"Duel!" x2
[Kaiba, LP 4000]
[Fujimoto, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. My turn, draw!"
Kaiba drew a card, then calmly revealed a card from his hand and immediately sent it to the Graveyard.
"I activate the effect of 'Thunder Dragon' from my hand! By discarding this card to the Graveyard, I can add up to two 'Thunder Dragon' from my Deck to my hand!"
The card was sent to the Graveyard, and then the Duel Disk automatically scanned his Deck, shooting out two cards. Kaiba drew both cards into his hand.
"I add two 'Thunder Dragon' to my hand."
Just this first simple operation made Yugen a bit envious. One must know that in the GX era, searching the Deck still required the duelist to manually search their Deck and shuffle it afterward. For Decks that needed a lot of searching, this was a bit slow and inconvenient. It wasn't until the 5DS era that Duel Disks implemented fully automatic searching and shuffling.
President Kaiba truly lived up to his reputation, always at the forefront of advanced technology. Yugen stared at the Duel Disk and instinctively began to think about how he could get one for himself.
"I set one monster on the field and three face-down cards in the Spell/Trap Zone," Kaiba said indifferently. "Turn end."
"Ha, so this is the legendary Seto Kaiba's duel, huh? I don't see anything special about it."
Fujimoto tried to calm his nervousness but still put on a brave front.
He could break his head and spill blood, but his mouth had to be tough enough. Oftentimes, duelists fought on momentum. No matter what, they couldn't lose in terms of momentum.
Though it might sound mystical, many people found it to be true in practice. Dueling is a strange thing; sometimes, if a person is scared, their cards also become scared. If their momentum and mindset crumble, their Deck starts following their hand, and they lose a segment before even fighting.
"My turn, draw!"
His gaze swept over his hand, and Fujimoto immediately felt his back straighten.
He'd never had such a beautiful opening!
This hand has potential!
"I activate the Spell Card 'Graceful Charity' from my hand. I draw three cards from my Deck, then discard two cards from my hand."
After replacing his hand, a cruel smile appeared on his lips as he glanced at Kaiba's seemingly ordinary face-down monster: "Ha, it seems President Kaiba doesn't think much of me. Too bad, even if you want to get serious now, it's already too late!
From my hand, I Summon—
—Level 8, Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror!"
A gigantic black demon erupted in a burst of blood-like crimson flames, its great sword sweeping swiftly, stirring up transparent sword energy.
"Whoa, a Level 8 monster right off the bat," Mokuba chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "Good momentum."
"Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror's effect: although this card is Level 8, it can be Normal Summoned without Tributes," Fujimoto stated. "However, when Summoned by this effect, its original ATK is halved, and it's destroyed during the End Phase."
[Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror, ATK 3000 → ATK 1500]
"What, that's just a paper tiger," Mokuba laughed.
"Heh, not necessarily."
Fujimoto smiled, seizing the opportunity to both show off and draw another card into his hand.
"First, 'Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror's' effect activates. Once per turn, by banishing one 'Archfiend' card from my hand or Graveyard, I can destroy one card on the field.
Therefore, I banish 'Archfiend Soldier' from my Graveyard and destroy your leftmost face-down card!"
Kaiba remained perfectly calm, his arms still crossed. The face-down card was flipped, and with a loud 'thud', it shattered into pieces.
"The card you just destroyed was the Trap Card 'Statue of the Wicked'," Kaiba calmly stated. "When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Wicked Token' to my field."
A golden evil god statue appeared on Kaiba's field, like a hindering wall.
[Wicked Token, DEF 1000]
"Oh, come on, it just had to be Statue of the Wicked."
Fujimoto frowned, annoyed at his bad luck, but continued his play.
"Then, from my hand, I activate the Spell Card 'Double Summon', allowing me to Normal Summon twice this turn.
Therefore, I Tribute the Archfiend Emperor on my field for a Tribute Summon!
Dark overlord, king in chaos—
—Level 6, Great Maju Garzett, Summon!"
[Great Maju Garzett, ATK 0]
"Great Maju Garzett's effect: its ATK becomes double the original ATK of the monster Tributed for its Summon.
Since 'Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror' was sent to the Graveyard as a Tribute when this effect resolved, its original ATK is calculated as 3000.
So, Garzett's ATK is—"
[Great Maju Garzett, ATK 0 → ATK 6000]
"6000 ATK!" Fujimoto laughed, "It instantly reached double the ATK of Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Kaiba's mouth curved slightly: "Hmph, now this is slightly less boring."
"What?"
It was rare for such a satisfying opening hand to receive absolutely no approval, and Fujimoto couldn't help but feel a bit angry.
"As expected of President Kaiba, your vision is different. But I'm not done yet," Fujimoto said in a low voice. "Next, from my hand, I activate the Quick-Play Spell 'A Deal with Dark Ruler'!
This card can only be activated during the turn a Level 8 monster is sent from your field to the Graveyard.
This turn, my Level 8 'Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror' was Tributed and sent to the Graveyard. Therefore, I can Special Summon this card from my Deck!"
He spread his Deck and drew the chosen card.
"Amidst raging flames and the darkness of death—
—Level 8, Berserk Dragon, Summon!"
[Berserk Dragon, ATK 3500]
"It's Berserk Dragon!" Mokuba exclaimed, surprised.
Not because it was particularly strong, but because that monster was one of the ace cards used by the "Big Five," villains who were expelled from Kaiba Corp years ago.
"Oh, it's this guy," Kaiba hummed softly. "Quite nostalgic, isn't it?"
"Next, I activate the Spell Card 'Shield Crush' from my hand, which can destroy one Defense Position monster on the field!"
The Spell Card appeared, and Fujimoto pointed it towards Kaiba's field.
"I destroy your face-down monster card on the field!"
A beam of magical light shot out from the card, heading straight for Kaiba's field. Just as the face-down monster seemed about to be hit, a cloud of dark mist suddenly surged forth, forming a vortex that immediately swallowed the beam of light.
"What?" Fujimoto was startled.
"The Trap Card 'Dark Sacrifice'," Kaiba stated calmly. "When a Spell, Trap, or monster effect that would destroy a card on the field is activated by your opponent, that effect is negated."
The dark mist swallowed the magical impact of Shield Crush, and the magical image next to Fujimoto also faded and disappeared.
"Hmph, protected again," Fujimoto frowned.
"Also, after the negation, I can send one DARK monster with 3 or fewer stars from my Deck to the Graveyard."
Another card automatically popped out from Kaiba's Duel Disk and was sent to the Graveyard.
Fujimoto gritted his teeth, "Then, from my hand, I activate the Spell Card 'Card of Burial Magic'! This card allows me to banish three Spell Cards from my Graveyard to draw two cards from my Deck!" (Anime card)
Three green cards shot out from his Graveyard.
"I banish 'Double Summon', 'A Deal with Dark Ruler', and 'Shield Crush' to draw two cards!"
Fujimoto drew his cards from the Deck.
"Battle Phase! First, 'Berserk Dragon' attacks your face-down monster!"
Berserk Dragon opened its decaying mouth, spitting out a swirling vortex of foul shockwaves. The face-down monster on Kaiba's field was immediately destroyed by the immense impact.
"Hmph, the monster you destroyed was 'Nimble Momonga'."
Kaiba smirked, then drew two more cards that automatically popped out from his Deck.
"'Nimble Momonga': when it is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you gain 1000 LP. Also, you can Special Summon any number of 'Nimble Momonga' from your Deck in face-down Defense Position.
Therefore, I Special Summon two other 'Nimble Momonga'."
[Kaiba, LP 4000 → LP 5000]
At the same time, two new face-down monsters appeared on his field.
Fujimoto: "..."
Not only were the monsters increasing, but his LP was also increasing.
But he also had a corresponding countermeasure.
"No matter how many weak walls you have, they're useless!" Fujimoto shouted, "'Berserk Dragon's' special effect! This card has an effect that allows it to attack all of your opponent's monsters once. Therefore, the attack continues, 'Berserk Dragon' attacks 'Statue of the Wicked' again!"
He'd clear the field with Berserk Dragon's effect, then finish the duel with Great Maju Garzett's 6000 ATK.
He could One-Turn Kill this legendary Seto Kaiba!
Boom!
Berserk Dragon's breath descended, a powerful bombardment, a black storm sweeping across the entire field.
But as the smoke cleared, the Evil God Statue remained unharmed, and Kaiba still maintained his calm pose, only a corner of his trench coat gently fluttering in the storm.
"Counter Trap 'Negate Attack' negates your monster's attack and forcibly ends the Battle Phase."
He paused, then chuckled mockingly.
"Hmph, for a rat, you tried hard enough, but it seems you're still only capable of this much."
"Tch..."
Fujimoto gritted his teeth, but he was helpless.
"Then I set two cards on the field, turn end."