"My turn. Draw."
Kira waved a hand.
"I flip the monster I set on the field. The monster I set was this one—
—Dragon Rider, Flip Summon!"
Dragon Rider, ATK 700
"Dragon Rider's Flip Effect," Kira said. "When this card is flipped, until the End Turn, I can take control of one face-up Dragon monster on my opponent's field.
Therefore, I take control of the 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' on your field!"
AI Kaiba: "!?"
What the hell, why did you have something like that too?
What was this nonsensical thing?
The knight in the red cape leaped forward, skillfully landing on the back of Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
In the blink of an eye, Blue-Eyes White Dragon followed its nimble rider onto Kira's field.
The students below erupted into an even greater commotion.
"He actually stole the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Hehehe, guys, I'm so pumped!"
"As expected of Boss Kira. He did something we wouldn't even dare dream of so easily!"
AI Kaiba: "You bastard."
Naturally, the onlookers only found the spectacle more entertaining. They had never seen a duel this interesting before. The audience had gradually forgotten that the system had locked them inside the venue, and they watched with rapt attention. Even complete strangers had begun cheering for Kira.
Sure enough, every world had its fun-lovers. Who wouldn't enjoy watching something this entertaining?
After transmigrating, through his consecutive duels and research into the environment, Kira quickly discovered that duelists in this world had an inexplicable fondness for Dragons.
Of course, that was only natural. From a real-world perspective, Konami had always been obsessed with Dragons. Kaiba, the president who led the Dueling World in this world, was obsessed with Dragons too. Dragons were cool and powerful by nature, so it was inevitable that they would become a popular type.
So when choosing cards for his side deck, Kira had casually stuffed in a whole pile of strange weapons designed specifically to slay Dragons. There was no limit to side deck slots anyway, so he could pack in as many of these cheap, nonsensical things as he liked without much consequence.
Better safe than sorry. And sure enough, they came in handy today.
For example, the next card was one as well.
"Although I've taken control of Blue-Eyes, because 'Pot of Dragon Sealing' is still on the field, all Dragons are unable to switch to Attack Position—including those on my own field.
Therefore—"
Kira drew another card from his hand.
"I Tribute 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' to Tribute Summon!"
Perhaps it was an illusion, but at that moment, he seemed to hear the sound of AI Kaiba grinding his teeth.
"You motherf—"
If there was anything more infuriating to the President than having White Bride stolen, it was probably having it stolen and then Tributed.
And if there was anything more infuriating than having White Bride Tributed, it was when the monster Tributed out was practically screaming that it existed solely to Targeting him.
"Tribute Summon! Level six, Dragon Slayer!"
Dragon Slayer, ATK 2000
"Dragon Slayer's effect: when this card is successfully Summoned, destroy a face-up Dragon monster." Kira pointed at Kaiba's field again. "Destroy 'Crystal Dragon'!"
The teal demon glared furiously ahead. The instant it saw Crystal Dragon, it roared as though declaring, I'm here to beat Dragons!
With a thunderous boom, Crystal Dragon shattered into icy fragments and was reduced to pieces.
In Kira's view, this card was not especially impressive. It needed a Tribute Summon just to destroy a Dragon, and as a six-star monster, its ATK/DEF was only 2000. Zaborg the Thunder Monarch from the Monarch Deck had 2400 ATK as a five-star monster, and it could casually destroy monsters regardless of Attribute or type.
Of course, perhaps the Monarch Series was Rare Card material as well, since he had yet to encounter it. Overall, Kira only considered this card reasonably useful for Targeting Dragon Users in this early environment. It was not particularly powerful.
But if it had any advantage, it was the utterly taunting name "Dragon Slayer," along with an effect that seemed to say, "I'm screwing with you today."
In other words, when used alongside other Targeting cards, it had a better chance of breaking the opponent's mentality before their LP was reduced to zero.
The AI fell silent for a moment, as if it had been stunned speechless.
Perhaps it was thinking, I may not be human, but you are genuinely a dog.
Take a look at yourself. Are these really cards a normal human being would play?
"Dragon Slayer, Direct Attack," Kira ordered.
But the AI still had a response. "Activate Set Card, Trap Card—Counter Gate! When an opponent's monster declares a Direct Attack, negate that attack, then draw one card from my deck!"
A transparent defensive gate appeared before it. Dragon Slayer's full-force blow crashed against that barrier, but all the impact energy was absorbed and transformed into a golden glow that flowed into its deck.
"The attack is negated, and I draw from my deck!"
"Then Dragon Rider attacks directly," Kira said.
Having lost its mount, Dragon Rider's combat strength had plummeted, but it still charged forward with sword in hand. With a slash, it brought its blade down from above AI Kaiba's head. The AI's holographic image blurred and distorted.
AI Kaiba, LP 4000 → LP 3300
"Then I set Three Cards in my back row. End Turn."
Three more pitch-black Set Cards appeared amid flashes of gold, making the watching crowd inhale sharply once more.
This guy had already become this underhanded on only his second turn, and now he had set three more cards in his back row?
Before those three Set Cards had even been activated, the crowd below could already vaguely feel a chill in the air, as though the entire venue had grown several degrees colder.
"Who is this young man? He actually suppressed Kaiba's deck to this extent."
A passerby in the venue asked in confusion.
"Wait, I think I've seen him before. He's the champion of this year's Moonflower Cup tournament!"
"What?! That rookie who beat up the Legendary Duelist Dinosaur Ryuzaki in the finals?"
"Did we run into a true Great Master? He's way too strong."
"..."
It was AI Kaiba's turn. "Draw!"
AI Kaiba looked as though it was seriously enraged. This turn, it did not seem to be in the mood to say things like "full speed ahead" or "third-rate duelist," lines it would use while cosplaying its true form.
"I activate the Spell Card 'Melody of Awakening Dragon' from hand!" AI Kaiba declared. "Discard one card, then add up to two Dragon monsters with 3000 or more ATK and 2500 or less DEF from my deck to my hand!"
Just hearing that, one could tell it was a card printed straight from White Bride's ID.
"I add these two cards from my deck to my hand—"
AI Kaiba pulled the two searched cards from its deck, then flicked its arm with both flair and exaggeration.
"I add another 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' and one 'Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon' to my hand!"
Kira frowned slightly.
Sure enough, it already had Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon.
"Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon's effect! By revealing one 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' in my hand to my opponent, I can Special Summon this card.
Therefore, I reveal the 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' I just searched!"
AI Kaiba slapped that card onto its virtual Duel Disk. In that instant, endless deep-blue radiance seemed to erupt from the Duel Disk.
"Let that light illuminate the void, let its power shake heaven and earth! Appear here now—
—Level 8, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!!!"
A dazzling blue glow surged forth as if from the projected horizon. A dragon's roar came from within the light, a thunderous and majestic cry like the rumbling of heaven and earth.
The Alternative Dragon burst from the radiance. The instant its wings spread, they resembled two vast blue curtains of sky, while its roar seemed to pierce through three thousand years of time.
Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, Summoned!
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