Chapter 55: Keith the Thief

Yuxuan narrowed his eyes and sized up the newcomer.

"Bandit Keith?" he asked, somewhat uncertainly.

"Hah, is there actually still someone out there who recognizes yours truly?"

The man took off his sunglasses, grinning and revealing an unsettling smile.

It really was him.

Bandit Keith, a minor boss from the early Duelist Kingdom arc of *Yu-Gi-Oh! DM*. He was once a bounty hunter known as the "Card Professor" in America, sweeping through the entire United States undefeated at his peak. Hailed as the All-American Champion, he used to be a powerful and exceptionally promising dueling star.

Until the day he went to challenge Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters. Pegasus didn't even bother to show up himself; he simply sent a kid to duel Keith while he sat in the audience, laughing and chatting with Seto Kaiba next to him. Never in his wildest dreams did Keith expect that the kid would defeat him using nothing more than the counter-strategy written on a sticky note given by Pegasus. His pride utterly shattered, Keith embarked on a dark path of corruption and fall from grace.

But that was ancient history from the early days of DM; this guy should have faded into obscurity long ago.

Although his style of dress remained similar over the years, his appearance had changed quite a bit since back then, which was why Yuxuan couldn't confirm his identity until the man admitted it himself.

Yet, this still did not explain why Bandit Keith was present in the Spirit World.

"I can sense the power within you—an evil, consuming power," the Holy Elf said, looking at Keith with vigilance. "You are an agent of the Wicked God."

"Tch, power is power. What's all this nonsense about good and evil?"

Bandit Keith lit a cigarette, pulled out a lighter, and clicked it to flame.

He blew a smoke ring, then leisurely said to Yuxuan, "Thanks to Yugi Mutou and Joey Wheeler, I once plunged into the mire of despair. But with the aid of the God's power, I have been reborn from the ashes.

Bandit Keith died long ago; now, there remains only the God-chosen swordsman."

He paused, took a drag from his cigarette, and pointed with his hand toward the mural engraved behind Yuxuan.

"And now, my mission is for that very thing. Legendary warrior, we are claiming the power of that spirit. So I'm sorry, kid, but I'm afraid I can't let you walk out of here alive. Don't worry, though, you won't die right away."

With the cigarette clamped in his teeth, he blew another cloud of smoke and grinned broadly.

"To be able to make it here, you must have something special about you. Your soul should make for quite a decent nourishment."

Bandit Keith flicked away his cigarette, crushed it under his heel, and then unfolded his Duel Disk with a sharp snap.

"Come on. No matter what, only one of us is walking out of here today."

"Thanks for the invitation, but I'll pass."

Yuxuan took two steps back, planted his feet, and deployed his own Duel Disk as well.

"You'd better save the chance to be monster chow for yourself."

"Duel!" x2

[Yuxuan, LP 4000]
[Bandit Keith, LP 4000]

"I'll take the first turn. Draw," Bandit Keith said. "First, I activate 'Pot of Greed' from my hand, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck."

"Next, I set a monster in face-down defense position on the field, and then I set one card face-down. End of turn."

Yuxuan: "My turn, draw."

On the first turn, Keith had only set a monster and a backrow card, offering no glimpse into the strategy he was using.

In the original series, Keith appeared during the Duelist Kingdom arc, an era when everyone still used the "you play one, I play one" summoning system without Tributes, a primitive and brutal format where even Blue-Eyes White Dragon could easily clear the board. Nearly a decade had passed since then, and the matches from that era hardly held any reference value anymore.

Moreover, Keith clearly seemed to have defected to some other faction once again, so it was hard to say what kind of deck he was running now.

In any case, it was best to focus on his own duel for the time being.

"I summon 'Summoner Monk' in defense position!"

[Summoner Monk, DEF 1600]

Normally summoning a monster in face-up defense position was an anime-exclusive rule; in real-world play, you could either summon in attack position or set face-down in defense.

However, for a monster like "Summoner Monk," it made no difference, because the Summoner Monk possessed the special effect: "When this card is successfully summoned, it must be changed to defense position."

"I activate the effect of Summoner Monk," Yuxuan said. "Once per turn, by discarding one Spell Card from my hand, I can Special Summon one Level 4 monster from my deck."

Yuxuan drew a card from his hand and placed it onto the Duel Disk, where the card automatically slid into the Graveyard zone.

"I Special Summon the Level 4 'Witch of the Black Forest' from my deck!"

[Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100]

"Next, I activate the Equip Spell 'Magical Mallet'—wait, no, 'Magical Rod'—and equip it to 'Summoner Monk'.

This card can be equipped to a Spellcaster-type monster, and the equipped monster gains 500 ATK."

[Summoner Monk, ATK 800 → ATK 1300]

"Summoner Monk is forced into defense mode when its summon succeeds," Bandit Keith said indifferently. "What's the point of boosting its attack?"

"The second effect of 'Magical Rod' activates!" Yuxuan waved his hand again. "By sending the equipped monster and this card from the field to the Graveyard, I draw two cards from my deck."

The Summoner Monk and the staff in its hand dissolved together into points of light, condensing into a beam of golden light that flew into Yuxuan's deck. He smoothly drew two cards.

"Next, the Spell Card I discarded to the Graveyard to activate the effect of 'Summoner Monk' was 'Silent Burning'!" Yuxuan declared. "By banishing 'Silent Burning' from my Graveyard, I add one 'Silent Magician' monster from my deck to my hand.

Therefore, I add 'True Silent Magician' from my deck to my hand."

The Duel Disk executed the search protocol, and the card popped out automatically. Yuxuan drew it into his hand, and his deck immediately shuffled itself rapidly within the slot.

"'True Silent Magician' cannot be Normal Summoned, but can be Special Summoned by Tributing a Spellcaster-type monster on the field.

Therefore, I offer the Spellcaster-type 'Witch of the Black Forest' on my field as a Tribute!"

The robed witch's figure dissolved into golden light, and energy gathered on the ground to form a white magical array, the transparent white magical power turning into a swirling storm.

"Wings of silence entrusted with hope, magician of light, manifest here—
——True Silent Magician, Summon!"

The white ceremonial robes billowed in the glowing storm, well-proportioned, snow-white legs vaguely visible beneath the hem. The silent maiden slowly opened her eyes, spun her staff skillfully twice in her hand, and gripped it firmly.

[Silent Magician, ATK 1000]

"And at this exact moment, the effect of 'Witch of the Black Forest' also activates," Yuxuan waved his hand and said. "When the Witch is sent to the Graveyard, I can add one monster with 1500 or less DEF from my deck to my hand.

Therefore, I will add this card..."

The deck searched itself once more, and another card popped out with a click, which he drew into his hand.

"...Add 'Jinzo', who has 1500 DEF, to my hand!"

"Jinzo..."

Seeing that card, Keith gave a slight lip curl and let out a soft huff.

That card reminded him of an old acquaintance.

It was Joey Wheeler who had dealt him a heavy blow in Duelist Kingdom, eliminating him and plunging him even deeper into the abyss of no return.

Of course, Joey didn't have that card at the time. But later, after Joey rose to fame, Jinzo was publicized as one of his signature rare cards as a legendary duelist. Therefore, even though Keith had never actually faced Joey's Jinzo in a tournament match, simply associating it with his enemy made him feel somewhat displeased.

"Bad memories?"

Yuxuan drew the searched card from his deck, and as the deck automatically shuffled, he coldly observed his opponent.

"None of your business," Bandit Keith said coldly. "Sooner or later, I'll use my new power to drag everyone who ever stepped on me into the darkness.

One problem at a time, though; I'll deal with you first. Now, let's continue the duel."

"As you wish."

Yuxuan said calmly.

"The ATK of 'True Silent Magician' increases by 500 for each card in my hand. With 'Jinzo', which I just added to my hand, my hand size is six cards.

Therefore, Silent Magician's ATK increases by 3,000!"

As he spoke, the six cards in his hand seemed to truly emit an invisible fluctuation, transforming into transparent magical power that surged into Silent Magician. She swept her staff lightly, unleashing an invisible storm of magic that made her skirt flutter, creating an aura resembling an inviolable barrier.

[True Silent Magician, ATK 1000 → ATK 4000]

"Right off the bat, a monster on par with Obelisk..." Keith frowned.

Only then did he notice that through his opponent's series of actions—continuous card cycling, searching, and summoning an ace monster—his hand size unexpectedly remained at a solid six cards, instantly churning out a powerful monster on the level of Obelisk.

Keith faintly realized.

This time, his opponent didn't seem to be a simple pushover either.