"Gaia the Dragon Champion, Attack Dark Magician!"
The knight riding the flying dragon swooped down. The sharp Lance, after passing through the flames the flying dragon spat out beforehand, used the spiral structure on it to keep the flames on the Lance, thrusting towards Dark Magician.
"It's not that simple! I Activate my Set Card on the Field!" Yugi Activated his Set Card in the Spell/Trap Zone, revealing a Card etched into every Duelist's DNA—
The Sublime Power of the Hanoi Knights!
"Mirror Force's Effect is, when your Monster attacks, it reflects the Monster's Attack and Destroys all Attack Position Monsters on your Field!" Yugi showed a smug smile.
"What! How can there be such a tricky Card? Where's my defense against flashing light!" Hayato had an Expression of surprised on his face, but his Hand played a Card as if he had expected it all along. "Just kidding! The fact that you would Declare an Attack was also within my calculations!"
"Activate Spell Card, De-Fusion!"
On Yugi's Field, a curved mirror that looked fragile and easily broken, but could actually block even a Divine-Beast's Attack, stood up, protecting Dark Magician within it. Just as the Lance in the Hand of the swooping Gaia the Dragon Champion was about to pierce the mirror, the De-Fusion that Hayato Activated took Effect.
Seeing the mirror stand up, Gaia saw the situation was bad and used his legs to stand up from behind Curse of Dragon. Lifting one foot and kicking hard on Curse of Dragon's head, Gaia did a stylish 720° spin in mid-air, accurately returning to Hayato's Field, and his foot didn't step out of bounds like Hashimoto Daiki.
Curse of Dragon, who was flying just fine, was kicked by Gaia for no reason. It turned its head, not even bothering with the Attack, and also returned to Hayato's Field wanting to find trouble with Gaia, but could only watch as the recent Gaia the Dragon Champion climbed onto a War Horse that appeared out of nowhere, turned back into Gaia The Fierce Knight, and stood side-by-side with the other Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight, looking exactly like a pair of twins.
Meanwhile, the Mirror Force on Yugi's Field had been Activated for a long time, but couldn't wait for Hayato's Monster to Attack, and reflected nothing.
"Just before the Attack was about to hit, De-Fusion's Effect made my Gaia the Dragon Champion revert back into the two Material Monsters, Attack Replay. This way, your Mirror Force was evaded by me." Hayato's explanation, which was Making things up, was quite reasonable; not only Yugi, but even he himself was convinced.
Yugi reluctantly Sent the activated Mirror Force to the Graveyard: "But, in order to evade being Destroyed, the current Gaia can no longer combine with Curse of Dragon. If their ATK are not combined, they cannot defeat my Dark Magician."
"Tch, you're right." Hayato reluctantly looked at Gaia on the Field, riding the War Horse and dodging Curse of Dragon's Attack, and sighed. "Set one Card. My Turn ends."
[Hayato: 3000 LP, Hand 1]
[Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight] [ATK 2300]
[Gaia The Fierce Knight] [ATK 2300]
[Curse of Dragon] [ATK 2000]
[Set Card] [Set Card]
Yugi: "My Turn, Draw a Card."
"Activate Spell Card, Pot of Greed, Draw two Cards." At first, even Yugi himself didn't pay much attention, but after being enlightened by Hayato, he also realized how practical this Pot of Greed Card is. The Effect of replenishing your Hand without any conditions will never be outdated.
Added to Yugi's Hand was a Monster Card, but it was this Monster Card that made Yugi's eyes light up.
"Spell Card, Monster Reborn, Revive one Monster from the Graveyard to my Field."
"Oh, are you Reviving Dark Magician from the Graveyard, or are you Reviving Dark Magician Girl?" Hayato quickly reviewed the Cards Yugi had Sent to the Graveyard so far. The ones with the highest ATK were Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl.
The "Ankh" symbol appeared on Yugi's Field, but what was quite an Accident to Hayato was that the Monster Yugi Revived was not Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl, but rather the Queen's Knight that Hayato had Destroyed earlier.
"What can you do by Reviving this Monster to the Field? Wait, could it be!" Hayato suddenly remembered that Yugi's JQK Knights consisted of three Cards.
Yugi showed a confident smile: "First, I Normal Summon King's Knight from my Hand! Then, because Queen's Knight exists on the Field, King's Knight's Effect is Activated! From my Deck, Summon one Jack's Knight to the Field!"
After Queen's Knight was Revived by "Ankh", the knight wearing majestic orange-red Armor appeared. As soon as he appeared, King's Knight drew his long sword across the ground, and a young soldier wearing light blue Armor appeared before King's Knight, kneeling on one knee, as if swearing loyalty to his liege.
"The Three Knights, J, Q, and K, are Assembled on the Field." Hayato looked at Yugi. "In that case, that Card should also be in your Hand, right?"
Yugi nodded with a smile, but what was quite an Accident to Hayato was that what he Activated was not a Card from his Hand, but one of his two Set Cards from the previous Turn: "Spell Card, Fusion! Using Queen's Knight, King's Knight, and Jack's Knight on my Field as Fusion Material, Summon the supreme knight at the apex!"
"The supreme being who presides over Royal Authority, the undefeated Glory that sweeps all before it, Fusion Summon, Arcana Knight Joker!"
The three powers of Jack, Queen, and King combined under the light of Fusion. A majestic figure, accompanied by sharp sword energy, Descended onto Yugi's Field. His true name is "Arcana Knight Joker", the supreme knight named after the Ace Card—Arcana Knight Joker. Merely resting his Hand on the long sword in the sheath at his waist made Hayato feel as if he was being pointed at by a sharp sword.
[Arcana Knight Joker] [9☆/LIGHT]
[Warrior Type/Fusion/Effect]
[3800/2500]
"Enter Battle Phase! I use Arcana Knight Joker to Attack Gaia The Fierce Knight on your Field!" After Summoning Arcana Knight Joker, Yugi seemed to get carried away and Attacked Hayato's Set Card in the Spell/Trap Zone without any hesitation.
How could Hayato possibly miss such a good opportunity?
"Activate Set Card, Sakuretsu Armor!" A beam of light shot out from Hayato's Spell/Trap Zone and wrapped around Arcana Knight Joker, who was slowly walking towards Gaia, causing cracks to appear on the Armor on his body, looking like it was about to explode. "Targeting your Attacking Arcana Knight Joker, I directly Destroy it!"
"It's useless! Arcana Knight Joker symbolizes the final Ace Card, 'Joker', and cannot be easily defeated!" Yugi smiled confidently and, as if he had expected it all along, revealed a Trap Card from his Hand: "When Arcana Knight Joker is chosen as the Effect Target, Discard one Card of the Same Type from your Hand to make Arcana Knight Joker Immune to that Effect!"
"Well well, it's a Card of the Same Type." Arcana Knight Joker had an invincible Expression and walked steadily towards Gaia The Fierce Knight, slowly drawing the long sword from his waist. With a "clang", a flash of sword light seemed to pause and remain on Gaia, while Arcana Knight Joker walked back and sheathed his sword.
"Crack."
The moment the sword was sheathed, Gaia The Fierce Knight was like network lag being fixed, only then suddenly cried out in pain and was Destroyed by Arcana Knight Joker and Sent to the Graveyard.
[Hayato: 3000 → 1200 LP]
Hayato, whose Life Points took a nosedive, glanced at his Sakuretsu Armor which he still couldn't Activate successfully, and the Sakuretsu Armor that Yugi Discarded and Sent to the Graveyard, and said helplessly: "As expected. If I Set Sakuretsu Armor again next time, I'm a dog."
(End of this chapter)