Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Just hearing that voice, Jonouchi's eyes widened in disbelief—it sounded exactly like Hayato's voice.

(Oh, sorry, we haven't started playing cards yet, it should be the next card.)

Chapter 1231 The Man with "Jo" in His Name and Takehito Koyasu (Correct)

I see, I understand completely now!

Standing at the entrance of the exhibition hall, Jonouchi clenched his fist and tapped it against his palm. He now remembered that he had heard of a kind of monster before, a monster that could disguise itself as an ordinary person to lure them into the underworld.

First it was Princess Mary's voice, and now it's Hayato's voice. That monster can even disguise itself as someone we know, so changing its voice doesn't seem that surprising.

Hayato even said he might know where that "ghost" was going, but he still managed to run into it in this place!

Growing increasingly convinced that what was inside was probably the kind of monster he'd heard about as a child, Jonouchi was no longer afraid. After all, if it were truly a ghost, he would inevitably feel fear, but if it were someone impersonating his friend…

Then the emotion in one's heart will no longer be fear, but anger, anger that someone would impersonate one's friend!

Thinking this, Jonouchi suddenly pushed open the half-open door of the exhibition hall and stepped inside, saying, "You despicable demon, enough is enough!"

Seeing the person inside, Jonouchi was even angrier. "Imitating Hayato's voice wasn't enough, you're going to imitate Hayato's appearance too? But to imitate him like this is an insult to my friend!"

Saiou Takuma, who was secretly hiding in the exhibition hall, was already startled by Jonouchi's sudden appearance. Hearing his series of shouts, he was even more bewildered: "Huh?"

Saiō Takuma is a duel manager and part-time fortune teller. However, you could also say that he views the duel manager job as merely a means to an end, while the fortune teller job is his primary profession.

The reason is simple: unlike ordinary fortune tellers who rely on observation, reasoning, psychological speculation, or even prior intelligence gathering to dabble in the supernatural, Saiou believed that he truly possessed the ability to foresee the future. The effect was comparable to the future that Isis could foresee when she possessed the Millennium Jewelry, and it was not even affected by special items like the Millennium Wisdom Wheel, unlike the Millennium Jewelry.

However, because the divination methods he used were rather abstract, the results he obtained were also somewhat abstract and required certain interpretations to understand the true content of the prophecy. For example, today, after performing divination, King Sai drew three upright Tarot cards—The Magician, The Emperor, and The Chariot—and judged that he could successfully achieve his goal before taking action.

At the same time, he even pulled out the Seven of Wands, which symbolizes good luck, further convincing him that his actions tonight would proceed with absolute success.

And indeed, he easily found a ship bound for Duel Academy at the Domino City dock. He also found an elementary school student he could use to help him attract the academy's attention and brought him along. However, he didn't even need to play this card, because someone had already made quite a commotion inside Duel Academy before that, making his infiltration incredibly smooth.

Completely undetected, Saiou easily infiltrated the depths of the Duel Academy, and after taking his position, he barely had to wait before he saw Professor Chronos and Jun Manjoume bringing the cards back to the exhibition hall.

Although he initially considered knocking them out and attacking directly, Saiou subconsciously remained cautious and waited a moment. While he didn't see any special abilities from the spirits, this caution led him to the astonishing discovery that the student in the blue dormitory uniform was actually a very special being blessed by a spirit.

Even if he personally took action, it would be difficult to subdue such a person without expending any effort. However, that would inevitably cause quite a commotion. Saiou believed that if possible, he should avoid making any noise at all, lest that troublesome Duel King notice him.

As expected, fate is on my side, Prince Sai!

After waiting for Jun Manjoume and Professor Chronos to leave, Saiou reopened the locked exhibition hall doors and entered. Seeing the glass cases open because of Kagurazaka's earlier theft, and knowing he could easily reach out and touch the cards of the legendary duelist Yugi Muto, Saiou felt immense pleasure.

As cautious as he is, even now that everything seems foolproof, he still used the tarot cards he always carries to perform another divination.

The card features the Ace of Wands, representing success and peace of mind in one's career; the Three of Cups, representing the fulfillment of wishes; the upright Judgment, representing good fortune; the upright Star, representing the fulfillment of desires; and even the last card is his personal favorite Tarot card, "The World," which, when upright, represents the completion of one's mission, the arrival of good fortune, and abundant rewards.

I must repeat myself: fate is on my side, Prince Sai. Everything the divination has revealed is that I am currently blessed with good fortune and deeply favored by fate!

Hmph, even the most composed person can't help but feel happy when fate is so kind to all his actions. He feels so exhilarated that he wants to sing a song and have a blast!

As Saiou casually put the cards away, he didn't notice that the "World" tarot card had been accidentally left behind. It had been reversed from its upright position, and its meaning had changed from the positive meaning of "completion, success" to the negative meaning of "incompleteness, failure".

Unaware of anything amiss, Saiou was about to tamper with Yugi Muto's cards. He had a plan he was eager to complete, which he divided into three stages. Although the plan hadn't even started the first stage yet, that didn't stop him from making some preparations.

Yugi Muto's cards were a useful tool for the first phase of his plan. He wanted to imbue these cards with his own special power, a power that would be unremarkable under normal circumstances and easily undetectable, only to be subtly released when someone touched the cards, observed them for a long time, or dueled with them.

That power will lie dormant in those it comes into contact with, turning into hidden seeds, waiting for Saiō to officially begin the first phase of his plan before taking root, sprouting, and blossoming into beautiful flowers.

But before he could even touch one of the cards he considered most important among those on display—the most popular ones: [Dark Magician Girl], [Dark Magician], and [Kuriboh]—the exhibition hall door was suddenly pushed open, and Jonouchi Katsuki suddenly appeared in the hall, pointing at him and angrily berating him.

Even if he wasn't a duel manager, Saiou Takuma couldn't possibly not know Jonouchi Katsuya. After all, he had won the singles championship of the World Professional Duelist Tournament for several consecutive years, and his strength was probably among the top five of all duelists in the world. Moreover, the only genius duelist in Saiou Takuma's duelist agency had also fought against Jonouchi Katsuya in last year's World Professional Duelist Tournament.

The result was naturally a victory for Jonouchi. Because Jonouchi Katsuya, as a professional duelist, was affiliated with the Duelist Agency under the Kaiba Entertainment Group, although Jonouchi Katsuya recognized the young duelist under Saio, Jonouchi did not recognize Saio. After all, the Kaiba Group protected its duelists very well. The duelists only needed to be responsible for dueling, and other matters were handled by the managers.

What Jonouchi said was enough to confuse Saiou. After all, although he had sneaked into the Duel Academy without permission, he had not disguised himself at all, but had only changed his clothes. How could he have disguised himself as someone else? Moreover, the person he was disguising himself as was the Duel King, Hayato Kobayashi, who could frighten even children into silence.

However, what puzzled Saiō most was the very fact that Jonouchi Katsuya would be here. No, anyone, including Jonouchi Katsuya, appearing here at this time would be incredibly troubling for him, because he hadn't foreseen such a thing in his tarot reading!

In the grand scheme of things, at this very moment, I should be the only one here, but why?!

Why are you here?

Upon hearing Saiou's question, Jonouchi frowned and said unhappily, "Has no one ever taught you not to answer questions with questions? Is there anything wrong with me being here? It's much more normal than you, a monster, being here."

Belatedly realizing that this was the exhibition hall where game decks would be displayed tomorrow, Jonouchi, now certain of Saiou's "monster" identity, suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Wait a minute, the reason you're here... it can't be—"

'Oh no, has this guy figured out that I'm going to tamper with the cards here?' Saiou looked nervously at Jonouchi, pondering when would be the best time to make his move.

Then, he heard:

"—Could it be that they're trying to mimic the game's style by borrowing the essence of the game's cards?!"

Even a third-rate science fiction writer wouldn't use such a strange setting! While thinking to himself, Saiou seized the opportunity of Jonouchi's words and was about to make his move.

My purpose in infiltrating the Duel Academy was to obtain these exhibited cards, but since someone witnessed me about to tamper with them, there was no need to linger here. If I attracted Kobayashi Hayato's attention, not only would I be caught and unable to escape, but if my painstaking tampering with the cards was discovered during a thorough inspection due to other people's suspicions, wouldn't I lose both my money and my reputation?

Although he lacked the talent of a spirit summoner, Saiou Takuma was not a simple fortune teller. Just as civil officials in a certain place were all highly skilled in combat, Saiou also had some self-defense methods besides divination to foresee the future.

Tarot cards were a tool that Saiou devised to assist him in divination, but that didn't mean he couldn't see the future without using them. At most, he just couldn't see too far ahead. At that moment, his upper body swayed, and a strand of white hair on his forehead was flung in front of his eyes. As Saiou looked at his white hair, he saw a brief glimpse of the future a moment later!

He saw it: Jonouchi Katsuya was hit by the card he threw without any warning. Then, the power stored in his Duel Monster Card would be released, and the materialized monster would hit Jonouchi Katsuya's body at point-blank range, punching him through the chest!

Great! I won!

Although fate took a brief detour along the way, it will return to the normal outcome with my correction. No one but me will know that I was here, and the true future can only be foreseen by me!

The symbol of "temptation"—the card of [Secret Ritual Power XV - Demon]—was thrown out by Saiou. The monster, which was ready to materialize, stabbed out several scarlet tentacles that split off from its body. The moment it entered materialization, the hooks at the tips of the tentacles would immediately pierce through the body of Jonouchi Katsuya!

—That's how it should be.

However, Saiou never expected that Jonouchi, upon entering the exhibition hall, would accidentally step on a piece of broken glass. Although the smooth glass didn't cut his foot, it caused him to slip and stumble. Remarkably, he narrowly avoided being hit by the card Saiou had thrown, and because the power Saiou had stored within it didn't "touch" the fuse, the monster failed to materialize and attack Jonouchi!?

Once again, what's wrong with this man? How could he have stepped into a fate so different from the future he predicted?!

When Saiou threw the card, Jonouchi didn't react in time. But when the card hit the wall outside the door and the materialized [Secret Ritual Power XV - Demon] uncontrollably shattered the concrete wall, Jonouchi knew Saiou's intentions. He said angrily, "Not only did you pretend to be Hayato, but you also tried to pretend to be Yugi. You monster, do you even want to attack me directly?"

"You think you can drag me to hell or the underworld by force just because I, the brilliant Mr. Jonouchi, saw through your true identity? Don't even think about it! My honeymoon isn't even over yet!"

The appearance of [Secret Ritual Power XV - Demon] made Jonouchi even more convinced that Saiou was a monster. Now that things had come to this, Saiou no longer had the chance to ambush Jonouchi. If he tried to escape, Jonouchi could easily cause a big commotion and attract Kobayashi Hayato, who was still on Duel Academy Island.

In that case, he might as well just go with the flow and pretend he was the monster Katsuya Jonouchi was talking about. His divination results were definitely correct; tonight, he was undoubtedly in an absolute position of destiny, possessing absolute power to determine fate. If he wanted to have such an opportunity again, he would have to wait at least another year.

Pretending to be a monster, defeating Jonouchi Katsuya through a duel, and then using my own power to knock him down so he thinks he's really encountered a monster—this is the best and only solution right now.

Thinking of this, Saiou, in sync with Jonouchi, also took out a Duel Disk, inserted his deck into it, and said, "Duel!"

[Zaiwang Takuma: 4000LP, 5 card in hand]

【Jounouchi Katsuya: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand】

Chapter 1232 If you don't court death, you won't die. Why don't you understand?

"The first turn is mine, Toro!" Jonouchi declared confidently, drawing a card from his deck and seizing the initiative.

【Jounouchi Katsuya: 4000LP, hand size 5→6】

Jonouchi had already decided in his heart that Saiou was a yokai who imitated humans, and even if he had the exact same voice as Hayato, it would not stop him.

Rather, he actually showed some strength, unlike when he tested Marufuji Ryo before using the more entertaining than powerful [Flame Swordsman] deck. Instead, he used the [Red-Eyes] deck that had helped him defeat many strong opponents.

"The Spell Card [Red-Eyes Foresight] can be activated once per turn by sending one [Red-Eyes] monster from my hand or Deck to the Graveyard." Jonouchi sent one [Red-Eyes Thunder Emperor - Evil Fiend] from his Duel Disk to the Graveyard, then drew another card, saying, "I add the Spell Card [Red-Eyes Fusion] to my hand, and then activate the Spell Card [Red-Eyes Fusion]!"

"This card can be used to Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster that uses a Red-Eyes monster as Fusion Material by sending the Fusion Material from my hand, field, or Deck to the Graveyard."

"Send the Level 7 Red-Eyes Black Flame Dragon and the Level 6 Red-Eyes Ferocious Star Dragon - Meteor Dragon from my Deck to the Graveyard to satisfy the Fusion Material requirement of a Level 7 Red-Eyes monster + a Level 6 Dragon monster!"

"Red comet piercing the sky, open your crimson eyes and fall upon the earth, shattering all obstacles, Red-winged ominous star!"

"Fusion Summon! [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon]!"

In the virtual projection system, a phantom sky was projected onto the dome of the enclosed exhibition hall. Endless black flames fell from the heavens, and a colossal shadow, accompanied by fire, crashed down onto the ground in front of the city. Amidst the spreading flames, a jet-black fire dragon, seemingly an embodiment of natural disaster or a comet from the sky, opened its scarlet eyes and roared to the heavens!

[Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] → [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] [8☆/Dark]

[Dragon/Fusion/Effect]

[3500/2000]

"You start with a powerful monster with an attack power of 3500? But you can't enter the battle phase in the first turn. No matter how high the attack power is, it's meaningless if you can't deal damage." Looking at [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon], Saiou said nonchalantly, "You can't defy fate with your strength alone."

"My destiny is to win!" Although there had been a slight mishap before, Saiou still felt that he was very lucky and that his fate was in his hands.

As a duel manager, the most important job, besides arranging for professional duelists to carry out certain commercial activities to maintain popularity and generate extra income, is to analyze the opponents' information for duelists. Therefore, most duel managers have a very deep understanding of Duel Monsters, and some are even good enough to be taken to Duel Academy for theoretical courses.

However, this is the general situation. Saiou Takuma is an exception among duel managers because his only theoretical help to the duelists under his command is to perform a divination before the duel. With the help of his divination, which can accurately predict the future, he can often accurately find the key to victory and predict the outcome in advance. This ability is invincible.

This has led to the fact that Saiou has no real understanding of what cards are available in the castle or what their effects are. He simply sees the attack power of [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] and assumes that its most special feature is its relatively high attack power.

"A monster Special Summoned by the effect of [Red-Eyes Fusion] will have its card name treated as [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]," Jonouchi said, taking another card from his deck. "And if a Fusion Summon is successful, I can activate the effect of [Meteor Dragon - Meteor Black Dragon] to send one [Red-Eyes] card from my deck to the Graveyard and inflict damage to my opponent equal to half of that monster's original ATK."

"What?!" A look of surprise appeared on Saiō's face.

Jonouchi revealed the card in his hand. The card depicted a black dragon covered in armor with blood-like patterns on its wings: "The monster I sent to the Graveyard is this one, [Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon]. Its ATK is 2000, therefore inflict 1000 effect damage on your opponent!"

【Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon】opened its mouth and spewed out a breath. The dragon energy turned into a meteor and hit Saiou's body directly. Even though he used the special power in his body to protect himself at the first moment, he was still knocked back several steps.

Seeing this, Jonouchi immediately followed up with a mocking remark: "Can't defy fate? Don't be ridiculous. My life so far hasn't been arranged by fate, and the path I've taken has been decided by myself. If we have to talk about fate, it's probably only destined for one thing—that I'll give you, the demon disguised as my best friend, a good beating right from the start of the duel. Your fate is to make you suffer heart-wrenching pain from the very beginning."

It's clear that in the years since he entered the professional duelist circle, Jonouchi's talent for trash-talking has been fully unleashed, and he can deliver sarcastic remarks with ease.

However, this might also be because Saiou inadvertently revealed a momentary facial expression when he was throwing out his harsh words. Ever since Hayato dealt with Dark Marik, Jonouchi hasn't encountered an opponent who can rival him in terms of facial expressions. Seeing Saiou's facial expression, he also felt a long-lost sense of worthy adversary, which is why he couldn't help but reveal the same arrogant facial expression and start making sarcastic remarks about Saiou.

(Judges' panel for the Facial Expression Contest)

Covering his face, which had just been hit by the black flame bullet of [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon], Saiou appeared to be unharmed, but his pride was still incredibly wounded by the fact that he had just been humiliated after making such a boastful statement. What's more, Jonouchi was mocking the "fate" that he valued most.

"Fate wants to make me suffer? Enough with the joke! I'm not in any pain at all!"

[Saiou Takuma: 4000→3000LP]

Although the sudden drop in the base score seemed like a deliberate slap in the face to Saiō, he still looked at Jōnei with arrogance: "Even your momentary lead is within the calculations of fate. Everything is proceeding according to the route that fate has long planned. You will eventually become a victim under the wheel of fate!"

Looking at Saiou's exaggerated facial expressions, Jonouchi couldn't help but nod, thinking to himself, 'Although I don't know how strong this demon is in a duel, he's certainly on par with me in terms of facial expressions.'

“If you can do it, then go ahead, but I will fight against fate and win for you. That’s what I’ve always done.” Jonouchi said, placing a card face down on the Duel Disk. “You can only activate one Red-Eyes Fusion per turn, and during the turn you activate it, you cannot Summon or Special Summon a monster except by the effect of Red-Eyes Fusion.”

"Therefore, I summon a monster in defense position on my back field, then set three cards face down on my back field, and end my turn."

[Within the castle: 4000LP, 1 card in hand]

【Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon】【ATK3500】

[Inner Side Guardian Monster]