"Great!"
Anzu, standing beside Yugi, cried out in delight.
"Now we can prepare for tomorrow's Duel without worry."
Yugi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now then! Duel City has begun! Duelists, go forth and find the opponents hidden within this city!"
After the President made his overly dramatic announcement to begin the tournament, Yugi started looking for an opponent.
Under Duel City's rules, participants had already registered the rare cards they would wager when signing up, and there was no limit on the number of puzzle pieces or rare cards that could be wagered in a single Duel.
Yugi arrived at an empty park and encountered a strange clown who pointed him in a direction. Following the clown's finger, Yugi saw a circus tent, but he did not head over.
"You're not going after him?"
King asked in confusion.
"Something feels off. Let's watch from here first."
By Yugi's intuition, it was probably a trap. Walking into a trap on purpose was the stupidest thing he could do.
Before long, a masked magician emerged from the tent. He could no longer hold himself back.
"Yugi Muto, I am Pandora, a Rare Hunter sent by Lord Marik. I challenge you to a Duel."
Pandora walked up to Yugi and declared war.
Since all of Pandora's earlier preparations had gone to waste, he did not intend to keep up all those flashy tricks. He went straight to the point.
"Do you want me to take over, AIBO?"
King asked worriedly.
"No, Other Me. This time, I want to win with my own strength."
Yugi refused inwardly.
"I understand..."
Although King wanted to take the field himself, he chose to respect Yugi's decision.
The two then unfolded their Duel Disks and inserted their decks.
"duel!!" ×2
[Yugi Muto: LP 4000] [Pandora: LP 4000]
"My turn, draw!"
[Yugi Muto's hand: 5 → 6]
"I'll set one monster, then set two cards. I end my turn."
Yugi immediately set three cards.
[Yugi Muto's hand: 6 → 3]
Pandora's Card-Disadvantage Play
"My turn, draw!"
[Pandora's hand: 5 → 6]
"I summon [Sangan] from my hand in Attack Position."
A massive tomato was projected onto Pandora's field.
[Sangan: ATK 1400]
"Battle! I use [Sangan] to attack your set monster!"
The tomato opened its huge mouth and bit toward the face-down card.
At that moment, Yugi's set monster flipped over, projecting an angel.
—[Shining Angel].
The tomato bit the angel to pieces.
"Hmph, what a weak monster."
Pandora said smugly.
"At this moment, I activate [Shining Angel]'s special effect!"
When this card was destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you could Special Summon 1 Light Attribute Monster with 1500 or less ATK from your deck in face-up Attack Position.
"Come forth, [Silent Swordsman LV3]!"
After Yugi selected a card from his deck and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, a small swordsman was projected onto the field.
[Silent Swordsman LV3: ATK 1000]
"I see, AIBO. As long as you summon [Silent Swordsman LV3] before your turn arrives, you can summon [Silent Swordsman LV5] on your own turn. Using just one card to summon a high-level monster—nice technique."
King praised him from the side.
"So this is the Silent Swordsman Marik told me to watch out for? It only has one thousand Attack Points!?"
Pandora drew two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Duel Disk.
"Then I'll set another two cards and end my turn."
[Pandora's hand: 6 → 3]
"My turn, draw!"
[Yugi Muto's hand: 3 → 4]
"First, during my Standby Phase, [Silent Swordsman LV3]'s effect activates. I Special Summon [Silent Swordsman LV5] from my deck."
After Yugi took another card from his deck and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, the small swordsman suddenly grew into a tall figure.
[Silent Swordsman LV5: ATK 2300]
"He summoned a high-level monster just like that!?"
Pandora immediately felt the pressure.
Then Yugi slapped the card he had just drawn onto his Duel Disk.
"Next, I summon [Silent Magician LV4] from my hand."
A small magician appeared.
[Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1000] [Yugi Muto's hand: 4 → 3]
"There's another new [LV] monster!?"
King watched the monster curiously.
"Battle! I use [Silent Swordsman LV5] to attack [Sangan]!"
Silent Swordsman raised his greatsword and cleaved the tomato in two.
[Pandora: LP 4000 → 3100]
"Tch, I activate [Sangan]'s special effect!"
When this card was destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you could Special Summon 1 Dark Attribute Monster with 1500 or less ATK from your deck in face-up Attack Position.
It was an effect similar to [Shining Angel]'s.
"You're not the only one with cards that can Special Summon monsters from the deck. I Special Summon a second [Sangan] from my deck!"
The tomato that had just been destroyed was replaced by another one.
[Sangan: ATK 1400]
"I end my turn."
Yugi immediately ended his turn.
"My turn, draw!"
[Pandora's hand: 3 → 4]
"The moment you draw, I have an effect to resolve."
Yugi suddenly spoke up.
"Hm!?"
Pandora looked across at him in confusion.
Yugi pointed at the Silent Magician on his field and shouted.
"According to [Silent Magician LV4]'s effect..."
: As long as this card exists in the Monster Zone, each time your opponent draws a card, place 1 Spell Counter on this card, up to a maximum of 5.
: This card gains 500 ATK for each Spell Counter on it.
[Silent Magician LV4: Magic Counters 0 → 1] [Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1000 → 1500]
"Tch, it gains five hundred points every time? What an annoying monster."
Pandora could not help clicking his tongue.
"I activate the Spell Card [Mind Control] from my hand. With this card, I can take control of [Silent Swordsman LV5]."
A brain appeared on Pandora's field and reached its hands toward Silent Swordsman, only to be swiftly cut apart by Silent Swordsman's blade.
"Uh..."
Pandora did not understand what had happened.
"[Silent Swordsman LV5] is unaffected by the effects of the opponent's Spell Cards. Therefore, [Mind Control]'s effect is invalid."
Yugi quickly explained.
"Damn it! Not only is it easy to summon, it's also unaffected by Spell Cards. How can there be such a powerful card?"
Pandora said through gritted teeth.
"Then I activate another Spell Card from my hand, [Monster Reborn], and Special Summon [Sangan] from the Graveyard."
There were now two tomatoes on Pandora's field.
[Sangan: ATK 1400]
"I offer both [Sangan]s as tributes to summon [Dark Magician]!"
A magician clad in a dark crimson robe appeared.
[Dark Magician: ATK 2500] [Pandora's hand: 4 → 1]
"He actually has [Dark Magician] too!?"
King said in shock, though since it was an alternate-art version, he did not pay it much mind.
"Hehehe, now I can defeat [Silent Swordsman LV5]!"
Pandora said with a smile.
"Then, at the moment you summon [Dark Magician], I activate my set card: the Trap Card [Waboku]!"
Activate when your opponent successfully summons, Flip Summons, or Special Summons a monster. As long as that monster remains on the field, its Attack Points become half of their original value.
"What!?"
Pandora's expression immediately froze.
Before you continue