Noah squinted his eyes, seemingly displeased with this unexpected turn of events.
This guy... how can he use cards that don't exist in my world?
But he did just say, "As long as it's a card recognized by the Duel Disc, it can be used," and most of the cards in his deck were also ones he privately printed, only usable in his own Virtual World.
If he directly forbade Youyu from using his cards here, it would be tantamount to admitting defeat.
Noah focused his mind, using part of the program to inspect Youyu's deck and cards, confirming that what he used were genuine Duel Monster Cards, not some knockoff from a small workshop.
If we have to say it, it's actually Noah who is the one playing with fake cards...
In the Yu-Gi-Oh World, although the one who revived the "Duel Monsters" card game in modern times is known as the "Father of Duel Monsters," Pegasus, not all the cards in this world view are printed by Pegasus.
For example, every generation of Yu-Gi-Oh antagonists, as long as they have some status, they all use unique special cards that clearly couldn't be printed by the International Fantasy Society.
But as mentioned before, all genuine Duel Monster Cards have supernatural powers within them, which is the essential difference between real and fake cards. So even if past villains pulled out a pile of cards that no one had ever heard of, they would still be recognized by the duel rules.
So Noah didn't doubt that Youyu's deck might contain fake cards, he just cared about how Youyu could pull out cards that weren't in the database in his controlled Virtual World.
"It seems I underestimated you, Youyu; you also have your secrets," Noah said lightly, "No matter. I'll uncover your secrets after I defeat you."
When it comes to dueling, Noah has absolute confidence.
After all, most of his deck, and the Deck Commander behind him, were all self-printed.
In this Virtual World, when it comes to dueling, he is absolutely invincible!
"Duel!" x2
[Noah, LP 4000]
[Youyu, LP 4000]
For once in a blue moon, the Duel Disc actually gave Youyu the right to decide who goes first.
However, Youyu wisely chose to...
"I'll let you go first." He shrugged, "I don't want to be accused of bullying kids."
He said so, but what he thought in his heart was—
—As if I'd want to go first with my pure Hero deck, what hero wants to go first?
"Oh? So confident?" Noah smiled, "Well, don't regret it later. My turn, draw!
I summon 'War God Ares,' in attack position."
Noah's 'War God Ares' is also a card he printed himself. However, this Greek war god he printed is somewhat unrefined. Not only is it a four-star Normal Monster, but it also looks quite plain, with a loincloth draped over the shoulder, bare-chested, like a primitive tribesman.
[War God Ares, Attack Power 1800]
"I set a card, turn end," Noah said confidently, "Alright, it's your turn. Although, nothing you do will matter anyway."
Seeing Noah's confident demeanor, Youyu couldn't help but find it amusing.
He obviously knows what Noah is relying on to think he can't lose. Actually, in terms of dueling skills, Noah isn't anything remarkable. In the animation, his ability to suppress Kaiba entirely relied on the ridiculous effects of the cards he privately printed, even more unreasonable than fake cards.
For example, Magic Card "Great Flood," sending all Monster Cards in both players' fields and hands to the Graveyard.
Or Magic Card "Ice Age Chaos," under the condition that there are no monsters on the field, unconditionally allowing a Special Summon of an Earth Attribute Monster from the deck with four stars or less.
These cards aren't even the most annoying; what's more troublesome is the Deck Commander, Shinato's Ark, behind him.
Shinato's Ark, Effect One: In this duel, any monster sent to the graveyard is instead "contained" by the Ark. The contained monsters neither count as banished nor in the graveyard, so you could say Noah essentially eliminated the opponent's graveyard from the start...
In all Youyu's years of dueling, he's only ever heard of monsters being sent to the graveyard or banished before; it's the first time he's ever heard of something as bizarre as "containment."
You look into your empty graveyard during a duel, confused, wondering where your monsters went?
Then your opponent: Haha, your monsters have been contained by my Deck Commander!
You: Seriously, I'll first contain you (physically)!
And it doesn't stop there; that's just the first effect of this absurd thing. The Deck Commander even has effects two, three, four, five, and six.
Effect Two: LP recovery. Once per turn, banish all monsters contained in the Ark from the game, and recover your LP by 500 times the number of monsters.
Effect Three: Absolute Defense. Every time the opponent declares the Battle Phase, randomly select an equal number of monsters from the Ark's 'Containment Zone' in defense position for Special Summon to your field as shields, based on how many monsters the opponent has.
Effect Four: Upon the opponent destroying Shinato's Ark summoned onto the field, Special Summon "Shinato, King of a Higher Plane," and Shinato will be considered the new Deck Commander; the player will not lose due to the Ark's destruction.
Effect Five: When Shinato attacks an opponent's Defense Position monster, the opponent's LP is halved. While this card is on the field, damage dealt to the opponent restores your LP.
Effect Six: This effect can only be activated once; when "Shinato, King of a Higher Plane" is going to be sent to the Graveyard from the field, disregard the sending effect, and Shinato can resurrect as the Deck Commander.
When Youyu watched the animation up to this point, he couldn't help but want to complain—six effects on one card, can you fit so many effects on a single card?
He would say that Kaiba Noah keeps talking about having a "fair and square" duel with Kaiba Seto, but it's all rubbish!
It was bad enough to implement a set of rules that were one-sidedly advantageous to him, but he even shamelessly gave his cards so many effects. He might as well write the Deck Commander's effect as "I win the duel" straight away!
Even if he wins against Kaiba with these cheat cards, what does it really prove?
So against such a player, who prints cards himself and never planned to duel fairly, Youyu never intended to be polite from the start.
Don't you like playing with fake cards?
Then prepare to face the hero's judgment!
"My turn, draw! Activate the Magic Card Pot of Greed, draw two cards from the deck."
Youyu started by drawing two cards as usual, then immediately began his move!
"The Magic Card I'm going to play first..." Youyu drew a card from his hand, "...is 'A Hero Lives'! This card can be activated when there are no face-up monsters on your field, pay half your LP, and special summon a Hero with 4 stars or less from the deck!
Come on! Elemental Hero Airman!"
[Youyu, LP 4000 → LP 2000]
An Airman, identical to the Deck Commander behind him, flew out from the deck, the turbines on its back spinning rapidly, and its form floated mid-air.
[Elemental Hero Airman, ATK 1800]
Noah folded his arms: "Hey hey, are you kidding? You lost 2000 LP just to special summon a monster that's the same as your Deck Commander?
Do you really know the rules? The Deck Commander can be summoned directly to the field."
Youyu ignored him and continued his operation.
"Activate Airman's effect! When successfully special summoned, add a 'Hero' monster from the deck to your hand. I choose 'Elemental Hero Shadow Mist'!"
Then he revealed the Shadow Mist he added to his hand along with another card.
"Normal Summon 'Elemental Hero Solidman'! Then, Solidman's effect, successfully summoned, special summon another 'Elemental Hero' from hand!
Special summon 'Elemental Hero Shadow Mist'!"
[Elemental Hero Solidman, ATK 1300]
[Elemental Hero Shadow Mist, ATK 1000]
Noah snorted: "Summoning three monsters at once? Planning to launch a strong attack in the first turn?"
"Activate Shadow Mist's special effect!" Youyu had just begun, "When successfully special summoned, add the Quick-Play Spell 'Mask Change' from the deck to the hand!"
Then he pointed to Airman hovering behind him.
"I'll first activate the effect of the Deck Commander, 'Elemental Hero Airman'!" Youyu waved his hand, "Once per turn, add a card with 'Hero' in its name from the deck to the hand.
I choose… 'Vision Hero Faris'!"
Vision Hero is a deck used by Ed Phoenix in the Yu-Gi-Oh GX manga, something Noah of course couldn't have seen before.
Noah frowned.
Vision Hero?
Another unheard-of card...
"Faris's special effect, even though it's a level 5, it can be special summoned by discarding a Hero monster from the hand.
I discard a card from hand, special summon 'Vision Hero Faris'!"
[Vision Hero Faris, ATK 1600]
"At this moment, the Deck Commander ability of 'Shinato's Ark' activates!" Noah waved, "Monsters sent to the graveyard by both sides will not enter the graveyard, they will be contained by the Ark!"
The large wooden ship behind Noah slowly rose, absorbing the monster discarded by Youyu.
With this, Youyu's graveyard was effectively crippled, a kind of interference akin to cheating for many current mainstream Yu-Gi-Oh decks.
But Youyu was prepared for this.
"Activate 'Vision Hero Faris''s effect!
Upon successful summon, select a 'Vision Hero' monster from the deck and place it as a Continuous Trap Card in your Magic Trap Zone!"
Noah continued to be surprised: "Using a Monster Card as a Continuous Trap!?"
Placing monsters in the Magic Trap Zone wasn't that uncommon during the time of the GX animation, with the Crystal Beasts being the most famous example.
In this aspect, Vision Heroes are somewhat similar to Crystal Beasts.
"I place 'Vision Hero Increase' in the Magic Trap Zone!
Then, 'Vision Hero Increase's effect, when this card is placed in the Magic Trap Zone, you can use a 'Hero' monster on the field as a tribute to special summon this card!
I use 'Vision Hero Faris' as a tribute, special summon Increase!"
[Vision Hero Increase, ATK 900]
Noah was even more confused, gritting his teeth: "Tributing a high attack monster to summon a lower level monster?"
For duelists of this era, this was an unimaginable maneuver, and Noah, whose entire understanding of dueling came from online data, was no exception.
Why would anyone sacrifice a level 5 monster with 1600 attack to summon a level 3 monster with only 900 attack?
"Activate 'Vision Hero Increase's effect!" Youyu exclaimed, "When successfully special summoned, special summon another 'Vision Hero' from the deck!
Special summon 'Vision Hero Vyon'!"
[Vision Hero Vyon, ATK 1000]
"Now the preparations are complete." Youyu smiled, raising his Duel Disc, the Field Magic Zone automatically popping open on its side.
"Field Magic… activate Fusion Gate!"