For a moment, Yu Ming felt the situation gradually slipping out of his control.
What?
This wasn't some harmonious environment where everyone took turns playing nice?
Then who was going to make up for my Axe duel?
Still, the way things had developed so far was not entirely unacceptable.
"Graceful Charity" let you draw three and discard two, seemingly possessing the brutal ability to compress a deck, but it could not be said to greatly improve an anime character's deck.
Not to mention that few cards of this era could make good use of the Graveyard. The Graveyard was still a Graveyard in the truest sense, nowhere near the "resource zone" of later generations where cards could freely jump in and out.
"Silent Doom" could only revive Normal Monsters, and as a vanilla monster, "Machine Hunter" had no other effects.
From that perspective, Keith's intentions had already been laid bare—he merely intended to use them as Tributes to summon a high-level monster.
Thinking that, Yu Ming could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
While summoning a Level 5 or Level 6 monster in one go during the first turn might seem overwhelmingly oppressive to the natives, it was actually nothing much.
"Tch, it really pisses me off. That look in your eyes is exactly the same as that bastard Pegasus's."
Yu Ming looked at Keith and saw his expression immediately twist, displaying Yu-Gi-Oh!'s traditional special skill—over-the-top facial expressions.
"Like you can control the situation no matter when, like nothing can rattle you no matter what happens, always looking at people with those condescending eyes!"
What did your grudge with Pegasus have to do with me?
Yu Ming wanted to say something, but Keith swept out a hand.
"Use this card and pay for your arrogance!"
Damn, I'd become the substitute.
Watching Keith get fired up all by himself, Yu Ming parted his lips slightly.
But...
"Forget it."
No matter how much he made a fuss, early card pools had one universally acknowledged trait: there were not many ways to Special Summon, Normal Summons were precious, and many people therefore chose to run Cyber Dragon as a tech card.
After all, even counting some original cards that had not been adapted into the OCG, Special Summoning had always been an ability limited to a small number of cards in the early days.
"Spell Card—'Ties of the Brethren.'"
Just like this card.
"Pay 1,000 Life Points to Special Summon two monsters from the Deck with the same Level and Type as a monster on the field!"
With that, he had gathered three Level 4 Machine monsters on his field without using his Normal Summon.
"Hmm..."
With his arms crossed, Yu Ming suddenly fell silent.
A moment later, he voiced what he believed was an utterly sincere question.
"So... did you shuffle?"
"OOOOOOOH!!!"
Keith Howard LP: 4000 → 3000
"..."
Keith, why were you yelling so loudly?
Staring at Keith's savage, beastlike expression, Yu Ming suddenly felt exhausted.
It was true that he had personally shuffled and cut Keith's deck earlier, but he could not guarantee that this man with a history of cheating had not pulled some trick.
Yet whether Keith had cheated or Yu Ming had dealt him this opening hand himself, neither possibility was easy for him to accept.
"Whoosh—"
Crimson fluid flowed from Keith's body, gradually gathering into a viscous vortex. Although Yu Ming had no idea what that had to do with the words "brethren" or "ties," it was undoubtedly a summoning effect.
"Appear now!"
In any case, it should not be a big problem, right?
What Level 4 Machine monsters did Keith even have?
As he stared at the dark-red vortex, an engine spewing black smoke leaped out of it.
"'Motor Shell'!"
Motor Shell (Lv. 4) Attribute/DARK Type/Machine ATK/1300 DEF/1800
Yeah, one of the low-level members of the Motor family.
In the manga, this was also Keith's card. It had the effect of leaving behind a Token when it left the field, and in the original work, creating that Token apparently did not even count as a summon.
Then the other one...
When Yu Ming shifted his gaze to the other side, even his breathing instinctively slowed by half a beat.
After the crimson vortex dissipated, what emerged was a purple metallic body. Short, thick metal claws took the place of hands, a glimmer of red surged across its main monitor, and a black cannon barrel extended from its back.
Its name was...
"'Cannon Soldier'!"
"This thing?!"
Cannon Soldier (Lv. 4) Attribute/DARK Type/Machine ATK/1400 DEF/1300
When the summoning glow faded, Yu Ming already felt his head beginning to buzz.
What else could he say?
This was beautiful, folks!
"Hmph. It seems you've realized how terrifying it is too."
On the other side, Keith, who seemed to have recovered, finally noticed the change in Yu Ming's expression.
He smiled in satisfaction.
"Monsters cannot attack directly on the first turn, but 'Cannon Soldier' is not bound by that restriction!"
Clank.
The heavy war cannon suddenly reached out, grabbed the "brethren" beside it that was spewing black smoke, brutally dismantled it into a pile of metal scraps, and loaded them into its cannon.
"I will use 'Motor Shell' as fuel for bombardment!"
Then the pitch-black barrel turned directly toward Yu Ming and burst into dazzling light.
"Have a good taste of hell!"
Within the visible blaze, Yu Ming suddenly felt a scorching heat.
Then, the familiar smell of gunpowder seemed to spread through the air.
This absolutely was not an effect traditional Yu-Gi-Oh! "holograms" should have. And without Arc-V's so-called "solid vision technology," there was only one term that could describe something capable of such an effect throughout the generations:
"Is this a Shadow Game?!"
"Fire!"
Boom.
The scorching bombardment struck, and Yu Ming felt as if he were deep within a burning inferno.
That dizzying disorientation urged him to collapse at once, yet his clear mind warned him through pain to remain conscious.
Under the impact of those two utterly different sensations, he even felt as though something was being stripped away from his body.
Yu Ming LP: 4000 → 3500
Through his somewhat blurred vision, Yu Ming saw that the soldier seemed to make another move.
"When 'Motor Shell' is destroyed, it leaves one of its parts on the field."
"A Token..."
Motor Token (Lv. 1) Attribute/EARTH Type/Machine ATK/200 DEF/200
Naturally, stats on that level were not meant for attacking.
"I will use the part left behind by Motor Shell as a Tribute!"
It could be used for summoning, and naturally, it could also be used as ammunition.
"'Cannon Soldier,' fire!"
Bang.
Boom.
Yu Ming LP: 3500 → 3000
Through his blurred vision, searing flames came at him once again, and the agonizing pain nearly numbed his nerves.
In the pitch-black darkness, only Keith's clear roar echoed:
"It's not over yet! I'll Tribute 'Machine Hunter' to summon 'Motor Smasher'!"
Motor Smasher (Lv. 6) Attribute/DARK Type/Machine ATK/2100 DEF/1200
Yu Ming remembered that after it was made into a real card, this card had also incorporated the effect of a Motor support Spell Card.
But both the real card and the original version shared the same effect:
"When this thing is smashed, it leaves two parts on the field."
Tokens!
And two of them at that!
"Keep firing!"
Amid the hazy blaze, he merely stared at the exceptionally clear figure in the distance.
That was it. That was why this guy had been put in the little dark room.
"'Cannon Soldier'..."
This guy did not have a once-per-turn restriction!
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Yu Ming LP: 3000 → 2500 → 2000 → 1500
"Guh..."
Amid the successive explosions and scorching heat, Yu Ming felt everything around him rapidly fading away.
Mental crisis detected. The system will activate emergency protection.
Drowsiness and darkness descended, swallowing everything completely.
"...System?"
Opening Heart Room
Before you continue