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

[Yugi Muto Hand: 6 → 7]

After drawing a card, Yugi inserted a card from his hand into his Duel Disk without a second thought. "I activate the spell card [Phoenix Feather] from my hand."

Discard 1 card from your hand, then target 1 card in your Graveyard. Return the targeted card to the top of your Deck.

[Yugi Muto Hand: 7 → 5]

"The card I chose is [Reinforcement]."

After placing the retrieved card on top of his Deck, Yugi discarded another card from his hand to the Graveyard.

"Next, I activate the effect of the continuous trap [Dark Production Factory] again, discarding the monster card [Silent Swordsman LV5] from my hand, and drawing one card."

This way, he got the card he just retrieved into his hand.

Then Yugi also revealed one of his face-down cards.

"I also activate the spell card [Monster Reborn], to revive [Silent Swordsman LV5] from the Graveyard."

With a flash of light, a swordsman carrying a silver greatsword was projected in front of Yugi.

[Silent Swordsman LV5: ATK 2300]

After Silent Swordsman entered the field, Yugi played another spell card. "I activate the spell card [Level Up!] from my hand, send [Silent Swordsman LV5] to the Graveyard, and Special Summon [Silent Swordsman LV7] from my Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions."

[Yugi Muto Hand: 5 → 4]

Silent Swordsman then left the field.

"Oh, no! I can't let that troublesome monster onto the field!"

"I learned about the special ability of [Silent Swordsman LV7] from the memories of my main personality. Its ability to negate spell cards would have too great an impact on my Deck, so..."

As he spoke, Dark Marik activated [Monster Reborn] again.

"This time, I will use the power of the Divine Phoenix. 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 a series of incantations, the divine bird unleashed its divine flames and burned towards Silent Swordsman.

[Dark Marik: LP 4800 → 3800]

"Waaah--!!"

Yugi and Yami's spirits were struck once again.

"Hahaha, enjoy the pain brought by the God, Yugi!"

Dark Marik became increasingly frenzied.

Yami, who recovered first, said to Yugi, "This is bad, AIBO... Although our Life Points haven't decreased, if Marik's plan is to continuously use the God's power to strike us mentally, our spirits won't be able to hold on much longer..."

"I understand..."

Yugi's face was full of pain; it was clear he had taken considerable damage.

"So we need to finish this quickly..."

He intended to speed up the pace, though he couldn't finish it this turn.

"Finally, I set two cards, and my turn ends."

[Yugi Muto Hand: 4 → 2]

"And during the End Phase, I activate the effect of [Summoned God Exodia] again, adding [Exodia the Forbidden One] from my Graveyard to my hand."

[Yugi Muto Hand: 2 → 3]

[Summoned God Exodia: ATK 5000 → 4000]

At the same time, the Sun God automatically returned to the Graveyard.

Chapter 62: Hand Destruction

"Four face-down cards, so troublesome..."

Looking at Yugi's fully set back row, Dark Marik also felt a prickle of unease.

However, he wouldn't hesitate because of this and quickly drew a card.

"My turn, draw!"

[Dark Marik Hand: 4 → 5]

Glancing at his hand, Dark Marik revealed a crazed smile. "Hahaha, not bad! I'll finish you off with these cards!"

Just as he was about to make his next move, Yugi quickly interrupted him.

"The moment you draw, I activate the trap card [Dealer's Choice]!"

Both players shuffle their Decks and draw 1 card. After that, both players choose 1 card from their hands and discard it.

"Are you planning to send [Exodia the Forbidden One] to the Graveyard again? The same trick won't work on me, hehehehe..."

After speaking, Dark Marik shuffled the cards with Yugi.

Yugi shuffled his deck and smiled confidently, "Is that all you've got?"

"Hmph, tough talker..."

Dark Marik sneered dismissively.

"Fallen!!"

Both looked at the cards they'd drawn and smiled.

"The outcome is decided!"

Glancing at the card Yugi drew this time, King knew Dark Marik was beyond saving.

At this moment, Dark Marik had already discarded a hand card into the graveyard. "Alright, quickly discard [Exodia the Forbidden One], and then I'll send it to the graveyard with the power of the gods."

He couldn't wait to burn Summoned God.

Yugi unhurriedly placed a monster card into the graveyard. "Heh, don't rush, Marik. The card I'm discarding is another hand card. I'm discarding the monster card [Marshmallon]."

Dark Marik was stunned. "Not [Exodia the Forbidden One]? But what does that matter!?"

Yugi smiled calmly. "With this, I've laid the foundation for my victory. You won't have any more chances to make a move."

As he spoke, he clicked a button on his Duel Disk, and another face-down card was revealed.

"Activating the second Continuous Trap, [Forced Reception]."

"Can be activated when you discard a hand card. After that, every time you discard a hand card, your opponent chooses the same number of hand cards to discard."

"This card... is Yugi planning to destroy my hand next?"

President Kaiba said with some surprise.

Dark Marik sneered, "What's the point of activating a card like this at this point?"

Yugi ignored him and clicked another button.

"Next, activating the third Trap Card, [Reinforcement]!"

Dark Marik's expression changed drastically. "[Reinforcement]! How could I forget!"

Because Yugi had been discarding the five pieces, he had almost forgotten about this. Yugi could actually achieve the victory condition by retrieving the five pieces.

At this moment, Yugi had already retrieved 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 Hand: 2 → 5]

[Summoned God Exodia: ATK 4000 → 1000]

"Alright! Yugi now has four pieces of [Exodia] in his hand! Victory is within reach!"

His companions below the stage became excited all at once.

Dark Marik was so startled by the situation that he took a step back. "Yugi, are you trying to assemble [Exodia] this turn?"

If that were the case, his triumphant demeanor just now would have been like a clown's.

In response, Yugi shook his head. "Unfortunately, I don't have any more cards to retrieve right now..."

Hearing this, Dark Marik immediately breathed a sigh of relief, while everyone else's spirits rose again.

"But the one who will win is still me..."

As he spoke, Yugi discarded another hand card into the graveyard.

"Activating the effect of [Dark Production Factory] again. I send the monster card [Silent Magician LV4] from my hand to the graveyard and draw one card."

After drawing the card, Yugi immediately clicked the last button, revealing the final face-down card.

"This next card is the key to your fate. Activating the fourth Trap, [Gathering of Light]!"

"Discard all cards in your hand. Then, add to your hand the number of LIGHT attribute monsters from your graveyard that were discarded by this effect."

Yugi threw all five of his hand cards 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 previously discarded by [Phoenix Feather]."

[Summoned God Exodia: ATK 1000 → 5000]

"Brilliant! So this was the purpose of [Forced Reception]! The effect of [Gathering of Light] triggered the ability of this card, turning an unrelated Trap Card into one that destroys the opponent's entire hand. Truly worthy of you, Yugi!"

The President's eyes were now burning with admiration as he looked at Yugi, wishing he could duel him right now.

Of course, Dark Marik and the others also heard the President's words, and Dark Marik naturally understood what that meant.

At this moment, Yugi raised his hand towards Dark Marik and said, "Alright, Marik! Because I discarded five hand cards when I activated [Gathering of Light], according to the effect of the Continuous Trap [Forced Reception], you must also discard five hand cards."

Dark Marik: This is so sudden...

For a moment, Dark Marik, who had been outmaneuvered by Yugi, was stunned.

Yugi didn't use the Seal of the Orichalcos against Dark Marik, but he actually played a hand destruction strategy with an Orichalcos deck. Can you believe it?

At some unknown point, Dark Marik, with vacant eyes, listlessly released his fingers, and five hand cards fell to the ground uncontrollably.

[Dark Marik Hand: 5 → 0]

"It's over, Marik!"

Yugi launched his final attack.

"Don't come any closer!"

Because the Dark Yami was active, Dark Marik, without his main personality to shield him, would be completely annihilated if his Life Points hit zero. Thus, he fearfully took a step back.

"Take this final blow! I'm using [Summoned God Exodia] for a direct attack on you, Demon God Flame Cannon!"

The Summoned God instantly blasted demonic flames at his opponent.

"Nnnngh--!!!"

Dark Marik's soul was instantly annihilated by the Demon God's attack.

[Dark Marik: LP3800 → 0]

Marik's body, now devoid of a soul, collapsed powerlessly onto the dueling platform.

Finally, the winner of the first semi-final match of the Duel City was decided. The victor, of course, was Yugi.

Chapter 63: Kaiba vs. Jonouchi

"Hoo--! I'm exhausted..."

After the duel, Yugi collapsed from exhaustion.

After all, this was his first Dark Duel, and it had taken a significant toll on his spirit.

"Good work, AIBO."

King understood all too well how agonizing that feeling was.

After a good while, Yugi finally managed to stand up again.