Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"【Ultimate Fusion】is my exclusive Fusion Spell Card for 【Blue-Eyes】. During both players’ Main Phases, monsters from my hand, field, or even Graveyard can be returned to my Deck as Fusion Material for a Fusion Monster. This allows me to Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster from my Fusion Deck that uses either 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 or 【Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon】 as Fusion Material."

As the seahorse spoke, it raised its palm and shouted, "I have chosen the three-body [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] slumbering in my graveyard as the fusion material. Let the image of this evolved ultimate dragon, along with your fear, be deeply engraved in your soul!"

"Tough! Iron Chicken!! Super Strong!!!"

Fusion Summon!

"Neo-Blue-Ace-Arutimet-Doragon!"

Upon entering his first turn to fight, Kaiba summoned the first monster he could summon: Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Although he didn't summon it immediately in the previous turn, he still chose to summon it right away, which can be considered as staying true to his original intention.

[True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] [12☆/Light]

[Dragon/Fusion/Effect]

[4500/3800]

However, Kaiba's actions were exactly what the castle had anticipated. His greatsword, the [Extreme Flame Swordsman], was already itching for a strike, just waiting for Kaiba to unleash the monster!

“This is the moment I’ve been waiting for, Kaiba!” Jonouchi pointed to the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on Kaiba’s field and said, “I knew that even if you didn’t stick several cards together, you would definitely summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon the moment the second turn came. I know its effect very well.”

"Although it has three consecutive attacks, it is a creature with high attack but no resistance. The goal is to chain the Special Summon of [True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]. I activate the effect of [Extreme Flame Swordsman] on my field!"

"The first effect of 【Swordsman of Extreme Flame】can be activated during the opponent's turn if it is equipped with an Equip Card. Once per turn, target one monster on the opponent's field and destroy that monster!" Jonouchi paused deliberately, giving Kaiba a smug smile. "At the same time, inflict 500 effect damage to the opponent's Duelist!"

Upon hearing this, the seahorse's eyes widened for a moment.

Seto Kaiba: 300 LP, 5 cards in hand

My base score is 300. If Jonouchi's [Extreme Flame Swordsman] effect destroys [True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] and inflicts 500 effect damage on me, won't that completely wipe out my base score?!

Is he going to be defeated by Jonouchi Katsuya?!

"Never before has there been such a wonderful ending! Cheers for me, applause for me!" Jonouchi exclaimed excitedly. "You never thought you'd be defeated by me, did you, Kaiba? Go, [Swordsman of Extreme Flame], destroy [True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]!"

"Flame Slash Within the Castle!"

Growing up can change many things, but clearly, Jonouchi's naming skills haven't improved at all in the past few years. The only progress he's made is adding the character "斩" (slash) to the name of the overgrown "Jonouchi Flame".

Flames coiled around the greatsword of the [Extreme Flame Swordsman], who swung it with a flourish, leaving a long, dragon-like trail of flames in the air.

"Breaking Army Sword Dance, now is the time!" With a furious roar, the [Extreme Flame Swordsman] swung his greatsword, and a fiery slash flew out from his weapon, piercing through the body of the [True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] on Kaiba Stadium as easily as cutting through butter with a hot knife!

"Yada Thief! Successfully killed [True Blue-Eyes]!"

The spot where the True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon stood suddenly exploded, the flames seeming to engulf its remains as well. Just as Jonouchi was about to taunt Kaiba, unusually displaying his victorious demeanor, he discovered that the flames were actually heading towards him!?

"What?!"

The scorching flames swept over Jonouchi's body, completely burning away his Crimson King armor!?

Meanwhile, at Kaiba Field, which Jonouchi thought he had defeated and eliminated, a strong wind suddenly rose and dispersed the flames.

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which was returned to the deck as a fusion material, has somehow returned to Kaiba's field!

Chapter 1281 Although Crazy Thursday is just so-so, it's perfect when you get it for free.

"What happened!?"

Why did the Crimson King on my body disappear after the effect of my [Extreme Blade Swordsman] was activated? And why did Kaiba, who should have had his Elemental Points cleared, summon [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] instead of [True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]?

"Hmph, the effect of [Extreme Flame Swordsman] did surprise me briefly, but did you really think that kind of monster could defeat me, you mediocre guy?" Kaiba raised the Duel Disk equipped on his arm, allowing Jonouchi to notice a card he inserted into the Spell Trap Zone. "The ability to destroy monsters and inflict 500 effect damage. Once the destroyed monster disappears, the subsequent effect processing cannot proceed. Defending against your attack is that easy."

"Quick-Play Spell Card [Soul of Inheritance]: You can only activate one card with this name per turn, and during the turn this card is activated, you can only use one monster to attack."

"I can activate Inherited Soul by targeting one of my Effect Monsters, namely True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, which is targeted by the effect of [Flame Swordsman], and then targeting one of my opponent's Effect Monsters."

Explaining the card's effect, Kaiba placed the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" card, which he had somehow retrieved from his deck, into the monster zone. "The monster I've chosen is naturally the 'Crimson King' outfit that you, mediocrity, are wearing. Under the effect of 'Soul of Inheritance,' the 'Crimson King' will be sent directly to the Graveyard. Then, I will Special Summon one Normal Monster of Level 7 or higher from my hand or Deck!"

"Come out, Wagha Tamashi!"

"Blue-Eyes-White-Dragon!"

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon] [ATK3000]

Looking at Kaiba protected by the white spirit dragon, Jonouchi frowned: "Tsk, I was actually tricked in this way. But Kaiba, your Blue-Eyes White Dragon only has 3000 attack power, it's no match for my Blazing Swordsman at all. You actually chose to destroy the Crimson King instead of the Blazing Swordsman?"

Unlike [Flame Dragon Fusion], [Flame Dragon - Flame Dragon] does not have the effect of replacing the destroyed equipment monster. Moreover, the effect of [Inherited Soul] is to send it to the graveyard instead of destroying it. If the monster that Kaiba just sent to the graveyard was [Flame Swordsman], even if it has 3500 ATK, it would not be able to effectively resist it, leaving Jonouchi with only [Red King] on the field.

"Hmph, compared to the [Extreme Flame Swordsman] who looks like a brute who only knows how to destroy, I don't want to give you, a mediocre person, another chance to use the effect of that [Crimson King] to destroy my [Blue Eyes]."

Kaiba was considering that while [Extreme Flame Swordsman] had higher attack power, its destruction effect had already been used, and Jonouchi himself had stated that it could only be used once per turn. However, [Crimson King]'s two destruction effects hadn't been used even once. Was keeping [Crimson King] around just to annoy Kaiba by having Jonouchi periodically destroy his cards during Kaiba's subsequent plays?

As for why Jonouchi didn't try to destroy Yugi's or Hayato's cards? Of course, it's because Jonouchi neither wanted to know what Yugi's mysterious face-down defense position monster was, nor did he want to know what new fusion monster Hayato could create with the remaining "Tears of Elegy Mermaid" on his field.

Especially since Hayato still has [Predatory Plant - Rhinoceros Horned Dragon] on his field. Right now, Yugi and Hayato are still observing the fight between Jonouchi and Kaiba, conserving their energy. But if Jonouchi attacks those two "yellow-named" "neutral NPCs," then the next moment, [Crimson King] or even [Extreme Flame Swordsman] might be placed with [Predator Targets] just like the previous [Fighting Flame Swordsman].

In that case, it would be better not to use any cards and just let Kaiba send "Crimson King" to the graveyard.

Although he successfully dodged the trap hidden by Jonouchi, Kaiba also lost one card from his hand, and the monster on the field was broken down from the original [True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], which could unleash a powerful three-hit combo, back into the normal monster [Blue-Eyes White Dragon].

"The Spell Card [Angel's Charity] is activated. Draw three cards from my deck and then discard two cards from my hand." Kaiba activated the card-drawing god card "Angel's Charity." He drew three cards from his deck and added them to his hand without even looking at them. Then, with a clear purpose, he discarded two cards from his hand and sent them to the graveyard. It seems that the graveyard was meant to be used to discard two cards from his hand from the very beginning.

And he did indeed achieve his goal. The moment the card was placed into the graveyard of the Duel Disk, two phantoms suddenly rose on Kaiba's field.

(This is the initial card art before the effects were cut down by the source code; it's not very high resolution, but it'll have to do with it.)

"When [Executioner - Moshura] is sent to the graveyard, the effects of both cards [Legendary White Stone] and [Executioner] take effect simultaneously." Looking at the jade-like white dragon egg in front of him, and the executioner covered in sharp blades with "Ugato's Eye" replacing his eyes, Kaiba revealed a smug sneer. "During the turn [Executioner - Moshura] is sent to the graveyard, I can activate a Trap Card directly from my hand."

"And the effect of [Legendary White Stone]: If this card is sent to the Graveyard, activate this effect to add one [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] from my Deck to my hand!"

A crack suddenly appeared on the surface of the jade-like "white stone" in front of the seahorse. Then, the entire jade stone shattered on its own without any external force, revealing that it was actually a dragon egg. A phantom of a white dragon flew towards the seahorse's raised hand and transformed into the second card, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".

"【Legendary White Stone】? I thought that was just a code name for your game pod. I didn't expect you to actually make related Duel Monster cards?" Jonouchi raised an eyebrow, watching Kaiba add 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 to his hand. "But looking at the previous 【Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon】, and even earlier there was the 【Bingo Machine GO! GO!】 which was shaped like the 【Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon】, it seems this isn't the first time you've made cards using something in the shape of a 【Blue-Eyes White Dragon】 that you made in real life."

"Idiot, the order is completely wrong. I didn't create the 'Legendary White Stone' card based on the 'Legendary White Stone' game pod. I used the 'Legendary White Stone' card to name the game pod codenamed 'Cocoon'—" He paused, then abruptly changed the subject, "Activate the effect of this monster in my hand, reveal this 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' that was just added to my hand, and then Special Summon it to my field."

"Hey, did you just let something slip? Don't pretend I haven't seen 'Detective Kirby'!" Jonouchi complained. "I thought only a bad student like me would copy other people's homework, but I didn't expect that you, Kaiba, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, would also plagiarize?"

"Hmph! I don't understand what you're talking about. 'Legendary White Stone' is the result of my own hard work, from its principles to its name. Besides, 'Legendary White Stone' is the final piece of the puzzle that will lead me to victory. You, who copied my 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon,' do you have the right to say such things!"

"The final piece of the puzzle for victory? [The Legendary White Stone]?" Jonouchi paused, then suddenly realized, "Wait a minute, you! Who plagiarized? (Inhales) Who are you calling a plagiarist?!"

Kaiba completely ignored the sounds coming from the castle and pulled out a card from his hand, saying, "Let the mediocre guys on the other side see who the real, genuine, and truly powerful evolved dragon is!"

"Come forth! [Blue-Eyes White Dragon]!"

Compared to the original Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the Blue-Eyes Sub-White Dragon, with its more slender body covered in glowing blue-green patterns and sharper angles, flapped its wings and slowly landed on Kaiba's field. It was noticeably more lively than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but just as it was about to get close to Kaiba, it found that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon was guarding it so tightly that it didn't leave it any space to get near Kaiba. Somewhat annoyed, it tapped the deck with the tip of its tail and grumbled in a huff.

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon] [8☆/Light]

[Dragon/Special Summon/Effect]

[3000/2500]

"While on the field or in the graveyard, the card name of [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] is treated as [Blue-Eyes White Dragon]. Then, at the cost of forfeiting its attack ability this turn, [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] can target one monster on your opponent's field and destroy it directly!"

"Destroy Burst Stream!"

Under the same effect as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack, the Blue-Eyes Sub-White Dragon unleashed a burst of dragon breath that swept towards the Blazing Swordsman. Although its attack power was inferior to its opponent's, the Blue-Eyes Sub-White Dragon was not just for show; it could easily destroy the Blazing Swordsman with its effects.

"I only regret that I can no longer fight for my master and bring victory to the enemy..."

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon's breath struck precisely at the Blazing Blademaster. Jonouchi's plan to use the doubled attack power effect to ambush Kaiba ultimately failed. The Blazing Blademaster left behind a literary last message that was completely out of character for Jonouchi, and was destroyed along with the Flying Flame Dragon - Flying Dragon Flame wrapped around his sword, and sent to the graveyard.

however--

"Clang!"

At the very moment the [Swordsman of Extreme Flame] was destroyed, the sound of a sharp blade being drawn rang out. The red flames left behind where the [Swordsman of Extreme Flame] had stepped suddenly rose up and turned blue, and a pair of jet-black swords pierced out from them, cutting through the vortex of flames.

Soldiers covered in blue flames and clad in golden armor appeared on the field inside the city.

"Hmph, cards that activate their effects after being destroyed aren't exclusive to Kaiba. Thanks to your previous 'Heavenly Treasure Card,' I managed to draw this card as well." Jonouchi waved the monster card in his hand and placed it horizontally on the Duel Disk. "'Phantom Swordsman,' this card can only be activated if it's in my hand or Graveyard, or if a face-up FIRE Fusion Monster on my field is destroyed by battle or card effect!"

"Special Summon it to my field!"

【Phantom Swordsman】【8☆/Flame】

[Warrior Race/Effect]

[2800/2000]

Hayato and Yugi didn't seem to mind, not only because they were the card's designers and creators and were familiar with the Phantom Swordsman, modeled after the original "King of One-on-One Battles," but also because his appearance was entirely expected. After all, if Jonouchi were so easily defeated by Kaiba, how could he possibly be one of the world's top five strongest players?

However, the seahorse was furious when it saw this.

"It can be Special Summoned from the hand or Graveyard, and the condition for activating this effect is that a monster on the field is destroyed by battle or card effect? ​​This is clearly plagiarism of [Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon]!" Kaiba looked at Hayato angrily. "Even Keihei didn't know about [Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon]. Before today, besides me, only Kobayashi Hayato knew about the effect of [Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon]!"

"You actually made such a counterfeit card that copied my work for a mediocre person!?"

"Hey, Blue-Eyes Knight, calm down. So you really think Blue-Eyes is the origin of everything? Why don't you say that the 3000-point attack power 'treasure' also copied your Blue-Eyes?" Hayato refused to take the blame and immediately distanced himself, saying, "The 'Flame Swordsman' series of enhancement cards were given to Jonouchi by me and Yugi before his honeymoon began. Isn't that earlier than when you came to show off your new cards to me with your 'Kaiba Man' alt account wearing a suit?"

"If I had to say, Seth, you're the real challenger... your Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon is a rip-off of the Phantom Swordsman."

"Hmph, enough of that boring nonsense. Blue-Eyes will prove she's the real powerhouse, far superior to those mediocre monsters with less than 3000 attack power." While others judge monsters as weak based on 1500 attack power, Kaiba goes and considers all monsters with less than 3000 attack power as weak. "I discard this Swamp Demon King from my hand to activate its effect, adding one Fusion to my hand from my deck."

Without a second thought, Kaiba crushed the "Swamp Demon King" card in his hand, watching it reconstruct into a "Fusion" spell card. He then stylishly tossed it down and inserted it into his Duel Disk. "Now, Fusion Spell Card activated! Using the three 'Blue-Eyes' elements on my field—'Blue-Eyes White Dragon', 'Blue-Eyes Sub-White Dragon'—and the 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' in my hand, I Fusion Summon Ultimate Dragon!"

"Don't let fear make you forget to breathe, don't let despair suffocate you! I'll let you witness the strongest and most ultimate dragon in history! Transcend the boundaries of time and space, descend! Wagatsumashi!"

"Fusion Summon! Level MAX!!"

"Blue-Eyes-Ultimate-Dragon!!!"

Under the power of fusion, the three bodies [Blue Eyes] were drawn together and merged into their primordial and ultimate forms!

Three pairs of blue eyes opened, and powerful claws trembled like an earthquake as they stomped on the deck. Their wide wings spread as if to blot out the sky.

The Level 12 ☆ Ultimate Fusion Monster—Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon—makes its grand debut!

Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon [ATK4500]

Chapter 1282 Do you like the Blue-Eyes with 9000 attack power that won't be targeted or affected by effects?

"Blue-Eyes-Ultimate-Dragon!!!"

Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon [12☆/Light]

[Dragon/Fusion]

[4500/3800]

Its fierce aura and oppressive body almost make people forget that Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is just a blank monster with no effects, and can only be remembered for its highest level of 12☆, which is the pinnacle of Duel Monsters.