Chapter 42: Seto Kaiba

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"Duel!" x2
[Kaiba, LP 4000]
[Fujimoto, LP 4000]

"I'll take the first turn. My turn, draw!"
Kaiba drew a card, calmly revealed one card from his hand, and sent it straight 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 Dragons' from my deck to my hand!"

With the card sent to the graveyard, the deck in the Duel Disk automatically searched itself, and two cards popped out with a click. Kaiba drew both cards into his hand.
"I add two 'Thunder Dragons' to my hand."

Just this simple opening move made Yuxuan feel a twinge of envy. In the GX era, searching the deck still required the duelist to manually pull and flip through their deck, and then shuffle by hand afterward—quite tedious and unfriendly for decks requiring heavy searching. It wasn't until the 5D's era that Duel Disks achieved fully automated searching and shuffling functions.

As expected of President Kaiba, always equipped with cutting-edge tech ahead of his time. Yuxuan stared at the Duel Disk and instinctively began pondering how he could find an opportunity to get his hands on one...

"I place one monster on the field in defense position, and set three cards in the backrow," Kaiba said calmly. "End of turn."

"Heh, is this the legendary duel of Seto Kaiba? I must say, it's nothing special after all."
Fujimoto tried hard to calm his nervous heart, but he still put up a brave front.

You can lose your life, but your bluff must be solid. In many cases, duelists rely on momentum; no matter what, you cannot lose the psychological battle.
Though it sounded metaphysical, many duelists found in actual practice that it was indeed true. Dueling was a peculiar thing; sometimes, when a player lost their nerve, their cards would fail them too. Once the momentum collapsed and the mindset shattered, the deck would begin to brick, and the match would be effectively lost before it even began.

"My turn, draw!"
Scanning his starting hand, Fujimoto suddenly felt his spine straighten up.
Never had he experienced such a magnificent opening hand!
This hand... there is a chance!

"I activate the Spell Card 'Graceful Charity' from my hand. I draw three cards from my deck, and then discard two cards."
After replacing his cards in hand, a cruel smile crept up the corner of his mouth, and he glanced at the seemingly unremarkable face-down monster on Kaiba's field. "Heh, it seems President Kaiba didn't think much of me. What a pity, even if you start trying to get serious now, it's already too late!
I summon from my hand—
—Level 8, Dreadscythe Harvester - The Progenitor Fiend!"

A pitch-black, giant fiend erupted amidst a burst of blood-red flames, its greatsword slashing through the air and generating a transparent wave of sword qi.

"Hoh, a Level 8 monster right off the bat," Kyupin said cheerfully, trying to hype up the atmosphere. "Not bad momentum."
"The effect of Dreadscythe Harvester - The Progenitor Fiend: although this card is Level 8, it can be Normal Summoned without tributes," Fujimoto said. "However, the original ATK of the Progenitor Fiend summoned this effect is halved, and it is destroyed during the End Phase."

[Dreadscythe Harvester - The Progenitor Fiend, ATK 3000 → ATK 1500]

"Big deal, it's just a paper tiger," Kyupin chuckled.
"Heh, not necessarily."
Fujimoto smiled, taking the opportunity to look cool while drawing another card from his hand.

"First, the effect of 'Dreadscythe Harvester - The Progenitor Fiend' activates. Once per turn, I can banish one 'Fiend' card from my hand or graveyard from play to destroy one card on the field.
Therefore, I banish 'Fiend Soldier' from my graveyard and destroy the card on the left side of your backrow!"

Kaiba still stood with his arms crossed, completely calm. The backrow set card was flipped over and exploded into dust with a snap.
"The card you just destroyed was the Trap Card 'Golden Idol'," Kaiba said calmly. "When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I Special Summon one 'Evil God Token' to my field."

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The golden idol of the evil god manifested on Kaiba's field, acting like a barrier wall.
[Evil God Token, DEF 1000]

"Tch, of course it had to be the Idol."
Fujimoto frowned, cursing his own bad luck while continuing his plays.
"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Double Summon', which allows me to conduct two Normal Summons this turn.
Therefore, I offer the Progenitor Fiend on my field as a tribute, and Tribute Summon!
Dark Overlord, King of Chaos—
—Level 6, Great Maju Garzelt, appear!"

[Great Maju Garzelt, ATK 0]

"The effect of Great Maju Garzelt: its ATK becomes twice the original ATK of the monster sacrificed for its Tribute Summon.
When this effect resolves, 'Dreadscythe Harvester - The Progenitor Fiend' used as the tribute has already gone to the graveyard, so its original ATK is calculated as its base three thousand points.
Therefore, Garzelt's ATK is..."

[Great Maju Garzelt, ATK 0 → ATK 6000]

"Six thousand points!" Fujimoto laughed heartily. "In an instant, double the attack power of Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The corner of Kaiba's mouth twitched slightly: "Hmph, now this is slightly less boring."
"What?"

Having such a rare and proud opening completely unacknowledged made Fujimoto's blood boil slightly.
"As expected of President Kaiba, your horizons are indeed different... But it's not over yet." Fujimoto said darkly. "I proceed to activate the Quick-Play Spell Card 'Dark Deal' from my hand!
This card can only be activated during the turn a Level 8 monster is sent from my field to the graveyard.
This turn, the Level 8 'Dreadscythe Harvester - The Progenitor Fiend' went to the graveyard as a tribute. Therefore, I can Special Summon this card from my deck!"

He spread open his deck and drew the chosen card.
"Intertwined in raging flames and the shadows of death—
—Level 8, Rampaging Rhynos!, summon!"

[Rampaging Rhynos, ATK 3500]

"Rampaging Rhynos?!" Kyupin was shocked.
Not because it was overwhelmingly strong, but because this monster was one of the aces used by the "Big Five"—the villains who had once been expelled from Kaiba Corp.
"Hoh, it's this guy," Kaiba chuckled softly. "Truly nostalgic."

"Next, I activate the Spell Card 'Shield Crush' from my hand, which lets me select and destroy one Defense Position monster on the field!"
A spell card materialized, and Fujimoto pointed at Kaiba's field.
"I destroy that face-down monster card on your field!"

A magical beam shot out from the card, targeting Kaiba's field. However, the exact moment the face-down monster was about to be hit, a cloud of black mist suddenly erupted, forming a vortex that instantly swallowed the beam.
"What?" Fujimoto was startled.
"Trap Card 'Dark Bribe'," Kaiba said coldly. "When a Spell, Trap, or monster effect 'that destroys a card on the field' is activated by the opponent, negate that effect."

The black mist swallowed the magic impact from Shield Crush, and the holographic image of the spell beside Fujimoto faded and vanished.
"Tch, blocked again." Fujimoto frowned.

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"Furthermore, after negating it, I can send one Level 3 or lower DARK monster from my deck to the graveyard."
Another card automatically searched and popped out of Kaiba's Duel Disk, going straight to the graveyard.

Fujimoto gritted his teeth. "Then I activate the Spell Card 'Spell Sanctuary' from my hand! (Note: anime card)
This card allows me to draw two cards from my deck by banishing three Spell cards from my graveyard from play!"
Three green cards popped out of his graveyard zone.
"I banish 'Double Summon', 'Dark Deal', and 'Shield Crush' from play, and draw two cards!"
Fujimoto drew from his deck.

"Battle Phase! First, 'Rampaging Rhynos', attack the face-down monster!"
Rampaging Rhynos opened its decayed mouth, spewing an impact vortex carrying filth. The face-down monster on Kaiba's field was immediately destroyed under the overwhelming impact.
"Hmph, the monster you destroyed was 'Nimble Momonga'."
Kaiba sneered, drawing two more cards automatically searched from his deck.
"'Nimble Momonga', when destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, recovers 1000 LP for me. Furthermore, I can Special Summon any number of 'Nimble Momonga' from my deck in face-down Defense Position.
Therefore, I Special Summon the other two 'Nimble Momonga'."

[Kaiba, LP 4000 → LP 5000]
At the same time, two new face-down monsters appeared on his field in succession.

Fujimoto: "......"
Not only were the monsters multiplying with every attack, but the opponent's LP was increasing too.
However, he had a corresponding countermeasure.

"No amount of small-fry walls will work," Fujimoto shouted. "The special effect of 'Rampaging Rhynos'!
This card has the effect of being able to attack all of the opponent's monsters once each. Therefore, the attack continues, 'Rampaging Rhynos' attacks 'Golden Idol' next!"

Using the Rhynos's effect to clear the board in one go, the attack of the Great Maju with six thousand ATK would end the duel right here.
He was going to OTK the legendary Seto Kaiba!

Boom!
The Rhynos's breath landed with a violent explosion, a pitch-black storm sweeping across the entire field.
But when the smoke cleared, the Idol was still intact, and Kaiba was still holding that same calm pose, only the corner of his trench coat gently fluttering in the storm.

"Counter Trap 'Attack Negation', negates the opponent monster's attack and forcibly ends the Battle Phase."
Pausing for a second, he chuckled mockingly.
"Hmph, you tried hard enough for a rat, but in the end, it seems you're only capable of this much."

"Tch..."
Fujimoto gritted his teeth, but was powerless to do anything.
"Then I set two cards on the field, and end my turn."

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