Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"This is one of the effects of [Beloved Hero], which is that at the start of the battle phase for both players, you can choose one Field Spell Card from my Deck to activate," Jaden said. "Heroes are not bound by fate or the past; only those who keep moving forward are heroes."

"I'm here to end the age of dinosaurs. Now, it's the stage for the [Heroes]!"

As the Tenth Generation finished speaking, the frozen ground suddenly shattered, and skyscrapers rose from the ground, instantly transforming the environment into a modern metropolis.

"Field Spell Card - [Skyscraper] activated!" Jaden smiled. "This card increases [E·Hero]'s ATK by 1000 when battling monsters with higher ATK."

"In addition, there is the first effect of [Beloved Hero]: if there is a card in my field zone, the ATK of the equipped monster [E. Hero Flame Wingman] increases by its original DEF value, and it cannot be targeted by my opponent's card effects!"

"In other words, Sword Mountain! Your dinosaurs lost the resistance granted by both [Jurassic World] and [Phantom Creation Hybrid Dinosaur] after entering the battle phase!"

"On the contrary, your [E·hero] became the ruler of Earth after the dinosaurs?" Kenzan looked at Jaden and said incredulously, "How did you do that? Apart from that obviously excessive [Last Will], all the cards you used were just ordinary, unremarkable cards."

"But how did you become so powerful?"

"Hehe, although it's an ordinary card, and even Professor Chronos called it 'the three tricks of a bad student' because I used it so often, it is the secret in itself. It is what is called - ordinariness itself is a series of miracles."

Jaden said with a smile, "Because I believe in the cards, I naturally receive a response from them. Therefore, even your powerful dinosaurs, Kenzan, I can use the power of the [E·heroes] to surpass them. Even Daitokuji-sensei said that I have an extraordinary talent in this area."

【E·hero Flame Winged Man】【ATK2100→3300】

Seeing the [E·hero Flame Wingman] whose attack power had increased dramatically and which in an instant had become no different from the [Jurassic Giant Beast] on his field, Kenzan smiled instead.

“In the past, I have been the ‘big brother’ of others and formed the ‘Dilano Group’ several times, but for some reason, my little brothers always left without me realizing it, and I always ended up alone. At that time, I thought it was because I was not strong enough.”

"But, I see. It's not for that reason. It's just that although I have the 'power' to inspire others to follow me, I don't possess enough potential. What made me realize this was your duel, Jaden Yuki!"

"Purity! That's right, what I lack is purity! The old 'Dilano Gang' would enthusiastically do good deeds, but they would also fight and do bad things. In duels, I would constantly calculate for victory, but I would always cling to my obsession and refuse to give up my bottom line. I couldn't give up everything for victory, nor could I purely enjoy the duel."

Kenzan's eyes grew increasingly fervent as he spoke, "Come on, Jaden, let me fall completely in love with your fiery and pure duel!"

"Hey!" Asuka couldn't hold back any longer and angrily pointed at Kenzan, about to personally intervene, but Manjoume and Misawa quickly pulled her back. She really hadn't expected that besides that precocious elementary school student Saotome Rei, her opponent would suddenly have also sold out a dangerous Kenzan?!

"Calm down, Tenjouin, calm down!" "Dilano's words may be easy to misunderstand, but that's definitely not what he meant!" "It's just that you see everything as yellow because you're wearing yellow glasses!"

Compared to the crowd outside the arena, Kenzan, who uttered those easily misunderstood words, and Jaden opposite him were remarkably oblivious, completely unaware that there was anything wrong with what he had just said. Jaden even excitedly said, "I'm actually looking forward to it too, Kenzan—the arrival of this decisive moment!"

"I'll first use [E·hero Sawtooth Wilderness] to attack each of your monsters once! And because [Jurassic Giant Beast] has a higher attack power than [E·hero Sawtooth Wilderness], I'll get the [Skyscraper] bonus when attacking it!"

"Don't blink, the pain will only last a moment—" Judai waved his hand and gave the order, "One Instant Thousand Strikes: Instant Hell Kill!"

【E·hero Sawtooth Wilderness】saw its left arm moving at high speed, then hurled it at the weakest of the three: 【Hellhound Raptor】, 【Soul Eater Oviraptor】, and 【Giant Spinosaurus】. Then, it drew its massive, exaggeratedly designed sword—looking like it had stepped out of a MonsterO movie—and unleashed a three-stage charged attack on the more powerful 【Jurassic Giant】!

The next moment, explosions erupted across the Sword Mountain field, and as smoke and dust enveloped his dinosaurs who had lost the [Jurassic World] bonus, his base score also plummeted!

【Food Soul Oviraptor】【ATK2100→1800】

[Hellhound Raptor] [ATK2300→2000]

[Giant Spinosaurus] [ATK 2700 → 2400]

[Jurassic Giant Beast] [ATK3300→3000]

【E·hero Sawtooth Wilderness Warrior】【ATK2600→3600】

【迪拉诺·剑山：4000→3200→2600→2400→1800LP】

After four consecutive battles, the monsters on the field of Kenzan were wiped out single-handedly by [E·hero Sawtooth Wilder]. And now—Kenzan will face the combined attack of the remaining three Jaden monsters!

Chapter 1438 How can a friend bow?

"Next up is the direct attack from [E·hero Flame Winged Man], Kenzan!" Just before launching the final attack, Jaden suddenly said this to Kenzan.

Kenzan looked at Judai's smile with great confusion. It was an extremely obvious smile of anticipation, but it wasn't anticipation for his impending victory. Kenzan felt as if Judai was giving him that expectant look?

"why?"

"Huh?" Jaden blinked, seemingly not understanding Kenzan's meaning. "What do you mean, 'why'?"

"You've already secured victory, haven't you, Mingyu? But why... why don't you show any joy at your impending victory? All I see is your anticipation. What are you anticipating?"

Kenzan couldn't understand, "How can one be considered absolutely strong without humiliating the weak?"

"That's not right. Why should the strong humiliate the weak? Speaking of which, there was a line in an anime I watched not long ago: 'To defeat without destroying, to dominate without humiliating, that is true conquest.'" Jaden pointed at Kenzan. "More than the outcome of victory, I still prefer the fun of the duel itself. So Kenzan, perhaps I'm hoping you can surprise me?"

"Even if I struggle, I will only face defeat?" Kenzan looked at Judai, moved by his words.

"Although life is bound to end after it is born, life is not just a story of pain and death. The heroes I admire and the dinosaurs you admire, Kenzan, are somewhat similar in this respect. That is, before reaching the end, the heroes created their own epics and the dinosaurs left behind their own glory."

With his palm outstretched towards Kenzan, Judai earnestly invited, "You can do it too, Kenzan. Give it a try!"

"Someone as powerful as Yuuki-senpai, you actually believe in me so much..." In Kenzan's eyes, the fighting spirit that had ignited with Judai's words burned away his original desire for victory, replacing it with the same fervor as Judai. "I... understand!"

"Then, the chain attack of [E·hero Flame Wingman] will pay me 1000 base points during this damage calculation to activate the effect of [Shielded Vehicle - Electronic Sword Dragon] in my graveyard!"

[Dilano Kenzan: 1800→800LP]

Just as the flames from [E·hero Flame Winged Man] fell, enough to wipe out the remaining 1800 base points of Sword Mountain, light finally appeared in Sword Mountain's graveyard, and a huge Stegosaurus covered in large metal armor, the same one that Jaden and the others had seen before at the place of the already arrested evil teacher Ryuga, jumped out!

However, the same card can display completely different power in the hands of different people. The [Shield Tank - Cyber ​​Sword Dragon] that suddenly appeared on the field is like an unyielding wall, as solid as the Sword Mountain at this moment, both inside and out!

【Shield-equipped Fighting Vehicle - Electronic Sword Dragon】【6☆/Dark】

[Dinosaur Tribe/Effect]

[1200/2400]

However, since it was a special summon during damage calculation, the attack of [E·hero Flame Winged Man] could no longer trigger an attack rewind and was canceled, and the flames engulfed the sword mountain in an instant.

However, amidst the flames, Kenzan's voice rang out with great vigor: "I felt it, I felt it too! So this is what it feels like to make you laugh from the bottom of your heart, Judai-senpai—this is the joy of dueling!"

[Dilano Kenzan: 800→800LP]

"Wow, Kenzan, your Life Points haven't decreased at all?" Jaden exclaimed in surprise when he saw that Kenzan's Life Points remained unchanged after taking the direct attack from [E·hero Flame Wingman].

"Because the passion you passed on to me, Tenth Generation, is so intense that my burning duelist blood has already disregarded the damage I've suffered!" Kenzan declared confidently.

Judai nodded in sudden realization: "I see!"

"Oh, so that's how it is? Judai, are you an idiot?!" From the sidelines, Manjoume, unable to bear the conversation between these two hot-blooded idiots, interrupted, "How could a duelist's fighting spirit possibly achieve something like that!"

“But Hayato-sensei said that someone had eliminated the virus using a duelist’s survival instinct before.” Jaden looked doubtful when he heard Manjoume’s words. “Besides, Kenzan really didn’t suffer any combat injuries.”

"That's because of the monster effect, the monster effect of [Cybersword Dragon]. When this card is in the Graveyard and an opponent's monster attacks, you can pay 1000 Life Points during damage calculation to activate its effect, Special Summoning [Cybersword Dragon] from the Graveyard to the field."

Misawa explained, and Marufuji Sho immediately added, "At the same time, the [Shielded Tank - Electronic Stegosaurus] can also reduce the combat damage to our side in that battle to 0, which is the real reason why that dinosaur junior's basic score did not change."

"That's a card that you and I both saw last year, so why don't I remember its effect at all!"

"Haha, I guess it's because I was too busy watching Caesar's duel back then?" Judai, reminded by Misawa and Sho, remembered that he did seem to have seen this card before, and scratched the back of his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"Honestly, you always have some kind of deficiency in your basic knowledge. Judai, you can't keep going like this." Asuka put her hands on her hips. "Even if you don't want to be promoted to another dormitory, you still have to improve in this area. It seems I have to give you some extra lessons to help you improve."

"I'm actually quite good at tutoring in theoretical knowledge—" Misawa was about to volunteer to help Judai improve his grades, but Asuka glared at him fiercely and stopped him immediately.

—At this moment, he somewhat understood why E·hero Golden Blade had run away so quickly when he saw E·hero Burst Girl's menacing appearance when Jaden activated [Burst Return].

"In short, I felt your will, Kenzan! Through the battles of the monsters and the clash of cards, I witnessed that iron will and steel-like resilience!" Jaden exclaimed excitedly. "Then I'll continue!"

"【E·hero Sawtooth Wilderness】can attack each of your monsters once, even the newly Special Summoned 【Shield Tank - Cyber ​​Sword Dragon】."

"Go! [E·hero Sawtooth Wilder], additional attack—Spirit Blade Helm Slash!"

"Oh! Bring it on, Judai-senpai!" Kenzan responded enthusiastically to Judai, gradually becoming more and more hot-blooded and silly. "Although we are no match for him in terms of either attack or defense, we can't lose in terms of momentum! [Shielded Battle Tank - Cyber ​​Stegosaurus]!"

"We'll fight back!"

At this moment, the expression on the [Shielded Vehicle - Electronic Sword Dragon]'s face seemed to say, "Huh? I'm fighting the Sawtooth Wilderness Warrior?" "So you can't just go and die and give orders randomly, huh? You can't do any damage." But before he could even curse, [E·hero Sawtooth Wilderness Warrior] had already dragged that giant sword, still stained with the blood of [Jurassic Giant Beast], and brought it down on his head!

"Moo!" With a subtle cry, [Shielded Tank - Cyber ​​Sword Dragon] was destroyed. However, since it was Special Summoned by its own effect, it was banished and disappeared the moment it left the field due to the side effects of its effect. Sword Mountain's field became empty again.

Kenzan, having Special Summoned CyberSword in Defense Position, did not suffer battle damage. However, having paid 1000 Life Points to bring CyberSword to the field, he now only has 800 Life Points left and must face Winged Kuriboh LV6, E-Hero Nendoroid, and E-Hero Bubbleman, who have yet to attack on Jaden's field.

Jaden had no intention of letting Winged Kuriboh LV6 attack Kenzan any further. Instead, he had E. Hero Bubble Fighter attack, waving his hand and commanding, "This is the real finishing blow, Kenzan! E. Hero Bubble Fighter's direct attack!"

"An Aria of the Bubble!"

A large amount of liquid was ejected from the jets equipped by [E·hero Foam Man], evenly distributed in the air and turning into a dreamlike rain of bubbles. There was no fierce battle; in this dazzling, dreamlike bubble, Kenzan's life points steadily dropped to zero, and he himself greeted the defeat he absolutely did not want before the duel with a satisfied expression.

[Dilano Kenzan: 800LP→0]

Facing the mountain of swords, Jaden flashed a bright smile and drew two fingers in front of him: "I won!"

"What an interesting duel!"

Seeing Judai's smile, Kenzan was also infected by his joy and made a finger gesture as well: "What an interesting duel, Judai-senpai!"

"Hmph, as expected, it's Judai's victory." Manjoume nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly paused, looking at Kenzan's smile. "Wait a minute, something seems off... Didn't I remember wanting Judai to teach this freshman a lesson? Why is he smiling so happily even after losing?"

“Don’t worry about the details, Manjoume. At least we’ve seen Judai’s growth this summer, haven’t we?” He glanced at the vest he was wearing under his school uniform, the six boxes of cards tied to it weighing heavily on it. “However, Judai isn’t the only one who has grown.”

"Hmph, I didn't relax during summer vacation either," Manjoume sneered. Although he had slightly distracted himself during summer vacation to make himself more popular, he still practiced drawing cards every day and challenged people to duels to maintain his dueling skills—and speaking of this, we have to mention the "Duel Gate" launched by Kaiba Park, which has now basically covered major cities around the world.

Although a prototype was reportedly launched five years ago but was abandoned due to some issues, it was eventually commercialized and installed in all Kaiba Theme Parks, where players can challenge Duel Bots with data from legendary duelists. While there are no additional prizes, for card game enthusiasts, the chance to duel a legendary powerhouse is the best prize in itself.

During this summer vacation, in addition to watching anime online, surfing forums to learn about various current events so that he could understand the jokes in hell, and watching professional duelists' duels with their model-like cool poses and lines, Manjoume spent almost all his time playing against AI opponents. He achieved an excellent record of 100 consecutive victories in the highest-level AI duels, where the opponents were limited to users of the [E·hero] deck.

—In this respect, Manjoume has some of the potential to become Seto Kaiba's disciple, as both of them enjoy playing against AI opponents to practice their skills.

In short, having accumulated a lot of experience against users of the [E·hero] deck, Manjoume felt he was back to his old self after a summer vacation. If it weren't for his brother's visit to the academy, he would have challenged Judai to avenge his previous defeat.

"Ah, I remember now, it's the bet!" Manjoume tapped his palm with his fist. "The bet we made before the duel! I bet the honor of duelists. If I lose the duel, Dilano Kenzan, you will become the underling of Judai, the worst student Osiris-Red whom you look down on the most."

"Hmph, so what's your choice in the face of this undeniable defeat?"

However, to Manjou's disappointment, Kenzan did not show any signs of distress or confusion when he heard his words; instead, he seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

"Hehehe, you can't laugh now, Kenzan! If you laugh, wouldn't that reveal the truth that you actually want to? But, with the opportunity to follow the Tenth Generation right in front of you, how can you not laugh!?"

Muttering to himself, Kenzan raised his head and said, "I see. Well, there's nothing I can do about it. I guess I can only follow Senior Judai—no, I mean, Brother Judai!"

"Hehehe, so powerful, so charismatic, I love you, Tenth Generation!" As he spoke, Kenzan was about to kneel down and bow in reverence.

His acting was just as bad as Judai's academic performance, to the point that Manjoume and the others could all see that he was clearly happy to acknowledge Judai as his elder brother—in fact, if the initial bet had been to recognize him as a godfather instead of an elder brother, he might have been able to shout without hesitation, "Having wandered half my life on the mountain of swords, I have not met a wise lord. If Judai does not abandon me, I am willing to acknowledge him as my godfather."

However, before Marufuji Sho could even protest that he was no longer Jaden's only subordinate, Jaden stopped Kenzan. Just when Marufuji Sho thought Jaden was going to refuse Kenzan, Jaden said, "DOMO, Kenzan = SAN, Yuki Jaden DESU."

Kenzan paused for a moment, realizing that Judai was reintroducing himself to get to know him, and said seriously, "DOMO, Judai = SAN, Delano Kenzan DESU!"

"Yes, yes, so we've gotten to know each other and become friends, Kenzan." Judai patted Kenzan on the shoulder with a smile. "No need for any 'I'll become your brother' or anything like that, and no need for such respectful bowing. We're already friends."

"How can friends bow to each other?"

Upon hearing this, Jianshan nodded in agreement: "That's right, how can friends bow to each other!"

"That's how friends should be—"