[Gate Guardian, ATK: 3750]
[Arcana Knight Joker, ATK: 3800]
Aisha said, "Mr. Miles, looks like we're stronger."
Miles thought, 'You're not seeing things. Take out the "looks like"—we are stronger.'
"Heh heh ha ha ha! Scared, aren't you? This is our strongest Trinity God!"
The Paradox Brothers burst into synchronized laughter, their manic cackles echoing through the underground arena.
"Ah, yes, yes... definitely scared," Miles said dryly.
Having already seen Gate Guardian's card effect, Miles knew the truth.
It was just a giant, high-Level beatstick with no real effects.
To burn through all their resources for this... Miles couldn't help but be shocked at their apparent lack of intelligence.
Even so, ever-cautious, Miles didn't fully lower his guard.
Thinking from the other side's perspective: if these two really were that dumb, how did they ever push the so-called King of Games to the brink?
One of the "Kings of Games" the Paradox Brothers spoke of was undoubtedly Yugi Muto.
But given how long ago that duel was, Miles had long since forgotten the childhood anime plot. The only thing he remembered was the famous labyrinth bluff.
"I end my turn," the Paradox Brothers declared.
Control of the Tag Duel now shifted to Kevin, the last duelist in rotation.
"My turn, draw!"
Drawing his card, Kevin glanced at the 3800 Attack Point Arcana Knight Joker on the field and said, "Aisha Carlos's strongest monster... truly incredible. The ultimate Arcana Knight Joker."
Across from them stood three God-level monsters—each one rivaling or surpassing Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
And even after combining those three, their attack power still couldn't exceed Arcana Knight Joker. The Poker Knights' full potential, brought out through Fusion, was on full display.
"Let me borrow your greatest power this turn, Aisha... to break through their so-called Guardian!"
In a Tag Duel, just as you could revive monsters from your teammate's Graveyard, you could also use monsters your partner Summoned to battle.
Announcing the Battle Phase, Kevin charged in with Arcana Knight Joker, targeting Gate Guardian.
"Take down their strongest monster!—Holy Cross Slash!"
The sacred longsword carved two strikes through the air, forming a cross-shaped slash at the fused Gate Guardian.
"Heh heh... Gotcha!"
The Paradox Brothers sneered wickedly.
"When you declared your attack, Gate Guardian's effect activates!"
Bad feeling confirmed. Miles immediately shouted back, "Gate Guardian is just a big vanilla monster! There's no such effect!"
"Little girl, what are you talking about?"
This time, the Paradox Brothers sounded utterly confident, no longer bluffing like before.
"Gate Guardian, inheritor of all three Elemental Gods' powers... how could it not have an effect? Watch this!"
They picked up their Gate Guardian card and boldly displayed it.
[Effect: The Attack of any monster that attacks this card becomes 0. This effect can be used up to 3 times as long as this card remains face-up.]
This time, the card text... was real.
Unlike the vanilla Gate Guardian Miles had seen back at the High-Level Spirit Research Society, the Paradox Brothers' version had effects—specifically, it inherited the Attack-reducing powers of Kazejin, Suijin, and Sanga of the Thunder.
And thanks to combining the three, this effect could even be used three times.
'Why... why is it different from the one I saw before?'
Miles turned a puzzled gaze to Rovik behind him.
Since these were replica cards made by the Braun family, Rovik should know something.
However, Rovik just shrugged helplessly, showing he was as clueless about why their Gate Guardian was stronger.
Maybe it was because they were in a different world, and the Duel Spirits' power varied.
For an 11-Star monster fused from three Elemental Gods, this was at least an effect worthy of Gate Guardian's strength.
The Paradox Brothers roared as their effect resolved, "Summon the Barrier of Water! Reduce Arcana Knight Joker's Attack to 0, Gate Guardian!"
While Arcana Knight Joker could discard cards from hand to negate effects targeting it, effects like this—those that didn't target—were unavoidable.
When it came down to it, non-targeting effects always had the upper hand.
[Arcana Knight Joker, ATK: 3800 → 0]
"Heh heh... It's over."
Their sinister smiles reflected their devious comeback strategy.
[Aisha & Kevin, LP: 3700]
After recovering with Draining Shield earlier, Miles and Kevin had 3700 Life Points left.
Regardless, now, with Joker reduced to 0 Attack, this unavoidable battle would deal damage equal to Gate Guardian's 3750 Attack.
Aisha cried out, "If the battle damage goes through, we'll lose the Duel!"
"We're not gonna get knocked out by an effect like this!"
Miles flipped the Trap Card he had Set last turn, making a sudden and drastic play change.
"—Trap Card, Nitwit Outwit, activate! I discard Summoned Skull from my hand to reduce Gate Guardian's Attack by the same amount!"
With 2500 Attack—100 points higher than Red-Eyes Black Dragon—Summoned Skull brought a hefty decrease thanks to Nitwit Outwit.
[Gate Guardian, ATK: 3750 → 1250]
Had this been any ordinary monster, taking a hit from Summoned Skull's 2500 Attack reduction would likely have dropped it to 0.
Even so, Gate Guardian's original 3750 Attack wasn't low.
Even after that heavy drop, it still had enough power left, fueled by its threefold Elemental energy, to destroy Arcana Knight Joker with the counterattack.
Drained of its power, Arcana Knight Joker stood defenseless at zero ATK. Gate Guardian's wind, thunder, water, and elemental attack came crashing down, shattering the Joker Knight's defenses in a blast of elements before obliterating it from the field.
[Aisha & Kevin, LP: 3700 → 2450]
Thankfully, with Miles discarding Summoned Skull at the critical moment, they narrowly held onto their Life Points.
The problem was... how were they going to attack next?
Even Arcana Knight Joker hadn't been able to overcome it. And even though Gate Guardian's Attack had dropped, its remaining two uses of the "reduce opponent's Attack to 0" effect were still active.
"—I activate the Spell Card: Pot of Avarice!"
After the Battle Phase ended, Kevin calmly placed his card on the table.
"I return the Poker Knights, Arcana Knight Joker, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon... 5 monsters in total, back to the Deck. Now I draw 2 cards!"
If Pot of Greed was an A-rank banned card, Pot of Avarice was more of a B-tier option.
The tradeoff was shuffling Graveyard monsters back into the Deck—essentially losing resources.
"Draw... draw!"
Drawing two more cards, Kevin glanced at them and then looked at Aisha.
"Do you believe in the kind of miracle that exists between destined rivals, Aisha Carlos?"
"Wah?"
"I once read in a family chronicle... that the union of a demon and a black dragon could create a monster of infinite potential!"
...
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