Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

[GaiK] X3

Jonouchi's activation of "Red-Eyes Fusion" restricted him from making other summons and special summons, but placing cards face-down in defense position on the field was not within the restrictions. However, Saiou didn't care about the cards he set.

It wasn't just because it was likely just a level 4 or lower monster that could be normally summoned, but also because he had already drawn a powerful card in his initial hand.

"My turn, draw a card! Then experience firsthand the foolish fate that awaits you!" Without even glancing at the card he drew, Saiou added it to his hand and eagerly revealed a card, saying, "Activating this spell card during my Main Phase, one of the two most 'unfortunate' cards among the 56 Minor Arcana cards, [Swords X]!"

That's what they said, but after Saiou said he was going to activate the card, several seconds passed and nothing unusual happened.

"What... what's going on?" There were just too many unexpected events today, and Prince Sai couldn't help but feel a bit paranoid and became wary.

However, Jonouchi, who was opposite him, couldn't help but complain when he saw Saiou's appearance: "Hey, is this your first time using the Duel Disk? How can you activate it just by showing the card?"

"The card is activated only after it is inserted face up into the Magic/Trap Zone. After that, you can display the card however you like, because the Duel Disk's virtual projection system will display a magnified version of the card image."

After a pause, Jonouchi nodded to himself with a matter-of-fact expression: "There's nothing we can do about it, after all, they're not human, they're just yokai."

Hearing Jonouchi's words, Saiou was both annoyed and somewhat embarrassed, because, as Jonouchi said, this was indeed his first time using the Duel Disk for a duel. It wasn't that he was a novice in Duel Monsters; he had actually dueled many times before, but most of those duels were in the form of ordinary tabletop games common before the invention of the Duel Disk or even the Duel Table.

Moreover, it wasn't just Saiou boasting. Although he wasn't a professional duelist, he thought he might be able to become a world champion, because his win rate in duels was as high as 100%. He had never lost, and even the genius duelist in his own agency had never been able to beat him in a duel.

However, this was his first time using the Duel Disk for a duel, and he didn't activate the beginner mode with built-in voice guidance and lighting. When the two dueled, the opponent pulled out a professional-grade Duel Disk, while he had a kindergarten-level tutorial Duel Disk that even elementary school students wouldn't use. There was no need to draw cards, and he was already at a huge disadvantage in terms of momentum.

Despite the awkwardness, Saiou, after receiving a hint from Jonouchi, inserted the card into the Spell & Trap Zone of the Duel Disk. Simultaneously, a Spell Card appeared on Saiou's field. However, unlike ordinary Spell Cards, this card didn't stay obediently in Saiou's back row. Instead, it unusually appeared above Saiou's head, and even seemed to be spinning around its own image like a spinning wheel?

"What's with that card?" Jonouchi frowned, looking at the card above Saiou's head with a puzzled expression. He had been playing Duel Monsters for so long and had been a professional duelist for so many years; what strange and unusual card effects hadn't he seen? But he had never seen a card as quirky as Saiou's before.

Saiou was quite pleased with the puzzled look on Jonouchi's face. Such moments of confusion on others' faces were among the most enjoyable parts of his many years as a fortune teller. Saiou immediately explained to Jonouchi, "The deck I'm using is based on the 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards of the Tarot, called the 'Mystic Power' deck. Most of the 'Mystic Power' cards share common characteristics in their effects."

"That is, when using it, the other person decides when to stop spinning the card. After the other person says stop, the spinning card will have different effects depending on whether it is upright or reversed, just like using tarot cards for divination."

“However, tonight my power of destiny is at its peak, possessing absolute decisive power over fate. No matter when you call to stop, the result will be the same, because under the guidance of destiny, I know the entire future.” A smug smile crept onto Saiou’s calm face. “And the [Sword X] I activated is, of course, in its proper position!”

In his view, the surprised expression on Jonouchi's face, which accompanied his explanation, was undoubtedly due to fear of the power of his card and the aura he was releasing. That astonished expression was definitely because he was terrified by his words!

However, what Jōnei really thought was—

"You make the opponent call a stop, and then get different effects depending on whether it's upright or reversed... Although it's phrased differently, isn't it still the same as making the opponent flip a coin?" Jonouchi said with a toothache, "Why does someone want to duel me with gambling cards again?"

In a past World Professional Duelist Tournament, a duelist from America, who had started as a card dealer, made it to the quarterfinals with a hand of gambling cards. During the draw, he was matched against Jonouchi. Confident in his luck and skill, he challenged Jonouchi, then instantly typed "GG."

Because the person who always landed heads when flipping a coin was extremely abnormal in his duel with Jonouchi, he could only land tails. The dice were also always bad numbers. In the end, he wasn't even wiped out of life points by Jonouchi's attack, but rather, in a state of disbelief, he obsessively used a "Dice Whirlwind" card, rolled his first number of 6 in the duel, and self-destructed, wiping out his last life points.

The reason why Jonouchi had such a vivid memory of that duel was because his opponent's performance was so terrible that it was worse than that of an elementary school student. It was so bad that it disgusted the audience who had bought tickets to come to the event. Some of the more emotional audience members even questioned the fairness of the World Professional Duelist Tournament and accused Jonouchi and his opponent of throwing the match.

However, Haima Group's public relations team clarified everything by releasing a short video that featured only scenes of Jonouchi throwing dice and tossing coins, all of which showed him using gambling cards to turn the tide and win at crucial moments.

As a result, the rumors of match-fixing were indeed clarified. However, after becoming a professional duelist, Jonouchi deliberately used Warrior-type and Red-Eyes decks and tried his best to distance himself from gambling cards in the past. As a result, he was once again associated with gambling cards in the public eye. There were even some busybodies—it needs to be clarified that this was definitely not done by the unnamed largest shareholder of International Illusion Company, the Duel King, and the principal of Duel Academy—who gave Jonouchi the bizarre title of "Gambling King Jonouchi" online.

Even today, there are still legends online about "Cheng Daozi starting with a common deck in Duel Kingdom, earning a bunch of rare cards, qualifying for the top eight in Duel Kingdom, and even getting a girlfriend." Back then, he had no choice; he was so poor he could only afford gambling cards that others didn't want. But Cheng Daozi has always disliked gambling!

Since then, because he also had a hidden nickname "King of Gamblers" in addition to "World Champion", no one has used gambling cards against Jonouchi since. Until now, isn't Saiou's [Secret Power] just a gambling deck with a different name?

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

Chapter 1233 is, of course, in reverse order!

"Gambling? First, let me define what gambling is..."

Saiou said in a leisurely tone, as if it were just a sudden appearance by Jonouchi. Although the injury he suffered at the beginning of the duel was an accident, everything was still within the prediction of fate, in other words, everything was still under his control.

"So-called gambling is nothing more than people entrusting the outcome to their own unknown luck, that is, letting fate control it. But my [Secret Ritual Power] is different. Fate guides everything, and I will guide fate. The outcome of [Sword X] was already predetermined by fate."

"Therefore, there is no such thing as gambling, only predetermined fate!"

"Ah, that's enough. Stop spouting the nonsense that only desperate gamblers would utter." Jonouchi rubbed his temples. He was already annoyed by Saiou's imitation of Hayato's voice and his attempt to mimic the game, and Saiou's blatant gambler talk only made his already negative goodwill plummet. "Although I never intended to be proud of that, since you think you're one of those lucky duelists, let me give you a try."

"Stop here."

As Jonouchi finished speaking, the [Sword X] spinning above Saiou's head gradually slowed down, eventually coming to a stop at a speed like the second hand of a clock.

Saiou paid no attention to the card above his head, for he had already foreseen the future outcome. In the future, the position of the [Sword X] was upright, just as he had said. He said triumphantly to Jonouchi, "A single moment's judgment can lead to a huge change in the outcome, but this change is also guided by fate."

"See, Katsuya Jonouchi, the future you chose is still within the future I guided!" Pointing to the ceiling, Saiou looked up and said, "The position of [Sword X] is, of course, reversed!"

"Hehehehehehehe cough cough cough—" After laughing twice, Saiou couldn't help but cough, and looked up in disbelief to confirm the [Sword X].

"What?! Reversed position?!"

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!!"

With an incredulous expression on his face, Saiou's face was so contorted that even Jonouchi and Dark Marik would have to give him a perfect score.

But Jonouchi ignored it, shrugging helplessly and saying, "See? What did I tell you? Duel Monsters should be fought properly with cards. It's pointless to think about using gambling cards to win big all the time. Gambling always involves winning and losing. A victory won through gambling might come at a price someday."

Because his gambling father caused his family to break apart and left him with a lifelong shadow in his childhood, Jonouchi really dislikes gambling. No matter who he encounters using gambling cards, he will advise them to quit gambling. Even if they refuse to quit, Jonouchi will use his incredible luck to force them to quit.

Although luck is usually unpredictable, and gambling cards often result in awkward numbers, only in truly desperate situations does one experience incredible good fortune. However, Jonouchi's luck affects not only himself but also his opponents. Whether in dire straits or at other times, those who use gambling cards opposite Jonouchi rarely manage to roll good numbers or get the heads or tails they desire.

This naturally includes Saiou right now. He clearly saw with his superpower of foresight that [Swords X] was in the upright position and would activate its effect to destroy all the monsters on the field in the castle. However, the reality is that [Swords X] is in the reversed position and has obtained the exact opposite effect.

The incredulous expression lingered for a while. After examining his own card and Jonouchi's face for a long time, Saiou finally managed to calm down a bit and said, "Jonnouchi Katsuya, I see. Is that so? You are the kind of duelist who is blessed by Lady Luck. Did you manage to escape this once by the grace of fate and good luck?"

"However, if you repeatedly defy fate by relying solely on a little bit of good luck favored by Lady Luck, your luck will soon be worn away. Do you dare to defy me, who guides your destiny?"

After listening, Jonouchi impatiently picked at his ear and said, "This is all nonsense and mystical talk, which really fits my stereotypical prejudice against you, a kind of youkai. But unfortunately, I don't really believe in things like fate. If I had to say, my lucky goddess is only my sister. That's a real shame, because there aren't many places left for me to stand behind. After my sister and friends stand there, the place is already full, and there's no room for any so-called lucky goddess."

"Besides, you're talking way too much nonsense. It's just like when I flipped a coin and got tails, is it really that hard to accept, that you have to use such pointless words to brainwash yourself?"

"Hmph, I'll show you what true destiny is, that irresistible torrent." Saiou said coldly, "The upright [Swords X] can destroy all the monsters on your opponent's field, but the reversed [Swords X] will destroy all the monsters on my field. However, since I didn't have any monsters on my field to begin with, this effect doesn't work on me."

"Next, I will summon [Arcane Power VII - Chariot]!"

The symbol of strength, the "Chariot" of the Tarot card "Victory," has appeared on the Saiou field as [Secret Power VII - Chariot]. However, its appearance is completely different from the king riding the black and white lions in the Tarot. It is just an extremely abstract tentacle monster with a large number of tentacles connected to cannons and retaining black and white as the main colors.

【Arcane Power VII - Chariot】【4☆/Light】

[Angel Race/Effect]

[1700/1700]

(Note: This card's OCG and animation effects are different; this refers to the animation effects.)

Similar to the previous [Sword X], after [Arcane Power VII - Chariot] appeared, a mini version of his own card appeared above his head, and then it started spinning, waiting for Jonouchi to call for it to stop.

“Call it a halt again, Katsuya Jonouchi, but this time fate will not favor you, for even the favor of Lady Luck has its limits.” Unaware that Jonouchi had the online nickname “the man Lady Luck throws her way”—a nickname whose origin was definitely not the anonymous teaching assistant of the Electronic Flow Dokan, Mr. Baron—Saiou stared at Jonouchi and sneered, “This time, the power of absolute fate will not be disturbed by your already insignificant luck.”

"Of course, the perfect position!"

However, Jonouchi was not paying attention to Saiou's harsh words at the moment, and was still thinking about the [Sword X] from earlier.

"When it's upright, it destroys all the monsters on the opponent's field, but when it's reversed, it destroys all the monsters on your own field. Is it just focused on gambling? So this monster is a gambling monster after all," Jonouchi complained. "Is [Lightning Strike] too useful, or is [Black Hole] too cheap? Even [Lightning Vortex] is stronger than this card."

Looking at the [Arcane Power VII - Chariot] spinning and waiting for him to stop, and Saiou staring intently at him, Jonouchi didn't care about the effects of the card in its upright and reversed positions, and casually said, "In that case, stop it."

The card's rotation began to slow down, and the [Mystic Power VII - Chariot] card, which was gradually slowing down, slowly straightened out, as if it was about to stop in its correct position. This made Saiou's lips curl up in delight.

As Saiou watched the card [Arcane Power VII - Chariot] come to a complete stop in its upright position, he was about to burst out laughing. But right before his eyes, the card, which had clearly lost all power, seemed to rise from the dead and struggled once more, leaping directly from its upright position!?

Amidst Jonouchi's matter-of-fact expression and Saiou's bloodshot gaze, the card [Arcane Power VII - Chariot] bounced twice more, flipping over to its reversed position?!

"What did I tell you? Gambling is definitely not advisable." Jonouchi shrugged. "After all, while the number of cards each side has in a duel is limited, the possibilities that can be achieved by combining forty cards are infinite. How can they be confined by a few words about 'fate' and be unable to change anything?"

“A true duelist can create his own future by drawing cards, so why would he rely on these gambling cards?”

"You fart!"

Enraged by Jonouchi, Saiou lost his composure and blurted out a line from a certain beast tribe leader.

“How could the power of fate be overturned twice by mere luck? Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Saiu glared at Jonouchi, then suddenly realized something and said through gritted teeth, “Wait a minute! So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is? I was actually fooled by you, Jonouchi Katsuya, you’re so cunning!”

As he spoke, Saiou decisively raised his hand, and a white line quickly formed a circle around him and Jonouchi. Starting from the closed circle, a semi-transparent barrier suddenly rose up and expanded to the walls of the exhibition hall, completely enveloping him and Jonouchi in this barrier.

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh, I've completely seen through your so-called 'luck,' Katsuya Jonouchi. Although I don't know what your methods are, there's no doubt that you also have the power to directly touch 'fate,' right? And then, taking advantage of my momentary lapse in attention, you manipulated fate again after I had already manipulated it, thus achieving one act after another that altered the future I foresaw!"

"But you can't do that anymore! Because I activated the Field Spell Card [Light Barrier] to amplify my power! From now on, this duel will become a special 'Duel of Light,' because the power of [Light Barrier] and the effects of monsters other than [Arcane Power] will all be negated, including your rude thief-like power to manipulate fate, just like mine!"

With Saiou's explanation, Jonouchi clearly saw that the state of his [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] on the field had become somewhat sluggish. Although its attack power had not changed, as a DARK monster, it seemed to be quite uncomfortable in the [Light Barrier], and was completely unable to release its full power.

Moreover, it wasn't just the [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] on the field; the area affected by Saiou's Field Spell Card [Light Barrier] was even wider. It even enveloped Jonouchi's hand, graveyard, deck, and even banished zones that didn't exist, all within this pure white but unsettling light, negating the effects of any monsters within it.

Regardless of whether Jonouchi was listening, Saiou tapped his temple with his finger. Feeling he had regained the upper hand, he regained his composure and said, "Thinking about it carefully, cars are very convenient tools, helping people easily reach distant places, and anyone can ride in one. However, it is precisely because anyone can ride in one that traffic jams frequently occur in bustling urban areas, making it impossible for anyone to move forward."

"Absolute destiny-determining power is my ability. There is only one person who can transcend destiny, and that is me, Saiou Takuma." He reached out and touched his chest, pointing towards the castle. Saiou said coldly, "When you are defeated in the duel of light, you will also be stained white by 'light' and become a pawn in my plan!"

However, upon hearing Saiou's threat, Jonouchi calmly replied, "Although it's full of nonsense, it's just a dark duel. Although it's the first time I've ever seen such a white 'dark duel,' who do you think it can scare?"

I'm not bragging, but Jonouchi has experienced far too many dark duels. Saiou's talk of being "stained white" sounds completely unimpressive, like getting caught by city management for printing small advertisements on a wall and being forced to clean it up. It's not as scary as being surrounded by the [Orichalcohol Barrier] during his duel with Baron of "Doma".

"A duel of darkness? Hmph, I'll repeat myself, this is a duel of light guided by the power of destiny, and I possess absolute power to determine destiny. Jonouchi Katsuya, your end is already laid out before me, in that inevitable future!" Looking at Jonouchi in his foresight, Saiou, who believed he had sealed Jonouchi's ability, which was of the same type as his own, with the [Barrier of Light], revealed a smug smile.

[Zaiwang Takuma: 3000LP, 3 card in hand]

【Arcane Power VII - Chariot】【ATK1700】

Venue: [Light Barrier]

(Note: Same as the animated version, but with the added ability to negate the effects of monsters other than those with the power of the Mystic Arts)

"The effect of 【Light Barrier】 is not limited to one thing. It can also restore my Life Points to the original ATK of the destroyed monster when a 【Ritual Power】 monster destroys an opponent's monster in battle. In addition, when using a card that requires the opponent to decide the upright or reversed position, I can skip that process and directly decide the upright or reversed position myself!"

Jonouchi frowned and said, "No wonder you're so fond of gambling cards. So you have cards that allow you to choose the outcome you want, just like cheating? I understand now what the difference is between your 'Duel of Light' and the Dark Games. Even the worst Dark Games have a requirement of 'fairness,' but your 'Duel of Light' is just an unfair duel where I have to place my bet, just like this [Barrier of Light]."

"Ha, I myself was guided by 'light' and determined the direction of my destiny. How could I possibly be controlled by fate? Isn't it only natural that you are the only one who will be punished? It's as natural as exhaling after inhaling!"

"The Minor Arcana card, representing a fresh start, the Spell Card [Ace of Grails] is activated! This card's effect is to draw two cards from your deck. However, depending on whether the card is upright or reversed, the cards drawn will differ, and it is still up to your opponent to call a stop."

As Saiō, having mastered the Duel Disk, inserted his card into the disk, a golden Holy Grail rose from the ground between him and Jonouchi, and a miniature "Ace of Grails" card spun above it.

However, before Jonouchi could call for a halt, Saiou pointed at the card and said, "This time, you no longer have the ability to interfere with my guidance of destiny, so of course you are in the right place!"

Extremely rare, Saiou finally witnessed his absolute power to determine fate manifest itself in this duel. The spinning Holy Grail A stopped in the correct position, which meant that Saiou was the one drawing the cards. He drew two cards from the duel disk with a satisfied expression.

“That’s it. After getting rid of those troubling thoughts, my destiny has returned to the right path, ushering in a brand new beginning.” Looking at the card he had drawn, Saiou sneered, “And Jonouchi Katsuya, the result of my divination using the cards in my hand is your death!”

Like the previous [Swords X], another Minor Arcana card representing "misfortune"—the Spell Card [Swords A]—exudes an ominous aura in Saiou's hands.

Chapter 1234 Zawaludo!

There's something I'm actually quite curious about.

Before Saiou could play any more cards, Jonouchi couldn't help but say, "Although I don't understand any of the mystical parts, the 'Barrier of Light' allows you to decide the upright and reversed positions of the cards yourself, right?"

"In that case, since you already had this card in your hand from the beginning, why not just play it? That way you won't waste both the [Sword X] and [Arcane Power VII - Chariot] cards like you did before."