Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

After placing the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon card on the Duel Disk, Kaiba specifically went to check on Hayato. Although Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is already the ultimate fusion form of Blue-Eyes, it is not the end of evolution; it can also transform into the even stronger Blue-Eyes Light Dragon.

However, Kaiba did not have the card "Blue-Eyes Light Dragon" in his hand. Of course, it was not because he had a bad hand. After all, a true duelist can decide what cards he will draw. In fact, even if he had "Blue-Eyes Light Dragon" in his hand, he would not summon it.

One of the reasons is Hayato Kobayashi. He has rotated a lot of cards in his hand over the past few turns, and Kaiba is unsure if he has that troublesome [Primal Life Form - Nibiru] in his hand. You know, he has already summoned or special summoned four times this turn.

[True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], [Blue-Eyes Sub-White Dragon], and now [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], a total of four monsters have been Special Summoned. They are only one monster away from fulfilling the activation condition of [Primal Life Form - Nibiru], which is "the opponent summons or Special Summons five or more monsters". If I summon [Blue-Eyes Light Dragon], I can fill the gap of this last monster.

Once [Primal Life Form - Nibiru] falls, even the [Blue-Eyes Light Dragon], which can resist all external effects, cannot resist the power of "liberation". After all, she has an effect that can only be activated by "liberating" herself, and it is impossible for her to have the extremely rare liberation resistance of "cannot be liberated".

At that time, not only will Jonouchi and Kaiba be fighting, but even the monsters on Yugi and Hayato's field will be liberated and sent to the graveyard by the [Primal Lifeform - Nibiru] that descends like Axis. The ominous star they have attracted by their overexertion will only leave behind a [Primal Lifeform Specimen] on the field, whose display form is determined by Hayato.

That's not the outcome Kaiba wants to see. Even if he could take advantage of the situation to defeat Jonouchi, if it was with Hayato's help, wouldn't it make it seem like he needed Hayato's help to defeat Jonouchi? That wouldn't only fail to make Jonouchi admit defeat, but it would also be an insult to himself and the Blue Eyes!

The second reason is that, in his design, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was actually the best choice. He also had a hidden trump card called Blue-Eyes Ultimate Sub-Dragon, which was a derivative of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and thus the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was a derivative of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

(Although it was drawn by Takahashi-sensei, it's really ugly and I can't appreciate it. It's like the two-headed thunder dragon in the thunder dragon deck.)

However, she is not the best choice. Although her second effect can evolve from "Once per turn, destroy one card on your opponent's field" to destroy two or even three cards when Blue-Eyes White Dragon is used as one of the fusion materials, the increase in quantity is meaningless because this effect comes at the cost of giving up an attack, just like the effect of Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Do I need cards that destroy Jonouchi? No! What I want is complete victory, a complete defeat for Jonouchi. For this, only Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is the only choice, even more suitable than the Chaos Form Ritual Monsters of Blue-Eyes.

Because I still have this card in my hand!

"Under the influence of [Soul of Inheritance], I can only use one monster to attack this turn. In other words, [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]'s attack must be powerful enough to decide the outcome in one hit. However, even with her attack power of 4500, it is quite difficult for her to destroy the monsters on your field and deal enough battle damage to wipe out your life points in one hit."

As Kaiba spoke, he inserted the card in his hand into the Duel Disk, saying, "My Life Points are the lowest in the entire arena right now, but that's precisely what allows this card in my hand to exert its full power! Watch closely, the immense power of this ultimate dragon that can shake the heavens and the earth!"

"Equip the Spell Card [Gigantify]! Equip it to [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]. Because my Life Points are lower than my opponent's, the [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] gains the power of [Gigantify] and its ATK will double!"

Sometimes, the simplest cards can have the most terrifying power. Take, for example, the early Duel Monster Equip Spell Card [Gigantify] that Kaiba just played. It doesn't have any fancy effects like "when destroyed by a card effect, check your opponent's hand and discard one" or "when destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, return yourself to your hand." It's just a simple ability where the equipped monster's ATK doubles when your Life Points are high, and halves when your Life Points are low.

For regular monsters, the effect of the [Gigantify] equipment is just so-so; doubling attack power isn't even as useful as "using the automatically generated magic counters during battle instead of destruction." However, when the [Gigantify] equipment is given to the [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], which already has a terrifying 4500 attack power, and Kaiba's base stats are at an extremely low 300—

The already imposing Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon suddenly swelled, taking up more than half of the empty space on the deck. No matter how sacred and pure its body was, when its size reached a certain point, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon ultimately only evoked fear, with an extreme sense of oppression constantly emanating from it.

As its size changes, the attack power of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon naturally increases as well!

[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] [ATK4500→9000]

Previously, the effect of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] Special Summoned [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] doubled its ATK and even surpassed the 4500 ATK of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]. However, this [Gigantify] card has now caused the maximum ATK of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] to surpass it again.

Just like the virtual projection system used on the Duel Disk would overload in early versions due to monsters' high attack power or special abilities, when Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack power broke through 9000 points, the virtual world "Duel-Links" also experienced a momentary lag, but eventually managed to adjust itself and restore balance.

The Phantom Swordsman that Jonouchi brought to the field through its own effect might be a deliberate deception by Jonouchi, who might be trying to lure Kaiba into attacking by using his backrow face-down card. In any case, the Phantom Swordsman is currently in attack position on Jonouchi's field.

However, its 2800 attack power might have been acceptable in the past, but now it is simply not enough in the face of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with an attack power of 9000.

But regardless of whether the situation is the former or the latter, the seahorse has no intention of hesitating. The only choice he will make is to attack; the words "looking back" or "hesitation" are not in his dictionary. The scenery in his eyes exists only ahead.

Looking at the last card remaining in his hand, Kaiba didn't rush to play it before the battle phase like Jonouchi did. After all, he could activate Quick-Play Spell Cards from his hand even during the battle phase. Revealing his trump card too early would only make him easily blocked like Jonouchi. Kaiba didn't think he was as mediocre as Jonouchi.

"And so, I enter the battle phase, using [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] to attack [Phantom Swordsman]. Let me be swallowed up by the attack of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]!"

"Hyper-Burst-Stream!"

"Just like that, you attacked?" Jonouchi was stunned for a moment, glanced at the two face-down cards on his back field, then looked at the cards in Kaiba's hand, and said with a smug look, "You attacked without clearing out other people's face-down cards? Although it's not the right time for my face-down cards to be activated right now, Kaiba, have you lost even the most basic composure because you're so eager to win?"

"You still have the mind to care about trivial things? Mediocre is indeed mediocre. Or is it because you can't win against the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon even if you fight with all your might that you can't win, so you can't fight? What a disgrace!" Kaiba glanced coldly at Jonouchi. His intuition as a duelist told him that Jonouchi's face-down cards in the back row were no threat at all, and Jonouchi had not opened any face-down cards until the damage step began after the attack declaration ended.

"Stop slandering me, you bastard. I have no reason to be afraid of your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon." Jonouchi raised an eyebrow and said unhappily, "What surprises me most is that your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon attacked so recklessly, because that's exactly what I wanted!"

"【Phantom Swordsman】is not just for show. Besides the effects of his special summon, he also possesses a near-invincible ability in combat, similar to his original form, which is—"

Pointing at the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon that was about to unleash its breath, Jonouchi said smugly, "—At the start of the damage calculation step when the Phantom Swordsman battles an opponent's monster, destroy both the opponent's monster and this card. This effect doesn't even target!"

"Be crushed to pieces, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Amidst the smug smile on Jonouchi's face, the Phantom Swordsman manipulated the azure flames, causing them to detach from his body, materialize in mid-air, and rapidly grow larger. In the blink of an eye, the flames actually recreated another form of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and also breathed a dragon's breath at the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, which was wide open in the air.

"I'll use the same move as that arrogant guy Kaiba to retaliate and defeat his monster. From now on, I'll call this move 'Counter-Demon Kill'."

However, the dragon's smugness lasted only a few seconds. The next moment, three pairs of blue eyes suddenly opened in the smoke and dust. The dragon raised its head and stretched its head out of the smoke and dust to breathe fresh air. Its body was unharmed and re-emerged in the smoke and dust torn apart by the gale whipped up by its wings.

"Did you really think that Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was just a useless ordinary monster as the card says, Katsuya Jonouchi? Hmph, my puzzle to victory is much more perfect than you think. Speaking of which, you should still remember this card."

Amidst Jonouchi's confusion, Kaiba reached out and pinched something out of thin air, selecting a card that had previously been in his graveyard. He then flipped it over and showed it to Jonouchi and the others, saying, "The 'True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon' that you tried to destroy might have been a problem if it had been returned to the deck by 'Fusion Deactivation,' but I sent it to the graveyard with the effect of 'Inherited Soul' after it was properly summoned."

"When [True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] is in the Graveyard and I have [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] on my field, my [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] gains resistance that is not present in the card's effect—it will not be targeted by the effects of my opponent's Spell, Trap, or Monster, nor will it be affected by the effects of my opponent's effects!"

Holy crap, it's all-resistant to Ultimate Dragonite!

Even Hayato couldn't help but glance at the gigantic Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon after hearing Kaiba's words. Although even an all-resistant monster would only be destined to be fodder if it didn't have resistance to release or block other monsters' releases and special summons, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was simply terrifying and unstoppable if it wasn't aiming to stay on the field but just to physically destroy all enemies with one punch.

Do you like a Blue-Eyes with 9000 attack power that won't be targeted or affected by effects and has all resistances?

"That resistance is way too overpowered!" Jonouchi said, frowning. "Fortunately, the effect of [Phantom Swordsman] activates at the start of the damage step."

"If I activate it during the attack declaration before the damage step, [Phantom Swordsman] will just be like getting [Explosive Armor] which will never work, destroying nothing and allowing Kaiba's [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] to trigger Battle Rewind and select an attack target again. If I activate it after the damage step, it will just deplete my life points."

"But now, since the effect is activated during the damage calculation step, the battle rollback rule won't be triggered even if the target disappears. At least the attack of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] was successfully blocked by [Phantom Swordsman]. Kaiba can't use cards like [Fusion Deactivation] to turn [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] back into [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] to attack again."

Jonouchi spoke confidently, but then he saw Kaiba coldly play a card and deliberately show it to him. The familiar card image stunned Jonouchi, because he had just used the same card not long ago.

Chapter 1283 Seahorse: I got up, killed in one bite, what's there to say?

"The Quick-Play Spell Card 'Dragon's Might' can be activated by targeting a Dragon-Type monster that I Special Summon this turn. During this turn, that monster can make an additional attack during the same Battle Phase, in addition to its original Normal Attack, up to the number of monsters Special Summoned by your opponent this turn."

After a pause, Kaiba's lips curled into a disdainful smile. "As you can see, I am indeed very clear about the effect of the card [Dragon's Fighting Spirit], Katsuya Jonouchi."

Kaiba's words were undoubtedly a response to Jonouchi's earlier provocative remark when Jonouchi used "Dragon's Might," which was, "Even if Jonouchi doesn't explain, Kaiba should be quite clear about the effects of 'Dragon's Might.'"

The card that Kaiba played at this moment was the same card that Jonouchi played in the previous turn. However, compared to Jonouchi simply taking advantage of the opportunity to pull a card from the virtual world "Duel-Links" card library and add it to his deck, it was much more legitimate for Kaiba to use "Dragon's Might," whose monster on the card is "Blue Eyes."

"Because Jonouchi used the effect of [Phantom Swordsman] to Special Summon himself this turn, under the effect of [Dragon's Might], Kaiba's [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] wasted its first attack, but can still launch another attack on Jonouchi?!" Yugi exclaimed in surprise, "So strong, so incredibly strong!"

"Although Jonouchi still has 5100 Life Points remaining, which is still the highest in the game, his Life Points are almost as weak as a candle in the wind in front of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with 9000 Attack Power!"

As soon as Yugi spoke, Kaiba suddenly felt like his Duel Disk was bubbling with milk. Suddenly, he lost confidence in his ability to defeat Jonouchi. Somewhat annoyed, he glared at Yugi, who tilted his head in confusion.

"While the 9000 ATK Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is indeed quite powerful, what's even more deadly is that it also has the resistance to be targeted by any of the opponent's effects and to be unaffected by the opponent's effects because of the True Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in Kaiba's graveyard. Unless Jonouchi's face-down card has the effect of banishing cards from the opponent's graveyard, it's practically a flying dragon riding right in front of you."

Hayato glanced at the two face-down cards on Jonouchi's back row. "My intuition as a duelist tells me that Jonouchi's face-down cards in the back row don't really have that effect. Jonouchi was bound to lose no matter what, and I can't even imagine what cards he could come up with to turn the tide."

"But with two flags already thrown in the game, I suddenly have a lot of confidence in Jonouchi." As he spoke, Hayato waved towards Jonouchi and said, "You have to win, Jonouchi, as a human!"

"I said, I'm human, okay?" Jonouchi retorted, looking at the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on Kaiba Stadium. Fueled by Dragon's Will, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was engulfed in blue flames of fighting spirit, still possessing the strength to continue its attack.

Taking a deep breath, he assumed a ready stance and shouted at the seahorse, "Then, bring it on, seahorse!"

"Hmph! Still being arrogant even now, Jonouchi Katsuya, you second-rate duelist with a third-rate deck!" Kaiba sneered and waved his hand, "Continue my battle phase and attack Jonouchi Katsuya directly, [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]!"

"Destroy Burst Stream...two hits in a row!"

Under Kaiba's command, the three heads of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon opened their mouths simultaneously. In the white light, the dragon's breath was instantly charged and transformed into three torrents of light that surged toward the empty field inside the castle, as if to engulf him entirely!

Faced with such an offensive, Jonouchi, after pressing the button to activate the face-down card, thought to himself that next time he used the game pod, he must read the settings carefully to avoid foolishly using cards in manual mode again. Then, he raised his hand above his head and slammed it heavily onto the deck: "Chain attack declaration of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]! I'm going to activate the face-down card in my back row—"

"Knowing that Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is unaffected by your opponent's effects, and may not even be the target of your card's effects, isn't it incredibly foolish to use a Trap Card against it, Katsuya Jonouchi?"

Hearing Kaiba's words, Jonouchi returned a confident smile: "Hmph, I never said that the face-down card I opened was aimed at your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Kaiba."

"The face-down card I activated is [Red-Eyes Soul]. Under its effect, I Special Summon one [Red-Eyes] monster from my Graveyard!"

"And the monster I want to Special Summon is this one—the Red-Eyes Black Dragon that was defeated by your Blue-Eyes White Dragon during my turn!"

Before Jonouchi, jet-black flames erupted and transformed into a pillar of fire. The black and red [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] appeared on Jonouchi's field for the second time. Combined with Jonouchi's action of slamming the floor when activating a face-down card, Kaiba still had reason to suspect that Jonouchi's thing was copied from him. Even though it was in a defensive stance with its wings folded and in Defense Position, [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] still looked quite cool.

However, what's rather subtle is that, just like last time when it was Special Summoned by the effect of [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon], this time [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was not Special Summoned by its own effect.

【True Red-Eyes Black Dragon】【DEF2000】

"Given the attack power of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], I Special Summon [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] in Defense Position, thus triggering the Battle Rewind rule. So, Kaiba, are you still going to attack?" Jonouchi taunted Kaiba as he took the card [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] from the Graveyard and placed it horizontally on the Duel Disk.

"Hmph, you know perfectly well what I'm asking." With a wave of his hand, Kaiba ordered Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to continue its attack. The beam of light changed direction and destroyed Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which had only been on the field for a few seconds, sending it to the graveyard. Because it was in defense position, Jonouchi still did not suffer any damage, and its base score remained at 5100 points at the start of the turn.

"Pretty capable, Kaiba. But you haven't forgotten the effect of my [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], have you?" Jonouchi sent the destroyed [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] card back to the graveyard. Just like last time, [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was just a stepping stone. The monster he really wanted to Special Summon was something else entirely.

"It's just the ability to Special Summon a Level 7 or lower Red-Eyes monster from the Graveyard, excluding itself, if destroyed by battle or an opponent's effect. Its ATK is only doubled when Special Summoning that Level 7 Mortal Monster, Red-Eyes Black Dragon," Kaiba said dismissively. "Nothing special."

"Do you really think that doubling the attack power of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] will defeat my [Blue-Eyes]? If it were just the power of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], there might be a possibility of being defeated due to pride and carelessness, but that situation is impossible for me. Even if your [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] doubles its attack power, my [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] is also in a state of doubled attack power under the [Gigantification] buff!"

"Furthermore, the special summons of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] and [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], combined with the buff from [Dragon's Fighting Spirit], grant [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] two more opportunities to attack. Even after defeating your [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], my [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] can still launch a direct attack on you once more!"

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

Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (Gigantic Form) [ATK9000]

【Jounouchi Katsuya: 5100LP, 6 cards in hand】

Special Summoned to the field by Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared bathed in flames. Before even taking in its surroundings, it seemed to be enraged, exhaling a breath of black flame as it scanned its surroundings as if demanding, "Where are the people who bullied my sister?" In its mind, its attack power had once again doubled, and even its old rival, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, was now beneath its feet. Wouldn't it be able to sweep away everything upon its arrival?

There's nothing to be afraid of anymore!

However, when she realized that she was facing the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, which also had the buff of doubled attack power, her mouth dropped open in disbelief.

I fought Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon...!? Huh...really?!

But seeing Jonouchi nod, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon suppressed its nagging thoughts of retreat and glared fiercely at the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Although it knew it would undoubtedly lose, it couldn't afford to be afraid and run away; Jonouchi was there to protect it!

"Huh? Instead of being afraid, it's preparing to fight right into the eyes of [Blue-Eyes]? Couldn't it have been Special Summoned with the effect of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] and put [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] in Defense Position?" Kaiba looked at Jonouchi's [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] on the field, which was not in Defense Position and cowering in defense, but instead unusually in Attack Position, ready to meet the attack of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], and couldn't help but smile with interest. Although he quickly suppressed his smile, at least Hayato, who was right next to him, could see it clearly.

“Staying on the defensive isn’t my style. I told you I’d show Kaiba what I’m capable of, right?” Jonouchi glanced at the face-down card that had briefly entered its activation state, then looked back at the field, staring directly into Kaiba’s blue eyes. “So I’m going to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon again, and then I’ll make you, Kaiba, suffer defeat!”

"How dare you talk like that, you mediocre fool!" Hearing Jonouchi still boasting that he would defeat him, Kaiba's face, which had just recovered from a smile, instantly darkened again. "Your reliance... is it the cards in your hand? You think you can defeat me, who has the invincible [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], with just the cards in your hand?"

"No, although I drew a total of six cards from your [Heavenly Treasure] just like Hayato and Yugi, it's a pity that I didn't draw any cards that can be used right now."

Looking at his hand, he saw the classic combination of "Angel's Dice" and "Demon's Dice," the "Time Magician" gifted to him by the game and still frequently used by him, the "Dragon's Mirror" given to him by Hayato, the "Harpie's Feather Duster" given to him by Mai, and the "Barbarian Number Two" that was just there for fun. None of the six cards could be played in the second turn, which made Jonouchi once again convinced that luck was indeed an illusory thing. His card draw was obviously very unlucky. Fortunately, he had never believed in good luck.

"The most crucial card to achieving my goal is already on my field. Even if [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] hadn't appeared, I still had opportunities to achieve my goal." Without any attempt to hide his intentions, Jonouchi pointed directly to his face-down card in the back row. "Kaiba, now it's my turn to ask you. With [Dragon's Fighting Spirit] empowering [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon], do you have the courage to continue attacking, to attack this [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] in attack position on my field?"

"My path to victory lies within this!"

Kaiba glanced at Jonouchi's face-down cards, knowing that Jonouchi would never pin his hopes on a trap card like "Explosive Armor" when he knew all the resistances of "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". He had a vague guess in his mind, and glanced at the graveyard where the destroyed "Red-Eyes Dark Dragon" that had made Jonouchi's face-down card light up for a moment earlier was located.

He wasn't just looking at [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], but also at another card he had used before in Jonouchi's graveyard.

"You want to carve out a path to surpass me with your pickaxe? I have no interest in waiting for a mediocre person like you for over a decade. As for courage? Do you think you're the only one with fighting spirit, Jonouchi!" Kaiba waved his hand, finally issuing the order to attack, "Attack [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]!"

"The last... annihilation Burst Stream!"

Red-Eyes and Blue-Eyes, Jonouchi and Kaiba stared into each other's eyes. As Kaiba gave the attack command, Jonouchi shouted at the same time, "We absolutely cannot lose in terms of momentum! Red-Eyes, lend me your power!"

"The final... Black Flame Bullet!"

The duelists simultaneously pointed their fingers at each other, while the dragons opened their mouths and exhaled their dragon breath in unison. The forces of light and darkness, black and white, clashed together. The two monsters, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon with an attack power of 4800 and the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with an attack power of 9000, both awakened their spirits and attacked with all their might under the command of the duelists, once again challenging the limits of this virtual world.