"My turn, draw card."
Yugen drew a monster card.
"Special Summon 'Jester Confit'!"
[Jester Confit, ATK 0]
"This card can be Special Summoned from the hand unconditionally," Yugen explained. "Next, I TRIBUTE 'Jester Confit' for an Advanced Summon!
Level 6 Psychic-Type King—
——'Jinzo', summon!"
'Jinzo', obtained last turn through 'Witch of the Black Forest', stomped onto the field with the sound of sparking mechanical parts.
[Jinzo, ATK 2400]
"He's out so fast, what a pain," Bandit Keith muttered.
With the advent of 'Jinzo', an invisible psychic restraint immediately locked down the back row, and the field instantly became an absolute trap-free zone.
This way, he could maximally suppress the opponent's back row. Yugen pointed to the opponent's field: "'Silent Magician Lv8' attacks 'Barrel Dragon'!"
A vortex of magic lifted her robes as the little magician lady flew into the air, riding on a magic circle. Her magic, like a materialized white lightning bolt, struck the body of the 'Barrel Dragon'. The black steel giant dragon immediately exploded and left the field amidst a mournful cry.
[Bandit Keith, LP 900 → LP 500]
Resisting the magical impact that pierced through his monster with his robust physique, Keith staggered back half a step and said indifferently, "But at this moment, the effect of my 'Desperado Barrel Dragon' in my hand also activates."
A card in his hand rotated and displayed itself, its surface glowing with flowing golden light.
"'Desperado Barrel Dragon''s effect: When a Machine-Type, DARK Attribute monster on my field is destroyed by battle or card effect, this card can be Special Summoned from my hand!"
The card slammed onto the duel disk, and a crackling current surged out through the duel disk system.
"In the symphony of metal and flame, the soul of a fatal machine awakens and appears—
——Level 8, 'Desperado Barrel Dragon'!"
Giant steel feet seemed to sink into the ground, and a long mechanical tail, like a steel whip, heavily struck the earth. The steel giant dragon's arms and head were all revolver barrels, and its mouth emitted a heavy metallic roar.
[Desperado Barrel Dragon, ATK 2800]
"Hahaha, this is my new ace, 'Barrel Dragon''s strongest form!" Bandit Keith shouted, "And under the effect of 'The Seal of Orichalcos', 'Desperado Barrel Dragon''s ATK increases by 500!"
[Desperado Barrel Dragon, ATK 2800 → ATK 3300]
Keith continued, "Also, 'Desperado Barrel Dragon''s effect activates!"
Mystical Elf, who had been anxiously watching from the side, gasped, "It can activate its effect during the opponent's turn too?"
"That's right, 'Desperado Barrel Dragon''s effect can be activated once per turn, during either player's Battle Phase."
Keith said with a triumphant smile.
"Toss a coin three times, and based on the number of heads, you can destroy up to that many monsters on the field!"
Yugen frowned slightly.
'Desperado Barrel Dragon' was indeed a rather powerful monster in the original environment. This was because it had an ability close to "two-speed removal"—meaning it could activate its effect to destroy cards during the opponent's turn. Such a powerful ability used to be quite rare.
Although limited to activation during the Battle Phase, it was already quite tricky.
Of course, in actual holographic duels, the coin toss was still replaced by the spinning of a revolver cylinder. After three cylinders spun for a while, one of the three barrels completed its loading.
"It seems I only hit one randomly this time, but it's enough." Bandit Keith shouted, "Go, 'Desperado Barrel Dragon'! Destroy 'Jinzo'!"
The revolver's trigger was pulled, and firepower pierced through 'Jinzo''s body, turning into dust with an explosion of light.
Yugen raised his arm to block the smoke in front of him, feeling a little strange.
He chose to prioritize destroying 'Jinzo', not 'Silent Magician'.
His gaze fell on the back row.
Naturally, he would think that the reason for doing so was to resolve that troublesome "trap lockdown" ability. In other words, that Set card in the back row.
Indeed, he then saw Bandit Keith let out another series of triumphant laughs, and then eagerly said, "Without 'Jinzo', the trap lockdown disappears!
So I activate my Set card, the Trap Card - 'Compulsory Evacuation Device'! Return one monster on the field to its owner's hand!"
Bandit Keith smiled coldly.
"'Silent Magician Lv8' is an 'LV' monster, which can only be Special Summoned by its 'LV' upgrade method. Once it returns to the hand, it will be treated as destroyed. So get off the field now!"
"Then the Quick-Play Spell 'Forbidden Lance'!"
Yugen immediately responded with a countermeasure. Magical power condensed into a sacred spear that fell into 'Silent Magician''s hand, releasing a sacred波動 to resist the trap's invasion.
"'Forbidden Lance' reduces the ATK of the targeted monster by 800 until the end of the turn, and that monster gains immunity to Spell/Trap effects.
Therefore, 'Compulsory Evacuation Device''s effect is negated."
[Silent Magician Lv8, ATK 3500 → ATK 2700]
"Ugh... a difficult opponent," Bandit Keith muttered.
"I Set one more card, turn end." Yugen said, "At this moment, 'Silent Magician''s ATK returns to normal."
[Silent Magician Lv8, ATK 2700 → ATK 3500]
"Then my turn, draw card!" Bandit Keith said, "Activate the Spell Card 'Trade-In'! Discard a Level 8 monster from my hand to draw two cards from my Deck.
I discard the Level 8 'Metalzoa' from my hand and draw cards from my Deck."
Drawing two more cards, he just swept a glance, and his cold eyes quickly returned to 'Silent Magician'.
"If you don't want to go back, then be destroyed!
'Desperado Barrel Dragon', effect activate!
During the Battle Phase, toss a coin three times, and based on the number of heads, destroy that many monsters on the field!"
The revolver cylinder began to spin again. All three cylinders had a 50/50 chance, but only one hit was needed to destroy 'Silent Magician'. Unless the opponent was Saio or Jonouchi, it was almost impossible to miss all of them.
"Open Set card, Trap Card 'Memory Loss'!" Yugen's back row flipped, "When an opponent's face-up Attack Position monster on the field activates its effect, negate that activation, and change that monster to Defense Position!
Negate 'Desperado Barrel Dragon''s effect!"
The spinning revolver cylinder immediately paused as if frozen, and electric sparks crackled on the steel giant dragon's body. It swayed unsteadily, half-kneeling with its head in its hands, as if it had forgotten the correct way to shoot.
[Desperado Barrel Dragon, ATK 3300 → DEF 2200]
"What a persistent guy," Bandit Keith grumbled. "Alright, then I Set two cards, turn end."
Mystical Elf on the side had long since been holding her breath in terror.
On both sides of the field stood monsters that were unimaginably powerful for a little elf like her, along with such intense and dense offense and defense. From her perspective, it seemed as if even a moment of inattention would result in being torn to shreds.
"So terrifying..."
A true world duelist is truly terrifying.
P.S.: Previously, there were a few comments saying that the protagonist always playing "trick cards" was boring. Yesterday, a few more people said that the protagonist not playing "trick cards" was boring (crying-laughing emoji).
Of course, I will write "trick card" strategies. Currently, the protagonist only has one relatively normal deck, so it's not like he won't play dirty tricks later...
From a character design perspective, it's unreasonable for the protagonist, as an old card player, to only play "trick cards" and nothing else. Like regular Yugi, even though playing "trick cards" is a meme, it's not like he has no other tactics besides "trick cards"...
From a story perspective, if the protagonist only knows isolated tactics, he can easily be targeted and studied. Occasionally mixing in other styles should be necessary, right?
From a structural perspective, I really hope to write more of this book and don't want everyone to feel aesthetically fatigued and bored after 200 chapters. Although there are many decks that can be constantly changed for "trick card" strategies, the duel structure style and the reading experience will inevitably be repetitive, and over time, it will definitely be criticized...
So, the "trick card" structure and the fun character design will definitely be maintained, but sometimes other duel styles will be interspersed for variety.
Of course, this is just the author's own idea, and I am discussing it with everyone.
Everyone knows that changing what readers say is a big taboo for writers, so if only one or two people are dissatisfied, I definitely can't cater to everyone and will continue at my own pace.
However, if all my brothers feel that this arrangement is not good, then please leave a message and tell me. If I see that everyone unanimously agrees that it's not good, then the author will definitely find a way to make adjustments. After all, the book is written for everyone to read.
Thank you!