Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Even though Jaden had just destroyed his ace monster, Red-Eyes Dark Steel Dragon, Darkness quickly retrieved Red-Eyes Dark Dragon from the graveyard and Special Summoned it.

Bathed in magma, the black dragon unleashed a massive wave of lava that crashed down onto the field. The second appearance of [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] was significantly more powerful than before, thanks to the presence of more dragon monsters in the Darkness Graveyard. The power of five monsters from the graveyard—[Legendary Black Stone], [Red-Eyes Rex], [Red-Eyes Dark Steel Dragon], [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], and [Black Hole Dragon]—transformed into magma that shot into the sky and flowed into [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon], causing its attack power to surge dramatically!

【True Red-Eyes Dark Dragon】【ATK2400→3900】

"Attack power, 3900 points!?" Jaden looked at the returning [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] in surprise. His efforts to defeat Darkness's ace monster seemed to have been in vain, and the opposing monster was getting stronger and stronger!

"I'm changing [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] to Attack Position. I'm entering the Battle Phase!" After summoning [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon], Darkness prepared to deliver the final blow. However, before letting his monster attack, he first played a card from his hand, saying, "Before using my monster to attack, I'll activate this Quick-Play Spell Card [Assault Command]. It can only be activated by targeting any Normal Monster on my field other than a Token. I choose [Red-Eyes Black Dragon].

After removing the card "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" from the Duel Disk, Darkness continued, "And the effect of 'Assault Order' is to Tribute the target's Normal Monster and destroy one monster on the opponent's field!"

"I choose [M·hero Acid Water]!"

Although under normal circumstances, the attack power of [M·hero Acid] is significantly higher than that of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], and it can easily defeat the latter, [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] can make a desperate attack that exceeds its own potential by destroying itself.

Overloaded by absorbing the surrounding magma, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon's body gradually cracked due to the extreme heat it ingested. After accumulating power for a moment, it suddenly spat out a black flame bullet at the M Hero Acid on the Jaden stage. The price was that it was also burned to death by the scorching heat.

However, [M·hero Acid] soon followed in the footsteps of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]. The acid bullets, which were strong enough to corrode metal, were completely ineffective against the black flame bullets with their extreme high temperatures. [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]'s desperate final attack left [M·hero Acid] no room to dodge. Jaden and Darkness's two monsters on the field perished together and were sent to the graveyard.

However, due to the increase in dragon monsters in the graveyard, the power of [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] has been further enhanced, with its attack power increasing by another 300 points. Even the legendary [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] is now only 300 points away from being defeated by the [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon].

【True Red-Eyes Dark Dragon】【ATK3900→4200】

The use of the "Assault Order" demonstrates just how detailed Darkness's information on Jaden is. Instead of choosing to destroy Jaden's "E·hero Solid Man" in Defense Position, which cannot cause battle damage, he opted for "M·hero Acid Water" because he knew that "E·hero Solid Man" also has a second effect that is triggered when it is sent from the Monster Zone to the Graveyard by a Spell Card.

Normally, Jaden uses his own Fusion to trigger the effect of E-Hero Solid Man, but if the opponent uses a Spell Card on E-Hero Solid Man, it will also take effect. This would allow Jaden to Special Summon any Hero monster from the Graveyard without incurring any cost. Darkness doesn't want to see the previous E-Hero Solid Man make another appearance.

After using [Assault Command] to destroy [M·hero Acid], which has an attack power higher than [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] is then used to destroy [E·hero Solid Man], which is not suitable for destruction by [Assault Command]. In this way, Jaden's field becomes empty!

Darkness's vision was becoming a reality. After successfully activating the [Assault Order], he waved his hand again, commanding the monster to attack: "Use [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] to attack your [E·Hero Solid Man]! With a mere 1100 DEF, [E·Hero Solid Man] will be destroyed without a doubt by [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]'s Black Flame Bullet with a whopping 2400 ATK!"

"Then, it will be a direct attack from my [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon]. You, who have no dark will to drive your own actions, will be annihilated along with your soul in this despairing black flame!"

"Black Flame Bullet!"

Darkness had given Jaden a death sentence beforehand and ordered Red-Eyes Black Dragon to attack, watching as Jaden's last barrier on the field—E·hero Solid Man—was destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard.

Having confirmed that Jaden's back row cards weren't the kind of offensive traps like [Explosive Armor], Darkness was even more confident in securing victory in this turn. As the smoke and dust on Jaden's field gradually cleared, he was about to give the final attack command.

However, amidst the smoke and dust of the destroyed [E·hero Solid State Machine], a metallic reflection could be faintly seen.

Chapter 1145 Practice Makes Perfect

With [E·hero Solid Man] destroyed, Jaden's field was completely cleared of monsters. Before the dust from the destruction of the monsters could dissipate, Darkness was about to launch his [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] directly at Jaden.

"Next comes the attack of [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon]. With this direct attack of 4200 points, your useless soul will be meaninglessly shattered and become fodder for the Dark Duel!" With a wave of his hand, Darkness shouted, "Fully understand the fear of darkness, Jaden Yuki! One Trillion Degree Flame!"

Using a move with a name that sounded like it couldn't even break the glass of a building, Darkness commanded [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] to launch a final attack, intending to end the duel. However, a white figure suddenly rose from the smoke and dust in front of Jaden and came to his front.

Upon closer inspection, Darkness was slightly surprised to find that the monster in front of Jaden was actually the [Winged Kuriboh LV6] that had just self-destructed. No, upon closer inspection, Darkness realized that he was mistaken. The monster in front of Jaden was not [Winged Kuriboh LV6], but simply [Winged Kuriboh] that had shed its equipment and returned to Jaden's field in its original form.

As the smoke and dust dissipated, the metal object that Darkness had glimpsed before but hadn't paid him any attention to was revealed. It was a bamboo flute fixed in a row with a metal frame, which was playing a melodious and gentle tune on its own.

"Quick-Play Spell Card [Kuriboo's Calling Flute], Chain [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon]'s attack declaration activated!" Jaden removed his finger from the button activating the face-down card, caught the retrieved card, and placed it horizontally on the Duel Disk, saying, "I choose to Special Summon [Winged Kuriboh] to my field in Defense Position, either by adding one [Kuriboo] or [Winged Kuriboh] from my Deck to my hand or Special Summoning it to the field!"

"Please, Aibo!"

"Curry~" Upon hearing Jaden's words, Winged Kuriboh turned around and glanced at Jaden, squinting its eyes and nodding. Its little wings trembled behind it, as if to say something like, "Leave it to me~".

"It's Winged Kuriboh again..." Darkness glanced at the furry monster that appeared on Jaden's field and said unhappily, "Do you really like the Kuriboh series of monsters that much, Jaden Yuki?"

【Winged Kuriboh】【1☆/Light】

[Angel Race/Effect]

[300/200]

Compared to its previously appeared evolved form, Winged Kuriboh LV6, Winged Kuriboh's level, attack, and defense remain unchanged. However, unlike Winged Kuriboh LV6, which is extremely aggressive and just destroyed Darkness's Red-Eyes Dark Steelix, burning a whopping 2800 of Darkness's Life Points, Winged Kuriboh has a rather excessive effect recorded in Darkness's information.

"If the Winged Kuriboh on the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, this effect activates, and the battle damage taken this turn becomes 0. That's the effect of that Winged Kuriboh, right?"

With the support of his "intelligence network," Darkness knows information about many star figures in Duel Academy, and he is extremely familiar with Jaden's information. Not only did he know about the previous [E·hero Solid Man], but he also knows about the current [Winged Kuriboh]. He knows their effects: "After using the [Winged Kuriboh] in Defense Position as a shield to block the attack of [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon], its effect will be triggered, thus saving your life."

"Hehe, how about that? Now you should realize how wrong it was to underestimate [Winged Kuriboh], right?" Jaden said with a smile. "Whether it's battle destruction or effect destruction, [Winged Kuriboh]'s effect can be triggered. That's the manifestation of her ultimate protective power!"

"So, because of the Special Summon of Winged Kuriboh on my field, Red-Eyes Dark Dragon's attack triggered Battle Rewind. Do you want to continue attacking to trigger the effect of Winged Kuriboh, Darkness?"

Hearing Jaden's provocation, Darkness coldly replied, "Don't question me! If you're trying to provoke me, then I'll take it! [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon], continue your attack!"

"A fireball of one trillion degrees!"

The jet-black flames were compressed to the extreme, transforming into a perfectly round energy ball that was spat out from the mouth of the [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon]. Facing this attack with a power of 4200 points, the seemingly weak [Winged Kuriboh] displayed a courage far beyond its small size, and resolutely crashed into the fireball to protect Jaden!

It can only be said that even though the act of killing a monster is the same, the way it is done and the way it is displayed during the process can bring different feelings to the Pokémon. Just like when Winged Kuriboh was still in Hayato's hands, it was used as a shield and destroyed more than once, just like Jaden is now.

However, unlike Jaden, who completely trusts Winged Kuriboh and even shows the same expression when he sees it destroyed, Hayato's destruction of Winged Kuriboh can only be described as insane. He not only laughs wildly when he destroys it, but sometimes he will also deliberately destroy it to trigger its effect, even when the opponent doesn't want to destroy it. No wonder Winged Kuriboh likes Jaden so much and doesn't want to get close to Hayato.

A fireball of only about 400-500 degrees Celsius struck and destroyed [Winged Kuriboh]. She sacrificed herself to ensure Jaden's safety. As the effect of [Winged Kuriboh] activated, shimmering feathers fell like rain from the sky, and a holy light shone in the air around Jaden, meaning that Jaden would no longer suffer battle damage in this turn.

"Tch, you got lucky, Jaden Yuki." It's one thing to let Red-Eyes Dark Dragon destroy Winged Kuriboh and trigger its effect so that it won't come out to get in the way next turn, but it's quite another to let your monster make a useless attack. Darkness seemed to have been provoked by Jaden to launch the attack, but he remained calm from beginning to end and was never impulsive because of anger.

Looking at the two cards in his hand, Darkness said, "My battle phase is over, and then I'll use this spell card, [Dragon Chess Tactics], in Main Phase Two."

As Darkness inserts the card into the Spell & Trap Zone, a chessboard-like grid of black and white squares appears on his field. Among them, the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] and [Red-Eyes Recall Dragon] from the Monster Zone are positioned on two adjacent white squares.

"I can only activate this effect by Tributing two Dragon-Type monsters on my field. The effect of [Dragon Chess Tactics] is to Special Summon one Level 8 Dragon-Type monster from my Deck." Previously, to guard against Jaden's back row face-down cards that could Special Summon new monsters when a monster is destroyed by battle, Darkness changed [Red-Eyes Recall Dragon] to Attack Position. However, at this moment, keeping it in Attack Position would clearly set up an easy target for attack. Darkness decisively Tributed it along with another [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] to send it to the Graveyard.

Taking the card retrieved from the Duel Disk, Darkness placed it horizontally on the disk. "The monster I'm going to Special Summon is this one, [Diablos the Dark Lord]!"

On the white square, two dragon monsters transformed into chess pieces, representing "soldier" and "castle" respectively. They were then stacked together and evolved into a chess piece representing "king." Purple lightning continuously overflowed from that chess piece. After a brief gathering of energy, the already cracked piece suddenly shattered, and a demonic black dragon broke free of its chains and leaped onto the field!

Diablos, the Dark Lord [8☆/Dark]

[Dragon Clan/Effect]

[3000/2000]

However, as soon as [Dark Lord Diablos] appeared, Darkness immediately released it, saying: "Release [Dark Lord Diablos] to activate its effect. Your opponent chooses one card from their hand to return to the top or bottom of their deck."

"At the same time, due to the increase in the number of dragon monsters in the graveyard, the attack power of [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] has increased by 900 points!"

【True Red-Eyes Dark Dragon】【ATK4200→5100】

Darkness released Diablos the monster simply because it wanted to remove a monster that was weak to it. It didn't even take Diablos, whose attack power was comparable to the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon, seriously. Diablos was released immediately after it appeared on the field, leaving Darkness with only Red-Eyes Dark Dragon on its field.

Jaden glanced at his hand and was forced to return the "Thousand Changes" card, which he had finally managed to draw, to the bottom of his deck. This card restricts each player to having only one monster of the same type on their field. It's a troublesome card for duelists whose decks consist of only one type. Unfortunately for Jaden, if he had drawn this card earlier, the duel would have been much easier, since Darkness was clearly playing a "pure dragon" deck.

However, now, compared to the other cards in my hand, I can only send [Thousand Checks, Ten Thousand Disagreements] to the bottom of the deck because it is a trap card and can only be used after being set for one turn.

Darkness glanced at the Red-Eyes Dark Dragon, whose attack power had exceeded 5100 points, 100 points higher than the Five Divine Dragons. He nodded slightly in satisfaction, set down the last card in his hand, and declared, "Set down one card, my turn ends."

[Darkness: 1000LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Red-Eyes Dark Dragon】【ATK5100】

【GaiKa】

I've looked into Jaden Yuki's deck, and his strongest monster is undoubtedly [E. Hero Skywing], which requires three Fusion Materials to Fusion Summon. However, its ATK is only 2800, making it no match for my [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon]. Unless Jaden uses the card [Beloved Hero], which seems to have been obtained from the Duel King Hayato Kobayashi, who was lured away from Duel Academy Island, then with the support of a Field Spell Card, [E. Hero Skywing] could potentially boost its ATK to 5600.

However, the card set to the back row is "Forbidden Cloth," which can reduce a monster's ATK by 600, grant it resistance to being targeted by card effects and destroyed by card effects. It can be applied to "E. Hero: Skywing" to lower its ATK the moment it enters the Battle Phase, preventing it from surpassing "Red-Eyes Dark Dragon." Alternatively, it can be applied to "Red-Eyes Dark Dragon" to grant it ultimate defense, as it has no resistances.

If he had other monsters on his field, Jaden Yuki might have been able to catch him off guard with the combo of [Lava Demon] and [E-Hero Flame Wingman], but he had already managed to reduce the number of monsters to just one, leaving not even [Dark Lord Diablos], and had also slightly reduced his opponent's hand to control their play.

No matter how I look at it, I'm determined to win!

Jaden was unaware of Darkness's thoughts at that moment, and didn't know that the other party was already "popping champagne" and "cheering and applauding for me." All he could think about was his own deck and the next card draw.

"Such an interesting duel! I don't want to be defeated and forced to leave the stage like this." With his fingers resting on the Duel Disk, even facing the terrifyingly powerful Red-Eyes Dark Dragon with an empty field, Jaden still smiled. "My turn, draw!"

Flipping the card he had drawn, looking at the [E·hero Winged Warrior] in his hand, as well as the other cards he had already drawn due to the [Heavenly Treasure Card], Jaden felt his DNA stirring, and a strange impulse suddenly surged within him.

Imagine a skilled player who plays Obelisk the Tormentor in their Blue-Eyes deck, only to draw three White Dragons in their opening hand, then Fusion and Fusion Deactivate, and at the start of the next turn, draws Obelisk the Tormentor into their hand. At that moment, nothing else matters. All they need to do is Fusion Summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, then Fusion Deactivate to summon three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and finally play Obelisk the Tormentor to let their opponent have their fun. That's how they win the duel, because no one can be cooler than them.

Jaden's brain seemed to be connected to the Malphite Network; he didn't need to think at all before he started operating: "I activate the Spell Card [Fusion], sending [E-Hero Wingman] and [E-Hero Burst Girl] from my hand to the Graveyard as Fusion Materials!"

"Never let your passion die out; let's ride the wind with that burning heart!"

"This combination is [E·hero Flame Wingman]." Darkness didn't take it seriously. The effect of [E·hero Flame Wingman] is simple and brutal but easy to use, especially suitable for finishing off opponents when they are at a disadvantage. However, it also requires monsters that can be destroyed in battle to trigger the effect.

My team only has [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] on the field. [E·Hero Flame Wingman]'s mere 2100 attack power is still not enough even with the 1000 bonus from [Skyscraper]. Even with the 1200 defense bonus from [Beloved Hero], it's only a mere 4300 points.

However, the attack power of my own [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon] is 5100!

A vortex of fusion summoning appeared in front of Jaden. The figures of [E·hero Winged Man] and [E·hero Burst Girl] appeared from Jaden's hand and were thrown into the vortex to merge into one. What came out of the fusion vortex was indeed the [E·hero Flame Winged Man] that Darkness had predicted - only, it was slightly different.

With its robust green body, flowing white wings, long dragon tail, and "Dragon Flame Launcher" mounted on its right arm, the monster summoned by fusing [E·hero Winged Man] and [E·hero Burst Girl] is indeed identical to [E·hero Flame Winged Man]. However, Darkness noticed that the data panel displayed next to it was completely different from that of [E·hero Flame Winged Man]!

"Fusion Summon! [E·Hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike]!" Jaden placed the card on his Duel Disk, shouted the monster's name, and exclaimed excitedly, "My beloved hero, here I come!"

"Don't think I can't recognize it! That monster is clearly [E·hero Flame Winged Man]!" Darkness looked at [E·hero Flame Winged Man - Flame Strike] and finally couldn't help but complain, "Don't think that just because you changed your pose, people won't recognize you. Isn't this [E·hero Flame Winged Man]? Tell me, what's different?"

"Of course they're different. If you can't tell the difference between [E·hero Flame Wingman] and [E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike], that's just your own problem. If you're bad, practice more." Jaden didn't want to tell Darkness that what he actually wanted to summon was [E·hero Flame Wingman], but the Fusion Monster Card that appeared in his hand turned him into [E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike].

It was almost as if the card spirit itself was responding to Jaden, providing him with the power he needed at the right moment. But if you ask Jaden how he did it, as an intuitive duelist, he could only manage to say, "I don't know, it just blew in from the wind."

【E·hero Flame Winged Man - Flame Strike】【8☆/Wind】

[Warrior Race/Fusion/Effect]

[2100/1200]

Chapter 1146 is about Geka; I activated Geka.

After glancing at the description on the card on his Duel Disk, Jaden said, "Ahem, the Fusion Material requirement for 【E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike】 is two 【E·hero】 monsters with different attributes. This card cannot be Special Summoned without Fusion Summoning."

"If [E·hero Flamewing Man - Flame Strike] is Special Summoned, activate its first effect to add one [Beloved] card from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand."

At this moment, Jaden's graveyard contains [Winged Kuriboh LV6]. Although it is not written on the card name, [Winged Kuriboh LV6] can be used as [E·hero] or [Beloved], and can be searched and recycled by [E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike].

However, Jaden wasn't looking for [Winged Kuriboh LV6] at the moment. She had already died twice, and it would be impolite to send her to her death again—besides, [Winged Kuriboh LV6]'s Special Summon could be performed in the Graveyard, so there was no need to retrieve her.

The Duel Disk automatically shuffled the deck area, popping out a card. Jaden drew the card and showed it to Darkness: "The card I want to search is this one in my deck, [Beloved Hero]!"

The card "Beloved Hero" that Asuka exchanged with Jaden on the ship was retrieved by Jaden and added to his hand by him under the effect of "E·hero Flame Winged Man - Flame Strike". Upon seeing this, Asuka behind Jaden couldn't help but show a happy expression.

"【Beloved Hero】can be equipped to a Level 5 or higher 【Hero】 monster, and at the start of the Battle Phase, it searches for a Field Spell Card to trigger a bonus, increasing its ATK and DEF. It also has a double effect of destroying a monster and sending it to the Graveyard to be used!"

Asuka excitedly described the effect of [Beloved Hero], but after glancing at Jaden's [E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike] and Darkness's [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon], she frowned: "But it's still not enough. Even with the help of [Skyscraper] and [Beloved Hero], [E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike] can only increase its attack power to 4300 points at most, which is still no match for [Red-Eyes Dark Dragon].

"We're still 800 attack power short. We need other ways to increase our attack power!"

Hearing Asuka's words, Judai shrugged and shook his head helplessly, saying, "'A mere 800 points of attack power is enough for me to just activate my Lightning Sword.' Although I wanted to say that, before searching for 'Beloved Hero' with 'E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike,' I didn't actually have a single Equipment Magic Card in my hand, so I couldn't continue to increase the attack power of 'E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike.'"

"But it doesn't matter. Besides the first effect that activates when a Special Summon is successful, [E·hero Flame Wingman - Flame Strike] also has a second effect."