Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"A monster with 5000 attack power? It's like a wall of sighs, impossible to cross." Asuka frowned as she watched Caesar prepare to draw a card, pondering how she would handle the situation if she were in his shoes.

"But I've defeated monsters with an attack power of 5000 before. Manjoume's [Five Divine Dragons] is also a monster with an attack power of 5000." Jaden clasped his hands together. "If we just do this or that, connect the heroes' powers together with a 'whoosh,' then 'crack,' they'll surge, surge, surge, and finally 'boom' and unleash their power, wouldn't that work?"

“Even if you use onomatopoeia, people still won’t understand what you’re saying, bro,” Xiang complained. “And have you forgotten that Dragon Fang somehow managed to seal the magic card?”

"Oh right, does that mean my favorite [Fusion] that can create miracles can't be activated? Isn't there any Fusion Monster that can be Fusion Summoned without using Fusion, preferably an [E·Hero]?"

"There's no such thing, unless you can draw it yourself, brother."

Upon hearing Marufuji Sho's words, Judai subconsciously paused for a moment, feeling as if he had forgotten something—something related to what Sho had said about "drawing it himself"—but he couldn't quite recall what it was. However, he did remember something else, and took out a card from the deck that was still inserted in the Duel Disk, saying, "By the way, even if the magic cards are sealed, it's okay, right? I have this card that can help."

Sho and Asuka looked at the card in Jaden's hand. It was a rare non-Warrior-Type monster among the [E·hero] monsters, an EARTH Plant-Type 3-star monster called [E·hero Little Flower Bud]. It had the ability to attack the opponent directly if there was another [E·hero] monster on the player's field. Its attack power was exactly 600 points, enough to wipe out Dragon Fang's Life Points.

"Now that you mention it, I think I have a card like that too." Marufuji Shoya picked up his deck, which he had just put away and hadn't organized yet, and found a [Submarine Robot].

Like Jaden's [E·hero Little Flower Bud], [Submarine Robot] can directly attack the opponent player without even needing other elemental heroes on the field. After attacking, it can switch to a higher defense position, making it stronger than [E·hero Little Flower Bud] by all accounts.

"Isn't this a pretty good card, Sho? If we encounter a situation like Caesar's, we can easily defeat the opponent by just drawing [Submarine Robot]." Jaden said with a smile, looking at the card in Sho's hand.

However, Marufuji Sho had a bitter face: "It's not as easy as you make it sound, brother. It's not like I can just draw the [Submarine Robot] whenever I want. In fact, most people even get stuck with a bad draw when they try to draw cards."

"Only you would do that. If you get stuck with bad cards, it just means your deck construction is bad. You put a bunch of cards in your deck that you don't even know how to use." Asuka glanced at Marufuji Sho, and out of respect for Jaden and Caesar, she corrected him, "Don't blame everything on other people. Jaden isn't any different from anyone else."

'No, no matter what, Judai doesn't seem like an ordinary person.' Marufuji Sho only thought this to himself. He glanced at Judai, who was using [E·hero Little Flower Bud], which was much weaker than his [Submarine Robot], and couldn't refute Asuka's words. This was because Judai, who added [E·hero Little Flower Bud] to his deck, really had the ability to roughly determine what cards he could draw.

On the field, Caesar drew a card from his deck: "My turn, draw!"

'Not even a hint of wavering? Tch, I guess I'm just not cut out for this kind of verbal sparring. But whatever, I have a powerful monster like [Storage Dragon-Leg Beast] on the field. That guy can't possibly one-shot me in a turn, can he?'

Completely unable to imagine how he could have lost, Kido Ryuga adjusted his glasses. "However, better safe than sorry. I paid a heavy price to obtain this useful item. To realize my ambition of dominating the Duel Academy, it would be pointless not to use it when the time is right."

'From now on, your magic cards will become unusable again~'

His inner joy manifested as a strange smile on his face. Longya reached for the ring he was wearing again, intending to reactivate the special ability that sealed the use of magic cards.

But at that very moment, Longya suddenly heard someone whisper in his ear, "Don't move around!"

The next moment, a metallic scraping sound rang out, and then his hand was uncontrollably lifted up by an unknown force, and a sharp pain came from his palm!

"Clang!"

A card was inserted into the wall behind Ryuga. Although the material was no different from that of a regular card, the Duel Monster card easily embedded itself into the sturdy wall, leaving a mark as if it had been slashed by a sharp blade.

At the same time, Longya saw that there was a hole on his right hand that was completely different in size from the card, as if someone had stabbed his palm hard with a lance and made a hole!

After a brief moment of stunned silence, seeing the blood gushing from his palm, Longya howled in agony, "Ugh, ugh! Ughhhhh, ahhhhh!"

"Tsk, didn't I tell you not to move around?" Hayato appeared in front of everyone next to the card stuck in the wall, and took back the [Gaia] card that had just attacked Ryuga. "I was aiming for your head."

"Principal Kobayashi!?" "Mr. Hayato!?" "Principal Hayato!?" Caesar on the field and Judai and Asuka below the stage were clearly using different titles when they saw Hayato suddenly appearing there. Marufuji Sho was too frightened by the bloody scene to speak and hid behind Judai.

Unlike the other students, Ryuga, who was almost fainting from the pain, looked at Hayato and said angrily, his voice full of resentment: "Onoru Hayato Kobayashi!"

"How could they... how could they have injured my important right hand!"

A duelist's left hand is typically used to wear the duel disk and hold their cards, while most actions such as drawing and placing cards are performed with the right hand. Therefore, the right hand is extremely important for a duelist; in fact, Kira Aoki, the head teacher of the Yellow Dormitory, even offers a course on hand care. At this moment, Ryuga's hand, with a large hole in his palm, is completely immobile!

Despite having ended another duelist's career, Hayato showed no remorse. Instead, he coldly looked at Ryuga and said, "While a duelist's right hand is important, it doesn't matter to you, who has no dignity as a duelist, whether you have a right hand or not, right? Don't think no one noticed your little tricks. Stop using those boring tricks to tarnish the dueling game!"

"W-what are you saying?" Ryuga's face had turned pale rapidly due to the massive bleeding, and he looked even more gloomy after hearing Hayato's words. He hid his left hand behind his back, trying to block Hayato's gaze from the ring on his middle finger as if trying to salvage the situation.

Hayato ignored him and instead addressed Caesar on the stage, saying, "That guy's trick was just using the ring he was wearing to hack into the Duel Disk. He removed the restriction when he used the Magic Card earlier, so he hasn't had a chance to open it again yet."

"So, show your struggle for victory to the fullest, Caesar!"

"Struggling for victory? But that kind of duel..." After hearing Hayato's words, Caesar paused, then shook his head and said, "No, my duel is not that kind of duel."

"A duel should be a battle fought with mutual respect, not a fight where the bottom line is lowered for the sake of victory. Even if the other party lowers their bottom line, I will not change myself. That is my duel!" Caesar said firmly and stubbornly, glancing at the card in his hand. "Even if the opponent uses cheating methods, I will still win with dignity in my own way!"

"I usually summon the [Cyber ​​Dragon Core]!"

【Electronic Dragon Core】【2☆/Light】

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[400/1500]

Without any external armor, the exposed core of the [Cyber ​​Dragon] appeared on Caesar's field. At the same time, Caesar drew a card from his deck: "If [Cyber ​​Dragon Core] is successfully summoned, I add one [Cyber] or [Cyber ​​Tech] Spell/Trap Card from my deck to my hand. I add [Cyber ​​Tech Fusion] to my hand!"

"Ha, ridiculously naive. Are you saying you can defeat me even without using a spell card?" Despite the excruciating pain in his right hand from the hole, Ryuga's pale face still revealed a contemptuous sneer. "How could a mere monster with 400 ATK possibly threaten my 5000 ATK 【Storage Dragon-Leg Beast】?"

But Caesar's expression remained unchanged: "No, from the moment [Cyber ​​Dragon Core] was introduced, victory was already in my hands. While it exists on the field or in the graveyard, the card name of [Cyber ​​Dragon Core] is used as [Cyber ​​Dragon]."

"Then I send my Cyber ​​Dragon Core and Storage Dragon Legs to the Graveyard to summon this monster from my Fusion Deck!"

"The monster on my field!?"

Longya saw that Kaiser's [Electronic Dragon Core] suddenly rushed onto his field and collided with his [Storage Dragon Leg Beast]. The [Electronic Dragon Core] used its core power to forcibly usurp the body of the [Storage Dragon Leg Beast]. The mechanization modification did give the [Storage Dragon Leg Beast] power that surpassed that of ordinary dinosaurs, but it also gave the [Electronic Dragon Core] the opportunity to control it!

A massive mechanical dinosaur, modified and transformed, appeared on Caesar's Field with its body resembling a giant mechanical dragon composed of multiple tires, centered around the [Electronic Dragon Core]!

"Break through the darkness with radiance, [Chimera Fortress Dragon]!"

[Chimera Fortress Dragon] [8☆/Dark]

[Mechanical Race/Fusion/Effect]

[0/0]

"【Chimera Fortress Dragon】requires a 【Cyber ​​Dragon】 plus one or more Machine-Type monsters as Fusion Materials. It can only be Special Summoned from the Fusion Deck by sending its Fusion Materials from both players' fields to the Graveyard. This Summon does not require a 【Fusion】 Spell Card, and 【Chimera Fortress Dragon】cannot be used as Fusion Materials."

Caesar said, "And its original attack power will be increased by 1000 points based on the number of monsters it fused with!"

[Chimera Fortress Dragon] [ATK0→2000]

"This duel will end as soon as I attack with [Chimera Fortress Dragon]," Caesar said, looking at Dragon Fang. "This is my duel, a duel fought with dignity and respect, with faith in my deck. My deck will naturally respond with the glory of the victory I deserve!"

After a pause, Caesar added, "However, perhaps the end of this duel should be delayed a little longer. I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [Cyber ​​Fusion Support]!"

[Caesar: 3000 → 1500 LP]

In this duel, Kaiser successfully used a magic card for the first time. He said, "I can only activate this card by paying half of my Life Points. The effect of [Cyber ​​Fusion Support] is that if I perform a Fusion Summon of a Machine-Type Fusion Monster this turn, I can banish the Fusion Materials specified in it from my hand, field, or graveyard as Fusion Materials only once."

"Next up is this spell card, Power Weld! I banish two Cyber ​​Dragons from my Graveyard, as well as the Cyber ​​Dragon Core, which I treat as Cyber ​​Dragons!"

"Come again, [Cyber ​​Terminator Dragon]!"

【Electronic Terminator】【ATK4000】

Seeing that Caesar summoned [Chimera Fortress Dragon] but didn't attack to end the duel, instead taking a roundabout route to perform another Fusion Summon, summoning his second [Cyber ​​End Dragon], even Asuka was somewhat puzzled: "Why did Caesar summon a second [Cyber ​​End Dragon]?"

“Isn’t this easy to understand? Because Caesar is proving what he said.” Jaden immediately understood Caesar’s motivation. “【Chimera Fortress Dragon】corresponds to the duel he would play if Ryuga-sensei cheated, proving that he could defeat him without using a magic card.”

"But he's not a rigid person. Hayato ruined Ryuga-sensei's tricks, so naturally Caesar will continue to fight with respect and dignity, summoning the strongest monsters for a full-on duel!" Jaden exclaimed excitedly. "It's so exciting! I really want to duel Caesar too!"

"The [Electronic Terminator Dragon] summoned by [Power Welding] will have its attack power increased by 4000 points." On the field, looking at Longya and Caesar, he waved his hand and said, "Enter my battle phase."

"The fire burning in one's heart is called 'the fire of the heart,' and now—"

"Ignite the fire within, crush the enemy's body!"

"【Cyber ​​Terminator Dragon】, a direct attack on the opponent's duelist!"

"Eternal Evolutionary Flame!"

Chapter 1085 YMCA

[Electronic Terminator] [ATK4000→8000]

With the boost from [Power Welding], the attack power is doubled. The [Cyber ​​End Dragon] on Caesar's field surpasses the [Five Divine Dragons], which has the highest attack power under normal circumstances. The 8000-point attack power is about to fall as a beam of destruction.

When Longya saw the [Chimera Fortress Dragon] appear, he was surprised, but he still kept a calm expression in his eyes, as if he was not worried at all that the [Chimera Fortress Dragon]'s direct attack would threaten him.

However, he never expected that even though he already had a sure way to win, Caesar would still go through all the trouble of fusing and summoning the [Electronic Terminator Dragon], just for that boring so-called "duel of dignity and respect"!

The card face down in the back row was supposed to be a powerful card that could turn the tide of battle in desperate situations, but now it can't help me win at all!

"At least try one more time!" With that thought, Ryuga tried to press the button to activate the face-down card, but the pain in his hand reminded him that his hand was injured because of Hayato's attack earlier, and he didn't have the strength to press the button to activate the face-down card at all!

"Oh dear! They even took away my last chance to fight back?! Onore, Hayato Kobayashi!" Completely unable to activate his face card, Ryuga watched as the [Cyber ​​End Dragon] attack completed its charge. He hated Hayato for exposing his cheating methods, and his face showed an expression of utter disbelief. "How could I lose here? My ambitions haven't been fulfilled yet! I paid such a high price to obtain this treasure!"

"I--"

"Eternal Evolutionary Flame!"

The fully charged [Electronic Terminator Dragon] attack struck Ryuga instantly. His miserable wail as a defeated man was completely drowned out by the immense power of the [Electronic Terminator Dragon] attack. When the attack's special effects disappeared, Ryuga Kido was found lying face up on the ground with his eyes rolled back.

It seems that due to the combined effects of the impact simulated by the virtual projection system, the pain of his hand injury, the humiliation of being defeated, and the resentment of having his ambitions thwarted, Longya was unable to accept the reality and fell into a coma.

【Kido Ryuga: 300LP→0】

The battle is over! Despite the initial restriction against using magic cards due to Dragon Fang's cheating, Caesar still won the duel fair and square!

"Yoshi! Caesar won! What an interesting duel!" Although it was Caesar who was dueling instead of himself, Jaden was genuinely happy for Caesar, not only because he won the duel fairly and cleanly, but also because Caesar protected his card from being taken away by Ryuga.

"Compared to Ryuga-sensei, whose Life Points dropped too much due to using 'Power Welding,' Kaiser clearly understands better when to use 'Power Welding.'" While Jaden was simply enjoying the duel, Asuka was more focused on the dueling skills Kaiser displayed during the duel, trying to learn from them to improve herself, "so that she can apply them next time."

"Would you rather whisper amongst yourselves down there than come here and retrieve the card this guy stole?"

Hayato, who had been standing behind Ryuga at the duel arena, was already on the field when Ryuga was knocked unconscious. With exceptional skill, he took the spare cards from the card box on Ryuga's waist and the duel disk on his wrist and held them in his hands.

Seeing that Jaden and his companions had absolutely no intention of "collecting spoils," Hayato helplessly reminded them, "Do you remember what your purpose was in coming here in the first place, to defeat Ryuga?"

Hearing Hayato's words, Jaden and Asuka were also taken aback: "Oh right, Sho's card was stolen." "And Junko's and Momoe's cards too."

"Big brother, it's so good that you still remember me." Marufuji Sho said with a hint of sourness, looking at Judai and Asuka, whose movements were unusually synchronized and perfectly in sync.

I was the first person to acknowledge Judai as my older brother, and we were even roommates! This double joy should have been double the happiness, but why is this happening? Why are you so familiar with Asuka, older brother?

Wait, something's not right. I remember liking Tenjouin-kun, so why is my focus shifting to Judai?

Judai and Asuka completely ignored Marufuji Sho's overly soft comment and went up to the dueling platform together. Marufuji Sho had no choice but to follow behind the two to avoid being left alone.

After receiving Ryuga's Duel Disk from Hayato, Jaden quickly found Marufuji Sho's [Power Weld] card in the Graveyard area, a card that Ryuga had taken and that had been used in a duel: "Oh, found it, Sho, this is your card."

"Then, what cards were stolen from Asuka, Makuta, and Hamaguchi?"

Although Jaden was asking this, Asuka had already found the cards that Hamaguchi Momoe and Makita Junko had been stolen from Ryuga's deck, cards that he hadn't been able to draw or use in the duel: "I've found them. These two cards are the ones that Junko and Momoe were stolen from."

"【Royal Decree】 and 【Skill Draw】? These are the two cards?" Seeing the cards that Momoe and Junko had been taken away, Jaden handed the Duel Disk back to Hayato, saying, "Although he's a terrible person, Ryuga-sensei's eye for talent is still pretty good. These two cards are very strong."

Hayato pulled out the face-down card from Ryuga's Duel Disk that he hadn't had time to remove yet. Looking at the Trap Card, which was known for being "cursed," Hayato had an "I knew it" expression on his face and said, "I don't think so. This guy probably just put whichever card is the rarest into his deck."

Seeing Hayato display the [Explosive Armor], Jaden's lips twitched: "Ah, this, it seems so. After all, even I know that this card is a cursed card."

“After all, it’s [Explosive Armor]. Who would use it as a face-down card? Isn’t it all used to bait [Whirlwind]?” Marufuji Sho chimed in. He was about to continue when he saw Caesar, who had finished organizing his deck, walking toward Dragon Fang. Suddenly, he was speechless.