Duels should be played with a smile.

Perhaps it was because he craved power too much? Or perhaps, deep down, he harbored a...fear of Yugi Muto?

Even with the strongest Blue-Eyes White Dragon and the three Egyptian God cards in hand, he is still not satisfied. Is it because he feels that such power is not enough to give him 100% confidence in defeating that powerful opponent?

Seto Kaiba slowly shook his head, looking up at the magnificent Blue-Eyes White Dragon before him, which resembled a piece of white jade.

"Perhaps I should have more faith in the invincible Blue Eye."

"That's not necessarily true."

"what?!"

As the smoke cleared, Leyou's LP remained motionless; the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack had had no effect whatsoever.

"This level of Blue-Eyes White Dragon is far from enough. In the future, Blue-Eyes has even greater potential~"

The invincible Blue-Eyes White Dragon, despite being a world champion deck, has become incredibly powerful without any nerfs.

"At the very moment you attacked, I activated the effect of the Trap Card [Dreadnought Reversal] in my Graveyard. Since my Life Points are below 2000, when I was calculating battle damage to myself, I banished this card from my Graveyard, and the battle damage to myself from that battle became 0."

Leyu smiled and explained why he was unharmed, but Seto Kaiba's focus was elsewhere.

"What exactly is this possibility you're referring to regarding blue eyes?!"

It was clearly his trump card, so why didn't he know it?

It's one thing if I don't know, but why does a stranger know?!

A sudden, inexplicable anger rose within Seto Kaiba.

"It's your own card, go ask it yourself. The card has spirits, don't tell me you only believe in science."

Duelists in this era all like to print their own cards. If I were to actually say it out loud, I'm afraid I might just print out a new card while we're fighting.

"Or rather, if you defeat me, I'll tell you everything."

"Hmph, just you wait!"

With a flick of his trench coat, Seto Kaiba felt a fighting spirit he had never felt before.

"I'll set one card face down, end my turn, and quickly defeat you, then make you tell me everything!"

[Hippocampus's hand: 5→3]

"Do whatever you want—as long as you can do it."

After drawing his cards for this round, Leyou's eyes flickered. He didn't start playing immediately, but instead rubbed his hand together and looked at the seahorse.

"Seto Kaiba, I have a question for you: what are you fighting for?"

"Why do we duel? Of course, it's for..."

The seahorse's mouth was slightly open, but it couldn't utter a word.

He seemed, it was as if, he had never really thought about why he was fighting.

What exactly is the reason for this?

From the beginning, it seemed that he was fighting to protect his younger brother.

Taking over the Kaiba Corporation from his adoptive father, the underage Kaiba was unable to establish authority within the company. Just as Duel Monsters began to sweep the globe, the company's business was shifted to games under his orders. After painstakingly collecting the strongest monster card, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, he won many battles in Duel Monsters, which allowed him to finally gain a foothold.

These things all seem to be for the purpose of protecting himself and his younger brother.

So, my original intention was to protect?

She embarked on the path of a duelist in order to protect her younger brother.

"And then what? And now?" the seahorse asked itself instinctively.

It seems that Pegasus's actions later led him to step into the Duelist Kingdom again to protect his brother.

But now that he has successfully established himself within the group and his younger brother can live a stable life, what is he fighting for now?

To protect our peaceful life, to build Kaiba Park all over the world, and to defeat... Yugi Muto.

"I fight for victory!"

Seto Kaiba gave his own answer.

"Whatever I do, I will do it to the best of my ability! Now that I have become a duelist, I will become the strongest one!"

"Fight, and then win! That is my reason for dueling!"

"I see... It seems you and I aren't the same kind of people," Leyou said with a smile.

"But that's not so bad. The desire in your heart will keep you climbing towards the top, and the talent you have is enough to support you to reach the top."

“You are a very good duelist. If you can maintain this mindset and not lose yourself in the pursuit of victory, then I can entrust you with some important responsibilities.”

Leyou is now very satisfied; Seto Kaiba is slowly falling into his trap, just as he had planned.

If Leyou had asked the question to Kaiba from the beginning, Kaiba would definitely have dismissed it with disdain. But now that Kaiba is being guided by Leyou to answer the question seriously, it means that he has subconsciously accepted Leyou.

At least it won't be completely denied.

"Hmph! Stop being so presumptuous. Unless you can completely defeat me, all your words will be in vain."

Although he said he didn't care, Seto Kaiba's eyes still held a lot of curiosity.

He was a genius and a scientist; such a person must have an insatiable curiosity about the unknown.

"So, what are you fighting for? You claim to be saving the world, but what high-sounding reason do you have?"

"No, no, no, you misunderstood." Leyou waved his hand with a smile. "No matter what responsibilities I have, my original intention for dueling will not change. Or rather, the more critical the moment, the more I must stick to my original intention. You know, under the endless erosion of time, only by maintaining my original intention can I avoid being erased by time."

"So whether it's from the very beginning, now, or in the future, my original intention as a duelist will never change."

"I fight for joy and laughter."

"Dueling was originally just a game, and games are meant to bring joy. So, duels should be played with a smile, no matter what significant meaning they may have been given to them in the future."

"Duel is meant to be played with a smile, nothing more."

"No matter who my opponent is or what deck I use, I'll play with a smile."

"My turn, I'm about to begin my performance, are you ready?"

Chapter Twenty-Four was a huge help!

With four cards in hand, three face-down cards, and resources still available in the graveyard, this duel remains under Leyou's control.

"It's still the Golden Goblin. I draw one, and you get 1000 LP back. If you're wondering what the point of this card is, I can only say that it's to make my deck of 40 cards into 37."

Faced with Leyou's explanation, the seahorse paused only slightly before taking the opportunity of the shift in priority to make the corresponding action.

"Hmph, the moment you activated this spell card, my face-down trap card also activated! Let this duel end here!"

"Trap Card, [Destruction Wheel]! You'll regret so easily reducing your Life Points to such a low level! I target my face-up [Giant Virus] on the field, destroy it, and then we both take damage equal to the destroyed monster's ATK!"

"The giant virus has an attack power of 1000 points, and you only have 750 health points left!"

A destructive dragon strapped with bombs appeared on the giant virus's body, then exploded with a bang, creating a shockwave and a cloud of smoke that covered the entire duel arena.

[Haima LP: 5000→4000]

Seto Kaiba frowned slightly, this situation reminding him of the attack by the Blue-Eyes White Dragon just now.

And things turned out exactly as he had predicted.

"Similar to the previous Counter Trap Cards, the Dreadnought's own Normal Trap Card, when your Life Points are 2000 or less, can banish Normal Trap Cards from your Graveyard when your opponent activates a Spell/Trap/Monster effect. This turn, any effect damage your opponent inflicts on you becomes 0. Sorry, your Destruction Wheel only hit itself."

"But don't worry, the Golden Goblin I just used has restored it for you. You're welcome~"

[Haima LP: 4000→5000]

"Hmph, I knew you weren't that simple. You have such a tenacious life force, just like... that mortal bone."

Seto Kaiba subconsciously compared Leiyu and Jonouchi again, concluding that the two had many similarities.

They are all equally tenacious.

The difference is that the mortal can only be defeated by himself, and then, outside of the duel, he shows his tenacity and perseveres in moving forward.

As for Leyou... from the beginning until now, I have only dealt 500 points of damage to him, while he himself has reduced his own health to 750. I have no way to deal with his remaining, dwindling health.

Just as Haima was letting his mind wander, Leyou continued his actions. Now that Haima no longer had Gaika on the field, he could be sure that his next plan would succeed.

"Activate the covered Trap Card [Dreadnought Alert], pay half of your Life Points, up to a maximum of 8 Levels or less, and Special Summon up to 2 [Dreadnought] monsters from your Graveyard. This turn, you cannot Special Summon monsters that are not [Dreadnought], and you cannot declare an attack with monsters Special Summoned by this effect."

[Leyou LP: 750 → 375]

"I want to summon the Therizinosaurus and the Diplodocus from the graveyard."

A piercing alarm sounded, and dark red lights shone on the dueling arena. Only two black shadows could be seen flashing by. A moment later, the figures of the Therizinosaurus and the Brachiosaurus appeared in front of Leyou.

"At the same time they are Special Summoned, their effect also activates, sending [Dreadnought] to the Graveyard."

A normal trap card is sent to the graveyard to prevent effect damage, while the effect of another set trap card, Joyful, is not activated.

Because, after adding the cards in his hand, he didn't have enough space in the back row.

This must be the troubles of happiness (in the underworld), right?

"By the way, your previous destruction of my deck wasn't entirely useless to me, because you sent all the Scythe Dragons in my deck to the graveyard, so I have to put in a lot of effort to collect the materials."

Leyou's smile annoyed the seahorse, because the smile on his face hadn't stopped ever since he met this person.

According to Seto Kaiba's experience, the happier a person laughs, the darker their heart is, and the more ruthless they are when they strike.

"Don't blink, I'm about to show you the strongest monster in my deck!"

"Activate the Set Trap Card 'Dragon's Domain'! During your or your opponent's Main Phase, you can activate this card by paying half of your Life Points. Send the Fusion Material Monsters listed on the 'Dragon's Domain' Fusion Monster Card from your hand, Deck, or field to the Graveyard, and Fusion Summon 1 of those Fusion Monsters from your Extra Deck."

[Leyou LP: 375 → 188]

"The summoning condition is two 'Dreadnought' monsters with different names. I send the Reaper Dragon and the Diplodocus Dragon to the Graveyard, and Special Summon 'Dreadnought' (or 'Spiked Dragon Queen') from my Extra Deck in Attack Position!"

A fantastical futuristic city rises from the ground. Under the cover of night, the Therizinosaurus and the Diplodocus weave through the city's skyscrapers. Suddenly, a whooshing sound rings out, whipping up a gust of wind that blinds people.

When the storm subsided, the Brachiosaurus and the Therizinosaurus had vanished, replaced by another mysterious female warrior. Her armor was far superior to that of the Brachiosaurus and the Therizinosaurus, and the energy blades on her arms exuded a chilling killing intent.

[Dark 6-Star · Dinosaur Race · Attack Power 4000 → 3812 · Defense Power 0]

"What?! It's a trap card fusion, and it can be fused from the deck?! It's just a Level 6 monster with a whopping 4000 ATK?!" Seto Kaiba looked at the fusion spell card in his hand and suddenly felt it wasn't so appealing anymore.

"Deck fusion and trap card fusion are features of future duels, and you have to try them. It's a pity you didn't give me the chance. By the way, this card's attack power will reduce my life points. I only have 188 LP now, so she has a full 3812 attack points, which can easily defeat your Blue-Eyes White Dragon."