Chapter 94: Everyone in the World Can Guess Kaiba's Set Cards
Seto Kaiba, known as Kaiba, is a famous Legendary Duelist, and arguably one of the most severe dueling addicts in the DM World, or even the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series. He once even went so far as to transmigrate through time and dig up graves just to Duel someone, all while being a man of science who was also quite superstitious.
Alongside his many accomplishments, he is most renowned for his iconic Monster Card in Yu-Gi-Oh! history—Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Its DEF of 2500 was impenetrable to Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and its ATK was a staggering 3000 points, once becoming the unit of measurement for Duel Monster ATK. It was even sold for 87 million (this line crossed out).
And now, Hayato was about to Duel Kaiba, who possessed three copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
[Hayato: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
[Kaiba: 4000 LP, Hand 5]
"I'll take the First Turn!" Quicker than Hayato, Kaiba was somewhat excited at this moment; despite his disappointment at not being able to test his new Duel Disk on someone, the thought of obliterating his opponent with his invincible Blue-Eyes White Dragon fueled him. "My Turn, Draw!"
Looking at the six cards in his Hand, Kaiba thought for a moment and came up with what he believed to be a perfect Strategy. 'I don't know what cards that Hayato guy is using, but as long as he falls into my Trap, he's finished.'
"I Summon Dark Mimic Zaki in Defense Position on my Field, then I Set two cards, End Turn." Since he couldn't Attack on the First Turn, Kaiba seemed to have simply set up a Defense before ending his Turn. "Prove your strength to me, come and Attack, you Third-Rate Duelist!"
[Kaiba: 4000 LP, Hand 3]
[Dark Mimic Zaki] [DEF 1500]
[Set Card] [Set Card]
Looking at the Dark Mimic Zaki in Defense Position on Kaiba's Field, Hayato didn't pay much attention to Kaiba's provocation but felt a bit speechless: 'Classic Zaki Defense + Set Cards, Kaiba, I don't even need to guess your Backrow Set Cards. What else could they be besides Crush Card Virus?'
Needless to say, Kaiba's Deck was always full of high-ATK Monsters, and his Dueling style was always about aggressive Attacks to overwhelm the opponent. Among a bunch of high-ATK Monsters, how could a Dark Mimic Zaki with merely 600 ATK appear? It's not like Kaiba couldn't get Rare Cards.
"My Turn, Draw." Hayato drew a Card. Since he had given the Ojama brothers to Mokuba, he had put in a few other cards to fill the gaps in his Warrior-Type Deck this time.
"Calling me a 'Fourth-Rate Duelist' and 'Fodder Monster' and such, Seto, you actually just want me to Attack, right? You're deliberately trying to provoke me, so you must have Set some Trap. In that case, I'll use this Card!" Hayato said, playing a card. "Harpie's Feather Duster, its Effect is that a single Card can sweep away your entire Backrow."
A giant feather duster appeared on the Field. Kaiba's two Backrow Set Cards were Flipped after being swept. In addition to the Crush Card Virus that Hayato had already guessed, the other was the cursed Sakuretsu Armor. Both Set Cards were not spared under the invincible Harpie's Feather Duster and were simultaneously sent to the Graveyard.
"Damn it!" Kaiba was annoyed to see his Deck destruction Strategy fail.
"With that, Dark Mimic Zaki no longer poses a threat. I Activate the Spell Card, Unexpected Dai. This Card can only be used when I have no Monsters on my Field and allows me to Special Summon one Monster from my Deck." Hayato finished explaining the Effect, and then Searched a Card from his Deck. "The first one, X-Head Cannon!"
A blue Machine soldier appeared on Hayato's Field. Its 1800 ATK was quite impressive for this era.
[X-Head Cannon] [Level 4/LIGHT]
[Machine-Type/Normal Monster]
[1800 ATK/1500 DEF]
"I Activate the Spell Card, Frontline Base. As long as this Card remains on my Field, Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Union Monster from my Hand. The second one, Y-Dragon Head!"
Following the blue Machine soldier, an entirely red Machine Wyvern appeared, and Kaiba's eyes grew serious. He also possessed these Monsters. Although they seemed slightly different from Hayato's—not "Union Monsters" but "Fusion Monsters"—he assumed their Effects wouldn't be too dissimilar.
In that case, Hayato's next card would be—
"I haven't performed a Normal Summon this Turn yet, so I will Summon this Monster. The third one, Z-Metal Tank!"
A yellow Machine tread appeared. With this, all three "X", "Y", "Z" Monsters were gathered on Hayato's Field.
"First, I will Combine Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank. I Equip Z-Metal Tank onto Y-Dragon Head, turning it into an Equip Card that increases its ATK and DEF by 600." The red Wyvern integrated itself into the yellow tread, and its ATK increased accordingly. However, because it wasn't a Fusion Summon, it didn't gain the Special Effect of the Fusion.
[Y-Dragon Head] [Level 4/LIGHT]
[Machine-Type/Union Monster]
[1500 ATK/1600 DEF] → [2100 ATK/2200 DEF]
"Battle Phase! X-Head Cannon will Destroy Dark Mimic Zaki, and then Y-Dragon Head will launch a Direct Attack on Seto Kaiba!"
The clown Dark Mimic Zaki tried to confuse the Monster with its magical tricks to evade the Attack, but unfortunately, it was facing a steel cannon barrel. The Monsters on Hayato's Field concentrated their fire for a total Attack. After the dust settled, Dark Mimic Zaki had been Destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, and Kaiba's Life Points dropped by more than half in one go.
[Kaiba: 4000 LP → 1900 LP]
"I Set a card, End Turn." Setting his last card from Hand, Hayato calmly ended his Turn. All the materials for XYZ-Dragon Cannon were now gathered on his Field. He had just chosen not to Fusion Summon directly to deal more Damage. Facing Seto Kaiba, his Hand hadn't bricked at all, which Hayato himself found somewhat unbelievable.
[Hayato: 4000 LP, Hand 0]
[X-Head Cannon] [1800 ATK]
[Y-Dragon Head] (Z-Metal Tank) [2100 ATK]
[Frontline Base] [Set Card]
"Just a mere Fourth-Rate Duelist, yet so arrogant. My Turn, Draw!" Kaiba drew a Card and glanced at it, his annoyed expression suddenly turned smug. "Heheheh, Hahahahaha! Let me crush that inexplicable confidence and courage of yours! With my Ace Card!"
"I Normal Summon Kaiser Sea Horse! When used for the Summon of a LIGHT Attribute Monster, it can be treated as two Tributes!"
Seeing the Monster with "Kaiba" in its name appear on Kaiba's Field, Hayato was a bit confused. "Are you going to Tribute Summon Blue-Eyes with it? But you've already performed a Normal Summon."
"Don't mistake me for a Duelist like you! I am Seto Kaiba!" For some reason, Kaiba suddenly spoke with arrogance. "I Activate the Spell Card, Double Summon, allowing me to perform a second Normal Summon this Turn. The stage for its Summon has been set for you!"
"I Tribute Kaiser Sea Horse on my Field, my strongest Dragon, unleash your unrivaled torrent of light!"
"BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!!!"
(Thanks to "Book Friend 20200308103539937" for the 100 points donation, many thanks!)
(Though ultimately it's just 3000 ATK, and without Special Summoning it's rarely used by anyone, but in DM, Blue-Eyes is enough to make many Monsters despair, since many Monsters struggle to reach 3000 ATK even with card support.)
(end of chapter)