Boom!
Passerby A: "Ugh, ah ah ah!"
President Kaiba: "Hahaha——"
Boom!
Passerby B: "Ugh, ah ah ah!"
President Kaiba: "Hahaha——"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"..."
Yugen stood outside the door, looking at the Dark Duelists inside the bar who were scattered like a pile of fallen bricks, speechless for a moment.
What could he say...
Although he expected Kaiba would have no trouble overwhelming these people, he didn't expect it to be so exaggerated.
The feeling reminded him of the scene in the animation when Chazz first arrived at the Northern Branch of Duel Academy, almost instantly defeating everyone in a minute.
The style when protagonists in animations defeat nameless extras is generally like this, once making the young Yugen in front of the television believe that dueling doesn't require shuffling, then enthusiastically sharing this amazing discovery with his friends, confidently playing cards with his unshuffled Exodia set.
And then... there were no more friends to play with him.
But it wasn't his fault because in the animations, it really seemed like there was no shuffling. Especially when the protagonist gang was annihilating passersby, each round was more exaggerated than the previous.
Just like President Kaiba's current rampage.
"Strong! Invincible! The strongest!"
Kaiba stood amidst the fallen duelists.
"Who else!"
At this point, only three were left standing on the other side of the store.
Middle-parted Yamaguchi Ryosuke: "Damn it, although I knew Seto Kaiba was legendary, I didn't expect it to be this exaggerated. In a blink, there are only us 'Blood Moon Four Kings' left..."
Beautiful bartender Inoue Kazumi: "Correction, it's Three Kings. One of the Four Kings, Fujimoto, has already defected."
Ryosuke: "..."
Fujimoto earnestly: "Brothers, forget it, don't struggle. President asked me to tell you, surrender on the spot, and you'll be treated well..."
The big guy among the Four Kings, Aikawa Takuya, suddenly burst out: "I'm going to strangle you, you traitor!"
Fujimoto quickly hid behind Kaiba, pledging loyalty.
"Heh, so you are what's left of the Four Kings, just three?" Kaiba folded his arms and sneered, "You should be somewhat stronger than the other small fries.
So, who's going first? Or do you all want to come at once?"
The three of them suddenly brightened up at Kaiba's words.
Is there such a good deal?
One-on-one they have no chance, but if it's one versus three, no matter how strong you are, Seto Kaiba, can you take all three of us down at once?
"Alright, then it's decided, a fair three against one!"
Yugen wanted to retort, it's laughable to call three against one 'fair.'
He admired the President's confidence. In the real Yu-Gi-Oh! game, there are duels and teamwork, but multi-against-one battles have never been heard of. The game wasn't designed for this, the disparity in card advantage, field advantage, and even the number of turns is usually insurmountable.
Yet in animations, main characters often bulldoze extras with one versus three or four, usually with overwhelming victory.
According to a theory circulating in the Yu-Gi-Oh! community online, animated characters have a setting called "Destiny Power," which is the duelist's ability to influence destiny and steer the future.
But this talent is relative within a duel; the one with stronger Destiny Power in a duel can suppress the opponent's performance. That's why important characters in animations always seem to start with a perfect hand for an instant kill, yet when masters face off, both sides seem to start reasonably and seemingly unremarkable.
In this environment, Yugen cared more about the opponent's Destiny Power than having strong monsters or a card deck. After all, those monsters revered by contemporary duelists in this ancient era, when compared to the boss monsters he's familiar with in modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, are similarly strong but not overwhelmingly so.
However, Destiny Power can grant a ragtag deck extraordinary combat power.
To give a simple example, a standard competitive field in later Yu-Gi-Oh! requires setting up a board that can interrupt the opponent multiple times with card destruction or negating effects during their turn, which is quite a good field.
But this often requires a lengthy spiel to complete against the opponent's counters.
In this world, if there's a substantial Destiny Power gap, a strong duelist can just draw three to five cards with effects like 'Divine Declaration' that can negate the opponent's various actions and then add a high-powered monster, even using an ancient deck wouldn't be less suppressive than mainstream decks years later.
In other words, in reality, it's more about the strength of the card deck, while here, the duelist's strength is equally important.
Alright, now let's watch the President play cards.
Though it seems unlikely he'll lose, Yugen is curious how Kaiba will win with three times the resource disadvantage.
One versus three, this is his perfect chance to observe the Destiny Power of strong duelists up close.
"Duel!" x4
[Ryosuke, LP 4000]
[Kazumi, LP 4000]
[Aikawa, LP 4000]
[Kaiba, LP 4000]
"I'll go first, draw." Kaiba said indifferently, "In the mixed battle mode, no one can attack on the first turn. I cover two cards on the field, end my turn."
All three drew a cold breath at this.
So arrogant? He didn't summon a monster going first in a one-versus-three?
"Tsk, such confidence could lead to costly arrogance, Seto Kaiba. My turn, draw!"
First up is Ryosuke among the Four Kings with a middle part.
"I summon 'Captain Who Penetrates the Enemy Formation'!" Ryosuke declares, "Activate the effect of 'Captain Who Penetrates the Enemy Formation', when this card is successfully summoned, special summon one monster of Level Four or lower from the hand."
He smiled, revealing another card in his hand.
"The one I want to summon is also 'Captain Who Penetrates the Enemy Formation'!"
['Captain Who Penetrates the Enemy Formation', Attack Power 1200] x2
"I see, an attack lock?" Kaiba said indifferently.
"Exactly, while 'Captain Who Penetrates the Enemy Formation' is on the field, you cannot attack other Warrior Race monsters besides it," Ryosuke said proudly, "And when there are two 'Captain Who Penetrates the Enemy Formation' on the field..."
"The effects of the two will form cross-protection, resulting in neither of them being able to be attacked." Kaiba said blandly, "Attacks are blocked."
"Exactly." Ryosuke said, "Then I set another card in the backfield, ending my turn!"
"Then it's my turn!" Next, the beautiful bartender Kazumi took action, "I normally summon 'Variable Beast: Cannon Dragon' from my hand!"
With treads like a tank, guns and cannons mounted on each side, a metallic dragon head emerged from the center.
"Although 'Variable Beast: Cannon Dragon' is a Level Seven monster, it can be normally summoned without a tribute. However, when summoned this way, its attack power becomes half its original."
['Variable Beast: Cannon Dragon', Attack Power 2800 → Attack Power 1400]
"Hehe, next I activate the Equipment Magic 'Dull Axe' from my hand!" Kazumi chuckled, "Equip monster's attack power increases by 1000, but the monster effect becomes negated...
...Therefore, I equip 'Dull Axe' to 'Variable Beast: Cannon Dragon', increasing Cannon Dragon's attack power by 1000, effect negated!"
The two companions applauded.
Ryosuke: "Due to the self-effect of Cannon Dragon, the attack power will halve when a compromised summon is made. But if the effect is negated, the attack power returns to its original value!"
Aikawa: "Not only that, it increases by 1000 due to 'Dull Axe', utilizing both the positive and negative effects of the equipment!"
['Variable Beast: Cannon Dragon', Attack Power 1400 → Attack Power 3800]
"Well, for a Four Kings member, this level is only natural." Kazumi smiled confidently, "My turn ends."
"Then it's my turn!" Aikawa exclaimed, "Activate Magic Card Fusion!
Fusing the 'Sea Otter Tree Bear' in my hand with 'Tree Bear Sea Otter'!
Summon from the ancient forest, the beast's power intertwining at this moment, Fusion Summon—
—Level Six, Tree Bear Sea Otter Tree Bear!"
A storm exploded from the vortex of fusion, and a massive grey-black beast stepped out of the storm, placing itself on the field menacingly.
['Tree Bear Sea Otter Tree Bear', Attack Power 2800]
"Then I set a card on the field, ending my turn!" Aikawa was full of confidence.
All three were quite satisfied with this opening.
Three versus one, starting with such a strong formation, it's hard to imagine how this could go wrong.