The Protagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Might Be the Same Person

"Appear, [Avatar of Apophis]!"

Two cards released a dark mist, and two snake-men, each wielding a scimitar and shield, appeared.

[Avatar of Apophis: DEF 1800] x2

Illustration here; viewable in updated versions.

"Nani!? Those are Trap Cards!?"

Jonouchi looked at the two monsters with confusion.

"They're Trap Monsters. They're Trap Cards used as monsters," Yugi explained from the audience.

"Trap Monsters!? Cards like that exist!?"

King gasped beside him.

"Yeah, these kinds of Trap Cards are rare, but they do exist. And while Trap Monsters can't be activated the turn they're set, and their ATK is usually low, they can be activated consecutively like Trap Cards, allowing for multiple summons in one turn."

Yugi said with a serious expression. "Marik" and Jonouchi both heard him.

"As he said, these are the Trap Monsters I'm using in place of monster cards."

"Marik" nodded slightly.

"Sou ka, so there are Trap Cards like that too. I learned something new today."

Jonouchi smacked his palm, realizing.

"But hey, while those two [Avatar of Apophis] have the same DEF as my two monsters, you know the effect of [Flame Swordsman], right?"

He reminded "Marik".

"Yeah, of course I know..."

As he spoke, "Marik" flipped over his third face-down card.

"So I'll activate the Continuous Trap, [Royal Decree]!"

As long as this card remains in the Magic & Trap Zone, Continuous Traps on both players' fields, other than [Royal Decree], cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects.

Illustration here; viewable in updated versions.

"Nandato!?"

Jonouchi was greatly surprised. He hadn't expected a card specifically for protection.

"Damn it! This means I can't attack this turn..."

He gritted his teeth, then glanced at his hand and smiled. He inserted a card into his Duel Disk.

"I'll set one card..."

[Katsuya Jonouchi Hand: 2 → 1]

He paused, then looked at his face-down card and the Iron Knight again. Remembering a trick Yugi taught him before the Duel City tournament began, he smiled confidently.

"Heh, I'll let you live for now. My turn ends."

Jonouchi finally ended his turn.

Chapter 29: Jonouchi's Counterattack

"My turn."

"Marik" calmly drew a card.

["Marik Ishtar" Hand: 1 → 2]

"End of turn."

He ended his turn without doing anything.

"Alright! No other face-down cards!"

At this point, Jonouchi flipped over the card he had set last turn.

"Marik, you've fallen into my trap! I activate the Trap Card, [Chainsaw Insect]!"

You can only activate this card by targeting 1 face-up monster you control. This card is treated as an Equip Spell Card that increases the equipped monster's ATK by 500.

Illustration here; viewable in updated versions.

"The monster I choose to equip is [Fuh-Raid the Iron Knight]!"

A bomb attached with chains appeared before the Iron Knight.

"That idiot Jonouchi! Equipping it to [Fuh-Raid the Iron Knight] will just destroy it with that monster's own effect!"

Mai, who understood the Iron Knight's effect, cursed. She thought Jonouchi had lost his mind.

"No, this is fine. Jonouchi-kun's true objective is to destroy that card."

Yugi looked unconcerned.

At this moment, Jonouchi spoke.

"Going for it, Marik! I activate Fuh-Raid the Iron Knight's monster effect!"

"This card can be activated when an Equip Card is equipped to it. Destroy those Equip Cards."

"Destroy Chainsaw Insect, which is acting as an Equip Card, but when Chainsaw Insect is destroyed, its other effect has already activated."

"When this card, used as an Equip Card, is destroyed by an effect, target 1 card on the field. Destroy that card."

"Of course, I'll destroy the Continuous Trap, Royal Decree!"

As he spoke, the bomb on his field flew to the opponent's side, and then an explosion sounded.

BOOM--!!

The Continuous Trap was instantly blown away.

"Hmph! I see. I didn't expect Fuh-Raid the Iron Knight's negative effect to have such a use. Even trash cards have their uses. I've learned something. But this powerful combination must have been taught to you by Yugi, right?"

President Kaiba turned to look at Yugi, thinking that Jonouchi, with his simple mind, wouldn't have come up with such a move.

"Ahaha……"

Yugi, seen through by President Kaiba, gave an awkward, foolish laugh.

"……"

At this moment, "Marik" watched this scene silently. He hadn't expected Jonouchi to dismantle his powerful Trap Card so quickly. With this, the rest of the duel wouldn't be so easy.

"Then, my turn ends."

"Marik" currently had no way to deal with Jonouchi's two monsters on the field, so he could only end his turn.

"Heh, 'Marik,' you finally don't have any Set cards anymore. Now it's my turn. Draw!"

[Jonouchi Katsuya Hand: 1 → 2]

After glancing at the card he drew, Jonouchi smiled smugly and placed the card on his Duel Disk.

"With this card, all your shields will be gone. I summon Harpie's Brother from my hand!"

A bird-like knight was projected onto Jonouchi's field.

[Harpie's Brother: ATK 1000]

[Jonouchi Katsuya Hand: 2 → 1]

"It's useless, Jonouchi. Harpie's Brother, with only 1000 ATK, can't defeat Avatar of Apophis."

"Marik" reminded Jonouchi.

"Hmph, I know that, of course. But have you forgotten Flame Swordsman's effect? I activate this monster's effect, transferring its ATK to Harpie's Brother!"

[Flame Swordsman: ATK 1800 → 0]

[Harpie's Brother: ATK 1000 → 2800]

"Are you stupid? I thought you had some strategy, but you ended up transferring Flame Swordsman's ATK to a monster with lower ATK than Fuh-Raid the Iron Knight. What a wrong judgment."

"Marik" shook his head, saying with some disappointment.

"You're the one who's stupid, 'Marik'! Although Harpie's Brother has lower ATK, it has the ability to attack twice in the same Battle Phase!"

Jonouchi taunted "Marik".

"Nani!?"

"Marik's" pupils constricted sharply.

"Heh, here I go, 'Marik'! I attack both of your Avatar of Apophis with Harpie's Brother!"

Harpie's Brother pierced through both monsters with its sword, destroying the two monsters on "Marik's" field.

"Not good!"

Next, "Marik" would face Fuh-Raid the Iron Knight directly.

"Take this, 'Marik'! I attack you directly with Fuh-Raid the Iron Knight!"

Fuh-Raid the Iron Knight slashed at "Marik".

"Nngh--!"

He finally took damage.

["Marik Ishtar": LP 4000 → 2200]

"That concludes my attack. Then, I switch Flame Swordsman to Defense Position."

Flame Swordsman immediately crouched down into a defensive stance.

[Flame Swordsman: DEF 1600]

"Finally, I set one card and end my turn."

Jonouchi ended his turn after setting his last card from his hand.

[Jonouchi Katsuya Hand: 1 → 0]

Chapter 30: The Sealed Card

"That was quite a counterattack, Jonouchi..."

Marik, having recovered, said to Jonouchi.

"Huh!?"

Jonouchi's eyebrows shot up.

At that moment, Marik drew a card.

"My turn, draw!"

[Marik Ishtar Hand: 2 → 3]

Upon seeing the card he just drew, his eyes suddenly widened. It seemed he had drawn a card that shouldn't have appeared. He froze for a moment, then his gaze drifted towards the audience. Jonouchi naturally noticed Marik's expression.

"Hey, 'Marik', what are you looking at? Hurry up and play a card!"

Jonouchi impatiently urged him.

"Hey, Other Me! Did you notice where he's looking?"

At this moment, Yugi glanced in the direction Marik was looking and asked the King in his mind.

"Yes, I noticed, AIBO! Standing there is that man named Nam. So, the man on the dueling platform named Marik, he really is..."

Before the King could finish his sentence, Yugi picked up where he left off.

"He's an imposter, just like we suspected. A substitute for the real Marik, and the real Marik is that man named Nam."

Yugi said to the King with almost complete certainty, and the King agreed with this guess.

After a moment, Marik's gaze returned to the field, as if he had received some important instructions.

Then, gritting his teeth, he put away the card he drew this turn and inserted another card from his hand into the Duel Disk.

"I activate the Magic Card [Swords of Revealing Light] from my hand."

After this card is activated, it remains on the field and is destroyed at the end of the opponent's turn, three turns later, counting from the opponent's turn.