Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"【Damage Devourer】You can activate this effect by banishing this card from my Graveyard when your opponent activates the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster that inflicts damage."

With a "V" sign, Hayato extended two fingers, pinching the left and right sides of the card respectively, and showed the [Damage Devourer] card to the other three, saying, "That effect restores basic points equal to the damage dealt to you. This effect can only be activated during your opponent's turn."

"To freely manipulate destruction and creation, to arbitrarily decide life and death—that is my terrifying divine talent! Heh heh, heh heh heh heh!"

The extinguished black flames brought life and hope instead. Under the influence of [Red-Eyes Extinguish], the basic points of all four people present were restored by a considerable amount.

[Hayato Kobayashi: 1000→3400LP]

【Muto Game: 1400→3800LP】

Seto Kaiba: 2600→5000LP

[Jouchi Katsuya: 3700→6100LP]

If Jonouchi had an advantage in life points among the four before, his lead has been diluted somewhat now that everyone's life points have recovered to a considerable value.

Seeing the [Damage Devourer] in Hayato's hand dissipate after being banished, Kaiba smiled with satisfaction. It wasn't because his Life Points had been restored, but simply because he saw Hayato calmly defuse Jonouchi's attack, just as he had expected: "Even though it's an ugly and weak monster, you can still unleash such undeniable power in its hands. I'm increasingly looking forward to defeating you, Kobayashi Hayato!"

"Then, while your meticulously planned combo was indeed surprising, and even I didn't expect that a mediocre player like you could almost threaten my predetermined victory, in the end your plan still failed, you second-rate duelist with a third-rate deck!"

"Ha, a second-rate duelist? You really dare to say that, Kaiba! Today I'll make you swallow those words back, and take your regret and humiliation with you!" Jonouchi said angrily. "Don't forget, I didn't use any Special Summon this turn, and I activated the effect when [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was destroyed! [Red-Eyes Incinerate] will wipe out Yugi and Hayato's Life Points if it's not flipped, but it can't defeat you, Kaiba. The monster I'm really going to use to defeat you is this one!"

"If [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] is destroyed by battle or by an opponent's card effect, Special Summon a Level 7 [Red-Eyes] monster other than [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] from my Graveyard to my field!"

"The monster I Special Summoned is Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which was sent to the Graveyard by the effect of Red-Eyes Insight!"

Retrieving a card from the graveyard, Jonouchi shouted, "Even if I'm defeated, I won't give up! Return to my field with the black flames of revenge!"

"Special Summon! Rank 7☆! Wagatsumashi!"

"【True Red-Eyes Black Dragon】!"

(I have to show you how cool MegaHouse's Red-Eyes looks.)

Although the power of [Red-Eyes Burn] was reversed and modified by [Damage Devourer] to restore life points, the flames still existed on the field. At Jonouchi's call, they gathered back onto his field and transformed into a pillar of fire.

As Jonouchi placed the card on the Duel Disk, the rising pillar of black fire was torn apart by a pair of sharp claws, and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon returned from the graveyard, roaring to the sky!

"You really don't know how to 'give up' time and time again. But Red-Eyes Black Dragon is no match for Blue-Eyes White Dragon from the start. With an attack power of only 2400, it can't possibly defeat my Blue-Eyes with an attack power of 3000, no matter how hard it tries!" Kaiba said disdainfully, arms crossed. "In Duel Monsters, there may be many factors that determine the outcome, but only the monster with the higher attack power can stand the last one standing in the battle."

If Red-Eyes Black Dragon could be resurrected during the Main Phase, it might receive a boost from Equip Spell Cards to increase its attack power. However, Kaiba doesn't see Red-Eyes, which is now resurrected alone on Jonouchi's field during the Battle Phase, as a threat to him.

However, the greatest invention of the 21st century is the so-called "boomerang" law, which quickly proved Kaiba wrong. The pillar of flame torn apart by Jonouchi's Red-Eyes Black Dragon did not dissipate in the high-speed airflow on the airship deck. Instead, it surged towards the Red-Eyes Black Dragon's body and transformed into a layer of purplish-red flame armor that was extremely similar to that of the Red-Eyes Sub-Black Dragon.

The black flames of the True Red-Eyes Black Dragon mingled with the reddish-purple subspace black flames of the True Red-Eyes Sub-Black Dragon, causing the True Red-Eyes Black Dragon's power to surge wildly, violently, and overwhelmingly! What in the world could possibly stop it?! What in the world could possibly withstand it?!

Both Kaiba and Yugi stared in astonishment as the attack power of the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] skyrocketed and doubled!

[True Red-Eyes Black Dragon] [ATK2400→4800]

"Who can change the objective reality of inherent deficiencies? But weaknesses and flaws can be overcome with perseverance, drive, and courage!" Jonouchi clenched his fist, revealing a smile that could be interpreted as an excited expression. "In the battle of monsters, there may be many factors that determine the outcome, but only the monster with the higher attack power can stand to the end in the battle."

"But Kaiba! Right now, the monster with higher attack power isn't your [Blue Eyes], it's my [Red Eyes]! If the monster Special Summoned by the effect of [Red Eyes Black Dragon] is [Red Eyes Black Dragon], its original attack power is doubled! That is, 4800 points!"

"You are the challenger!"

Looking at the Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon in his hand, Kaiba fell silent after hearing Jonouchi's words. After a moment, he snorted coldly, looked at Jonouchi, and said defiantly, "Hmph, he's clearly just a mediocre talent."

Although it was because of Hayato's [Shadowy Midrash] that Kaiba, who had already used the effect of [White Spirit Dragon] to Special Summon, was unable to chain [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]'s self-destruction and Special Summon [Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon] from his hand, it was also because Hayato's [Damage Devourer] reprogrammed the power of [Red-Eyes Incinerate], twisting the damage into recovery, that Kaiba's Life Points were able to rise to 5000 instead of falling.

If the previous effect of [Damage Devourer] failed, and Hayato and Yugi were wiped out of the field by [Red-Eyes Burn], then what follows is that after taking a full 2400 points of effect damage, with only 200 points of life points left, they use their three [Blue-Eyes] on the field, all in attack position, to face the attack of Jonouchi's [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], which has an attack power of 4800 points and has already surpassed [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon].

Although Kaiba was stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat, he didn't actually make excuses for his defeat like other third-rate duelists. After realizing that Jonouchi really had the ability to defeat him, Kaiba, for once, spoke as he had thought: "I have to admit, your Red-Eyes is stronger now."

"4800 attack power! It even surpasses the 4500 attack power of the 'legendary' Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Yugi exclaimed, looking at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, a Soul Card that had accompanied Jonouchi throughout his entire dueling career. "So strong! Absolutely too strong!"

—Although it was a sincere expression of admiration and recognition, perhaps due to personal habits, it sounded to Hayato, who was standing nearby, that Yugi was being somewhat sarcastic. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have a face-down card in his back row and Jonouchi wasn't planning to attack him, Hayato would almost have thought that Yugi was going to turn into a Magic Cylinder to annoy him.

"Let's save the praise and compliments for after the duel. [Red-Eyes] is just as eager as I am to find [Blue-Eyes] and get revenge on Kaiba." Pointing at Kaiba, Jonouchi continued, "With this [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], I'll cut off the heads of your [Blue-Eyes]!"

Despite acknowledging the threat, Kaiba immediately put on a stern face upon hearing that Jonouchi intended to eliminate his [Blue-Eyes], and began with his signature cold snort: "Hmph! You arrogant fool, even the virtual world isn't a place for you to spout nonsense. Although your [Red-Eyes] does have higher attack power right now, with [Damage Devourer] modifying the [Red-Eyes Burn] effect, you've already missed your only chance to defeat me."

"These slight differences are like an insurmountable chasm; you have no chance of defeating me!"

"Hmph, so be it!" Jonouchi waved a card in his hand and inserted it into the Spell & Trap Zone, saying, "My initial combo plan was to use a card to lower the attack power of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] and then explode it, followed by chaining [Red-Eyes Burn] to reduce everyone's Life Points. But because Kaiba, you used the effect of [White Spirit Dragon], you not only saved my cards but also used up your Special Summon opportunity."

"And! It also allowed me to successfully use this Quick-Play Spell Card to increase the number of times [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] can attack!"

"Quick-Play Spell Card [Dragon's Fighting Spirit], target the only Dragon-Type monster I control that is Special Summoned this turn—that is, my only [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]!"

As Jonouchi activated the card, blue and white flames ignited within it and merged into the flame armor on Jonouchi's Red-Eyes Black Dragon's body. The mixed flames of red, purple, black, white, and blue rolled across the Red-Eyes Black Dragon's body, making it look somewhat like a marquee or a spinning ball in a disco.

However, what the other three were more concerned about was that the original user of this card could be seen from the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" on the card art. Although it was later released in card packs by Mirage International, its rarity was set high simply because of the existence of the legendary monster card "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", and it was rarely circulated on the market.

Even in Duel Academy, where every student gets a free set of rare cards upon enrollment, only Manjoume was lucky enough to open that card pack over the years. No one else had the chance to get this rare card.

Could it be that Jonouchi specifically acquired this "Dragon's Might" card? Or did he just get incredibly lucky and randomly pull this rare card from his card pack?

"I don't know what you're thinking, but I guess it's not what you think." Jonouchi said smugly, hands on his hips. "Although Kaiba was quick to shut down my deck in this virtual world, I managed to add a few cards like [Silver Dragon's Roar] and [Soul of Inheritance] to my deck before that."

“Although these cards feature Blue-Eyes White Dragon in their artwork, their actual effects don’t specify that they can only be used by Blue-Eyes White Dragon and not by Red-Eyes Black Dragon.” After a pause, Jonouchi looked at Hayato and said, “This is the first time I’ve felt that using someone else’s cards is such a satisfying thing.”

"Right, right? If you ask me, you should have used that [Crimson Fang with Chains] you got from searching earlier to directly defeat Seth's [Blue Eyes]. That would have been even more satisfying."

Listening to that bastard Hayato Kobayashi not only failing to correct him but also sharing with Jonouchi his years of experience stealing monsters and cards from others, Kaiba's face darkened considerably: "It's because of you again, unforgivable, you... Hayato Kobayashi!"

"Impotent rage, wait until I defeat you before continuing. Then you can just watch as Yugi and I battle Hayato." Jonouchi waved his hand and said, "The effect of [Dragon's Might] will grant [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] additional attack capabilities in addition to normal attacks during this turn's battle phase."

"For each monster the opponent Special Summons this turn, it can attack once more. But even without my explanation, Kaiba, you should be quite familiar with this effect, right?" Jonouchi chuckled and waved his hand, giving the order, "Then let the battle continue! [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], first take down [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] on Kaiba's field!"

"At the same time, activate this Quick-Play Spell Card [Contraction] that I saved up earlier! Target the face-up [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] and reduce its original ATK to half, which is 1500, until the end of the turn!"

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon] [ATK3000→1500]

Under the effect of [Contraction], the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field that had previously defeated [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] rapidly shrank in size, and its attack power decreased accordingly. Since it was not the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] whose attack power had doubled after absorbing redundant power, it was even less likely to be its opponent at this moment.

Unable to stop the attack from Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Kaiba raised his Duel Disk to block it. Then, a torrent of black flames erupted from Red-Eyes' mouth, engulfing the shrinking Blue-Eyes White Dragon on his field, and continued to surge towards it!

Seto Kaiba: 5000→1700LP

After the black flames dissipated, Kaiba's base score plummeted by a full 3300 points, returning all the base score he had previously recovered with the help of [Red-Eyes Burn] and even giving back a considerable amount of it.

Meanwhile, Jonouchi's Red-Eyes Black Dragon, empowered by Dragon's Might, has one more chance to attack. If it destroys Kaiba's other Blue-Eyes White Dragon with 3000 attack power, the excess 1800 Life Points will just be 100 points more than enough to wipe out all of Kaiba's Life Points!

Chapter 1277 A Tribute to the Legendary Life-Saving King Seto Kaiba

"With the blessing of [Dragon's Fighting Spirit], [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] can launch one more attack."

Pointing towards Kaiba's arena, Jonouchi gave the second attack command, "Attack the second [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] again, destroy it, and then deliver the final blow to Kaiba, [Red-Eyes]!"

"Black Flame Bullet - Double Strike!"

A mixture of five colors of intense flames erupted from the mouth of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, crashing into Kaiba's field, determined to destroy the other Blue-Eyes White Dragon and wipe out Kaiba's Life Points.

Although this duel is a four-person free-for-all, if Kaiba loses, the next situation will most likely be that Yugi and Jonouchi team up to deal with him. Although he has confidence in Nami, if the two of them work together, even Hayato will feel some pressure. He personally prefers a crushing victory. The feeling of having a bunch of big monsters on the field and blocking all of the opponent's squares is really irresistible. Unless the opponent surrenders at speed 5, he feels like there is nothing to be afraid of.

"At this moment, I will also open my face-down card in the back row." Interrupting Jonouchi's attack declaration, Hayato waved his hand and flipped up a face-down card in the back row, revealing the Trap Card [Claw Sound of One Life's Evil Friction]. "Because I have [Melo Mermaid of the Pearl Tears Elegy Tribe] on my field, this Trap Card - [Claw Sound of One Life's Evil Friction] can be activated."

"Its effect is that you can target one face-up monster on your opponent's field and change that monster to face-down Defense Position. As a price, I then send one 'Tears of the Goddess' monster from my Deck to the Graveyard."

"A trap card that combines the effects of [Book of the Moon] and [Foolish Burial]? But sending a monster from your deck to the graveyard is really a price for you, Hayato?" After making a sarcastic remark, Jonouchi suddenly realized something and said in surprise, "Hayato, you're actually going to flip my [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] over? Aren't we teammates supposed to defeat Kaiba together?"

“I never said that. You should have realized that this duel was just a literal melee when I attacked you with Melo, right?” Hayato shrugged. “Everyone has their own target to defeat, so let’s get started. In the castle, you can’t survive without fighting!”

"The reason I'm taking action now is simply to stop Jonouchi from taking down Seth so quickly, thus depriving me of a shield to help share the pressure. However, if I were to put down the Red-Eyes that you painstakingly summoned with doubled attack power and render it harmless, I'm afraid Seth would become the one putting pressure on me next. Therefore, my target is not you, Jonouchi."

With a flick of his finger, Hayato pointed directly at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on Kaiba's field. He said with a smile, "My target is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on Seta's field, and then I'll send the Merlo from my deck to the graveyard."

A wave of water flew out from Hayato's deck, turning into pearl-like bubbles that covered Kaiba's field. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon in attack position was disoriented by the water and switched to defense position. Meanwhile, the Merlo Mermaid of the Pearl Tears tribe, which had previously returned to the deck by its own effect, was sent to the graveyard once again.

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon] [ATK3000] → [Face-down Defense Position]

Since it was only a change in the form of the monster representation and did not involve an increase or decrease in the number of monsters, the attack rollback rule was not triggered by Hayato's "Isekai Friction Claw Sound". Jonouchi's "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" still hit its original target, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", as expected.

The black flame bullet destroyed the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but because it was in defense position, it did not cause any damage to Kaiba.

"You got lucky, Kuuga," Hayato said arrogantly, arms crossed.

"I never asked you to help me, nor did I allow you to give me that weird nickname, Hayato Kobayashi." Even though he wasn't the first to be defeated and forced to leave the field thanks to Hayato's help, Kaiba still had a sour face and didn't say a single nice word. He then turned to Jonouchi and said, "You actually forced me to this point, well done, you mediocre person."

"It seems I need to adjust the order of my attacks in this duel. Perhaps I should take care of you first before defeating Yugi Muto and then taking down Hayato Kobayashi."

In this turn, only Kaiba, besides Jonouchi, has performed a Special Summon once. Therefore, the additional attack that "Dragon's Might" can grant to "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" is only once. From Kaiba's perspective, Jonouchi, who has also used only one Special Summon, can no longer attack the remaining "Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon" on his field.

Although my base score is down to 1700 points, down from the second highest to the lowest in the game, base score is infinite as long as it doesn't drop to zero. It's enough to have enough, so there's no need to worry too much. What I really care about is my hand resources.

In the next turn, after drawing cards, I'll only have a maximum of two cards in my hand, and then I have to defeat the 4800-attack [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] while also trying to clear out his 6100 life points. There's a considerable challenge involved, but it's precisely this kind of challenge that makes it exciting and thrilling!

"Kaiba... Ha, you only realized now that I'm your biggest rival?" Jonouchi touched his nose and gave a funny smile. "But I won't lose to you. I don't want your approval or anything like that. I've only ever wanted to beat you up."

"With just one Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon, one card in your hand, and one draw, do you think you can beat all the cards I have?" Jonouchi arrogantly waved the thick stack of cards in his hand.

Both are top duelists. Kaiba knows that in Duel Monsters, the importance of hand cards, or rather, available card resources, is greater than life points. How could Jonouchi not know this? Because of that "Treasure of Fate" card, he rolled the highest number of 6s and drew a full hand of cards. Although he couldn't activate "Red-Eyes Fusion" because he wanted to use the effect of "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", he still added it to his hand to use later.

Despite playing two quick-play spell cards in succession during the battle phase, he still had a full six cards in his hand, a four-card advantage. How could Kaiba possibly beat him? [Red-Eyes] was really pushing his luck. Jonouchi didn't even know how he could lose.

"Although it's rare for Jonouchi and Kaiba to have such a pleasant conversation..." Yugi reminded them, "Before you two think about the next turn, why don't you recall the card Hayato just activated?"

"The one sent to the grave by his [One Lifetime of Evil Friction of Claws] was that [Tears of Elegy Clan - Mermaid of Melo].

"Hmph, you have a keen eye for observation, Yu-Gi-Oh!" Hayato looked at his lit-up Duel Disk and smiled smugly. "The terror of the [Tears of the Goddess] is nothing more than an enhanced version of the Pro, Plus, and Max versions of those graveyard decks in Duel Monsters 1.0 if you just keep filling the graveyard."

"But what truly makes it an overwhelmingly powerful 2.0 deck is its ability to move freely and unleash its full potential even during your opponent's turn. In other words, I can unleash my full potential on your turn too!"

"If [Tears of Elegy Mermaid] is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, activate its second effect: Return the Fusion Material Monsters, including [Tears of Elegy Mermaid] from the Graveyard, that are determined by a Fusion Monster Card to the bottom of the Deck in my preferred order, and Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from the Fusion Deck!"

"I've chosen [Melo Mermaid of the Tearful Song Tribe] from my Graveyard and [Shadowy Midrash] from my field, which satisfy the Fusion Material requirement of combining a Fusion Monster and a DARK Monster!"

The Fusion Power released at Speed ​​2 unfolds from the Graveyard area of ​​Hayato's Duel Disk, transforming into a massive vortex that engulfs all of Hayato's Shadowy Midrash on the field. The power concentrated at the center of the vortex is compressed into a seed that floats above Hayato's field.

(The image of the large rhinoceros horn that inspired the monster)

As the fusion vortex disappeared, the seed immediately began to grow rapidly upon landing, transforming into a giant green plant with its lush branches stretching out wildly. The orderly and dense thorns on its branches and leaves showed that this plant was not to be trifled with.

"Foreword omitted. Betray [Predatory Plant] and appear on my field as a righteous lackey of the Tears of the Goddess, the bewitching Great Rhinoceros Dragon who preys on living beings!"

"Fusion Summon! [Predatory Plant - Rhinoceros Horned Dragon]!"

Within the open five-pointed star-shaped flower, a four-legged winged dragon raised its head, revealing its sharp fangs to the numerous monsters present. Even with its emerald green body and a pair of petal-like crimson wings on its back, each bearing a bud, this predatory dragon that appeared on Hayato's field was still quite easily mistaken for a dragon monster!

[Plant-eating Rhinoceros Horned Dragon] [8☆/Dark]

[Plant Tribe/Fusion/Effect]

[2700/1900]