[Yugi Muto's Hand: 6→7]
After drawing, Yugi immediately inserted a card from his hand into his Duel Disk. "I activate the Spell Card [Phoenix Feather] from my hand."
Discard 1 card from your hand to activate. Choose 1 card in your Graveyard and return it to the top of your Deck.
[Yugi Muto's Hand: 7→5]
"The card I choose is [Backup Soldier]."
After placing the retrieved card on top of his Deck, Yugi sent another card from his hand to the Graveyard.
"Next, I activate the effect of the Continuous Trap [Dark Production Factory] once again. I discard the Monster Card [Silent Swordsman LV5] from my hand and draw 1 card."
That put the card he had just retrieved back into his hand.
Yugi then flipped over one of his set cards as well.
"I also activate the Spell Card [Monster Reborn] to revive [Silent Swordsman LV5] from my Graveyard."
Amid a burst of light, a swordsman carrying a silver greatsword was projected before Yugi.
[Silent Swordsman LV5: ATK 2300]
After Silent Swordsman took the field, Yugi played another Spell Card. "I activate the Spell Card [Level Up!] from my hand. I send [Silent Swordsman LV5] to the Graveyard and Special Summon [Silent Swordsman LV7] from my Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions."
[Yugi Muto's Hand: 5→4]
Silent Swordsman left the field.
"Oh? I can't let that troublesome monster take the field!"
"I learned about [Silent Swordsman LV7]'s special ability from the main personality's memories. Its ability to negate Spell Cards would have far too much impact on my Deck, so..."
As he spoke, Dark Marik activated [Monster Reborn] again.
"This time, I'll use the Divine Phoenix's ability. God, awaken!"
The Sun God descended behind him once more in the form of a fiery bird.
[The Winged Dragon of Ra: DEF 0]
"@＃￥%＆*..."
After chanting a string of incantations, the divine bird unleashed sacred flames toward Silent Swordsman.
[Dark Marik: LP 4800→3800]
"Uwaaaah—!!"
Yugi and the King suffered another blow to their minds.
"Hahahahaha! Enjoy the pain bestowed by a god, Yugi!"
Dark Marik grew ever more crazed.
The King recovered first and said to Yugi, "This is bad, AIBO... Although our Life Points haven't dropped, if Marik plans to keep using the god's ability to assault our minds, we probably won't be able to endure many more attacks..."
"I know..."
Yugi's face was twisted in pain. It was clear he had suffered considerable damage.
"So we need to end this quickly..."
He intended to pick up the pace, though there was no way he could finish things this turn.
"Finally, I set two cards and end my turn."
[Yugi Muto's Hand: 4→2]
"And during the End Phase, I activate the effect of [Summoned God Exodia] once again, adding [Exodia the Forbidden One] from my Graveyard to my hand."
[Yugi Muto's Hand: 2→3]
[Summoned God Exodia: ATK 5000→4000]
At the same time, the Sun God automatically returned to the Graveyard.
Hand Destruction
"Four set cards... What a pain..."
Seeing Yugi's back row completely filled, Dark Marik felt his scalp tingle.
But he would not hesitate because of that. He swiftly drew a card.
"My turn, draw!"
[Dark Marik's Hand: 4→5]
After glancing over his hand, Dark Marik wore a deranged grin. "Hahahahaha, not bad! I'll use these cards to finish you off instantly!"
Just as he was about to make his next move, Yugi hurriedly interrupted him.
"The moment you drew, I activate the Trap Card [Dealer's Choice]!"
Both players shuffle their Decks and draw 1 card. Then, both players choose 1 card from their hand and discard it.
"You're planning to send [Exodia the Forbidden One] to the Graveyard again? The same trick won't work on me. Hehehehe..."
With that, Dark Marik shuffled his Deck alongside Yugi.
After shuffling his Deck, Yugi smiled confidently. "Sore wa dou kana!"
"Hmph, stubborn fool..."
Dark Marik curled his lip dismissively.
"Draw!!"
After seeing the cards they had drawn, both of them smiled.
"The duel is decided!"
After glancing at the card Yugi had drawn this time, the King knew Dark Marik was beyond saving.
By then, Dark Marik had already discarded a card from his hand. "All right, hurry up and discard [Exodia the Forbidden One], then I'll use the god's power to bury it."
He could hardly wait to burn the Summoned God to ashes.
Yugi calmly sent a Monster Card from his hand to the Graveyard. "Heh, don't be so impatient, Marik. The card I'm discarding is another card from my hand: the Monster Card [Marshmallon]."
Dark Marik froze. "Not [Exodia the Forbidden One]? But what difference does that make!?"
Yugi smiled calmly. "This lays the foundation for my victory. From here on, you won't have another chance to act."
As he spoke, he pressed a button on his Duel Disk, flipping over another set card.
"I activate my second Continuous Trap, [Forced Reception]."
This card can only be activated when you discard cards from your hand. Afterward, each time you discard cards from your hand, your opponent chooses and discards the same number of cards from their hand.
"This card... Could Yugi be planning to destroy his opponent's hand?"
President Kaiba said in surprise.
Dark Marik spoke with disdain. "At this point, what meaning is there in activating a card like that?"
Yugi ignored him and pressed another button.
"Next, I activate my third Trap Card, [Backup Soldier]!"
Dark Marik's expression changed drastically. "[Backup Soldier]! Damn it!"
Because Yugi had kept sending the five pieces to the Graveyard, Dark Marik had nearly forgotten about it. Yugi could actually fulfill his victory condition by retrieving the five pieces.
Yugi had already taken three cards from his Graveyard. "I add [Left Arm of the Forbidden One], [Right Arm of the Forbidden One], and [Left Leg of the Forbidden One] from my Graveyard to my hand."
[Yugi Muto's Hand: 2→5]
[Summoned God Exodia: ATK 4000→1000]
"All right! Yugi already has four [Exodia] cards in his hand. Victory is right in front of him!"
The companions below the stage instantly became excited.
Dark Marik was so frightened by the situation that he took a step back. "Yugi, don't tell me you're planning to assemble [Exodia] this turn?"
If that happened, wouldn't his smug display just now make him look like a clown?
Yugi shook his head. "Unfortunately, I don't have any more cards in my hand that I can retrieve..."
At those words, Dark Marik immediately breathed a sigh of relief, while everyone else's hearts rose into their throats again.
"But I will still be the one who wins..."
As he spoke, Yugi sent another card from his hand to the Graveyard.
"I activate the effect of [Dark Production Factory] once again. I send the Monster Card [Silent Magician LV4] from my hand to the Graveyard and draw 1 card."
After drawing, Yugi immediately pressed the final button and flipped over his last set card.
"This next card is the key card that will decide your fate. I activate my fourth Trap, [Gathering of Light]!"
Discard your entire hand. Then, add a number of Light Attribute monsters from your Graveyard to your hand equal to the number of cards discarded to the Graveyard by this effect.
Yugi swept all five cards from his hand into the Graveyard.
"The five cards I choose from my Graveyard are the Light Attribute monsters [Silent Swordsman LV5], [Silent Swordsman LV7], [Marshmallon], [Silent Magician LV4], and [Electromagnetic Turtle], which was discarded earlier by [Phoenix Feather]."
[Summoned God Exodia: ATK 1000→5000]
"Beautiful! So that was the purpose of [Forced Reception]. The effect of [Gathering of Light] triggered this card's ability, using Trap Cards that originally had little connection to achieve the effect of destroying all the opponent's hand cards. Just as expected of you, Yu↑gi↓!"
President Kaiba's gaze at Yugi was blazing now. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to go up there and duel Yugi immediately.
Naturally, Dark Marik and everyone else heard President Kaiba's words as well. Dark Marik understood exactly what they meant.
Yugi raised a hand toward Dark Marik. "All right, Marik! When I activated [Gathering of Light], I discarded five cards from my hand. Therefore, due to the effect of the Continuous Trap [Forced Reception], you must also discard five cards from your hand."
Dark Marik: That was rather sudden...
For a moment, Dark Marik, completely led around by Yugi, stood there in a daze.
Yugi really hadn't used Seal of the Orichalcos to deal with Dark Marik. But he had actually used a Seal of the Orichalcos Deck to play hand destruction. Could anyone believe that?
At some point, Dark Marik's lifeless eyes lost all focus. His fingers went slack, and five cards fell helplessly to the ground.
[Dark Marik's Hand: 5→0]
"It's over, Marik!"
Yugi launched his final attack.
"Don't come any closer!"
With the Dark Yami still active and no main personality to take the blow for him, Dark Marik would be completely erased once his Life Points hit zero. Terrified, he staggered back a step.
"Take this final blow! I attack you directly with [Summoned God Exodia]! Demon God Flame Cannon!"
The Summoned God instantly blasted demonic flames at his opponent.
"Uwaaaah—!!!"
Dark Marik's soul was instantly annihilated by the Demon God's attack.
[Dark Marik: LP 3800→0]
Marik's body, no longer occupied by a soul, collapsed limply onto the Duel Arena.
At last, the winner of the first semifinal of Duel City had been decided. Naturally, it was Yugi.
Kaiba VS Jonouchi
"Phew—! I'm exhausted..."
After the duel ended, Yugi collapsed from fatigue.
After all, this was his first Dark Duel, and it had taken a heavy toll on his mind.
"Good work, AIBO."
The King understood just how painful that feeling was.
It took quite a while before Yugi managed to stand back up.
Before you continue