Doubles

How should I put it? From the player's god's-eye view, the judgment of what counted as justice was completely different.

Speaking purely in terms of faction choices,

Yu Ming would not make a judgment based on the current situation with just a few casual words. If necessary, he felt that he could abandon the so-called Kaiba Corporation and jump to the opposing side.

But as he had said before, there was simply no choice right now.

In Yu Ming's eyes, the resistance army backed by an arms conglomerate was already a heavyweight contender, but the so-called Demon King's army left an even more absurd impression on him.

Invading other people's strongholds whenever they pleased.

Launching attacks whenever they pleased.

In a world where people played cards, they ignored duels and went straight for personal attacks.

Even if they appeared to be persuading people to surrender, they were still using underhanded methods.

Not to mention that they had a heavyweight contender on their side right now...

"Why are you looking at me?"

"No, it's nothing. I just think we should cut down on the nonsense."

Drawing his gaze back from the Pitch-Black King, Yu Ming merely reached for his card pouch.

Honestly, he was truly sick of this kind of development.

"How about we sit down peacefully and play some cards?"

Wasn't that how things usually went, anyway?

No matter what kind of nonsense happened, Yu-Gi-Oh! logic always returned to playing cards in the end.

But just as he took out his deck, he realized that the already frigid atmosphere seemed to have become even stranger.

The Invader's expression turned grave, while the Demon King's gaze became dangerous as well.

"Is something wrong? Is there a problem with my suggestion?"

After looking around, Yu Ming's gaze landed on Noah, and the boy merely shrugged.

"In this world, challenging someone to a duel is equivalent to fighting them to the death."

Oh, so it meant sitting down peacefully and slashing the other side a couple of times.

Even after learning that, Yu Ming had no intention of taking back what he said.

"So, what do you think?"

"Of course, I have no objections."

Glancing at the two silent demons, Noah slowly lowered the "Mirror Force" in his hand.

"Besides, I want to teach these two invaders, who don't know their place, a lesson."

Then, he snapped his fingers.

Snap.

Yu Ming did not know whether it was an illusion, but he seemed to catch a flash of green light.

Along with that fleeting gleam, black smoke spread from around Noah, gradually enveloping the entire area. Even the destroyed entrance was sealed shut once more.

Hey, wait, when did you get such vicious powers?

Following the trail of black smoke, Yu Ming looked toward Noah. But before he could speak, a wrist device and a short gun flew through the air.

"Hm?"

While he was still stunned, the alluring machine had already landed in his arms.

"This is..."

It was something Keith had once used.

"A Duel Disk. In a situation like this, you need a weapon that fits comfortably in your hand, don't you?"

Don't say it like I don't have one. It's just a Duel Disk!

Yu Ming truly wanted to say that, but after glancing at the inconspicuous white bone bracer on his arm, he fastened the more conspicuous mechanical wrist device over it.

Then, after inserting his deck and slotting in the short gun, the wrist device unfolded into a mechanical Duel Disk.

"Then I'll gladly accept it."

"Hmph. Now, then..."

Seeing Yu Ming skillfully handle the gun-shaped Duel Disk, Noah Kaiba slowly raised his hand.

His gaze swept forward as the steel wrist device belonging to him likewise unfolded into the same kind of Duel Disk.

"You won't refuse this invitation, will you, demon?"

Behind that heavy chunk of iron was a cold expression.

"I have many questions to ask you."

"Tch..."

Looking back at the black fog that seemed to have sealed off everything, the Dark Invader furrowed his brow.

"Damn it. You ruined my perfect assassination plan."

"It's not that big a deal. We don't necessarily have to—"

"Shut up!"

Seeing that the dim-witted fellow was about to say something again, the Invader finally could not hold back and raised his voice.

"If you really think there's no problem..."

Beneath the pitch-black cloak, the vicious armor on his muscular arm began to transform, forming a golden Duel Disk as well.

"Then give it everything you've got!"

"Got it, got it. Stop being so annoying."

He planted the greatsword in his hand into the ground, then casually flipped open the hilt, revealing a stack of cards.

Then, the spikes behind him began to transform, and metallic wings filled with all kinds of grooves emerged.

"Then let us slaughter each other!"

Yet even after going to such lengths to display his wild side, he still had to obediently stand where he was in the end.

Then...

"Duel!"

Yu Ming & Noah LP: 8000

Dark Invader & Pitch-Black King LP: 8000

Although no one had mentioned such things from beginning to end, the rules aside from Life Points were probably about the same—very classic doubles rules.

Except...

"How do we make sure they won't cheat?"

Staring at the two demons who were also standing ready, Yu Ming suddenly asked.

"In this situation, we're not going to walk over and shuffle those demons' decks for them, are we?"

"No need."

Noah answered.

"The ritual will do it for us."

The moment Noah's voice fell, the black fog spreading around them suddenly swept inward.

Whoosh.

It merged into the four Duel Disks, and the decks in their card slots began shuffling automatically.

Then...

Beep.

With a crisp notification sound, green lights appeared on the mechanical Duel Disks.

That seemed to mean something?

"I'm going first?"

"Mm."

When Noah nodded, Yu Ming suddenly felt an unbelievable sense of surprise.

"Damn, I got first turn too!"

After confirming it once more, he could not help but marvel.

This was the early era when the first player could draw a card. Going first meant immediately gaining a one-card advantage, and there were none of the various hand traps from later eras to interrupt him!

With that in mind...

"My turn, draw!"

Yu Ming eagerly drew the card from the top of his deck.

"Ready."

A first turn with a full six cards in hand!

"Main—"

But before Yu Ming could get excited, an inexplicable sense of sluggishness made him look toward the cards waiting in his hand.

Then, the declaration that should have been full of joy came to an abrupt halt.

He had nearly forgotten. Fundamentally speaking, his current deck was a pile centered around Trap Cards.

Most of its monsters were Normal Monsters, and its Special Summon options were all limited to a few individual cards.

Card advantage?

Explosive combos?

Fast plays?

They did not exist.

For him right now, going first could only accomplish one thing.

"I discard 'Spirit of the Books' from my hand to activate the Spell Card 'Cost Down'—all monsters in my hand have their Levels reduced by two this turn."

As he said this, Yu Ming slapped down the brilliantly yellow card in his hand.

"So I can Normal Summon the Level 6 monster 'Summoned Skull' from my hand without a Tribute."

Then...

"I set three cards in my back row and end my turn."