Duels should be played with a smile.

"I activate [Summon Dice], pay 1000 base points, and roll a die."

"Hahahaha!" Baron burst into laughter, interrupting Jonouchi, who hadn't finished explaining the effect. He really couldn't hold back this time.

Not only him, but everyone else was the same, including Jonouchi himself.

"Is this all you've got? You're still just rolling dice!"

Looking at his hand, Jonouchi was on the verge of tears. What could he do? He was desperate too!

"Anyway, I'll roll the dice first..."

A giant die appeared between the two men and began to spin. When it stopped spinning, a bright six was revealed before everyone's eyes.

"..."

A moment of silence.

Even though Mai, the peacock dancer in the audience, was used to Jonouchi's good luck at crucial moments, she was still somewhat surprised to see this scene and murmured, "Is this some kind of law of conservation of luck? Just now it was a one, and now it's a six?"

"If I roll a 5 or 6 on the dice, I can Special Summon 1 Level 5 or higher monster from my hand!"

Although it's a bit embarrassing, it's better than doing nothing at all!

Cheng Daozai honestly followed the guidance of the dice and summoned his trump card monster.

I Special Summon [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] in Attack Position!

[Dark 7★ Dragon 2400 Attack Power]

Although they are both extremely rare cards, Red-Eyes is far inferior to Blue-Eyes in both strength and appearance.

Unless it goes to play happily with the Dark Magician.

After using two cards to create a blank card, Jonouchi, who had a bad hand, couldn't continue his turn and could only cover two cards, ending his turn.

Starting with a 2400-power monster is pretty good at this stage, considering that Jonouchi really can't afford any rare cards; he gets most of his rare cards from other players.

Fortunately, after the opening of the Spirit World, Jonouchi quickly gained the approval of Red-Eyes Black Dragon and printed a lot of cards. However, even so, he was still unable to completely get rid of cards with unclear meanings, such as Summoning Dice, from his deck.

It highlights a tragic fate, emphasizing the true protagonist's destiny.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon... Not bad, but against my Armored Deck, your Black Dragon is no match!"

"My turn, draw a card!"

Having completely changed his previous lazy demeanor, Balong, once he got serious, was completely unrecognizable as the sycophant he had been just over ten minutes ago.

"A real man faces tough challenges head-on!"

"I usually summon the [Spirit Helmet]!"

A helmet of unknown purpose appeared on the field, leaving countless viewers puzzled.

[Earth ★★★★ Mechanical 0 Attack Power]

"Attack power of 0? Does it have some special effect?"

Within the castle, or rather, most duelists nowadays no longer judge a monster's strength solely by its attack and defense stats. Especially when they see a monster with zero attack and defense, their first thought is now about the monster's hidden effects.

"The Spirit Helmet has no special effect when it's on its own, but its appearance is the clarion call to battle!"

"I activate the Normal Spell Card [Armor Gravity]!"

"Depending on the effect, Special Summon up to 4 Level 4 or lower Armored Monsters from your Deck! Monsters summoned by this effect are destroyed during the End Phase of this turn."

With four loud clangs, four monsters that were clearly working together were pulled onto the field by this card.

"What kind of fake card is this?! Four monsters in one card? Is this person cheating?!"

"Yeah! It seems like they're all Effect Monsters. If he had a Bayonet Gundam, would this duel be pretty much over?"

"Yes, one card linked to four devices, I suggest a thorough investigation!"

After Link Summoning became widespread, viewers became particularly sensitive to cards that could summon monsters, because each additional monster meant more Link Points, which could potentially lead to the appearance of an extremely powerful monster.

The audience's sudden surge of enthusiasm made Baron wonder if he had broken some taboo, but no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out—he really hadn't thought of using this card for Link Summoning.

"Hmph, what an ignorant bunch." Baron shook his head, ignoring the audience, and began to introduce his armored monsters.

[Active Defense - Armor]

[Earth ★★★★ · Mechanical · Defense 1500]

Beyond Boots & Armor

[Earth ★★★★ · Mechanical · Defense 1000]

[Trap Burst - Armor]

[Earth ★★★ Mechanical 0 Defense]

Big Bang Boxing - Armor

[Earth ★★★★ · Mechanical · Defense 0]

"Just watch! Jonouchi! Compared to your weak and powerless dice, only a real man like me is the most suitable for Mai Kongjaku!"

"Watch closely! Mine, transformation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, those armored monsters flew onto his body just as Baron had said, transforming into a complete set of blue and white mechanical armor.

By all accounts, he's practically a Kamen Rider too.

The helmet didn't completely cover the face.

"The battle has begun!"

"Each armored monster can only allow one monster to attack at a time."

While explaining the limitations of Armored Monsters, Baron, now wearing armor, took the Duel Disk with him and left his original spot to enter the arena.

Under the watchful eyes of countless people who cried out, "Duelists, please do not engage in combat!" Baron charged toward the imposing Red-Eyes Black Dragon with incredible speed.

"Eat my punch!"

Under Baron's control, the hand armor—the Big Bang Punch, with an attack power of 0, launched an attack on the Red-Eyes Black Dragon with an attack power of 2400.

"This is bad... Although I don't know what he's trying to do, when the enemy makes unusual moves, we must at least not let them get what they want!"

Based on his experience watching Leyu and others duel, Jonouchi pressed the Duel Disk button a second before Baron's fist was about to hit Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"At that instant, I activated the covered trap card [Chained Boomerang]!"

"When your opponent's monster declares an attack, target that monster and change it to Defense Position! Also, target one monster you control and equip this card as an Equip Card that increases its ATK by 500!"

The jackknife opened, and the boomerang shot straight at the charging Baron. After binding Baron with chains, it flew into the hands of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"Mudada!"

He punched the chain, and both the gauntlet and the chain shattered.

"The effect of 【Trap Burst - Armor】: When this card is face up on the field, the effects of Trap Cards that target Armor Monsters on your field are negated."

"Furthermore, I can release this card, and my Armored Monsters will be unaffected by Trap Cards until the End Phase!"

Jonouchi was now out of options; his other face card was now useless.

A fist with 0 attack power landed on Red-Eyes, who now had 2900 attack power. After blocking the painless attack, Red-Eyes retaliated without hesitation, unleashing a burst of scorching dragon breath at Baron.

The armor shattered instantly.

"The effect of [Active Defense - Armor] is activated during your or your opponent's Main Phase or Battle Phase. Before the end of this turn, reduce the battle damage and effect damage you receive to 0. Destroy this card at the end of the turn this effect is activated."

The shattered armor left a protective layer, shielding Baron from the dragon's breath, and the seemingly harmless gauntlets suddenly absorbed the dragon's breath, expanding until they exploded.

"The effect of [Big Bang Boxing Armor] can only be activated when you control 2 or more monsters. When this card is destroyed by battle, destroy all monsters on the field and inflict LP damage equal to the sum of the ATK of the destroyed monsters."

All the armored monsters and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon within the castle were destroyed in an instant by the explosion caused by the Big Bang Punch, and the violent impact showed no mercy.

However, Baron, protected by his armor, managed to escape at the crucial moment, thus emerging unharmed.

Unfortunately, Jonouchi had no choice but to accept the damage.

[Jounouchi LP: 7000 → 4100]

I paid 1000 before, and with this payment, I only have half of my LP left.

Baron is still at full strength.

"Jonnouchi! Do you see that? This is the power of my armored monster!"

Jonouchi remained silent. He wanted to complain, but what was powerful wasn't his armored monster, but that fake card that could drag four monsters with it.

Moreover, while his maneuver looked pretty cool, it also left him with nothing on the field!

If I were in charge of that deck, I would have at least one Link 2 monster and one Link 3 monster by now. There is no Link 4 monster because Jonouchi doesn't have any Link 4 cards right now. Don't ask, I'm just broke. After Red-Eyes printed a lot of new cards for him, they don't have the resources to print any more for him.

This is another disadvantage for Jonouchi: starting from a lower point than others, so even if he wants to catch up, he will have to put in more effort. Fortunately, the thing he has in no shortage of is perseverance!

"Are you saying I have nothing on the field? Well, just you wait and see!"

Having read Jonouchi's mind, Baron immediately played another card that was even more ridiculously fake after his first set of armor exploded.

"Normal Spell Card [Complete Armor Gravity]! Check the top 10 cards of your Deck in turn, and Special Summon as many Armored Monsters as possible to your field each time you check. Cards that are not Special Summoned are removed from play."

"What?! How many this time?!"

10 sheets.

Jōnei felt mentally exhausted.

This guy is playing with a bunch of fake cards and he still has the nerve to criticize me for throwing the dice?

Under the expressionless gaze of Jonouchi, Baron calmly flipped over the top 10 cards of his deck one by one and donned the newly formed armored monster once again.

[Mental Helmet]

[Black Hole Shield Armor]

[Jet Armor - Armor]

[Promote Shields and Armor]

Double Cross Armor

"Are you preparing for a Link Summon this time?" Jonouchi asked with a long face, looking at Baron who had changed into a new outfit.

"Link? What link? My invincible armor deck doesn't need any links! To defeat you, I don't even need to use my full strength!"