124 Seahorse vs. Arcade! A Duel Between Presidents!

2:00 PM.

“Now commencing the second match of the Duel City Tournament finals! President Kaiba versus President Yugi!”

As the referee, Ishino, announced the duelists on the screen, viewers around the world grew increasingly excited in that moment. Why?

Because during the noon break, the Illusion Company and Kaiba Entertainment Group had invited a group of world-renowned journalists who had already reported the news: Yugi had summoned all Three Egyptian God Cards in Duel City.

With Yugi’s consent, these reporters even photographed the Egyptian God Cards and, when publishing the news, included detailed descriptions beneath the images of the first two gods—“Slifer the Sky Dragon” and “Obelisk the Tormentor”—explaining their effect details, as well as the highest-ranking god, “The Winged Dragon of Ra,” highlighting its effect of gaining increased tribute power upon normal summoning.

Though the full extent of Ra’s power remained unknown, even this publicly available information made those familiar with Duel Monsters worldwide catch their breath—

The more cards in hand, the stronger Slifer’s power! And the moment your opponent summons a monster, Slifer deals 2000 points of effect damage! If that monster’s attack or defense drops to zero, it’s destroyed immediately!

Upon summoning, Obelisk boasts an attack and defense of 4000—second only to the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! It can release two monsters on its own field to deal 4000 damage to all opponent’s monsters and even the player! Or it can boost its power to infinity in a single turn, executing a true “Divine Fist Smash”! Most importantly, nothing says it can’t release itself, so as long as you summon another monster, you can activate this effect!

As for the Winged Dragon of Ra, only one effect was disclosed, but its power after summoning depends on the total value of the tribute monsters—a formidable ability in itself. And if the revealed effect is this powerful, imagine how insane those unrevealed effects might be!

Because of understanding these formidable powers, the anticipation for this duel between the two presidents was even higher than the earlier duel between Yugi and Kaiba.

Back to the Duel Tower.

At this moment, Yugi and Kaiba were shuffling their decks according to the rules.

“Looks like you’ve adjusted your emotions well during the break, Kaiba!” Yugi remarked while shuffling, observing Kaiba’s expression. Unlike the original anime, Kaiba showed no lingering resentment after losing to Yugi. He accepted the defeat but with a determined glint.

“Hmph! I only lost to you this once. Next time we face off, I’ll make sure to return this defeat!” Kaiba declared.

Months of cooperation between Kaiba Entertainment Group and Illusion Company meant Kaiba and Yugi had more contact than they did with Yugi’s original rival, Jounouchi.

During these months together, Kaiba’s personality and demeanor remained much as portrayed in the anime, but subtle details had shifted under Yugi’s influence.

For example, now Kaiba accepted his loss to Yugi fully, yet vowed to avenge it next time.

Moreover, compared to a duel with Jounouchi, Kaiba honestly preferred to duel Yugi.

Why?

Because he believed Yugi, wielding the Three Egyptian God Cards, was stronger than Jounouchi—and therefore a greater challenge.

“Also, in that last match, I didn’t even use my full strength! My strongest monster still lies dormant in my deck,” Kaiba said, eyes burning with the fire of duel.

He thought of the “Blue-Eyes” series designed by Beckers, the evolution beyond his original trump card, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Beckers had said the evolution of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was the only normal monster in the world capable of standing toe-to-toe with the Egyptian Gods.

So, as her opponent on the stage, it had to be the Three Egyptian Gods in Yugi’s hand.

“You mean you’re going to use your full strength against me?” Yugi asked with a strange look, watching Kaiba.

Kaiba merely grunted after turning his head.

“...Using full power against me, your partner, when you didn’t against your rival Jounouchi... Kaiba, I just don’t get you!”

Taking his deck and inserting it into the duel disk, Yugi took his position.

“Yugi! Summon your gods quickly! Get them on the field! I’ll use my deck to bring those gods crashing down to earth!”

But Kaiba’s mind was fixed solely on Yugi and his Egyptian Gods. He vowed, as he had before in his duel with Isis, that his Blue-Eyes remained the strongest Duel Monster. The Egyptian Gods would bow beneath his ultimate servant’s feet.

“Duel!”

Yugi: 4000 LP
Kaiba: 4000 LP

“My first turn, draw!”

Granted the first turn, Yugi extended his right hand to draw the top card of his deck. The moment his fingertips touched the card, a lightning bolt seemed to flash through his mind.

“Roar~”

In that instant, the unique roar of Obelisk the Tormentor echoed within Yugi’s soul.

“Kaiba, you want to bring me out this early?”

Looking at the all-blue Obelisk card in his hand, Yugi recalled the fateful rivalry between the two in the anime.

“Roar~”

Though Yugi was Obelisk’s first master in this world, the god inexplicably desired to appear on the field at the very start of the duel against Kaiba.

As a god, Obelisk wished to understand this urge, so, ignoring the other two gods’ advice, he used his divine power to rearrange his position in the deck, appearing in Yugi’s opening hand.

“No wonder among my five cards is the Magic Card ‘Summon Lamb’...”

Looking over the rest of his hand, especially the Magic Card that summoned lambs, Yugi smiled indulgently at the mental image of Obelisk.

“Since you want to appear, I’ll let you come out on the second turn.”

“Roar!”

Gratefully, the spiritual Obelisk returned to its card.

“I activate the Magic Card ‘Lost Lamb.’ I Special Summon two ‘Lamb Derivatives’ in Defense Position on my field.”

The classic tactic returned: two lambs, one large, one small, one white, one pink, with squinting eyes appeared on the field.

“Then I set three cards face-down and end my turn.”

With the projections of the three set cards appearing, Yugi’s first turn as the first player ended.

“My turn, draw!”

Seeing the Minotaur monster drawn, Kaiba’s lips curled into a smile.

“Yugi! Using a Magic Card to summon two costless derivatives as walls is indeed a clever tactic! But in the face of this monster, those zero-defense derivatives will crumble from your so-called ironclad defense into paper-thin windows!”

“First, I Special Summon the monster ‘Bloody Minotaur Emperor’!”

Debuting in the movie, the Minotaur Emperor wielded a greatsword.

“When I have no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon Bloody Minotaur from my hand.”

“Next, I Normal Summon ‘Furious Minotaur’!”

Following the Emperor was the readers’ favorite Minotaur—the one with an axe and brown skin.

“Entering Battle Phase! Attack! Bloody Minotaur and Furious Minotaur, strike!”

Facing the two adorable lambs, Kaiba hesitated not a moment and ordered his two Minotaurs to attack.

“Furious Minotaur’s effect! When a Beast-Warrior or Winged Beast monster on my field attacks an opponent’s Defense Position monster, if my Attack exceeds their Defense, I inflict piercing damage!”

Both Minotaurs were Beast-Warrior types with over 1500 Attack.

The Lamb Derivatives summoned by the Magic Card had zero defense, so if these attacks succeeded, Yugi’s strategy would backfire, leaving him at low life points first.

“You think I’ll take damage and fall low? Hmph! Think again, Kaiba!”

As the two Minotaurs raised their weapons to strike, Yugi swiftly activated a face-down card.

“I activate the trap card ‘Attack Invincibility,’ activatable only during the Battle Phase!”