However, Yugi lowered his head and asked Isono below, "Um, Mr. Referee... what happens if I win directly with [Exodia]?"
Hearing those five words again, President Kaiba's face darkened.
"Hmph! When the time comes, you may choose any one person as your opponent, while the remaining two will form the other group."
President Kaiba added that rule on behalf of his employee.
"That makes things easy..."
Hearing that arrangement, Yugi breathed a sigh of relief.
But upon hearing Yugi's words, President Kaiba and Jonouchi both felt their hearts tremble.
"AIBO..."
Even the King did not know how to persuade Yugi out of his madness.
Next, the four contestants each picked a Monster Card from their Decks to compare sizes. Whoever had the higher ATK would draw first. Of course, after the comparison, that card could no longer be added back into the Deck.
But the card Yugi played was—
—[Dragon of Ruin Gandora]!
Jonouchi cried out, "No way! Yugi, you actually gave up your ace monster with such a powerful effect?"
President Kaiba and Dark Marik were also shocked by Yugi's choice.
Once the order was decided, the duel began. (President Kaiba → Dark Marik → Jonouchi → Yugi)
[Yugi Muto: LP4000] [Seto Kaiba: LP4000] [Katsuya Jonouchi: LP4000] [Dark Marik: LP4000]
"I'll go first. Draw!"
[Seto Kaiba Hand: 5→6]
President Kaiba immediately inserted a card into his Duel Disk.
"I set one card, then summon [Bloody Beastman] in Attack Position."
[Bloody Beastman: ATK 1900] [Seto Kaiba Hand: 6→4]
President Kaiba ended his turn cleanly and decisively.
"My turn, draw!"
[Dark Marik Hand: 5→6]
"I summon [Underworld Guide] in Defense Position."
Amid a flash of light, a red-skinned demon was projected before Dark Marik.
[Underworld Guide: DEF 800] [Dark Marik Hand: 6→5]
"That ends my turn."
Since no one could attack on their first turn, Dark Marik simply ended his turn as well.
"My turn!"
[Katsuya Jonouchi Hand: 5→6]
Jonouchi also decisively slapped a card from his hand onto his Duel Disk.
"I summon [Black Panther Warrior] in Attack Position."
[Black Panther Warrior: ATK 2000] [Katsuya Jonouchi Hand: 6→5]
"End turn."
Everyone was probing each other.
But Yugi had no intention of playing around like this.
"My turn, draw!"
[Yugi Muto Hand: 5→6]
After drawing, Yugi pinched two cards between his fingers.
He inserted one of them into his Duel Disk and said, "I activate the Spell Card [Ancient Rules] from my hand, Special Summoning a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand. Come forth, [Dark Magician]!"
Yugi brought out his signature monster on the very first turn.
[Dark Magician: ATK 2500] [Yugi Muto Hand: 6→4]
"I'll set two more cards. My turn is over."
Yugi's turn ended quickly as well.
[Yugi Muto Hand: 4→2]
"All right, come at me!"
Yugi swept a provocative gaze across the other three.
He seemed to be looking forward to them attacking, and that was indeed the case.
Could President Kaiba endure such provocation?
Of course he could not, so...
"As you wish. My turn!"
[Seto Kaiba Hand: 4→5]
President Kaiba could not even be bothered to look at the card he had drawn and launched an attack directly.
"Battle! [Bloody Beastman], attack [Dark Magician]!"
Bloody Beastman spun around and charged forward.
Yugi raised an eyebrow. "You're attacking with a monster that has lower ATK? Could it be that you have [Shrink] in your hand?"
President Kaiba snorted, swiftly pressed a button to flip his set card, and said, "That's right, Yu↓gi↑! I activate my set card, [Shrink], halving [Dark Magician]'s ATK!"
Dark Magician instantly shrank to half his size in the literal sense.
[Dark Magician: ATK 2500→1250]
"Yugi!!"
Jonouchi shouted worriedly.
Unfortunately, to his disappointment, Yugi did not react.
Dark Magician was swiftly struck by Bloody Beastman.
Bang—!!
Dark Magician instantly shattered into fragments.
[Yugi Muto: LP4000→3350]
President Kaiba was immediately startled. "You didn't counter?"
But at that moment, Yugi suddenly smiled. "I win this duel!"
"""What!?"""
The three of them froze.
"I see, so there was a combination like that..."
Knowing what cards Yugi had set, the King understood Yugi's outrageous play. Though it was a little unfair to Dark Magician.
By then, Yugi had already flipped one of his set cards.
"Here I go! I activate the Trap Card [Level Barrier]!"
When a monster on your field is destroyed by battle or by your opponent's effect, you can activate this card by targeting that monster. Special Summon any number of monsters from your Deck in Defense Position until their total Levels equal that monster's Level. The effects of monsters Special Summoned by this effect are negated.
"[Dark Magician] is Level 7, so I can bring out monsters whose total Levels equal seven. And these are the five monsters I'll summon..."
[Exodia the Forbidden One: DEF 1000] [Left Arm of the Forbidden One: DEF 300] [Right Arm of the Forbidden One: DEF 300] [Left Leg of the Forbidden One: DEF 300] [Right Leg of the Forbidden One: DEF 300]
Looking at the five pieces lined up on Yugi's field, everyone's faces instantly turned pale.
And it was not over yet. Yugi flipped open his other set card as well.
"Next, I activate the second Trap Card, [Recall Order]. All monsters on my field return to my hand."
Yugi raised the five pieces high. "Since I have assembled [Exodia] in my hand, I win the duel!"
[Seto Kaiba: LP4000→0] [Katsuya Jonouchi: LP4000→0] [Dark Marik: LP4000→0]
President Kaiba, Jonouchi, and Dark Marik: ...
No wonder Yugi had asked about the rules beforehand. This was what he had been waiting for.
With that, Yugi gained the right to decide the groups.
Chapter 57: Summoned God Exodia
On the dueling platform atop Duel Tower, Dark Marik and Yugi shuffled their Decks across from each other.
That was right. After gaining the right to decide the groups, Yugi had chosen Dark Marik without hesitation—the one who most urgently needed to be dealt with.
Dark Marik was panicking as well. Yugi's terrifying instant-kill strategy during the group selection had frightened him, and even with the strongest God Cards in his hand, he had little confidence that he could defeat Yugi.
So he shuffled his cards with great effort, trying to disrupt the positions of Yugi's five Exodia pieces. Ideally, he wanted to shuffle the key cards all the way to the bottom.
Jonouchi watched the platform worriedly. "Yugi is facing Marik so soon. Is that really okay?"
Although the scene of Yugi instantly defeating them was still vivid in their minds, everyone was still somewhat afraid of the might of the God Cards.
"Hmph! Yugi possesses the ultimate [Exodia] Deck. Not even the gods can defeat him..."
President Kaiba was not worried about Yugi losing at all. He was still thinking of a way to counter the five Exodia pieces himself.
After all, the two methods Yugi had used to summon the five Exodia pieces had been far too terrifying. One careless move, and he would be instantly defeated.
At the same time, he had a feeling that Yugi had more than just those two ways to easily assemble the five Exodia pieces. He needed to come up with an effective countermeasure.
Before long, once both of them felt they had shuffled enough, they handed their Decks to each other.
"AIBO, do you really not need me to step in?"
The King actually wanted to take Yugi's place in the duel.
Yugi gently shook his head. "Not for now, Other Me. Although I can't use the God Cards, in exchange, I can wield the even more powerful [Exodia]. And only I, who have been acknowledged, can fully control [Exodia]."
As he spoke, Yugi inserted his Deck into the card slot.
"That's true. Then I'll leave it to you, AIBO."
Of course, if there was any danger, the King would still step in.
Before you continue