had to begin his turn. Thinking this, Hayato drew a card from his hand, about to place it on the field for a Normal Summon, when Samejima suddenly interrupted him: "Before you summon a monster, Hayato, I need to activate the face-down cards on my field."

"【Cyber ​​Shadow Guardian】!"

"Then another face-down card is activated: [Cyber ​​Summoning Demolitionist]!"

Two of Samejima's five face-down cards were revealed, and a robotic monster appeared on Samejima's field. Although it was a trap card, the monster did not make any other moves after activation; it simply moved to the front row and maintained a guarded stance.

At the same time, another machine that looked like a tank appeared from another opened card. As soon as the radar-like instrument on it appeared, it shot a beam of lightning at Hayato.

Hayato felt as if he had been electrocuted, his whole body tingling and numb, and his health points on the scoreboard in front of him also decreased.

[Hayato: 4000LP → 3700]

Only then did Samejima calmly explain: "The effect of [Cyber ​​Summoning Demolitionist] is that as long as this card is on the field, it will deal 300 damage to you every time a Machine-Type monster is Special Summoned."

"The effect of [Cyber ​​Shadow Guardian] can only be activated during your Main Phase. After activation, this card will be Special Summoned to my field as a 4-star EARTH Machine-Type monster."

【Cyber ​​Shadow Guardian】【4☆/Land】

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

【？ /？】

“I met a duelist on the island who used an Ocean deck. He said he dueled with you and was quite impressed by your Machine-Type summons, Hayato-kun.” As he spoke, Samejima scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. “Gathering information is also part of a duel, right? On the contrary, it would be an insult to our dueling spirit if I knew you had Machine-Type monsters but didn’t take precautions.”

Hayato smiled. "Exactly. A duel is only interesting when you go all out."

Despite saying that, Hayato felt a sense of unease looking at Samejima's field. Although the card 【Cyber ​​Shadow Guardian】 was uncommon, Hayato still remembered its effect: when attacked by a monster, it automatically mimics the opponent's ATK and DEF, meaning that even if 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 came, it could only trade one for one with it.

Although it can only exist on the field for one turn, and the attacking monster's ATK and DEF will not be updated in real time if they change during the Battle Phase, this does not affect the card's usefulness.

The real problem is Samejima's back row card, [Cyber ​​Summoning Demolitionist]. Hayato never expected anyone to include such a card, especially since he was using a pure Machine-Type deck. Each time either player Special Summons a Machine-Type monster, they inflict 300 damage. While each instance isn't high, it adds up.

Hayato glanced at the [X-Boss Cannon] he was about to play, then reluctantly withdrew his hand and activated another card instead: "In that case, I'll activate my Spell Card, [Fusion]!"

On Hayato's field, three monsters that hadn't appeared in a long time showed up.

[Disruption·Huang]: "win~win~win~"

[Disruption·Green]: "Ah~ Marisa~"

[Disruption - Black]: "Wham!"

"Ah, it's a [Disruption] monster!" Jonouchi, standing outside the arena, was somewhat surprised. "It's been a long time since I've seen Hayato use them; I almost forgot about them."

"Within the City of Idiots, as long as the [Disruption] monster exists on the field, it can be used in conjunction with the [Disruption Village] card to constantly change the attack and defense of monsters. Only you would forget such a troublesome and memorable monster."

The tone of voice was unmistakably that of Mai Kotori. Sitting next to Jonouchi, she rolled her eyes at Jonouchi's "utterly stupid" remark, then looked puzzled: "However, this is the first time I've seen Hayato use Fusion on Disruption Monsters, and with three Disruption Monsters at once."

"It's not that I look down on Hayato, but those weak monsters with zero attack power wouldn't be of any use even if they were fused together, right?" Honda said, looking at the three lively and restless [Disruption] monsters on Hayato's field.

"Hey Honda, I won't allow you to call these three weaklings trash," Hayato casually replied, looking at the three [Disruption] brothers on the field.

Upon hearing Hayato's words, [Disruption Yellow] and the others turned around, tears welling in their eyes, and looked at Hayato with deep emotion: "Ani-gei!"

"Although these three guys are indeed trash with zero attack power, and are the worst in every way—appearance, personality, and strength"—Hayato continued, seemingly oblivious to the sudden fall of the three [Disruption] brothers, "even trash like them has its uses!"

The power of the [Fusion] card slowly activated, drawing the three decadent [Disruption] brothers into it.

Huang: "Seriously, if you can't speak properly, then don't speak."

Green: "It's rare to see you back and reappear. I thought we were the real Aibo now, thanks to Annie."

Black: "So disappointing, that rainbow bastard is going to laugh at us again~"

Amidst the muttering of the three monsters, they came together, transforming into a giant ball of light that slowly descended onto Hayato's field.

"This aura doesn't seem like that of an ordinary Duel Monster." Samejima's expression was serious and focused, and he didn't let his guard down just because Hayato's fusion material was the comical-looking [Disruption] Monster.