"My turn, draw card!"
It's Youyu's turn again. He glanced over the cards in his hand, quickly simulating various possibilities in his mind. He settled on a counter-strategy.
"First, I'll use Magic Card - Pot of Greed, and draw two more cards from my deck."
The greedy green pot appeared, and the "DRAW" prompt flashed on the Duel Disc display. Youyu drew two cards and added them to his hand, continuing with his play.
"Next, I'll banish the 'Destiny Hero Malicious' from my graveyard."
A card popped out from Youyu's Duel Disc Grave Zone; he took it, and another Malicious automatically ejected from his deck.
"By banishing 'Destiny Hero Malicious' in the graveyard, I can special summon another 'Destiny Hero Malicious' from the deck.
Come forth, Malicious!"
An undercurrent swirled as the Destiny Hero emerged from the murky darkness, letting out a low growl. Its wings spread wide, and its long tail swayed up and down.
[Destiny Hero Malicious, Defense 800]
Youyu paused for a moment, carefully drawing the card from his hand.
This duel's opponent was extraordinary, one whom he couldn't beat without holding back. Or perhaps, even a slight mistake could lead to being instantly defeated by the Egyptian God's divine power.
This time, he must give it his all.
"I offer the 'Masked Hero: Mist Water', 'Ghost Token', and 'Destiny Hero Malicious' on the field as tributes!"
A white whirlwind surrounded the three monsters, and the golden temple's lofty dome swirled with thunder and lightning as if something was stirring.
Jonouchi's pupils tightened: "Could it be, Youyu is also going to...!?"
"Ah!?" Yugi was equally surprised.
The Divine Card... isn't it in the hands of my other self?
"Piercing through the Netherworld and reality, descending within the chaos of thunder and lightning, appear now—
—Slifer the Sky Dragon, summon!!!"
Fierce thunder crashed down, and the earth erupted. Black smoke rolled around, and bricks and tiles shattered in mid-air.
The fiery red dragon descended from the sky, exhaling white mist from the corners of its two mouths. Its winding body appeared clad in steel-like red armor, as the dragon roared defiantly at the blue giant before it, unafraid of the destructive god's divine power.
"Eh eh eh!?"
The only true local Mana was stunned, her little butt landing with a "plop" on the ground.
Why could this handsome person also wield an Egyptian God?
Doesn't that mean... he's as powerful as the Prince!?
Jonouchi quickly regained his composure: "That's right... even if facing an Egyptian God, Youyu won't be at a disadvantage if he has a Divine Card..."
"No." Yugi shook his head solemnly, "Youyu summoned the Egyptian God 'Slifer the Sky Dragon', but Slifer's power is based on the number of cards in hand. He currently has four cards."
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, Attack Power 4000]
"The attack power matches Obelisk," Honda noted, "Ready for mutual destruction?"
But Youyu didn't plan for that: "Activate the effect of the second 'Destiny Hero Malicious' in the graveyard! Banish the Malicious from the graveyard to special summon the third 'Destiny Hero Malicious' from the deck!"
[Destiny Hero Malicious, Defense 800]
He immediately drew another card from his hand: "Quick-Play Magic - Reflected Energy! Sacrifice one monster on your field and choose another monster. The selected monster can directly attack the player this turn!" (anime card)
Thanks again to President Haima's generosity, this card was also snatched by Youyu from the Kaiba Company's deck. This anime card was originally used by Kaiba against Dartz when he attempted to use "Reflected Energy" to bypass Dartz's strong defense for a direct attack with the "Dragon Master Knight", but he didn't succeed.
"Amazing!" Jonouchi displayed his gambler-inspired expression, "Even if you can't defeat Obelisk, you can still bypass the monster for a direct attack!"
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, Attack Power 4000 → Attack Power 3000]
Malicious transformed into a beam of white light, shooting behind the Pharaoh, forming a radiant disc that shone like a clear mirror.
"Slifer's attack!" Youyu waved, "Thunderforce Attack!"
The Sky Dragon opened its massive mouth, gathering boundless lightning into its maw. The intense light cannon surged from its mouth like sword qi that had been sealed for centuries.
The beam seemed to rush mightily towards the giant soldier but merely feinted with a glancing blow, passing by his side, and struck the Pharaoh behind with the Reflected Energy's disc.
The Thunderforce Attack accompanied with a roar returned along that disc at a sharp angle, like a thousand horses charging from behind towards the Pharaoh!
The Pharaoh stood tranquilly, as if the unmatched offensive wasn't aimed at him at all.
He extended his hand, calmly activating a stone tablet in front of him.
In the next second, abruptly intercepting the trajectory of the Thunderforce Attack was...
...Kuriboh!
The piercing explosion sound within the golden palace was amplified countless times, all the thunder in the field converged into an electrical tornado, but it seemed to kick a sheet of iron and was bounced all around.
It's Kuriboh again, the invincible Kuriboh blocked the Divine Strike once more!
Kuriperson: Kurikuri. (Basic maneuver error 6)
Youyu's mouth twitched.
Kuriboh, as expected even three thousand years ago, is a royal standard...
Speaking of which, this reminded him of the plot in the original manga. That was when Priest Set had just come to the Royal Palace, back then Set was proud and arrogant, thinking he was invincible.
However, not long after Set arrogantly arrived at the Royal Palace, he was taught a lesson by Dark Yugi. The key to victory at that time was also Kuriboh.
This shows that President Haima being pitted by Kuriboh had its precedents. Nowadays, people often say "lifelong rivalry," but in this case, saying Kuriboh is President Haima's lifelong rival may not be accurate, because even in his previous life, he was still pitted by this guy...
The attack didn't go through, but Youyu wasn't too surprised, he just drew two more cards from his hand.
He still had a strategy.
"Set two cards face-down, turn end."
[Slifer the Sky Dragon, ATK 3000 → ATK 1000]
"Ahhh, Slifer's attack power has further decreased!" Honda began to panic, "Doesn't this widen the gap from the opponent?"
Yugi shook his head, "No. Slifer wasn't originally a match for Obelisk in attack power, so rather than preserving the hand to increase Slifer's attack power, it's better to gamble with the resources on hand for a counterattack."
"Saying so, but traps don't work against gods." Jonouchi worriedly said, "Ordinary methods don't work against gods at all."
"But I trust Youyu." Yugi said sincerely, "He definitely has a plan."
As they spoke, it was already the Pharaoh's turn.
"My turn. Magic 'Pot of Greed' is activated."
The Pharaoh flipped the stone tablet, a large green pot with a silly grin appeared before him.
"Draw two stone tablets."
Receiving the new two stone tablets, he glanced at them and then continued to place his finger on one.
"Magic 'Graceful Charity,' obtain three stone tablets, as a cost choose two to discard."
Here it is, the classic forbidden card combo from three thousand years ago.
However, having been in this world for so long, Youyu's mindset was completely different. He now found the forbidden cards fairly unsurprising, compared to the animation-exclusive "Monster Recovery" used by the Pharaoh last turn, which was far stronger than these two cards.
"Fight, Destructor. Obelisk, destroy Slifer."
The giant soldier raised its huge fist, the air current was drawn, a hurricane swept, blue halos surrounded the giant's fist, and when it was swung out, it was like a cannon blast.
This strike would directly cause three thousand points of battle damage, while Youyu's Life Points were only two thousand remaining.
The decisive strike!
"Flip Cover Card!" Youyu was naturally prepared, "Trap Card - Super Ultimate Nutrient Z! When the opponent causes more than 2000 battle damage, restore 4000 Life Points to ourselves!"
[Youyu, LP 2000 → LP 6000]
The heavy hitting, the giant's devastating punch exploded upon the Sky Dragon. The dragon's body trembled violently, dazzling lightning erupted from its body like electrostatic piercing the air.
[Youyu, LP 6000 → LP 3000]
The aftermath of the divine power clash erupted, the blue fist wind affected those below the stage, everyone was pressed to the point of being unable to breathe or raise their heads.
"Barely held on right?" Honda gritted his teeth.
"Wait," Yugi noticed something, "Youyu also activated another card just now!"
Sure enough, everyone followed his gaze and saw that on Youyu's field, another trap had flipped over without their notice!
After Obelisk's punch was thrown, the force did not dissipate, instead, it gathered above Youyu as if attracted by a magnet like iron filings.
"Trap Card - Double Damage." Youyu was half-squatting on the ground, trying his best to suppress the discomfort caused by divine power passing through him, gritting his teeth, "When your monster is attacked, the attacked monster is not destroyed by battle.
And, if that battle causes battle damage to yourself, inflict double the damage value back to the opponent!"
"Just now Obelisk's punch, the damage caused... was three thousand!" Jonouchi exclaimed, "Double the reflection is six thousand points of damage!"
"Checkmate, Youyu!" This time it was Honda's turn to express exaggerated joy, "Facing a god as the opponent, Youyu reverses the situation with one strike! Youyu is indeed super strong!"
"Yes!" Yugi also nodded happily, "I told you, Youyu is very strong!"
"Double Damage effect," Youyu maintained his half-squatting posture and waved his arm, "Take six thousand points of reflected damage!"