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

Seeing this, Jonouchi asked in confusion, "Strange... but why did the monster on Yugi's field return to Noah's hand?"

He understood that monsters returning to the hand went back to their original owner, but he couldn't quite grasp why they returned to the hand in the first place.

"Hmph! Such ignorant mortals," President Kaiba said, his tone sharp and sarcastic.

"Damn it! Kaiba, you bastard, calling me a mortal again!" Jonouchi's forehead veins bulged.

"Heh~ You don't deny the fact that you're ignorant? Fine, I'll tell you. The card [Mermaid Princess] belongs to the Soul series. Most Soul monsters have the characteristic of returning to the hand at the end of the turn they are summoned, and cannot be Special Summoned." The President, uncharacteristically, began to explain.

At this moment, Noah took over from the President. "Exactly... It is said that these are the Dream Series created by Pegasus of Illusion Company using secret Eastern arts. Soul monsters cannot be summoned by Special Summon, and at the end of the turn they are summoned, they return to their owner's hand."

Jonouchi finally understood, saying, "So that's how it is! So [Elemental Spring] was set up as a chain for this purpose!? Every time he summons a Soul monster, his life points will recover..."

However, thankfully, this characteristic prevented Soul monsters from staying on the field, making their abilities very weak.

"My turn, draw!"

[Yugi Muto Hand: 4 → 5]

Yugi placed the card he just drew face down on his Duel Disk.

"I'll set one monster face down. My turn ends."

A face-down card appeared on Yugi's front field.

[Yugi Muto Hand: 5 → 4]

"This is bad! Yugi doesn't have any monsters in his hand that can be summoned with an attack power higher than [Trickster Elf Swordsman]..." Jonouchi and the others couldn't help but worry as Yugi was put on the defensive.

"Hmph, is your despicable tactic finally over..." Noah snorted coldly. He had suffered for so long, and he finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. After all, heavy traps had their downsides; while they could infuriate opponents to no end, they also required sacrificing offensive capabilities. Seeing that Yugi couldn't summon a big monster, Noah's pressure significantly decreased. However, Yugi remained as calm and composed as ever.

"You're too naive, Noah..."

And King, knowing the card Yugi just set, had a strange look in his eyes.

"My turn, draw!"

[Noah Kaiba Hand: 1 → 2]

After glancing at the card he just drew, Noah immediately placed it on his Duel Disk. "This turn, I will summon the Soul monster [Thunder King] from my hand."

A white-haired warrior wielding a Kusanagi sword appeared.

[Thunder King: ATK 2000]

[Noah Kaiba Hand: 2 → 1]

"This monster's effect is that the battle damage this card inflicts on the opponent is halved. But it doesn't matter, as I can't inflict damage on you anyway." Noah then entered the Battle Phase. "Battle! I attack your face-down monster with [Thunder King]!"

Thunder King, following the attack command, slashed towards Yugi's face-down card. At this moment, the face-down card Yugi had just set flipped over, revealing a worn yellow mask. And soon, Thunder King's sword shattered this monster.

"You fell for it again, Noah." Yugi smiled triumphantly.

"What!? Another trap!?" Hearing this, Noah was startled once again. He had fallen into so many traps already that he now had PTSD.

"The monster you just attacked is [Mask of Darkness], and its effect is..."

"When this card is flipped face-up, target 1 Trap Card in your Graveyard; add that card to your hand."

Yugi silently dug another pit. He then continued, "According to this monster's effect, I will add the Counter Trap [Magic Jammer] from my Graveyard to my hand."

[Yugi Muto Hand: 4 → 5]

"Tch, you can negate a Spell Card activation with a Counter Trap..."

If Noah activated a Spell Card later, it would summon Pluto Dragon Judgment God again and deal 1500 damage to him. With his current Life Points, that wouldn't be enough.

And so...

"I end my Battle Phase and activate the third effect of my Deck Master, Miracle Ark: Life Recovery! By banishing all monsters contained within the Ark, I recover 500 Life Points for each monster banished."

After he spoke, the Ark behind Noah expelled Rock Giant and Mask of Darkness, and then both monsters transformed into energy and were absorbed by Noah.

[Noah Kaiba: LP 700 → 1700]

"It even has a Life Point recovery effect. This Deck Master really has a lot of effects."

Yugi frowned. Just as he had thought, it really seemed like Noah had added random settings.

Fortunately, Yugi had only summoned a few monsters, so Noah's recovery was pitifully small.

"I will change Trickster Elf Swordsman to Defense Position. This ends my turn."

The cannon fodder swordsman immediately took a defensive stance in front of Noah.

[Trickster Elf Swordsman: Defense 1200]

At the same moment, Thunder King returned to Noah's hand as a soul monster.

[Noah Kaiba Hand: 1 → 2]

[Noah Kaiba: LP 1700 → 2200]

Chapter 49: Gears Again

"My turn, draw!"

[Yugi Muto Hand: 5 → 6]

Yugi's hand finally returned to its initial size.

He then placed the card he just drew onto his Duel Disk and said, "It's finally my turn to attack. I'll summon Magician of Black Chaos from my hand."

As the card on the card face flashed with light, a magic swordsman in dark red armor appeared.

[Magician of Black Chaos: Attack 1600]

[Yugi Muto Hand: 6 → 5]

"And Magician of Black Chaos's monster effect activates. When this card is successfully summoned, place 1 Magic Counter on this card, and its Attack increases by 300 points."

[Magician of Black Chaos: Magic Counters 0 → 1]

[Magician of Black Chaos: Attack 1600 → 1900]

This monster's current Attack was just enough to not destroy the cannon fodder swordsman.

Yugi continued, "I'll remove the Magic Counter from Magician of Black Chaos and activate this monster's effect to destroy one Spell/Trap Card on the field."

He then pointed at his own Continuous Trap.

"I'll destroy the Continuous Trap, Eviction Notice."

Magician of Black Chaos turned and sliced the card Yugi pointed at in half with its sword.

[Magician of Black Chaos: Magic Counters 1 → 0]

[Magician of Black Chaos: Attack 1900 → 1600]

Yugi didn't want to be caught by this indiscriminate card.

"Tch! You're really not hesitant at all..."

Noah couldn't help but click his tongue. It seemed he had also considered this.

After dealing with the Continuous Trap, Yugi could finally enter the Battle Phase with peace of mind. Furthermore, there were no monsters contained within Noah's Ark, so he didn't have to worry about the opponent summoning any monsters.

"Battle! I attack Trickster Elf Swordsman with Magician of Black Chaos!"

Magician of Black Chaos unleashed a sword energy towards the cannon fodder swordsman, cutting it in half and immediately shattering it.

Then, Yugi ended his Battle Phase and inserted another card from his hand into his Duel Disk, saying, "I'll activate the Spell Card Sacrifice Doll from my hand."

Activate by tributing 1 monster on your field. Special Summon 1 monster that can be Normal Summoned with 7 Stars from your hand. The Special Summoned monster cannot attack this turn.

"With Magician of Black Chaos as a tribute, I'll Special Summon Dark Knight Gaia the Fierce Wind!"

Magician of Black Chaos disappeared, and at the same time, the invincible Gaia reappeared on Yugi's field.

[Dark Knight Gaia the Fierce Wind: Attack 2300]

[Yugi Muto Hand: 5 → 3]

Seeing the invincible Gaia, Noah's terrible memories resurfaced, and he gritted his teeth in anger.

Noah: Damn it! How old are you (Why is it always you)!

Yugi was good at messing with people's minds.

"I'll set one more card, and then my turn ends."

Yugi's turn ended again.

[Yugi Muto Hand: 3 → 2]

The moment his turn ended, Noah impatiently drew a card.

"My turn!"

[Noah Kaiba Hand: 2 → 3]

After seeing the card he drew this time, he quickly calmed down.

Then he looked at the face-down card on the opposite side and thought, "This time I drew a Spell Card. Although it can clear the field for me, I can't activate it right now."

"Moreover, the card Yugi just set is probably the Counter Trap [Magic Jammer] that was recovered earlier. Once that Counter Trap is successfully activated, his [Pluto Dragon Judgment God] will reappear on the field, and I will take another 1500 damage. Combined with [Dark Knight Gaia the Fierce Wind], I will once again be in a precarious situation."

"Since that's the case, I'll have to endure it for now..."

With that thought, Noah put the card away and placed another card from his hand onto his Duel Disk.

"I summon [Thunder King] again."

Thunder King reappeared on his field.

[Thunder King: ATK 2000]

Since this attack power can't defeat Gaia, the four-legged creature has to take a detour.

"And then my turn ends. At the end of the turn, [Thunder King], as a Spirit Monster, returns to my hand. And due to the effect of [Elemental Spring], I recover 500 Life Points."

As Noah declared the end of his turn, Thunder King returned to his hand.

[Noah Kaiba: LP 2200 → 2700]

"My turn, draw!"

[Yugi Muto Hand: 2 → 3]

"Roar~! I drew a good card, AIBO."