Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

[Captain charging into battle] → [Inner side defensive stance]

As the "Charging Captain" was set, the attack lock that had been on the field of "King of Swords - Gia Freed" was also lifted. Now, as long as Jonouchi defeats the remaining "Charging Captain", he can use the monsters on his field to attack the other monsters on the opponent's field at will.

Therefore, Jonouchi decisively announced that the battle phase would begin at this moment: "My main phase ends here, and then the battle phase begins. First, I will use [Demon Dragon - Dark Demon Dragon] to attack the opponent's [Charge Captain] in defense position on the field!"

With an attack power of 3200, the [Demon Dragon - Dark Demon Dragon] raised its strong arms, the flames burning on its body were grabbed from its shoulders and held in its palms, its hands were folded and then it was pushed out with a bang, and a huge fireball was shot towards the only remaining [Charging Captain] who was indicated by its appearance on the side!

"Black Demon Lightning Flame Bullet!"

As [Dark Dragon] attacked, blue and white electricity spread around him. Relying on the interference of these electricitys, which were not very strong but had excellent interference effects, [Sword King War - Frode] had only one face-down card left in his back row, but he was completely unable to respond to [Dark Dragon]'s attack and activate his skill!

"Oh!"

With a defense rating of only 400, the "Charging Captain" was completely unable to withstand the "Dark Demon Dragon," which had an attack power surpassing that of the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon." The "Dark Demon Dragon" was instantly shattered in a burst of fire. However, because it was in a defense position, the "Sword King War - Frode" did not suffer any damage.

However, within the castle, there are still two monsters on the field that haven't attacked yet: [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] and [Red-Eyes Black Steel Dragon], with attack power of 3500 and 3800 respectively. They are eyeing [Sword King Battle - Frode], whose highest attack power is only 3000, [Godly Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed], and other monsters on the field!

"Next up is the attack of [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon], targeting [Godly Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed] in attack position." Jonouchi pointed to [Sword King Battle - Frode], the monster with the highest ATK on the field. "It took the blame from [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] before; now it's time for reckoning!"

"Meteorite Wings!"

【Kia Freed the Phoenix Sword Saint】has a powerful effect that allows him to equip a face-up monster on the field as an Equip Card that increases its ATK by 500 at the start of its Damage Step. It is because of this ability that Jonouchi had a 【Red-Eyes Black Dragon】 stolen from him.

However, this effect will not be triggered when it is attacked, so the attack power of [Divine Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Fried] is still 3000 points, which is not a match for the attack power of [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] which is 3500 points.

[Sword King Battle - Frode] glanced at the monsters on his field, made up his mind, and drew his sword again, saying, "No, this is the end. I will never let you continue to do as you please!"

"Chain your attack declaration, activate the effect of [Sword King War - Frode], which is also my own effect. You can Tribute any number of [King War] monsters or Warrior monsters on my field, then target that number of monsters on the field and destroy them. After that, your opponent can draw cards from their Deck equal to the number of monsters destroyed on their field. This effect can also be activated during your opponent's turn!"

Upon hearing this, Jonouchi glanced at the monsters on the field of [Sword King Battle - Frode]. He still had four monsters on his field, including [Captain of the Charge] which had been set down: "However, [Red-Eyes Black Steel Dragon] equipped with [Metallization - Enhanced Reflective Armor] will not be targeted by the effects of the opponent's Spell/Monsters, nor will it be destroyed by the effects of Spell/Monsters."

"Of course I know that, so all I intend to destroy are your [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] that's about to attack, and that [Demon Dragon - Dark Demon Dragon]." [Sword King Battle - Frode] didn't expect to destroy all the monsters on the field in the castle at once; destroying the [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] that was about to attack and the [Demon Dragon - Dark Demon Dragon] that had already attacked was enough.

Destroying the former needs no explanation, but the reason for destroying the latter is because [Sword King War - Frode] had already experienced the effect of [Demon Dragon - Dark Dragon]. In addition to blocking the activation of spell, trap, and monster effects during battle, [Demon Dragon - Dark Dragon] can also inflict damage equal to the ATK of one [Red-Eyes] Normal Monster in the opponent's Duelist Graveyard at the end of the Battle Phase.

Although the effect of [Rong'er's Magic Circle] ensures that [Sword King Battle - Frode] will not suffer effect damage this turn, if [Sword King Battle - Frode] wants to defeat Jonouchi, it will still have to face [Demon Dragon - Dark Dragon] next turn. In that case, it is better to destroy it now.

"The monster I am about to unleash is my face-down Defense Position monster, [Charge Captain]... and myself!" [Sword King Battle - Frode] said solemnly. "This is... a necessary sacrifice."

"This is... a sacred sacrifice!"

Holding the Sword of Victory high, [Sword King War - Frode] unhesitatingly released the two monsters, including himself, in exchange for two streams of light that flew into the Sword of Victory. The golden, sun-like holy sword emitted an unparalleled dazzling light.

Upon seeing this, Jonouchi remained silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Katsuya Jōneki,” he said.

"【Sword King Battle - Frode】." Without needing to ask, 【Sword King Battle - Frode】 understood that Jonouchi was introducing himself and had also given his name, even though Jonouchi already knew his name when 【Sword King Battle - Frode】 summoned him earlier.

Jonouchi exclaimed sincerely, "What a dazzling light! [Sword King Battle - Frode] . I suddenly feel a little regretful that I can't fight such an excellent duelist as you in reality."

"Don't talk like you've already defeated me. I haven't lost yet." [Sword King Battle - Frode] raised his sword high above his head. "Well then, let's go, Jonouchi Katsuya!"

"Oath...Sword of Victory (Ex...calibur)!"

He swung his sword down, and the long-awaited brilliance transformed into a storm of light that spread outwards. Jōnei laughed and shouted, "Yes, come on, [Sword King Battle - Fröde]!"

A torrent of light swept across the field, simultaneously destroying the two fusion monsters, [Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon] and [Demon Dragon - Dark Demon Dragon], and sending them to the graveyard. In return, the Sword of Victory in the hand of [Sword King Battle - Frode] temporarily lost its light, and he himself, weak, knelt on one knee, leaving the field and returning to the duelist's position. The [Charging Captain] card that had been placed face down on the field also disappeared.

With this, only two monsters remained on the field in "Sword King War - Frode": "Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed" and "Divine Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed". Jonouchi's field, which originally had three monsters, also became reduced to only two after two were destroyed...

Ok?

[Sword King Battle - Frode] looked curiously at the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] that had suddenly appeared on the field: "What is that?!"

"【Meteor Dragon - Meteorite Black Dragon】If a monster is sent from the Monster Zone to the Graveyard, you can target one Normal Monster in my Graveyard to activate this effect and Special Summon that monster to my field. And the one I want to Special Summon is the 【Red-Eyes Black Dragon】that I took back from you."

【True Red-Eyes Black Dragon】【ATK2400】

Jonouchi said smugly, "Although other monsters can help retaliate, if we really want to vent our anger and frustration, it's better to let [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] fight back herself, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, [Sword King War - Frode] laughed: "Even if you clearly have [Red-Eyes Thunder Emperor - Evil Demon] in your graveyard, which has even higher attack power?"

"Sodayo!"

Jonouchi nodded and drew two more digital cards from his deck. "But in the end, you still destroyed two of my monsters, so I can draw two cards from my deck."

"Then, continue the battle and use [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] to attack [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed]!"

"Attack power 2400 points, against 2800 points?" [Sword King War - Frode] was somewhat surprised. "Are you sending your monster to its death?"

"Of course not, because I still need to use the card you just gave me." Jonouchi waved a semi-transparent card in his hand, flipping it over to reveal the card image. "Chain attack declaration, I activate this Quick-Play Spell Card, [Angel's Dice]."

"Roll a die, and then increase the attack and defense of my monsters by 100 points based on the number rolled until the end of the turn!"

"Jonouchi, is he using gambling cards again?" Kyoko looked at the card that appeared on the field with some surprise. "And why now of all times? To effectively increase his attack power, he needs to roll at least a 4, right?"

"No, my goal is only five points!" Jonouchi glanced back, and he smiled as he looked at Mai. "It has nothing to do with the goddess of fate or my good luck, it's simply because I want to, and therefore I can do it."

"Because true duelists can even decide the future of the points they roll!"

"Are duelists some kind of all-powerful thing?!"

Amidst Kyoko's complaints, Jonouchi rolled a die in front of him, the number changing before finally settling on a five!

[Sword King Battle - Frode] was completely stunned, his expression beneath the helmet blank. Although he had used Jonouchi's data, Jonouchi's incredible luck was something data couldn't simulate. He looked at Jonouchi as if questioning him about who this gambling king was, able to dictate the exact time!?

"Alright, all my monsters will gain 500 points in attack and defense!" Jonouchi waved his hand. "Defeat [Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed], [Red-Eyes Black Dragon]!"

"Black Flame Bullet!"

[True Red-Eyes Black Dragon] [ATK2400→2900]

[True Red-Eyes Black Steel Dragon] [ATK3800→4300]

【Phoenix Sword Saint - Kia Freed】【ATK2800】

Black flames shot out, instantly engulfing the Flame Swordsman, with the excess flames also turning into actual damage that landed on [Sword King Battle - Frode].

[Sword King Battle - Frode: 2000→1900LP]

With a wave of his hand, he shook off the black flames clinging to his body. [Sword King Battle - Frode], still full of fighting spirit, looked at Jonouchi and asked, "Can you do it?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Jonouchi could tell what the other person was asking him, so he showed a card in his hand, "The 4300-point attack power of the [Red-Eyes Black Steel Dragon] can deal 1300 damage to the 3000-point attack power of the [Godly Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed]. You are only 600 points away from clearing your life points."

"In that case, let's add this card. Target the [Divine Phoenix Sword Saint - Gia Freed] on your opponent's field, activate this Quick-Play Spell Card [Forbidden Cloth], reduce the targeted monster's ATK by 600 until the end of the turn, and grant it resistance to being targeted by effects and destroyed by effects!"

"And then, the final blow!"

The metallic black dragon once again unleashed a torrent of flames.

"Although I failed to guard this gate to the former Asgard, it was truly a dereliction of duty..." Looking at the falling black flames, [Sword King War - Frode] straightened his spine, preparing to meet the impact, and murmured.

"But it was truly a thrilling duel—"

[Sword King Battle - Frode: 1900LP → 0]

Chapter 1372 What?! The intelligence was fake?!

The sword of victory fell from the hand of [Sword King War - Frode] and was stuck in the ground.

Kneeling on one knee, [Sword King Battle - Frode] gasped for breath. Although he had lost due to his basic score dropping to zero, he did not fall down, but was in a state of exhaustion from having all his strength depleted.

"Although I lost the battle, I have not disappeared?" [Sword King War - Frode] looked at his palm. "It has been so long since I have suffered a defeat that I had forgotten that I, who wield the Sword of Victory, cannot die from defeat."

"But it's truly ironic that the power of the Sword of Victory is used to deal with defeat." Noticing the unprecedented dimming of the light on his sword, [Sword King War - Frode] chuckled self-deprecatingly.

It sounds a bit fantastical, doesn't it? But in reality, it's just that Kaiba added a mechanism to lock the health of the equipment held by [Sword King War - Frode]. After all, [Sword King War - Frode] is special compared to other one-time boss-type NPCs that can be defeated.

What makes him special is his other identity besides [Wang Zhan].

“You have defeated me, Jonouchi.” Leaning on his sword, [Sword King Battle - Frode] looked at Jonouchi and the others. “And according to the rules of this world, as the defeated one, I must open the door to the next world for you, the victor.”

"Open the door..." Upon hearing this, Jonouchi suddenly recalled unpleasant memories and frowned, saying, "We shouldn't have to play the riddle game of one person lying and the other not lying to guess which door is the real one, right?"

"No one would have such a twisted sense of humor as the Labyrinth Brothers. You're overthinking it, Jonouchi." Kyoko, who had also experienced Duel Kingdom, knew what Jonouchi was referring to and retorted.

While Mai Kongjaku had also participated in Duel Kingdom, unlike Yugi, who defeated Kaiba and was then targeted by Pegasus, she hadn't encountered an ambush set up by the Labyrinth Brothers: "Labyrinth Brothers? What happened to them?"

"They used to set up a really troublesome maze to trap us back in Duel Kingdom. Even if we beat them, we still had to solve a riddle there to choose which of the two doors was real," Yugi recalled with a somewhat helpless smile.

Rebecca shrugged: "But there's only one door at the end here, so there's no point in guessing whether it's real or fake—"

As they were talking, [Sword King War - Frode] walked up the steps to the door at the end of the palace. Just when everyone thought he was going to cast a spell on the rather luxurious-looking door to remove the seal hidden on it, [Sword King War - Frode] pushed the door open, revealing an empty space.

Behind that door, there was no seal; it could be opened with a simple push. Moreover, it wasn't a portal to Asgard; there was nothing behind it at all—just a vast blue sky. If someone unaware of this were to push open the door and walk straight out, they would probably fall to their death on the spot!

However, considering that the [Kings] are either enormous or capable of flight, it's highly unlikely they'd die from a fall; at most, they'd just suffer a humiliating embarrassment. Besides, could there really be gods who can't fly?

"What?! That door is fake?!"

"Neither I, as the gatekeeper, nor this gate itself can actually open the portal to the realm of Asgard. But this isn't a lie; it only has practical significance when both are present." [Sword King War - Frode] shook his head, denying Rebecca's words, but then nodded, slashing his Victory Sword in front of him as he spoke. "The specific method—is like this!"

The "X"-shaped slash was positioned precisely on the diagonal of the empty door frame, remaining suspended in the air without any sign of dissipating. Instead, the space collapsed along the sword mark, expanding in the blink of an eye to fill the entire open door!

Seeing the purple rectangular energy gate in front of him, if Hayato weren't here, he would definitely have made a few comments. The design was too similar to the portal in a certain "pixelated" sandbox survival game that Hayato had mentioned in the past.

Given his past record of modifying someone else's "D-Wheel" and renaming it "Dragon Wheel," it's highly likely that this portal was also "borrowed" by the seahorse.

However, Jonouchi was more interested in the longsword in the hand of [Sword King Battle - Frode] than the teleportation portal: "That move of opening the teleportation portal just now was so cool!"

"Right? The secret is that the movement must be completed in one smooth motion. Even if you actually miss, you must continue to swing without hesitation, so that others subconsciously feel that you didn't miss, but that they just misjudged the situation."

Upon hearing Jonouchi's words, [Sword King Battle - Frode] proudly raised his Victory Sword and explained to Jonouchi, even forgetting that he was wearing an almost completely closed helmet and subconsciously reaching out to touch his nose.

"In short, the Sword of Victory is also a key point. Only with a balanced weight can it be swung gracefully with just one hand." After a pause, [Sword King Battle - Frode] also looked at Jonouchi and said, "However, although my martial arts are superb, your will and passion are also quite impressive. You are indeed a strong person who can defeat me."

"Hahaha, not at all. I've only won the world-class duelist tournament several times in a row. Your Phoenix Sword Saint is also a very powerful card."

"Hahaha, in this respect, we still have to look to your powerful and mighty [Red-Eyes]."

"No, no, not at all~"

"How dare I? How dare I!"

Watching [Sword King Battle - Frode] and Jonouchi suddenly start praising each other in perfect unison, Mai Talking Complaints: "Before, I was just suspicious, but now I'm willing to bet that when President Kaiba designed this character, he definitely used Jonouchi's related settings. The two of them are so smug and arrogant."

“There’s absolutely no way to refute that, and the fact that he always likes to joke about Jonouchi and put him somewhere to work for him seems to be Kaiba’s style.” Yugi shook his head helplessly and said half-jokingly, “If we design a character who looks a lot like Jonouchi to guard the gates of Asgard, then wouldn’t Kaiba himself be playing the ruler of Asgard?”

“Speaking of the ruler of Asgard, it should definitely be Odin, right? The god-king Odin? But having that Kaiba president play a role from Norse mythology... he’s more likely to be Sigurd than Odin,” Rebecca retorted.

Peacock Mai also joined in spreading rumors about Kaiba: "On the contrary, I think the possibility of that Kaiba president playing Odin is lower than that of Sigurd, because Sigurd is the hero in Norse mythology who killed the dragon."

“Ah, thinking about it that way, it does seem true. After all, President Kaiba is what Mr. Hayato called ‘Dragon Cancer’,” Rebecca said with a grin. “As for President Kaiba, who talks a lot about ‘science’ and accepts supernatural things, it’s not the first time, okay?”

"That's right, he doesn't really think he can fool everyone by wearing a Blue-Eyes White Dragon helmet, especially since he has never appeared alongside Kaiba-man before."