[Marshmallon: DEF 500]
"Battle! I attack [Block Soldier] with [Flame Swordsman]!"
The swordsman immediately slashed at Block Soldier.
"You can't do that, Jonouchi-kun. At this moment, I flip my Set card—Trap Card [Stronghold the Moving Fortress]!"
It could only be activated when the opponent declared an attack. Select 1 face-up monster on your field. During the turn this card was activated, your opponent could only target the selected monster for attacks and had to attack it with all face-up Attack Position monsters.
The swordsman's attack was blocked by Silent Swordsman's greatsword, which then cleaved Flame Swordsman apart with a single slash.
[Katsuya Jonouchi: LP 3000 → 2500]
"Then I'll use [Gearfried the Iron Knight] to attack and destroy it!"
Gearfried immediately cut down Silent Swordsman.
[Yugi Muto: LP 4000 → 2900]
"I'm not done yet! I activate the Trap Card [Gravekeeper's]!"
Pay 1000 Life Points and select 1 card in your opponent's Graveyard. If the selected card was a Monster Card, Special Summon that monster to your field. If it was a Spell or Trap Card, activate that card's effect.
[Katsuya Jonouchi: LP 2500 → 1500]
"I Special Summon [Silent Swordsman LV5]."
Silent Swordsman had been stolen by Jonouchi as well.
[Silent Swordsman LV5: ATK 2300]
"Next, I use [Silent Swordsman LV5] to attack [Block Soldier]!"
Jonouchi continued giving orders.
But Silent Swordsman did not move at all.
"Huh? Why isn't it attacking? Is this thing broken?"
He stared blankly at the scene before him.
"The machine isn't broken, Jonouchi-kun."
Yugi reminded him.
"Then why won't my monster attack?"
Jonouchi asked in confusion.
"Did you forget the effect of [Stronghold the Moving Fortress]? This turn, your monsters can only attack [Silent Swordsman LV5]. But that monster has already left my field, so you can't continue attacking."
Yugi explained.
"Ah, this..."
Jonouchi was instantly dumbfounded.
"You should declare the end of your turn, Jonouchi-kun."
Yugi urged him.
"Oh, right... Then I Set one more card and end my turn."
Jonouchi hurriedly Set a card.
[Katsuya Jonouchi's hand: 1 → 0]
"My turn, draw!"
[Yugi Muto's hand: 2 → 3]
Yugi put away the card he had drawn and pulled another card from his hand.
"First, I summon [Witch of the Black Forest] from my hand."
A purple-haired witch clad in black robes appeared.
[Witch of the Black Forest: ATK 1100]
"Next, I Set a card, then equip the Equip Spell [Robe of the Dark Magician] to [Witch of the Black Forest]."
The equipped monster gained ATK and DEF equal to the number of Spell and Trap Cards on its controller's field × 500.
[Witch of the Black Forest: ATK 1100 → 2600] [Yugi Muto's hand: 3 → 0]
Since Yugi had quite a few Trap Cards, this Equip Spell suited his deck well.
"Battle! I attack [Silent Swordsman LV5] with [Witch of the Black Forest]."
The witch fired a sphere of magic that destroyed Silent Swordsman.
[Katsuya Jonouchi: LP 1500 → 1200]
"I switch [Block Soldier] to Defense Position. That ends my turn."
"It's your turn again, Jonouchi-kun."
[Block Soldier: DEF 1500]
Yugi said with a smile.
"All right, my turn! Draw!"
[Katsuya Jonouchi's hand: 0 → 1]
"I activate the Spell Card [Warrior's Rebirth] from my hand."
Activate this card by targeting 1 Warrior-type monster in your Graveyard. Add that Warrior-type monster to your hand.
"I'll add [Flame Swordsman] from my Graveyard to my hand."
Jonouchi took a card from his Graveyard.
"At this moment, I flip the Trap Card [Lost]!"
Select 1 card in your opponent's Graveyard and banish it.
A card used in place of [D.D. Crow].
"Of course, the card I'll banish is [Flame Swordsman]."
Yugi pointed at the card Jonouchi had just taken out.
"No way!?"
Jonouchi said miserably, then reluctantly stuffed it back into his pocket.
"But since you have one fewer Trap Card on your field, the ATK of [Witch of the Black Forest] decreases."
[Witch of the Black Forest: ATK 2100]
"Battle! I use [Gearfried the Iron Knight] to attack [Witch of the Black Forest]!"
Gearfried cleaved the witch apart with one stroke.
[Yugi Muto: LP 2900 → 1600]
"At this moment, [Witch of the Black Forest]'s effect activates!"
When this card was sent from the field to the Graveyard, select 1 monster in your deck with 1500 or less DEF. Confirm it with your opponent, then add it to your hand. Afterwards, shuffle your deck.
Yugi picked out a card from his deck.
"I add [Dragon of Ruin Gandora], with 0 DEF, from my deck to my hand."
After showing the card to Jonouchi, he shuffled his deck.
[Yugi Muto's hand: 0 → 1]
"A high-level monster with zero DEF? Is that even a thing?"
Jonouchi was completely stunned.
"My turn, draw!"
Yugi forcibly ended Jonouchi's turn.
[Yugi Muto's hand: 1 → 2]
"First, I activate [Block Soldier]'s effect."
You could activate this effect by Tributing this card. Special Summon a number of [Block Tokens] (Rock-type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 1000/DEF 1500) in Defense Position equal to the number of your turns this card had remained face-up on your field. These Tokens could not declare attacks.
[Block Tokens: DEF 1500] ×2
"Next, I Tribute two [Block Tokens] to summon [Dragon of Ruin Gandora]!"
A jet-black dragon studded with red gemstones took the field.
[Dragon of Ruin Gandora: ATK 0]
There was an illustration here. It could be viewed after updating to the latest version.
"It only has zero ATK too!?"
Jonouchi was dumbfounded.
Yugi pointed at the dragon and shouted.
"Although [Dragon of Ruin Gandora] only has zero ATK, don't underestimate it, Jonouchi-kun. [Dragon of Ruin Gandora]'s special effect activates—Special Magic Attack!"
You could activate this effect by paying half your Life Points. Destroy and banish every card on the field except this card. This card gained 300 ATK for each card destroyed by this effect.
[Yugi Muto: LP 1600 → 800]
"What!?"
Jonouchi was instantly shocked.
The gems across the dragon's body fired crimson beams, overturning the table.
Jonouchi's final Set card was flipped up as well.
—[Stamina Booster Super Z].
[Dragon of Ruin Gandora: ATK 0 → 1500]
"This ends it! [Dragon of Ruin Gandora], attack Jonouchi-kun directly!"
[Katsuya Jonouchi: LP 1200 → 0]
One-Shotting a Gryus Extra
"Awesome, Yugi, your new deck has gotten really strong. Especially those three monsters—[Marshmallon], [Silent Swordsman], and [Dragon of Ruin Gandora]."
Jonouchi could not help praising him.
"Thank you, Jonouchi-kun."
Yugi scratched the back of his head and smiled foolishly.
"It truly is strong. AIBO, you're even more powerful than I imagined."
The King was quite impressed as well.
There were still two days until Duel City began. Accompanied by his companions, Yugi went to a shop to buy a Duel Disk, but because his Duel Level was the highest, he received one for free.
A minor incident occurred during that time. President Kaiba categorized Jonouchi's Duel Level as that of a low-ranking loser, which enraged him.
However, according to the shop owner, the device had malfunctioned and incorrectly reported his level. Jonouchi finally received his Duel Disk as he wished.
The streets at dusk.
"Sorry, I have to go to the hospital. I'll be leaving first!"
Jonouchi suddenly turned to the others and said.
"Shizuka is having her operation today, right?"
Yugi recalled.
"Yeah, that's right! So sorry, I have to leave first."
Before you continue